Knitted Things!

I started knitting about five years ago.  Taught myself from a kid's learn to knit book and YouTube.  (Thank goodness for YouTube!)  I was really gung ho at first, then stopped for awhile.  I worried knitting was going to be like a lot of other pursuits I started enthusiastically, then eventually stopped doing (I'm looking at you scrap booking and stamping!)  But, I found I still enjoy it and really love it.

I really love starting a project and seeing it come together.  I have knitted two sweaters for myself since starting to knit and it is always exciting to see it grow on the needles, and also a little worrisome to see if it will fit when it is all done.  I love making things for others, too.  Especially baby gifts.  Who can resist tiny, handmade clothing?

Here are a few of the items I've made recently. 

These are socks that I still can't believe I made and enjoyed making!  I have seen my brother-in-law knit countless pairs of socks and always shook my head.  Who in their right mind would take the time to knit socks?  Then I found some sock yarn on clearance and decided to give it a try.  It was in my first year of knitting and I gave up when I realized I would have  to make a second sock when I finished the first.  The sock sat on my needles for 3-4 years until this February.  I ripped out the partially knitted sock, re-rolled my yarn into a ball, and started this sock pattern.  I love the results and I am even thinking I want to knit more socks!  Glad I changed my mind!

I made this little set for my daughter's classroom teacher.  She got married in the Fall and now is due with her first baby (a little boy) in September!  She has been an amazing teacher to my daughter and I couldn't resist the opportunity to make a little something for her.  I learned seaming and mattress stitch for this project and I'm so glad I did!  I've only knit raglan (or circular yoke) sweaters up to this point because I was so afraid of the seaming process.  Now I don't have to be!  Mattress stitch is amazing!  It is almost invisible and while a little tedious, the results are worth the effort.

 

Made this sweater (only my second one for me, and my first non-cardigan) for our upcoming trip to Ireland.  I wanted something easy and pretty.  I used a cotton yarn, which I would not do again.  While very soft, it is a bit heavy.  But overall I'm happy with how it turned out.  The lace part was hard to work once the sleeves were added, but I'm glad I stuck with it. 

Next up will be some baby sweaters for my cousins twin girls due in September and hopefully a cardigan in a lovely brown wool for me!

Where I Spend My Time

I have recently decided that I spend way too much time on the computer.  I think this blog is a good use of my time, and the other sites I visit can be useful, if I didn't get sucked in and spend 1/2 an hour (at the minimum) every time I log into one of these sites.  So I thought I'd share with you where I (waste) spend the majority of my computer time.

Facebook.  What a time waster.  I never wanted to get sucked in.  But I did.  Reconnected with my fourth grade boyfriend.  Reconnected with old high school and college friends.  But what I love most is being connected with family.  I am in touch with cousins who I know very little about.  They are so much younger than me, or live many states away, that I don't know them really.  Now, I know them a little bit.  Aunts and uncles.  I no longer see my aunts and uncles on any regular basis.  Occasionally, if I am lucky, I see them once a year.  More likely it is once every two or three years.  On Facebook I can chat on a daily basis.  Makes me feel a little more connected.  Brothers, sisters and nieces and nephews.  These are the people I especially love to see  on FB.  What a great way to stay connected when
living hundreds of miles away.  (Oh, and I love when people ooh and ahh over pictures of cakes and cookies I make are posted there.)

Ravelry.  I'm a new knitter.  Just learned at the beginning of 2011.  I love it.  So, I spend lots of time on Ravelry.com, a website devoted to knitting and crochet projects.  What I really love is that many of the projects are free or available for a small fee.  Also, lots of people post pictures of their projects and I can get a good idea of how something should turn out.  I save so many ideas there.  Have probably made about 28 projects this year.  Hope to make lots more (when I'm not wasting time on the computer!)

Finally, my friend Katie invited me to join Pinterest.  She told me it is a way better time waster than Facebook.  And I think she is right.  Oh the ideas, the beautiful pictures, the links to tasty food recipes.  Basically, if you have not heard of it, it is a website that creates virtual bulletin boards.  Any ideas you like, you "pin" a picture on a theme board of your choosing (say like "Christmas Ideas").  Then the picture is a link to the website where you can get the information about that item, recipe, party idea.  But here's the best part.  You can see other people's pins, and repin them to your bulletin board.  So many fantastic ideas!!!! It is brilliant.

There are other websites that suck me in, too.  Blogs, Allrecipes.com, Etsy, blogs.  But these three are by far the main way I spend my time on the web.  Where do you (waste) find interesting things on the computer?

More Knitting Projects

I have not only been baking these last few months (though I have been doing a lot of that!), I have also been knitting. I still am really enjoying it and I am looking for more challenging projects. For example I made a baby hat and a pair of socks. Correction: I should say I am working on those projects. Anyways, I made three dishcloths for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day as well as two hero hats for my girls in the color of their choice. I am currently working on the baby hat, socks, and another scarf, this one for my husband.

Here are some pictures:
Flying Geese Dishcloth: First one I made for my mil. I was worried I didn't like detailed patterns for knitting while I made this, but I realized later that I just don't like a fussy pattern that yields only this as the result. It is pretty, but too much "work" for such a simple looking dishcloth.


Chinese Waves Dishcloth:I really love the yarn on this one and the look and feel of this dishcloth. The pattern yields a lovely thick textured cloth that really makes me think of a dishcloth. And the self striping yarn, LOVE IT! The first picture is the "right side" of the cloth, the second picture is what the back or "wrong side" looks like.




Mock Cable Dishcloth: This is the dishcloth that proved to me I don't mind a detailed pattern as long as the results are stunning, and this one is stunning!



And finally, the girls' hats in pink and purple:




I'll get a picture up of those socks when I get them done. The worst part about socks is after completing one, you are not done! (Unless you want a sock puppet!)

My Knitting Projects

So I have gotten very busy with knitting, and enjoy it very much. My only fear with knitting is that it is going to be like all my other creative passions - things I LOVED doing for awhile (even several years), but now don't do or do very infrequently (scrapbooking, cross stitching, cake decorating, stamping and making my own cards, etc., etc.) I am afraid I will amass my supplies (knitting needles and yarn) and then never use them again.

Despite these fears, though, I am knitting quite frequently and really do enjoy the creative process. I currently have a rule to have no more than two knitting projects going on at once, in order to make sure I finish them. (I started a scarf that took me two months to knit, mostly because the pattern was boring, even for a beginner like me.)

I have had some orders from my kids, and I have made some gifts already. So, I decided to share some pictures of my finished projects here, today.

My Shamrock Dishcloth - first project finished, (2nd started) - didn't turn out very pretty, but it's for me and it washes dishes just fine



Two Rubber Ducky dishcloths for my brother-in-law - second and third projects I finished, thought these looked pretty nice aside from the ugly cast on edge





Seed Stitch Dishcloth - mainly just wanted to see what seed stitch looked like, made for us, cleans dishes well.



My first Bunny Blankie Buddy - Know several pregnant people, wanted to make a practice bunny to make sure I could do it. Was really proud of this one until I made my second one - you'll see what I mean! (Gave this to my youngest daughter, she loves it.)



My second Bunny Blankie Buddy (in blue) - See what I mean? So much better all the way around. Gave this to my older daughter. She too loves hers.



Dishcloth for my mom for Mother's Day - Don't worry, she does not read my blog. Loved how this one turned out.



Second dishcloth for my mom - Her favorite color is yellow.



Third dishcloth for my mom - Wanted to have a set of three for her. (Can't wait to give them to her!)



Hat for my son - I'm making three of these, this one in black was for my son, making a purple and pink one for the two girls



The infamous two month scarf - here it is!



That's all for now, but I'll try and keep posting some of my work here as I finish items.

My First Pattern

So last month I blogged about learning to knit. Since then I have made a scarf (still in progress), two bunny blankie buddies and several dishcloths. And I am loving all the knitting I'm doing, but I wanted to make something out of some of the leftover yarn and try a new stitch pattern other than garter, stockinette, and rib. So I checked a book out of the library with all kinds on stitch pattern ideas and came up with this cute poncho for my daughter's American Girl doll. It is a fast and easy knit, and something any A.G. doll owner would love (especially in a color to coordinate with one of their outfits!)


Ridged Poncho for American Girl Doll

Materials:
Size US 10 1/2 needles (6.5 mm)
Bulky Weight Yarn

Instructions:
Make two identical pieces.

CO 36 stitches

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: p1, *k2tog; repeat from * to last stitch, p1
Row 3: k1, *Kfb; repeat from * to last stitch, k1
Row 4: Purl
Repeat these 4 rows a total of 6 times (24 rows of knitting)
Row 25: Knit
BO
Weave in all ends

Finishing:
Sew short end of one piece along long edge of other piece. Use cast on edges at neck edge of poncho. Sew the short end of the second piece to the long edge of the first piece to form poncho.

For the poncho I made I used Lion Brand Jiffy yarn in Aqua. It knit up nicely and is nice and soft for my daughter to play with.


I really loved the end result and I'm happy to share the simple pattern here!

Feeling Crafty

I have been feeling crafty lately. I have all kinds of craft ideas running through my head, and various amounts of supplies for scrapbooking, card making, stamping and other little fun things like that.

So what have I done? I decided to learn how to knit. Something for which I have essentially no supplies for and have to go out and buy. I'm sure my dear husband is thrilled.

This really came about because my six year old daughter received a teach kids to knit book along with some knitting needles and yarn from her Great Aunt Kathy and her Uncle Kevin. Great Aunt Kathy and Uncle Kevin are extremely talented knitters and were eager to pass on their hobby when Zoe showed an interest while spending time with them.

So, I have decided to teach her (and her eight year old sister as well), but knew for me to help them, I would need to learn myself, first.


I have now knitted two things. The first is a purple rectangle, and despite the fact that I dropped at least two stitches and some of the stitches are ridiculously loose and some are too tight, I'm very proud of that rectangle. I have also knitted the first square of a banner the girls and I are going to knit after I teach them! This second piece of knitting is remarkably better than the first, and I'm now ready to learn the purl stitch! (So far all I have done is the knit or garter stitch. After I learn the purl stitch, I should be able to do more!)



I am very excited at the prospect of making little projects with the girls, and I hope they learn to be great knitters like their Great Aunt and Uncle! And who knows, maybe I'll even make a scarf in time for next winter!