knitting

I’m on a knitting kick right now so I’m showing you the patterns I would like to knit at some time.

Muse Hat - This is my favorite of the two hats listed here. I love the way it looks and was what I was looking for when I started looking at hat patterns.

Lace Beanie - This hat still has the open, airiness to it but in a more practical way.

Airy Waves Shawl - I’ve always wanted to knit a shawl and liked this pattern. I probably won’t do the stripes but I like the simpleness of it and how it can double as a scarf.

Garter Ridge Baby Cardigan - This is what I am knitting for my future niece. I don’t really knit for others but had to knit something for my new niece. This cardigan was the perfect pattern for the yarn I wanted to use.

Ok, so I posted earlier about knitting fingerless gloves and was somewhat pleased with results. I used a different yarn than the pattern called for and that was part of the problem, they were too stretchy and loose. I made another pair and was much happier with them.

The next pattern I tried was from Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation and I absolutely LOVE this pair of gloves. Not only do I love them but my husband likes them and asked me to make him a pair (his office at work his having heat problems).

This has turned out to be my favorite pattern and the one I will use from now on. The gloves are fairly simple to make and if I am able to sit and knit then I can whip out a pair in a few days. However, life isn’t about sitting and knitting so it took me a little longer than that. You can’t see the lovely cable-type pattern very well because my yarn is so busy. Wait. You can’t see the cable-type pattern at all. (Note: When I made hubby’s gloves I didn’t use the cable-type pattern.)

A little bit of useless trivia: the yarn used for these gloves was the first yarn I bought to use when I was learning how to knit. I was originally going to knit a scarf and ripped it out because I didn’t want a scarf. Then I was going to knit socks and ripped it out because I didn’t want socks. I love this yarn and couldn’t find anything I wanted to knit with it until now.

This is my lovely model E showing how the gloves can stretch to fit my hands yet retain their shape while on her delicate self.

Again, my lovely model E showing off the gloves. I am blessed to have lovely talent living in my home.

She wanted to take a picture of me. As you can see she didn’t get her lovely talent from me. Don’t you just love my bed head.

Because my daughter sees me knitting all the time she has wanted to knit. Usually I let her pick out some needles and yarn to play with but today she actually wanted to make something so I got out my knitting looms.

She wasn’t able to wrap the yarn herself so I did that but she did the rest. I showed her how to hook the yarn and move it over the peg. It was so cute listening to her say “Hook and over” over and over again.

This is what I am doing for the next couple of days. Knitting. Knitting. And more knitting.

I haven’t had the desire to knit for quite some time and now it’s all I want to do. I am experimenting with a few projects and am not sure how they will turn out or what to do with them once I’m done. For now I am satisfying the urge and feeling accomplished. If I don’t see you before next week then have a great weekend.

Photo Credit: Todd Huffman

I used this pattern. I used a different yarn than the pattern called for but I don’t think they turned out too bad. The point of them is to keep my hands warm and they have been doing their job well.

I found a beautiful yarn the other day and decided to knit up a pair of socks. Actually, I was looking for yarn to make socks and I liked the way this yarn looked so I bought it. It’s a soft orange/mint green color blend. I think it’s called…can’t tell you. I threw the label away. Wait! It’s called Matizado Melon (I forgot I had more) by Sinfonia at Hobby Lobby. (Hobby Lobby is the only yarn store I have access to in our small town).

I found this beautiful yarn and took it home and immediately started knitting a pair of socks. Only my heart wasn’t in it. This yarn moved me and I was using it for socks. I can go buy socks at Wal-Mart and would be happier because I don’t really wear socks and if I do they don’t come over my ankles. What was I to do with this yarn?

What I really wanted to make was a summer tank top so I searched through hundreds of tank top patterns until I found the one I wanted. Even after I found this pattern I kept looking and kept thinking about how beautiful this top was and how great it would look made up in my yarn.

I printed out the instructions and comments and read through them several times. You may have noticed how cute this top is. You might also know that I am not that small so I thought I would experiment. I would add 50 stitches to the cast on and would adjust the pattern accordingly to this new number.

About halfway through I figured I had misjudged and the top would be too round. No problem. I’ll keep knitting and see what happens. Quite some time later I had resolved that I would be taking this piece apart and re-knitting it again. I was quite right. The top was huge! It was too short and way too round. Even with the ribbon it was too big.

So now I have taken it apart and will re-knit it use the number of stitches the pattern calls for. The only problem is that even though my gauge works out the way it is supposed to…my yarn is different and doesn’t knit up the way hers does. She doesn’t give rounds per inch so I am having to guess. Oh well, I am learning as I go and it gives me something to do besides pack.

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer. You are through those knitting growing pains and feeling more adventurous. You can follow a standard pattern if it’s not too complicated and know where to go to get help. Maybe you’ve started to experiment with different fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a cool technique you’ve never tried. Perhaps you prefer to stick to other people’s patterns but you are trying to challenge yourself more. Regardless of your preference, you are continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as well you should since your non-knitting friends are probably dropping some serious hints, these days.http://marniemaclean.com

The title of this post pretty much sums it up. I could be cleaning or fixing dinner for my family but instead I am looking at knitting blogs and taking knitting quizzes. Yay! Sounds like so much fun.

Honestly, my mind is blank and there is so much I would like to do…knit for instance. I am knitting a sweater for the two older kiddos since they are just about the same size and the same sex I can get away with knitting one and they can share it. So far the sleeve looks great and if I can actually knit this evening I may finish the left sleeve and tackle the rest of the sweater!

I learned how to knit a couple of weeks ago and so far have made two hats. I started a scarf for myself but got bored with it so I took it apart and started another scarf with a different stitch pattern. Got bored with it and took it apart.

I was bored with hats and scarves I wanted to make something else. I had seen a sock tutorial and the thought of working with more than two needles and double pointed needles at that was something I wanted to try. So off to my local craft store to purchase the needed supplies for a pair of socks.

I Can’t Believe I’m Knitting Socks (Leisure Arts #4083) and Knitting Help was all I needed and I was off making a sock.

Since I do have a family to take care of this sock took a couple of days to make. Hopefully, since I basically know what I’m doing it’s mate won’t take as long.

I am hoping these socks will fit my hubby since I used his socks to measure the foot portion of it.

This is the beginning. It took awhile to get used to knitting with four needles. What I ended up doing is concentrating on two needles at a time and used needle guards at the ends so the stitches didn’t fall off.

Look! I’ve made progress! I can actually see how this will be a sock (this is the leg portion by the way).

Now I’m knitting the heel flap. This is the part of the sock that extends down to your heel. The others stitches are on stitch holders because I don’t need them right now.

I have finished the heel and working my way to finishing the foot portion of the sock.

Yeah! I did it! I made a sock!

P.S. - It was actually easier than I thought it would be.

I finally finished the hat I’ve been working on for hubby. It’s amazing how well something turns out when you follow the directions and use the type of yarn the pattern calls for. Imagine that.

Anyway, I am happy with this hat and hope it keeps his head warm which is the whole point of making a hat.