Yarn Along

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Yarning along with Ginny

Millwater Project notes here

Follow Your Arrow KAL notes Here

Gramps Project notes here

I finished up several projects this week. My sister asked for a cowl for a birthday present to give to a friend-I used worsted weight yarn an held it doubled for faster project and altered the pattern slightly because I didn't have much time.

I caught up on last week's clue for the Follow your arrow mystery knit along (I have yet to do this week's on either shawl.) 

I'm sort of rethinking the colours i'm using. I love red and blue together, always, but the way it looks held together is not what I had envisioned. I'm wishing that I had done a two colour shawl for this clue (as in two colours, separately....) I don't want it to come out looking like a tea cozy or a bad afghan. The predicament was that I had two lace weight yarns so I had to hold them together to get the right weight. Had they been the right weight to begin with, I would have used them separately, like a sane person.

 Are the red and blue together awful? Please be honest. I'm not afraid of frogging. I think I could actually call it a hobby.

Also finally finished up my nephew's little Gramp's Sweater. I was really surprised by how well vanna's choice acrylic yarn blocked. I'll probably use it again. (gasp.)

Our reading this week has been "War of the Worlds" and a small study unit on the times it was aired. And of course we had to follow it with the movie. (Both the original cheesy classic AND the new, Tom Cruise scary one. I think I like the first one better. Parenthood has turned me into a first class weiner when it comes to suspenseful movies.
I'm sure that this isn't the last one that i'll be subjected to because they boys loved it and have moved on to "the time machine".

I've been digging deep into more old recipe books, and this new stitch dictionary that I found for 8 bucks while grocery shopping at sam's club of all places.  I can't wait to experiment with it!

Binding off,

Corra

Mystery Knits and Procrastination Buttons...

We have a little joke in our wee knitting group about each of our personal knitting quirks. I won't publish my sweet friends' names here because they might get feisty and take my yarn away.  So i'll call them by the colour in which I see them. If this makes no sense, google "synesthesia". Then laugh a while, and come back to read the rest.

I'm going to start with Indigo. She's an addicted test knitter. The girl is always on a deadline, and I seriously think we need to start a support group and give her tokens for every week she doesn't take on a new test knit. She also has, by far, the most coveted yarn stash. 

.

Next is Olive, who cranks out some really pretty, intricate patterns and awesome finished projects...but I think you'd have to hold her at gun point to get her to weave her ends in. She'd rather just wear the hat with the tail hanging out, or tucked up inside. We take turns doing her dirty work for her.
Then we have Miss Plum, who knits insanely fast. And when she's done? Oh, she gives the piece away to someone that we've decided is an undeserving person and starts another. And we're all left with our mouths gaping open saying "what?? you gave that away??"

And last there's Honey. Honey is happy as a clam knitting and ripping the same project over, and over, and over. Or losing it and finding it. Over, and over, and over.

 I recently, jokingly asked her if she had actually *finished* any of the projects that I've seen her working on over the last 2 years. Some of the ones I mentioned sounded like a total mystery to her. Then she ran all over her house looking for finished projects. She came back with a wad of frogged yarn  and a mitten. A, as in singular. And it was a very DETAILED, fair aisle mitten. And the other? She never bothered to start it. 

There is another friend in our little circle who I haven't  known long enough to figure out her quirk (or her colour) but I'm on to her. 

...or there's a slight chance that she'll read this and run-crossing my fingers that she doesn't.
 
and well, I have a knitting quirk of my own. A couple actually...
If you were to ask my friends they would probably say something along the lines of "she knits wrong". This is a sort of a joke that came from what a woman in a yarn store told me once when she saw me knitting continental.

 I can't do english/standard knitting like my friends-my head just doesn't work that way. And apparently the woman in the yarn shop thinks that continental is wrong. Whatever, I'll live. My projects come out looking the right way, so I don't care if it's "wrong". 

But there's something else. Buttons. I hate them. I love how they look...but I will let a project sit in a basket, finished, for a year, before finally adding the buttons. It's usually sort of a set series of events that leads to this inexcusable act. 

First, it's "I must find the right, most beautiful buttons".
Then it's "I need to find my scrap yarn so that the yarn actually matches the garment".
Then, "Oh shoot, this needle doesn't go through this button, but this yarn is to fat for a regular needle. I must pull it through with wire".
But "I don't feel like getting wire out at 1 am. I'll do it tomorrow".

Tomorrow comes and I remember I need to hide my finished project from the house hippo before she potties on it, or decides it needs to go swimming in the toilet, or it would make a nice blanket for her doll. and once it's reached blankey point, let's face it, i'd never get it back.

So it gets shoved in a knitting bag or basket with it's buttons and scrap yarn and put away until a later date. Like....months later.

I finished this "in threes" in AUGUST. In my defense, I didn't actually find the perfect buttons for it until November. (yes, I realize that was two months away, shuushh.)
And it took a pottery store opening right across the street from my house for me to actually go and buy ceramic buttons. And then another month and a half to actually attach them to my garment. I think I've found my phobia. (which is weird, because I don't do this when sewing.)

Oh yeah, and there are these. I couldn't decide which clue to do for the "follow your arrow" mystery knit along, so week one I made both. Now I can't decide which of the second clues to use for each. I'm still mulling over it. I might give it a week and see what the third clues look like and then decide.

binding off, 

Corra

Yarn Along

Keaton Hat, test knit-project info here

A Noble Cowl-Project info here

Millwater-Project info here

 Twisted Ear Warmer-project info here

Huntley Hat, test knit-project info here

This is the post where I get caught up on all the weeks that I missed participating in Yarn Along. Some were test knits so I wasn't allowed to blog about them until the patterns were released, and some were Christmas presents and I didn't want to spoil the surprise for any of my friends or family, just in case they ever stop by here.

I'm still test knitting a couple more things that will hopefully be finished in the next couple of weeks, and i'm super excited to start the Downton Abbey Mystery Knit Along.  using this yarn that I hand dyed a few days ago. I might actually start with this colour and then  use another colour after the first 4 inches or so.

I've been trying out different methods to get tonal results and I'm really happy with this one. There were some points in the dyeing process that made me really wonder if this was going to turn out at all.. Yarn looks so different when under water or wet, especially under the poor lighting over my stove.
 I thought if worse came to worse, I could end up over dyeing the whole batch in a dark colour. 
Luckily, it turned out exactly how I wanted it!  

Red Neck Soda Can Ornaments { A Tutorial }

I just love homemade Christmas ornaments, each one seems to have a story behind it. Either a memory from a past Christmas, or the person who made it, or the little toddler who proudly stamped his hand or finger into a humble dough shape and mailed his grandparents. 
Homemade ornaments in our home are also where we like to use up bits and pieces of craft supplies, or in this case, our household recycling.

I started making these around 10 years ago and they've always been a hit and a fun conversation piece on our tree and have also made some really unique gift toppers and garlands. 

What started out as an experiment of doing haphazard origami on tin cans (a good cure for boredom on a long winter's evening) became these shiny, festive stars.

For years I sold these on etsy and in local shops, and they were even featured on HGTV and in a Christmas edition on People Magazine. 

This year though I decided it was high time to share the fun and offer a tutorial on how to make them yourself. (If you like!) 

You will need: 

A well rinsed Soda Can. (or Pop can, if the word "Soda" makes you cringe.)

A pair of scissors with a sharp tip. (Or a pair of blunt tipped scissors AND an utility knife.)

A cardboard circle cut about 2 inches in diameter (Or a two inch circular scrapbooking paper punch)

A piece of wire, or an ornament hook. 

After rinsing out your can, using either a utility knife or a pair of sharp tipped scissors, pierce the side of your can near the top and cut the top off. I try to keep the puncture area somewhere that I don't want to use for an ornament. Somewhere like the UPC symbol, or ingredients etc.

Cut straight down the side, and then cut remove the bottom.

Flatten out the can. Now you should have a rectangular piece. 

Position your cardboard circle (or paper punch) in the area of the can that you would like to use for your ornament. You will need to cut two circles, so decide before cutting where you'd like them. (Main Logos etc)

Now either trace around the circle with a marker before cutting, or cut around the circle. (Or punch it out with a punch.) Do this twice so that you have two circles.

Now it's time to fold your star:

A couple of last minute tips:

You can make these smaller, or larger. Just keep in mind, the smaller they get, the harder they are to fold.

On thinner cans, avoid pressing your creases too hard or you might get a split.

Have fun, and enjoy!!

Cozied up

 

Over the last few days i've been working on these fun little ornaments, which are really easy, and sort of addictive. Come the end of Christmas, i'm not sure what i'll replace them with for tiny, portable projects.

I made a few at first that looked ok, but I couldn't get them stuffed in a way that I found satisfying....and then I decided to try it with a 2.5" Styrofoam ball. Voila, perfect roundness. I'm sure it would work with a standard 2.5" blank or coloured Christmas ball as well.
Most of mine were done in worsted or sport weight yarn, on size 7 needles.

Cast on 8 stitches, and either work as Icord, or divide on 4 needles. (Two stitches per needle). Be sure to leave a slightly longer than usual cast on tail-we'll use this later.

Join in the round and work in stockinette stitch for about 5 inches. This will be the "hook" for your ornament.

(you can skip the whole icord part, cast on 8 and begin the ornament. You will however need to either crochet a hook later, or tie a piece of yarn to the top to act as a hook.)

Now begin the ornament. If you worked the first stitches as Icord, now divide the stitches onto four needles. Place a marker to mark the beginning of your round.

Increase rounds:
Round 1: kfb all the way around. (you should now have 4 stitches on each needle.)
Round 2: Knit
Round 3: On each needle, kfb, knit to last stitch, kfb.
Round 4: Knit
Repeat round 3 and 4 until you have 12 stitches on each needle, ending on a round 3. (having just done your last increases.) Your increase rounds should leave you with 6 stitches, then 8, then 10, then 12.
Knit for 6 rounds

Decrease Rounds:
Round 1: *SSK, knit to last two stitches, K2tog*all the way around
Round 2: Knit
Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until you have 6 stitches on each needle. Now it's time to pop the styrofoam ball in there. Depending on your tension, it might be a bit tight at this point. That's good though, because it's a lot easier to knit around it from this point on if the knitting holds it in and you don't have to try to hold it in as you knit.
If you put the ball in and it's too loose, wait until the next decrease round and see if it stays put a bit better.
Continue decrease rounds 1 and 2 until you have 4 stitches on each needle.

Last round:  SSK and K2tog on each needle. You should now have 2 stitches on each needle.

If you decided to skip the styrofoam ball, now would be the time to put in some batting to form your ball.

Break yarn, thread it onto a tapestry needle and draw through the remaining stitches and secure.

Now thread your cast on tail onto a tapestry needle, bend your top icord in half and secure the top end to the bottom end (top of the ornament).
For this I tied a few hidden knots, and then ran the needle down the side of the ornament to the base and did one final knot down there.

Voila. Christmasy fun!

Yarn Along ::Catching Up::

I've been utterly terrible lately about posting and keeping updated. I've sort of taken an unintentional mild internet/social media hiatus over the last month, keeping busy with slightly more eventful everyday life.

As a result, I haven't updated my knitting projects on my Ravelry page (or here) at all, so i'm just starting to get them photographed to post.

I can't post any of the many Christmas presents I've finished, but I can post a couple things that have been keeping me busy!

Currently i'm working on a mindless but fun and addictive project, my Candy Land Cowl

I'm using 8 mini skeins that I have leftover from my Little Leaves...but they probably won't last me for as much bare eco wool I'm using along with it, so I'm thinking that I might try using dmc cord for the remaining colours. It seems to be about the same weight as the mini merino. If that doesn't work out, maybe i'll get a few different colours of  sock yarn. 

I'd just go buy some more mini merino skeins but the seller doesn't seem to carry them any longer. Bummer!

I've also just finished the newly released Swift Hat, and let me just say that this yarn was heavenly. Talk about beings spoiled! I've had it in my stash for over a year just waiting for the perfect project.

This was such an pleasant and fast project, I'll probably make more in the near future.

The pattern would look better and more accurate if It were being modeled by an adult, but Lotte stole it from me and won't give it back. She even went to bed wearing it, so I'm out of luck getting a better picture until I can sneak it away from her. I'm continuously amazed by how incredibly territorial a determined toddler can be!

Binding off,

Corra

. 

::t w o::

My little Charlotte is getting bigger.

She's turning into this independent little creature that surprises me daily with her new found abilities and tricks.
She's earned herself several nick names over her two years. "The house hippo", "Pickles","Lah-tee-Dah"....to name a few. And all with good reason, I assure you.

 

She's as stubborn as her Daddy, and has little fits and stomps her chubby little legs over silly little things, and I have to try my best not to laugh. 

 It's so hard to take a very cute, furious toddler seriously. Especially when she's wearing a crown, her big brother's rain boots, and a  tutu, with a tool belt strapped around her waist.

Two is an awkward age. I can tell her that we have to wait for morning to do the activity she wants to do. And she understands.

She knows her days of the week, her ABC's and can count to 10.

 But she simply cannot figure out why it's not OK to eat crayons. Or Put them in her nose....or put them in MY nose.

And why she can't, despite all her best efforts, wear a shirt as pants. Or why I can't wear her clothes, no matter how much she begs me to.

But she's full of love and affection, and has such a sweet and soft gentle side. (Even when sporting a tool belt.) She always has time for kisses and cuddles, and will sit on my lap and tell me tall tales about her day. 

She melts my heart. I am continuously reminded of how blessed we are to have her as a member of our family; She's brought us such joy and laughter.

Happy Second Birthday to Lotte, My little sugar pie!