It's been a while

It's been a long time since I last posted.  I have not been knitting as much lately.  I did start a blanket for our baby that is due in June.  It's the Garter Rib Baby Blanket.  It called for size 7 needles and was very easy to follow.  I worked on it for a while, but got frustrated because it was such a slow process.  I ripped it all out and started again by doubling the yarn and going to size 15 needles.  The result is much softer and moving along quite nicely. 

I'm also looking at some hat patterns for the baby.  My new favorite is the Button-flower cloche by Jennifer Little.  I think I have some yarn in my stash that I can use to make this.  I also want to make a pumpkin hat for the baby.  Hopefully, I'll pick up my knitting bit more in the coming months to complete all of these projects.

My First Pattern

As I said a few months ago I was working on a pattern of my own design.  I had never designed anything before.  My friend loves to bake cupcakes so I wanted to make her a cupcake scarf.  After many attempts on the first few cupcakes I finally got it the way I liked it.  The result, in my humble opinion, was great. And my friend was so happy with the scarf she was in tears. 

I wrote up a pattern for this scarf and currently have someone looking it over to help make sure it make sense.  Once she finishes I am thinking of putting it for sale on Etsy...we'll see.

New Pattern

So I was on Etsy one day and saw a crocheted scarf that I would like to make for a friend.  Since I don't crochet and there was no pattern I'm going to have to make my own.  I wrote something up borrowing from a few different patterns, but don't know how it will work yet.  I am going up to WEBS on Tuesday and will get the yarn at that point.  So once I work on it a little I'll update whether my pattern worked or not.

Spinning Lessons

My wonderful husband got me a great birthday present this year.  Last year my parents had gotten me a spinning wheel and all year I've been trying to learn how to spin.  I've watched some people spinning and a few weeks ago at fiber event I was able to try to spin, thanks to a very kind woman.  I have still had problems with it though and have not been able to make yarn. This year for my birthday my husband got me spinning lessons at Rumpelstiltskin Yarns, so on April 27th I'll start my spinning lessons.  I get 6 lessons and hopefully it will turn into a new hobby for me.

Ravelympics 2010

I'm a Ravelympic champion.  I finished two events in the first 9 days of the Olympics.  I originally signed up to participate in the Bag Jump.  My mother-in-law had got me yarn to make the Formal Boot Bag from Bag Style.  I cast-on at 9pm EST on February 12th when the Olympics started.  I finished knitting the bag itself on Saturday.  It then needed to be felted, which I didn't do until Thursday the 18th. It took three rounds in the washing machine to get to the right size.  The panel that gets sewn onto the bag was finished on Friday the 19th, but I was still waiting for the bag to finish drying.  It was at that point that I decided to make a second project.  I wanted to make a hat to go with my purple scruncable scarf and found the pattern for the Calorimetry.  I entered the Hat Halfpipe competition and  cast-on on Friday night.  It was finished on Saturday afternoon.  Saturday night I pinned the panel to the bag. Sunday the 21st I sewed the panel to the bag, sewed on the buttons and attached the strap.  It's been a great Ravelympics for me and now I just am waiting for my medals!

Scrunchable Scarf

I was at A.C. Moore the other day picking up needles for my knitting club and found yarn on sale, Bernat Satin.  They have a gorgeous rich purple color called Plum Mist Heather. I found a pattern on Ravelry for a Scruncable Scarf.  It was a really easy pattern and knit quite quickly. 

I had to look up the word selvage though to figure out what I was doing wrong.  The pattern says to cast on a multiple of 3 stitches, which I did.  I started right away with the pattern, which is not what you are suppose to do.  With a selvage you are suppose to slip the first stitch of the row, follow the pattern and then knit the last stitch of the row.  When I did this the pattern started showing up correctly. 

I'm so happy with the result, the scarf is so soft and squishy.  I just love it.

Penelope

She's finished!!!  I was nervous about making this cute little monster doll, because my past attempt at making a doll didn't work very well.  I didn't follow the directions exactly this time.  The designer said to stuff everything then sew together, I knew I had problems with that...so I stuffed the ears and sewed them to the empty body.  I did the same with the arms and I sewed the eyes too.  I stuffed the legs and closed them and as I sewed the bottom of the monster together I sewed the legs into the seam.  I finished stuffing the doll and then closed up the bottom.  This worked very well for me and I think the result was great.  I'm really happy with the result and can't believe I'm going to be giving it up in a few weeks.  I'm sure the recipient will love it though.