Gryffindor: Where Dwell the Brave at Heart

I made this bag for my sister for Christmas a few years back. It was so fun to make! The pattern was free on Ravelry and includes charts for all 4 houses. (I really need to make a Ravenclaw one ASAP!) Since I don't know how to sew, I bought fabric for the lining and then gave it to my sister in pieces. (Nothing like a "some-assembly-required" present!)

Here's what it looks like on the inside once she sewed in the lining. This bag definitely combines 2 of my loves - Harry Potter and Fair Isle! It was nice to only have to deal with 2 colors. The bag is actually quite big. Not Hermione's-purse-big, but it could hold a wand and few spell books for sure. 

Chels and I getting ready to head to Hogwarts... you can see the size of the purse better here. 

Gryffindor Pride!! 

Snoopy!!

My Aunt Robin gave me the pattern for this easy to make baby sweater. I've made it twice - one for a boy and one for a girl. The first time I just bought normal black buttons. Then I found adorable dog bone buttons and knew I had to make it again!

This was the first sweater I made using different colors of yarn. I used Caron Simply Soft (LOVE THAT STUFF). I even took pictures of the back every 2-4 rows I knitted so was able to make this awesome gif:

If only knitting could really be done that quickly!

Wednesday Review: A Knitting Wrapsody

Hahahaha. Get it?? A Knitting WRAPsody. This cleverly titled book by Kristin Omdahl has a lot of fun unique knits for scarves, wraps, shawls, and skirts.

What I Like:

·         Knitting looks like crochet! I'm not good at crocheting. I haven't put much time into it, so I really only know how to do one stitch, and I definitely don't know how to read crochet patterns. That's where this book comes in handy. You can have the crochet look by knowing how to read knitting patterns!

·         The book comes with a DVD that shows you how to do different knitting techniques. This is awesome. I think I may have mentioned in the past that I had to YouTube how to knit socks. No t that it's hard to look something up on YouTube, but here it's everything you need in one DVD.

·         Each pattern has a few different pictures to show you different angles and different ways you can wear the scarf/shawl/wrap.

·         Out of the 2 skirt patterns - one is a flamenco design (AWESOME) the other a Gypsy wrap skirt. I'm not really a fan of the gypsy skirt, but it can also be made into a wrap dress which looks pretty cool.

What I Don't Like:

·         Some of the designs are weird - maybe you'd see them in Williamsburg, NY, but that’s about the only place. Leather-laced Raglan cape?? Let's fight evil! There are a few other designs that are basically all holes. How is that supposed to keep you warm?

Wednesday Review: New England Knits

I love the fashions of coastal towns. Anything nautical - fisherman knit sweaters especially. This probably stems from my love of small towns, Avonlea, lighthouses, and Scotland.  New England Knits by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa La Barre incorporates a lot of these looks into their designs.

What I like:

·         The book is filled with great pictures. Each pattern has multiple pictures so you can see the item from many angles. The pictures are taken in fun locations - the streets of New England towns, countrysides, and of course - the beach.

·         There is a good variety of projects - sweaters, skirts, satchels, cardigans, neckerchiefs, and hats!

·         One of the patterns is specifically designed to make two matching kerchiefs so you can knit with a friend! How cool is that??

·         I'm in love with pretty much every pattern. It is all so cute! One of the hat designs has little whales - WHALES. 

·         The type A person in me as always appreciates the glossary and pictorial instructions of different knitting techniques included in the back of the book.

What I don't like:

·         Each pattern has a place in its name - The Hampton Cardigan, the Chelsea Skirt, The Portland Mittens etc. (just to be clear - I like this part). I think it'd be nice to have a little background on the places the patterns are named after. I found myself wondering why a certain sweater was named after a certain town - is that a popular fashion there? Or is it just whimsical?

It's time to get knitting, and then I'm going to sail around the sea and fish for lobsters.

Wednesday Review: The Little Box of Knits for Baby

This book (using that term lightly) by Sandy Scoville is really fun. It has some great projects for babies 6-18 months.

What I like:

·         It's a box! That's right - the title ain't lyin'. Inside are 20 "portable project cards" that have step by step instructions on how to knit sweaters, booties, blankets, hats, & Scarves.

·         The cards are colorful, with good pictures and a glossy finish. It's nice to be able to take the card out for the specific project you're working on and not worry about it getting all crumpled up.

·         There are some really cute designs! There is an adorable cardigan for a little boy and this cute pixie dress for a little girl that I definitely want to make someday.

·         There is an extra card that has a list of abbreviations, types of yarn to use, and a yarn conversion chart (for all those metric people?)

What I don't like:

·         A few of the designs are outdated (Hello 80s!) but I think if you just change the color yarn you could easily fix that.

·         There's no difficulty scale on the cards so you'll really have to read through the instructions first to make sure you'll be able to do the project. (Not that you shouldn't do that anyways)

The Best Sweater I've Ever Made

The design for this sweater comes from Knitting on Top of the World. (Yes, this is the ONE thing I've made from that book) As I said in yesterday's post, I'm a big anglophile. And who doesn't love argyle?? When I heard that my friend Kim was having a boy, I knew I had to make this sweater. She was definitely going to have a preppy kid, and what's more preppy than little argyle designs on the elbows??

I had knitted with 2 colors of yarn before, but this was my first time knitting with 3. It is pretty time consuming. When you're knitting with multiple colors, the strings intertwine so after each row you have to go back and untangle them. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn and picked colors that matched what was in the book.

It took me a few months to make, but I LOVE the design. The braid on the collar is just TOO cute. The book also had fun ideas on how to use a baby sweater when it no longer fits the baby - put it on a stuffed animal, or wear it as a hat (you just tie the arms together at the top). 

Wednesday Review: Knitting on Top of the World

Knitting on Top of the World: The Global Guide to Traditions,Techniques and Design by Nicky Epstein is a very large hardcover book with amazing designs.

What I like:

·         The book is divided into different parts of the world - Windswept Isles, Old World, Mediterranean, Far East, and the New World. Each section begins with an overview of that area, giving a short history of knitting, what influenced popular patterns, colors, and designs in that part of the world.

·         The design projects in each section tell you which country it's from and what kind of experienced knitter you need to be to complete the pattern (novice, skilled, or master).

·          Each design has great photos that look like they came out of a Vogue magazine. The patterns are pretty easy to read and the graphs are in color which is very helpful.

·         There's a good variety of projects - cardigans, shawls, mittens (one's called "Princess Bride Mittens" how can I NOT make these!?!), caps, camisoles, capes, socks, bags, and even a stuffed animal.

·         Many of the patterns have flair like pearls or metallic yarn weaved in which look pretty cool.

·         Because I'm an anglophile, of course my favorite section is the "Windswept Isles." It's full of fair Isle, aran, and argyle patterns. LOVE.

·         The last section is dedicated to abbreviations, a glossary, and techniques. Always helpful to have this in a book!

What I don't like:

·         Some of the designs are just plain weird. I don't know if it’s because the designs are foreign and I'm just not used to them, or if some of them are just too artsy-fartsy.

I would knit probably 85% of this book. Most of the designs are breathtaking. So far I've only made one thing from it, but it is by far the coolest thing I've ever knitted. Check back tomorrow to read all about it ;)

Scarves - Because it's February

It's February. It's also 65 degrees outside. Mother Nature what are you doing to me!?! I'm so confused. *sobbing*

As I've said in previous posts, in the first 10 years of my knitting life I really only made scarves. Scarves from one ball of yarn. One Christmas my sister and I decided to knit Harry Potter scarves as presents. Watch out - here comes TWO colors!

 This is from my sister's Harry Potter themed 18th birthday party. 

She was Hermione (of course) and I was... random Gryffindor #1 :(

Also, if you haven't already heard J.K. Rowling has announced she's writing a NEW BOOK. THE WHOLE WORLD REJOICES. It's supposed to be a book for adults (yay!) and not about wizards (boo!). I'm sure it will be amazing - that woman has some serious creative juices flowing around in her brain.

I repeated the Hogwarts-esque scarf pattern for my own alma mater. TRIBE PRIDE! Too bad they're pretty horrible at football and I never went to games to actually wear it. Maybe homecoming this year??

Wednesday Review: More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts

Time to punch out today's Wednesday Review while I'm still on my sugar high from yesterday. (I think I ate about 239 cupcakes and other sweets and then topped it off with a giant bowl of ice cream and a cocktail...I'm going for HEALTHY here people.) More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson is the follow up to Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, which I don't own and have never seen. So while I can't compare it to the first book I can say that I really enjoy the sequel.

What I like:

·         The book is divided by the time it should take to make the gift - 2-4 hours, 4-6, 6-8 and longer.

·         When I knit I usually think clothes, but this has other fun things like hot coffee-cup sleeves, ornaments, baskets, bookmarks (not sure I'd ever make a knit bookmark - but good for a beginner)

·         Each pattern tells you the exact yarn that was used in the photographs and has a little intro paragraph that elaborates on the gift.

·         There is a section on wrapping hand knit gifts - great ideas for using yarn to embellish the wrapped present.

·         There is a glossary for techniques and abbreviations as well as a step by step tutorial (with pictures!) for a few of the techniques.  I used this to learn the Kitchener Stitch when I was making socks.

What I don't like:

·         I think the time sections are if you already know how to make the item. The socks I made using the pattern in the 2-4 hours section took me about 3 to make one sock. This is mostly due to the fact that I had to look up a lot of the stitches. Now that I know what I'm doing it'll be interesting to see how long it takes me to make a pair.

·       Like all craft books - it's rare that I like 100% of the ideas in them. This one has a few that I know I'll never make - a plush house, seat covers, and the bookmarks.

I like this book and am excited to time myself when I make something out of it. 

Thank God For YouTube

I did it!! I finished my *top secret* project this weekend! I went to Michael's to pick up a few supplies for the finishing touches. Did you know there's a Michael's App you can get for you phone? It's amazing! You can access the coupons directly from the app so no more getting to the store and panicking because you realized you forgot to print them out.

I immediately dove into my next project - knitting socks! There are a lot of new knitting techniques involved in knitting socks that I've never done before. I read a few descriptions online and was really having trouble picturing what they were telling me to do. Then it hit me - YouTube! After watching a few videos of a lady with a cool accent knitting them, it was much easier to follow my own pattern.

Yay for technology!

My Very First Sweater

The summer of 2006 I decided it was time to learn how to knit for real. I was going to teach myself how to do all the fancy stuff and how to read patterns. If you're a non-knitter, then you you'll know how I felt when I looked at patterns:

Lace Panel A
Row 1 (RS): K1, yo, k to end - 24 sts at the end of this row.
Row 2: K1, yo, k1, p to last st, k1 - 25 sts at the end of this row.
Row 3: K1, yo, k1, *k2, yo, k2tog; rep from * across to last 3 sts, k3 - 26 sts at the end of this row.
Row 4: Rep Row 2 - 27 sts at the end of this row.
Rows 5-12: Rep Rows 1-4 - 35 sts at the end of Row 12.
Row 13: Rep Row 1 - 36 sts at the end of Row 13.

(taken from a Diagonal Eyelet Baby Blanket pattern)

Mumbo-jumbo right?

I taught myself what the abbreviations meant and practiced a few of the techniques (yarn-overs, decreasing, cables, etc.) and decided I was finally ready to make a sweater! I thought a baby sweater would be best because obviously a smaller sweater would be less work! (wrong) I found a free pattern online and it was easy enough at first. It has you knit the entire thing continuously. (Instead of in pieces and sewing together at the end which is how every other sweater I've made is done). I even had to use double ended knitting needles to knit in the round for the sleeves. I had some holes here and there where I had lost a stitch - but my aunt showed me how to sew them up so they're unnoticeable.

Caron's Simply Soft yarn is the BEST. They have wonderful colors and it is really soft. I still need to add buttons - I was thinking purple flowers or something along those lines. Someday I'll get around to adding those.  

Because I Love All Things Harry Potter

The first adult sweater I ever made was of course, Harry Potter themed. I made it as a Christmas present for my college roommate (also a big HP fan). My Aunt Robin who is a ferocious knitter gave me a bunch of her old patterns and told me which ones would be easiest to make at my skill level. I picked a simple pull-over pattern which has you knit the front, back, and sleeves separately and then sew them all together at the end. 

I love you Ron!!!

I bought Red Heart yarn in Maroon and Gold (Yeah Gryffindor!!) and plunged in. Red Heart isn't the softest yarn so you'd definitely need to wear an undershirt. Knitting a present like this is so fun. The whole time I was knitting I kept chuckling to myself thinking of the look on Katie's face when she opened the present to find a Weasley sweater with her initial on it.

I made another one the following Christmas for our other roommate Barb. Again at this time I still didn't know how to knit with 2 colors so I embroidered the letters. The sweaters turned out great. The pattern is kind of a chunky sweater which I think is perfect - looks just like something Mrs. Weasley would make!

Next Up

I made some good progress on the "top-secret" project this weekend. I can't wait to finish it so I can start on something NEW! Next in line on the "to-craft" list will most likely be this:

I found this pattern a few years back but haven't been able to make use of it as the first round of my friend's babies were all boys. Where this may have made a good present for a boy a few centuries back, I just don't think it'd fly today. But now I'm getting this pattern back out of the craft-vault as my friend E is 6 months pregnant with a baby GIRL! I wont have it ready right when the baby is born (unless I have some crazy crafting miracle?) but I'm still excited to try this pattern - I mean, it has PUFFED SLEEVES. Anne would be so proud.

Blanket for Baby P

This was one of the first blankets I ever made - not my best work, but I do love block pattern. It was for my roommate at the time to give to her newborn niece.

The block pattern is alternating stockinette and garter stitches. I embroidered the 'P' into the blanket because at the time I didn't know how to knit with 2 different yarns. Speaking of yarn, I used Bernat Baby Coordinates yarn which is very soft and kind of crimped - great for newborn projects! And who doesn't love a good pink/green combo?