MS Slippers

My pal Andy has MS. And instead of getting that bit of news and running out and feeling super sorry for herself, she did something else instead.
She started knitting. And the money she makes from her endeavors online goes to support other artists living with the disease.

She has slippers and baby legwarmers. And she just fired up an Etsy store as well to multi-promote herself.

Check out her main site at MS Slippers and also her new Etsy store.

World's Softest Baby Blanket

My BIL and SIL just had their 3rd girl at Christmas. Making a baby blanket for her was how I spent November and part of December. I cast on 110 (give or take, can’t remember now) and just did straight knitting of each color before the skein ran out. I used 2 skeins of each and, hold on to your hats, it’s pajama yarn and was the SOFTEST blanket in the history of babies, I kid you not!

1950s Felted Bag for Gina

My friend Gina needed a pick-me-up. So, I attempted to make a felted bag, a bit bigger in size than my usual “purse”, more of a carpet bag size. As I was working on it, my MIL remarked that the colors and the buttons I had chosen reminded her of the 50s. I didn’t choose them that way on purpose, I was just very fond of the way it was coming together. My add-in yarn didn’t felt the way I had hoped even after two washings ,but Gina said she didn’t mind.

Pattern:

CO 50, knit 20 using double yarn to make the bottom more solid and sturdy.

When I started working in the round, I only used one yarn. Six rows of brown, six rows of blue, twelve rows of brown, then I used the entire skein of the Austermann novelty yarn with the pink Cascade. I repeated the pattern for the top of the bag and made I-cord handles.

Yarn used: Novelty yarn - Austermann Colada, color 5; Cascade 220 colors 8686, 7815, 9477.

Before felting, it was 18″ wide and 15″ tall.

Florida Gator Felted Bag

My pal Heather needed this. She’s a Florida grad and though my allegiances lie elsewhere, I wanted to make her something fun she’d really be able to show off!

PATTERN:

I used Cascade yarn in colors 7818 and 9441 and added in Gedifra Serano novelty yarn in color 4422.

Cast on 36 and knit 30 rows. I made the bottom of the bag orange then started making stripes 4 rows wide using the add-in yarn on the orange stripes. When finished, the bag was 13″ wide and 9″ tall. After felting, it was 10 1/2″ wide and 6 1/2″ tall.

I got Florida Gator novelty fabric to line the inside of the bag. To complete this obnoxiously bright felted bag masterpiece I added orange handles and big gator GREEN buttons!

I hope Heather likes it a lot, she sure is a great pal to have!

Bright and Happy Felted Bag

Angela’s had a tough year. So, when I realized that I was going to make her a felted bag for her belated birthday gift, I picked the brightest and most obnoxiously yarns and add-ins I could combine so that, no matter how dark her mood, the bag’s colors would perk up the most cloudy day. I really hope she likes it!

Pattern:
I can’t remember how many I cast on, I think 38. Then I knit about 30 rows, give or take. With these bags, I just keep knitting until I feel the urge to change things up a bit!

Bottom stripe: Cascade sapphire heather (9456) with Cascade Alma Cajun Spice (330) add in yarn which I knit until the novelty yarn ran out and switched.

Middle stripe: Cascade goldenrod (7827) with Trendsetter Joyspring (1194) which I, again, knit until the add in yarn ran out.

Top stripe: Cascade violet (7809) with Trendsetter Shadow Metal purple passion (70 .

I did the violet yarn in an I-cord for the handle. The finished bag (before felting) was 17 inches wide and 15 inches tall.

School Spirit Scarf

Since we were having so many weeks of “yummy” temperatures hovering around zero, it seemed, more than ever, a great time to churn out more scarves!

And, when there’s a special occasion or major or even minor holiday…well, I’m just a “giver” people, so I thought, hey, nothing says Valentines more than, um, orange and black????

Our school colors are orange or black, so I made four scarves for some of the teachers (not all, just picked a few to get some “extra” loot aside from the small heart full of chocolates I sent) between the four kids, they have sixteen teachers, people they take lessons from, etc…not including the 2-3 Sunday School teachers apiece either. Phew!

Therefore, I made two scarves for the two teachers at preschool where Em just started attending since we missed Christmas. I also made one for Zach’s 2nd grade teacher and Sammie’s swim lesson teacher because I knew they’d love the scarves and they really go above and beyond with my kids and what they do.

School Spirit Scarf - turned out big, chunky, squishy and soft…loved it!

Size 19 needles

Yarn used: Plymouth Encore Chunky color 217 (black) and Gedifra Serano color 4422 (dark orange)

Scarf for Joe

I’ve written about my brother Joseph on my other blog here and here. He’s autistic. He’ll be 20 years old March 1st. And when he was here for a visit at Christmas, I told him (and my ex-stepdad and my other brother Sam) that I’d make everybody a very “manly” looking scarf if they gave me some idea of a color they’d like. I did actually finish those up a couple weeks ago and sent them off, but didn’t get around to posting it until now. I think Joe will really like his, quite wide, warm and snuggly with a very “masculine” yarn. And the color is lovely.

Wavy Ribbon Scarf

Finally did a scarf that was a little beyond a regular knit stitch. And I’ve been working on it for myself (at last, a project for myself!) forever because I was making so many things for other people. But this is one you need to knit and actually pay attention because there is a distinct pattern that makes the wavy rows. I lost my place and had to figure out where I was more than once! Absentmindedly throwing stitches on your needles is not the way to do this project!

Wavy Ribbon Scarf

Yarn used: Segue by Trendsetter, Monet color 1554 (gorgeous, not cheap)

Needles: US 15

Pattern:

Row 1: K2, then K wrap 2 (4 times), K4, K wrap 2 (4 times), K2

Row 2: Knit dropping all extra stitches

Row 3: K wrap 2 (2 times), K4, K wrap 2 (4 times), K4, K wrap 2 (2 times)

Row 4: Knit dropping all extra stitches

Repeat!! I wore mine for the first time today and already got a compliment on it!

And So It Begins...

You know you’ve “arrived” when someone wants to pay you for doing your hobbies.

About a year ago, I made $250 making a “fill in the photos” scrapbook of baby firsts for a grandma to give her son and daughter-in-law for their new baby. Woot! Gotta love that.

Then, since I’ve been the felted bag factory as of late, a friend of mine was like, “Do you make those for people?” I made a deal with her, if she bought all the stuff for her felted bag, I’d knit it for her. So, last Saturday she and I went down to the yarn place and I helped her pick out the supplies. She had a headache when we left from all the choices one has to make. Did she want me to make her I-cord handles or did she want to buy handles? Did she need a snap? Did she want me to line it? The stuff she picked was gorgeous and very expensive, good thing she was financing this project!

I got the body of the bag finished last night and washed it, it’s now stretched over a shoebox and I’ll line it later today and attach the handles and snap tomorrow.

Will post the finished product when I’m done and maybe even a photo of the felted bag with its new owner, I hope she likes it!

A Crafter's Resolutions

I know a lot of people make goals for the new year, I’m the same. But having an attack plan about one’s hobbies isn’t a bad idea either and I’ve decided to do that for 2007 as well. What about you?

Read and learn more about how to use my camera and Photoshop - I got my Rebel in March, and I’ve taken almost 5,000 pictures. I can do a lot more to learn all the nuances and cool stuff that the camera does and I haven’t yet.

Scrapbook more - I didn’t get much scrapbooking done last year. I made one album and worked on some stuff for hubby’s firefighter scrapbooks, but I didn’t do very much overall.

Bake more - I love baking and trying out new techniques in the kitchen. I hardly did any of that last year.

Try new recipes - I need to go thru the zillions of cookbooks and tons of recipe cards I have and make something new more often instead of the “same old same old” I let myself get in a rut.

Knitting – I have a few projects on the immediate status. 4 scarves and two felted bags. I want to make sure the rest of the year I work on the kids’ Christmas stockings so they’ll all have them for next Christmas

Crosstitch – This may be my most ambitious goal, is that since it’s been so long since I’ve bothered to crosstitch at all, I want to complete two unfinished projects. I need to make this a priority above the other crafty things on the list.

Make elaborate birthday cakes - I want to make each of the kids really cool birthday cakes this year. I even want to figure out how to use fondant possibly. There’s a lot of research yet to do but it would be fun to really do up the birthday cakes big and each one can be unique.

Sew girls a summer outfit - I had a lot of fun sewing Zach’s Halloween costume because my sewing machine hadn’t been doing anything more exciting than putting on Boy Scout patches. I’d like to maybe just at least sew the girls each an outfit for summer. Nothing elaborate, but something simple enough to keep me remembering how to use my sewing machine!

Read at least 8 books in addition to my book club selections - I already guarantee myself reading for my book club. And then I look at my stack of books still in the pile of wanting to conquer right away and I never manage to read many more even though I want to. I got a good start on accomplishing this in 2006 by starting the Outlander series. I’ve started the 4th book so finishing that one as well as 5 and 6 will help me in this goal.

Finish planting flowerbed by driveway, do backdoor flowerbed - I have two flowerbeds in highly visible areas of my yard that need my attention. We’ll put in some landscaping brick, give the soil an overhaul and I’ll plant some fun and interesting things in these two beds. I got a headstart in the fall in one of the beds by putting in 50 tulip bulbs. We’ll see how those look come spring!

Little Girl Popcorn Felted Bag

This is the felted bag I made for my niece who turns 3 today. The only major difference being that using the popcorn made most of it end up on what is technically the “inside” of the bag. But once you felt them, you can’t really tell the difference anyway, so I made that the outside and put the I-cord handle on and she’s got herself a cute bag now!

Mother Daughter Felted Bags

These are the felted bags I made for my SIL and niece for Christmas. I used the same yarn for each, the only difference is my niece’s bag is smaller and I made her I-cord handled. For my SIL’s bag I lined it and sewed on handled. I hope they have fun having matching bags!

Vicky's Felted Bag

This bag I made for my stepmom. She likes pink and black and I decided to jump into the wide world of lining the bags, hadn’t done that before. The first one turned out OK and I made a couple of mistakes, but this one went great and I think the lining looks fantastic!

I used Cascade yarn in Black and added in Trendsetter yarn in Sorbet (12) and I added some eyelashy stuff at the top. If I can find my “pattern” around here somewhere, I’ll post the dimensions later. I bought handles to put on instead of doing the I-cord. It turned out great and I think the second best of all the felted bags I made for Christmas gifts.

I found my notes. Before washing (which is all I wrote down, ugh!) it was 16″ across the bottom, 10″ high, 13″ across the top. I knit the Trendsetter thru the whole bag then the eyelashy stuff is the top 3″.

Felted Bag # 1

I’m making six felted bags for Christmas gifts, and if I manage to finish up the last one, I’ll try to make each of my boys a scarf in their school colors (or something NOT girly, because that would NOT be cool).

Anyway, here is the first bag I got done. With before felting and after felting photos. I may put a button on it, haven’t decided yet.

Pattern

Cast on 36. Knit 16 rows. After I began the sides, knitting in the round, I knit 4 rows of Cascade black before I began adding Trendsetter Yarn Sorbet color 1027 every other row, then finished with 6 more rows of just the black. I made an I-cord 40″ long for the handle and the purse itself was 14″ wide and 10″ tall before felting. After felting, the bag was 10″ wide and 6″ tall. It turned out great and will be perfect for my sister-in-law who is not flashy or extroverted, she likes things simple and this bag is just that.

Notre Dame Scarf

Another day, another scarf. I am working on a ton of felted bags though, so I’ll post those, they’re coming out fantastic!

So, if you read my “regular” blog, you’ll know we are Notre Dame season ticket holders and make many weekend pilgrimages during the fall months to games.

We also stay with our very dear friends who live there (and are cheering on game day as well) and I like to make them my guinea pigs for some of my creations.

They have a 12-year old daughter who is not a girly girl, but she is a huge Irish fan. So, I told her mom I’d make her an awesome, not girly, scarf to wear to Notre Dame games. And I got it done this week to have hubby take to the last home game this season against Army and give to Brookie.

Notre Dame scarf pattern (such as it is):

size 17 needles

Cast on 9

Yarn used: Rowan Lurex shimmer (made in the UK) this gold yarn is supposed to replicate the Gold Dome. The blue yarn is schoeller/stahl Portofino Souffle in color 4719 marine (made in Germany).

Scarf for Kim

My friend Kim (of which I have many Kims in my life for some crazy reason) is a fabulous gal. And her birthday is the day before Thanksgiving, at which time, I will not see her. But I do have time to get together for lunch with her this week and wanted to give her her birthday present early.

Her favorite colors are lime green and pink. So, while this scarf may not be your cup of tea, it is totally up her alley and she will love it. I will have to try to remember my camera to take a picture of her wearing it.

I used 17 needles and cast on 10.

My yarn selections were Crystal Palace Squiggle Yarn Tulips and Cascade Yarn Venezia in color 115. These yarns were very easy to work with and I finished this scarf in record time. It was fast.