Pleats Purse - Knit Version

Here is the knit version of my Pleats Purse pattern. After the original crochet version came out, there were some requests for a knit version, so after many hours and revisions I am proud to present the Pleats Purse - Knit Version. It uses a fun cast on and is a fairly quick project with great results! I am grateful to have it tested by legknit aka Sue, StarKnits aka Allena, and TrulyBlessed aka Debi from the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry.

Lyra Hat

I made this Lyra hat from the Golden Compass a little while back with 6-7 strands of dk wool from my stash and a strand of bulky. It looked a little funky with all the different colors so I fulled it a little so that they would blend together. Of course it's warmer now and probably too late to wear but it'll keep. Here's a pic before fulling.

Anthropologie-inspired Capelet

These four balls of a soft cashmerino blend have been in my stash since I got them in a swap last year. It's really nice soft yarn and I wanted to make something special with it but nothing came to mind, I didn't really want a scarf or a hat or mittens so they sat there.

Well, a couple weeks ago, I was staying home, trying to fight off an infection, and starting to get cabin fever. I found this Anthropologie-inspired Capelet on Craftster and thought it might work since the lengths of the sleeve and bodice are variable. So I worked it until all the yarn was used up. I'd prefer a little longer bodice but otherwise I am very happy with my new sweater.

Scored!

I'm so happy, I scored this Vogue Knitting book, Very Easy Knits, on PaperBackSwap.com. In hardcover! It came in the mail really quickly and is in great condition. This is my favorite knitting book that I've seen so far. Although the styling, photos, hairstyles, etc. are a little dated, most of the items are basics.

New Year

I hate being sick. My allergies were very bad in November and my doctor has told me when that happens I have to be very careful to prevent a sinus infection. Well I was fighting it and trying to ward it off. I realized it got me though when I kept wanting to spend the whole day in bed, in addition to coughing up some nasty colored stuff. I got some uber strong antibiotics from the doc, didn't recognize the name of the stuff and when I googled it, it said it was the last resort meds when others haven't worked. Even then, it took a while.

I was barely able to get the package together for my holiday swap pal, made a couple of cute ornaments, slippers, shawl, can't remember everything. Ooh, I wish I could have taken pics.

For short periods, I worked on some knitting projects. I got this marble yarn I'd been eyeing and made a pair of fingerless gloves. I was a little worried about all the shaping and doing the fingers. Very nice!
I also started the Donna sweater with my bag of Cache yarn that I've been accumulating with discount coupons. I had to make a lot of adjustments, crossing my fingers, hope they work out. I've finished the back and am working on the front now.

Last, I've been wanting to do a diagonal wrap for a while so I finally got that started too.
Now that I'm feeling better, I wanted to let you know that I've got some new cool crochet patterns coming soon. Perfecting the details now. Stay tuned!

tags: knitting

Week-end Projects

I had a great crafting week-end, did a little shopping for lining for the purse for my Crochetville fall purse swap and got some goodies to go with. I made excellent progress on many of the projects I've got going. I can't share them yet because some of them are secret for my purse and swap buddies and some are drying. I'm just so happy with all the work.

Here's a close up of Glampyre's One Skein Wonder I'm doing as a knitting lesson. It took me a while to figure out what to do and I'm finally getting good at increasing stitches and using a circular needle.

I'm using a skein of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes out of my stash. It was one of my first dye projects. Is it a little bright? I was thinking of overdyeing it but it's growing on me.

Tags: one skein wonder

Cable Wristwarmers

I've always had a mental block about knitted cables ... somehow they are so lovely but in my head I thought so difficult, I couldn't do that. Well, I decided I would knit cables so armed with my clunky needles and Bernat Softee Chunky yarn in gray, this intrepid knitter (hah!) started with one twist and after a bit of awkwardness soon had one rectangle with thick twining cables! Cool.

I didn't want a scarf or a big project so I made another one and they became wristwarmers. Soft and warm. This was a really fun fast way to try a new, albeit intimidating stitch. Funny how these little things can make one so happy.

Technorati tags: yarn knitting wristwarmers

Newbie Knitted Scarf

Whenever I go to my lys I always touch Moda Dea's Cache yarn, it's so pretty, variegated wool wound with a touch of glittery gold. I picked up a skein at my lys and wanted a simple little project, something that would show off the color and texture.

Working with basic knitting stitches this lovely scarf is a great beginner project.

Technorati tags: yarn knitting

Newbie Knitter

I thought I'd try knitting again. I had an old set of metal needles and some yarn in my stash, but I was quickly bored and I'm not sure I'm even doing it right. A couple of books said it was easier for beginners to use bulky yarn and big needles so I dug out this bulky wool I had and dyed it some great colors for fall and winter. What a good excuse to dye more yarn!
Then I made some big clunky needles with a wood dowel using instructions on Craftster. That was really fun and they turned out nice too.

On to the knitting. I found a website with good video instruction and that helped get me started. Using stockinette stitch, this bulky yarn works up pretty quickly. It's so much easier to figure out. I think I've got the hang of purling but I'm still all elbows with the knitting stitch. The variegated yarn helps to see progress too. Along the way a couple of stitches disappeared while I was watching tv and being clueless about what to do, I frogged the whole thing. I guess it's good practice.

Technorati tags: yarn dyeing koolaid