{made} — sea green scarf I needed a simple pattern to work on while flying back to Michigan, this worked out perfect. I’ve been wanted to try this pattern out for some time now, one of the girls that works at my local yarn shop did a super cute one and ever since I saw hers I’ve wanted one of my own.  I love this yarn, it’s pretty basic, but it really knits up nice. It has a good weight to it while still being delicate. I haven’t found it out here in LA yet, but the yarn shop back in Michigan carries it so I restock every time I’m home. Also had fun button hunting while there, found this sweet brass looking one that reminded me of vintage ceiling tiles. It is a little heavy for this lace, but I’ll make due because I like it too much. Of course, as soon as I finished my scarf, it warmed up here in LA so I will have to wait a bit to enjoy it. 

{made} — sea green scarf

I needed a simple pattern to work on while flying back to Michigan, this worked out perfect. I’ve been wanted to try this pattern out for some time now, one of the girls that works at my local yarn shop did a super cute one and ever since I saw hers I’ve wanted one of my own. 

I love this yarn, it’s pretty basic, but it really knits up nice. It has a good weight to it while still being delicate. I haven’t found it out here in LA yet, but the yarn shop back in Michigan carries it so I restock every time I’m home. Also had fun button hunting while there, found this sweet brass looking one that reminded me of vintage ceiling tiles. It is a little heavy for this lace, but I’ll make due because I like it too much.

Of course, as soon as I finished my scarf, it warmed up here in LA so I will have to wait a bit to enjoy it. 

04/17/2011 knitting, button lace scarf fiber art
{made} — rustic cable bobble bag Knitted up this cute little bag the other day. Here are my notes on the pattern and process of making it…   Used two skeins of yarn doubled up, the pattern says to use two skeins but never specified it was doubled up, so started it with just one strand and it was really loose; had to restart with two and it’s much better. Guess I spaced out on that detail. The bobbles are a little more difficult with the yarn doubled up, had to really concentrate on them and just take my time. Also, after the bubble is complete you have to push it through to the right side of the bag. Another little thing that I found is the last stitch after you bind off for the handle is a knit stitch not a purl indicated on the chart… it ends up working out right the rest of the way, but the stitch that is left on the needle from binding off screws that up I think. Just continue working in the seed stitch and it’ll be fine. I was concerned that the seed stitch on one of the side seam would look wrong since the last stitch and first stitch of the next row are the same (because of the even number of stitches in the pattern) but it wasn’t hardly noticeable when completed. I did add a crocheted slip stitch edging around both the handle openings with one strand of yarn to sturdy them up and make them a little cleaner looking. This really helped in my opinion. Make sure you are overly generous with the tail yarn from the cast on that is used to join the bottom of the bag. I left a little more than two yards and ran out with only 5 stitches to seam up… grr. But I did use a slightly larger crochet hook to do the seaming because I was having too much trouble trying to grab both strands of yarn with the smaller hook. When binding off the top, I kept the seed stitch pattern going instead of just knitting it off. Now I just need to sew up a cute pocket lining and it’ll be fully complete! Cute pattern, glad I got it.This pattern is available for $1.99 USD on Ravelry. {photography: Jill Cannon}

{made} — rustic cable bobble bag

Knitted up this cute little bag the other day. Here are my notes on the pattern and process of making it…

 

Used two skeins of yarn doubled up, the pattern says to use two skeins but never specified it was doubled up, so started it with just one strand and it was really loose; had to restart with two and it’s much better. Guess I spaced out on that detail.

The bobbles are a little more difficult with the yarn doubled up, had to really concentrate on them and just take my time. Also, after the bubble is complete you have to push it through to the right side of the bag.

Another little thing that I found is the last stitch after you bind off for the handle is a knit stitch not a purl indicated on the chart… it ends up working out right the rest of the way, but the stitch that is left on the needle from binding off screws that up I think. Just continue working in the seed stitch and it’ll be fine.

I was concerned that the seed stitch on one of the side seam would look wrong since the last stitch and first stitch of the next row are the same (because of the even number of stitches in the pattern) but it wasn’t hardly noticeable when completed.

I did add a crocheted slip stitch edging around both the handle openings with one strand of yarn to sturdy them up and make them a little cleaner looking. This really helped in my opinion.

Make sure you are overly generous with the tail yarn from the cast on that is used to join the bottom of the bag. I left a little more than two yards and ran out with only 5 stitches to seam up… grr. But I did use a slightly larger crochet hook to do the seaming because I was having too much trouble trying to grab both strands of yarn with the smaller hook.

When binding off the top, I kept the seed stitch pattern going instead of just knitting it off.

Now I just need to sew up a cute pocket lining and it’ll be fully complete!

Cute pattern, glad I got it.
This pattern is available for $1.99 USD on Ravelry.

{photography: Jill Cannon}

07/30/2010 knitting, cable, homemade, bobble purse clutch
made — vintage kitchen towels These three knitted kitchen towels were mother’s day presents this year. Usually the thought of knitting a kitchen towel sounds so boring and lame, but this pattern looked so fun and unique I had to give it a try. And, I love them! I see myself making a few more in the future because they are so quick and easy to do — It helps that every RS row is a decrease row, speeding up the project as you go along making it fly by! I used Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton yarn because it was so ridiculously soft and came in such beautiful colors, but I was pretty disappointed in the quality especially for the price. It had a lot of pilling while working with it and 5 out of the 7 balls of yarn I used for these towels had multiple joining knots in them — making it really difficult to hide because they always tend to pop-up in the most inconvenient places. One 50g ball of yarn was enough though for the bottom portion of the towel. Definitely get two balls of yarn for the top contrasting color, you will be able to get two towels out of them. This really simple and quick pattern is from Canadian Living, give it a try! {photography: Jill Cannon}

made — vintage kitchen towels

These three knitted kitchen towels were mother’s day presents this year. Usually the thought of knitting a kitchen towel sounds so boring and lame, but this pattern looked so fun and unique I had to give it a try. And, I love them! I see myself making a few more in the future because they are so quick and easy to do — It helps that every RS row is a decrease row, speeding up the project as you go along making it fly by!

I used Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton yarn because it was so ridiculously soft and came in such beautiful colors, but I was pretty disappointed in the quality especially for the price. It had a lot of pilling while working with it and 5 out of the 7 balls of yarn I used for these towels had multiple joining knots in them — making it really difficult to hide because they always tend to pop-up in the most inconvenient places. One 50g ball of yarn was enough though for the bottom portion of the towel. Definitely get two balls of yarn for the top contrasting color, you will be able to get two towels out of them.

This really simple and quick pattern is from Canadian Living, give it a try!

{photography: Jill Cannon}

05/24/2010 knitting, handmade towels kitchen home cotton mother's day