Tag Archive | makers making

Two Knitted Hats and a Cute Puppy

Okay, shhhh, do you hear that? Yes, that! That, my friend, is silence. Something that has been hard to find in the last three weeks. The husband went back to to work on Monday and today the children went back to school. I have enjoyed having them all home with me (for the most part) but we had enough togetherness. Now it is time for the alone-ness. Okay, sure, the puppy is home and soon enough will be pestering me because I don’t want to take him for a walk in 5 degree weather with wind chills of 15 below. But right now he is sleeping and I am listening to just the wind blow outside and it’s delightful.

Right, so, knitting! Yesterday at this time I had two half-finished hats. This morning, I have two completed hats! Once we did our running around, I had nothing to do but knit. Of course, first I had to survive errands with two kids who were tired of each other and me. But we managed to get shoes at Target without ANY unplanned purchases. We went to Joann and left empty-handed because the yarn was all 25% off so I couldn’t use my coupons. I’m telling you, I was strong yesterday! It must have been because I was wearing my new “I Am Strong” necklace. I must wear that every time I go to Target.

Okay, seriously, hats. I am pleased as punch with them. First up, we have a Spring Beret knit in Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk. This yarn was heavenly to knit with: soft but strong. It didn’t slip around while I was doing the lace bits, which was nice. And it’s the prettiest baby blue color, my photos don’t do it justice. I think it will be perfect for those April days when we’re all tired of the brisk wind and eager for the return of warmer temperatures. I used this Spring Beret pattern and followed it exactly (except for when I made mistakes and had to maybe k2tog or m1 to get my stitch counts right) for the less slouchy version.

Secondly, I finished the swirly beanie for the boy. This was the easiest swirl pattern ever, and yet I made so many mistakes. I had to frog back several rows once, and then frog the whole thing and start over. But once I realized I had to work on it alone, it was fine. It’s called Odessa and written to include beads, but of course I left those off. My 11yo son might not appreciate beads. So he got some fantastic Nerd Girl Yarn in the Foxy line. The colorway is called #nofilter and the colors are so bright and vivid. I truly love this yarn and can’t wait to start knitting up more.

It felt good to get those done. I’m down to only 4 WIPs, which of course means I will be starting something new today. Our snow and cold, plus the peace and quiet, means I will be snuggling in with a blanket, yarn, tea, and some Grey’s Anatomy. I expect great progress today. For now, I will leave you with a photo of puppy, Captain Jack. He loves the cold and snow. He wants to smell all the smells and eat all the crunchy things.

Knitted Boot Cuffs

Jan6

How is it already the 6th and I haven’t blogged once yet this year? I don’t know. I just don’t know. All I can say is that the kids have kept me busy. I took the girl out yesterday to spend her gift cards and get some jeans long enough for her long legs, and made her happy by also buying her a black pair of Converse. It’s the little things, you know. While we were out, I spotted this little necklace, and it was well worth the $2 for those days when I need a reminder.Today it’s the boy’s turn for new shoes, so I get to go to Target. I do love Target. Here’s hoping I can restrain myself from buying all the things. Plus I’m going to Joann!

I have been knitting, too, but not nearly as much as I was before Christmas. I had a request for some boot cuffs from a sweet friend, so those went to the top of my list. She’s seen two of them, so I can share those, but the other she hasn’t seen yet so I’ll wait a bit longer.These, I’m proud to say, are my own design. I started with a honeycomb pattern and didn’t like how it was knitting up. I needed to use this gray yarn (Knit Picks Brava Bulky in Silver. Love it.) but didn’t find many good bulky boot cuff patterns. So I just kind of winged it to make this nifty spiral with just knits and purls. You can see the details on Ravelry here. These are a basic boot cuff done in basic cream acrylic. I’d love to link to the pattern but Ravelry’s having issues with it right now. So just search for “Basic Boot Cuff” and you’ll see it. It’s nothing splashy but still cute. Might be cuter with a little button or pin at the top…hmm…I might have to play with that idea in the future.

Now that those are done, I’ve got two hats on my needles that I’m eager to get back to. One’s for the boy and one’s for inventory. I really need to get my butt in gear and start listing more things on Etsy. I got a review for my first sale and it was a fantastic, 5-star review! So exciting! I just need to get the kids back to school so I can focus again. Fingers crossed it happens tomorrow, but with wind chills at 20 below zero, I’m not holding my breath. Maybe Thursday will be my day.

Last Yarn of 2014

Dec31

We spent yesterday out in Lawrence, Kansas, braving the wind to wander around Massachusetts Street. Of course we visited the Dusty Bookshelf and Brits (where the kids drooled over all the Doctor Who stuff for ages) but for me the highlight was the Yarn Barn. I found a few skeins to help me end the year on a high note.

I found a big selection of Malabrigo Worsted and fell in love. The colors are gorgeous, rich and deep, and they make such fabulous combinations. I restrained myself to just two skeins, Intenso and Wales Road. Aren’t they stunning? I also found the Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande. Now, I can get this yarn at my LYS, but I’ve never seen this lovely pink before. And I like it.In the sale section, I found some Classic Elite Inca Alpaca, which is one of my favorite yarns, and there were two shades of green. Alpaca on sale? Who can resist? When I got home, I put them together with these two skeins of purple and my oh my, I think this is beautiful. I have no idea what to make with them, though I’d like it to be something for me. Maybe a shawl? A loose, lacy scarf? Not sure yet, so they’re going on the shelf while I ponder.Tonight I will be knitting up some boot cuffs while I ring in the new year at home with my family. I’m looking ahead to 2015 with great optimism, and I wish you all the same. Happy New Year!

Bonus post: Crochet Beanie

Dec29

Two posts in one day? Craziness. Don’t get used to it; it may never happen again. Or if you’re one of my followers and you’re like “Another email? Jeez, enough already!”, don’t worry, I won’t make a habit of it. But I finished a hat today that I find quite appealing and I wanted to share it. (Okay, truth time: I needed to be alone so I am hiding in my craft room and this is as good a use of the time as anything else.) Anyway, this is the Bellisfaire Beanie from the book Crochet One Skein Wonders. It’s a delightful book and a delightful hat. This is my first crochet beanie. I haven’t done a lot of crochet hats, aside from character hats for kids, because I like the stretch and flexibility of a knit ribbed brim. But this was so cute, and I got new crochet hooks for Christmas that I wanted to try out. (I got the Clover Amour Hook set with the colorful cushioned handles. They worked wonderfully. I love them.) The brim is snug on me with my relatively small head, but I know it’ll stretch, so I’m optimistic that it’s an average woman’s size. It’s got a lot of slouch too, which mean it’s trendy…right? Right. I put it on and my daughter laughed, but I think it was more at me than the hat.

The yarn is Classic Elite Yarns Premiere, which is 50% Pima cotton and 50% tencel, and I used all of two skeins (216 yards). It’s soft and lightweight and should be a marvelous spring hat.

Bring on the Hats (and Headbands)

Dec28

Okay, so if you’ve been following along at all (and Thank You to those who have!!) you know I love to make hats. There are so many variations: color, yarn weight, style, size, decorations. They’re fast to make. They keep people warm and make them look cute. They’re just so darn fun to make. But I don’t wear many hats, so I have to find other homes for them, and my kids can only wear so many.

To go along with that, for the coming year I’ve challenged myself to build my bonny knits business. I want to do more craft shows throughout the year and have inquired about a big one in March. I want to grow the audience on my bonny knits Facebook page. I want to add to my Etsy shop. I’m encouraged on that front because I got my very first Etsy sale this week, and it felt GREAT. I sold my Wonder Woman knitted headband, so now I want/need to get some more unusual headbands up for sale. My head is spinning with ideas: superheroes, minions, TMNT, Doctor Who…all those cool pop culture fandoms. What would you want to see?

I want to improve my photography and show off my pieces with better photos. I’m better than I was a year ago, but I’ve got so far to go. I want to start using models (i.e. my family) and take them outside. If I take it seriously and be professional about every aspect of it, I believe the customers will be more likely to see it as worth the money.

Whoops, got distracted there. My point is, I want to focus mainly on hats. I like them and they sell well. I’ve got a lot of yarn and three books devoted to hats. I think what I’d like to do is pick a book and just work my way through it, making each hat in there. Not only would I end up with a large, varied inventory of hats, but I think I’d end up learning a lot of new techniques too. So watch for that; I think it’ll be a fun new regular feature on my blog starting next year.

Until then, you can look at my two newest hats, one from yesterday and one from the day before. The first is another Super Soft Merino Hat. It was supposed to be for me, but I really think I want one with lavender instead of royal purple, so this will go into my inventory. This is my third from this pattern but the first I’ve made with the size 11 needles (which I got for Christmas) and it came out a bit bigger than expected.Yesterday I pulled out my one and only skein of Noro yarn, a pretty rainbow blend of Kureyon. It’s a hugely popular brand and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I decided to do a spiral hat, choosing this one by Brittany Tyler. It was a fast, easy pattern and I loved watching the different colors emerge as I knit. But I was surprised by the yarn: it’s not really soft at all. It knit wonderfully; the slight stiffness made it easy to work with, and will help it hold its shape for ages. I just don’t think I could wear it, because I have a very low prickle tolerance. For those who like the warmth and look of wool, this is the hat for you! My good-natured son, who has a bigger head than I, was kind enough to model for me. But I think I need to stop posing things in front of the bookshelves. Surely I’m not the only one who gets distracted by looking at the titles in the background?

Today I’ve got a slouchy beanie on my hook. Yes, that’s right, I’m switching it up and making a crochet hat. Don’t worry, I’ll still be making other things, so it won’t be all hats all the time. Just most of the time!

Christmas Presents Unveiled

Dec27

I don’t know about all of you, but I was very tired yesterday. Christmas can wear a person out, what with all the shopping & wrapping & cooking & eating & cleaning & unwrapping & cleaning. But we had a wonderful two days of family time, so it was all worth it. And now that gifts have been given, I can share a few things I couldn’t share before.

The first is the Bumble Hat. He’s the Abominable Snowman from the Rudolph TV special and I found the link on Facebook. I was tempted to make one for myself but ended up making it for my aunt, who commented how much she liked it. I used some fuzzy white yarn from Joann (lost the ball band so I don’t know what it was, but not fun fur) and random acrylic from the stash for the face. He was so fun to make.I made a Jayne hat (from Firefly, I think. Or something like that.) for my sister and I think she liked it. I used Knit Picks Bulky, and the orange wasn’t quite as orange as it should be, but she assured me it was still acceptable. Our mother couldn’t figure out why she would want something like this, or how she could wear it out in public. Some things just can’t be explained.I made the hubby some fingerless gloves. He doesn’t wear gloves often but I figured maybe his hands get cold sometimes, and this way his fingers would be free. By some miracle, they actually fit! The pattern for these is called Maize, by Tin Can Knits, and there’s also a variation for a full mitten. I made them with Plymouth Baby Alpaca.Isn’t he cute? 🙂 You know who else is cute? My girl. I’d knit up another Super Soft Merino Hat for her in pink and gray but I knit it in front of her and told her it was for me. She was quite happy when she opened it Christmas morning. The experience of the boy’s hat did not go so well. I needed a box to wrap it in and in our box of boxes found one a good size. Without thinking, I reused it. The boy pulled off the paper and saw a box for a Doctor Who mug and got all excited, and I had to tell him it was a reused box. There were tears and I felt horrible. But after a few minutes, he recovered and didn’t seem to hold a grudge against the hat. Hmm, anything else? I think that might be all the gifty knitty things that I couldn’t share before. It was lovely because all the things I made were well-received and fit well. And I even managed to finish something new for myself just in time for the holidays: I bound off maybe five minutes before we left the house.That’s the Cupido Cowl knit in Knit Picks Reverie in Wine. I did not enjoy the knitting of it; too much knitting into purls which is not my favorite thing. But I do enjoy the finished project so much. It’s so soft and cozy, and not itchy at all. I have two more balls of the Reverie and I’ll make something else with it, but it’s going to be a very simple pattern next time!

I do hope the holidays went well for the rest of you too. I’m looking ahead to the new year with a lot of hope and optimism, and I’ll be sharing my goals, big and small, with you soon. (hint: there is yarn involved.)

No Willpower = Swirly Knitted Cowl

Dec23

I failed. Those gorgeous skeins of yarn I wound yesterday? The ones that were supposed to be for after the holidays? I couldn’t wait to start playing with them. So I pulled out the Nerd Girl Yarns Foxy in #nofilter and cast on the Later, Gator! cowl. After maybe three hours’ knitting (super fast for me) I had a new cowl, and I love it. I made it with the girl in mind, and it looks lovely on her, but I was kind of sad to let it go. These aren’t colors I wear much, but I like how it turned out so much I kind of wanted to keep it. At least this way I’ll get to see it often, and even borrow it if I want. The blue reminds a bit of TARDIS blue, so I picked a pattern with a bit of wibbly-wobbly swirl to it. And the really cool thing is that this pattern only used around 95 yards, so I’ve still got around 180 yards left! So I’ve cast on a swirly hat, and the boy (also a Whovian) will get first crack at it. Merry Christmas Eve Eve, and happy knitting to all!

I’m Dreaming of Life After Christmas

Dec22

This morning, I spent some time in my craft room. I missed my yarn stash. I admired my beautiful yarns and wished I had time to knit all the things right now. Since that’s not possible, I settled for pulling out a few of the skeins I want to knit with soon after Christmas and getting them wound and ready. I’m picking based on the yarns, not the projects or the people. Just the yarns that are calling to me. I can’t wait.I’ve got some Berroco Borealis in there, some Manos del Uruguay Maxima, some Skacel Simpliworsted, and two Nerd Girls Yarns. See that blue and green back in the corner? Yep, that’ll be first.

What about you? What are you looking forward to making after the holidays?

This is why I’m not a knitted glove specialist

Dec20

Six months. That’s how long it took me to make this one pair of fingerless gloves. That’s ridiculous. And it might also explain all the problems I had. See, I started these in early July and the first one went quickly and smoothly, like it always does. And then I got bored with the project and put it away, like I always do. A few days ago, I decided to finish them. I pulled out the bag and realized I had actually started the second glove (wonder of wonders); I had about two inches already knitted. No problem, I thought. I pulled the pattern up on my iPad and got to work.It wasn’t until I had all the thumb stitches on waste yarn that I thought to hold it up against the completed glove. I’m glad I did: the second glove was significantly bigger. What the heck had I done? Thank goodness for Ravelry. Because I was using slightly bigger yarn than the pattern called for, I’d modified row counts the first time around. The good news was that I’d made note of my modifications. The bad news was that I had to rip back all the way before the thumb gusset.

I got that done, saved all my tiny stitches, and knit the gusset again, and this time when I measured against the first glove, they matched. Whew! I sped through the next 12 rows, had maybe 4 left, and checked size again…only to discover I’d gone wrong again. I have no idea how I managed it, but again I had too many rows on the second glove. Again I had to rip back, but at least it was only around 6 rows. I finally got the second glove finished and I think they match top to bottom. But a couple of little things don’t match up, like the seed stitch panels on the sides. And I think one thumb might be one row longer than the other.But I’m still quite tickled with them. I like how they’re fraternal twins, not identical. I love the seed stitch portions and the snug fit. And I especially love the lovely little dark green buttons I found to sew onto the sides.I think this is why I continue to knit gloves. Despite all the problems (you have to make two things that match exactly!!) they’re so delightful when they’re done. It’s like childbirth in that way. The end result is so charming that it makes you forget all the pain you endured to get there.

Details, for those who care: The yarn is a mystery yarn that I believe is a DK weight. I used this Seeded Mitts pattern and I do like it. Any problems I had were due to my own inability to count. (Yes, I have a digital row counter. Yes, I used it.) I’ve Raveled them here if you’d like to see my modifications. I’d like to knit them again, but a bit shorter and with the seed stitch panel all the way up the side.

Now, with these silly things done, I’m down to only five WIPs! That’s exciting. I wonder how long it will last…

Just keep knitting, just keep knitting

Dec15

We had a busy busy weekend around here! My daughter, who’s a high school freshman flutist, made it into the All District Band. Fabulous achievement, right? Yes. But it meant driving 30 minutes each way on Thursday and Friday after school for rehearsals. The upside was that I then had two and a half hours to myself. I got to sit there and listen to talented musicians practice beautiful music while I played with yarn. I really can’t complain; I enjoyed it. And I finished the last of my must-knit Christmas gifts! Unfortunately, you can’t see them until after Christmas. But I swear I got them done.

Saturday was performance day for the band, and I knew I’d have a lot of idle time. So for my easy concert knitting, I decided I needed to make little pouches for some small gifts I’m giving. I was going to use little boxes, but surely a handknit pouch is more fun, right? I’m using this brilliant Treasure Pouch pattern with bits of leftover worsted yarn and size 4 DPNs. Each one takes maybe 45 minutes tops, and I got two done that night! They’re adorable. I’ve got another on the needles and I’ll be making a few more before the big day.Yesterday we had a birthday party for a special little boy, and I’d made him his first handknit mittens. They match his winter hat (which I also made but forgot to photograph). Thankfully, they fit well and he seemed pleased…until he needed his hands to play with the Batmobile and pulled them off.Now that the presents are all prepared and procured, I’m getting the itch to start wrapping. I want presents under the tree, but I’m also ready to get rid of some of these piles in my closets!