New Knitty!!

School has been keeping me really busy lately, and I haven't had time to knit, let alone keep up a regular blogging schedule. But since I am taking a little break from homework at the moment, I thought I would alert everyone to the new Knitty issue that has been posted. Deep Fall 2011 has some really great patterns in it, and I would love to knit this little guy:

Kiwi is just too cute, I need to make one!!

Ain't he just adorable?

You guys should definetly go take a look at this new issue, there is something in there for everyone.
Happy Knitting!!

Great free Patterns

I love it when I find a new free pattern online. There are so many amazing projects out there and I get blown away by a designer's ability to create such amazing things. Here are a few more that I have found:

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a free Ravelry download. Not only would I recommend for you to knit this cowl, you should definitely read the book too!

This Drapey Crochet Vest is a free pattern from the Red Heart yarn website. I was actually holding the yarn in my hand to make this, but I decided that I should buy my textbooks first!

Crochet Baby Converse slippers? I need to make these, I just have to find a baby to make them for... (Free Ravelry download)

There is only one word to describe this Mario Bros. Whomp pattern: AWESOME! (Free Ravelry download)

So there you are, a little bit of something for everyone, so until next time, Happy Knitting!

Sock Knitting Master Class: Sock 3

On to my next Sock Knitting Master Class Challenge. These socks will be a gift for my sister for Christmas. She wanted lime green socks, but did not care about the pattern. So I figure these socks will be perfect, since they have a lot of stretch to them

Knot Socks:

Yarn: Evermore Studios Swanky Sock in Pistachio
Needles: Size 0 DPNs
Pattern Source: Sock Knitting Master Class book

I'm going to start these socks ASAP. They just look so sqwishy and fun to knit. 

Stash-Busting Challenge: Part 2

Even though I have been making progress on cleaning out my stash, I still have some balls of yarn that are just calling out for the right project. Here is some more yarn that I would like to find something for:

I love this Vanna's Choice yarn. I think I want to make a cardigan or a shrug out of it. I just hope I have enough; I don't want to have to buy more!

I bought this in a yarn store in Toronto. I love this yarn, it is so squishy and comfortable. I have already made a scarf out of it, so I have to figure something else out for it!

This is another yarn that I really enjoy making things out of. It knits up really quick and is super nice to work with. Still trying to figure this one out too...

 This is an acrylic yarn, but it is so soft and shiny. I really want to make socks out of it (I would love to have a pair of bright red socks!), but I would have to find a pattern that is really stretchy, because this yarn has zero stretch to it...

Again another yarn that I don't know what to do with. It is so soft that it's calling out to be a blanket, but I don't think I would have enough yarn for that!

I will hopefully be able to clean some of this out of my stash soon... If you have any ideas for any of it, please let me know!

Finished Boot Socks

Happy-Go-Lucky Boot Socks from the Sock Knitting Master Class Book.

 

Finished my Happy-Go-Lucky Boot Socks. I love these socks, they are funky and super comfortable. I did not continue the colored pattern on the foot portion of the sock, I did not have enough pink yarn to finish them that way. This was an easy pattern to follow, the only problem I encountered was keeping up the same tension when I was slipping stitches on two different needles. This left the fabric puckered when I finished them, but after blocking the problem was fixed.
Sock #2 of my Sock Knitting Master Class Challenge is done, now I will begin the next challenge!

Challenge #4 Complete!

I finished Challenge #4 of my stash-busting challenges this week and I am so glad! The Red Heart Baby yarn had been sitting in my stash forever and I couldn't figure out what to do with it. Then I saw the pattern for the Bellflower Infinity Scarf and I knew this yarn would be perfect for it. This is a free pattern from the Naturally Caron website, and it is great! I'm new to crochet (I've only done 2 crochet projects) and I was able to follow the pattern well and I never ran in to any trouble. I only did 3 repeats of the pattern across and measured it against myself to figure out the length that I wanted it. I did do a little modification of the pattern; after I finished attaching the two ends together, I thought it looked really nice but it seemed to be missing something - the border was just too plain. So I added some ruffle looking things to it: ch 3, sl st into a border st. I did this all the way around both sides and it just looks fantastic. I love it.

So when I finished the infinity scarf I still had a good chunk of yarn left, and I couldn't bear to put it back in my stash. So when my mother-in-law asked if I could make a cowl for her out of the rest it, I told her that I would. I chose the Loose Cowl design from Crochet Spot and it came out really nice. I didn't have any problems with the pattern, but I did decide to do it in the round so I wouldn't have to seam anything together and it just took me one night to make it. I chained 70 sts to begin and did 8 repeats of the pattern, and Voila! Done!

Now I am on to the next challenge!

Mood Scarf

So after reflecting on my idea from a previous post I  decided to start a mood scarf. Following the lead from Leafcutter Designs and their Sky Scarf I will be knitting two rows of a scarf everyday. But instead of looking outside for inspiration, I will be looking inward. I will choose the color to knit with according to my mood that day. I won't assign a specific mood to a color, but I just want to knit what I feel. I will be using a journal to write down the reasons for my color choice, and to reflect on why I feel the way I do.

I didn't want to knit a simple garter stitch scarf so I am using the pattern from the Scrunchable Scarf, it is easily memorized, and I do not have to keep track of which row I am on.

I am using up yarn from my stash in all kinds of colors (pink, blue, green ,orange, etc), and I will keep doing it everyday until it reaches a good length. I have now knitted two rows every day for 20 days and it is coming along nicely. It is very therapeutic to take time before I go to bed to think back on my day and what happened. 

The scarf started out really colorful - I was having difficulty signing up for school and it was causing me great amounts of stress, hence the dark blue. For the patch of purple, I wasn't exactly having bad days, they just weren't that great. I was having some 'blah' days last week, I was working a lot and was really tired and that blue was really good at representing my 'blah' mood!

I will  keep posting pictures every few weeks showing my progress, but I'm starting school this week so I don't know how regular my posts will be! Until next time, Happy Knitting!!