Crocheted Candy Bags via Lion Brand

An illusion scarf: from the front, a sassy black and white stripe scarf... from the back, an image is revealed. Spooooky! Pattern from Ysolda here and more photos here.

Adorable wrap-around bat from Mochimochi. The pattern is just $5.

Glow-in-the-dark ghosts from Bernat

Bernat's glow-in-the-dark yarn is available through October from Michael's. Several fun (and free) projects available via the Bernat Web site.

Have a safe and spooky Halloween!

My sister-in-law Meghan asked me to make a cardigan for my beautiful niece, Stella.  They're going to be going to a wedding in mid-October, and Meghan wants Stella to wear her birthday dress.  However, the birthday was in August, so the dress isn't going to be warm enough.  Meghan wanted a white sweater, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to find one.

I went through my collection of electronic baby cardigan patterns (and hit up Ravelry for a couple more), and sent Meghan pictures of all the ones I had patterns for that I thought would work.  "You can knit all of these?" she emailed me back.  Sure, I told her...but not all at once!  After some thought, she chose the adorable Eyelet Yoke Cardigan by Lion Brand.

I headed to Knotty Girl to see if I could find a suitable yarn substitute, only to find that Ann carries Lion Brand Cotton Ease.  There was only one problem; she only had one ball in white.  So I bought it and decided to start knitting the cardigan while Ann ordered some more.

Experienced knitters are probably already shaking their heads.

It didn't take me long to use up the first ball, which took me through about 2/3rds of the sweater--up to where the yoke started.  The sweater is stockinette stitch with a seed stitch edging, which knits up very quickly, and I was really liking how it was looking (even though with the way the sweater is put together it's a little hard to see what it's going to end up like until it's done).  Then the additional balls of yarn came in to the shop (several days earlier than expected), and I was reminded of the lesson many a knitter had learned the hard way:

It's the dye lot, stupid.

The new white dye lot did not match the old.  It's not a big difference, but white is not white is not white.  Fortunately, I knew there'd be no problem whipping up a complete new cardigan with the two new balls of white yarn I bought...but I didn't want my previous work to go to waste.

So I decided to pick up some more yarn in a different color and finish off the cardigan with a contrasting yoke.  I picked a couple colors I really liked and asked some of my fellow Knotty Knitters for their opinions.  Together we settled on a subdued leaf green that contrasted wonderfully with the crisp white.  Then I sat down and looked at what I had done.  I'd already finished the first eyelet row, and I'd ended on the wrong side of the sweater.  That meant that if I picked up where I left off, the first eyelet row would be white, and there'd be a line of white through the beginning of the green, showing where the color change occurred.  I debated ripping back to before the eyelets, but decided I liked the look as it was.  Since the eyelets are boarded by garter stitch rows, the nubs of white showing through the green fit right in.

In only took me another day or so to finish knitting the sweater.  I've put it aside to do the seaming later--I do need to get Stella's cardigan done--but what once was a potential reject project has been saved to be a very cute sweater for Lexie.

Right now, the seams are only pinned together...but I can tell that Lexie's new sweater (appropriately named It's the Dye Lot, Stupid) is perfect for my little girl.

Still...next time I'm checking the dye lot.

The yarn is Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in a bright lime green. It was on clearance for a buck-fifty.

My biggest challenge now is that the end of the skein is a big knotted mess. There's gotta be a better way. I think I'm (literally) going to cut my losses and start with the second skein.

Will post more progress soon.

]]> http://kierakrafts.wordpress.com/?p=52 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:50:12 +0000 kierakrafts http://kierakrafts.pl.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/spiral-scarf/ I started working on a lion brand pattern last night called Crochet ruffle scarf. It looks like a cute little project, 5 rows and all sorts of volume and fun. (All of the following content is from the lion brand website!!)

Looks like it'll be easy peasy. I'll post up pictures of my own sea foam green version once it is completed.

Despite the huge pile of yarn in my closet, and half finished projects, I have decided to participate in the Lion Brand Crochet-a-long. The pattern is pretty easy, and it may make a nice gift when I'm done. Here's hoping I actually finish it, and it doesn't just add to the pile. I actually got my hooks out last night to pass time when I couldn't sleep. It felt good to create. So yeah. Now I've become extremely boring, talking only about yarn and cats. ACK.

And here is the outcome; the Lion Brand Baby Kimono Sweater made out of one skein of Red Heart So Soft yarn.

This yarn was a complete pleasure to work with.  It moves through your fingers with total ease and is truly soft.  This is my first project with this yarn and I would definitely use it again.  The pattern was also a first, and it was also a pleasure to work with.  I thoroughly enjoyed this pattern and it only took 5 days from start to finish.  I hope the little person who will be receiving this sweater enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Day 9 - Hump Day! This was the center day of the event, and another good one for me, as I finished a huge project and got it posted, along with the one from yesterday that needed daylight. I actually have 3 finished items to share tonight, though only two are for the event.

First, the project from yesterday - my first medal winner... This is Martine Babeau modeling Hèlios, which had been knitted - yes - for a year or so, but needed all the finishing work completed - seams and something to attach the straps. I chose to use fat matching beads instead of snaps, as I just hate sewing snaps.

I just love the view from behind, and Martine had a great time showing it off. She raided the shoe box and found these cunning little Boneka sandals to set it off nicely.

While we were doing the shoot, I got a nice portrait of her as well. Martine was born in France - one of the little girls from Bravot. As you can probably see, she has an incredibly sweet temperament, and in addition to her love of sailing, she is one of my little knitters, working with her sisters to utilize as much yarn as possible, leaving me with a pile of things to sew up. (And here you thought it was all my fault...)

Project notes: Dress was knit from Hèlios, an interpretation by Inma Iglesias of a 1936 Gautier-Languereau outfit designed for Bleuette. I used Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in colors that reflect Martine's love of all things relating to the sea, and did the work with size 3 needles. As I've said before and will say again, I'm sure, Inma's pattern was a delight to use, and the dress is a perfect fit. There is a hat included, but Martine isn't much for hats, so we chose to skip making it. The sash is silk ribbon.

My second finished object today isn't a Ravelympic project, as I was working on it in the days just preceding the start of the Games, making it ineligible. I finished all but the sewing in of ends the morning of the 8th, and decided I'd use a few leftover minutes a day or so back to do that and give it a quick wash.

Hitty Lin is modeling this Danish Heather Shawl that was in a recent issue of Spin-Off as an adult human size pattern. I used laceweight yarn in a wool/cashmere/angora rabbit blend on size 000 needles to produce a dense fabric with all the fine detail of the original, and I have to say that I'm very much in love with the results, despite thinking myself quite insane for attempting the feat.

I'm hearing pleas to make some more, and I'm wondering a bit if they might be marketable - and if so, how much one would charge for such a thing. Oh, and if you aren't familiar with Hitty, she's 6.25" tall, and this shawl is quite small and fine in order to keep it in perfect scale for her!

While we were outside having our photo shoot, I caught this picture of Martine being a very helpful coach for Hitty Lin, who is not used to modeling at all. I just had to share it.

The last project should perhaps be considered my marathon - fitting enough, since the ladies in Beijing were running their marathon while I was knitting the homestretch tonight. I bound off while Michael Phelps was receiving his eighth gold medal, and was somewhat wishing this had been my eight finished object rather than my seventh.

This is definitely a "never again" sort of item - even if I someday have to fend of begging grandkids to avoid it. I'm going to combine project notes and general description for what will be obvious reasons in a moment. I cast on 101 stitches in Lion Brand Chenille Quick and Thick with a longtail cast on and size 10 needles, then commenced working 5 rows in garter stitch before switching to stockinette with a 4 stitch wide garter border up the sides. After having worked about 6 rows total, I did that little thing of tugging along the bottom edge to spread the cast on, and to my horror, at one point the work ripped right up to the needles. That was trash, and I was sobered, but not totally deterred. This would be where I learned to do a cable cast on... I have very mixed emotions about this project as a whole. The positives are that I love the richness of the color, the wonderfully lush feel, and the way it catches the light. Neutral is that it is quite heavy - something that would be a delight sometimes and a discomfort others. Negative is working with the yarn itself. This stuff has zero give. In fact, it makes cotton yarn seem springy. And it doesn't slide across itself either. These two factors make it extremely difficult to maintain anything remotely resembling an even tension. Although this is bound off and ends darned, I'll probably be picking at it for years to come, evening stitches much like some people doodle. I'm not talking about small inequities, but rather holes that one could lose a toe through, despite my attempts to keep things uniform. The difficult work also caused me to end just a few rows early, as my purl pushing thumb just couldn't take even one more row of the punishment. I find myself wondering if it would have been better with larger needles or perhaps crochet. I just know that I very much prefer natural fiber in general, and that life is too short for me to knit something I don't enjoy, so there is no more chenille in my future - short of snuggling under this monstrosity - which, by the way, is 45" x 60" using not quite 8 skeins of yarn. I put the last two skeins and the leftover from the 8th ball up for sale on Ravelry as soon as I was done. Hmmm... perhaps a weaver will find it. It would be great as a weft, come to think of it...

And, in other knitting, I have a very good start on another doll outfit that needs completion, so hopefully will have it done in time for tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Knitting dishcloth only needs half an hour to an hour time to get it done. 

This time, I knitted a lace dish cloth. 

The yarn that I chose is Cotton Ease by lionBrand. I seldom went to the Michael's Art and Craft store to purchase yarn, this is an exception, because I think this kind of cotton yarn is just perfect for dishcloth project.

I love this pink, I also bought one more skein in a very pale yellow color.

I will knit more dishcloth, it's just a great and fast project. 
I am going to knit more and give them away. :D

A friend of mine has a daughter who loves purses, so she requested a pink pony purse to match Pinkie Pie. After making the first purse, I decided that sport weight yarn would be much better for the mane than worsted, although splitting the yarn after attaching it might also give the main a full look that would have thinner strands.

So now I have made two pony purses, neither of which are for my girls. I am trying to make sure they don't see either one so that I can surprise them later with special creations later on in the year. We will see how that goes since my oldest already figured out I have puppets and has "ordered" a ballerina puppet once I finish her sweater.

My latest project is a summer sweater for my oldest daughter from Lion Brand. I made one for my youngest, so now my oldest wants one, too. Once I get it finished I will try to get them both to model for a post.

ASL Sign for the Post:To sign horse, make the sign for "H" and use it as a horse's ear, wiggling the pointer and middle finger back and forth a bit.

The pattern is the Little V-stitch baby blanket from Lion Brand patterns. My row gauge was WAY WAY off (8 rows = 4" rather than 5 rows = 4"), so I had to compromise with my materials. Instead of being able to get the entire blanket and border out of my 2 skeins of Cotton Ease in Terra Cotta, I had to complete the blanket in that and then use the Almond for the border. I think I like the way that this turned out better than if it had been all in one color!  I was a little doubtful at first.

The finished measurements are approximately 26" x 26", which is still smaller than the pattern dictates (28" x 30"). I am ok with that, since this is still a good size for a stroller, crib, or car seat.

This was my first time at doing a crocheted picot border and I really love it.  So much easier than I thought it would be and the result is just adorable - I am going to have to come back to this edging in the future for other baby items!

I am not sure who I am going to be gifting this to just yet. I mainly decided to make it so that I could use up some of my stash AND have a gender neutral baby gift ready for any upcoming showers I might be called to attend.  One of my friends from college just found out that she is having a baby in December so she just might be the lucky recipient, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

But I did manage to turn out a FO this weekend:

Kate the Cat from knitty! I am not 100% pleased with this at all, due to my yarn/needle combination and my still crappy embroidery skills. (I really need some more practice!) But I think that this turned out Ok, despite the obvious flaws. I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease, and while my fabric is way too stretchy, I really like the colors. (Almond, Berry, Lake and Lime) I used size 7 needles and really, should have used 5s. This was so hard to stuff! The face is really so stretched out, and that makes me sad. :(

This will be my last amigurumi for a while, unless they are to give away (which incidentally this one IS). I am really going to try and get some yarn used up since I will be moving in with J at the end of next month. I found a few afghan patterns I'd like to try, but first things first, I am going to attempt to finish up some projects that are ongoing and NEVER ENDING.

My children have had quite a bit of appointments lately.  I've also had a few meetings and appointments.  I've been running around like a crazy woman.  The time I have to create things seems to be divided into small chunks.  Crochet is a great take along project.  Granny Square or Patchwork crochet is especially a great crochet technique to use when you're sitting around waiting.  I've been bringing along a small bag with some yarn, scissors, crochet hook and pattern book.  I managed to complete a crocheted floral doily (table mat) by doing a little bit here and there.  Above is my doily with one of my lamps topped with a copper and mica lampshade that I made.

Everytime I go to Joann's I check out the clearance items.  I found the Lion Brand Glitterspun yarn on clearance.  I would have loved to find red, white and blue.  I did find red.  Since I'm very fond of copper, I couldn't resist picking up the copper colored yarn as well.

I made 12 flowers using just the two colors, copper and red.  They do go together well.  Copper, the metal, can get a red patina especially if it is treated with heat or chemicals.  Since the colors are found together in nature, it seems like a natural color combo.  They sort of look like a sparkly chocolate and strawberry.

I did use cotton thread to sew my doily together.  I generally wash and shape my crochet pieces when I'm done.  Washing not only allows me to shape my piece, it also lets me see how well the piece holds together.  I noticed that the yarn has a tendency to slip, so I did sew down the ends of the yarn as well. 

I used the same pattern from the book I blogged about in Vintage 70's Pattern + Vintage Yarn Equals Great Doily Alternative.

Have a great Friday!

Bunny

So cute! I used about 1/2 of a skein of Bernat Satin in Flamingo Pink. I didn't do such a hot job of lining up the head onto the body, so that is where the bow comes in. It masks the imperfections a bit I think. :) Fun and quick knit. This was my first knitted toy since Scotty, when I taught myself how to do magic loop. I used size 8 needles, but if I had it to do over again I would use 6s with this yarn. It's a little bit too stretchy - a problem that I am currently having on my current amigurumi project. Ugh. I think that this is why I prefer crochet amigurumi. Anyway, I think my embroidery skills may have improved a bit on this project. I am doubtful as to whether this is a continuing trend. :|

Sheldon

I've wanted to make this for so long! I really enjoyed it, but that shell was not fun! For him I used 1 skein of KnitPicks Shine Sport in Green Apple and about 1/2 skein in Grass. I am planning on making another using Lion Brand Microspun in girlier colors, but I am going to have to hang back for a while. The applied i-cord took me a long time and I was worn out at the end. I have to get my resolve up for that before I go for round 2!

The fate of these 2 creatures is still up in the air. I had a plan for them, but that might not work out, so in the meantime they are hanging out at my house with the rest of my stuffed menagerie.

When I saw this crochet amigurumi pattern, I KNEW that I HAD to make it! I love lambs, as some of you know, and you've met Lamby, so this one seemed like a given!! I finished her up on May 5, so Margarita seemed like an appropriate name.

I used about half of a skein of Lion Brand Jiffy in white and some Lion Brand Wool Ease in Oxford Grey. I was hoping that the Jiffy would be a bit fuzzier but it wasn't! I should have used a more novelty yarn, like Lambie Pie from Hobby Lobby, but I honestly CANNOT stand the way that yarn feels on my hands. You might recall that I started a baby poncho out of that - it now resides in the county landfill. But a fuzzier little lamb would be adorable! Maybe I will make another one when I find some appropriate yarn that I can stand to handle! :)

I am hoping to finish up Sheldon this weekend - All I have left is the shell. Then I will start on another one for another little baby I know in girlier colors.  Amigurumi May is almost over and I still have plenty to do!

I'm getting a little cold, so I wanted to work on something that wouldn't take quite so much concentration. I decided on a scarf. I've only been crocheting for half a year now and have already finished two scarves, so they're easy enough. Saturday night I started a pattern with double crochet stitches and puff stitches, I got through about 10 rows and decided I didn't really like the way it was looking with my Landscapes yarn and ripped it out.

I started over on Sunday, trying a few different patterns. I didn't really like any of the patterns I was trying—they had detailed stitches but the yarn is so chunky that you couldn't really appreciate the complexity of the patterns. So I did a couple swatches of single crochet, half double crochet and double crochet and asked my sister what she liked best—single crochet was the winner.

I'm still working out how I want the scarf to end up but so far I think the single crochet works well with the colors in the yarn. The yarn reminds me of candy, birthday cake with sprinkles or any other colorful kid's dessert food.

It's so soft, I really like working with it. Most yarns I've tried start to feel weird between my fingers, like I can feel every fiber as the yarn passes through my fingers, but this one feels nice.

It's also feltable, I'm not sure if that's a plus with me or not, seeing as I've never felted a thing in my life. Maybe it's time to try. A little coin purse or something could be really cute!

I don't really have much else to talk about for crochet. Since I'm getting sick, I'm sure Wednesday's tea post will be full of "I tasted this" and "I tasted that". (Or maybe that I drank lots of tea but couldn't taste a thing.)

I thought that I would do a quick post about the dishcloths I knit during April, since there really isn't much to say about them, then later I can write about the stuff that people might actually want to read about! :)

Monthly Dishcloths April KAL

Sorry for the crooked picture!!  This is The Meadow dishcloth, knit in Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton, I think the color is Rose.  This was a KAL where I was actually happy with the outcome, I like the little bobble flowers!

Mosaic Stripe Dishcloth from the Bernat pattern book, Kitchen Kolors

This was one of the items that I had lying around the house that I wanted to finish during April.  I'm sad to say that this is the ONLY UFO that I was able to finish last month, but I will give more details about that when I do my April wrap-up.

So! A completed project. I bought 4 hanks of Lion Brand yarn's Thick & Quick wool yarn in a lovely burnt orange called Butterscotch. An aside: I really hate that they call this yarn "Thick & Quick". It makes you slur the words. Or else I've had too much Cabernet already. It's like my man friend's joke about saying Linens N' Things - you always sound a little drunkie when you say it.

Anyhoo - I actually made this scarf for my man friend. I hope he enjoys it! Also, I'm thisclose to finishing the Kelly cardigan mohair jobby. Hopeully will finish this week/weekend. I'll be in Bloomington, IN, crossing my fingers for some quiet college town time. I am so excited!

I used almost an entire skein of Lion Brand Wool Ease in Delft (using up my stash!!!) and a size G/4.00 mm hook.

More pictures:

This was a bit hard to photograph b/c the head is so heavy compared to the rest of the body.  I couldn't just sit it down on the floor and start snapping because it would end up resting on it's head with it's little back feet up in the air!

I gave him to Amanda this morning and she has christened him "Algernon" - I don't know where in the world she came up with that, but she says that she might change her mind later!  Who knows, I might be back later this week with an update that Algernon is now Larry or Felix.

And in case you were wondering, I started Algernon in March, so his completion counts toward my UFO progress!  Hooray!!

STRIPED CARDIGAN

Pattern: Striped Cardi

Source: Lion Brand yarns

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease (50% cotton, 50% acrylic) in Violet, Lime and Snow (1 skein each)

Needles used: Clover Takumi bamboo straights, US 6

Project start date: February 2008

Project end date: March 2008

Notes: I made the 12-month size for Caleb, as I figured this would be best suited for next fall's weather here in San Diego. Overall, it was an easy knit. I chose to carry the colors up the side for each piece, which meant less weaving in of ends. Based on some of the discussion/photos over on Ravelry, not everyone has done that. I still hate seaming, but I split it up over a couple of days to make it less painful.

My favorite thing about this cardigan are the buttons; I found them at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I really thought I'd end up going with white buttons, but once I saw these blue ones in the light, that was it! At first I was concerned that they might have been too blue with the violet yarn, but actually they worked really well.

I have been working on a big project the last few days (another M pillow), so last night I decided I wanted to work on some small projects. I pulled out some cotton yarn that I got at ACMoore with their 50% off coupon and made another set of my flower coasters in pink and yellow. After that, I decided to use some of the ribbon yarn I had picked up without a clear plan. A simple flower pattern from Lion Brand helped me out.

ASL Sign for the post: To sign flower, imagine you are holding a flower and putting it up to each side of your nose as if smelling it. Lifeprint has photos of the sign. Born2Sign has a video.

RAINY DAY BAG

Pattern: Vintage Bubble Bag

Source: Pursenalities, by Eva Wiechmann

Yarn: Lion Brand Lion Wool Solid (100% wool) in Midnight Blue (2 skeins), and Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair (57% acrylic, 28% mohair, 9% cotton, 6% polyester metallic) in Glacier Bay (3 skeins)

Needles used: Addi Turbo circular, US 10.5 and US 15

Project start date: January 2008

Project end date: January 2008

Notes: OK, there I was standing in the yarn section in Michaels itching to felt something. I didn't have enough of anything feltable in my stash at home. I was really yearning to make clogs, but I hadn't purchased that Fiber Trends pattern yet, it was the weekend, and I needed immediately gratification. So, why not knit a bag? I can always use a bag!

Using the Moonlight Mohair was definitely an felting experiment with the metallic involved. I'm pretty happy with the way the bag felted, although the mohair component required me to shave the bag after drying so you could really see more of the detail.

MY FIRST FELTED CLOGS

Pattern: Felted Clogs (AC-33), by Bev Galeskas

Source: Fiber Trends

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted (85% wool and 15% mohair) in Charcoal Grey (3 skeins)

Needles used: Addi Turbo circular, US13

Project start date: February 19, 2008

Project end date: March 3, 2008

Notes: I did get to fulfill my desire to make some felted clogs about a month after felting the bag. I've really enjoyed wearing these around the house. My feet are never cold! I do have to watch myself on the Pergo floor at times, since I didn't put any skid stuff on the soles, but so far no spills.

The pattern is something I would never had been able to dream up in years, so it's worth the price. The finished clogs were HUGE when I put them in the washer, and it took at least 30 minutes to get them felted to the right size (nothing is worse than putting sopping wet wool and mohair on your bare feet every couple of minutes. They also took forever to dry! The yarn was a great choice, but every once in awhile I need to pull a "hair ball" out of them due to the mohair content.