New Project, New Pictures!

In my laziness, I haven't updated my blog because I haven't taken pictures of my latest knitting projects.  Shame on me!  So off my duff, here we go!

As usual, I am still making chemo hats, but my progress has slowed.  The extreme heat we are currently enduring does not make good knitting weather!  Not for a warm hat, anyways.  I do have about 9 or 10 finished.  As I've probably mentioned before, I like to wait until I have a dozen, then I photograph them & post the pictures here.  So that may be awhile.  I've also had a second glimpse at my failed booga bag.  It may not be as hopeless as I originally thought.  It just didn't do what I wanted, but it could be salvaged.  I think I will revisit it & see what I can do soon!  I will even post pics, why not?!

Summer is not one of my best knitting times.  I honestly don't knit much, but I usually do something.  My latest thing has been with beads.  Summer & beads DO go well together, in my book!  So, anyway, I got a bug to do something with beads.  Some time ago, I ordered a beaded bracelet kit from Patternworks.  Lovely matte finish black & white beads, along with a gold thread.  Perfect for what my "bug"!

On a recent vacation, I gave it a shot.  I have knit with beads before, see my entry http://journals.aol.com/spunknit/InnaneKnittingBabble/entries/1162 about my beaded purse for my wedding.  It is really easy, & goes along quickly, even on size 0000 steel needles!  So I threaded up the beads & got started. 

What a pain in the tookus!  The thread is not soft, it is scratchy & rough.  The pattern requires tight knitting, which also made it uncomfortable.  The stitch makes the knitted piece spiral, so sometimes I ended up with more beads than I needed.  Frustrating!  I do like the way it looked, so I perservered.  I still need to join the ends together, which has also been frustrating.  It just doesn't look right, so I've done it about 5 or 6 times already, & ripped it out each time. 

All in all, I like the look.  The kit came with enough for 3 bracelets or one long necklace.  I wish now I had done the necklace, because I would have probably finished it just to get it done.  I'm not sure I will knit the remaining 2 bracelets, just because I didn't enjoy it like I thought I would. 

Anyways, I have pictures of the finished, but unjoined item above!  Enjoy!

A Tough Lesson

Again, its been awhile.  Just to update, I felted the purple bag.  Arghhhhh!  It did not come out like I had hoped.  What a frustrating situation.  The problem is that I should have known better.  My swatch shrunk very little width-wise, but tons length-wise.  So, of course when I felted it, it ended up puckering around the top opening of the bag.  It also came out much shorter than I expected.  I had washed it once, & I liked the way it looked, but wanted it felted just a bit more.  So I put it through another cycle on the machine...arghhhhh!  I wish I had stopped when I had it to where I liked it.  So now I have a short, puckery bag that used a pricey yarn that I'm unhappy with.  How sad. 

So what went wrong?  I'm actually not sure.  When I felted my swatch piece, I washed it 4 times to get it the way it is shown in the pictures.  So why did it felt so much when I only washed it twice?  Could the size of the piece be a factor?  I don't know. 

This won't deter me from doing future felting projects, though.  I still love the look & the feel of the finished product.  I'm disappointed because I loved the look of the yarn after felting.  I'm disappointed because I used practically all of that yarn.  I'm disappointed because I was really looking forward to the finished bag.  Sigh. 

Oh well, I'll move on & work on something else to occupy my time! 

Some Fun Things!

Has it really been that long?  Wow, I'm way behind!  Tons of knitting has been done & no one in cyber-land knows about it!  Time for an update, you think?!

So...around Christmas time, I showed the ladies at work the little snowmen I made last year.  They were a HUGE hit!  Needless to say, I was pestered almost daily about when they would get some of their own!  Since the season was drawing to a close, I didn't feel like making any more...so I only made these five.  Here are the ones I made!

I did the traditional snowman with the black top hat, a guy with red & green hat & scarf, a Santa hat guy, a lady with yellow & green hat & scarf & a lady with purple & pink hat & scarf.  Some have pom-poms on the hats, some have a contrasting hat band.  Whatever I could think of to make them a bit different!  These are so much fun to make & go very quickly.  Plus its a great way to use up those very small scraps.  I put a dollar bill behind them so you can see how small they really are.  Sometimes in the pictures, you just can't tell!

I was thinking that little bunnies would be great for Easter, but I didn't have time for them.  But maybe in the future for baby showers or gifts.  Maybe even a kitty, or dog.  I think the possibilities are endless.  Or at least as far as my imagination will carry! 

The bag is done, I have to get pictures of the felted, completed bag to show for next time!  I'm still making hats, hats & more hats!  Such a great portable project...& quick to finish, too! 

Well, that's it for this time, I hope to post again soon.  Due to some family issues, my time online has been severly limited.  Happy Easter to everyone!  See you next time!

The Next Batch!

Here is the latest batch of chemo hats!  Another fun dozen, I experimented with more stitch patterns, color patterns & styles.  I bribed my daughter into modeling them for me.  As you can see in the pictures, her cooperation was quickly declining as we went along!  Not really, she just was enjoying hamming it up for the camera...too much, maybe! 

Some of my favorites from this batch are the blue & cream Swiss check, the black & blue Quaker rib (probably my most favorite!), the green & white Quaker rib, & the rose & burgundy Thorn stitch hat.  I just love the Quaker rib hats, they look sort of slouchy, then open up to show the hidden color underneath!  Sort of like an accordian!  Plus they are fun to play with! 

The ladies at work seemed unanimous on the rose & burgandy hat.  It was the overall favorite from the bunch!

Oh Just Kick Me!

Here I go again.  Dreaming of yet another tote bag/purse.  Sigh!  This time, I'm thinking of using some pretty wool yarn that is hand dyed in lovely shades of purple.  I've tried felting it already, last year when I was trying to decide which yarn to use for the eyeglass case.  It comes out nice & thick when felted. 

So I'm thinking about a new knitting bag.  Maybe a bit smallish.  Just enough for a skein or two & a chemo hat or other small project.  Something I can just grab, stuff & go!  I don't really need another huge bag.  I've already got quite a few of those!  I'm thinking maybe in the "booga bag" style...with the drawstring type handle.  I'm not sure yet, because this yarn does felt up very thick!  Needles will have a hard time trying to poke through this yarn!  I want to add some nice pockets on the outside, for little gadgets & whatnots.  Maybe a pocket or two on the inside as well.  I have a ton of this yarn, so it won't be a problem!

I'm still making chemo hats!  I'm almost done with this batch, I have 3 more till I have my dozen, then I'll post pictures of them.  The ladies at work only see the hats in progress, they haven't seen a finished one yet.  They think I don't really finish them!  I promised I would bring in the batch when I'm done so they can see them.  I'm doing some different things to a few hats.  So its been exciting for me to work on them.  I'm excited to finish & show them off!  Soon!

What's New?

Not too much new to report on my end.  Still making Chemo hats.  I'm very close to finishing my 8th hat in this bunch, so I'll be able to post the pics soon!  While I just love the helix spiral pattern for its ease & use of smaller scraps, I've been doing a few different styles of hat for variety. 

Currently, I'm making a Quaker rib hat. Another very simple concept, its 4-6 rounds of St. st, then 4-6 rounds of reverse St. st. - repeat to crown.  I'm having a lot of fun with these, though, because it scrunches up like an accordian!  You can't really see the St. st. parts until you stretch it out, so I'm using coordinating colors for that part.  Its sort of like a surprise when you stretch it out & see a different color inside!

My mind is roaming for variations on this, maybe add another row of a third color on the St. st. parts, just a row or two.  Use up some smaller scraps & add some interest & variety as well.  I'm also contemplating a spiral rib hat.  I have loads of cream & off white yarns just screaming for a textured pattern.  It won't even matter if its just a solid color, because the stitch pattern will add the interest.  I may even venture into some cables, but those take more time & thought, so I'll see how I feel about it!

On other news, Luv2knit63 (aka Lisa!) asked about the helix spiral hat pattern.  I searched the web & couldn't find the pattern again, but I know its out there in many forms.  If you want it, I"m sure if you search more diligently than I did, you'll find it! :)

Rhaman60 asked for the felted purse pattern.  I sort of made it up as I knit along. Unfortunately, I did not write down instructions for what I did.  Shame on me!  But there are many very nice bag patterns out there, a google search should help with that!  I hope you find something you like! 

Someone else out there asked about knitted flowers.  (I can't seem to find the post right now)  I highly recommend Nicky Epstein's book Knitted Embellishments.  It is rather pricey to buy ($30), but I found it at the library.  There are loads of delicious flowers & other trims!  The woman is a genious!  I personally want this book, too, so maybe a Mother's Day gift or anniversary present?! 

Thanks to everyone who take time from your busy days to read all my sillybabble! 

Happy New Year & More Hats To All!

Happy New Year to Everyone!  Let's hope its a healthy, hopeful year for us all!

Here are some pictures of my latest batch of chemo hats.  I actually finished these back in late October or early November & took them to the cancer center.  But I was in the middle of some bag babble, so I didn't talk about them yet!

I was trying to get a little more adventurous with the yarn types I've been using.  So I pulled out some chenille yarns.  They blended very well with the regular yarns & came out soft & cuddley.  I'm not a big fan of chenille, but I have a ton of it from a yarn store going out of business sale. 

I also pulled out some fun confetti-type yarns.  They have lots of fluff on them & look rather fuzzy & cuddley.  Not a fun yarn to work with, but I don't have too much of it either!  I think the hats came out fun!  I'm sure someone out there will love them!

I also resorted to one of my favorite basic patterns, the spiral helix.  It is such a great way to use up those yarns & I made quite a few that way!  They just look so interesting & its better than a plain boring hat!  Like the hats I made in the beginning!  There are a couple with a regular ribbed hem, but most have the soft rolled brim that I like so much! 

I currently have 7 hats in the basket, but as mentioned before, I like to give them in even dozens.  So, just a few more & they'll be making their way to the cancer center too!