Christmas Knitting

As the Christmas season approaches, my list of presents increases.  It’s always a surprise to discover you have more people on your gift list than initially expected, especially when you are determined to make each of your gifts.  How quickly a month can turn from a calm a serine prospect to a bumbling busy one!  Nevertheless, this year promises to be a good one, and I’m rather excited to see how it closes. 

I Return

No, I am not dead.  I apologize for the long wait and neglect of my blog.  My computer’s been down since September due to a bad adaptor, and I never got around to updating manually because my schedule turned extremely busy and all my pictures and other blogging stuff were on my computer.  Nevertheless, I’m back and plan to fill you in on all that’s happened so expect a flood of posts in the next week or two, especially since the semester is coming to a close. 

Geeky Related Knitting and Crocheting

Yes, I will admit it.  I am somewhat of a … ok a major geek.  I was sorting through Firefly (the series not the bug) patterns on Ravelry the other day and I ran across two amazing projects that simply must be done in the next few months.  The first is a nigh perfect replica of the crocheted shrug River wears in “Jaynestown” and “Objects in Space” (reference below) and the second is a Serenity (the ship from the Firefly series) plushie. 

I’ve been wanting to cosplay River when I first say the series back in high school before I even knew what cosplay was.  She is such a complex character and her wardrobe is amazing.  I really can’t wait to actually get to cosplay her.  Hopefully, I can get a full group together as well.  That would just make the event even more awesome. 

The Serenity plushie is an added bonus I found.  I would love to use it as a prop for River, especially since she pretended to be Serenity in “Objects in Space”.  Both look to be relatively easy projects, though I might have to modify the shrug to fit perfectly.  I’m hoping to get both projects done before the new year at the earliest and by my favorite con in August for sure.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to start these projects soon and post progress pictures as I go. 

You can find both patterns on Ravelry if you search “Firefly” in patterns.

Allergies and Knitting

Fall has arrived.  The weather is cooling, the leaves are subtly changing colors, and my nose is running for the hills, literally.  My minor yet extremely annoying allergies are back again to haunt me for the next few weeks, if I am so lucky to escape the misery of three months of fall.  Nevertheless, my hasty escape from nature to nigh indoor solitude offers plenty of pleasant opportunities to pick up my knitting and tackle my apparent stack of Christmas presents before the holiday draws too near. 

I’ve been able to breeze through quite a bit of knitting over the past two weeks while nigh constantly blowing my nose or unsuccessfully stifling a sneeze.  My Spring Cardigan, named only for the colors, is nigh complete.  Since the last I wrote, I have been able to finish all, but the two button bands.  The first is nearly halfway finished while the second has yet to be touched.  I have yet to get and/or make the buttons, if I so desire and have time.  My hope is to incorporate a bit of yellow into the buttons to live it up even more and add more of a spring feel.

In the meanwhile, I picked up the sweater of doom again, aka the sweater for mom that is almost a year late in the making also called the Braided Riding Jacket.  I frogged the previous sleeves since the wrap pattern was too time consuming for my busy schedule and have started reworking them into a suitable seed stitch pattern.  It’s been two days and already I have twice as much complete as the wrap stitch took me in two weeks.  How I better love this design!  The sleeves look superb so far and hopefully will continue so, especially since I have to modify somewhat the design and fit.  I dearly hope this sweater will be complete by, if not before, Christmas.  It has been sitting in my I'll-knit-it-later-if-I-ever-get-around-to-it pile for far too long. 

Finally, it seems I have happily acquired a host of new knitting projects, most of which being Christmas presents for family and friends.  My younger sister has insisted that I make a pair of thigh-high stockings for her Christmas present, after I showed her a favored pattern of mine.  From the appearance of the pattern, the stockings should neither be too difficult nor time consuming, though I have been wrong before such as with the afore mentioned pattern.  Time will tell if my prediction is correct once, that is, I get the materials, namely needles.  As of late, I only have two, possibly three, other knitted presents to make.  One friend has requested a sweater, a lovely choice on her part I might add while another has requested a hat, which should not be difficult to complete in the least, and the possible third has yet to choose an item.  Sometimes it proves very difficult to pick the perfect knitted item, as all knitters know far too well. 

To finish this post, there have been a few ladies at church and otherwise who have shown interest in my knitting and commission work, a few have even inquired a commission or two.  As providence would have it, it seems that I may have a small knitting job the end of the month.  It seems a lady from church would like to commission a baby outfit of some sort, I have yet to learn what the actual item might be, if her daughter is to have a baby girl.  I’m rather excited at the moment as I dearly need the income and business opportunity.  I also find it a great privilege to potentially be able to help a new family in that manner.  It truly is exciting!  The deal is still up in the air and many aspects have yet to be discussed, but come near the end of the month I may be one less job short of broke. 

Baby Quilt Project Finished

I finished it!  the quilt was much easier to make and finish than I had previously expected.  It only took my about 2 to 3 days to completely finish without appliqué.  I didn’t end up adding any appliqué because it distracted from the simplicity and cuteness of the quilt. 

Overall, I would say it was a ridiculously easy project to make and rather inexpensive.  I think it cost me around $20 usd for materials and around $50-$80 usd in labor.  I love the way it turned out and plan to make more of these quilts in the future to sell and use as baby shower gifts.  I apologize in advance for the hastily taken photo.  I was only able to borrow my friend’s camera for a moment before she had to jet out the door. 

New Knitting Projects

Knitting has been a hobby of mine for a few years now.  I love how relaxing twisting and manipulating yarn can be and the beautiful creations it can produce with patience and perseverance.  As you may have seen on my other blog, Costume Crazy, I have had the privilege of making nearly two and two one-half sweaters in the past five to seven months. 

My first sweater was the Aquitaine Pullover from the Winter 2009 issue of Interweave Knits (my favorite knitting magazine ever).  I finished the sweater in a whopping 18 days.  It was super easy to knit and helped keep me focused in class for those 2.5 weeks.  It turned out quite well and is a total joy to wear and show off.  I love my sweater.  It’s so comfy and warm yet cool enough to wear on warm days.  ^_^

 

My second sweater wasn’t as successful as the first.  I asked my mom to pick a sweater for me to make for her for Christmas.  She chose the Braided Riding Jacket from the same Interweave Knits issue as above.  The body of the sweater was easy enough to make, but the sleeves turned out to be a total killer.  You would knit three stitches, move those stitches to a cable needle, wrap them three times, place them back onto the right needle, then knit three more stitch, and repeat the whole process over and over and over again.  Let’s just say I abhor this sweater with every fiber of my being.  I highly doubt this sweater will be finished anytime soon.  It took my almost two weeks to finish 6 to 7 inches of the darn sleeve pattern.  Ugh!  Nevertheless, I plan to rework the sleeves and find a better, less irritating pattern to use that would fit the design of the sweater well. 

Body for Braided Riding Jacket

My third sweater is still in progress.  I started the Nora Sweater (renamed Japanese Lace Sweater by myself) from the same Interweave Knits issue about midway through last semester, but was unable to finish it due to homework overload.  Currently, it’s about 3/4ths of the way done with only the front panels and neck edging to finish.  I really can’t wait to finish it once I get a bit more yarn.  Hopefully, I’ll have it done by this fall. 

Older progress picture before I finished both sleeves.

The final sweater I’m working on at the moment is the Gooseberry Cardigan from Interweave Knits, Weekend 2009 (renamed Spring Cardigan for progress purposes).  I love the cute, simple design of the sweater and am working toward adding a two-tone effect to it.  I can’t wait to see how it turns out.  So far it’s about 5-10% complete. 

Yarn for Project with Minor Progress

Thus concludes my progress so far.  I’ll update when I have more which hopefully will be soon with classes starting and all.  But that also means posts will be more sporadic since homework can get in the way of regular posting.  Nevertheless, I’ll keep you guys updated with progress and pictures when possible.  Signing off.  Thank you for reading. 

Quilting Among Other Things

Recently I have started quilting for 4-H.  I decided to take on a patchwork quilting project this year.  Much to my surprise, I am actually enjoying it.  I was worried at first that I wouldn’t take to quilting and would end up hating it, but the contrary is proving true.  Patchwork quilting is much easier and more fun than I had expected.  Granted, I am still new to the world of quilting and am only making a large squared (7”x7” square) appliquéd quilt.  It is an easy project and not nearly as complicated as some of the more advanced patchworks quilts in existence.  Nevertheless, it is a good start and introduction to the world of geometry and fun colored cotton fabrics. 

For my project, I chose to do an appliquéd baby quilt.  It will only be about 40”-42” long and about 28” wide.  The squares are 7”x7” and the appliqués are small to medium sized animals, hearts, and stars that will be attached via machine.  I chose cute yet different patterned cotton fabric in blue, green, pink, and yellow for the base/main fabrics and added various animal and flower colored fabrics for the appliqué.  The stars were a later addition so they don’t have a fabric all to their own.  Finally the backing a cute, yet colorful fleece that helps accentuate the afore mentioned colors while adding a fun yet unexpected twist to the back of the quilt. 

Luckily, I do have pictures of the fabric to share.  I lost my camera a while back and haven’t been able to find it or a replacement so progress pictures are rare and scattered at the moment.  Nevertheless, I was able to borrow my mom’s camera a couple days ago and took as many progress pictures as I could fit onto the sd card at the time.  So I now have a few pictures to illustrate the afore mentioned quilt in progress. 

 

The first picture is a collage of the fabrics for the quilt.  All except for the purple fabric which you can ignore since I decided to use a different fabric for the backing.  The second and fourth pictures are of the fabric for the appliqués while the third fabric is the base/main fabric.  I apologize for the dimness of the photos.  It was getting dark by the time I took them, and I only had a limited time in which to photograph my progress. 

Much has changed since the above fabrics, in relation to the quilt and its sister project, a quilted and hand appliquéd bag for my appliqué project.  I have cut out all the squares for the quilt and bag and sewn them into strips of four which will be attached to each other once the appliqué is done.  Since only one side of the bag has appliqué, I’ve been able to sew that half of the bag together and am working toward finishing the other.  I have yet to cut out or attach any appliqué as I have only recently finished sewing the squares and panels together for the quilt and bag. 

Nevertheless, I am very pleased with my work so far.  The colors match well and the pattern is turning out better than expected.  I don’t foresee the machine or hand appliqué as too difficult, especially since the appliqué fabrics are all fray resistant.  So far the projects have moved much faster and easier than expected.  I hope they stay that way as I have less than 20 days to finish all my projects for 4-H and the open division at the local fair.  Yikes!  I dearly hope these quilted and appliquéd move much faster than expected.  Much thanks to Make-Your-Own-Baby-Stuff.com for their simple baby quilt tutorial and adorable appliqué patterns.  Both have been a great help to me and my project.  if you haven’t checked out the site I recommend you do.  Linky  It’s a great site with lots of helpful patterns and tutorials and some really cute designs. 

Thank you very much for reading this blog.  If you enjoy it please say so with a comment and/or a watch/subscribe.  Thank you very much for your time and contribution to my blog.  Have a wonderful day and an even better week.  ^_^