booties? mittens? You decide

So, on Thursday, I loomed all during my lunch break and finished the second bootie for my co-worker's baby shower gift. I was SO proud of them...a real, hand-knit hat and booties to give him for his new baby girl...much more meaningful than the folks that just gave $10 towards a stroller for him....

He opened the present and said, "OH look, a hat and mittens!"

I didn't correct him : I guess they ARE kinda long. My mom saw the first one and called them high-tops, lol...

So sue me

I know this is supposed to be a loom knitting blog, but hey! I made these earrings last night and I LOVE how they came out.... So simple, yet gorgeous :D

I'm a proud earring mommy, I have to share ;)

Jellyfish-a-go-go

I finished some knitting this weekend. My unknown project using the altered mock crochet stitch ended up being a short, but amazing and awesome scarf. I cast off my first square (and I don't like how I did it, but I couldn't find a better way so oh well) and I made a baby hat/jellyfish for a co-worker's new baby :)

Even though the hat looks ridiculous just sitting there (and oddly like a jellyfish, yes, I know :P) I like it a lot! It's a smapler of sorts. I did 6 rows in flat stitck for the brim, then I started doing other alterations on mock crochet. I did 4 rows of 3/5 mock crochet and then 4 rows of 1/3 mock crochet and then repeated both :) The 3/5 mock crochet is just beautiful and I'm making another baby hat for a friend's older baby and I'm gonna do it all in 3/5 mock crochet :) It makes these great diamond holes in the stitch (which you can't see unless it's on and stretching the yarn out some) that I adore :) The 1/3 is nice, nothing to crow about, but a good filler and quick and easy :)

I also don't like the gathered top and on my friend's daughter's hat, I'm gonna do a flat top with tassles on each corner :)

Knitting Porn

Howdy all :)

I've just been knitting away whenever i have a spare moment :) I don't really have anything DONE per say, but I wanted to share my progress.

This is a mystery item, lol. I love the stitch and the yarn and how it's coming out (it's Lion Brand Homespun Sierra on the red loom using the altered mock crochet stitch)but it's just something to knit...it isn't a "thing" yet. Any suggestions?



Then, I finally braved my infinity loom :D *happy excited dance* I have to have a blanket of some sort done by the middle of October for a raffle. I wanted to make it on the infinity loom, but I was frankly, a bit intimidated by it. I haven't done any double rake knitting before and here I was, planning my first project ever to be a massive afghan on a super cool loom. I was worried about loopy stitches. I was worried about making mistakes. I was just worried in general, lol. So, I decided to make an afghan using blocks of 4 different yarns. That way, I can make the smaller blocks for my first attempts at double rake knitting and it won't be so intimidating.

I used the lucet cast-on and I'm so proud of how tight and even my starting row is *puffs up in pride*



I'm doing a standard stockinette stitch using Caron Simply Soft yarns. This square is Country Blue Ombre...and I also have three other solid blues that are in this varigated blue yarn, so those are the colors the blanket is going to be. I'm excited :D I'm done with the first square now (see below) - I just need to cast off, which is making me stress again, lol. Trying to figure out which cast-off method will be best, since I'm stitching the squares together and the other end is the lucet cast-on. I'll figure it out :)



Thanks for listening to me ramble about my projects! Everyone knit tonight!

Crafty Overdose

I started on several projects this weekend. I wasn't quite brave enough to start working on my first project on the infinity loom I bought recently, so I took up my round KK loom and played around with an adaptation on the mock crochet stitch I saw on someone else's blog. I LOVE how it's coming out, so lacy and soft and it knits up quick. However, I don't know what it's going to become, lol...it just....IS...at the moment. Maybe it always will just be and then I'll frog it and make something else with the yarn, lol.

Sunday, I decided I needed to get brave and on the ball with my infinity loom. See, I haven't done any knitting on a double rake before, and it's so big and pretty, I was intimidated. Yup. I'll admit it :) But I went out to the garage (where I keep the giant tub o' yarn that isn't in use or next up to bat) and pulled out some blue varigated yarn and my instruction sheet and went to town. I used the lucet cast-on and I'm doing the stockinette stitch and I have to say, I LOVE how it's turning out :) I've decided to make several smaller quares and then crochet them together into one blanket. I know that sort of defeats the purpose of having the infinity loom, but hey, I told you it was intimidating me, so I decided to start small on this one :) I'm almost done with my first square and I can't wait till I have several and can start picturing how it will end up looking :)

The blanket is for an auction in the middle of October, so I have 7 months to finish it : I was teasing my sweetie, and I said maybe it will end up being a LAP blanket, hehehe. I'll just see how far I get along with it in 6 months and decide from there, lol.

It certainly is fun, though...knitting on the double rake :) I love how sturdy and thick my square is coming out and I don't know what people are talking about when they say their double rake knitting comes out too loose and loopy. Mine is very snug and even all the way around. Maybe it has to do with the KK gauge vs. the infinity loom gauge *shrug*

I'll post some pictures of my projects later :)

Crafty Links

Okay, so today...rather than workon my knitting at lunch, I am working on this blog. As you can see from the column on the left, I have gone through ALL of my loom knitting links and have created a comprehensive list of links by category for all things loomy :D

If you would like a link included on here that isn't, please let me know and I'll gladly add it :)

*squealing at the ability to combine my love of yarn and looming with my geeky computer graphic arts love in this blog*

The great weave

Today on my lunch break, I wove the ends in for my shrug and finished off the second sleeve end with a crochet hook so it would mirror the loopy end of the first sleeve (beginning edge of the project). I wouldn't say I crocheted, just...did something to make it look the same, lol. It looks good :)

I put several skeins of yarn in my knitting bag this morning. I want to make some bunnies now for easter presents. I also want to try to make a mouse or two, sort of made up as I go along, which I want to fill with batting and catnip for my girlfriend's cats to play with :) I ALSO need to start making my afghan for a raffle I've prommised an afghan for in October...I hope I can finish it by then, with my limited knitting time available to me :)

Sadly, no pictures today, but if I make a mouse or bunny tonight, I'll post it tomorrow!

Shrug-O-Rama!

I finished it! It's soooooooo warm and cozy and soft and amazing and even though there are problems with it, I LOVE it :D

It was my first attempt at decreasing and increasing and I think I did okay...but I think the next shrug I'll just leave the same width as the arms for a little more coverage on the shoulders. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, so now I know :)

It was done using 6 skeins of NoBo panda yarn, 2 strands at once on the red loom with the mock crochet stitch.

FRONT

BACK

Shrug Arms Akimbo :P

My shrug in the works...

Done on the red loom loom (as you can see) with NoBo Panda yarn (SOOOOO soft and fuzzy and warm) 2 strands in a mock crochet stitch.

Look for the finished product tonight!



and a close-up of the stitch in the round :)

REVAMPING A DEAD HORSE

Howdy :)

I've had this blogger site for many years now, but I haven't posted on it in almost 2. I decided it was time to have a craft blog, since my LiveJournal is for friends only. That way, I can post pictures and ideas and just general craftiness and publish the link to my crafty friends and other folks and they'll be able to see what I've been able to create in the spare moments of my life.

I wish I had more time to loom. Really, I do. It is soooo fun :D

Here is a picture of one of my more recent projects, a fuschia/pink fuzzy purse I made for a craft penpal I have. It's soooooo not my color, but I liked the yarn regardless and had to make something out of it :)

It's mock crochet stitch on the green loom and I sewed the resulting tube to a denim tote bag I purchased at Michael's for just that purpose.

I think it came out kind of cute :)