Showing posts with label Knitting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knitting. Show all posts

Dont you just love a bargain!
Tuesday, 25 March 2008

I love perusing the baskets of stuff outside my local lincraft store, they often have some form of yarn out there that they are trying to get rid of. Recently while delving into one such basket i made a rather pleasant discovery! They were getting rid of some stuff called 'big wool', its just lincraft brand 100% wool & it varies in thickness if that makes any sense, ie it has about an inch of really thick stuff then gradually over 2 inches or something goes to about an inch of thin stuff.

Initially i bought 6 balls, they were only $1.50 each. Then a week later i went back & in the bottom of the basket i discovered they still had some so i bought another 6!!! Its great for making scarves & beanies out of so I'm going to make a couple for friends & me ofcourse :D

The first set I've made took 2 balls for a scarf & 1 ball for the beanie. Here's some pics:


Think I'm going to pass this one onto a friend who's having a birthday soon.

The scarf pattern i just made up, its basically just CO 14, knit in stockinette stitch until you've gone through 2 balls, on the last row k2, drop 1, k2, drop 1, k2 drop 1, k2, drop 1, k2. Cast off very very very very loosely. Unravel the dropped stitches. Put tassels on the ends in the dropped stitches bits. I really like the look of it, its not all neat & pretty, its all a bit uneven & it curls in on itself but i think its really nice!

The beanie pattern went something like this: CO 48 stitches. Do 1 inch k1 p1 ribbing. 5.5 more inches in stockinette stitch. then start to decrease:
1. k6, k2tog - repeat for entire row
2. knit all
3. k5, k2tog - repeat for entire row
4. knit all
5. k4, k2tog - repeat for entire row
6. knit all
7. k3, k2tog - repeat for entire row
8. k2, k2tog - repeat for entire row
9. k1, k2tog - repeat for entire row
10. k2tog - repeat for entire row
break yarn with a 6 inch tail & thread through remaining stitches. that's it! :D

The yarn is really really chunky, 50g ball approx 50m, tension is about 10st x 15 lines per 10cm x 10cm. I used 8mm double pointed needles for the beanie & same size straights for the scarf.

Babble byMel : ) at 9:57 PM 3 comments  

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Foliage 4 Me :)
Wednesday, 13 February 2008

I finally completed a Foliage beanie successfully & i LOVE it!!! It took 3 attempts to get it right, mainly due to my laziness, not using life lines or doing a gauge, but I'm so happy with the result. now if only it was cold enough to wear it! Ive actually made another two since, one i didn't like & frogged (it was in a multicoloured yarn & looked crap). The other one i made for my mum to give to my auntie. Ive got to do another one for my mum cause she loved it so much. Anyway, here are some pics: I used some yarn i got from lincraft ages ago called heather, its just acrylic fluffy stuff but it worked really well. love it love it love it!!!!!

Babble byMel : ) at 9:47 PM 1 comments  

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Knitting needles!!!
Sunday, 27 January 2008

I scored a bunch of knitting needles off ebay from a great seller. For $30 i got 5 DP needles in 15 different sizes. Such a bargain. Bamboo works great with DP needles too cause the stitches don't slip off them. I nicked this pick from the sellers store:

If wanna know more you can see the sellers store here, think they sell world wide. I just wish they did 16" circs!!!

Babble byMel : ) at 10:09 PM 1 comments  

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Latest Projects
Wednesday, 19 December 2007

Ive finished some knitting projects recently so i thought id share them with you.


I did these two widdle wabbits, the blue one is for Jet & the orange one is for a friend's new little bub. The pattern is one of lincrafts handouts & i used the recommended yarn which is lincrafts fairy floss:
I made this beanie & scarf for a friend for Christmas. I bought this yarn ages ago to make her something with cause she loves blue, its from lincraft, think its called Heather? I only got two balls of it cause i was just new to knitting then & i was only planning on knitting a scarf, but i know shed like a beanie so i wanted to make her both. The beanie took up most of one ball so i had to do the scarf out of one & a bit. I knitted that ball of yarn 3 times trying to get the pattern right. First i did a ribbed scarf (stupid i know cause it takes up more yarn) then i did the pattern i used in the end but i did to wide so i made it thinner & did it on fatter needles (9mm). Here they are with me modelling (using the term very loosely) them:

& heres a close up of the pattern, not that you can really see it. Basically you just have to cast on 14 stitches (or any multiple of 3 + 2 extra) then k1 *k1 yo k2tog & repeat from * to the last stitch then k1. Cast off after you've reached your desired length & thats it.

The beanie pattern was really simple, its from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts which has quite a few fab patterns in it. The beanie pattern has lots of variations but i just did the basic rolled brim variety.

Babble byMel : ) at 10:17 PM 4 comments  

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Felted Bag Success!
Monday, 10 December 2007

My first attempt at felting was a success (well, my first purposeful attempt, i have done it once before by accident!). Its a bag i made for a friend for Christmas (who hopefully wont read this!) - its from a free Lincraft pattern. Im quite happy with it so hopefully she likes it! Heres some pics -

Before felting:After felting:


Im not sure i felted it enough cause you can still see lots of detail in the stitches? But it is quite a bit firmer (its stuffed in the pic by the way) so i think its ok. It turned out lots better than i thought it would - i was quite scared putting it in the washing machine. But anyway, YAY!!!!!

Babble byMel : ) at 10:33 PM 3 comments  

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Ravelry
Wednesday, 5 December 2007

OMG!!! I finally got my Ravelry invite & i love it! Not really sure what im doing yet but im sure ill get there.

Im NeptuneDiva on there if anyone wants to be my friend :D

Babble byMel : ) at 9:18 AM 3 comments  

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Knitted Pressie for my Cousins New Baby
Friday, 23 November 2007

My cousin & his wife just have a brand new baby boy & my parents will be going to visit them early next week so ive made something for him:

The hat & booties are from a pattern book i got from lincraft for free cause i bought way to much yarn & the other one is another Joe the Caterpillar.

I dont have any bubs around to try them on to see if they are ok so im just hoping for the best!

Just as a side note, while i was cropping the pics etc to put in here & typing out the message i looked over at the window & what was my cheeky little monkey up to? He climbed onto the couch, then up onto the very top of it & was playing with the window. The couch cushions are on the floor since hes been up & down on the couch all day & he hasn't really figured out the down bit too well - thought he could use some padding!

Babble byMel : ) at 4:34 PM 5 comments  

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Jet, Joe & Picky Pants
Monday, 12 November 2007

As promised (for once) here are some shots of Jet & Joe hangin out, Jets also wearing his matching picky pants (cause everyone needs pants with a matching caterpillar!). Look how clever my little boy is, he can stand up without anything around him, think he's been doing it a week or so now, im pretty sure he started while we were on holidays. I guess that means life is about to get more tiring cause people are telling me he is probably going to start walking in a couple of weeks.I highly recommend Joe as a toy for kids, Jet absolutely loves him. Cause he is long & bulby he can fling him round everywhere & try & bit his tail, head or antennae off (what ever he is in the mood for).
Think im going to have to make another Joe for my cousuns new little bub! He is so quick & easy to make & such a great toy!!!

Babble byMel : ) at 8:57 PM 1 comments  

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Meet Joe...
Sunday, 11 November 2007


He is a friendly caterpillar & my latest knitting project! Isn't he cute!!! At first i thought he was going to be really hard to make, you have to just cast on 4 stitches then spread them over 3 or 4 double pointed needles which i found really tricky, but once you get going he is really quite simple to make & so much fun!

Jet & Joe get on really well already, although Jet does love to grab Joe by the head & whack stuff with him & he loves biting his tail. Ill take some pics of them playing together tomorrow - maybe ill even stick jet in his matching picky pants, but for now here's some more shots of Joe just lazin around:
If you want to make your own Joe the Caterpillar click here for the pattern.

Babble byMel : ) at 9:20 PM 4 comments  

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Picky Pants in Action
Sunday, 28 October 2007

Here's a couple of shocking action shots of the picky pants i knitted jet. The were taken on my phone camera cause we are going on hols in a couple of days & rocky has already packed the camera & i cant find it! Sorry, they are a little blurry where it counts.

This is jets funny crawling technique by the way:
I just thought this one was cute & you can see the picot edging in it too (kinda):That's it! Sorry the pics are so shocking!!!

Babble byMel : ) at 6:37 PM 1 comments  

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Ta Da...
Saturday, 27 October 2007

I finished my mystery project - lol! Its my very first attempt at a pair of Picky Pants & i think i did ok. The crotch is a bit funny. If anyone can enlighten me - the whole bit where it says cast on two stitches when you are doing the leg bit, does that mean do that thing where you stick the needle in between the first & second stitch on your other needle then wrap the yarn around, pull it through & stick it back on your needle then do it again between the new stitch & the first old one (hope you can comprehend some of that?), cause that's what i did & it looked a bit funny. But who is going to be looking between his legs anyway!

I did the picot edging on the leg hem to give it that ship recked angel look (really I'm just trying to justify a girly edging by giving it a more masculine identity). Its got quite allot of colours jammed in there, which I'm not really sure about but i guess it looks ok. You might need to click on the pics to get a better look cause its hard to see them well at this size, but here they are: Ill get some action pics (i know i still have to stick action pics up of my last project too - ill get round to that as well). They are quite big on jet at the moment, but he'll grow into them. They have the drawstring anyway though so he can still wear them at the moment. They are meant to be Capri length but they look more like pants.

All in all I'm pretty happy with them! think I'm going to attempt one of those cute toys you can knit next. I really like Joe the Worm so i might give him a go.

Babble byMel : ) at 11:21 PM 1 comments  

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New Project
Sunday, 21 October 2007

I still haven't posted an action shot of my last knitting project (the ribbed soaker) - sorry bout that! ill get around to it one day. I think i made the leg holes a little big but apart from that its working really well.

Im about 60% through my next project already. I was just going to do something small but i just had to attempt this pattern because ive had it sitting here a while! Heres a sneak peak:

The yarn is called 4 seasons or something, i got it on sale at lincraft a little while ago, im not 100% sure about all the colours in there together but we will see how it looks when its all finished. So far its actually going pretty well, i haven't had to undo to many rows or made any major mistakes (yet). Hopefully ill have them finished in a couple of days - wish me luck!

Babble byMel : ) at 9:48 PM 1 comments  

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Ribbed Soaker Finished At Last
Friday, 12 October 2007

Ok, ive finally finished that ribbed soaker i was knitting. My last attempt was a total disaster so i frogged it back about 3/4, stuck about 4 short rows in (1 every 6 rows) & knitted an extra 3 inches. I made the leg holes bigger aswell & picked up more stitches. The result looks ok. I kindof used the 1932 soaker pattern but i modified it a bit.


The pic to the right is the soaker on jet before i put the legs on it or did the draw string. The pics below are of the finished soaker. ill get action shots tommorow.


Babble byMel : ) at 9:24 PM 4 comments  

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First Ever Longies Finally Complete
Wednesday, 10 October 2007

I finally got around to finishing the longies pattern i started ages ago. I actually finished the knitting side of it when we were on our trip to byron a couple of months ago but i lost my yarn needle (lame excuse i know) & couldn't sew up all the little bits & pieces. So i finally got around to buying another yarn needle & here they are! I was going to do a little picture thingy on the legs (embellishment or something are they called?) but that would have probably taken me another couple of months & as it is i think they are only going to fit jet for about 5 minutes anyway.

Originally i was going to attempt the picky pants pattern from little turtle knits but somehow i got the longies one. I now have the picky pants one too though so i might give that one a go next. I think one of the legs is slightly shorter than the other but apart from that they look pretty good for a first attempt.

i just looked over at jet while I'm typing this & saw him pull the needle out of the latest project - oh joy! how do they get to be so quick!!! Anyway, here's some action shots: They still need to be lanolised but apart from that they are good to go. If anyone has any suggestions for little projects that are still interesting but don't take to long to do id love to hear them. I need a couple of quick projects to motivate me!

Babble byMel : ) at 1:23 PM 5 comments  

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Help - no idea what im doing!!!
Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Knitters i need your help! My latest project is turning into a total disaster! I was trying to follow this ribbed soaker pattern but i wanted to use both balls of wool at the same time so it would turn out kind of speckally coloured. I also wanted the soaker to be a bit thicker than a regualr one (even thicker than a regular ribbed one) so i thought this might be a good way to do it?

Anyway, both balls of wool are the same, just that elcheapo stuff from lincraft thats 100% wool, 8 ply i think. I cast on 40 stitches then did 17ish inches of k2p2 (with one row 4 rows in of k2 yo p2tog for the drawstring).

Only one of the legs is done in the pics which is why it looks even more funny than it normally would. I think i should have made the leg holes bigger & picked up more stitches too, i only picked up 28 & it looks a little funny!

The main prob appears to be that its to short at the back, the front seems to be ok though so i think if i added more length to the original piece (which was just a rectangle) then it would get to long in the front. Im thinking i should maybe put some short rows in there but im not sure if that would work & im also not sure where. The nappy he has on underneath isnt even a fitted, its a baby beehinds magic-alls wich are pretty trim at night i use a bamboo baby beehind with a massive booster so its lots thicker than the one he has on.

Anyway, im after your suggestions. Should i frog it & just try a different pattern or should i undo the leg ive done, the sides & cast off & keep knitting, maybe adding in some short rows??? HELP!?!

Oh & excuse the grumpy face, jet was chuckin a tanty while i was trying to take pics, i think he is a bit sick of being the guinea pig for my knitting 'creations'.

Babble byMel : ) at 2:49 PM 2 comments  

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Ribbit, Ribbit
Saturday, 22 September 2007

This was my first attempt at stripes. The front kinda looks ok:

But the back went a bit funny! Somehow i moved my marker over so the rows werent even, not to meantion the short rows i had to do which i kinda changed colours half way through, not sure if that was a good idea:

You can kind of see a line up the middle of the back, thats where i would wrap the colour i wasnt currently using when i got to it. Im thinking maybe that i should just break the yarn & work in the ends rather than doing that cause it started looking a bit funny.

Anyway, i frogged it all! i was trying to knit it on double pointed needles because i didnt have the right size circular needles (long story there, but basically i bought needles from lincraft marked 4.5mm that were actually only 4mm then went back & got another pair that really were 4.5mm but you couldnt knit with them because the needles were to long & the bit that attaches them was to short - really weird!!!).

Im now attempting to knit a soaker, but no stripes this time, i decided to make it thicker & use both colours at once...stay tuned to see if its a total disaster ;)

Babble byMel : ) at 11:07 AM 0 comments  

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Pattern Projects
Thursday, 20 September 2007

Heres two tiny tiny knitting projects. I was experimenting with the different stitches to make patterns, I haven't been game to attempt a pattern on anything else yet though!

Squares:
Love heart in seed stitch:

They aren't anything fantastic but its a start, i am only new to knitting after all!

Babble byMel : ) at 10:59 AM 2 comments  

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Cant find the needle in the hay stack
Tuesday, 4 September 2007

I finished jets longies before we went on holidays but i cant for the life of me find my yarn needle, i know its around here somewhere! until then though no action shots cause there are bits of wool hanging every which way! Just wanted to let you know what my excuse is for being so slack ;)

Babble byMel : ) at 12:28 AM 0 comments  

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Another Longies Update
Thursday, 9 August 2007

Ok, well...im not really sure that these longies will be overly successful, but it is my first attempt after all. Ive finished one of the legs, just got to do the other one now. Theres still a circular needle in the unfinished leg in the pic just in case you were wondering what it was, oh & theres a baby in there too ;)

So here is the list of problems im facing:

  • There is a hole in the crotch on the completed leg side that i was holding out hope of just kinda hiding by tightening other stitches around it, but im not sure that will work
  • i was only meant to have 38 stitches per leg but then it asked me to pick up one so i had 39 which i only realised half way down the leg so i decreased one stitch at some random point
  • at the bottom your meant to do k2p2 ribbing but i dont have the right number of stitches to do it evenly so i just added on a 1/2 inch & left it at stockingette stitch so it can roll up a bit
  • i obviously dont know how to cast off when knitting in the round cause it left a kinda funny bit at the end
  • i didnt count my rows so the legs will probably end up different lengths
  • i used 4mm needles to do the body bit & i just realised im using 3.75mm for the legs, .25mm cant make that much difference right?!?
  • & last but not least the legs are kinda too skinny & the bum is kinda too fat

think thats it, apart from that everything is going quite well i think!

Babble byMel : ) at 2:26 PM 0 comments  

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Longies Update
Friday, 3 August 2007

Im attempting the Little Turtle Knits Longies pattern & i thought id share my progress. The pattern calls for short rows to be inserted in the butt area, which i had no idea how to do, so i am very proud that i have actually accomplished them without any holes, although you can tell where they are...but i am a beginner after all ;)


hmmmm, just realised that i think i actually wanted to knit the picky pants pattern not the longies one...oh well, theres always next time!!!

Babble byMel : ) at 8:08 PM 0 comments  

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