It snowed in NC!! Forgive my child-like excitement, but that never happens! Not like this, anyways. Five inches of pure, fluffy, whiteness. I even managed to get a picture before the hordes of snowball-throwing college kids descended. It’s 3am in this photo, but the sky is so amazing.
I also just got my Christmas present from my boyfriend! He’s clever, got me exactly what I wanted. :p (I only had to tell him ^.^) I promise I have a plan for all this yarn… But it’s 8 whole skeins of Wool Ease Thick & Quick in Spice! My roommate is going to think I have a disturbing obsession with orange!
Then, because the goof went and lost the gloves I made for him, he went to the local yarn store in his home town, and found the exact same yarn for me to make him a new pair. Let no one say he doesn’t pay attention! And he gave me a bribe to persuade me to actualy make the second pair. :p A second ball of yarn! Of Berocco’s Ultra Alpaca, no less. ^.^ And the dark grey color is perfect too. This is why I love my boyfriend, because he knows what I like and, not only accepts it, but supports it. (Shaddup, I know Valentine’s is weeks away and I’m being preemptively gushy. It’s the alpaca high, I swear.)
I’m going to go back to petting my yarn now… Night!
- Cristy
If you obsessively check Craftster as much as I do, you might’ve seen my crafting roundup posts! I really love the Craftster community and it’s always such a great resources for ideas, questions, and just browsing other peoples’ awesome work. Since I already stalk the hell out of the site, I thought I ought to reciprocate with a few posts of my own… Just the bigger projects, anyways. (And it’s really nice to see everything I’ve done at once, makes me feel accomplished!)
Some spinning (hopefully I’ll have more next year!)
Hopefully I can attempt to keep this up on roughly a monthly basis, instead of having to do it a year at a time… >.<
<3 and I’ll be back this afternoon!
- Cristy
Anyone else in a stitching mood? I blame the warmer weather…. Unfortunately, I left my waste fabric at home and I didn’t want to ruin good fabric with practicing, so I “spruced up” some old drawings! ^.^ I like them enough but, well, you be the judge.
This minotaur look like he needed some color. And I didn’t just want to surround him in lazy daisies and swirls but, rather, keep some of the fierceness.
Haha, yes, I really did just add four spots of red. I think I liked this drawing too much to play with it :p I have long lecture classes tomorrow, maybe I’ll get some doodling done that I won’t worry about messing up.
Of course, I should also acknowledge the original artist, whose work I mostly just redrew: DeviantArt
Also, a turtle! (I believe I drew it from a photo in a National Geographic.) He was so grumpy looking! (And he’s the boyfriend’s favorite of everything on this page!)
I wish I had more than just that one color of green embroidery floss… The lighter green is actually mercerized cotton crochet thread, so it’s thicker, horribly splitty and even tore once. Ack.. Oh, and you’ve seen it before! Can you see the irises? They’re green too! Excuse the weird brown-yellow smudges; there’s a colored pencil drawing facing this page and the pigment transfered.
Yeah, I was really in the mood to stitch… But there’s only one more, I promise! This is just a freeform doodle. I needed some chain stitch practice and buttonhole circles are just pretty.
So that’s chain stitch around the center circle, backstitch as its radii, and buttonhole all around. I wish the chain sttich wasn’t quite as obscured… but now I know for next time. Hey, I might even use more colors in the future! ^.^
- Cristy
Currently Watching: White Collar
… are the fastest, most instant-gratification type project ever. And since my crochet-masquerading-as-knit markers were aggravating me last night, I had to have these.
Better yet, they help me use up some old poly beads I made, as well as hemp string. (As much as I like polyclay and jewelry stuff, knitting is so much more me.) Yay for summer camp-style crafting! ^.^ Expect more of these…
- Cristy
Currently Listening to: “Home” – Three Days Grace
Oh, the alliteration was too easy… Anyways, I’ve been working on a few things (expect about 3 posts in the next 24 hours ^.^), one of which is a hat to keep the boyfriend’s noggin warm. It’s not completely done yet, since I have ends to weave in, but I wanted to post! I’ll probably add more photos sometime tomorrow too, since it’s a pain in the butt trying to take pictures of your own head.
I used Cascade 220 in brown (9557-0132), blue (8339-7546), and off-white/natural (8010-7408). The boyfriend picked out his color combination himself, so he’s not allowed to whine either! Seriously, I love Cascade. My local Michael’s doesn’t carry yarn like it, so I can only get it at Yarns, Etc in Chapel Hill. Please excuse the numbers. I’m terrible at maintaining my Ravelry, and it’s easier to just keep the color and lot numbers with the project!
Oh, cameras are scary things… And I completely forgot to tell you what pattern this is! It’s the extremely popular Turn A Square Hat, which you can find on Ravelry (there’s even a Spanish version!). Unfortunately, you need a Ravelry account to get the pattern, but Brooklyn Tweed does have a fantastic blog that is exceedingly well illustrated. Homepage and blog, actually.
Am I forgetting anything? I think my brain is pretty out today, despite (or because of) getting 10 hours of sleep last night. Barely awoke in time for class…
- Cristy
Currently Listening to: “Take Me Out” – Franz Ferdinand
The night before I left home, I managed to get some spinning done on my wheel! It’s a mix of montedale and mohair, and it’s *gorgeous* and extremely airy, especially when drafting. (The first two pictures are what I get for taking photos at 2am…)
And I know some people like to see the yarn on the bobbin…
But I managed to get a few more pictures the morning we left (at 8 am..), so these were taken just as the winter sun was rising.
If I’d been thinking, I would’ve gotten yardage, wpi, etc, but I’m fairly certain it’s fingering or sport weight. And this is just a vague guess, but somewhere around 100 yds?
And isn’t the sheen lovely? I think it’s the mohair. (Seriously, I couldn’t stop petting the fiber…)
Now I just need to fine the perfect pattern for the yarn… (And luckily, yardage really isn’t an issue, since this is just a fraction of the fiber I have left!) It has to be something special. I’d say a lacy shawl, but I’m not really a shawl-wearing kind of person, and I really do want to enjoy what I make. (I will eventually love shawls, just give me a few more years decades…) A special afghan or wrap might be nice for reading though… Suggestions would be greating appreciated!!
- Cristy
PS – Current projects are a hat for the boyfriend, gloves for me, and my mother’s scarf, so expect updates on those too!
Currently Watching: Spartacus
This is the simplest method I’ve found for crocheting around a ring, mainly because it uses basic techniques of crochet rather than knots. I apologize for the one-handed ness of the photos, but I needed a camera hand. If you’re left handed, you should be able to save the pictures to your computer and then reverse, or mirror image, them. And remember, if an image is too small, you should be able to click on them for the full version.
It’s a bit image heavy, so read more…
Yep, I finished my project and I’m posting when I said I would! (One of my goals for this year, as well as a few others…) It’s just a hanger for scarves, gloves, or anything else you might want to organize! I’ve already used mine to move back to college after winter break, and it’s so much easier being able to grab everything at once! The best part is that it can either lay flat or be folded up for storage (just accordion fold up from the bottom). The concept is relatively simple, but I’ve written up a whole walk-through which should hopefully clear up any questions. Since I started getting wordy, read more…
Remember that new project I hinted at about two posts ago? Well, here’s more! These are the materials: Yarn (preferably cotton), large plastic rings (I’ll even give you my sources :p), Button (you only need one, and a toggle would work just as well), and a crochet hook that matches the weight of your yarn (not pictured, my bad…).
Hopefully, I’ll have this finished by the end of the week and posted before classes start on Monday!
- Cristy
I finally finished them about two nights ago, and my brother’s been wearing them ever since! He even tried to take them to dinner before I had the ends woven in… Unfortunately, it’s made it a bit hard to take pictures, but I have lots of action photos!
I call this one “Portrait of a Gamer.” Mouth agape, yet eyes strangely focused…
My brother’s also asked me to add some marker to distinguish between the right and left, but it’ll probably be something simple, like a stripe across the top of each wrist. I used Jen’s surprisingly strechy bindoff (featured on Knitty). It creates a ridge where you bind off, but my brother hasn’t complained about it…
I love both pairs that I’ve made so far, enough that I’m considering a pair for myself too… I just need to choose a color. ^.^ But for right now, I’m just happy my brother loves his new gloves!
- Cristy
Currently Watching: The Dog Whisperer – National Geographic Channel
I started my brother’s gloves a few days ago. I’d meant to spend most of this week finishing my mother’s scarf, but apparently, she gets Thursday and Friday off of work, so I couldn’t really get to it… But look! A whole glove finished!
And it the proportions look monstrously off, it’s because they are! My brother has huge hands, but only wanted the fingers to come to the first knuckle because it interferes less with typing and video game controls. My hand, in comparison:
I’ve started the matching pair, so hopefully I’ll be finished by tonight or tomorrow! Then, maybe more working on the Swirls Scarf or I’ll start a new project I have planned. It’s something very new and pattern-less, so I can actually do a tutorial too ^.^ Oh, and recycled, so I’m even being green.
- Cristy
Currently Listening to: “The Spark of Ignition” – Beautiful Sin
PS: Happy New Year! I’m still working on resolutions…
I managed to start, finish, and wrap the Lint Bunny Cowl the day before Christmas Eve Day! (My mother gets Christmas Day, so we opened gifts with him Christmas Eve) It was close though; my father came home an hour earlier than I expected and I had to wrap the present in the guest room…
The pattern is the Overpass Cowl, which can be found on Ravelry too. It’s sort of reversable (in that both sides look nice, but they’re not the same) and I slightly prefer the opposite version of the picture posted with the pattern.
According to my father, it’s *extremely* warm, and fits under his motorcycle helmet! Go me! ^.^ And sorry for the freakishly close pictures… Between teenager-dom and bad lighting, my brother’s hair looks really greasy and I’ll spare the internet that much.
Finally, this post makes 10 in December! And I still have more planned by the time this month is up so, despite my week long absence in the middle, I’ve officially made my month’s goal! Hrmmmmm, now for a New Year’s resolution…
- Cristy
While my family’s not strictly religious (or, hell, religious whatsoever..), we like to get into the spirit and usually put up a tree!
It’s mostly handmade ornaments, many of which come from my brother’s and my kindergarten years of thumbprint reindeers and pompom snowmen. But I promise not to subject you to that!
Instead, these are the ornaments we’ve had for years (19 years, in fact). There are angels, bells, hats, snowflakes, etc.
They’re all hand crocheted or beaded, and I guess they’d be heirlooms, really. (Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea how to make the beaded snowflakes… I guess I’ll have to ask my mother.)
I do know I plan on continuing the tradition when I have my own house and tree. Although I think I’ll have knit sweaters and socks and crocheted snowflakes… It will be a very fibery tree :) Maybe even icord garland? Good grief, it might have to be a mini tree… Oh! And some socks should be Hanukkah or Kwanzaa colors, most definitely. I am such a compulsive planner…
Happy (politically correct) Holiday!
- Cristy
For my father’s Christmas gift this year, I thought it would be most appropriate to incorporate my spinning wheel (since he gave it to me..) but I couldn’t exactly hand him a skein of yarn and expect him to learn to knit too. I think I’ll be knitting him either a manly cowl or a hat, since he needs something warm for motorcycle riding and, well, it’s really, really hard to find things to knit for guys!
So this is the fiber I’ve been spinning that I’ve been (affectionately) calling Lint Bunny!
It’s a dark brown Montadale Black Lamb and some other fiber blend. But mostly Mostadale, to the best of my knowlege… It has some bits of straw and spurs in it, but I’ve been picking it out as I go, so it shouldn’t end up in the final knitted product. But the fiber itself is so soft and lovely!
But it’s actually spinning up into a nice, chocolate-y brown! I’ve got over 130yds, and even though I tried for a nice worsted weight, it’s definitely got some variety… ^.^ I just can’t help but spin fingering sometimes!
All ready to get knitting!
- Cristy
Oh, Christmas is approaching like a harbinger of doom!
… so maybe that’s a little extremist, but I have so much to do in the next two days! And I found out Sunday I was getting all four of my wisdom teeth removed Monday, so I haven’t been able to catch up on everything. Arggg! These next few posts (all within the following few hours, hopefully…) will be everything I’d been planning on posting and had pictures for, but never got around to sitting down with a computer. I should warn you, I’m on penicillin and oxycodone, so I’m really woosy and out of it… Should be fun!
<3 Cristy
