Knit Again

The last several weeks have been filled with the adventures of a wedding.  One of my very dearest friends said her vows before God and many witnesses last Saturday, and I was very blest to be part of my first wedding!  We made programs and favors and bouquets and we painted wine bottles for every table at the reception, and...  We got our nails done, we had our hair done, and generally had a wonderful time!  Weddings are too much fun!

But the busy fun can't last forever.  Now that life is settling down, I decided to pull out some yarn and set to work giving my first pattern a final trial run.  If it goes well I'll be posting my very first original knitting pattern!  And I haven't done any knitting recently, so it's good to hear the click of my needles again.

This has been a great project to have around as the Olympics begin.  :)  I have several projects I'm hoping to get finished while I watch.  I'm really looking forward to this year's Olympic games!

Lily's Berry Hat

A friend of mine had a baby last month, a sweet little girl.  And doesn't every little girl need a berry hat to keep them warm and snuggly through the winter snow?

I used the Berry Baby Hat pattern from Ravelry.com.  It was simple, fast, and super cute!

Happy New Year!

Sarah Hat

I've been able to get a fair amount of crafting done while we watch the Olympics in the evenings, and in the last few days that has been my Sarah hat.  I was excited and a little nervous about this project as it was my very first attempt at making up my own knitting pattern.  But yesterday morning I finished it, and it actually turned out rather well!

Having worked out my version and then studied Sarah's again, I'm going to experiment with changing a few things that will make it closer to the original.   But I never had to rip out more than 3 rows at a time as I worked, so I'm excited that my first attempt went so well!

I was worried about continuing the seed stitch pattern when I got to the crown shaping, but I reread the instructions for the All-Day Beret pattern and once I got going it really wasn't rocket science.  It doesn't slouch as much as I was expecting it to, though, and I'm not sure how I feel about that...

After I work out a couple of the flaws I'm planning to post the instructions.  Just in case anyone else wants to make their own Sarah Hat.  :o)

Casting On

Recently I've been very inspired by lots of adorable hats - so even though I should be working on my quilt or cross stitch, I began a hat last night.  :o)

I'm basing this hat off one of Sarah's in I Am Number Four (review here).  I didn't love the movie, but Sarah always looked very cute and I completely fell for her slouchy hat.

So I started a search for a pattern like hers.  Surely someone on Ravelry would recreate it, right?  But alas, I have been unable to find one, so I'm attempting to make it up.  I'm borrowing the shaping from the All Day Beret (the pattern I used for the last hat I made), and am really hoping it turns out well!

Tomorrow I'll be back with some more hat inspiration!  :o)

Teddy Bear

Wow, it's been a long time! I've missed all my blogging friends! But now that I've graduated and spent a week at the beach I'm ready to get back in the swing of life, and part of that involves my blog. :o)

Growing up I had a beloved stuffed bear as my sleeping friend. So when I saw this pattern on Ravelry I thought I would try to make one, because I tend to like stuffed bears. Though since I really have no use for stuffed animals I don't know what on earth I'm going to do with it...  but it was still fun to make.  :o)

I ended up using buttons for the eyes and a circle of felted wool for the nose.  When I tried the felted wool for the eyes he looked extremely scary, but the buttons worked well.

I'm trying to decide if his bow tie is too small...  but it was the first one I tried, and it will work for now.  I can always change it later if I want.

 

 It's so nice to be back!

Hours 2 and 3 - Owl Gloves

Days 2 and 3 of my Sew 12 Challenge went to my fingerless gloves with the cabled owl. They are finished and I simply love them! However, they are a bit too small for me, so I'm going to give them to a friend. Am I not a very friendly, giving person? lol



It's good to be knitting again! Though I had trouble deciding if knitting really counted for my Sew 12 Challenge. I finally decided it's more of a crafting challenge for me...



And, just so everyone knows, I really have done several of my challenge hours; I just haven't gotten around to actually posting them. I'll try to get everything up while it's still January!

Cabled Owl

I have officially done my very first cabling! I cabled a little owl for a fingerless glove I'm making. He will be cuter when he has little button eyes, but I'm very proud of him just as he is. :o)



The pattern was originally written in Italian, so the English version has some mistakes in it. But I think I've figured them all out, and I just love my little owl!

Fingerless Gloves

…Are terribly delightful, don't you think? I haven’t worn them as much as I would like, but I made three from this Ravelry pattern. Yes, I know it’s inspired from Twilight. And I'm not a Twilight fan. (Never seen the movies. Never read the books. Never plan to.) But I really like the design of this pattern, so… there you go.



I made two pairs out of the variegated yarn that's shown, and a purple pair for a friend. I’m thinking I need to make another, but I haven’t decided if I want to try a new pattern or not... Continue with tried and true or be adventurous? Oh, decisions, decisions! :oP Any suggestions?

Of Slouchy Berets

I've always liked hats, though I've never really had any. I recently decided it was time for that to change! So after looking through many, many pages of free patterns on Ravelry.com, I found a hat I really wanted to make. Now it's finished, and I really like it!



I chose the pattern for the All-Day Beret, and I found a ball of silky light blue Caron yarn on sale. Only I didn't read the directions thoroughly enough, so I had to rip out the first 5 inches of the hat... But after that it came along very smoothly, and in just a few days I had a new hat!



I love the way the center back is shaped as the stitches get fewer and pull into a small circle. While I was knitting I wondered how it would finish off (I really had no idea because I've never made any kind of hat before), but I really like the way this pattern was made. :o)



I think this hat will incorporate into my closet very well, and I'm heartily excited about this new step in my fashion life! I already have a 2nd beret ready to start!

Truly Textured Dishcloth

Some of my friends and I have been all about knitting and crocheting recently, so last week I knit a dishcloth!



It's from the Leisure Arts "Dishcloths By the Dozen" booklet. I've used this pattern before, and really like it! A quick and easy project for a couple evenings with a movie... :o)