Yarn Crafter Mini Haul

Recently, I did a little bit of yarny online and in-store shopping! Yay!  Normally I don't do much online shopping because I enjoy the instant gratification of taking my new toys home right away.  But back when I was knitting my first hat a friend on instagram suggested I order some bamboo needles from amazon.  So I did :)

I purchased a set of 16 inch and 40 inch circular needles from amazon for less than $15 Huzzah!  Now I have no excuse not to try new and challenging projects. So far, I've started one new project with these needles and the tips were a little splintery, but that was fixed by buffing them with a nail file.

While I was waiting for the needles to come in, I decided to pick up some new sock yarn.  I purchased all three skeins from Joann's.  I can't make up my mind on which colorway I'm most excited about.  I just wish I could knit faster ^.^

WIP Wednesday: Almost Wasn't

Today's work in progress project doesn't have a name... It came about because I had one skein of Martha Stewart Extra Soft Wool Blend yarn and I wanted to make something that would take up the whole thing. 

So I took to Ravelry and browsed what other people had made with one ball.  I came across a "Variation on a Basic Hat" by a user called Gmax4.  I started knitting the hat and quickly got frustrated by the stiffness and wonkiness of the cord and I kept saying, "I'm gonna rip this out..."  But as you can see I didn't.

The little lace pattern is from GmaX4's pattern, but the other mods are mine.  I did a 2x2 ribbing instead of 1x1 and my finished hat will have a total of 4 lace repeats instead of 3 as in the original hat.  I may even end up putting in more repeats because I want it to be slouchy enough to handle all my hair ^.^  Currently, I'm up to the point to add in the third lace repeat.

First lace repeat finished.

Second lace repeat and a bit of stockinette finished.

One thing I've really been aware of during working on this project is how much the type of needles affect the knitting.  I'm using some needles I picked up at Joann's for like $3 after my coupon.  Since I'm working the hat magic loop, I've been fighting the cable because it just wants to curl up on itself.   Then in the lace repeats I have to do k2tog (knit 2 together) and because the needle tips are so blunt, it is quite the struggle getting the needle behind two stitches at a time.  But I'm pressing through.  I'm assuming this hat will be finished within the coming week and I'll be able to add another item to my stack of hand-knits!

Finally I'm Finished: First Knits

I have been knitting a whole lot more over the past couple months and I'm happy to say it's been very enjoyable.  As a crocheter, trying knitting was like going to the dark side lol!  I think the hardest thing so far has been regulating my yarn tension.  When I started my stitches would be super tight and hard to work.  That was also making my hands feel very cramped most of the time.  So to remedy this, I went online for tips on learning how to hold the yarn looser, but still keep everything neat.  I'm still playing around with how I hold the yarn, but it's going well.

I wanted to share my first few knitted finished projects today.  All three of these pieces have been finished within the last 3-4 months.  I'm so proud of myself ^.^

First, we have my "I Thought I was a Ravenclaw Socks."  I showed the first sock of this pair in mid-March and finished the second sock at the end of March.  They were knit for the Harry Potter KAL but I didn't win anything.  le'sigh... better luck next time! [click -here- for the progress post!] Anyhow, these socks are so comfy and not at all as hot as I expected them to be.  I've worn them to work in my sneakers and they did very well.  They also survived their first machine washing ^.^ I count this as an awesome win!  I worked them cuff down and using a long circular needle for the magic loop method.  These socks took me about a month to complete.

The next thing I cast on my needles was the Seaforth Hat.  I mentioned this hat a couple posts back when I talked about my needle adjacent projects (projects that I want to start).  This hat was SUCH the learning experience!  I learned how to knit regularly on circular needles (not magic loop), I learned how to read a basic lace chart, I learned how to do yarn overs... even though I found out after finishing the hat that all my yarn overs were wrapped the wrong way, but whatevs!  This is a hat pattern that I will surely be making again.  I want to do it in a smoother yarn next time.  This hat was made with Impeccable worsted weight yarn from Michaels.  Next time I think I'll use simply soft or something like that.  This hat took me less than a week to complete.

Third knit item is another pair of socks.  This time, I knit the socks toe up magic loop.  I really enjoyed going toe up because that meant I knew exactly when to start the heel and then I could knit as long as I wanted for the leg without the pressure of maybe running out of yarn.  At first, these were to be socks for myself, but once I finished the heel I realized the foot was a bit baggy.  Turned out they fit Lamar perfectly. -___-  And that's how he got his first pair of hand-knit socks. *shrug*  He likes them and said they are so comfy that he forgot he was wearing them ^.^  The new thing I learned with this project was how to do wrap and turn short rows and how to knit two at a time socks.  I decided to do them two at a time because I felt like they were taking forever once I got up to the leg.  I don't think I really care for two at a time... people were saying it makes things go faster, but I'm still on the fence.  These socks took me about a month and a week to complete.

My last knit project is... yep... another pair of socks! Lol!  I wanted to try my hand at worsted weight socks so I cast on a pair to give to my friend Tiff for her birthday.  I think I really like worsted weight socks! They were so fast!  Only... I doubt I'd be able to wear them in shoes... These socks were knit one at a time, cuff down on magic loop.  I used some yarn from my stash and actually finished most of the ball.  I love using out my stash!  This project forced me to learn how to correct a sizing problem.  The first sock I knit turned out to be about 1.5 inches too short, so I had to undo the toe and continue knitting on the foot to make the sock the correct measurement.  Then I had to reknit the toe.  It was a little nerve wracking pulling out the stitches, but I was able to get everything back on the needles properly and continue working.  These socks took me about a week and a half to complete.

There you have it!  My first few knitted projects!!  I feel like each one of these projects has made me learn new techniques.  Whenever I came across a problem, I went straight to youtube to search "how to..." and that was really helpful.  The next knit project that I want to cast on will most likely be the Ventura Shawl that I mentioned in the needle adjacent projects post.  I tried it after finishing the Seaforth, but I couldn't get it right.  That's when I found out I had been making the yarn overs wrong.  Next time I think I'll get it! 

I hope you liked seeing my newly created pieces :)  Are you learning any new skills or learning new things within your hobbies? 

Hook and Needle Adjacent Dreamin

I've had a profile on Ravelry for a few years now.  I never use to be very active on the site though.  Recently, since discovering a love for shawls, I've found myself on there more often drooling over patterns.  Within my time on Ravelry, I've amassed quite the library ^.^

Currently I have two projects going, one crochet and the other knit.  And lemme tell you, I'm itching to start something new!!  So I'm going to plan my next couple projects because actually starting something right now is probably a bit obsessive. lol!  I've chosen 2 crochet patterns and 2 knitting ones.  So here we go!

1. All Shawl by Doris Chan

Click Photo for Pattern Page (Photo by Doris Chan)

This is a super simple crochet shawl pattern.  I really like that the pattern is very flexible, you can make it as long or short as you like and gauge doesn't really matter.  It looks like a quick project to make and probably won't take much more than a week.

2. Sonny's Socks by Sonny321

Click Photo for Pattern Page (Photo by fmlcrochet)

I am very interested to see how crochet socks wear and feel.  I think if I like the texture I'll definitely have many more handmade socks ^.^  I like the shell stitching on these and they look comfy.  We'll soon see!

3.   Ventura Wrap by Rebecca Hill

Click Photo for Pattern Page (Photo by MissBecca)

To continue with my love affair with shawls :)  I'm going to try knitting this one.  It will be my first knit shawl.  Allegedly, it's an easy pattern.  I'll be the judge lol!  But hey, I have youtube and a local yarn store if I get helplessly stuck.  I'm excited about this pattern.

4. Seaforth Hat by Karie Westermann

Click Photo for Pattern Page (Photo by David Fraser)

I think this is going to be the most ambitious of all my hook/needle adjacent projects.  I'm actually quite nervous to attempt this, but just like the Ventura Wrap, I have youtube and knitters nearby to help me if needed.  I really want to make this hat because, 1- it's really pretty and 2- I'm getting a little tired of wearing my same old crochet hats to work.  I want to switch it up.  Or maybe that means I need to design a new crochet hat... that's a possibility!

So there you have it!  Four projects that I will hopefully be starting within the near future ^.^  My Ravelry pattern library is bursting with projects that are inspiring me and I'm so glad that I found that site! 

WIP Wednesday... on Thursday: Ravenclaw Socks!

Over the last couple months, I've gotten very much into watching knitting podcasts on youtube.  (I keep hoping that I'll stumble upon a crochet one soon, but it really might be up to me...)  Anywho, one of the podcasts that I've been enjoying quite a lot is Inside Number 23 hosted by Katie (click -here- for her Ravelry).  I like her vintage/handmade style, she's funny and she seems like she'd be fun to talk to or hang out with.  Towards the end of last month, she announced her first knit-a-long which would be Harry Potter themed (#23HarryPotterKAL)  Now, I'm not the biggest HP head, but I did enjoy reading the books when I was younger until my mom made me stop lest I try to become a wizard... lol!  So I decided to join in on her KAL.  And not only did I join a KAL, I decided to knit socks.  I chose to knit socks because I figured it would be a great challenge especially since the only thing I ever knitted was a very short scarf with super bulky yarn.  Bring on the teeny tiny needles!!! 

I cast the first sock on exactly 2 weeks ago and I finished the toe last night ^.^ I will also confess that I totally slept in the one sock because I was so proud of myself! So yeah, check out my progress pics!

1. The yarn I'm using is Patons Kroy - Cadet colors.  It's shades of navy with grey and I chose it because when I went to Universal for my birthday, I was sorted into Ravenclaw :)  This Patons Kroy colorway is perfect for Ravenclaw socks.
2. I did 2x2 ribbing, and that little half inch of rib took me like 2 hours to work!  Figuring out how to hold the yarn and knit was quite fiddly because I'm so use to crochet.
3. I got bored of the ribbing so I just went on to the leg after that half inch, lol.  In the future, I will def make my cuff considerably longer so it will actually fit to my leg.
4. More progress down the leg. I have learned that I knit continental and in the back loop which should be creating twisted stitches but for some reason doesn't.  I tried to follow a tutorial on youtube for continental knitting, but then my stitches started twisting... so I went back to what I was originally doing and it seems to work right.
5.  I TURNED A FLIPPING HEEL!!!!  This was the part of sock making that had me shaking in my boots! But I did it and I was so excited I wanted to do a victory dance around the room lol!
6. Working the gusset decreases.  This is the part where my funky knitting really made things hard.  I regularly knit into the back loop, but when you decrease you can't do it that way, so the decreases are a bit harder for me to do but I got it.  Also, I need to practice picking up stitches because I couldn't figure out how to do it with the needles, so I got my crochet hook out and used it.  Gotta make it work :)
7. Gusset done!  Progressing down the foot.  Round and round she goes!
8.  I did a wedge toe (??) I think that's what it's called.  It was def a good amount of practice on my decreases.  I decreased down to 12 stitches and when I finished stitching the sock closed, I realized I could've stopped decreasing at like 20... oh well, more practice.
9.  My first finished sock!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm excited to cast the next one on and wear them everywhere!  lol! 

Here's more shots of the finished sock.  The kitchener stitch for closing the toe was quite fiddly also.  But I think it being after midnight, poor lighting, and a dark section of the yarn contributed to the fiddly-ness.  As you can see, Miss Tootie approves of my work too ^.^

So yeah... I made a sock... that is just so cool!  I'm glad that Katie started the KAL and provided the idea for make these.  In all honesty though, all the way through this sock I wanted to frog it out and crochet instead.  I'm very proud of myself for sticking in there with the knitting.  Especially when my fingers got crampy and the stitches got frustrating.  Hopefully the next sock goes smoother.

Bad Blogger... New Knitter

Ok guys... I am so ashamed of my non-blog-writing and whatnot. Over the last few weeks I kept thinking, "hmmm... I should blog about this..." but then I don't.  Does that ever happen to you?

Anyway, I figure I should give you a bit of an update.  Umm... On the crafting front, I recently learned how to knit continental style. Which makes knitting SO MUCH EASIER! Oh.My.Gosh! I can knit!!!!  [insert celebratory dancing]

Toot has developed a habit of digging the squeakers out of her toys and playing with them. And since I'm always scared that she's gonna choke on them, I decided to practice my new-found knitting SKILLZ and make a thing for the squeaker to go in. Luckily she approves of my workmanship. 



After doing the dog toy in garter stitch, I decided to try my hand at stockinette.  Purling continental style is kinda hard, but manageable.  Oh! Also, one of the biggest things I've noticed is that my tension is a lot more consistent now.  When I was trying to knit the standard way, my knit stitches were considerably tighter than my purl stitches making the whole activity difficult.  Now the tension is even because I'm use to managing the yarn with my left hand.

Any crocheters out there who want to learn to knit should def try continental.  I thumbs up this method!

I made a little bow out of the stockinette swatch... and then got a little obsessed with bows.




After knitting the one bow, I decided to crochet the rest.  I now have the 3 pictured above (which I'll be adding hairpins to the backs) and a black one attached to a hair tie for work.  I think I have rediscovered my love for little yarn accessories ^.^ 

That's it y'all! Some of my bits that have been on my hooks and needles.  I have a new finished piece to share really soon & I'm excited about it.  I promise to have that up this week!  Goodnight :)

The Gallivanting Files: Sip & Knit Yarn Shop

Before I left Huntsville, I was beginning to go to actual yarn shops for little specialty yarns and whatnot so of course I wanted to find one here in Orlando.  Anywho, the first shop I visited is called Sip & Knit and it's about 15-20 mins away.  Not too bad. 

The sheep invasion begins!

From the name, I thought there would be a cafe area or something, but alas, there was none. :-( No sipping.  And I was hungry too, they could've really gotten me on that one, haha!

Do not remove under penalty. LOL!

This statue made me laugh out loud when I got out of the car ^.^ Very welcoming! I want to yarn bomb it... Maybe that'll help me make some yarny friends... not sure. Meh.

While I was there, I decided to do a quick video walk around in the back of the shop.  The yarn was so pretty and colorful and soft! *.* I want it all. Yep. Definitely. All.

So... I didn't end that video at all, lol.  Hopefully you can hear me. I was whispering because I was the only person in the shop and it was really weird walking around filming. 

All in all, it was a nice shop. The owner was really friendly and gave me a tour of the store to make sure I understood their shelving and labeling.  There was also a shop dog! A little cairn terrier called Tucker.  He barked at me at first and then after deciding that I was ok, brought me his toy platypus.  I felt honored ^.^

I don't know how often I'll shop there, but they have knitting classes which I'm considering taking.  Maybe I'll go on one of their free knitting nights and meet some people.  I mean... that is on my list of things to do this year.

Peace ^.^

What's on My Hook #19: Stashin' & Hexin'

Hey there :)

Wow... I haven't writing anything on here in more than a week... I'm sorry.  Work has been getting consistently more unsatisfying so yeah... I've had to have some convos with my supervisor regarding appearance and dress code and what not.  Today I spoke with her regarding my hair.  Being natural in itself gets so many mixed responses depending on preferences, but it's become decidedly more concentrated in certain environments.  I don't want to feel uncomfortable with my hair at work because of the preference held by my supervisor or anyone else. I read her the appearance guidelines from the staff handbook and pretty much left it at "if I contradict this please correct me. Otherwise, leave personal preference out."  She said that she just wants everyone to be "neat."  So we're going to have another sit down on Friday to discuss what she means by neat and how we can both feel comfortable at work.  (Because I am going to wear my hair out... that's just it...)

Anywho... I didn't plan on going into all that, but that's what's going on in my life these days... just being Caleisha, ambassador for the Natural Hair Staff Members of Oakwood University...

What have I been doing crochet-wise?  Slowly finishing up holiday gifts... and picking up other projects along the way.  I have a HUGE project pending for my aunt that I'm excited about and really nervous at the same time... But I'll talk about that when I get it underway.

My personal little project is a Hexagon Motif Bag.  I found the pattern today and thought it would make an awesome polka-dot bag. Here's the pattern.  It's actually a list of crochet-a-long videos explaining how to make the bag.  But it's so cute!  I'm using some christmas yarn I got on sale from walmart. They were 75% off so they cost me $0.85 per ball.  I picked up 4 red & 4 white.  I was going to get green, but I have enough green yarn.  So my Hex Bag is going to be made up of motifs like this:

The pattern calls for 26 hexagons, but I'm not sure if I'll have enough yarn, so I'm already creating some mods just in case I have to reconfigure them.  The yarn I'm using is Bernat Icicle Holidays and I'm glad I didn't pay a lot for it.  It's super splitty and it untwists while I'm crocheting.  I'm def going to use up all of the yarn on this bag just to be rid of it. :( I hate it when I dislike a yarn so much...

I also did a bit of yarn stashing in addition to that balls from walmart.  I took a trip to Joann's because recently they had a 25% off your total purchase coupon and of course I couldn't let that go to waste.  Now in store, all the yarn is 25% off, but online it's from 30%-50% off the same products... I asked one of the salespeople if they pricematch online prices and she said yes.  So I was able to get a bunch of yarn (mostly types I've been wanting to try out) for the online prices and then put my 25% off coupon on top.  These are all the yarns I got (just without the Bernat that I already told you about)

There's Patons Silk Bamboo in a deep purple (I'm making socks, one pair crochet/ one pair knit -determined-), Lion Brand Organic Cotton in creme and mustard (not sure project wise, but it's very soft and squishy... maybe a hat), Caron Sheep-ish in cream, yellow, & lime (again not sure of the project), Red Heart Eco-Ways in blue and green (I was drawn to the blue color first and grabbed the green to offset it. That blue is GORGEOUS).  So yeah, I'm not allowed to buy any more yarn until I use out all of this and a good chunk of the shelves and shelves of yarn already chilling in my stash. 

This is long enough... Good night!

Painting the Town Pink!

Instagram/Twitter hashtag #pinkyarnbombs

Hey there! Last night we (Alina, Christelle, Dee, Doran, Roommate, and myself) went on a Breast Cancer Awareness yarn bombing spree!  And let me tell you it was SO much FUN!! We had a bag full of pink goodies all ready to be installed all over downtown.  Each piece got a hang-tag with nice things to do for women written on it and the instagram/twitter hashtag on the back.  I hope they make someone smile today.

Tags made by roommate.

Working on finishing touches

Tags laminated (just in case it rains) and tied to the crochet breast cancer ribbons.

Pink party snacks =)  Brownies with pink icing, pink honey pound cake, pink lemonade! Yum!!

After all the finishing touches were done. We gathered everything, got super bundled up (it was REALLY cold last night o.O), and piled into the car to head downtown.  The first stop was a group of statues near the children's museum.

Alina and her awesome hat!

 Alina made the hat in the picture above and the puff stitch scarf in the picture below. I told her that they are so nice, they'll surely be walking home with someone.

Christelle putting a scarf on little creepy girl statue in the corner of the garden.

Me and Alina prettying up a roadwork sign.

Sorry about the ill flash glare -_-

Dee and Christelle

Bomber feet!

Semi-syncronized heel clicking.

 After finishing most of our big pieces, the random shenanigans began, lol... Below is Roommate thinking she's Gabby Douglas... ::rolls eyes::

Shoe Bomb!

The Pink Yarn Bombers!

 We got a nice stranger to take a group picture of us since we were clearly struggling with that "myspace self portrait angle".  All the pretty smiles ^.^

So... excited...

And of course we couldn't help playing in the leaves... Children at heart.

...weird jumping picture...

So that was our night in a nutshell.  I high-fived a stranger, saw WAY too many girls dressed a prostitutes for Halloween, saw a guy dressed as... I HAVE NO IDEA (he literally had on black daisy duke spandex shorts and a pair of shoes), we model walked down the street, and froze our little fingers off.  It was a great night. 

We should make this a regular thing. ^.^

Oh yeah...

We bombed Kiva, too.

What's on My Hook? #17: Yarn Bombing Prep!

Hey there!

Lot's of awesomeness has been going on around here lately ^.^  Monday I met Alina from Purling Beauxs and we had SO MUCH FUN planning an upcoming event! 

Alina suggested we plan a yarn bombing for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Of course my mind starts snowballing on ideas, but the best thing about it is that Alina is the same way.  So we're both brainstorming and thinking of places to bomb and planning pre-bomb activities like games and snacks and what-not.

Scarf beginnings.  Matching tights completely unplanned!

We decided to do some scarves and hats on downtown statues, cover the arms of some benches, and make a bunch of little ribbons to hang from different places.

First scarf

This scarf will probably be around one of the leapfrog kids statue near the children's museum.  I'm making another scarf & Alina's making a hat for one of the other kids.

Ribbon assembly line.

The plan (loosely planned plan) is to do our big bombs and give a few ribbons to whoever comes to participate for them to put up.  That way everyone get's to bomb.  We've also come up with an instagram/twitter hashtag for the event: #pinkyarnbombs.  So we have a bit more work to do to insure that we have enough pieces, but I'm super excited and motivated to get moving faster. ^.^

You should join in.  I'm just sayin'... It's for a good cause :)  Tell your crafty friends!

What:  Breast Cancer Awareness Yarn Bombing

When: Saturday, October 27, 2012

Where: Wherever you are!

Tag: #pinkyarnbombs

Tuesday Favorites #9: Mail Time!!!

Hi there!

Color me SUPER EXCITED!!! Why? I received a package in the mail!

The unboxing!

The whole shebang!

Lamar and I went over to my house to let the dogs out & I really squealed when I saw the box by the door, lol!  I also danced around the room before getting down to the business of unboxing my stash.

As you can see, the colors are very much baby blanket-esque.  Hopefully I'll be able to integrate that pink and the pastel variegated into something.  I just haven't got an idea yet.

The wooden rings to the left of the yarn are bag handles, 3 sets.  There are also 2 sets of knitting needles, 3 little steel hooks, an embroidery hoop, and some sewing machine pieces.  I plan to use the majority of the non-yarn items, but the sizes are WAY smaller than I normally use and one of the sets of knitting needles is a bit skinny for me as well.  It never hurts to have a few extra knitting needles or hooks around, tho. ^.^ 

I couldn't help making a gif...  Thanks for the crafty supplies Dad!

I also got another package from my mom. She sent me a webcam so that Lamar and I can talk over skype while he's in FL. That will be awesome.  He hasn't left yet. He's planning to leave tomorrow.  He had originally planned to leave early yesterday morning, but the weather prevented him from packing the U-haul and then today he was super tired from all the moving and packing he did yesterday.  I wish I could pack the whole truck while he's sleeping now.  Pray for safe travels for him as he leaves tomorrow and drives the 10-12 hours from here to FL.

I hope you had a great Tuesday and good night.
~Peace~