Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Slip Stitch Sides

This time I decided to concentrate on the sides. I am finding the Sockmatician very informative and easy to follow. I used this video to make my edges pretty. 

Well, neater. My knitting still needs work, haha.

Again for my sister, Transformers :). Her favorite is Bumblebee so I did gray and yellow. 

The pattern can be found here.

 the mess at the bottom is me just tucking the tails out of the way (besides it just being messy...)

See, you can tell the sides look so much better and they are locked together so it is not making a pocket! I really like the "Slip Stitch" technique.

Next post will be the cast on and bind off.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Double Knit Fix and My Next Challenge

I made lots of mistakes in my knitting. But that's ok, I am learning :) What is important is to not give up just because of it. So I am learning how to fix many oopsies, one at a time.

The most pressing and frustrating mistakes was losing a stitch. One of the places I went to was here.  Knitpicks' video was a very helpful, and the most comprehensive video I could find on how to pick up dropped stitches. I dropped many.

The next thing I wanted to challenge myself with was changing colors, I understand with double sided, intarsia, tapestry knitting that I am already working with 2 colors, But I was starting with those two colors and they were used throughout the whole piece. The idea of changing colors just blew my mind. I was trying to make it difficult. I hit Google up again and found these youtube videos.

AllFreeKnitting.com   and knittingtipsbyjudy


This pattern from the Geek-A-Long was my next project. Again it was too big for my comfort, so I reduced it and made this potholder, again for my sister:




I still was not crazy about the sides, cast on, and bind off, that is the next post. But a huge improvement on mistakes and catching them BEFORE getting too far!

Fun, fun, fun.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Double Knitting

I have been learning double knitting. I have always known how to knit, but had no skill at it. The needles and movements felt awkward and I would give it up after a few stitches. Not to mention it just looked awful!

Then I found this: The Geek A Long. The description from the group:

The Geek-A-Long is an annual FREE knit along where participants make a truly epic nerdily themed blanket to raise awareness for Child's Play Charity (www.childsplaycharity.org).

I HAD TO DO IT. I am a geek, my sister is a geek, She would love this. I would have fun making it. Though am not sure about making a blanket per se. But I was sure I could figure out something to do with the squares! Besides, we are both particular about our geekiness, so I wouldn't make all the squares they have.

For example my sister loves Marvel Comic Heroes, DC Comics, not so much. I don't know the difference (don't tell her!). I like Star Wars (my sister will only watch Star Wars because of R2D2), Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, Star Trek, and on and on.

So learning to knit became a priority. And of course it wasn't just regular knitting, it had to be Double Knitting. Two colors with essentially two panels with a front side knitted at the same time. One side would be the "proper" side and the other the negative.

I did it. I am proud of myself.  This is my first attempt.

 Normal side
Negative Side

 I took the image from here. I didn't want to start with such a large square so just used the Batman logo portion of the square and made a potholder.

Then realized I should have added the oval... oops. So I reworked things and made this:

 Front Side
Negative Side

Much better, even if I did mess up with the margins. I was happy with it but didn't like several things. The sides look messy, and I was holding the yarn in each hand and would have to let go of the needles to wrap the yarn or pull it to the front or back, It was a quick lesson on tension! My needles fell out so many times! ugh.

My next post will be my fixes.

BTW, my sister was the recipient of the potholders, she said I could mess up as much as I want, lol.

Friday, May 8, 2015

Birthday In A Box

Sorry I have been missing in action. Again, I won't bore you with the details...

My Aunt Francine is having a birthday coming up. She will be turning 67, and as she says maybe one day she will grow up. I love her to pieces. She tells you like it is and if you want her opinion, boy, she'll give it!

My uncle is in the oil business, and with the drop in prices, has lost his job. They are very frugal and do not live anywhere close to an extravagant (or even middle class) lifestyle but with their medical bills, this is a HUGE issue, sadly, not one they haven't dealt with before. Needless to say, they BOTH need some cheering up and prayers.

I made her some little gifts, small (useful) things to cheer her up. For her, if it doesn't  have a purpose, why have it?  Here is her Birthday in a box:
 Towel Holder
 Book Marker
 Small Birthday Banner
  Homemade Party Favor
 Towel Holder In Action
Book Marker In Action


Adding candles and individually wrapped cupcakes and we are good to go!