Cabled Wristlets

So after Wednesday and finishing the hat, I went looking for another project, while I knitted another hat from the same pattern as practice. I also discovered continental style knitting so I’ve been giving that a try.

Yesterday I remembered that I’d seen a patter from Lion Brand Yarn that was for those small arm warmers, not fingerless loves because they’re just a tube, but these had a cable design on them.

Since I don’t really have much experience with cables, I figured ‘why not’? and off I went. I downloaded the pattern from here and got to work. Mine are navy, not grey, but whatever.

So here’s the first one partially done

I made a mistake (as you can see) in the pattern on the left hand side of the piece. I was four rows past it when I realized what had happened….. I wasn’t about to rip out 4+ rows of recent knitting so I just left it there.

And here’s one complete!

Two complete!

And finally, seams sewn to create their shape:

The color is off on the last picture because the lighting in my room after dark isn’t the best.

I actually wore these today after I finished them. I babysat for my dad and stepmom and we went to the local roller skating rink. We both used rollerblades though, but close enough. These were quite nice to wear while I was out today.

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I’m not quite sure what my next project will be, I’m thinking of trying my hand at socks, but I need a needle gauge (the double pointed needles I got from my grandmother don’t have a size shown on them) and I really need to learn to swatch patterns before I make them to make sure I got the stitches right.

I did come across a pattern based on the hat that Scotty wore when introduced in the new Star Trek movie. I might see if I can make that one, which would be good practice for a variety of skills. No guarantee’s though, I need to find something that strikes my fancy.

I Made A Hat!

 

Yup! I made it!

You would not believe how proud I am of this thing. It’s the first non-scarf/rectangle/square that I’ve ever made! The pattern can be found here.

I’m just so proud of this. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do next, I might make another one for a friend or two as practice since I did make quite a few mistakes and I think it would come out a lot better with a bit more practice.

Maybe another hat, like a different pattern? I’ll have to look and see what’s around.

And so some in progress photo’s:

(Smokey’s ass got in the way of this pic, but what can ya do? He’s a cat.)

 

After I’ve switched to the larger needles (size 11US) that the pattern requires.

 

Before sewing the seam to make it a hat instead of a contorted piece of knitted fabric. As you can see, Smokey decided to play with the tail of yarn used to sew said seam. And as you can also see, he’s apparently made himself comfortable in the warm air blowing from my laptop. Gotta give it to a cat to find the warmest spot.

And the completed article is able to be seen in the top of this post.

So, suggestions for my next piece? I definitely need something simple as I still don’t know what I’m doing half the time. I am leaning towards making a hat using a different pattern though. I like hats, maybe something to hold all that hair I have?

Feel free to let me know what you think I should make! Or if you have any suggestions for keeping track of a pattern or anything really.

(Oh and one more thing, yes I am wearing a Gryffindor shirt in that pic.)

Finished Scarf!

Last night, before I went to bed I managed to finish my scarf (along with my homework, don’t worry about that!).
So about the scarf, it was only one skein of yarn, so it’s only about four feet long, which, granted, is plenty long enough to wrap around your neck etc., but it isn’t super long either.

And there it is. I put it on and took a picture with my camera. It’s not the best photo, but I’m no professional photographer, and you can see it’s wrapped around my neck with a little bit of slack the tails aren’t too long.
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Next Project:
I’ve already cast on for another project. I found a really easy hat pattern so I’m going to learn how to knit hats. I found it via Ravelry which is a knitting/crochet site where members can share projects. I was looking at the various free patterns and I found a pattern for a slouchy beret.

(picture used without permission)
It comes from here: http://whitegirlknits.blogspot.com/2011/01/simple-yet-adorable-slouchy-beret.html and I give her all the credit for creating the pattern and having a really good idea. I’m making mine in red instead of grey to start, but if it works out I might make a few extra for friends as small gifts.
I’ll post a couple of progress pictures once I have more than two rows knitted!

Hamantashen!

Hamantashen: Triangular cookies with various fillings made for the holiday of Purim (which is tomorrow).

My mom and I made a whole bunch of these little cookies today, in a variety of flavors (I took the pictures sneakily with my phone while my mom was rolling out the dough).

We started with some Pumpkin (we’re baking the extra and I get to eat it!):

Then Some cinnamon sugar with spices:

 

Then Apricot:

And Poppy seed:

And finally Chocolate and Cherry:

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On a knitting note (since I didn’t get much done today) the scarf is coming along. I may or may not finish it tonight since I have to go to bed early, but it should be finished tomorrow at the latest. I can knit fast when just doing knit and purl.

Oh! And if anyone is interested, the scarf is a simple ribbed pattern. I cast on 50 stitches and then K2, P2, all the way across. If you end on a pearl, start the next row on a knit, if you end on a knit, start the next role with pearl. This can be done with any even number of stitches, or if you’d like to do a 3 or 4 or even 5 stitch wide rib, just do a multiple of how long you want the rib to be. And the nice thing is the scarfs reversible!

The above is about my extent of pattern knowledge, but feel free to make the scarf if you want. It’s not really a patter, just a modification of an existing stitch (and it happens to make a nice scarf!).

ALSO: Check out the full moon tonight! It’s going to be the largest full moon in 19 years!

The Beginning

So, when I was a little kid my grandmother gave me a set of milk protein plastic pink knitting needles and a ball of blue yarn. She then attempted to teach me how to knit. There was a bit of a complication though. My grandmother knits left-handed, and though, I am predominantly a left-handed I could never really “get it” and thus was stuck with just the knit stitch for years.
When I was in high school I began looking at knitting and crochet again. I’d always had an interest in them (along with sewing and other crafty type things), and wanted to learn how to make things for myself. That’s when I found the book Stitch ‘N Bitch. It had the right attitude to grab my attention at 16 (c’mon, it’d would grab your attention too at that age), and I began to practice the knit stitch again (this time right handed) and finally learned to purl along with increasing and decreasing but I never really got the hang of it.
Then my grandmother gave me her old knitting kit. She was in her early 80’s by this time and her arthritis meant she couldn’t really knit anymore (she’d always been more of a sewing person anyways) and thus I got her case with all her accesseries:
As you can see, there’s actually quite a bit of stuff in it, and though I don’t know what all of it is yet, there is quite a variety of needle sizes to work with for a beginner like myself.
So after putting a massive effort into cleaning my room this past week (convientely my spring break from college), I found all my yarn and supplies again. Figuring it would be something good to do to help relax from studies and de-stress after school days or whatever, I decided to pick things up again.
To get myself back into the knitting groove I’m making a basic scarf.

As you can see, it’s a simple ribbed scarf. I have the really bad habit of balling up skeins of yarn and then not keeping the labels, so I can’t tell you the kind of yarn beyond soft, black, and acrylic. I’m using size 8 needles cause, to be honest? Those were the ones on hand when I picked up the ball of yarn from my mess otherwise known as my room.
I’m probably not going to block the scarf or anything simply because I have no idea how to even do something like that, but it should be fine as is.
I’ve also downloaded a bunch of free patterns and I’m going to try to make a hat once I finish the scarf.
Anyways, I’ll keep this updated with daily progress on the scarf (of course if I finish it tomorrow I’ll mention that as well).