Tag: child

Knitting

Craft Sale Critter Hats

Iris Rose

Okay, I am officially losing it. A couple of weeks ago, I thought that Wednesday was Thursday. Yesterday, I thought Thursday was Wednesday. For those of you that wait with bated breath for my weekly blog post, I apologize for being a day late but not for being a dollar short.

I have been ramping up for the big Springbank sale this weekend. It is a new one to me and I am always nervous before a new sale. I had everything ready two weeks ago, that is how worried I am. Silly I know but so totally me. I have four bins of toys and one of kid’s sweaters so I think that I will be good for products.


I have been working on some cute hats for the next sale on the 24th. I made one for DGD2; she put it on and wore it all weekend. I would say that it was a hit. I forgot to take a photo but there is no chance that I will get it back! She had asked for doll clothes a while ago and I had fun with those too.


DGD1 saw the new hat and asked very shyly if I could make her one too. Of course, if I make her one I need to make her younger brother one too which is never a hardship. I really love it when one of the kids or grandkids asks for me to make them something. I feel flattered and privileged.


Anyway, here are a couple of the hats that I made. The are based on my free Tiger Hat pattern that you can download here. DH says make some for sale so I am hard at work! They only take a couple of hours to make and I really have fun creating them so it is a win, win. Plus, I can use some of my SABLE stash so I guess that makes it a win, win, win project, my favourite kind.


Have a great week and don’t feel guilty if you start a new project or two; I know I will be starting at least that many!

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Cuteness Overload

Iris Rose

It is Thursday again and I have some cuteness to share with you this week. I am still plodding along with the craft sale stock but finally feeling like I am making some head way.

Before I show you my latest, however, I have a complaint to air. I use Aveeno Ultra Calming face moisturizer and bought a new bottle last week. Now I know that I bought the spf30 instead of the usual spf15 but really, half the size for the same price? It is scent free but the new one smells so strongly of plastic that I wonder what is leaching into the lotion from the container. Time for a new product, I think.

Now for my Sugar Cubes, based on the free rabbit pattern that I published here on my blog earlier this year. I am having a lot of fun making these. They are simple and don’t take a lot of effort to knit. The eyes are crocheted and the pattern for those is included with the bunny pattern as well.

If you want to make these for yourself, follow the bunny pattern but cut back on the number of stitches and rows. I cast on 30 stitches and knit twenty rows with a smaller needle (5mm) to make the larger of these cuties. The little one is 20 stitches and 15 rows. Icord arms and legs with a fuzzy foot and they are ready to cuddle!  I really do need to find a better photo background than the underside of my LK150.

Thank you for supporting me by subscribing to and reading my blog. Have a fun and crafty week with skeins and skeins of untangled yarn.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Topsy Turvy Dolls

Iris Rose

I almost forgot to post today! For some reason, who the heck knows why, I was convinced that today is Wednesday but no, it is not so here we go.

This week was fun craft wise. I wrote, last week, about knitting up a couple of topsy turvy dolls on my midgauge machine to speed up the process of creating toys for craft markets. I made the basic pieces for this Jean Greenhowe’s pattern on the machine and then finished them up by hand with knit and crochet accessories.


I am really happy with how they turned out and will be making some more of these. There is a teddy pattern in the same book that I think that I will tackle soon too.

I think that any pattern that is knit flat without extreme shaping can be adapted for the machine. It speeds up the process for sure but, and this is important for most of us, the pleasure of hand knitting is lost. I am working at building up stock which is why I chose this method to create my toys.

Speaking of which, hand knitting that is, a while back I posted a hand knit pattern for an easy bunny. I have made a bear with the same pattern by modifying the ears. I think that it is pretty darn cute too! I am working on a crochet pattern for this toy that I should have ready in a couple of weeks to share with you.  And, yes, that is the bottom of my LK150 that I store up against the wall at the back of my table in my craft cave.

I forgot to mention last week that I received my order from the new online store Hobbii. I do not have any affiliation with this merchant, but I highly recommend them for quality of yarn and price. Shipping was four days from Denmark to Western Canada and no messing with customs.

Well, I think that’s all that I have for this week so have a great one. Happy crafting which ever art you practice, and I hope that your life is filled with yarny goodness.

 

Knitting

How Summer Flies By and Part 5, The End

Iris Rose

Seems like I just posted yesterday and already it is Thursday again. Summer is just too fleeting! I wonder why I always comment about the weather. Could it be that I am a true Canadian? All kidding aside, I do love the seasons and the wonderful ideas and opportunities to create that they bring. Fall means shawls to me and that is what I have tunnel vision about right now.


I am still chugging away at the next shawl pattern as well as retesting the current one, this time in solid colours rather than a gradient. I am making the colour changes at each section but am running out of enough different shades in the stash yarn that I am using so may make it every two sections. Because I have more yardage, I may increase the number of repeats in the last two pattern designs as well to make the shawl a little larger. I will post photos and my modifications when it is complete. I am on section three and so far so good on the writing. I will keep you up to date on any corrections in the next few sections although I am confident that the directions are right.

Changing the subject, I have a shining example of the importance of maintaining gauge. I am knitting some topsy turvy dolls and thought that my midgauge machine might handle a Jean Greenhowes pattern. It worked out beautifully with a few mods for avoiding garter stitch. Except, and this is a big one, I made one side of the doll at tension dial 2 and the other at tension 2.5 as tension 2 seemed a little tight in the dk yarn I am using. Did I think about the size difference that .5 might make? Nope. Now I have to try and fix the skirt, the only obvious part, and I have already sewn it all up. I think it is time to break out the crochet hooks, trim the bottom edge with a pretty edging and call it a day. I really wanted to throw the whole mess against the wall but told my inner child to behave. I hope to finish them up this weekend and will show you my solution.

Big note to self: ALWAYS check your gauge whether machine knit, hand knit or crochet. ALWAYS!!!

Here is the final part of my latest shawl design, the edging. In this part you will still keep increasing at the border edges as before but you will remove the markers at the spine and keep going straight across.  Here you can see how much yarn I had left over.


Row 1: (right side) Work border stitches as before, slip marker, YO, P all stitches across to the last marker removing the centre spine markers as you go, YO, slip marker, work border stitches as before.
Row 2: (wrong side) Work border stitches, slip marker, K all stitches to last marker, slip marker, work border stitches as before.

Now we start the lace pattern which is version of Old Shale or Feather and Fan.
Row 1: Work border stitches as before, slip marker, YO, K2tog twice, YO, K1 four times, (K2tog four times, YO, K1 four times), repeat the stitches between the ( ) across to the last four stitches, K2tog twice, YO, slip marker, work border stitches as before.
Row 2: Work border stitches as before, slip marker, P all stitches across, slip marker, Work border stitches as before.
Repeat these two rows three more times. You will have extra stitches at each end before the border stitches from your YO increases. Just work these stitches as knit on the right side and purl on the wrong side.

For the final edge:
Row 1: (right side) Work border stitches as before, slip marker, YO, P all stitches across to the last marker, YO, slip marker, work border stitches as before.
Row 2: (wrong side) Work border stitches as before, slip marker, K all stitches to last marker, slip marker, work border stitches as before.
Row 3: repeat row 1.

Cast off: Working from the wrong side, K2, slip these stitches back onto the left needle and knit them together. Knit the next stitch, slip the two stitches back onto the left needle and knit them together across to the end. Cut the yarn and pull it through the last stitch to fasten off.  Weave in your ends and block yarn shawl to open up the lace.

I hope that you like my latest pattern and please contact me if you have any questions on this or any of my other patterns or if you just want to chat.

Have a great week and enjoy the remainder of summer with some crochet or knitting!

Knitting

Finished! and Shawl Part Two

Iris Rose

I have a few photos for you this week as well as part two of the Shawl in Parts that I started last week.

I finally blocked the two little swonchos that I made and declared as finished last week. They really are finally, finally finished now. I really like them and will definitely be making more. I think that I like the length of the peach and the neck of the teal one more. I guess I should combine the two and have the best of both in one. I am going to develop a size range too.


I spent some evening time this week working on a cat hat and scarf set. It is sized for a kid from six to ten maybe and was fun to make. What do you think? Should I make more of these with different animals?

Here is part two of the shawl pattern that I started last week. It is easy mesh lace and is mirrored to slant downward on each side of the centre spine which stays in stocking stitch. Have fun with this part and let me know if you need help; I am available here on the contact page or on Ravelry as bluechicken.

Shawl part two:
You should have sixty five stitches between the markers on each side of the centre spine and side borders. Make sure that you have ended the first section by completing a wrong side row and are ready to work on the right side next.  K2tog means knit 2 stitches together and SSK means slip two stitches onto the right needle knitwise, slip them back to the left needle and knit them together.  This makes the pattern slant in different directions on each side of the shawl to mirror the lace.

Row 1: Work the border stitches as before, slip marker, YO, K1, YO, (K2tog, YO) over the next 64 stitches, slip marker, K5, slip marker, YO, (SSK, YO) over the next 64 stitches, K1, YO, slip marker and work border stitches.

Row2: Work the border stitches, slip marker, P all stitches, slip marker, work the border stitches.
Repeat these two rows another 11 times for a total of twelve repeats.

Wow, this section is easy! Don’t worry the next section is easy too.

Have a great yarny week! Now I need to get knitting fast to have a new section ready for you next week!