DIY Stitch Markers

I've been coveting a set of pretty beaded stitch markers for at least a year now, and last weekend I finally decided to do something about it. Being a do-it-yourself-er (and exceedingly cheap), I consulted some rudimentary instructions I found via Google, picked up some beads on sale at Michael's, and fashioned a handful of my own stitch markers.

Despite not knowing the first thing about beading, I think they turned out alright. I especially love the gray opalescent ones. (How pretty will those be on a lace project?) I haven't had a chance to test them out to see if they snag and hold up to use, but I can't see any major problems looming.

Plus, for a less than $20, I ended up with a ton of them, easily enough for a couple of sweaters or a big project. I'm tempted to cast on another project just to try them out.

Knitting Funk

For the first time in years, I just don't feel like knitting. I don't know if it's the heat or the fact that I'm in a terrible knitting rut (another turquoise sweater anyone?), but I just don't feel like picking up my knitting needles these days.

Despite the lack of knitting, I have been busy crafting up a storm. A couple of weeks ago I was bitten by the origami bug and suddenly had the crazy urge to make a lot of paper cranes. I ended up stringing dozens and dozens of paper cranes into a giant mobile.

Besides lending some whimsy to our apartment, the cats find it highly entertaining.

I've also been busy making dozens and dozens of tissue paper flowers and luminarias over the past few weeks. My grandmother's 85th birthday party is late next month, and we're planning on decorating my parents' home with copious amounts of these in one of my grandma's favorite colors: pink. They're cheap, cheerful, and perhaps most importantly, easy to make.

I've actually lost count of how many of these I've folded now, and I've still got a good deal of tissue paper to use up. Since the party is back in Texas, I'm planning on shipping them folded up and fluffing them out once I arrive. I've got my fingers crossed that this plan will work out alright.

I've also been doing a lot of sewing this summer, mostly to prepare for the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. After attending various Renaissance festivals for most of my life, this is the year that I'm finally embracing ye olde inner nerd and dressing in costume. While not it's not historically accurate, I'm making Simplicity 3809. I'm actually planning on combining both costumes, making the skirt and bodice on the left and the short-sleeved blouse/chemise on the right.

So far, I've got the skirt and the blouse completed and plan to start piecing the bodice together later this week. Not surprisingly, H. isn't entirely on board with dressing up (yet!), so I'm not sure what I'm sewing for him, if anything.

Time Flies

Sorry for the unexplained silence around here, folks. I spent last week visiting family in Texas and have finally recovered from the drive back to Kansas. On the up side, the twenty-two hour round-trip drive gave me the opportunity to finish Liesl.

About time, eh? Honestly, I was done with the actual knitting not long after my last update, but finishing it took me forever.

Since it's knit at such a loosey-goosey gauge, I was worried that the button holes would gap and pull unattractively. (You can kind of see it in the pattern photos.) In an effort to avoid unsightliness at my bustline, I decided to try my hand at sewing in snaps instead.

While the final product looks just fine, I have mixed feelings about the snaps. There's no way these puppies will ever gap unattractively, but they were a far bigger commitment than I ever anticipated. Each snap took me roughly one hour to sew into place, a large part of why this project dragged on and on. The snaps are still a little stiff and hard to separate, but I think they'll "break in" with use. If I had it to do over, I'd probably explore better button holes and different methods of snap installation instead.

Also, don't worry: it doesn't escape me that this sweater remarkably similar to the last sweater I knit. No more blue, three-quarter length sleeve, three-white-button sweaters for awhile. I have it out of my system now. Promise.

Cheap and Cheerful Crochet

I've been seeing a lot of cute and kitschy crochet potholders on Ravelry and throughout the blogosphere lately and have been itching join in on the fun. But, there's just one little problem: I can't do anything other than chain and single crochet. So when I ran across these crochet potholders on Ravelry, I knew I had to could make them.

These potholders are nothing but single crochet. Once you've done your foundational chain, you basically single crochet around and around until the sides match up. It's perfect for a complete crochet novice such as myself.

When I finished the first one, I realized that they would make a fantastic canvas for some simple embroidery. The single crochet makes a very clear grid, and because they're seamed up the back, all of the mess is hidden inside. To stitch the lazy daises onto the potholders, I used this very helpful YouTube tutorial. I followed the instructions pretty closely but did find that sewing through the stitches (i.e., the knots instead of the holes) made a more secure flower.

Because I like seeing the "guts" of other folks' projects, here's what the "lazy daises" look like on the inside. I simply tied the ends in square knots behind the flowers and ran the yarn tails under a few loops.

For me, this project was reminiscent of EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket. You make an amorphous blob, fold it, and voila it's something! When you're done crocheting rounds, you have a little pocket like this:

You just fold it on the bias and end up with a pocket like this. I think it's delightfully clever.

Using an H hook, I was actually able to eek a set out of two out of one ball of Lily Sugar 'n Creme. (Only one is pictured here. The other one is waiting for its daisies.) I liked the pattern so much that I cast on for another set in purple.

Don't worry: I won't be crocheting toilet paper covers next. These were just a fun little diversion and a nice pick me up. I'm also working on a Liesl sweater, but it's still an unimpressive blob right now. And, I'm starting to swatch for the next project.

April Lady Sweater

As I was pulling out yarn for the next project I'm planning, I spied a nearly finished sweater in the back of the linen closet and felt compelled to do something about it already. And, so I did.

There's so much to say about this sweater that it's kind of hard to know where to begin. The yarn is Cascade 220 that was reclaimed from my very first sweater, which left a lot to be desired.

My first sweater was knit using Barbara Walker's guidelines in Knitting from the Top. While it's an amazing book (and I should have known better), I ignorantly followed every general sizing recommendation she made instead of customizing it to fit my body. Needless to say, I ended up with a man-sized tunic with very dramatic waist shaping. Thankfully, there isn't any photographic evidence of this catastrophe to share here.

I'm pleased as punch that I was able to give that unfortunate sweater a new life as a, if I do say so myself, much better sweater. The new sweater is, of course, the ubiquitous February Lady Sweater. I cast on back in December but just finished last weekend. The actual knitting only took about a month, but the sweater had to sit in "time out" for awhile. (Surely I'm not the only one who does this?)

To be completely honest, I made a somewhat monumental mistake early on in this project: In the increase round, I accidentally added too many stitches in the sleeves. So when I went to go knit the first sleeve, I had the horrifying realization that I could fit my entire head into the sleeve.

I was too mad at myself to rip it all out, so I threw the whole mess into the back of the linen closet. After stewing about it for a couple months, I realized that I could just omit the extra underarm stitches and incorporate a few strategically placed decreases, and viola! Sleeves I can't fit my head into.

Unfortunately, my knitting progress is about to slow way, way down for awhile. As I was pouring a cup of tea Monday morning, boiling water splashed out of the cup onto my left hand. I have a sizable second degree burn on the top of my hand that requires near hand-mummification to keep protected, making knitting slow and awkward.

It's going to be a long couple of weeks.

Cuckoo for Cowls

Back when cowls were all the rage in the knitting blogosphere (2007? 2008?), I have to admit that I just didn't get it. I was more than a little skeptical of all of the short, stumpy tubes folks were knitting.

If you're on Ravelry, you know that there's always a discussion titled something like "Why knit dishcloths?" or "Why bother knitting socks?" Well, that's sort of how I felt about cowls.

Then, last week, I knit one. And, when I finished, I immediately cast on for another.

I totally get it now.

This little number is a Zigzag Cowl from the zigzagstitch. It knit up lightening fast in one skein of nearly-impossible-to-photograph vermilion Malabrigo Merino Worsted. I'm completely smitten with the traveling stitches and picot hems. (So much for gifting it, eh?)

The pattern keeps its promise: it was a super-fun, relaxing knit. It's a very straight forward pattern, but every row is just a little bit different. As the Yarn Harlot would say, it's just enough to keep a knitter interested.

Plus, it was the perfect antidote to my busy week. I've been struggling to finish up a couple of projects for a class that I'm taking, and knitting around-and-around-and-around has been a welcome reprieve.

Up next, I'm planning on starting a project that I've been eying for over a year. Here's a sneak peek:

Finished Objects

I finally have a couple of knitted finished objects to share here. First up is a Shiny Cowl by Dee Anna at Pair of Ducks Knitting. Since I'm trying to knit up the yarn I already have, my rendition is fuzzy rather than shiny.

It was a great one-skein project, using up almost an entire ball of Frog Tree Alpaca sport weight. (I estimate that I used 120 yards of the 130 yard ball.) In addition to using very little yarn, it was a near instant-gratification project. I cast on Thursday evening, and I started casting off at Knit Lawrence Saturday afternoon.

Fiber Star was kind enough to teach me Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff, which turned out to be just perfect for this project (and is every bit as stretchy as you would expect). Not only does it give me plenty of room to pull the cowl over my head, but it matched the long-tail cast on I used nicely.

I also recently finished a pair of plain top-down socks. While they're not an exciting piece of knitting, the yarn is very special to me.

They are knit in some gray, Regia tweed that I purchased in Wurzburg, Germany in 2005, while I was on the study-abroad trip where I met my husband. I was a brand new knitter in those days, and I don't think I had even knit my first sock when purchased this yarn. I only recently decided that I could knit socks competently enough to use it up!

I still actually have one skein of precious sock yarn left from that trip, and I'm thinking that the chemist deserves a pair too. I just can't decide if a nice herringbone pattern or cables will suit the tweed better.

T-Shirt Quilt

Last month the chemist went to a conference in Florida, leaving me to my own devices for a week. So, for a few glorious days I didn't cook, knit way too much, and enjoyed sole possession of the remote control. Since we're being honest here, I have to admit that I cleaned out our the chemist's closets while he was gone too.

(Apparently, I have no shame. Or, I'm turning into my mother.)

As I was going through our closets, I ran across a bag of t-shirts that the chemist wanted to keep but were generally unfit to wear in decent company. Ya'll, I am not a saver nor do I fancy myself as overly sentimental, but I just couldn't get rid of them. So, I did the only logical thing a crafter that wants clean closets can do: I made a t-shirt quilt.

It was a pretty fast and easy project, even for a complete quilting novice like myself. In fact, I think that I only worked on it on and off for about three weeks. I mostly followed the instructions found here, which contained just enough hand holding to get the job done. Though, I ended up consulting YouTube for the binding, which I'm pretty sure I butchered anyways. (It really only matters that it's attached, right?)

It's far from perfect, but I'm so happy with it. I love how each shirt has a story and how it's a tangible scrap book of our first five years together.