Another Hook Holder

This one is knitted. I have to say that sewing on the felt piece was much harder, as the knit piece wanted to stretch in 80 different ways. So this is lopsided, but I don't care because it's only for me to not have to hunt through 10 hooks to find the one I want. I did find out I have 4 "K" hooks, though. Guess I don't have to buy any  more of those, LOL!

This is just a simple rectangle folded in half. The back half is all garter stitched. I did some fancier (but very easy) knitting on the front. It's in stockinette stitch, with some strands carried across the front here and there. Here's the inside:

I do have a "Q" hook that I bought from some mysterious reason which I will probably put in the back pocket.

Knit Book Cover

Here's a cover I made for one of my books--actually, a crochet book, which doesn't really go with a knit cover, LOL! But it happened to be what I had handy and this was just one of those practice projects. I'm trying to get a little more into knitting.

So I started with a simple combo of garter and stockinette. I was watching "Knit and Crochet Today" on public TV and they were doing this lace pattern. I looked it up on the site and tried to do one repeat of it. It's supposed to be diamonds, but I did mess up a little. It's hard to keep count. So I went out and got myself some stitch markers. This way I can mark of the end of any repeats when I do something like this again. 

It was a fun little project, anyway and I think the 'lacey' part still looks pretty good.

It's good to be back...

...to projects that have nothing to do with holidays, that is. Here's a little hat I just made. It's supposed to have a stiffer brim but I like it like this. It was also supposed to be adult sized. I really do need to figure out that whole 'gauge' thing. But it will be cute for a little kid. It's basically just a beret with a bill on it. If it make it again, though, I'm going to add a second string of yarn when I make the bill so it is twice as thick and therefore stands better.

Yesterday I used some of the Barnes & Noble gift card Mike gave me for Christmas and got myself two new magazines--one crochet and one knit. Most of the knit stuff is way beyond me, but there are techniques in it that I'm practicing. I see lots of stuff in the crochet magazine I want to make.

I'm hoping to actually crochet and finish some kind of structured garment, probably a sweater, for myself this year. I've tried this before and failed, but I think I know what I did wrong. We'll see how that goes.

Duh moments

Two dumb things I did recently:

I ordered some buckwheat hulls from an Etsy shop (love Etsy!) to make heat pads. So I made a particularly large one that would sit over my shoulder. I heated it up for only a minute and it was fine, but the heat didn't last as long as I wanted.

So I put it back in...for 3 minutes. Remember, this is a large heat pad, maybe 16 x 20 inches. So I figured it would take longer. Stupid move...

...I set fire to the microwave. No kidding. I had to throw out the heat pad because there were scorch marks and the buckwheat inside was black.

The house smelled pretty bad for a while, and there are permanent brown marks in the microwave, but luckily it still works just fine.

My other duh moment isn't as bad, or as dangerous...just a middle-aged moment kind of thing.

I started work on a new crochet project, a scarf. The first row says: single crochet to last stitch, pl.

I'm wondering what the hell "pl" stands for. I look it up in my big Reader's Digest crafts book. Nothing about pl. I'm thinking...Purl Left? No, that makes no sense. What could pl be the start of. Plural?

Then I realized that's not an "L" like the letter, it's a "One"! As in...purl one?

Maybe I was working a little too hard on that shawl. Which, by the way, Dr. A just loved.

Sunday Crafting

I really need to get on this blog more often than I do! It's just that I feel pictures make a blog more interesting and it's a pain taking and uploading them.

I've done some crocheting and knitting and sewing today. At the top is a dishcloth. It's just a simple square, but I wanted to practice something from a book I've got called "Around the Corner Crochet Borders" by Edie Eckman. This border is #10. It alters between chains, double crochets and popcorn stitches. It's hard to tell in the photo but it has a nice, ruffly quality. It took me about an hour from start to finish, and that's mainly because I miscounted the rows of the square and ended up with a trapezoidish thing.

You can see I've made real progress with the knitted blue scarf. Just one more section to go! I've had so much fun practicing new knitting patterns (frankly, most of it's new to me) that I want to start another project soon to practice something else.

The coat is done except for closing up the belt and pressing it. I don't have room in my crafts/sewing/writing room to keep an ironing board set up all the time, so I like to take it out in the living room when I have several things to iron. That'll be soon--it's cool enough to wear the coat now. (I also don't like to keep my iron out with animals running around the house--dangerous!)

What else did I do today? Oh, I cut out and started a simple t-shirt with a v-neck and 3/4 sleeves. I did the shoulders and the sleeves are pinned in place. I also remember to do the stay-stitching around the neck that will keep it from getting all floppy. I think it might be too big but it will be easy to size it down after the sleeves and side seams are done. It's a Jalie pattern. I've never used this brand before and it may be more 'true to size' than some patterns. In other words, large really means 'large.'

Stay healthy in this flu and cold season. I will try really hard to post again with in the next 2 days!

Happy Sunday

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. It's windy out today but the weather was very nice yesterday.

On the creative front:

I'm up to a point with the wrist warmers that I think I'm going to have to have Katherine try them on. She still won't really know what they are (gloves? mittens?) so it will be a semi-surprise. But for what the yarn cost and all the work, I'd hate to have them come up too small. I just need to check about where I want to make the loop for her thumb.

For my mother's scarf, I'm past the plain stitching in the middle and started on the fancier sections.

The lining for the coat is sewn and ready to put in! I'll have to be sure to concentrate on it so I can wear it to my reunion next Saturday.

I only have to do the hems and the green jacket I started last winter (!) will be done.

For the record, I'm tired. Dinner's lowing and slowing in the oven--venison. Ick. My husband and older son can have it. I also have a skirt steak or two to make for those of us who don't like game.
(I will, however, give the venison a taste to see if the BBQ sauce it's been cooking in for the last 4 hours kills the gamey taste.)

I know, not a very exciting picture. As you can see, I've ironed in the interfacing and pinned in the under collar.

I'm taking a break from the coat for a few days to work on the blouse. Since I had the iron out already I ironed in the interfacing for it. I have the princess seams, back tie and shoulder seams done. The facing is pinned in place. I'll sew that today. Next post I'll find a picture of it on line so you can see what I'm working on, but it's only a simple sleeveless top with buttons down the front.

On the knitting front, I actually finished a sock I started ages ago. I'm encouraged to start on the second one now that I know it came out pretty good. It fits my foot, anyway! I'm always working on the knit scarf since it's easy to do a few rows while watching TV.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Can you believe there was a tornado watch in Brooklyn yesterday? Brooklyn, of all places. It never touched down but the heavy rain did reach us out here in Suffolk County. There was a clap of thunder so loud while I was at work that it actually made me scream. And I loooove thunderstorms. But this was ridiculous. I actually had to shut windows 'cause rain was coming in and getting the paper on the exam table wet!

PS--ignore the 'no smoking' sign behind Sunny the Mannequin. Okay, don't ignore it as no one is allowed to smoke in my house. But this used to be my daughter's bedroom and she was always hanging nutty things on the wall. One of her friends wrote "WAKE UP" in chalk on the ceiling and it's still there.

Fall Doily

I haven't quite finished the fall doily, but wanted to post about it anyway. I'm making this using a much larger hook (J, as a matter of fact) than the original pattern. I think it will look nice with a pumpkin sitting on top!

Didn't do much on the coat. I have the lining cut out and the back pieces pinned. I'll sew them today. If I'm really ambitious I might pin the summer blouse pattern.

As usual, I'll keep working on the blue scarf. I think it's going to be a gift for my mother, who likes the color blue!

Here's the link to the pattern for the doily. It's easy to follow and a nice, quick project!

http://www.crochetspot.com/crochet-pattern-hipster-doily/

Editing to link to a fall blog party over at "A Wise Woman Builds Her Home"--

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-all-about-fall.html

Check out all the awesome autumness over there!

Friday Sewing Stuff

I'm making a noble effort at a fall coat. It is McCall's See & Sew Pattern 5515. It says it is supposed to be easy. We'll see about that. I'm making the longer version.

I picked out a very soft, almost cashmere-like cotton fabric in a brown and beige herringbone. It actually looks and feels like a soft wool. It's a small pattern so I don't have to match it. It's lightweight so this will be for the fall--assuming I can finish it in time. I still have another fall raincoat I started years ago that is 95% done. Maybe I'll take it out and actually finish it this year.

So this morning, while the local news is talking about Hurricane Earl moving up the coast, I pinned the coat pattern. I'm going to start cutting it out soon, but took a break to watch "The Goonies" (and all-time favorite), have my lunch and clean up my kitchen. Oh, and I knitted a few more rows on the blue scarf.

Now it's after 2 and I'm just seeing rain and a little bit of wind. I heard there are 10-foot waves out at Montauk (the end of Long Island, in case you don't know). We are on the North Shore, which is higher up, so we won't get flooding. I'm just hoping we don't get too much wind here, either. I don't want a power outage. Oh, well, if it happens, I can knit or crochet by candlelight, LOL!

For anyone down South, I send you my best wishes for safety. Earl's been downgraded but any storm is a storm too much!

Somewhat sick today

Got a stupid cold. I actually left work an hour early last night. I'm only in the first stage of this--worn out, sore throat--so I've got my fingers crossed (not really, or I wouldn't be able to type) this is just a mild one and will be gone soooooon. I don't want to miss work tomorrow. I need the money, LOL!

I kept up with my creative efforts today. Did about 20 more rows on the knit scarf. I'll post a picture another day. I switched to a diamond pattern for a few reps, and am now doing the 'middle' of the scarf in a simple garter stitch. If I keep doing fancy stuff that requires constantly looking at the book to keep up with the knits and purls, I'd never get this done.

I did a little bit on some mittens I'm making.

I also started sewing another knit top. Debbie J. was nice enough to comment on my 'talent' last post but she (and others) don't see all my mistakes. Trust me on this, nobody on Project Runway has to worry about anything.

The burgundy top is finished, except that it stretched a bit in sewing on the binding and is kind of wonky. I may just pretend I meant to do that, LOL!

Needless to say, my mistake was in not putting stay-stitching around the neckline. I was certain to do that with the new top, so I hope this one will come out better. Either way, I'll still have 2 new tops to wear this fall.

Redo!

I've known basic knitting for years, but in the process of wanting to do it more often (and better) I've recently learned two things:

1)You always have to finish on an even numbered row or you'll keep switching wrong and right sides.

2)It's not a good idea to listen to music while knitting, unless you're really good at it. I ended up ripping all the rows out from my previous attempt and starting all over. I concentrated on my counting, rather than singing to Christmas Carols (yeah, in August--but this will probably be a Christmas gift). As you can see the zig-zags are much nicer!

I will probably do a few more rows of the seed before I switch to another design. In this case, you do purl stitches here and there in the rows. I don't know if you can see that.

This yarn, btw, is Lion Brand "Baby's First," which is 45% cotton and 55% acrylic. It's very soft. In fact, it almost feels (to me, at least) like cut up felt. Of course, real felt is mostly wool!

It has a 'ply' of about 7 strands, so I have to be careful not to 'split' the yarn. But I think this is going to be a cushy scarf!

Knitting Today

I've been trying to get back into knitting a little bit. Here's a scarf I started today. It took me an hour to knit about 20 rows. (Seriously, are there really people out there who can knit a pair of socks in an evening?)

This is a "Chevron Seed" motif. Maybe you can see the zig-zags. I made some mistakes. Maybe it isn't such a good idea to listen to music while knitting--throws me off count!

Actually, this looks better in real life. I think I photographed the wrong side, LOL!

Anyway, I'm not doing this motif for the whole scarf. I'm going to switch to something else for the next 20 rows. I have an old book by Reader's Digest that is a big volume about crafting, with sections on knitting and crochet stitches. I just have to find ones that will fit with the 24 stitches across I've chosen for this. It's not a wide scarf, so it will probably be a gift for a child. I'm mostly doing it to practice.

Next blog post I'll try to show one of my sewing projects.