Japanese Knitting

Finally a blog that has some seriously useful explanations!

http://www.jessica-tromp.nl/knittingpatterns_breipatronen/japanese_knitting_stitches.htm

I finally got over my Glowsticking 1 day freak out obsession. Now I am back to knitting. I have two active projects on needles.

The first one is a cardigan for myself that is taking forever but is beautiful. Its the Rambling Rose Cardigan from Interweave. Luckily I decided to knit in the round because I don't think I would ever finish it if I had accomplished the front and then had to start over for the back! Oye!
The owlie "No-No's" are coming to mind (see "Wesley The Owl" by Stacey O'Brien). Very serious, "No, No, No" head shaking.
My other project is for my future Enchanted Doll. I have no idea when I will be able to afford one but I am knitting stuff for it anyway. I have started with the smallest needles I could get from Hobby Lobby but will special order (or make) smaller ones in the future. Right now I am sticking to lace and will move up to cables later. I actually intend to sell my prototypes. Hooray 4 Etsy! I am having an easier time visualizing a knitting project when it is smaller.

Fennec still has a sweater brewing in my head. It already has a name - Dapper. How dorky am I? I have a few different versions but recently was inspired by the concept of armor. I don't want the actual sweater to look like battle gear but I think constructing the layout similar to armor will give it the detailed "togetherness" I have been struggling with. While Googling horse armor, I came across this gentleman's interesting website. Love it!There is no way either of my dogs would put up with any of this but my imagination is very satisfied. From there, I Grandpa Simpsoned my way over to this Fairy Festival. I'm totally going next year! Forget attending, I'm just gonna move there.


Which makes me think of a great idea for a housing community. Omg! I wish you could see what I see. But now I can't tell you. It was just that good of an idea. I actually typed an entire paragraph about how cool it was until I got to the end and realized that it actually was cool and not just me being myself. So, I deleted it...because I may copyright/patent the idea. :)

Beauty by the Sea

I randomly found this bead by Sarah Hornik on ebay. I think this is the most beautiful bead I have ever seen! Wow. It's very large for a bead and I have no idea what I would ever do with it. I think it should be in a shadow box illuminated from within. I loves it! Absolutely beautiful.

Itty Bitty

I finally got with the program and started knitting a couple things for my coworker. Her baby shower is this coming Wednesday and the baby is due in three weeks. Luckily there are tons of super cute quickie knits out there. I have been dying to make the Upside Down Daisy Hat!!! Woohoo! Finally a reason! :)

The yarn I picked isn't an exact gauge match but is a great choice - Fixation by Cascade Yarns. Its stretchy (aka forgiving), machine washable (woot!) and has the colors I was looking for. Excellente.

I CO 72 stitches as called for by Snarl on Ravelry who made a newborn sized hat out of my yarn. Her hat is cute too but I really wanted to make a hat with petals. I also read some knitters who thought the Daisy Hat was too long for their baby's head so I subtracted a half inch. I THINK it will be OK. I may end up extending it by putting on an edging or something because I'm paranoid now. It looks like the perfect length??? I found that this link was really useful for baby hat dimensions.

Because Fixation shrinks lengthwise, I made extra long petals using this basic pattern for felted flowers from Michaels.

Large Petal: (Make 4). With MC, cast on 3sts, leaving 4-inches [10 cm] end.
1st row: (RS). (Inc 1 st in next st) twice. K1. 5 sts.
2nd and alt rows: Purl.
3rd row: Inc 1 st in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1. 7 sts.
5th row: (RS). Inc 1 st in each of first 2 sts. Knit to last 3 sts. Inc 1 st in each of next 2 sts. K1. 11 sts. Work 5 rows even.
Next row: (RS). K1. Sl1. K1. psso. Knit to last 3 sts. K2tog. K1. 9 sts.
Work 3 rows even. Dec 1 st each end of needle on next 3 rows. Cast off rem 3 sts.


They blocked out to the perfect size after washing. Yay!

And.....Back to Knitting

Fennicker's jacket is going very very well, let me tell you! I still ONLY have the damn collar finished. I finally decided on a chest piece however. I am going for some kind of Celtic triangle. I have no idea how to make it so far but that's not stopping me.


This website has been extremely useful in learning different kinds of increase techniques.

Some designs I am trying to learn from include:

Vikingùr Vantùr

Durrow Cable

Now to just manipulate all these concepts to give me something that looks like these.

You're Going to Be Singing This Song All Day

Doggie Sweater Genesis

I have a dog sweater in my mind. Its very clear and unique and so fancy. I just don't know how to extract it in all its glory. So far, I have the collar all nice and knitted up. Its perfect. Now for the other 90% of the project. Oye!

I haven't seen anything like it so far on Ravelry which is good and bad. It will be novel but perhaps nobody wants to knit this type of sweater coat. Oh well - I want to knit it. :)

In browsing I came across these cutsiest things!!! Eeeee!

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kittee/itty-bitty-doggie-kitten-hood
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/11/this-just-in-aw.html
I can't even handle looking at it. Its that freakin cute.

The website it was honored on (other than my one and only Ravelry) is ridiculous. Fantastic! Its one of those places you can visit for 2 seconds on a bum day and end up smiling for a week after.

I Heart Etsy . . . Nuff Said

Oh how I love these. However I do not have a spare arm or leg - yet. Haha.... you know - a little O&P joke. Eh... that was terrible...

Now that I'm on a jewelry kick, I've been shopping left and right on Ebay for loose gemstones. *Sigh* I remember the good old days when I actually used my imagination on a daily basis. It feels soooooo good to get some of that back. Right now, I am obsessed with tourmaline. Its always been one of my favorite stones. I just totally forgot about gems altogether. How did that happen anyway????

So creative. I less than 3 it.



And these.... (Click on the images for artist links)

Best Ring EVARRRRR! Arrrr....

I will never afford this thing but I sure can look at it! Over and over...and over.

http://www.jewelryexpert.com/CATALOG/Koi-Fish-Tourmaline-Engraved-Ring-J8709.htm