Knitwit Files Vol 8: Side Slip Cloche

This pattern sucked.

I like patterns that actually give you specific stitch counts. If I'm going to follow a pattern to create a specific project, then the directions had better be crystal clear. This was a nightmare. I started this had pattern waaaay back in October! That's how frustrated I was. I had to restart it 8 times! Anyway, it's done. I finished it. And I most definitely will NOT be knitting another one!

Knitwit Files Vol 7: Slouch Hat and Pattern

Trial run with my first pattern inspired by some others I'd read but written by me! It's not slouchy enough for my dreads, but it works quite well for The Girl. She snagged it up before it was even finished! The next one will have to have an excessive amount of slouch and a bit bigger headband if it's going to fit me. And if I make it big enough, I make even get to keep it! :)



Here's the pattern if anyone would like it.

1. CO 68 stitches in the round. Place marker, join round, be careful not to twist!
2. K2P2 Rib for 1 1/2" on #8 - 16" circular knitting needle. It's gonna be tight, but it'll get easier soon enough.
3. Time to increase: K1M1 all the way around. You should now have 136 stitches.
4. Knit until body is 6 1/2"
5. On last knit row, place marker every 34 stitches (use color other than 1st one so you know where the beginning of the round starts)
6. Begin decrease: Row 1*K2 K2tog(15 times) K2* repeat ** 3 times - make sure to move markers. 76 stitches left
7. Row 2: *K3 K2tog(7 times) K2* repeat ** 3 times making sure to move markers - 48 stitches left
8. Row 3: *K2 K2tog(4 times) K2* repeat ** 3 times, moving markers - 32 stitches left
9. Switch to (4)DPNs
10. K32 putting 8 stitches on each DPN - 32 stitches
11. K2 K2tog(2 times) K2 -all the way around. 24 stitches left
12. Cut tail of thread at least 18", thread on needle and pull through all stitches, pulling tight to close up opening. Weave in ends.

Materials: #8 16" circ, #8 DPNs, stitch markers, tapestry needle, yarn #4 worsted acrylic blend about 200 yds (244yd skein)

The Knitwit Files Vol 6: Warm Hat

This has was knitted flat using 2 strands of #4 worsted held together: one in snow white and the other in navy/white mottled. They are both a wool blend. The yarns were super slippery to work and I am so glad I worked this one flat. It only took a few evenings to knit this one up. I will most definitely use this pattern again.

The Knitwit Files Vol 5: Bold Stripes

Just before Christmas I had found some acrylic "fun yarn" at a local discount store. I planned on using it to practice different stitches, but when The Girl saw the purple she immediately claimed it for her next scarf. So I went back and picked up enough black to make a nice long scarf for her. I also picked up a little extra black for an animiguri project that I'm still working on.

The scarf is knitted in straight stitch. It went fairly quickly. The hardest part of the whole project was weaving in all the ends left from switching colors. One of these days I'll figure out how to carry the yarns up the side. I don't care for the texture of this yarn at all. It kept snagging on my bamboo needles. Cheap acrylic yarn is NOT pleasant to work with. I'm glad I only have a couple more skeins of this stuff. I may just use it for the cores of my Japanese Temari balls (see here) that I make and skip the frustrations and unpleasantness of knitting with it.

The Knitwit Files Vol 4: Mohawk Hat

Little Man's new winter sport hat

Let me first start by saying, I did NOT knit this hat. Little Man saw it (sans 'hawk styling) lollygagging around at Penney's when we picked up his winter coat. Being the "in" thing to wear this season it immediately caught and held his attention. I gave in and bought the silly thing and it laid around the house for some time, getting no use whatsoever.

A couple of nights ago I just couldn't stand it any longer so I gave the poor little dear a bit of a makeover. I picked up some yarn to match the braids and cut about a zillion 4" pieces and stacked them next to my chair. While watching TV I was able to latch hook these bits of string into the stitches of the hat, creating a lovely faux-hawk along the top center. (Any of you fashionistas out there will have seen several of these types of hats available at the local mall.)

No longer a skinny little nothing, this hat now has some major 'tude. Little Man was suitably impressed with his momma's crafting skills. I daresay this hat is about to see a wild and crazy time!

The Knitwit Files vol. 3: Knotty Wrap - Complete!

Finally! It's finished!

I finally finished assembling my wrap. It only took 4 tries to get it to work. It needs a bit of shaping. It doesn't stay on my shoulders correctly and doesn't hang quite as low as I thought it would. But it still turned out pretty nice. On to the next project!

Round-Up - March 2010

It's Round-up time again! Amazing how fast the time flies!

1. What magazines/books did I read this month?

Can you believe I didn't read a single book this month? I was too busy knitting :)

I did glance through some scrapbook magazines, Lucky Magazine, Taste of Home Healthy Cooking, and my latest copy of Cloth, Paper, Scissors. And even though I didn't read an entire book, I did skim through several knitting/crocheting books, a couple vegetarian cookbooks and some books on the properties of Atoms, and the Periodic Table.

2. What TV shows/movies/plays did I watch this month?

The usual suspects: NCIS, Project Runway, Shear Genius, House. I also started watching Human Target. Chad likes it better than I do. As for movies, we went to the theater to watch Alice in Wonderland (LOVED it!), we rented Where the Wild Things Are (but didn't like it), 2012 (eh), Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie (funny), and I know several others...I just can't think of them...must not have been that great.

3. What fun things did I do with my family/friends this month?

We've spent lots of time working in the concession stand together and countless hours playing baseball. We also drove to MI to see family and we got to meet little Connor (finally!) And the boys and I had a paper boat race! It was a lot of fun and only happens when we get a nice strong rain.

4. What gifts did I give/receive this month?

Not a lot going on in the gift department this month. Sheri on the 29th -I gave her an 8x8 scrapbook for Connor's first Christmas. All she needs to do is add pictures and journaling. Chad on the 31st - he got a new feather pillow and some pillow sheets AND tickets to go see the Blue Man Group!

This is going to be sooooo much fun! (but not til spring breaks are over)

5. What special or unusual purchases did I make this month?

We bought some bulgar to make some Kibbeh for Chad's birthday dinner!

6. What illnesses/health concerns did I have this month?

We have all been healthy but that unexpected trip to MI was to see my mom. She had had a minor stroke and we just had to go and see her and make sure she was okay. She's doing fine now, thankfully.

7. What were my accomplishments this month?

Well....the kids are almost caught back up on their schoolwork...

I finished knitting my first sweater/wrap. It's awaiting final assembly stitches..but still...the major knitting is finished! I also managed to remember to join in the I Heart Faces photo challenges :)

8. What were my disappointments this month?

I didn't get in as many miles as I would have liked. But I do know I have time to get them under my belt. I just need to go, go, go!

9. How did I do on my goals this month?

I've been blogging regularly (except that trip to MI), got in about 1/2 of my walks, kids are almost caught up on schoolwork, and 2 big ones: paid off the truck loan and paid off a small credit card! We're getting there!

10. Anything else noteworthy for the month?

We said good-bye to our Oregon friends. They needed to get home and it's a long trip.

Best Buds D and J (J is whispering to D that he can hide in our truck) LOL!

The Knitwit Files vol. 3: Knotty Wrap - update

227 Rows! I'm not even half way yet. I have the pattern memorized now, so that speeds things up a bit. But I still have to make my little tick marks on the pattern so I don't lose track of the rows. I'm also cheating a bit and marking the rows I need when it comes time to sew the edges together to make the loops. This way, I'm not having to count out all those rows again! Safety pins are a girls best friend!

Project 365: Week 11

WEEK #11

Sunday, March 7, 2010  Chad and I went to Sam's Club to get all the supplies for the concession stand. While we were there, we picked up the new grill. I got to put it together :)

Monday, March 8, 2010  Tonight was J's first baseball game. I didn't get any pictures :(  by the time he was up to bat it was dark and I didn't want to use the flash. But with the time change, I should be able to get some pictures next week, I hope :)  So after the game I was still a bit keyed up, so I pulled out my new yarn, found my pattern and picked up my needles and started a new knitting project! This one's for me :)

Tuesday, March 9, 2010  I either hurt my arm from putting together the grill, or hurt it knitting...which is more likely?  So no knitting today :(  I pulled out my new notebooks and started sorting all my crafting ideas from all my knitting patterns and put my recipes in a separate folder. I've been meaning to do this for a while. Now I have a place to put all those neat ideas I run across from time to time!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010  We spent the afternoon at the baseball fields again today. While Chad and I were working in the concession stand, he took the kids out to field #2 and had them set the fire hose on it. They had a lot of fun lugging that hose around.

Thursday, March 11, 2010  Today the kids and I went to the YMCA. March is free for non-members to try out so what better way to see if the Y is a good fit for us! I used the treadmill and the kids jumped from activity to activity. They had a lot of fun.

Friday, March 12, 2010  Rain, rain go away, come again some other day. No baseball for us tonight :(

We did go to see Alice in Wonderland since we couldn't play outside :)

Saturday, March 13, 2010  Chad did not work in the concession stand today. Don't let the apron fool you. He showed up just in time to watch us finish cleaning. He did do a little bit - like cleaning the fryers and doing inventory. It was me that spent the entire day in the concession stand! 7:30 am to 6pm. That's a long day.

The Knitwit Files vol. 3: Knotty Wrap

My latest project: A Knotted Wrap!

I started last night after the baseball game. I was too wound up to just go to bed, so I pulled out the yarn, found my pattern and the correct size needles and got to work. I was slightly confused at first because the beginning edge is stairstepped, and I've never done a cast on after the initial cast on! But it's a neat trick and I'm sure I'll use it again. This is my progress after 22 rows. I only have another 582 rows to go! :)

Journaling Me: Hobbies

This is the post #1 for my year-long Journaling Me Project. I will be randomly selecting a question from a jar full of journaling strips and recording my stories for future generations to enjoy. Many of the questions can be found here. I also added a few questions pulled from this book. So here we go!


What are some of your hobbies right now?

I have a zillion hobbies right now! Okay, not really a zillion, but I do have quite a few and a few more I'd like to give a try! The list:  reading, scrapbooking, sewing, embroidering by hand, knitting, crochet, photography, making dreads, and various other crafty things. Even origami!

mosaic by BigHugeLabs
LtoR Row 1: Hand-embroidered victorian crazy quilt for Kate; Hand-embroidered Tudor cuff for Tudor gown; scrapbook layout J and trains; me taking a picture of me; dreads for E
Row 2: Snow White dress for Kate; Temari gift; scrapbook layout K's freckles; ATC trade, Temari gift
Row 3: Halloween 2008; Halloweeen 2007; Me in natural look dreads; red petticoat for Tudor gown; photography challege of hands - baby Kate
Row 4: Chad's new scarf; Hand-embroidered victorian crazy quilt for Connor; fav book; camera book; hand-embroidered forepart skirt for Tudor gown project
Row 5: fav book; crafting paints; crocheted roses; me reading; mini origami project

The Knitwit Files vol.2: Checkerboard Scarf - complete!

It's done! After weeks of work (albeit, not daily work) Chad's checkerboard scarf is finally finished! He really likes it. So much that he wore it the very next day with his new coat. It's still cold in the mornings, so I'm glad I finished before it warmed up too much!

Because it's a rib-stitch it likes to roll. There's not enough wool content to block it either :(

The pattern is 4 squares across and after one row is completed, you cut the end color and move it to the beginning of the row. The big thing is to remember to twist the yarns when switching colors so there is no hole between colors. The first row after a color switch is all knit stitches, which makes a nice seam across the wrong side. All the ends have been worked into the seams. There were way more ends with this pattern what with all the changing of colors. I stopped mid way to weave in some of them so it wouldn't take so long once I'd finished the scarf. As much work as this was, I'm thinking I might like to make another one. Only this time using hot pink, black, white, and grey! Wouldn't that be eye-catching! :)

The Knitwit Files vol.2: Checkerboard Scarf

This is what I'm working on right now. This picture is 3 days of work. I've haven't gotten very far, have I?

The checkboard pattern is turning out to be fairly easy now that my fingers have it pretty much memorized. I've made a bunch of scarves already, but always solids or stripes. So this is my first pattern switching colors mid-row.

I found the pattern in a big book of knitting projects from the library. I don't remember the title now. I made a copy of the pattern because Chad said he liked it. So I'm making this one for him. It'll look really nice with his wool coat.

It's a simple rib stitch pattern, but I have to keep track of the rows on paper to know when to move the end color to the beginning. The needles are so small for this one that I can't make out the rows just by looking at the knit. I'm just not that good yet! :P

The Knitwit Files vol. 1

Ah, knitting... so much fun, so relaxing...

I have discovered the amazing knitting world, and with it crochet, though I haven't gotten the hang of crochet just yet. But I will. You can bank on it.

I first gave knitting a try when I took the Craft-a-Day Challenge back in Feb. 2008. It was confusing and frustrating. I didn't take to it very well. When Feb. 2009 rolled around I was too busy to do the challenge, but I did recall my failed attempts to learn to knit. It wasn't until I had some free time in July that I actually gave it some serious attention.

And now I'm "hooked"!


This set is for K. She likes hats, so I made a regular skull cap and then I made a Kitty Cap to go with the striped scarf.


This scarf is for little man. He chose blue and black, so I had fun with it. Haven't made a hat yet. But, I'm sure I will :D