Unproper crafty update! Dad’s two-tone gloves
05 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
My laptop went to silicon heaven and it took a while to find another decent machine. Now that I have a beautiful new laptop (shiny shiny!) you’d think that crafty updates (not to mention those long dead musings on counselling theory!) would be easier to do….
However…
I now face the problem that what I’m crafting are all Xmas presents and a lot of the people I’m making for have access to facebook and might see this blog…. actually I have very little idea of anyone I know reads this, but I don’t want to take the chance of someone seeing what their present it, so I can’t write about a lot of my projects!!
But I have some family members who aren’t that tech savvy, aren’t on facebook and don’t even know I write this blog, so I can show you some of what I’m working on for them.
I’m being bold this Xmas and using it as a motivation to try techniques that I’ve not yet done. Things I have in mind is using different colours to make patterns (as everything I’ve done so far has been one ball of yarn and if I use more than that, then I’ve just tied the second ball of yarn to the first one!
I also want to start using cables as I think they look so pretty. I’ve bought myself a pair of cable needles, they are currently staring at me from their pocket beside the sofa as they are still in their original packaging!
Here’s my first attempt at using two colours in a pattern, these are fingerless gloves/wrist warmers for my Dad, hence the black and grey theme (it feels more masculine!!). I am so goddam proud of them! I only wish the wool was a bit thicker or I’d started using two strands as one, but they are what they are and I’m still proud.
Actually if I’m completely honest, there’s another change I’d make if I could – I did a rib for the cuff (2knit, 2purl) which created a lovely textured look as the black purl stitches sank back and the grey knit stitches stood boldly out, I wish I’d carried on the knit and purl rather than switching to all e-wrap knit once I’d finished the cuff. There was a tricky bit at the flat panel where the pattern was still spiralling clockwise, but I was knitting back and forth, but I managed it.
If you want to make your own – get the two colours you want to use. I used the small blue round knifty knitter (well, I don’t have the KK’s, but they are identical to them in all but colour). Tie the two colours loosely to the anchor peg on the side.
Cast on by e-wrapping two pegs in one colour (going either clockwise or anti as you work best) with the unused colour just on the inside of the loom (you will have a pattern on long stripes of the unused colour on the inside of your glove), then wrap the next two pegs with the other colour. Continue wrapping two pegs at a time alternating the colours. If using the blue knifty knitter this will work out perfectly. Wrap for the second time in exactly the same manner so you end up with two loops of the same colour on each loop. Knit off that row.
Now starts the ribbing – I did 12 rows, you might want yours to be bigger or smaller, choose one colour to be knit and the other purl. Keep the unused yarn to the inside of the loom, I found the balls of wool kept tangling and wrapping round each other as I went but tried my best to use this to secure the separate yarns together as I wound the pegs. Make the cuff by bringing up the first row of knitting and putting it back on the pegs – do be careful to keep the colours the same on the pegs! It will take a little care as you of course have two different colours running around the bottom. Knit off. Now you should have a nice puffy looking ribbed cuff to your wrist warmer (a sentence that sounds vaguely smutty in my head…).
Decide which direction your pattern is going to go in. Let’s say your colours are black and white. If your row starts with two black stitches then two white (BBWWBB) then you will wrap a white first, then the usual pattern of two of each colour (WBBWWBBetc). Up to you if you want to continue the knit/purl rib or not.
Now the number of rows depends on the size you want them to be, I knit about 12 rows, then started the flat panel to create the hole for the thumb. You will have the pattern now, so just keep an eye on what you’ve knitted to show you which colour to put on which peg. It’s not hard, but is different to what you’ve done for 12 rows or so. After 4 or 5 rows go back to knitting in the round (again just keep an eye out that you’re continuing the pattern correctly), do another 6 rows then bind off in your favourite way (I move the loop from peg 2 to peg 1, knit it, move it back and keep moving round the circle that way, you may have a prettier way, but you don’t want a very loose bind off, you want it to hug the hand just below the fingers)
So… if you try that and need help, do ask in the comments and I will do my best to explain better. I’m not someone who makes patterns, I don’t read patterns or understand the technical shorthand easily. I am someone who often makes it up as I go along and don’t write it down so what I write makes perfect sense to my brain…. doesn’t mean you understand it though!
I’m looking forward to doing more colour change patterns now, as it wasn’t nearly as tricky as I feared!
Proper crafty update
16 Sep 2011 1 Comment
And what do proper updates mean?
Prizes! … erm I mean photos! 
When I started this blog, I had grand ideas of detailing my craft projects as I went along as well as it being a place to explore various counselling theories in more depth.
The reality seems to be that the combination of crafting items, writing a post, photographing the craft items (which necessitates working batteries in my camera, which in turn recently meant buying a new battery charger!), uploading the photos to my laptop (currently doing it’s best to die but I won’t let it…) and putting them in the blog is frequently too many things for my brain to deal with, so I’m left doing catch up posts instead! The counselling theory thoughts have completely fallen by the wayside!
I wonder if I can rectify this? Considering this post has been hanging around since the 3rd August and I’ve only got round to finishing it now…. apparently not easily!!
This post will hope to get me completely up to date with photos of my items and even links to get you started on your own, if you so wish (as I’m aware some readers find this blog through google searches).
Please note that none of these patterns are mine – I will boast mightily if I ever come up with something myself (like that Kindle Bag!), please see later in this post for evidence of that boasting! I will also fail utterly at explaining the pattern no doubt 
If I’m linking to a pattern, it’s not mine.
I also have a plan at some point to put up my little glossary of loom knit terms, but that’s quite a big project and I make no promises. In the meantime, if there’s ever a term you don’t recognise it, just google it and the info is out there, probably with a video. Videos are cool. There are also many yahoo groups that are still active with patterns and people who are far more knowledgeable than me. Seek them out if you are a bit loomy like me.
Not going to Camp this year threw a lot of my craft plans awry as I’d been using the conceit of selling at the Market to motivate me to make things. Without this motivation I faltered slightly, (work was also insanely knackering!) but I also starting working on projects I wanted to with no thought of selling (thoughts instead of the Pay It Forward that I signed up for, one gift sent, 4 more to go! 2 of those in my office drawer waiting to be sent off!).
I also made the big decision to just bin several items that I simply wasn’t happy with the quality of and from which reclaiming the wool wasn’t worth the effort. Included in that were most of the slippers I’d made. In the end, just not good enough. Good practise… and a pattern I will revisit at a later date with better quality (and chunkier) wool.
It felt cleansing!! 
The slipper pattern is here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mary-jane-parkers-for-knitting-loom
Oh and join Ravelry, it’s an amazing resource, even for loom knitting, which is far less known and catered for than needle knitting.
Now I’m thinking of Xmas presents and starting to think about what to make people. I’m also trying to use up random bits of the stash in mitered squares to make a blanket – this will be one of those ongoing things.
This is the worst square I knitted, why did I photo this one?! But now I’m here writing and the power cable is behaving itself, so I’m not going to stop to take more photos of my other squares as this laptop is fragile as I want to finally post this post. It gives you the general idea.
Mitered squares rock! I can’t quite figure out how I end up knitting a square when it feels like I’m knitting a triangle, but it works (it’s magic!!) and it’s an easy and quick thing to do. As you’re constantly decreasing the number of stitches, it almost pulls you along to the end.
I was given some lovely purple wool recently that changes hue from light to dark and I’m making myself a diamond scarf from it. To go with it, I’ve also made a pair of fingerless gloves, and a hat and I might possibly make a headband, so I will have a matching set
Mitered square instructions here - http://www.knitchat.com/tutorials/mitered-square-magic/
Mitered Scallop scarf pattern here - http://kellyknits.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=168:mitered-scallop-scarf&catid=38:patterns&Itemid=54
Fingerless Gloves = depending on wool used and your hand/wrist/arm size, either use the knifty knitter flower loom or the smallest round loom. I used e-wrap, knit 18 rows, then did 6 rows as a flat panel, then 6 more e-wrap rows. Adjust as your skill level permits Add a ribbed cuff, alternate purls to make a pattern. Whatever you want. They are also warmer than they look.
Easy Everyday Beret pattern here - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/everyday-beret - This lady is amazing at patterns!
Boasting time – I did warn you.
I created a new Kindle bag, a smaller version to fit within a larger handbag with a button fastening. Again on the small red loom, I sewed up the end once I’d finished but you might like to cast on so the bottom is closed to start with, I just couldn’t remember how to do that and was too excited about my new idea to spend anytime looking it up. Just knit in stitch of your choice till it’s long enough to fit your kindle in, bind off one side, then start decreasing on the other side (I decreased both sides at once every other row, you might have or find a better way) until you get to two stitches, continue knitting a cord on these two to form the button hole, (you may wish to just use one peg to knit your cord depending on wool and size of button) then bind off these two stitches. Secure the cord, sew on a button and you’re done. This was easily completed in an evening.
And I told you I sucked at patterns!! Honestly, I can’t explain it any better than that! I am pretty much making it up as I go along.
The number of rows etc will depend on the wool you’re using and the stitch pattern. And of course it can be made any size. I recently got a pair of loom clips (which also make mitered squares very easy), so I’m thinking of making more little bags as they are quick and lovely little present ideas. Also gives me an excuse to look at buttons in charity shops!
So, of course, I’ve now started to become interested in embroidery! I very much doubt there will be an embroidery post anytime soon, but I’ve started looking at making bookmarks and coasters to add variety to the xmas crafting selection! For now, I’m pretty much up to date, so I’ll leave this post here. Wonder how long it will be till the next one!
Update
20 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
I haven’t posted in well over a month, but I’ve still been crafting. I took a quick peek through my blog and I’ve come a long way from the last posts. Pictures will come at some point, but not now.
In brief -
The ill fated “breast” bag (see earlier enties) was ripped back and the wool used in a copy of the Kindle Bag pattern. Just need to sew the handle on.
Another Kindle Bag is currently being made on commision for a friend that I may have persuaded needed a Kindle. It’s using three strands of wool, all of which are rather fluffy types and so are tangling horribly. I’ve spent more time untangling than I have knitting!
I’ve made many more slippers and they’re sweet, but not good quality enough to justify the hours spent making them… I’m also getting utterly sick of binding off half the loom to create the strap. These may become present items rather than selling items and for the moment, I’m done making them.
I tried a proper sock pattern – still on the large guage knifty knitter so it’s a large slipper sock type thing – which meant I learnt to do short row heels which meant that I HAD to buy a knifty flower loom so I could make baby booties. The first pair of booties is with it’s tester and I received a user review so I can hopefully make better booties. Am very proud of tackling short row heels with little issue as some comments I’d seen here and there on patterns had made me very wary of them.
Currently, I’m looking at more fingerless glove/wrist warmers as a selling item for upcoming druid camp, even thought my attendance is currently questionable 
Which will leave me with shedloads of knitted items and nothing to do with them!
Projects – Completing the Kindle bag for friend, trying to use up all the flag wool in little scarve type things, and using a stunningly soft brightly coloured wool in anything I can for myself – all 7 skeins of it are for me!!! Mwahahahah! So far those skeins have made slipper socks, wrist warmers and the rest will go into a lovely bright soft scarf.
Kindle Bag
17 Apr 2011 2 Comments
I’m very proud!
Yesterday my hubby came home with a present for me, he’d bought me a Kindle to reward me for finishing my counselling course and getting a job which is more in line with what I actually want to do rather than just hiring my admin skills out for money.
My mind of course immediately turned to accessories – I can’t help it, I’m a girl, it’s what we do.
I started pondering about how I could craft one, whether I could manage one with a “frame” area so the Kindle could be read without removing it, etc etc.
Then I recalled a previously failed project. I’d knitted a flat tube on the red long loom with the intent of it becoming a neck pillow, but it was too small for the pillow I already had, and lay sadly waiting for me to get round to finding some stuffing for it.
I found it and slid my Kindle inside, perfect fit width wise, almost twice as long as it needed to be.
I stitched a line where the bottom of the Kindle was, folded the remaining tube up the front and stitched in place to create a smaller pocket on the front – or two pockets as there’s also the space between the tube ends. A bit more stitching to ensure nothing was about to unravel on me and it was time to look at the strap.
I recently treated myself to an automatic spool knitter, which is one of the most beautifully engineered things I’ve ever seen! Only £15 from an ebay seller, I chose the Prym after doing some user review research.
Today, however, it didn’t seem to like any of the wools I tried, and I very nearly gave up on this altogether before my innate stubborness won through and I rescued a tangled mess, unravelled it and tried again, managing to get a decent length of cord this time.
This got doubled up and sewn to the inside of the bag, twirling it together.
The next stage, which won’t be tonight, will be some decorative embroidery with a metallic purple thick thread I have, and to fashion some kind of fastening, for which I imagine making another length of spoolknit cord and a big button of some kind I have yet to own. Whether each pocket has it’s own fastening or there is one that reaches over all of them I’ve yet to decide. I may look at lining the pockets at the wool is fluffy and that could get annoying.
In the photos, I’ve put white paper peeking out of the pockets, so it’s clearer where they are, and also shown the Kindle poking out the top too – normally, the Kindle sits snugly inside and doesn’t poke over the top like this.
At some point I might look at a Kindle case that doesn’t have to be removed to read the Kindle, but for now, I’m blissed out at having a gadget bag of my own! I’m set for that long Easter weekend away now!
First pattern attempt!
28 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crafting, Knitting Loom Tags: loom knitting
I started writing this post at the end of Feb and just haven’t managed to get the photos onto my laptop to finish it off.
I decided to get over my fear of following a pattern (despite my obsession over collecting them!) and I started a slipper. As well as tackling my first pattern, I’ve started to go through the collected patterns and get rid of those for a different loom than the large gauge looms I have.
This slipper pattern involved new things! Increasing rows. Binding off part of the loom to make a strap. Gathering Bind off.
I used wool that’s soft and fleecy but also a horrid baby pink, so I don’t care if it gets used up in botched attempts.
It’s a quick pattern, knits up in less than a couple of hours and I almost always knit on my work journey, so that’s an hour already done. An episode of The Tudors later and I had a floppy pink disintegrating slipper! It’s not fit for use, but it’s achieved it’s purpose in getting me over my pattern intimidation.
Attempt two was done with two strands of wool instead of just one, and worked a lot better. I ignored the increasing rows instruction this time and it makes a wider hole for the foot, but avoids the holes that increasing the rows produced.
Third attempt, this time with a lifted stitch that I found for increasing rows, and it does make the end slipper hold it’s shape better. The lifted stitch eliminates the hole, although I still ended up improvising a couple of other lifted stitches (where I saw a hole, I lifted the bottom of it onto the peg above and knitted it off (lifting bottom loop over top loop) – this only works of course if you see the hole when it’s close to the pegs, not half way down your knitting! This seemed to hide the holes without messing up the slipper shape – it might help that I’m using fluffy wool which might hide some stitch inconsistencies.
So now I have three mismatched pink slippers!!
My team leader at work liked them, and liked the pink, so, as it’s her birthday, I decided I’d make her a pair with a slightly darker pink fluffy wool I have. Now I feel I know what I’m doing, the slippers will hopefully match, and I plan to make a couple of little loom flowers to sew on the sides of the straps. It ended up looking good and of course I forgot to take a photo of them!
I’ve removed all the fluffy wool from my stash (I have lots of the same type of yarncraft fancy wool) – blue/white, pink, “spring” (yellow, green, orange) and plan on a slipper making marathon!! Guess what some of my Pay it Forwards will be!!
The next pattern I will attempt will be fingerless gloves/wrist warmers of some kind, although I have some busy weeks ahead of me, so I may just stick to spoolknitting and stick weaving until I have more time.
Crafty Conversations
24 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crafting
One of the things I love about crafting on my little daily commute to and from work on the train is the conversations that sometimes strike up between interested people and myself.
I always feel really proud (for some reason!) when one of these conversations happens, I love explaining what I’m doing, whether it’s stick weaving or loom knitting, I wonder if anyone ever takes it further once they’re home.
Do they look up the craft on google, do they ponder about crafting themselves? Have I in any small way increased the number of people crafting? I really hope so! I’d love that to be true. It would be a proud moment to meet someone again on a train with their own set of wool and have them tell me I inspired them!
However, that’s very unlikely to happen, so in the meantime I will just enjoy the furtive looks that tired commuters give me at the end of the day before they look away and pretend to snooze. I will enjoy the people peeking round the back of seats before whispering to a friend, both of them trying to get up the courage to ask me what I’m doing. I will enjoy glancing up and noticing that most of the train carriage has become hypnotised and fixated on the movement of my fingers and the wool.
I’ll enjoy those few who do ask about what I’m doing, the few that have moved seats to get close enough to talk to me, to examine the item I’m crafting and filled my journey to or from work with idle crafting chatter with a stranger.
To all you stranger who talk or watch an equally strange crafter on the train, thank you, you really do make my journey!
Current Project
22 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
I’ve started a Gothic Neck Pillow.
Gothic becuase it’s black and purple wool – same wool in different colours, two strands of wool being used as one.
It’s knitting up nice and thick and I’m liking it so much I might have to keep this one and make another for the Pay It Forward gift!
Am using small long loom, knitting in the round, when it’s the length I desire, I’ll just stuff and sew up the ends. I may or may not add tassles.
Not enough time!
13 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
I massively overestimated how much wool I’d use on my week away! One huge bag of wool taken with me, one huge bag brought back! I didn’t manage to find a set of long looms as planned, nor did I find a replacement loom pick as I seem to have lost mine and they’re not easily found in the UK. I made a few loom flowers, still haven’t got the hang of crocheting the edge, but not sure that’s needed. I bought a mini crochet set for 99p, and I do intend to teach myself how to (or at least to see if its a craft I can pick up, I might find like needle knitting that it’s too fiddly for me).
Still, I managed to complete two loom knit scarves. Both took a LOT longer than expected.
One is a Garter Stitch scarf in white and blue fluffy wool which is “Blue Skies and White Fluffy Clouds” Scarf. It no longer looks QUITE so much like a dishcloth… makes a nice little scarf, probably a spring scarf, not that good against bad winter gusts, but will be cosy when there’s that little chill in the sunny air.
The other is again blue and white, but a pretty “flag” wool so it looks a little bit like a fabulously camp camouflage net! It’s a very pretty summer scarf, it won’t keep you warm, but it is very delicate. I might keep it as it is, or make a larger shawl/scarf by making a few more panels and sewing them together – unsure at the moment.
Pictures will be forthcoming, but these are likely to go to people for Pay It Forward gifts, so pictures will be shown after the gifts have reached their destination.
The bag is ongoing – mainly because it’s not working out as I’d wanting, so the motivation is low, but it can still have a use to contain equipment so it will get finished at some point.
I’m unsure about how much crafting I’ll get done in the near future. Have draft three of the essay to write, have a snotty cough, overtime at work in the mornings and an evening tutorial to iron out the wrinkles in my understanding of my essay. I have the bag and the stick woven scarf to get on with and might leave the starting of something new until my brain has a little more time to spread out and think in.
It’s been a fantastic year so far for motivation and energy and getting stuff done and life being generally rewarding – now is the test time to see if I can keep up the motivation and cope when I’m busy and ill. Let’s see how I do!
Just a quickie
01 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crafting, Flower Loom, Knitting Loom, Stick Weaving
More for my own record really I guess. Crafting has been almost non-existent lately as I finish off draft two of the dissertation. Now that’s back with my tutor it’s time to turn attention back to crafting and think about what I’m wanting to do. I didn’t think I had any projects on the go, but when piling stuff on a chair I realised I did.
The “Breast Bag” is still part way through and I want to get some more bag sides knitted so I can practise making handles, it’s really not worked out, but meh, that’s not important. It will probably end up being a wool holding bag or something like that.
My stick woven scarf is getting ever longer, full of lovely random lengths of wool and will be the Longest Scarf in the World when finished. Maybe 10 foot long or something stupid like that?
I also started a scarf on the small knitting loom as I wanted to practise knitting a flat panel on it, this allows different textures of scarves to be made, this one is a simple garter stitch, but I could now think of ribbed scarves and other such lovelies. This might end up beinga Pay It Forward gift depending on how it turns out.
What I really want to do over the next couple of weeks is use my flower loom and make a number of square edged flower shapes and then see how they look when stitched together. It’s an eventual plan to make a throw from them, it’s also a way of using up odd scraps of wool. It’s a lot trickier and fiddlier than it would suggest so I’ve often found my dexterity and patience wearing thin.
Future projects - I have my Pay It Forward People to craft for and have decided to take a project I want to try and use the Pay It Forward as the motivation for making it. So what’s on the list?
Hot water bottle covers
Mitten
Slipper socks
oven gloves
pouches/bags
something for a baby
cabled mug-hugs (mainly as I just love the name of them and it gives me an excuse to learn how to cable)
This week will just be stick weaving as it’s relaxing and comforting and so far I’ve had a “bit of a week”, next week I have a mini holiday and am planning much crafting for it.
Work in Progress
21 Jan 2011 1 Comment
in Crafting, Flower Loom, Knitting Loom, Stick Weaving
I’ve had this post perculating for over a week, so it keeps getting out of date! Finally tonight I get round to loading up the photos for it.
Legwarmers – completed both now, see it being modelled and yes that’s my leg, control yourselves. It is extraordinarily unsexy in the extreme (the legwarmer, not my leg I hope!), but it is also warm and can be hidden under trousers and I’ve never been a form over function girl anyway. I wore them to work one rainy cold day, and they were lovely and warm. Result!!
Finishing the legwarmer meant I had to learn how to cast off, and the method I learnt involves:
Once you’ve got one loop on each peg and working the same direction as you have been, move the loop from peg two onto peg one. Slip the bottom loop off as per normal. Put the loop back onto loop 2. You will now have no loop on peg 1, and one loop on each other peg. You just repeat this all the way round, moving the neighbouring loop onto it’s neighbour, knitting off then moving it back. Makes a plain straight end to the project.
Bag – I realised last night that I’ve basically woven a large multi-coloured breast…. with this in mind I reccommend NOT using dark pink for the base of your bag!! Learn from my embarrasment!
I’m using two strands of stripey wool at a time to make a stronger knit but its still looser than I ideally wanted, but this is an experiment that I’m mostly making up myself, so it’s all teaching me good things.
Namely it’s teaching me to make the next one differently…
Have also now taught myself the purl stitch, and by default that means I know the garter stitch as that is simply a row of simple knit then a row of purl. I’ve been experimenting with these stitches in the bag so the sides are a mix of different stitch styles, but it doesn’t seem to matter whether I knit or purl or garter (see me use the lingo!). Because of this, I’ve gone back to simple knit stitch as that’s quicker.
The BreastBag is very stretchy with loose sides, so it might need to be lined to stop stuff getting caught, or I might try and have it as a static container. Still have to figure out handles, but there’s a bangle bag pattern I’ve found, so if I get hold of two large round bangles/plastic hoops, then I should be able to knit those into the pattern for handles. There are other ideas out there too.
The next bag will be from a pattern! I’ve seen a few, been collecting patterns from the web like a crazy person and am ready to start a proper pattern soon. This might be the reason why I’ve started another weaving stick project… more on that later.
Flower Afghan – Trying a border around the flower in the hope it will make it easier to sew the flowers together, again, all experimental, and a lot harder on a flower loom as it doesn’t have the groove to put the hook in making it harder to get and loop the wool over. I’m not convinced about the border, I was hoping to find a way without having to crochet one which is what the various patterns I’ve seen suggest. No pictures as it’s too small to make sense of.
Scarf – This might be the first scarf that I’m making for me from the outset. Usually I make for others. Often I keep for myself the projects that are practises or don’t match up with friends. Sometimes I fall in love with something when it’s done and keep it. This time I’ve planned it from the start. It makes it feel very special. It was inspired by a friend who wanted a long thin scarf, but got one for xmas after I’d gone a but mad buying wool (which wasn’t his fault!). So I’m making myself one, all my favourite scraps of wool will be in it, the bits that aren’t long enough for other projects. It won’t be symmetrical or a pattern like the others, just stripes of pretty soft wools I like.
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