On (and off) My Needles

First off, whenever I spell needles, I want to put a k in front of it..weird.

Anyhow, lately I haven’t been doing any FUN knitting lately, between school and trying to maintain a social life, I’ve been a slacker. But, I have been doing knitting for hire (and presents!).

For my aunt, I did a cabled tea mug cozy. At first I was going to do a cabled head band, but I was designing it myself and I just couldn’t get it right. I felt like the cable was either too little or too large for the head band that I wanted.

I was on a serious time constraint, and designing was taking a lot longer then expected, so I took the lazy way out. So here is my cozy!

 

Overall, this was a fun and quick project, and I would recommend it to someone who is comfortable knitting, and has a little cabling experience under their belt. I don’t think it’s necessary to be an expert in it, I’ve only done cabling a handful of times and I didn’t have any trouble.

The other project I’ve been working on lately are the scarves – I don’t know what to call them, I have the photos on my computer saved as ‘Swirly Scarf’, because it seems to fit. I’ve been making a lot of these scarves for my mom and her friends, mostly. I would like to start expanding though, beyond that specific group, and beyond this scarf. Doing the same project over and over isn’t helping me improve, but instead just giving me carpel tunnel (this is a gross exaggeration, but my hands and wrists do hurt a lot).

              I have a love hate relationship with these scarves, they remind me of jellyfish tentacles which is cool, but the yarn twists into itself as you knit, so the farther along you go, the more difficult it gets.

             I get a lot of requests for these scarves, I’ve made three so far since I got home on Friday. I’ve done them in browns, pinks, reds, and blues. I only took pictures of this one, because it is a little bit repetitive, considering it’s the same scarf over and over again.

          I’m hoping that I can do something adventurous next, I am lusting over Kate Davie‘s designs. They’re so amazing, and I would love to try one of those out. But for now, as a broke college student, I’ll continue with the swirly scarves!

          Happy knitting! xx

Apologies!

Sorry for the hiatus, it was not intentional, and I feel really bad! 

I just transitioned into Plattsburgh, and have been a bit of a social butterfly, so I haven’t been doing many crafty things. That is about to change though! I knit up a quick hat last week, I’ll be putting pictures up hopefully later today. I’ve been trying to make my own patterns, so the hat was a bit of a learning process for me. But more on that later. 

Last week I bought a super cool shirt, but it was baggy on me, and I felt frumpy wearing it. Today after class I decided to see if I could work it out. 

I didn’t do anything too cool, and I know it’s been done before, but I have to put SOMETHING crafty on here! 

This is the ‘before’ picture, excuse the mess..I’ve never been one for housework

And here’s the after!

 I cut the sleeves off because they hit my arms weird, and then I tied the sides into knots, so it is a little more form fitting. And also looks more bad-ass.

 

I’m starting a cabled headband today that will be of my own design, more on that later! 

 

 

I spy…

I was rolling skein up today and noticed something shiny in the wool!

How funny!

FIN.

I finished my cowl last night! This is very exciting, because it was snowing this morning when I woke up, so I got to rock it already. I ended it earlier then the pattern called for, because I wanted it thinner. I wish I had made the beading thicker, maybe next time I will do it for 25 stitches, instead of 14. Next, I need to invest in a hat because, mama it’s cold up here. 

Here it is laying out, unblocked (because I am anxious and wanted to wear it, it remains unblocked).

Here it is on, not wrapped around.

AAnd finally, here it is wrapped twice, which is how I’ve been wearing it today, and will probably continue to do that. 

I know I said that this would be a knitting blog, but at times I will impose my world view on you. This is one of those times. As you may or may not know, Ellen DeGeneres is starting a partnership with JC Pennys. Some group of concern trolls is trying to stop it before it starts, saying that her homosexuality goes against family values. I hope everyone who reads this can call bullshit on One Million Moms, and sign this petition with Glaad. You can also read more about it there. Thanks for listening, and I’ll be posting my progress on my cowl later today.

On My Needles

Right now, I have about 1,000 projects on my needles. The one I am most interested in getting done is the Jeweled Cowl, found on Ravelry. Also, if you have a Ravelry, dear reader, add me! Okay, enough with the linkage. Anyhow, last time I was at my yarn store, I saw this beautiful cowl, and new it had to be mine. I bought the yarn, the needles, and the beads right then and there. 

I love when yarn stores have projects on display, I would have never found this pattern on my own, and am so happy I did! I thought putting the beads on would be an arduous process, but it turns out it’s not so bad. I’ve been having fun with it, and can’t wait to be done with it. 

The cowl spends a lot of time on the back burner, between moving and birthdays, I keep saying ‘I’ll work on you later’. Especially with the beading, it’s not something I can work on in the car or on the bus. 

Here are some pictures of my progress!

 

 

See? That’s a lot of beads to be working with. I’m about a quarter of the way through it as of now. Hopefully I’ll have a bunch more done by tomorrow.

 

Because the beeds are so tiny, I can’t use a crochet hook to put them on, so I made a very tiny one out a staple. I should have painted my nails before taking this picture, haha. 

 

Happy knitting!

Teaching Friends

Last night, my friend Megan came over for Jersday (yeah I watch it, I know I know). While she was here, I got to teach her how to knit! It’s always nice to pass it on to someone else, and she was a natural! Knitting on her own after the first row!

We started off on size 15 needles, and some super bulky yarn. Here she is showing off her new tools, and being really excited about it!

Like I said, she immediately got the hang of it, which is pretty freaking cool! And here she is again, watching JShore and probably thinking ‘Why does she keep taking pictures of me and talking about her blog?’

By Eleven Meg had even learned how to bind off! We just started with the knit stitch, keeping it simple for her first time. We ended up pulling it out so she could make a thinner scarf with the yarn, but I did take one more picture before she did.

Usually I am pretty apprehensive when people ask me to teach them how to knit, because I self taught and just kind of wing it on my own when I do it, so I’m afraid I am just giving out bad advice, but helping Megan was really fun. And I really couldn’t believe how fast she picked up on it. I am excited to see what she’ll do next.

Introductions

Maybe? I’ve always been bad at these things.

My name is Brianna, I am a 22 year old crafter, and just trying to get by. I plan on using this (at my friend Leslie‘s request) to documenting my knitting, and any other adventures I find myself on. I hope I prove interesting enough for you to stay!

 

xx