Category: Knitting

Every year around spring time, we pull out the packets of seeds and try to grow some veggies in little pots outside. The problem is that our yard doesn’t get much sun light because there are so many trees, so there often aren’t very many options to chose from that would really be able to thrive out there. This year, however, my mom and I found a good space of flat dirt against the house that got a good deal of light, so we threw on some top soil and pounded in the stakes for a fence.

In past years, our usual crop would be snowpeas, and some times peppers. This time, however, we went all out; Carrot, onions, horseradish, cantaloupe, cucumbers, and pumpkins. It was all so exciting, having always wanted a real garden full of tasty edibles, fresh as can be.

But of course… Nothing in life is that perfect, right? Around this time now, we should start seeing the fruits of our labor (literally), but instead, all I can see are… Pumpkin vines. No, not actual pumpkins, only vines. Not only did they completely strangle and kill all of our other poor sprouts, but they also failed to produce any of their own vegetable! Need I add the fact that the onion was actually alive when we put it in the ground, and now it’s merely fertilizer? All of those plans to make my own pickles, lovely garden-fresh salads… Gone.

My mom was poking through our patch of vines the other day, when out of no where, a different variety of greens presented themselves. Could it be? One of our seedlings survived and had taken root, pushing diligently through the forest of unfriendly greenery and agressive pumpkin plants? Pulling to gentle extricate our only remaining vegetable from the ground, the dirt gave way to reveal…. A microscopic carrot, about 1/2 inch long.

Here’s the picture my mom took of it, on a standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper:

Sad, huh? It’s all stem, nothing more. After seeing how underdeveloped it was, she put it back into a little pot of dirt, hoping to remove it from the vicious foe outside and allow it to develop further. As it seems to go in our house in terms of growing veggies, the carrot now seems to be dying. I’m such a sad ex-gardener!

To cheer up the vacant patch of vines a bit, I took to a hobby I seem better suited to, and knit a little pumpkin to supplement where real ones should be.

Cute… but not the same. I still can’t roast or carve a pumpkin made of yarn and fiberfill, no matter how hard I wish I could. Maybe if I leave it there long enough, it will remind this uncooperative plant of what it’s supposed to be making.

To make your own pumpkin for either decoration or to encourage a stubborn garden, the pattern I found can be accessed here at Curly Purly.

I had been on the lookout for some fingerless gloves recently, wanting a little more warmth for autumn, but not going as far as thick winter gloves. That would be a bit of overkill, seeing as the temperature has only begun to drop anyway.

I almost settled on just a plain, straight knit tube with a thumb-hole for lack of a better patter, but then I looked around and saw that just about every one else was casting on for fetching from Knitty.com. Liking the design much more than my original choice, I quickly did an about face and took out my cable needles.

They knit up very fast; It only took me about a day or so to complete both gloves. I really like the fact that the cuff fits snugly without any need for additional shaping. These cozy companions are knit again in Caron’s Simply Soft Shadows, this time in “Moss” green. I love the way the colors twist and change differently in each glove. This would drive some people insane, I’m sure, who obsess over having matching color variegation, striping… The whole nine yards. In my personal opinion, I like this a lot better, because not only does it save a lot of time (And possibly yarn), but I feel it makes them each more unique.

Near the end, I’ll admit I got a bit lazy though, and opted to just bind off normally instead of making the picots at the end. No damage done, right? Oh, and I realized when I was about done that I had actually twisted the cables in the opposite directions, but who really cares. I won’t tell if you won’t.

Approximately one million years ago when I started making knit food, I found the extensive list of options to be quite impressive and some what intimidating. So much to knit, I never thought my needles could move fast enough to work through everything I wanted to create! All of a sudden, it seems that I’m now on the other side, wondering what type of knit-food I haven’t yet made, what remains on that list for me. I guess that’s what ending up driving me to write my own pattern in the first place.

The whole time I wrote up my first few, I was still testing the waters. I had never knit without a pattern before, so to make my own was all new territory for me. I’m still not confident in my ability to come up with knit or crocheted objects from scratch, but I decided to finally dive in and make that one thing that I had wanted a pattern for since the day I started making food out of yarn – A slice of cake.

It’s far from perfect, and I’m still terrible at color-work so I’m sure that for people more skilled in that area, the filling between the two layers of cake shouldn’t stick out for you nearly as much. Feel free to switch up the colors, as always; I just thought that it would be easiest to distinguish as a chocolate birthday cake, but I’d love to see any other variations that people might come up with.

Frosting

Using size 8 (US) needles and medium brown worsted weight yarn, CO 15
Starting with a knit row, knit in st st for 18 rows, ending on a purl row
19: P across [ridge]
20: P across
21-24: St st
25: K1, k2tog, knit across until the last 3 stitches, ssk, k1
26-28: St st
29: K1, k2tog, knit across until the last 3 stitches, ssk, k1
30-32: St st
33: K1, k2tog, knit across until the last 3 stitches, ssk, 1
34-36: St st
37: K1, k2tog, knit across until the last 3 stitches, ssk, 1
38-40: St st
41: K1, k2tog, knit across until the last 3 stitches, ssk, k1
42-44: St st
45: K1, k3tog, k1
46: Purl across
47: K3tog

Bottom

In dark brown, CO15
Repeat the instructions for the frosting, rows 21 through 47

Layers

K7 stitches in dark brown, k2 stitches in cream, k7 remaining stitches dark brown
Continuing with this color scheme, st st for 24 cm
End on a purl row, and BO

Frosting Decoration (Make 2)

CO 1
1: Kfb 3 times (6 sts)
2-4: St st
5: Ssk, k2tog, k2tog
6: p3tog
Repeat rows 1 through 6 [4] times

Candle

CO 3 in light blue, and knit i-cord for 2”
Gather stitches together and tie off
Cut flame out of yellow felt and attach to tip by means of fabric glue

Assembly

With right sides facing, line up the butt of the triangle for the bottom with the CO edge of the frosting. Whip stitch across and secure, but do not cut yarn. Line up the cake layers facing inward and whip stitch first along the side, and then across top edge, lining up the side of the cake between the bottom rectangle and the ridge.

Sew half of bottom to cake layers, and turn right side out.

Measure and cut a piece of cardboard approximately 24 cm x 7 cm. Fold or score the center and insert into cake so that it provides structure and prevents the walls from puffing out. Insert stuffing between the two folded sides, into the middle of the cake

Sew one of your frosting decorations to the bottom of the frosting piece, and the other one to the ridge one top.Attach candle to desired spot on top of the cake.

A friend of my sister’s is due in November, and being the resident knitter, I feel obligated to make something for the incoming baby. I’m more than happy though, since I get so few opportunities to break out the cutsie patterns, and they tend to be some of the cutest out there. It’s so unfair to us non child-bearing people! Not that I even really like kids… I just enjoy knitting for them.

Last time I cast on for an expectant mother, I was new to the field and attempted baby booties… Which I later learned were too small; The new born turned out to be a bit larger than it was original assumed. I was still promised that the booties would be put to good use nonetheless… As Christmas tree ornaments instead.

Not wanting to knit unwearable garments for a second time, I settled this time on the bunny hat from Stitch and Bitch Nation. This is a pattern I had been dying to make for the longest time, but at the time I first saw it, I hadn’t known enough about patterns to be able to alter it for a larger head, and then promptly forgot about it, lacking any baby to knit for.

The design is absolutely irresistible – I’m dying to see little Skylar wearing it when she finally emerges from the womb. I did remove the face, though. After going through all the trouble of embroidering the eyes, whiskers and mouth, I determined that I really can’t embroider, and wasted no time in cutting it all out. Oh, and I decided against the I-cord ties, just because I wasn’t really feeling up to all that bland, monotonous knitting when it looked perfectly fine without them.

Until Skylar is avaliable to photograph, I’ve made use of a smiley face balloon to model her hat. I hope she’s just as smiley when she recieves it!

Little scraps of yarn sure are great, huh? Those small bits left over from old projects, too small to really make anything else out of, but still too long to justify throwing them out? Like any other person interested in the yarn arts, I happen to own more of these than full skeins of yarn. They always make me feel guilty buying more and more yarn, when there are these perfectly good remainders just waiting for their time in the sun. They missed out on being a part of the original project; Don’t they deserve a second chance?

Every last 1/8 of a skein, couple of leftover yards… Drives me crazy. How I crave to put them to use and end the guilt. But there’s never enough for anyone one project! There is always the option of making a crazily striped hat or scarf with an assemblage of those lonely leftovers… But I’m really not a fan of how the end product looks.

Finding the pattern Perdita on Knitty was my saving grace for dealing with atleast one mostly used skein. I don’t generally wear very much jewelry, but it looked like the perfect little memento to cheer up a friend. The particularly nice thing about finishing up scraps of yarn is that the projects generally don’t take very long, so I was finished by the afternoon.

I chose to execute the Lily of the Valley variation, but I couldn’t find any adequate beads that would fit onto the strand of yarn so I decided to cut them out altogether. While it did take down the complexity and interest a bit, I think it knit up in a very pleasing pattern. Oh, and do me a favor and don’t look too closely at the buttons – Try as I might, I just couldn’t scrap together any two that matched, so I setted on the closest pair I could find.

It was made with Caron’s Simply Soft Tweed in violet, and I’m guessing that with if I had started with a full skein, I could have probably made four or five cuffs out of it. For the more accurate color, refer to the second picture which was taken in better light. I usually don’t like using Caron, but I guess this is a new type (Based on the “New!” markings next to it on the website.) Very affordable at $3.00 per skein, 100% acrylic… I’m so relieved I was able to make use of every last yard!

While I am well aware that it’s only September, it still feels as though the Christmas season is breathing down the back of my neck. Why didn’t I start sooner? I’m already kicking myself for my procrastinating ways – All I can think of is that last day crunch, wrapping gifts as soon as they fly off the needles. I don’t manage all-nighters too well; Beyond midnight or so I start to loose my place, drop stitches, make mistakes… It’s not a pretty sight. Especially when the frustration becomes too much and I start throwing uncooperative skeins of yarn and tearing through stubborn wrapping paper that won’t stay in place.

So in order to prevent this mad scramble, I’m trying to alternate random fun projects with holiday gift projects, attempting to cut down the list some before X-day. I’m relieved to report that this damage control seems to be working, and my list is looking less daunting by the day.

These mini garments were fashioned for my two little cousins who are obsessed with American Girl dolls. I don’t understand the fascination myself, but I guess it’s just a kid thing. It’s always difficult to know what younger children would appreciate when deciding on a gift to craft, but this one has just got to be a winner. I mean seriously, these kids are so infatuated with these molded hunks of plastic, when a leg poped off a season or two ago, they actually sent it to a “doll hospital.” When it came back, it had not only a “get well” balloon in hand, but it was even deckedd out in hospital garb. A bit much, or what?

I don’t know for a fact that these will actually fit the dolls, seeing as I don’t really have one avaliable to test it on. So for now I’ll just trust in the pattern and hope for the best. Only 3 more months!