Summersgirl Can Knit and Purl: February 2007

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Year of the Pig

This is my year. I was born in 1959 and my Chinese Astrological sign is the Pig/Boar. I liked what this description of my sign said: "People born in the Year of the Boar are honest and tolerant and make good friends, but tend to expect the same from everyone else, and more often than not they end up disappointed. They thrive in the arts as entertainers.:

Friday, February 16, 2007

The pieces are felted

I am just waiting for them to dry. I will then need to sew them. I am thinking of braiding a handle instead of using the one from the pattern. To make it, I cast on 200 and bound them off. If I cut that in half I will only need to cast on 100 and bind them and felt it. I have the buttons and the off white wool to embroider with. It came out bigger than I thought it would. Ooh wet wool smells so good!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

What is this going to be?

From the looks of it you really can't tell. the yarn over is the increase up to a certain row. Check out this pattern that is so cute! This is just the front, I still have a lot to do.

I was thinking of the sites that I like to go to when I get stuck on a pattern. I haven't been knitting too long so when I have learned a skill, I sometimes forget it if I haven't done it in a while. I also run into a pattern that has no explanation of a technique. Before I found all these knitting resources, I would just give up. I do much better with a video or in a class than I do with drawings or even with step by step instructions that I must read. I am a visual learner and these are the two sites that I have found that have helped me the most.
Knitting Help.com
Annie's Attic

Great sites and I recommend both!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Best site to look at knitting books

I started looking at the books on the KnitPicks site and it is great! They show samples of some of the projects in the book. Not all of the projects, but enough to see if you might be interested in buying the book. So often I sit at Borders and go through books to decide if there are enough patterns in a book to justify the price.

I got a chance to see 12 out of the 25 toys in Knitted Toys by Zoe Mellor. Their price is also 32% of the retail price though you do pay for shipping, less than Amazon and about the same as Overstock.com (where I usually get my knitting books when they have $1 shipping). Just like my yarn, I have so many patterns, I wonder if I will ever knit them all!

Thursday, February 08, 2007

I made my own circular needle holder

I've seen them on the web and in magazines at the price of $20+. I did a Google search and found Grumperina's site on the topic. I really like what she did with the table runner, the napkin and the page protectors. Necessity is the mother of invention and the idea came to me to use fabric I already had! I am a true collector; of yarn, beads, fabric, all sorts of craft things. I had this denim fabric that I had bought years ago for something...I can't even remember what. I put it together pretty easily and since I have a set of Denise Interchangeable Needles I just wanted to make sure I had enough slots to hold the other circulars I have collected along the away. I also looked at this site from a link on Grumperina's site and it helped me design what I now can hang in my closet. I added button holes and buttons on the top just in case the hanger breaks. Better to be safe than sorry.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Felting Mistake!!

This is my effort to clean up my WIP's. With the completion of my new room, that is my goal.

Lesson learned: Felt a swatch before knitting something you are going to felt. I started these slippers before Christmas. I ran out of yarn and didn't get around to finishing them until this week. I thought the gray yarn was 100% wool. NOT! Good thing they are for me and not a gift. They are still drying