Arm/Wrist Warmer Fun

I've gotten back to my roots - knitting wrist/arm warmers :)  I went through this phase early in my pattern knitting career making up patterns for wrist warmers.  But of course I made up the pattern as I went, and I didn't write it down (well there are notes, but it's all short-handed jibberish with dots, squiggly lines and numbers - a language I think I could only understand).

My sis and her husband ventured downtown one afternoon and happened to stroll into this yarn store.  Now, my sister does not knit (she sews... we make a pretty good crafting mega team!), but she strolled in because she wanted to get me a business card just in case I wanted to go some time.  While she was there she saw these arm warmers that looked pretty cool - it was a long cable knit arm warmer with a cable pattern.  What was so interesting about these arm warmers was the cable wrapped around the thumb hole.  She asked me if I could knit something similar for her.  I consulted my cable knitting bible (LoL) and this is what I came up with:

 
I think they turned out pretty well :)  I used Martha Stewart 100% merino wool to make her wrist warmers.  I love knitting with merino - the structure of wool but super soft.  My sis loved the arm warmers - yay! :D

Pattern is available to purchase by clicking the "buy now" button below (sold through Ravelry and is a direct file download)

Finally! Knitting for S

Since I last posted (more than 8 months ago!) I became a mom :D  I gave birth to a lovely baby girl in February, and this little munchkin has taken over my heart.  I dove into a world of baby songs, baby games, baby talk, cloth diapering, shopping on baby deal sites (which is highly addictive!).. everything baby!  It left little time for anything else - like knitting!

After months and months of learning how to be a mom, I think I finally got the hang of it (sort of).  This meant I could finally knit again! Hooray! :D I realized about a month ago I haven't really knit anything for S.  I did knit her a hat before she was born, but it was too big for her, and by the time she was able to fit into it, it was summer.  Who wants to wear a wool hat in the summer?  And since the colder weather was slowly sneaking in on us, I decided to knit her something to keep her warm.  I scoured Ravelry to find a cute little sleeveless cardi I could knit her.

I used Estelle Cloud Cotton 100% organic cotton (2 skeins) that I had bought last year when I was attempting to make something for my friend's twin girls.  I had bought an off-white colour in anticipation for S (at that point I didn't know what I was having so I had to choose a gender neutral colour).  This pattern was quite easy to follow, but like any lace pattern, if you screw up it's horrible!

 
I also opted to finish off the edges with an i-cord trim.  This was my first time making/using an i-cord and it was a learning experience.  I ended up making the i-cords too long, so the edges of the garment were wavy.  And cotton does not block well, if at all - which is one of the reasons why I don't particularly like knitting with cotton.  But I must admit, besides the waviness, I do like the i-cord embellished edges. 

I knit the 12 month size, and in knitting it for an almost 8 month old, it sits pretty big on her.  But with all kids clothing, it's always better to size up.  S does like wearing it... but I think she enjoys chewing on the buttons even more :D 

My iPhone Case

Like all of us avid knitters we always have a "left over" yarn stash that we keep just in case there is something small that we knit.  My bin was getting quite large, considering I was also knitting for my Etsy store.  So what to do with all my left over stash?

A few months ago I decided to experiment and knit a nice cable knit phone case.  The reason being is that it didn't take too much yarn to make one, and they're quite quick to knit up.  I could have knit a plain stockinette stitch without the cable, but I find if you have a simple plain yarn it doesn't look as good (variegated or self-striping yarn produces wonderful cases with just a stockinette stitch.  I also wanted to make this case seamless because I just hate seaming!  The less seaming I do at the end the better!  Now I'm the type of knitter that likes to just pick up needles and some yarn and knit, coming up with the pattern as I go.  What I came up with was this :)

This has become a best seller at my store :)

I've also been approached with the pattern - it took me a while to get it out because it was in my head :)

Pattern is available to purchase by clicking the "buy now" button below (sold through Ravelry and is a direct file download)

Plus One

So, it's been awhile huh?  But my absence from my blog is not without merit :)  Some time after I got back from my vacation in April I found out I was expecting a little one :D  That's right - my family is about to add a plus one!

Unfortunately one of the side effects of pregnancy is baby brain - my brain has been absolute mush over the past few months.  Early on in my pregnancy baby brain really took a toll on me - so much so that I could not knit for the life of me!  My friend had twins back in August and I attempted to knit them gifts 3 times (the 3rd time was a charm!).  It was absolutely ridiculous!  I found I couldn't follow patterns properly, and I kept making mistakes!  It was horrible!  But since then I've gotten my knitting groove back and I'm well on my way :D  That is, until the carpel tunnel sets it - I'm not looking forward to that!

Over the past few months I was able to knit my little one a baby blanket, and as I mentioned previously, some baby gifts :)  My sister-in-law also had a little baby boy in August and I really wanted to knit him a hat to keep his little noggin warm during the winter months.  I found this cute Aviatrix hat pattern on Ravelry and fell in love with it.  The pattern looks hard, but once I got going it was actually not too bad!  I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino yarn.

I loved knitting this hat so much I made it for my friend's twin girls.  And I also plan to knit one for my little one too :D

Knitting on a Plane

As the hubby and I are slowly preparing to embark on our next adventure, of course I have to wonder - can I take my knitting with me on the plane?  Knitting is a perfect time-killer for me and it makes definitely makes time fly by faster.  But the biggest question is - can I take knitting needles on a plane?

I've been doing some research, and on the TSA website, it says knitting needles are allowed on flights, but cutters are not allowed.  But it fails to describe of what type of needles are allowed (circulars, metal vs. bamboo vs. plastic...).  And this applies to American destinations only. 

Now this is purely based on my own personal experience, and it may depend on which airport you fly out of, which airline you fly with or where you are flying to.  Or even which security guard you get.  I usually fly out of Toronto Pearson and I've never had a problem with my wood/bamboo 3/4mm DPNs.  I've also flown out of various American cities, Paris and Lima with my needles in tow without any issues.  But this time around, I want to take the socks I've been working on with me on my flight.  Because I've been knitting using the magic-loop method, the circulars I've been using are quite long, and they're metal.

I've read a few websites and I haven't heard anyone having major issues with circulars.  Some say keep the circulars to less than 30" and make sure they are not metal.  Others say to bring with you a self addressed envelope with postage so that you can ship your project back to yourself just in case you get turned away from security.  And always have your project started before your trip!

So now I'm debating whether I should bring my long-ass 2mm circulars - if they get confiscated I don't know what I'll do! 

... I'll risk it.  Stay tuned for what happens :D

TtV-ing

I finally got a chance to give TtV photography a go! 

I had the hubby build a contraption that blocked the light between my DSLR lens and the TLR viewfinder.  I was going to build it, being the engineer that I am, but I know how much my hubs likes building stuff - so I had him build it :)  The viewfinder is located at the top of the camrea, so I have to shoot downwards with my DSLR, meaning he had to build a tunnel-like contraption up from the viewfinder.  And this is what he came up with:

He built it out of some black foam board he got from work.  Right now it's held together with elastics -  a bit dodgy looking but it serves its' purpose!  He was going to tape it up, but if he did that I wouldn't be able to remove the camera.  I guess I'm not planning to the TLR for anything else huh?  I wonder if I can make a collapsable one so I can take it with me on trips. hm... :)

Here are a few TtV photos I took:

I'm loving it so far!  I can't wait to go outside and start taking photos :D

Hobby Hopping

In my last post, I mentioned that you need to try new things in order to find hobbies that you enjoy.  This week has been that sort of week :)  I've begun my adventure into 3 new hobbies that all have the potential to become my next big obsession! 

TtV Photography

I did mentioned TtV (through-the-viewfinder) photography in my last post - I finally got the TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) camera.  Introducing my new baby: the Argus Argoflex Seventy-Five.

*loves* I can't wait to give TtV a go!

Crocheting

My crocheting adventure began on Wednesday night, when I attempted to learn how to crochet via YouTube vids and how-to websites.  It might have been the yarn was I was using, or my lack of understanding of the instructions but it did not go well at all!  That's when I threw up my arms and said "I give up", tossed the needles aside and vegged on the couch. 

On Thursday night I had a wicked case of insomnia.  I went to bed around 12am, woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep.  After tossing and turning for 2 hours (my poor hubby!  I'm sure I woke him up a few times) I finally got out of bed and headed downstairs and decided to give crocheting another shot.  This time I was successful :)  I got the basics stitch I think - I've been just making small squares with my left-over yarn from my wrist warmers.  I figure I can stitch the squares together later and make a blanket or something!

Cake Decorating

My friends Steph and Jenn approached me last week about taking a cake decorating class with them.  I've taken a cupcake decorating class before at a local grocery store, and I was horrible at it!  But I thought what the heck - the class was 50% off and it would be a great to do something fun with my friends :)  Here's the thing though - although the class is 50%, all the materials that are needed for the class are crazy expensive!  Luckily Ed took the class before and has a crapload of cake decorating stuff, so she's letting me borrow her tools :)  I figure if I end up liking it I'll buy my own stuff. 

So the first class we were told to bring 6 cookies to decorate for our first class.  Saturday night Jenn and Steph both came over to have a mini baking party.  We made a simple Empire cookie (it's a cross between a shortbread and sugar cookie).  We decided to make big cookies because we thought the more decorating surface area, the better (makes sense right?).  I'm guessing the lack of sleep from Thursday night was still lingering because I ended up throwing enough butter into the mixing bowl for 2 batches of cookies instead of 1.  *slaps forehead* so we ended up making like 30 big cookies! LoL! 

We get to our class today and most of the time was us just watching the instructor.  It was only the last 15 minutes where we were decorating - so in reality we only really needed to make 3 cookies each because that's all we had time to decorate!  And on top of that, our instructor took one look at our cookies and said "omg those are huge!" - meaning we didn't need to make huge-ass cookies.  LoL oh too funny!

So here's one of my decorated cookies.  meh... it's not very good... we'll see how it goes next week! haha