Maiya knits. Mayhem ensues.

T Shirt Dress- A Tutorial

2012-02-12T12:52:00.000-08:00

I made this super comfy, super flattering awesome dress with only 4 t-shirts and under an hour. I had these shirts and I never wore them. A great way of upcycling them!

Take a shirt that you want to be your top and try it on. How long do you want it? Mark it with a safety pin, take it off and cut off the bottom at where you marked it. (I was going to use the bottom of the shirt for ruffles but decided against it but that's why there are two other cut pieces.)

Take a second shirt and decide how wide you want the middle band of your dress to be. Mine is about 6-7 inches. Cut the shirt from right under the sleeves and then cut your band width. (Again, I was going to use the extra for ruffles so I cut more bands. Also, decided against.)

Now take a shirt that will fit comfortably around your hips. Cut the shirt right under the sleeves. If you stop here with 3 shirts, you've made yourself a mini dress. AWESOME! If you want it longer, grab another shirt.

Again, cut the fourth shirt right under the sleeves and then cut the bottom part in half. Then cut along the edge on both sides. So now you have two long strips. Sew the sides together so you have one very long loop.

Here's how you put the pieces together. Sew the top to your middle band. The circumferences should be about the same but you can stretch and pull and ease the shirts together while sewing. T-shirt jersey fabric is awesome for this.

Then sew the third shirt- the bottom to your middle. Again, they should be the same size. Try on. Mini dress success! Want more coverage? Let's keep going!

Now you can either take the super long loop from the fourth shirt and bunch it into ruffles (look up the thousand of tutorials online to see how to make gathered fabric/ruffles) or you can pleat it onto your dress- which is what I did. Evenly pin the loop to the bottom of the dress in four spots- front, back and two sides. From there pleat and pin until all the loose fabric is used up. Sew. Viola! A t-shirt dress! I didn't hem my dress since jersey knit fabric doesn't unravel. It'll just roll a little. You can use the extra shirt fabric scraps to make more ruffles, fabric flowers, rosettes, appliques. Go wild and look fabulous!

Make Your Own Nail Polish Rack

2012-01-22T12:15:00.000-08:00

I came across this YouTube video Shit Nail Polish Addicts Say. There's a bunch of videos of this genre going around but this one definitely spoke to me. I could relate to several of the stereotypes in the video.

One particular part in the video caught me off guard. She holds up a foam board and mentions having to make another nail polish rack. WHAT?? I have never heard of making your own rack. I looked into buying some in the past but they're so expensive or the shipping is. Or they don't hold very many bottles of polish. So I Googled this rack making business and found this YouTube tutorial.

I went to work! I wanted to make racks that fit 50 bottles so my racks have 5 tiers and holds 10 bottles each tier. So my measurements are much different than hers on the tutorial. I picked up 4 foam boards at $3.49 apiece. The foam boards I got were 22x28 inches big and each rack took slightly over 1 board. The math is by far the most time consuming aspect of this project. Triple check your measurements!! I have a bunch of different shaped bottles so when I laid out my 50 bottles for the original measurement I made sure to include a variety to get a truer size.

I don't really have any place to put these so I bought two shelves from the hardware store. The shelves and hardware came to about $21. If you're also buying shelves, make sure to get ones that will support the weight of all your polish! The shelves I got are long enough to hold 2 racks or 100 bottles of polish and support up to 100 pounds.

Since the only wall space I really have for the shelves is in my living room, I knew I wanted my DIY racks to be pretty. I was given some fabric from a friend who was destashing her craft room. I cut the fabric as the same size as my side walls and the front "lip." I used Tacky Glue to glue them on. So easy!

From the 4 foam boards I was able to make 3 racks to hold approximately 150 bottles of nail polish for only $14. Yay! I organized my polish by color since I'm not particularly loyal to a brand or collection. Isn't my polish pretty? So much nicer than being shoved in several shoe boxes.

Love Bytes

2012-01-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about knitters is that you never have to wonder what to give them for a present. Yarn! Always yarn. Even if a knitter has bins and bins of yarn, they need more.

For every birthday, Mother's Day and Christmas, my husband takes our two boys and heads them down the The Knit Shop to pick out a skein of Malabrigo worsted each. It's great fun for them and I know I'll absolutely love whatever they pick out.

For this past Christmas, Bailey chose colorway Purple Mystery and Silas chose Bergamota. Instantly, I knew that I had to knit a project that used the both yarns together. What a great combo! My kids apparently have an awesome eye for color.

The pattern Love Bytes has been in my Ravelry queue for nearly a year. I first fell in love with it when my friend Angie finished hers. Robot mittens??!! Are you kidding me? Greatest thing ever. I need them! And now I finally had the right yarn to knit them.

Pattern: Love Bytes by Grace Schnebly
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted
Colorway: Purple Mystery and Bergamota and scrap blue yarn
Yardage: Approx 220 yards total
View more notes and photos on my Ravelry page.

Shawl Haul

2011-11-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

When I'm knitting, I get into these kicks. I will knit similar items for months. One year EVERYBODY I knew got socks for Christmas. Couldn't knit enough socks. Right now it's shawls. I love shawls. Big, small, chunky, lace weight, triangular, rectangular, half circle. Stripes, solids, variegated, beaded. There is a shawl out there for every type of knitter. My favorite kind to wear are shawls bordering on scarves- shawlettes or scarflettes.

After I updated my Ravelry project page, I noticed that I had cranked out 4 shawls in 35 days. Whoa!

Name: I've Got Nothing Else to Knit!

Pattern: Hitchhiker by Martina Behm

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight.

Colorway: Bag Lady

Yardage: 380 yards

Days it took to knit: 11

View more photos and my modifications
on my Ravelry page.

Name: Green Thing

Pattern: Charlize by Vanessa Smith

Yarn: Pagewood Farm Chugiak Hand Dyed Sock Yarn

Colorway: Maple Leaf

Yardage: 450 yards

Days it took to knit: 7

View more photos and my modifications
on my Ravelry page.

Name: Candy Striper

Pattern: Betiko by Lee Meredith

Yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball

Colorway: Cranberry

Yardage: 459 yards

Yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball

Colorway: Schatten

Yardage: 184 yards

Days it took to knit: 15

View more photos and my modifications
on my Ravelry page.

Name: Slugasana Scarf

Pattern: Effin Scarf by Loretta McCollough

Yarn: Feza Yarns Alp Natural

Colorway: 714

Yardage: 231 yards

Days it took to knit: 2

View more photos and my modifications
on my Ravelry page.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

Another Halloween! Most people think of their year in terms of January through December. I measure mine from Halloween to Halloween. You can see last years post here.

This year I had two costumes. My sister in law, Shelsea had her birthday earlier this week so we went out dancing. I went as Pippi Longstocking and she was Batgirl!

For trick or treating, I went as Raggedy Anne, my husband went as Waldo's doppelganger, Bailey wanted to be "a vampire so scary it scares me" (his words, not mine) and Silas was Yoda.

I got my Raggedy Anne costume from Nobody's Baby (Facebook link). They're a local vintage shop that also rents costumes. They're amazing. I found the Waldo shirt at Old Navy on clearance. Since it's grey and red we thought he would be one of the many Waldo doppelgangers that you find in the book. Close, but no cigar sort of thing. I knit his hat with some worsted wool yarn I had in just a couple of hours. Glasses and cane came from Nobody's Baby.

Bailey's vampire costume was easy. We had the suit and he borrowed the cape from a friend. We gave him some scary make-up.

Silas' Yoda costume was a lot of fun. I used the Felted Baby Yoda Hat by Sunshyne Leland. I made his robe out of fleece just sort of making it up as I went along.

Our pumpkins.

Happy Halloween! See you next year!

Bailey turns 5!

2011-10-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

My oldest son Bailey turned 5 years old! I've compiled my favorite photos of him from the past year- one from every month going back to his birthday last year.

Bailey on his fifth birthday.

Bailey on his fourth birthday.

Inspired by Katie Aaberg.

Holo Glitter Frankenpolish

2011-09-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

Did you know you can make your own nail polish color? Take an empty bottle, mix colors together and there you go! There's a huge community of nail enthusiasts who make their own polish. It's called frankenpolish or frankening. Today I made a holographic glitter nail polish.

I bought this holo glitter for $2.99. Called Glitz by Fantasy Makers owned by Wet N Wild. The best time to find this stuff is during Halloween so get yours now! I also bought Sinful Colors Wet Glaze for $1.99. It's just a clear top coat.

I made a funnel with some paper and poured about a third of the holo glitter into the clear polish. A quarter of the bottle would have been sufficient but when it comes to glitter I go balls out.

Mix it up really well and viola! The glitter will settle to the bottom during storage so just make sure to shake it up before you use it.

Nails taken in shade. Pointer finger has one coat. Middle finger has two coats. Ring finger has one coat over Wet N Wild Wild Shine Black Creme. Pinky finger has two coats of glitter over black.

Nails taken in direct sunlight. Now I've got an amazing glitter top coat for less than $5 and I have a bunch of glitter left to make more. Maybe I'll add glitter to a creme polish next.

Thai Laab Dinner

2011-08-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming to an end and this is one of my favorite summer meals. Quick and easy too! My neighbor is from Thailand and she makes this dish quite a lot. Laab or larb. She shared it with me a few years ago and we make it nearly as often as she does. Sweet, tangy and refreshing. I love this meal.

-1 lb. ground pork or turkey
-1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
-juice from one lime
-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
-3 tablespoons chopped mint
-1 large shallot, sliced
-1 teaspoon chili oil
-1 tablespoon roasted chili paste

-cooked rice
-a couple heads of romaine hearts, washed

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat chili oil and add shallots. Cook for a few minutes until soft.

Add ground pork or turkey, cook until browned. Drain grease, stir in chili paste. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix fish sauce, lime juice, cilantro and mint together.

Stir in cooked meat.

Peel a few leaves off the the romaine hearts. Add some rice and top with laab. Fold up and eat like a taco.

Serve with thai ice tea!

Eugene Celebration Parade 2011

2011-08-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Eugene Celebration and my yarn bombing group decided to march in the parade on Saturday!

We created an Octoscarf using donated sweaters and we all knit while we marched. Sandra and Lillian held up our banner that we also created using scraps from the sweaters. And Kacy with Rowan and David (our two yarn bombers in training) helped pull our big "yarn bomb" along with extra supplies.

photos by Melissa Mankins.

I had so much fun and even did an interview for KMTR while I was marching (and knitting.)

Later that evening we got called down to accept our award for runner up for Judge's Knows Best. That's awesome!

Please visit The Knotty Knitters blog
to read more about it.

Mayhem Giveaway

2011-08-22T21:17:00.001-07:00

It's my first freebie giveaway! Today this blog has reached over 10,000 hits. In the grand scheme of thing, that's nothing. But for me, it's huge! Since a lot of the hits came from my tutorial on Kool Aid ice cube yarn I thought I would give away that same yarn!

How do you enter?

1- Follow this blog if you haven't already.

2- Leave a comment on this post.

If you do those two things, I'll enter your name for a chance to win my Summer Popsicle yarn. For greater odds, post this competition on your blog or tumblr (just let me know where and follow me on tumblr). I'll enter your name twice.

Sorry! This contest has now been closed and the yarn has been gifted. Thanks to everyone who entered. Continue to follow me for a chance to win more prizes in the future!

Yarn details:

Name: Summer Popsicle

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian Highland Wool

Weight: Bulky

Yards: 137 yards

Pick Your Own Swap

2011-08-15T08:06:00.001-07:00

My favorite group on Ravelry, Knit Knack often holds knitting swaps or exchanges. Usually there's a theme and a designated dollar amount and you're given a partner. You knit and find goodies for them based on their preferences and within the theme.

The most recent swap I hosted called Pick Your Own Swap swap. This time, each person got to pick their own individual swap theme and not explain or define it in anyway. That way whoever was their partner had to interpret the theme however they wished.

The theme that I chose was Recycled/Upcycled/Secondhand. I was lucky enough to get Kim aka Chickenlady. She wrote in the note that everything but the yarn and the pattern had come from her- wasn't bought. That's exactly what I wanted! She gifted me a book on knitting and felting, beautiful yarn and a pattern to knit a cowl with them (can't wait!), little owl note cards (the Knit Knackers logo is an owl), pumpkin decorations and a haunted house with candles. My family is a little bit obsessed with Halloween. I love these goodies!

The main project is a fabric scrap crocheted rug! It's amazing. The colors are perfect and the construction is great! I've always wanted a rug like this but never got around to making one. Thanks Kim!

In this same swap, the person who I had to knit for was Mary aka SeaHagMary. The theme she picked was Twin Peaks. I embroidered a wall hanging dedicated to that Twin Peaks cherry pie. I gifted her some amazing local coffee from Wandering Goat and some good Oregon chocolate as well. I sent her an owl pin and my husband helped me make her buttons out of a log (branch) from a tree in our backyard.

Lastly, I knitted her fingerless mitts based on the design of the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks. I'll have the pattern for the mitts up shortly. Edit: Mitt pattern now available here.

This was such a fun swap! Can't wait for the next one!

Stitch N Pitch

2011-08-07T09:05:00.002-07:00

...beer, balls and babes.

Last Friday night our local yarn shop, Soft Horizon Fibres hosted their annual Stitch N Pitch. A bunch of knitters get together at a baseball game and knit. Most cities hold one, look for one in your area! This game the Eugene Emeralds played against the Tri-City Devils and we won! It was also Star Wars night!

Kelsey and I got our photo with Chewbacca!

The Knotty Knitters enjoying the game.

We, The Rebels were winning right from the get go!

Prince Puckler ice cream in a baseball hat cup.

Fireworks were displayed after the game.

Nail Polish Collection

2011-08-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

I love fingernail polish. It's cheap. Comes in every color. There are so many possibilities. So many moods.

I recently ordered nail wheels on ebay so I could swatch my nail polish collection. You can get a better sense of the color on a fingernail as opposed to simply looking at the bottle.

Here is my nail polish collection. You can view larger photos of the wheels on my flickr page and you can read my spreadsheet to get the names of the colors.

Each polish was done without a basecoat or a topcoat. And nail has two coats of polish.

The glitters are shown by themselves and then I painted them over black nail polish.

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Another Mystery Knit Along

2011-08-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

Last month, Leethal announced she was doing another mystery knit along. I loved the last one she did, I blogged about it here. Before she released the knit along, she asked if anyone was interested in test knitting the pattern first. I signed right up! So I knew that it was a hat, and I knew I'd be using sport weight yarn. But I'd just be knitting blindly and then give Lee feedback about the pattern.

The first part (Week 1) was the brim.

The second part (Week 2) was the body of the hat.

The last part (Week 3) was for decreasing the crown.

The yarn I used I got at Black Sheep Gathering at the Eugene Textile Center's booth. It is a lovely Argentina Yarn Polwarth/Silk blend dyed naturally with indigo. It's wonderful and was great for this hat pattern.

I love this hat and wore it camping. You can buy Leethal's hat pattern here.

Black Lodge Mitts

2011-07-28T09:33:00.001-07:00

My favorite Ravelry group, Knit Knackers, holds knitting swaps fairly regurarly. The swaps are generally themed but in this last one we got to pick our own theme! I was lucky enough to get Mary for my swap and she chose the theme Twin Peaks. After looking at knitting patterns that would incorporate this theme, I was disappointed. So I decided to make my own pattern. Fingerless mitts based on the Black Lodge in the television show Twin Peaks.

This pattern is easy and fast! It's a great way to use up scraps as it requires less than 50 yards per color- red, white and black. The mitts are worked identically so there's no designated left or right mitt.

You will need:

size US 8 (5mm) needles for working in the round.

3 colors worsted weight yarn

stitch marker

darning needle to weave in ends

Size: Women's average to large hands.

Guage: 5sts per inch in 2x2 ribbing.

Zig Zag Pattern:

Row 1- knit all stitches

Row 2- *kfb, k3, sl1, k2tog, psso, k3, kfb* repeat for all stitches- 4 repeats total

Repeat the two rows alternating colors each time you start Row 1.

Cuff:

With red yarn, CO 44sts. Place marker, join in round.

*k2,p2* rib for 2 inches from CO edge.

Wrist:

Switch to black yarn.

Knit the Zig Zag pattern above, switching between black and white yarn. Stop when there are 14 striped rows (28 rows total) ending with white yarn.

Thumb opening:

With black yarn, do not join in round. Turn your knitting instead and start purling:

Row 1- purl all stitches

Row 2- *kfb, k3, sl1, k2tog, psso, k3, kfb* repeat for all stitches- 4 repeats total

Continue working Zig Zag pattern flat for a total of 5 striped rows (10 rows total) ending with black yarn.

Hand:

With white yarn, join in round.

Continue the Zig Zag pattern in the round switching between white and black for a total of 4 striped rows (8 rows total) ending with black yarn.

Ribbing:

Switch to red yarn.

Knit one round.

*k2,p2* rib for 1 inch.

Bind off loosely in rib pattern. Weave in ends and block.

Make 2. Wear them while eating cherry pie and drinking a damn good cup of coffee.

Kool Aid Popsicle Dyeing

2011-07-14T10:14:00.001-07:00

I came across a DIY post on Tumblr that showed how you can freeze watercolor paints in ice cube trays and then use the frozen paints to "draw" on fabric or paper. I instantly thought I could do that with Kool Aid and yarn! I just had to wait for my Oregon "summer" to cooperate. I needed it to get sunny and warm enough to melt the ice cubes.

Update: Doing a giveaway for this yarn! Read more on this post.

Remember to wear your gloves! I took one packet of Kool Aid and mixed it with just enough water to fill 3 ice cube sections (do not add sugar! Just KA and water.) Then I froze them.

I used:

Kool Aid grape

Kool Aid strawberry

Klass brand pineapple

Klass brand hibiscus

Klass is a Mexican version of Kool Aid that I picked up at a Latino grocery store.

I soaked my WOOL yarn in warm water and vinegar for about a half an hour. I gently squeezed out the water and then laid it into a glass 9x13 baking pan. I put the frozen dye cubes on top and set it outside in direct sunlight.

When I first put the dye cubes on the yarn.

After an hour in the sun.

Once it was completely melted- in my case about an hour and a half- I covered it with saran wrap to help raise the heat and incubate the yarn. In hindsight, I could have just covered it when I first put it outside to melt. You need the yarn to reach about 180 degrees Fahrenheit (really, you just need it to be HOT!) to set the dye in the yarn. You could also cook the yarn in your oven or microwave it for a few minutes but I wanted this to be a solar project. So I covered it and left it outside all day.

Yarn steaming in the sun.

You'll know it's done when your baking dish is hot and the liquid in the yarn is clear- that means that the yarn has absorbed all of the dye. Bring yarn inside and let it cool down to room temperature. I then gently washed the yarn in warm water with some Eucalan (again there should be no dye washing off- your yarn bath should be clear. If it is running color, stop washing immediately and put back outside to cook some more. Or wrap it in saran wrap and nuke it in the microwave for a few minutes.) Gently squeeze the water out and then allowed it to air dry.

I'd say this was a total success!

Name: Summer Popsicle

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian Highland Wool

Weight: Bulky

Yards: 137 yards

Silas turns two!

2011-07-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

My younger son Silas turned two! I've compiled my favorite photos of him from the past year- one from every month going back to his first birthday.

Silas on his second birthday.

Silas on his first birthday.

Inspired by Katie Aaberg.

Black Sheep Gathering 2011

2011-06-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Black Sheep Gathering came to town. I love going. All the fiber, all the yarn! This was probably the best time I had because it wasn't super hot. Last year I said I was going to sign up for classes next time but I didn't. I've been too busy and just had a blast looking around.

Lots of fiber from The Fiber Addict.

An amazing needle felted wall hanging.

Beautiful drop spindles with additional shafts. Spin then remove!

My friend Kacy spinning for the first time.

Silk worms busy at work.

A rainbow of colors. Cotton cones from Eugene Textile Center.

Sparkly yarn from Huckleberry Knits.

My purchases L to R:

Eugene Textile Center Argentina Yarn Polwarth/Silk blend dyed purely with indigo.

Huckleberry Knits Blue-Faced leicester/Silk Lace, Weeping Willow.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, Bag Lady.

Beer Bread

2011-06-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

My husband brews our own beer. It's amazing. After he's done, we have a bunch of spent grain left. Usually we give it to our hens to eat but recently I've been making bread out of it.

3 cups wet spent grains

1.5 cups warm water

1 tablespoon bakers yeast

1/3 cup brown sugar

3-5 cups flour

Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together. Allow yeast to bloom. In a large mixing bowl, add grains and yeast mixture. Using a mixer or your hands, start adding flour until dough is no longer sticky. Place in large, greased bowl, cover with a towel and allow it to double in size- approximately an hour. Punch down dough and place in two greased loaf pans, allow to double in size again. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until brown and knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

A picture of the spent grains ready for baking.

Here, I didn't split the dough into two loaves but rather baked it as one large loaf on my pizza stone. It was much crunchier and would makes a great addition to a meal. But I prefer it in the two loaves. It's softier and is a good sandwich bread. Enjoy!

Our hens enjoying their spent grains.

Hella Nutella

2011-06-14T19:13:00.001-07:00

Two posts in one day?? I know! But you can see why. My friend Liz has an amazing food blog, The Food of Love Play On. I have made several meals from her recipes and they've all been outstanding.

Today, I made her Hella Nutella brownies. I like to call them Fuck Yeah Nutella Brownies. They taste amazing and were so easy to make! I like my brownies chewy instead of cakey. These are perfectly chewy. I don't like nuts in anything! But after eating these I realized I don't like peanuts or walnuts in anything. The hazelnuts are great! Liz nailed it when she said, "They added just the right amount of crunch to this surprisingly light, yet chewy brownie."

Do yourself a favor and make these. Now. You won't regret it.

International Yarn Bombing Day

2011-06-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

...What a group effort!

This year held the first annual International Yarn Bombing Day on June 11, 2011. My knitting group, the Eugene Knotty Knitters decided to yarn bomb a bicycle and pedestrian bridge in Eugene, Oregon. There were so many great pieces. I've said it before, but I am in so much love with my crafty friends. Their art is so inspiring!

You can read more about our yarn bombing at The Knotty Knitters blog. And I was a guest blogger for Yarnbombing.com.

My contributions to the bridge were a few railing cozies, a pom pom garland and a loooooooong cozy for the bridge that measured 42 feet. After we added the other cozies, it was over 50 feet in length. Amazing!

Bolder Boulder

2011-05-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

This past Memorial Day weekend I visited my sister who lives outside of Boulder, Colorado. I knew I wanted to yarn bomb something in Boulder so I looked on online. I came across this "Bull Elk" statue by Jim Agius. I thought it would be great to knit the Elk leg warmers that looked like tube socks.Since I had never seen the statue personally I had to guess what size to make these leg wamers. Luckily they fit!

As I was installing them my sister remembered that the very next day in Boulder was a huge marathon! What amazing coincidence that my yarn bomb worked really well with the neighborhood theme that weekend!

Happy to help this elk get ready to run in the Bolder Boulder.

Stash Buster

2011-05-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

... what would you have found?

Finding your parents' stash. What does that mean to you? Did you come across your dad's old Playboy collection? Did you find their bag of pot and rolling papers? Or was it something as innocent as finding your hidden Christmas presents?

For knitters, it's something quite different. A stash is the collection of yarn knitters have.

As you can see, my little boy has indeed "found" my stash.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

2011-04-25T07:47:00.001-07:00

...naturally.

You'd think with all the food coloring I have in the house to dye yarn with I'd be set to dye eggs for Easter this year. However I saw an article by Peaceful Parenting about dyeing eggs with natural dyes. Dyes from fruits, vegetables and spices. That sounded like a lot of fun!

Clockwise from top:

beets

paprika

blueberries

spinach

coffee

turmeric

cherries

red cabbage in the middle

All of the dyes I added a tablespoon of white vinegar to except the coffee. And I let the eggs sit in the dye for an hour.

The coffee dye was just strong brewed coffee.

The beets and red cabbage I bought fresh and chopped it up. The spinach I bought frozen. I put them in a pan with enough water to cover and brought to boil. Once it started boiling, I turned off the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes then I strained out the vegetables (the beets we ate while waiting for the eggs to dye. Yum!)

The blueberries and cherries I also bought frozen. I thawed them and mashed them up. I added a cup of boiling water and stirred.

For the paprika and turmeric, I added 1/8 cup of spices to two cups boiling water. The spices don't disolve so when it was time to take the eggs out, you have to wipe them down a bit to remove the powder.

My kiddos had fun asking what the different dyes were from and I think we'll continue to do this every year. I want to try dyeing with onion skins next time and a friend of mine dyed hers with black currant and her eggs came out stunning. If you've tried a different natural dye with great results, I'd love to hear about it.

Little Lego Man

2011-04-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

...Cowboy up!

Yesterday I posted on Facebook that I had a hankering to do miniature knitting again. I played around with it last year and found it frustrating yet fascinating. Katie Aaberg challenged me to knit a sweater for a lego man. Challenge accepted!

Did I succeed? You decide. I couldn't knit him a sweater after all because the little lego arms are tight against their little lego bodies making it impossible to get them through sleeves. I then went for a sweater vest look but ended up making it too big. And the tight arms bunches the knitting around. I think it looks like he's wearing a poncho. In my opinion, it works out great since he's a cowboy and all.

Just to give you a scale on how small miniature knitting is, this photo shows my miniature needles up against size US 1 or 2.25mm.

Name: Little Lego Man

Pattern: my own design

Yarn: 3 strands of DMC 6 strand embroidery floss

Needles: 7/0 or .65mm

Gauge: 19sts= 1 inch and 23 rows= 1 inch

I Feel Pretty

2011-04-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

...dinosaurs lookin' fine.

My Monday night SnB is held at Laughing Planet where they have toy dinosaurs on each table to play with. I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier, but it dawned on me to knit them clothes.

Parasaurolophus got the hipster hat.

Pachycephalosaurus needed some boxing gloves.

Ankylosarus wanted a shredded sweater to go over his spikes.

Stegosaurus loved her handspun 80s inspiried leg warmers.

Triceratops looks darling in her new sparkly pink bonnet!

Scelidosarus needed spikes to continue down his tail.

Brachiosaurus got a nice ruffle cowl.

Photos by Katie Aaberg.

Recycled Sweater Project Part 2

2011-04-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

... lots of yarn, still just the one sweater.

I recently posted about using a used thrift store sweater to make yarn for yourself- Recycled, Upcycled Sweater. I had knit my son Bailey a sweater after taking apart the used sweater, dyeing it and reknit. His sweater took only the yarn from the front and back of the sweater and I still had enough leftover to make myself some leg warmers.

I took the sleeves off of the original sweater and set them aside for another project. A project I call Friendship Bonnets made for two awesome little girls Molly and Lydia. Instead of unraveling the yarn from the sleeves, I left whole. After hand washing them and soaking them in vinegar water I placed them on a layer of cling wrap. I mixed my food coloring with more vinegar water and used a squirt bottle to squirt stripes onto the sleeves. I used Wiltons black, red and royal blue. After I applied the dye, I added another sheet of cling wrap, rolled it up and microwaved it until the color was all absorbed. I then layed it out to dry.

The great thing about leaving the sleeves whole is when it was time to knit, I could just unravel the sleeve as I went. I didn't have to wind it into a skein or ball. You can buy something similar called a sock blank- a preknitted sheet of wool that you can dye then simply unravel to knit socks.

Each sleeve made one bonnet with no leftover yarn. The pattern is something I came up with on the spot.

There's a phenomenon that occurs (sometimes) with food coloring. It breaks. That means that all the colors that are in the dye separate. The black broke into a brown and green and the royal blue broke into blue, purple and a bit of pink. I think it looks great!

So with one $4.99 thrift store sweater, I was able to make one sweater, two hats and a pair of legwarmers! That's really cool.

Name: Friendship Bonnets

Yarn: recycled, upcycled thrift store sweater yarn

Weight: super bulky

Pattern: my own

Recycled, Upcycled Sweater

2011-03-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

...lots of yarn for very little!

If you're like me and buy yarn as if sheep were going extinct, you know that your yarn bill adds up. Very quickly. A great way to get a lot of yarn is by going to the thrift store! While some thrift shops do sell yarn that people have donated, I'm talking about buying a sweater, taking it apart and reusing the yarn for your project! It's cheap. It's awesome. It's a load of fun! Lemme break it down.

In my case here, I knew I wanted yarn I would be able to dye with food coloring. To dye with food coloring or Kool Aid, you have to have it made out of wool of some sort. The higher the wool content the better. Cotton and man made fibers like acrylic do not take dyes very well (I should clarify- cotton does not take food dyes very well.) This sweater here I bought for $4.99 and is 50% wool, 50% acrylic.

The second thing you want to look at in a possible sweater are the seams. Go ahead and turn it inside out. What do you see? If the seams are sewn together like this, then you're golden! That means each piece was knitted then put together with a chain stitch.

However, if you find a sweater that was sewn together with a serger skip it! A serger cuts the yarn while it sews it together. That means that instead of having one long continuous piece of yarn you're unraveling, each row of knitting will be it's own separate string. You'd end up with hundreds of yard long pieces of yarn. Not very useful for knitting.

So now you have to wash your sweater. I hand wash them with some wool wash. You can wash it as it is- in one big piece before you've taken it apart. You can take the sweater apart, wash those separately or you can do what I like to do. After I've taken it apart, unraveled it and skeined it I wash it just prior to dyeing. When you dye yarn, you want the yarn wet. So washing it right before makes sense to me.

Taking the sweater apart is fun but can also be time consuming. I like using a seam ripper. If you look at the chain stitch that sewed the sweater together, you'll notice that it looks like a bunch of arrows on top of each other. If you cut the thread at the top of the arrows, you'll be able to just pull it and it'll unravel the entire seam (think of it like dog or cat food- some bags have that same sort of chain stitch closure when you first buy it.) If you can get that chain stitch undone, it'll save you lots of time!

With this sweater, I am planning on using the sleeves for a different project so I put them aside and just started unraveling the front and back pieces. You can wind it into a ball, wind it onto a niddy noddy (which I do) or wind it around anything else- back of a chair?

My four year old son wanted a blue sweater, so I knew I'd be dyeing this yarn. I had him pick out the colors. He chose Wilton's teal, royal blue and kelly green food coloring. I used the pan method and heated it in the microwave. After I skeined and tied my yarn (to prevent tangles!) I washed it and then soaked it in vinegar water. I gently squeezed out the water and layed it in my casserole dish. I dissolved each food dye into some vinegar water and poured it on top.

Left to right: royal blue, kelly green, teal.

I then microwaved it a few minutes at a time until the water was clear. I pulled out the yarn, let it cool then squeezed out the water and let it dry. I did this will all the skeins of yarn I would be using.

I found this great pattern for a top down, seamless raglan sweater. Fits anybody, any size with any yarn. You knit a swatch, plug in your numbers, do the math and now you have a sweater pattern! It worked great! After I finished knitting Bailey's sweater, I still had enough of the yarn to knit myself leg warmers. And don't forget I still have those two sleeves! All that yarn. For less than $5! Such a deal!

Name: Bailey Blue Sweater

Yarn: recycled, upcycled thrift store sweater yarn

Weight: super bulky

Pattern: The Magic Custom Fit Raglan Sweater by At My Mothers Knee

Another great lesson on recycling sweaters by Lee Meredith.

Chunky Knits

2011-03-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

...Chunka Chunka Burnin' Love

As much as I love sock yarn- I have an obsession with sock yarn, I also adore big fat chunky yarn. It's fluffy, it knits quickly and you can make some great projects with it. The only drawback is that if you don't use it correctly, big fat yarn can make you look big and fat in it.

I recently knit some projects with bulky yarn. The first is a sleeveless long tunic by Wenlan Chia called Evening Shell. I was given some money for my birthday and promptly went out and fell in love with this yarn. It's spun as a thick and thin yarn meaning that thickness of the yarn changes. I absolutely love this tunic and plan on making another in cool colors. Maybe blue?

I made quite a few modifications to the pattern. I had to change the amount of stitches I was knitting because my yarn was a different thickness, I used smaller needles and the largest size offered for the pattern is 30 inches. I also didn't knit the body of the tunic in seed stitch. I knit it in stockinette stitch since the yarn itself has a lot of texture. Plus seed stitch with bulky yarn is not flattering. I used four skeins of yarn for the main body and one for the neck and armhole shaping.

Name: Birthday Suit

Pattern: Evening Shell by Wenlan Chia in Twinkle's Big City Knits

Yarn: Aslan Trends Los Andes in Earth Seasons

Yardage: 435 yards super bulky yarn

The most recent chunky knit is Gnomey Hat. I had made this to fit an adult woman. But despite the fact that my gauge was correct the hat still ended up too small! It fits my 20 month old Silas quite perfectly. He already has a gnome hat so I am giving this to my friend Erin for her little girls in trade for some babysitting.

This yarn is soft and is called roving yarn because there is a slight twist in it and is not plied. It feels like you're knitting with wool than with a strand of yarn. I wanted to add some sort of decoration to the hat and thought leaves would look nice. But on more consideration, I thought the leaves would make it look like elf ears. So I sought some advice from my awesome Knit Knackers and they suggested I put a bird on it!

I embroidered the green branch and flowers with some leftover Malabrigo yarn I had. I cut the bird from a scrap of fleece I had and embroidered it with a little design. I love it and can't wait to see the little girls wearing it. I'll also be looking at other knitting projects wondering what I can embroider on them as well.

Name: I Put a Bird On It!

Pattern: Gnomey Hat by Mimi Hill

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Roving, natural

Yardage: 90 yards bulky yarn

Release the Butterflies!!

2011-03-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

...The Monarch

For awhile now I've been wanting to dye yarn based around the colors of The Venture Brothers character The Monarch. I finally got to it this weekend.

I used Wiltons icing colors and used the jar method. I dissolved the food coloring, water and vinegar in a jar and stuffed the yarn in and heated it in the microwave.

The best tool for dyeing based on a photo is a color extractor. I used ColorSuckr. It extracts the 12 most used colors in the photo. For my yarn, I used 6 dyes. 3 different purples, golden yellow, orange and brown.

I plan on knitting it along with black yarn to finish off that perfect Monarch look!

Name: Monarch

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool, natural

Weight: Worsted

Yardage: 223 yards

Luck of the Draw

2011-03-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

...March Dye Along

This months dye along in Ravelry group What a Kool Way to Dye is called Luck of the Draw. The description says, "The idea is to toss all the colors you own into a bag and then randomly choose three colors for the dyeing. You can use those three colors in any way you choose, so long as you use all three and only those three." Sounds like fun!

The three colors I wound up with is Kool Aid Grape, Kool Aid Lemon Lime and Kool Aid Orange. And this is what I did.

I soaked my skeined yarn in warm water for about 30 minutes. With Kool Aid you don't need to add any vinegar since the citric acid in it allows the color to set.

I placed my yarn in a large pot and added enough hot water that it just barely covered the yarn. You don't want any extra water for this look. If you were to add more water, the color distribution wouldn't be as spotty- they would have blended more. I turned my stove burner on low heat and waited until the water and yarn were hot.

I opened up the orange Kool Aid packet and sprinkled the entire amount all over the yarn. I tried to get as much of the surface as possible. Then I used a spoon and very gently pushed the color down onto the yarn. I left it alone for a few minutes then used a spoon to carefully lift up the yarn. Good, the color was all set.

I pulled the yarn out of the pot and carefully flipped it over and laid it back in the pot. So now I see mostly undyed yarn- the orange part being on the bottom. I took the lemon lime Kool Aid and did the same thing- sprinkled it all over, pushed the yarn down and let it sit for a few minutes.

When the green color had set I pulled the yarn out again and arranged the yarn back in the pot so that any parts of undyed yarn were at the top. I had to use the spoon and my gloved hands to pull apart and situate the yarn. I then only used half the packet of grape Kool Aid and sprinkled it on top. Once that set, I pulled the yarn out again and rearranged it once more trying to get all the undyed parts on the top. I sprinkled the rest of the purple dye and let it set.

I pulled the yarn out, set it on a plate and let it cool. Once it was room temperature, I gently squeeze out the water (it's clear- all the color and dye are in the yarn not the water) and hung it to dry.

At first I wasn't too thrilled about the colors and look. But as it I kept looking at it while it was drying, it sort of grew on me. And then when I reskeined it and wound it into the cake, I fell in love! The yarn reminds me of the African batik fabric I used to see. I haven't come up with a name for it, any suggestions?

Name: Luck of the Draw

Yarn: Art Yarns Ultramerino 4

Weight: fingering

Yardage: 382 yards

Dream Cowl

2011-02-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

...everything I thought it could be and more.

Recently I dyed some yarn with food coloring. You can read all about the process here in Turquoise Dreams. I searched high and low for a project that would really show off the gradient colors. A shawl made the most sense but I already have a turquoise shawl. And I'm currently knitting a dark blue one. Too much of a good thing. My friend Angie had made this cowl that I found stunning. It changes stitch patterns so you don't get bored easily. Perfect!

Name: Turquoise Dreams

Yarn: Art Yarns Ultramerino 4

Weight: fingering

Pattern: Eternity Scarf by Michele Wang

Modifications: I wanted to be able to see the color gradients so instead of knitting straight stockinette stitch, I used seed stitch instead.

Why I Kept My Sons Intact

2011-02-17T07:51:00.001-08:00

Happy, Healthy and Whole

Circumcision has been in the news lately for a few reasons. The bill in San Fransisco that would prevent routine infant circumcision for example. As a parent, trying to navigate the internet for information can be overwhelming. There is so much data out there and whose facts do you trust? I decided to write this post after someone recently asked me why I chose to keep my sons intact. They wanted just a few of my top reasons. So this is it. It's our story, our reasons in no particular order. I want to say that while we have two sons, I will be using a daughter in some examples.

Foreskin is normal. Funnily enough in our decision not to circumcise we didn't look around us. While I am very happy to live in the Northwest where circumcision rates are very low, where almost every single one of my boy's playmates are also intact I didn't care. The same reason why I think to circumcise because everyone else around you did is wrong. The reason here we left them intact is because foreskin is normal. Every single male born on this planet in the entire history of mankind was born with foreskin. It reminds me of the saying If God had wanted me to be born with foreskin, I would have been. Now if you believe in evolution or adaptation, notice that after all these thousands of years, males still are being born with foreskin. It must serve a purpose. And it does.

Amputation on a minor is illegal as a first response to preventative health care. Doctors are not legally permitted to perform any surgery on a minor unless there is clear medical need and more conservative medical treatment has failed. So what gives? If I wanted the doctor to remove a daughters breast buds because of the risk of breast cancer, they can't do it. Even if her risk for breast cancer is higher than my son's risk for HIV or cancer. What about aesthetic reasons? Can a parent take their newborn baby in and request that they want the fingernails surgically removed because they prefer the look? No. Can I take a daughter in and have the doctor perform a surgery altering her vagina to look more like mine? No. I would be denied and most likely child protective services would be called. I would not remove any part of my daughters vagina for any of the reasons given for a benefit of male circumcision. And I would not remove any other part of my children's bodies for any of those same reasons. For my husband and I, the logic to circumcise for preventative health would encourage removal of body parts for any reason. Poor Bailey! You stubbed your toe! Here, let's get it removed so you can't ever stub it again.

We're poor and lazy. Seriously. Most health insurances don't cover circumcision since no medical organization in world recommends routine infant circumcision. The going rate at my clinic is $300. We figure that if our boys want cosmetic surgery, they can pay for it themselves. The care for a newly circumcised infant penis is demanding. Check for bleeding, check for swelling, lubricating the raw area, making sure the ring doesn't fall off too early or doesn't fall off at all, giving pain medication. To care for an intact boy is simple. Wipe clean. That's it. Like most parents, my husband and I choose to spend as little time at the changing station as possible.

It's a human rights issue. We are parents. We don't own their bodies. And it is our responsibility to make decisions for our children until they are old enough to make those decisions for themselves. But there is a big difference between choosing a surgery for cosmetic reasons and medical necessity. Remember, no medical organization in the world recommends routine infant circumcision based on any reported health benefits. And we parents do make mistakes. Constantly. But there are very few decisions we make for our children that are as permanent as circumcision. Permanent. You cannot undo a circumcision. My husband and I strongly believe that our sons, and every child should be able to choose for themselves what their body should look like. If our sons choose to circumcise themselves as adults for any reason at all, I will fully support their decision. If you don't own your own body, what do you own?

We thought ahead to the future. Again, we are lucky to live in an area of the United States where circumcision rates are low. And our sons were lucky to be born at a time where circumcision rates nationwide are dropping and pediatricians are speaking up against circumcision. Unlike their father, born in the 1980's were circumcision was performed on nearly every male child. When we first discussed circumcision as expecting parents, my husband asked his mother why she had him circumcised. The reasons were that it was thought beneficial and that it was normal. Now in the future, if we had circumcised our sons, what would we have said? Well, at the time that you were born, circumcision wasn't thought beneficial by any medical organization. And well, no it wasn't normal. In fact most of the boys being born that year were kept intact. You can see where this was going. What would we honestly say? It was the best decision for our family? It goes right back to the human rights issue.

Here are some of my favorite sites with lots of information.

The Whole Network

Circumcision Information and Resource Page

International Coalition for Genital Integrity

Still unsure whether to circumcise?

Try The Circumcision Decision Maker.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T09:35:00.001-08:00

... All You Knit is Love

I am absolutely in love with my knitting group, The Knotty Knitters. Amazing, talented, loving, creative, funny, awesome women. We've been meeting for about a year and a half now but I've known the members anywhere from 1 to 15 years. My soul sisters. Be

my valentine?

Yesterday, The Knotty Knitters completed their fourth yarn bombing. We knit, crocheted and sewed a huge display ALL YOU KNIT IS LOVE onto a fence. This fence is protecting a big giant hole where a building once stood. It's called The Pit. And it needed some love. This fence faces the Eugene public library. You can read more about it on The Knotty Knitters blog.

A lot of people ask us why. Why do we do it? Because it's fun. Because it makes people smile. Because it might inspire someone else to create. Because I'm a huge believer in Pay It Forward. Because there is something incredibly satisfying in giving away your art to the public. If you come across this, how could you not stop and smile? Everyone needs more love and more art in their live. And also because I have way too much yarn not to cover parking meters, door handles and fences with it.

Turquoise Dreams

2011-02-11T18:41:00.001-08:00

...dreams really do come true.

There is a group on Ravelry called What a Kool Way to Dye. This group is for yarn dyeing enthusiasts who prefer to dye with Kool Aid and food coloring. I love this group. It provides great inspiration as well as techniques. Every month, they have a DAL- Dye A-Long. You can choose to participate or not, but there is a theme that you use to dye your yarn with. This February the theme is gradients. I tried to dye some socks I knit last year in a gradient style and failed miserably. I know now that I had the wrong technique, not enough dye and I didn't allow for enough time. This time, HUGE success. I freakin' love this yarn. Here's a Knitty tutorial showing how to do it. I followed it, mostly, but will explain what I did precisely so you can try it too!

In Knitty's tutorial, they wound the yarn into a really long skein. I did not. I weighed my yarn and then divided it into 5 mini skeins of equal weight. I did not cut or separate the mini skeins- they were all attached to each other by one strand of yarn. I then soaked this in lukewarm water while I prepared the dye bath.

In my crock pot, I poured in 8 cups hot water and 3/4 cup white vinegar. I added 1 teaspoon McCormick's blue food coloring and 1/4 teaspoon green food coloring. Stirred it in, put the lid on and turned it onto high. I waited until it was nice and hot and there was steam on the lid.

I took my yarn out of the water and gently squeezed the water out of it. I lowered all but one mini skein into the pot (make sure that the one you leave out is one of the ends.) I then quickly plunged the end mini skein into the hot dye bath and pulled it right out (please DO NOT forget your rubber gloves!!) I layed the mini skein into a bowl next to the crock pot, put the lid on the rest of the dye bath and set the timer for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes, I gently squeezed the water out of the first mini skein that was in the bowl. I now placed it onto a plate next to the bowl. I reached into the dye bath and took out the next mini skein- #2. I laid it in the bowl. I took a 2 cup measuring cup and scooped out at least a cup of water/vinegar solution from the dye bath (the liquid was nearly clear- the dye was all used up.) I microwaved the liquid until it was boiling and added 1/2 teaspoon of blue food coloring and 1/8 teaspoon green food coloring. I poured it into the crock pot dye bath and gently stirred it. I replaced the lid and set the timer for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes, I again gently squeezed out the water from mini skein #2 and put it on the plate with #1. Pulled out mini skein #3 and placed in the bowl. Got more water from the dye bath, heated it until boiling and added 1/2 teaspoon blue coloring and 1/8 teaspoon green coloring. Stirred it into the dye bath, replaced lid, set timer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, do the same thing with mini skeins #3 and #4. With the last skein in the crock pot, I set the timer for 40 minutes but checked on it at 30 minutes and saw that the dye bath water/vinegar solution was already mostly clear. I went ahead and pulled it out at that time.

After the skeins were all cooled, I gently washed them in lukewarm water with some wool wash. Then just hang to dry and skein or wind it up and enjoy! In the end it took about an hour and a half of dyeing time and 2.5 teaspoons of blue food coloring and 5/8 teaspoons of green food coloring.

Later this month I plan on doing another gradient dye with a friend. I haven't decided what color to do but I'm extremely excited. Let me know if you have any questions on what I did.

Name: Turquoise Dreams

Yarn: Art Yarns Ultramerino 4

Weight: fingering

Yardage: 382 yards

Divine Cupcakes

2011-02-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

All of the cuteness, none of the guilt.

My knitting group meets at Eugene's first cupcakery, The Divine Cupcake. Organic, vegan and amazing. Flavors like Cherry Bomb, The Electric Pumpkin, Thai Me Up and my favorite Peanut Butter Cup. Inspired to knit cupcakes and the fact that Valentines Day is approaching I wanted something cute and sweet.

Knit in the round, these little cupcakes "bake" up in just a couple of hours and are guaranteed to make someone smile. You knit a little cupcake "paper" cup for it to sit in then peek-a-boo! Unwrap your cupcake for a little smile.

Divine Cupcakes

size US 4 (3.5mm) needles- double point or circular- use whichever method you prefer to knit in the round

3 colors worsted yarn

fiber filling

embroidery floss

size 6 seed beads

Cupcake:

CO with Color A 6sts, join in round.

1: *kfb* 12sts

2: knit

3: *k2, m1* 18sts

4: knit

5: *k3, m1* 24sts

6: knit

7: *k4, m1* 30sts

Knit for 10 rows. At this point I like to embroider the face on the cupcake using embroidery thread and seed beads.

Frosting:

Switch to Color B

1: *k5, m1* 36sts

2: *yo, k2tog*

3: knit

4: Create picot edge: Pick up stitch directly 2 rows below (same row as color change.) Put on left needle, knit with live stitch. Repeat for all stitches.

5-6: knit

7: *k4, k2tog* 30sts

8: knit

9: *k3, k2tog* 24sts

10: knit

11: *k2tog* 12sts Weave in ends and stuff cupcake with filling.

12: *k2tog* 6sts

Cherry:

Switch to Color C

1: knit

2: *kfb* 12sts

3-4: knit

5: *k3tog* 4sts

Cut yarn, thread through live stitches. Pull tight and pull down into the cupcake and secure to create a little cherry. Sew sprinkles on with embroidery thread.

Cupcake liner:

With Color C, CO 32sts, join in round.

*k1,p1* ribbing for 10 rounds

next round: purl

Start decrease:

1: *k2, k2tog* 24sts

2: knit

3: *k1, k2tog* 16sts

4: knit

5: *k2tog* 8sts

6: *k2tog* 4sts

Cut yarn, pull through live stitches. Weave in end.

Divine Cupcake pattern belongs to Maiya Becker. It is a free pattern. Please do not sell pattern or sell product made from pattern. Be cool. Make lots of cupcakes. Give them away. They make people smile.

Hats and Socks

2011-01-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

...from top to bottom

Here I am combining projects into a single blog post.

First up, Frankenbaby! This is a Frankenstein hat that I made my nephew for Halloween last year. I was just recently sent the photos. I made up the pattern myself and I do plan on writing it down so you all can make one for your little monster.

Yarn: Cascade 220 in black and green. And a little bit of grey for the bolts and some red embroidery floss.

Second, my Honey Hat. I fell in love with the pattern, Honey Cowl but I didn't have enough yarn. I picked up this yarn at Churchmouse while I was in Brainbridge Island. I thought the stitch pattern and yarn would make a great hat. I made it slightly slouchy. Then I embroidered a tree and some orange leaves to it with some scrap yarn. I love it. Reminds me of a burning field.

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted, colorway: loro barranquero.

My friends Heather and Erin are due with their first son very shortly. I've been wanting to make these little socks for so long and I knew they were the perfect couple for them. I call them The Snowflake Socks.

Yarn: Cascade 220 green, Knit Picks undyed natural yarn.

The dark spot on the toe is a raindrop!

Lastly, Bailey has been asking me to make him some socks for awhile now. I have had this yarn in my stash for years and thought he would enjoy some Candy Cane Socks. I knit them with an afterthought heel so as not to disrupt the striping pattern. Quite by accident, these socks have the complete opposite striping pattern from each other. WIN! I love it when stuff like that happens.

Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Nation Color

My First Mystery Knit Along

2011-01-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

...along with the awesome Leethal!

My favorite knitting designers is Lee Meredith or Leethal. My first project of hers was the Buttonhead hat. She recently organized a mystery knit along. I've never done one before and signed up immediately. A knit along consists of a knitters knitting the same thing at the same time. The mystery knit along means we don't know what we're knitting. Leethal broke down the pattern into four parts and sent them out in four weeks. I had so much fun.

I used leftover green Cascade 220 and some Knit Picks yarn that I dyed with Kool Aid.

Week One: It was some sort of strip with a zig zag rib pattern.

Week Two: Increased a little bit in stockinette stitch.

Week Three: I switched to the Kool Aid yarn. At this point, I was pretty sure it was a shawl or capelet.

Week Four: Went back to the green to finish the edging. It is a shawl and I love it!

You can now buy the entire Betiko pattern from Leethal that shows how you can

use different yarns and different stiches to make it customizable! I will definitely be making more of these!

Things I've Done

2011-01-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

...but not yet blogged.

There's some knitting projects that I've completed in the last couple months that I just haven't gotten around to posting. So I'm going to do that now.

I made this cowl/scarf/scrunchie thingy for Amy's birthday. I used Knit Picks Gloss and Hannah Silk Ribbon. I love it, Amy loves it. Yay!

For Christmas, I knitted my husband gloves. I used Knitty's Cigar pattern but made all the fingers full length and made a button hole in the first finger and thumb so he can use them without taking the gloves off. I used Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool.

My husband gave me a Kindle for Christmas and my sons got me Malabrigo. Living the life, I tell you! I made this lovely Kindle cozy out of Malabrigo Worsted Amoroso. I altered the pattern a bit to include a flap and buttons.

My son has a Build A Bear bunny he named Tucker. Tucker is his best friend and when it snowed here awhile back, my son was very concerned that Tucker did not have anything to keep him warm. So for Christmas, "Santa" knitted Tucker a sweater. I used scrap Cascade 220 yarn.

A Penny Knitted

2010-12-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

... is a penny earned.

I have to thank my friend Laura for the inspiration for this post. I recently made a cowl using The String Theory Scarf pattern. You knit and purl for ages and then at the end, you purposely drop stitches to create a string scarf. I had posted pictures on facebook and Laura asked me how many stitches did I drop. I did the math. I dropped 7,000 stitches of the 10,500 stitches that this cowl consisted of. Let's say that again- ten thousand, five hundred hand knit stitches.

So next time you're admiring something hand knit for sale, then exclaim at the price, please think of this post. Let's do some more math. Let's pretend we would sell a scarf like this for $60. The yarn cost $10. So now we have $50 left. At 10,500 stitches, you would be paying the knitter .48 cents per stitch. Less than a half a penny a stitch! And usually when one does sell their art or craft, you have to pay the fees (ebay, etsy, craft fairs, etc...) on top of that which means they get less that that half a cent.

Please pay artists what they are asking for. Do not haggle, do not barter. Please support your local artists.

Callista and Sabrina

2010-11-23T12:34:00.000-08:00

Two sweet girls, two sweet hats.

I'm finally getting around to doing something I've wanted to do for awhile. Concentrate on producing more adult knits. I've also been wanting to design and sell patterns. I started this week! I bought some of Knit Picks City Tweed yarn and fell in love. It's soft and the texture is amazing. The two yarns inspired these two hats. I love collections that are named after people (I'm looking at you John Fluevog) so I named these two hats after my darling nieces.

Callista was made from colorway Tahitian Pearl. Pattern for sale here.

Sabrina was made from colorway Morning Glory. Pattern for sale here.

Both hat patterns are also available for purchase on Ravelry. I purchased the ribbon from The Tangled Lair.

Halloween Superstars

2010-11-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

The family that costumes together, stays together.

I had a lot of fun this Halloween doing costumes. Originally, Bailey was supposed to be Ash from The Fantastic Mr. Fox. But when we went to our local Goodwill for dress up clothes, he found a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume. Being a 4 year old, that was that! So the only thing I had to do was make him a blue mask- which I did out of felt.

I made Silas a little gnome costume. I knit the hat and the beard. I just whip stitched the beard to the hat so now I can remove it and Silas can just wear the hat. Although babies with beards are pretty cute. I bought some fleece and quickly sewed together a tunic and belt.

I made myself a Marge Simpson costume. I crocheted the wig/hair, then stuffed it with a balloon and bubble wrap. I knit my necklace and used some green fleece to make the dress. And I bought a yellow long sleeve shirt to keep me warm while trick or treating.

My husband went as Ace Ventura Pet Detective. I found the shirt at another thrift store and quickly made him the pink tutu. Love it!!

Lastly, I helped my brother-in-law with his costume. He wanted to go as his brother- my husband! I snuck out some clothes, a hat and shoes. And I found a moustache for him to wear. So funny. I love Halloween!

Blue Ribbon Winner

2010-08-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

... this ain't no Pabst

Chronilogically, this post should have come sooner. But the Eugene Celebration kept me busy until now. Earlier this year, I knitted my first shawl. I chose Gail (Nightsongs) by Jane Araujo. I find lace knitting easy enough (as long as you have the time to concentrate) but shawl construction was a bitch. Completely unlike anything else I've knitted. I forged through after finding some help on Ravelry.

I knitted it as a part of a knit-along with my favorite Ravelry group, Knit Knack. It turned out so well (love Malabrigo!!) that I decided to enter it in the Lane County Fair. I had never entered anything before.

To my shock, it not only placed but I freakin' won first place!!! Because I make money on my knitting, I had to enter in the pro-class which makes the win even more stunning. I am so happy and definitely plan to enter knitting in every year.

Me trying to take a picture with my shawl and the little bub completely stole the frame! I don't mind. ♥

Eugene Celebration

2010-08-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

Chickens and Meter Cozies??

This weekend Eugene had their annual Eugene Celebration. What does that mean to me? Well, this year my family (and my hens!) walked in the parade Saturday morning. We walked with the Eugene Friendly Neighborhood Farmers in conjunction with The Backyard Farmer. We are trying to raise awareness of urban farming and backyard hens. Also Eugene recently suspended their two hen limit. So we marched in support. I knitted the boys cute chicken hats and we pulled the gals- Ramona, Fanny and Popcorn in a wagon.

About 30 of us farmers showed up with 25 chickens. It was a lot of fun!

This past week also coincided with my knitting group's one year anniversary. We decided to yarn bomb parking meters by knitting them cozies. I contributed two cozies. A rainbow fish cozy (which I installed on the meter directly in front of a sushi restaurant!) and a Pac Man cozy.

You can read more about it at the Knitting is Knotty blog and you can see more pictures on our flickr page.

Miniature Knitting Adventure

2010-06-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

... no trick photography here folks.

I remember shortly after the movie Coraline came out, I saw a video on how all of her clothes were knitted. I had never heard of miniature knitting until then.

I knew then that one day I would try it. I had no idea what kind of needles to buy and even where to find them, and the idea quickly got lost.

A couple weekends ago, I attended the Black Sheep Gathering and found some needles for sale! I remembered I had wanted to try it and snatched up these needles. Size 7/0- .65mm!! I used 3 strands of DMC 6 strand embroidery floss. I wanted to knit something very simple. A square. But I also wanted it to have a bold color contrast. The Swiss flag seemed perfect.

Miniature knitting is crazy. My fingers felt HUGE and I felt like I was going to snap the needles. However, I definitely plan to do this again and with something a bit more complicated. A hat? A sock? We'll see. Stay tuned.

Swiss Flag: Gauge 19sts= 1 inch and 23 rows= 1 inch

Daily Dose of Fiber

2010-06-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

...because we could all benefit from more wool in our diet.

This last weekend, Eugene hosted the annual Black Sheep Gathering. A three day festival of all things fiber. Alpacas, sheep, angora rabbits. Spinning, weaving, dyeing, knitting. Wool, cotton, silk, tencel, bamboo, banana fiber and even possum. Yes, possum.

This was my third or fourth time going and I went with Mary and it was her first time. It was fabulous. There was so much to look at. There was so much to feel! Signs everywhere exclaiming, Touch Me! And we did. So soft. The best stuff was at an exotic fibers booth. It was a silk/yak blend. It was a dream.

The textures were overwhelming, the colors even more so. Hand dyed roving and yarn everywhere. It was so hard to choose what to buy. Mary went home with some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in colorway Boobie 2. I got some undyed alpaca roving, some fabulous silk/merino roving from Capistrano Fiber Arts and lots and lots of silk/wool roving from Blue Moon. Many things to keep me busy.

Next year, I hope to be more prepared and sign up for a class or two. This year I was too late and really wanted to learn how to dye yarn and roving with mushrooms. So cool!

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

2010-06-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

... right round like a spindle, baby

I recently bought a used spinning wheel from my friend Morgan. I have a drop spindle that I would say I'm adequate at best. Mostly I just haven't committed the time to it, thus creating super chunky sluggy yarn. However, over the excitement of a spinning wheel, I have devoted lots of time to it! So much fun! Morgan threw in some roving along with the wheel- check her shop, it's chalk full of awesome fiber.

I not only spun it, I plied as well!! My first time using the wheel and I have to say, I didn't do it half bad. I call this yarn Big Top because it reminds me of all the colors of a circus. It's a super bulky weight and just plain fun.

Next, I had to find a pattern for it. I came across this gem, Buttonhead on Knitty by a fellow Oregonian Lee Meredith. This hat is awesome. Trust me. I knit a lot of hats and this one rocks. First of all, the pattern is specifically made for handspun yarn. And you can use any weight of yarn. And you can make the hat slouchy, beret style or cloche fitted. AND since it uses a button closure, it can fit any size of head. Have I mentioned how much I love this pattern?? I ran out of my Big Top yarn right when it was time to do the hat band, so I used some left over pima cotton yarn I had used for a baby sunhat. It's perfect. Finished it off with sea shell buttons. I love my hat.

My next spinning endevor? SILK! My good friend Mary and I went to a little heaven on earth called the Eugene Textile Center. It was both of our first time there. What the heck were we waiting for??!! We came across silk roving and couldn't resist. It is fabulous. Feels like you're petting a cloud. I bought an ounce and spun it up. I found it more difficult to spin than wool, but I love it all the same. Since I only bought a small amount, I needed to find a project that 1- looked good with the silk and 2- was a small enough project to only require a bit of yarn.

I found Amelia by Erin Ruth on Ravelry and it's perfect. It only took me an hour to knit up, feels so good against my neck and is very flattering. It also didn't take all the silk yarn. I will definitely be making more of these collars and buying more silk. I love the color of the white silk, but I think next time I'll experiment with dyeing it.

Alot of Fun

2010-06-01T21:45:00.003-07:00

... and fur.

I'm part of an amazing knitting group on Ravelry called Knit Knack. A short while ago, they hosted a competition. Inspired by Allie Brosh who is the author of the blog Hyperbole and a Half. In April, Allie posted The Alot is Better Than You at Everything. We all laughed and raved about it and then set about to see who could create the best Alot. This was my entry and I was lucky enough to win! And now I'm sharing it with you. Please check out the other way awesome entries here and here!

I should mention that I've never written out a pattern for someone else's eyes. Usually, my own patterns are scribbled on the back of receipts and only make sense to me. That being said, if you find a mistake or need clarification on a step, please let me know. I'm new to this.

What skills do you need to make the Alot of Fun? Knitting in the round, magic loop, short rows, increases, decreases, kitchener stitch and just a wee bit of crocheting and embroidering.

Download ALOT OF FUN here.

Super Mario Postcard

2010-05-04T20:04:00.001-07:00

I can't draw, but I can knit.

Wasn't sure what to title this post. A lot of things are going on here. A knitted postcard. Super Mario Bros. Art. Texting. Friendship.

My very very good friend Kira teaches high school art in California. We've known each other since high school. She recently found some notes that we had written way back then about how mature we were. haha! Well, it gave her the idea to start corresponding with me through snail mail. Kickin' it old school so to speak. It's been so wonderful receiving letters and writing them. I urge you to do it more.

Kira draws these fantastic pictures on the back of her envelopes. So inspiring. I look forward to getting them just to see what she's drawn next.

She told me in her last letter that a student saw her drawing on one and asked, "Why don't you just text her?" What is that saying? Youth is wasted on the young? Sheesh! Well.... this is why you don't just text me.

I can't draw, but I can knit. So what better to do than to mail a knitted postcard? I saw this technique on an Etsy DIY a year or so ago. Instantly fell in love with the idea but hadn't yet done it. Well, since we're talking old school, I knew I would knit something Mario related. I came across this pattern for a hat and adapted it for the postcard. I knit it intarsia and fair isle. Eeek! Look at all those ends I had to weave in.

I didn't want to ruin the surprise so I waited until she told me she had gotten it before I posted this. She loves it and that makes me incredibly happy. Why don't you just text me??? Because you never know what I might knit for you.

The kind of day I've had.

2010-05-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Beware of bitch.

I had to make this sign and put it up today. This is what happens when you get a sunny, beautiful day in Oregon. They all come out and start knocking on your door.

I live in the first house on the corner of a cul-de-sac. We're constantly getting people at our door wanting to sell something, wanting to share something, wanting anything. We put up the generic No Soliciting sign and it's not doing the job.

I show them the sign and tell them not to solicit here. They insist they're not selling anything. Which is true for a lot of them. But that still doesn't mean they're not soliciting. It got to one point that I kept the dictionary by the door so I could read them the definition. Now I've just made the darn sign hoping it'll keep them away.

Rainy Day Spring Sweater

2010-04-27T14:38:00.001-07:00

Great for baby showers, great for procrastination.

My sister is due with her first bebe very shortly and the shower is this weekend. Wow Maiya. Way to wait until Monday to decide to knit a baby sweater. Found this Mossy kids sweater on Ravelry. Perfect for a boy or girl. Perfect for my Cascade 220 superwash. Perfect for the time crunch.

Knitted up super quick and I love the zig zag. This would be a great project for a beginner- especially since there is no seaming. It's all knit in the round. I made it short sleeves because I wanted a lightweight springtime sweater and also because it looked like my skein wasn't going to have enough for full sleeves.

After I finished knitting it, I dyed it the perfect color of minty green with food coloring. Now to add some buttons and send it off priority...

I'd also like to add that just by showing the photos of the same sweater side by side, you can really see the difference blocking makes. Remember to block your knitting people!

I didn't have a bandit hat...

2010-04-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

...So I modified this tube sock.

I love the Fantastic Mr. Fox. Even more, I love the character Ash (really, let's be honest. I love Jason Schwartzman.) Back on topic, my dear friend Mary made a joke about us needing bandit hats during our last yarn bombing. She joked that we needed tube sock bandit hats like Asher wore in the movie. A fleeting thought. A simple joke. I, of course, couldn't get the damn idea out of my head. I needed to make that hat. Already have my Halloween costume planned. Getting to be warm- no need for winter-like face masks. I really had no functional use for this mask. But still, I needed to make it.

After watching the movie, again I started to cast on. I've been asked for the pattern. I rarely write down my patterns. My patterns are more like recipes. I just knit a bandit hat with a mouth. Make sure to stripe the collar (I had to frog this part back. I was done with the ribbing, I looked at a picture of Ash and realized I had the striping part all wrong.) And when you start decreasing down the crown, stop when you have a good sized tube and start knitting a sock. Then knit some fox ears and sew them on. I stuffed the sock a bit with some polyester toy stuffing to help it keep shape.

It fits me and my husband Brandon better, I had made it adult size. But Bailey, my 3 year old pretty much has claimed it as his own. It looks like he has his Halloween costume squared away.