Zombie Blog

It's back! Risen from the dead! My bloooooooog! So I'm terribly ashamed that I haven't updated my blog since December. I have no excuses. I've been busy, really busy but who hasn't? Anyhow I'm here, I'm back and hopefully I'll get back into the habit of posting more often.

Since five months is a long time of catching up, I'm just going to do a super quick run down of the things I've knitted or otherwise created in that time. If you want more details or have a question, feel free to ask in the comments section.

In November I knit this gorgeous creature for a Ravelry Knit Knack swap. Anne wanted something with grey and mustard yellow.

Name: Super Secret Swap

Pattern: My own design inspired by several cowls.

Yarn: Madeline Tosh Merino Light

Weight: Fingering

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

In January I finally finished these socks. I love socks as a simple project. A row here or there. Just chillin', not worrying about getting them done on a deadline.

Name: Swirly Q

Pattern: Inspired by Spiral Eyelet Socks by Sandi Rosner.

Yarn: Wisdom Yarns Poem Socks

Weight: Fingering

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

In the same swap that I knit the mustard and grey cowl, Anne gave me a kit. She provided the yarn and pattern to make these super sweet mitts! I had plenty of yarn left over so I made myself a quicky shawl to match.

Name: Strawberry Shortcake Mitts

Pattern: Strawberry Mittens by SpillyJane.

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Cascade 220 Fingering

Weight: Fingering

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

Name: Strawberry Leftovers

Pattern: Diving in {recipe} by Mam'zelle Flo

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Cascade 220 Fingering

Weight: Fingering

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

Ages ago another Knit Knacker Amber spun this breathtaking yarn and I bought it from her. I mean, look at it!! I didn't want to knit with it, I couldn't find something that seemed right for it until January. I knit the Ginkgo shawl and I love it!

Name: Ginkgo Coastal

Pattern: Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl by Maggie Magali

Yarn: Coast Handspun by Amber (yarnaholic)

Weight: Fingering

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

When I first became S.L.U.G. Queen, Queen Slugtoinette asked me if I could knit her a doll of her likening. Of course! I wasn't able to give it to her on her birthday, but rather at my birthday party and as you can see, she's beyond thrilled!

Name: SLUG Queen Marie Slugtoinette

Pattern: Marie Antoinette Knit Doll Pattern by Amy Gaines

Yarn: Scrap acrylic I had

Weight: Worsted

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

I'm on the call list for test knitting for one of my favorite designers, Lee Meredith (Leethal). In March, she sent out this hat pattern to be tested. I volunteered to make it in fingering, with little to no slouch for a man- my hunky husband.

Name: Barry

Pattern: Barry by Lee Meredith

Yarn: Knit Picks Palette, Rowan Scottish Tweed 4-Ply

Weight: Worsted

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

Every year, a local boutique has a silly, stunning, creative, festive Easter bonnet contest. As Queen, I entered and I won! I was awarded a $100 gift certificate. Woohoo! My bonnet has flowers, leaves, Easter eggs, chicks, bunnies and a slug or two.

Name: Passionflower Easter Bonnet

Pattern: My own

Yarn: Various yarn I had around the house.

Weight: Mostly worsted

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

Also, every year there is a fantastic art show dedicated to Jell-O. The current SLUG Queen always gives the benediction. I also entered this year by knitting with Jell-O. Well, sort of. Check out the link to read more about my adventures in wiggly, jiggling knitting.

Name: Knit 1, Jell-O 2

Pattern: My own

Yarn: Scrap Yarn and gelatin

Weight: Does Jell-O have a gauge?

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

Another Leethal test knit! I had bought the beautiful blue yarn last summer and still hadn't used it. When I saw I needed one or two more yarns for this shawl I went out and got the vibrant fuchsia to go with it. They look great together! I love this shawl- it reminds me of butterfly wings. I took the pictures at the Woodburn Tulip Festival.

Name: Robin

Pattern: Robin by Lee Meredith

Yarn: Madeline Tosh Merino Light

Weight: Fingering

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

And finally, I have this hat. When I did the test knitting for Lee Meredith, I was given credit to her pattern store in exchange. I bought this hat and used some yarn around the house. It needed more flare, so I needle felted hearts over the ears. Because of the style of the hat and the additional hearts, I call this my Amelia EarHeart hat.

Name: Amelia EarHEART

Pattern: Gentle on My Mind by Lee Meredith

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Cascade 220

Weight: Worsted

See my Ravelry page for more pictures and details.

Well, that's it! I hope you enjoyed my knitting as much I as did making them. What's up next for me? I'm starting on a new Queen gown. It'll be my Old Queen gown, something I can retire into. I'd like to get back into spinning. I can't remember the last time I spun yarn. The Black Sheep Gathering is next month, I'm excited for that! I also was curious at how much yarn I knit in a year so I joined Knit Meter. You plug in your yardage and it adds it up for you (it would be great though if it was synced with Ravelry so you didn't have to do it twice.) The little gadget update automatically but as of today, I've knit 2.02 miles in 2013. That's pretty cool!

Grumpy Cat

What can I say about Tardar Sauce otherwise known as Grumpy Cat that hasn't already been said? She's clearly awesome and I needed to embroider her.

I'm going to frame this, so I'll update this post with a new picture once that gets done. Want more crafty pop culture? Check out my ALOT monster or my Fantastic Mr. Fox Ash bandit hat.

Update! I got a lovely gold frame at a thrift shop and Grumpy Cat was gifted to my friend Vicki. Which is perfect. I hear Tardar is displayed proudly in her office.

Birthday Burger Bag

My friend Katie had her birthday this week. I crocheted her a cheeseburger purse! A couple weeks ago I came across a picture of a woman who sewed a donut purse out of felt. It inspired me to make junk food purses of my own. Luckily Katie's birthday fell around this time and she received my first one. I'm also thinking of making a pizza purse too.

I didn't follow a pattern, I just winged it (wong it? wanged it??). I used worsted Red Heart yarn and a size 4.0mm crochet hook. It's a pretty cool bag if I do say so myself. I took it out on a date to Little Big Burger so I could shoot some photos with it.

Name: Birthday Burger Bag
Pattern: my own
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Hook: 4.0mm

More Kool Aid Popsicle Dyeing

Remember my tutorial from last summer? Yesterday, my two sons did some more dyeing using this method. They chose their colors, helped make the ice cubes. They arranged their popsicles on the yarn and waited not so patiently for the sun to dye it. I told them I would use their yarn to knit them new winter hats.

NOTE: This technique will NOT work on cotton. Kool Aid and food coloring will only successfully dye on wool, silk and other animal fibers/hairs.

My son Bailey chose McCormick yellow food coloring, Kool Aid Mixed Berry, Kool Aid Cherry and Kool Aid Black Cherry for his yarn colors.

My son Silas chose McCormick green food coloring, Kool Aid Lemon Lime, Kool Aid Mixed Berry and Kool Aid Peach Mango for his yarn.

Here are some things that I did differently from last time.

• As soon as my boys were done arranging their ice cubes on the yarn, I covered the glass dish with saran wrap. I didn't wait like last time.
• We did this in the morning when it was 68 degrees out. We laid the covered yarn in the shade. After a couple of hours (we ran errands) we came home and saw that the ice cubes were all melted but the yarn was still in the shade and still relatively cool.
• Once I saw that the dye was all melted, I peeled back the saran wrap and gently flipped the  yarn over. A lot of the dye was on the bottom and now it's on the top and will slowly drip its way through the rest of the yarn.
• I recovered the yarn and put it in direct sunlight (It got up to the high 80s in the afternoon.) We went to the park after this for a few hours. When we got back, the saran wrap was all steamy and the glass was hot to touch! I brought it inside and pulled the yarn out. It was really hot too. Perfect! The water dripping off the yarn was clear, all the dye was absorbed into the yarn.

Including shade and sunlight time, the yarn was outside for about 6 hours. I thought by letting the ice cubes melt in the shade, it would melt slower. Giving it a less spotty, polka dot look. I also think turning the yarn over was a good idea. Their yarn is more uniform. Yay success!  Feel free to ask me any questions below.

UPDATE!! See the hats that I knit for them on this post here.

Jell-O Art

I recently took my 5 year old son Bailey to a local art show featuring Jell-O art.  I have only recently heard of this art form from my friend Diane.  Diane makes amazing Jello-O art and even won this year's title as Jell-O Art Queen.  View her wiggly, jiggly Gelatinaceae blog here.

At the Maude Kerns Jell-O Art Show Diane gave Bailey a bag of unflavored Knox gelatin and some instructions so he could experiment and make his own art!  You pretty much just use a lot of gelatin, a little water and pour it into thin sheets.  Let it solidify, cut and shape and dry further.  When it's dry, it's very hard like plastic.

Bailey made a chicken and a flower.  His chicken was too thick and ended up molding before it could dry completely so we tossed it.  This very wet Oregon weather has not been cooperative in helping gelatin dry.  But his flower petals dried nicely.  He used 3 colors.  We dyed some of the gelatin black, blue and left a part undyed.  With the advice to use re-melted gelatin as glue Bailey attached his petals.  Bailey had so much fun he told me he wanted to enter the art show next year.  I think that's a great plan!

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Swap

Once again, my favorite Ravelry group had a knitting swap.  This time, it was movie themed.  We all picked what movie we wanted our package to be created around.  I got Amber and she chose Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  What a great movie to pull inspiration from!

I knit her the Charlize shawl.  I've knit it before and it's a great pattern!  I saw at one point during the movie Hedwig wore a black shawl that was lacy.  Perfect!  The yarn I chose has actual silver spun into it.  The best part of this shawl?  When you lay it flat it looks like Hedwig's hair!

Name: Hedwig Hair
Pattern: Charlize by Vanessa Smith
Yarn: Kraemer Yarns Sterling Silk & Silver
Colorway: Black
Yards: 420
See more photos and notes on my Ravelry page.

Knit Knack's mascot is Helen, an owl.  I borrowed some felt from my friend Katie and made Amber a Hedwig Owl!

I also crocheted her a flower brooch with cassette tape.  So rock and roll!

I made her crazy glittery fingernail polish inspired by Hedwig's amazing make-up.

I dyed her yarn inspired by Hedwig's hair.

Lastly, I sent some candy.  If you've seen the movie then you know the significance of gummy bears, sugar daddy and German chocolate- with nuts!

Stay tuned to see what my buddy sent me!  My theme was the movie Valley Girl.  Can't wait!

T Shirt Dress- A Tutorial

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!