Finished Projects

I recently went to the local big box craft store, which everyone knows can be a dangerous adventure, and I located their fat quarter batiks. I would just like to start off with the full disclosure that I love batiks. I love graphic prints. I think that these are wonderful things that need to be celebrated and be made part of decorating and accessories all around. So, in order to do my little part I purchased enough gray fabric to line all the bags that I planned on making, and then picked out zippers, and then picked out fabric that coordinated with the zippers. I realize that this may sound a bit backwards, but when you think about it, there are far more fabric choices than zipper choices, so I thought that it was safer to pick out the thing with the smaller selection, because I didn't want to end up with awesome fabric and having to get a boring black zipper to go in them. I also added a handle to these box bags, because it seemed like a good idea. So, there is that too.

I think that they turned out really cute, and was quite pleased with them.

Then also last night I finished a hat for my friend K, and she will be getting it whenever I see her next, hopefully on Sunday at our young adult group. So there is that too. It was made with Plymouth Coffee Bean, which is a worsted weight. The construction of the yarn was really interesting, it was a three ply with one of the plies being slightly thick and thin so it gave a slight bit of texture to the finished hat as well as just some visual interest that I liked. The pattern was a free pattern off of Ravelry, the "big fat cable hat". I really liked this pattern, and thought that it was written out really well, and that it turned out really cute and slouchy. I am seriously considering making some more of these for Christmas and other similar occasions.

And finally this afternoon I finished another bias scrap blanket for Project Linus. I liked how it turned out, I just made it from scraps on a US Size I crochet hook, single crochet increasing until it was about three feet on a side and then decreasing until I reached a point. Unfortunately, Project Linus meet-up is on Sunday and it looks like this will be the only knit/crochet blanket that I have finished, I do have the bargello quilted one that I showed previously, but I really like to turn in more yarn based blankets, especially since I have received yarn donations and I like to have a good turn around on those so I am not just hoarding it. (Even though the donations are usually just Red Heart Super Saver, so it's not like there's a whole lot else I can do with them, it's still nice to have a fairly quick turn around on those sort of things.)

I finished For Calvinism by Michael S. Horton, and while I thought it was a well written book, I don't think that it necessarily convinced me that Calvinism is the way to go. There seemed to be some parts in the logic where he didn't really answer the question proposed and just skirted around the issue in order to arrive at the safe conclusion that supported his answer. So it was interesting, but I don't know that it accomplished it's goal. I started The Case for God by Karen Armstrong, but am not really far enough into it to say one way or the other how it's going to turn out, it is interesting so far, but that's about all the insight I can give to it.

Little Things

Well, it's been just over a week, and honestly, I don't have that much to show for it. I did finish Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans, and thought it was a very interesting book. My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough. I wish she could have gone into more detail in some of her interviews. Other than that I thought it was really interesting to read about someone attempting to live out the biblical decrees in a year.

I am still reading For Calvinism by Michael S. Horton, and I'm over halfway done with that book. It too is really interesting, but there seems to be some manipulation of words in order for them to make their points seem nice and logical, like they are stepping two steps out in front of you without letting you see how they go to their position, and then just saying "Trust me, look, I'm out here, it must be ok". Which I don't particularly like.

I've also started listening to the Daily Audio Bible in addition to the three pastors that I follow through their podcasts. I think that his voice is soothing and I find it interesting to discover all these stories that happened in the Bible that I wasn't really aware that they happened, or details that are left out when they teach you the stories as children. I don't really listen to the commentary or the community call-ins, but I think that it is nice to just listen to the Bible being read every day. I think it makes it easier for me to keep going, and I had to catch up quite a bit, since it is now February, but I am now caught up and intend to keep listening for the rest of the year.

I created a "new" bag design yesterday. I'm not the first person to ever invent a box bag, I know, but I did make them bigger than the normal box bag, and I made them in a way that they are lined and the zipper is in at first. I will be putting them up in my Etsy shop. I think the prints that I used are cute and that overall it is a nice little bag, big enough for a medium sized project. I have some more zippers, so I will be making some more of various sizes pretty soon as well.

I also finished a simple cowl that I made by modifying a stitch pattern so that the floats were on top of each other. It made a really squishy fabric, but because the three ply of the yarn is so busy you can't really see the patterning in the stitches, but that is ok, I still think it's cute.

I also finished a striped hat that worked up really fast, and I think turned out really cute. These I wouldn't mind doing on commission in a million different colors, and there's not too many patterns I can say that about, I just really like this hat blank pattern and all the different color work that I have been doing on it. I think that it is interesting and really fun to whip up a hat in just a few days.

In other news I was exploring in my stash area and got down a bag of what I thought was disasters from the past, and inside there were actually some nice and interesting creations that I think I'm going to put in my Etsy shop. And most of them were done with handspun, so that makes them extra special. I was really thrilled. I was expecting just disaster after disaster and instead was pleasantly surprised all around. I will be posting pictures of those finds next time I post.

Needle Review/ My Personal Opinion

Today I'm going to talk about different needles that I am using and have used in making the color work hats that I am going to sell on Etsy, but first, let's have a quick look at the projects that I finished yesterday, shall we?

These are five little pocket bags that I finished up yesterday. They are approximately 3.5" by 5" by 7". The wider striped ones are going to be priced more because I pieced the base fabric for the bag, almost all of them have different sizes of black and white polka dots as the pocket lining. How the bags are made the inside of the bags are the same as the outside. It's a pretty neat little design, not a lot of cutting, just quite a bit of folding. 

This is another blanket for Project Linus, it's crochet, the stitch is a Catherine Wheel, with three colors, and then borders to make it big enough, since I ran out of yarn before it was big enough. Then I did a shell edge, just to tie it all together. 

And now for the needles. In this picture you can see a colorwork hat, made on size US 2 needles, with Knitpicks palette yarn, for almost all of it, the grey is sockweight yarn that was white and I dyed it and ended up with a tonal grey. The three types of needles in this picture are an unknown brand set of double points, size US 2, bamboo. Then there are the Hiya Hiya interchangeables with a 24" cable and size US 2 tips. Finally there are a set of Knitter's Pride Karbonz in size US 2 with a 16" cable. 

First, the double pointed needles, they are probably the most traditional. I have done quite a few socks exclusively on double points, and once you get the hang of them they are really pretty slick and I don't find them excessively fiddly. Now I usually only use DPNs for finishing the top of hats where the circumference of the knitting prohibits it working on a flexible cabled needle. I have an issue with using bamboo, I use bamboo over metal because it is less slick and I don't have to worry about stitches falling off, which has been an issue for me in the past. (There was one time I was working on socks on US 00 DPNs on a back country road at the lake, and we hit a bump and half of my stitches on a short row heel, half way through it, fell off, and I literally screamed and held my breath while I worked on getting the stitches back on the needles. The finished project ended up being very stiff, as the gauge was too small for the yarn, and the heel just did not fit right. I only finished the one as it was a bit of a disaster). 

 OK, back to the review. This Christmas I made approximately 18 hats for all they guys at the church group that I go to. 15 were done with sock yarn, and the Hiya Hiya interchangeables that are pictured above. I like the join between the tips and the cable, it's a screw attachment, and I find it secure and stable. I also like that the interchangeables go down to a size US 2, since most interchangeable sets that I have seen usually only go down to the size US 4, which just isn't small enough for me personally. The only problem that I am finding with these needles is that because I work a little tensely, and at the tip of the needle, I have been sharpening the needle to the point that it stabs me in the pointer finger on my right hand. I realize that this is probably not a common problem, and I don't think that what I have done with these needles should be considered "normal use", but it is something that I have noticed. 

The last set of needles is the Knitter's Pride Karbonz needles. They have metal tips with carbon fiber shafts, and metal joins to the plastic cable. The 16" cable is really nice for me, because of the hats that I am making the stitches fit better on that size of cable, but that is not really a critique of the needles. The carbon fiber shaft feels a little funny, but they don't snag stitches at all, and the joins are very smooth, and I am finding that I can knit very fast on these needles with minimal stabbing, since the points are not blunt but rounded so my finger is not suffering. 

So there you go, I really think it comes down to personal preference. At this point I prefer the Knitter's Pride Karbonz, but I am not everyone so I think there is a lot of wiggle room about which needles will work for you!

Alive Again!

Hello everyone, I am now back again again. This time I will be being much more vigilant in posting on here and see what we can come up with.
My current large, overambitious project is to open up my Etsy store again, and to have quarterly updates. I will be having very nice pictures taken and posted to my shop and on here, but so far, this is what I have.

They are little bags called pocket bags, with a drawstring closure, and there are two pockets on the outside of each bag. They are roughly 5" by 3.5" by 7". I think that it is a good size for a notions bag and that it will be a good launching point for my store. I have also made some hats. They are sock weight and color work, all variations in the same weight, but with different designs and colors throughout. 

They are slouchy hats, and are completely handmade. I think that these will add a nice aspect of my own handmade to the store, and I think that I will also have some scarves and cowls in there as well.

So that is what is going on as far as my store front is concerned, in other news I have been very busy in making things for people in my life, and for Project Linus that will be given to children that are either ill or in traumatic situations. Here are some examples of those.

So that's pretty much it. I have finished ECT treatments and am working on getting on with my life, but this is what I've been up to so far and there will be more updates to come. Thanks for reading, and hope to be catching up with you tomorrow!