That's Knit-tastic!

Hello again knitting world

2009-12-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

OMG! I can't believe it's been 3 years since my last post. A lot has happened since then, a lot has been knit since then. I discovered a really good yarn work website. It's called Ravelry, and it is awesome. It has tons of patterns, free and not. It also has message boards and forums covering any topic you could possibly imagine. I am a member of a dish cloth swap group, which is really fun. Each month there is a different theme for the swap, and you send stuff to someone and they send stuff back to you. Here's a picture of what I received in the February Valentine's themed swap.

I'm also working on my second pair of socks. I got a great sock book, Socks a la Carte. The pages are cut into sections so you can flip through and choose a cuff, a body, and a heel/foot. The pattern I'm knitting right now is just a basic rib pattern, I think I'm going to need a little advice before I can move on to the more complicated patterns. The yarn I'm using is really pretty though, so it doesn't need a complicated pattern to make it pop. See:

I already have an outfit picked out to wear with them when they're finally done. Well, it's time to get back to knitting, hope to post again real soon.

The contents of my knitting bag

2006-09-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

I've been lugging my knitting bag everywhere with me lately, and it just keeps getting heavier. Here's what's in it.

1. Toddler slippers I just finished knitting, am going to felt tonight. Cross your fingers for me.
2. 100% wool & mohair yarn used to knit the slippers
3. Size 11 plastic dpns. This is the first time I've knitted with plastic needles, and I love them.
4. Knit One, Felt Too The felting book I ordered from Barnes & Noble. It's got great instructions, and so many patterns I'll actually do.
5. My sock pattern, and the beginnings of my 2nd pair of socks. I've decided to have a sock on the needles and in my purse at all times, for when I have a few spare minutes.
6. Kitchner stitch instructions. I know having these is going to come in handy one of these days.
7. Stitch holder
8. Shawls The other book I ordered from Barnes & Noble. It's also got really great patterns.
9. My dish cloth patterns.
10. Scissors, a must have.
11. I Taught Myself Knitting I taught myself knitting with this book. I keep it in my bag at all times, in case I forget something. It's a great reference tool.
12. Darning needle, another must have.
13. Beginnings of a diagonal drop-stitch shawl. This is the first thing I've ever cable stitched, it will also be my first drop-stitch project, if I ever get to the stitch dropping point. It's also the first pattern I've knitted from a chart.
14. Washable wool yarn I got for making baby booties.
15. An unfinished baby booty. I got through the checkerboard pattern, but the edging instructions don't make sense to me, so I got frustrated and put it down at this point.
16. A sock of the month yarn & pattern I got from The Knitter. It's knitted on size 0 needles, and has cable stitches, so I'm a little intimidated by it.
17. The rest of my needles I'm not currently using. I keep them in an eye glasses case. It's very handy.

I also have a pen, a pad of post-its, and a cable needle. I love post-its. You can put them directly on the page you're working off of to keep track of what row you're on.

Now you know what's in my knitting bag, what's in yours?

Finally!

2006-08-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

I finished my socks!!!

I haven't been blogging because I've had a really busy summer, and I've been kind of embarrassed that it was taking me so long to finish my socks. They're done now, though, so I'm either going to have to start blogging again or come up with a better excuse.

I ordered a couple of new knitting books from Barnes & Noble yesterday. I got a felting book and a shawls book. I've never felted anything, so it should be fun to learn a new technique. Also, I hope everyone in my family needs a shawl, because they're getting one for Christmas!

Have a nice day!

2006-06-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm going yarn shopping tomorrow

2006-06-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'm going to take my mother with me to Guthrie to SWAK. It'll be my first time to go to a store totally devoted to yarn. I'm very excited. From what I've heard, they have a WAY better selection of yarn that say Hobby Lobby or Michael's. I'm going to try to find other things to do in Guthrie so we can make a day of it.

I started knitting baby booties for my cousin's baby. I'm almost finished with the first one. It's a really easy pattern. It only took me a couple of hours to do. I don't think it looks very good. I just grabbed the yarn & needles I had with me and started knitting to see what the pattern would look like. I don't know if I'm actually going to give her the first pair I make. I may play around with a couple of different yarns before I decide on what the finished product will be. When I do decide, I'll post pictures.

Sock Update

2006-05-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

The sock I'm working on is coming along quite nicely. I finished the heel, and am on the home stretch. If I'm lucky, I'll finish it tonight and have pictures to post tomorrow. Next I think I'm going to try my hand at cable knitting. I found a poncho with cable knit that I'm going to attempt. Either that, or cable twist socks. I've really enjoyed knitting socks, so I think I may stick with them for a little while.

Yesterday I was looking at the different kinds of yarn I can use for socks, when I came across this. It's white yarn that you can color yourself. I also found instructions for dying yarn with Kool-Aid. I'm going to have to try this stuff out.

Casting On

2006-05-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

I ~~sometimes~~ always have problems when I cast-on a new project. I run out of yarn before I've cast-on enough stitches. I'm usually 1-2 stitches short of enough. It's not a big problem when I'm making little things like dishclothes and scarves that don't require very many stitches. It's not hard to pull 10-20 stitches out and recast them, but recently I started my first knit afghan that starts with casting on 103 stitches. It took me 3 tries before I had enough yarn, and then I had like 2 feet left over at the end. Does anyone know a really good method for measuring before you cast-on?

I made the Afghan pattern up from something I saw in a store somewhere. It's still on the needles, so I don't know how wide it will be, but here it is:
Use large circular needles (I'm using US15 I think)
Use a heavy yarn (I'm using Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick in Fisherman)
CO 103 sts
Row 1: K3, P2. Rep to end.
Row 2: P3, K2. Rep to end.
Rep these rows until afghan is desired length.

If you don't know the abbreviations, check the chart. I'll post pictures later.

I hope you all have a safe and happy memorial day weekend.
Happy knitting!

I'm a freaking genius!

2006-05-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted that there is a table of knitting abbreviations on the bottom of the page. What I really wanted to do was make a link that will automatically take you to the bottom of the page, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. Today I figured it out! Now on the sidebar there is a link that says "Knitty Abbreviations" and when you click it, you automatically got to the bottom of the page, just like I wanted! That is all.

New additions

2006-05-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

I've added some links to the side bar and a table of knitty abbreviations to the bottom of the page. Hope they're helpful for you.

It's been a couple days

2006-05-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm to the point in my sock pattern where I have to put half of the stitches on a stitch holder. I looked in the usual places I keep my knitting stuff and couldn't find my stitch holder. I go pissed off because I couldn't find it, and a task that should have taken minutes(finding the stitch holder), turned into a 7 hour reorganization adventure. I found the stitch holder about 3 hours in, but by that time I was at the point of no return. I unpacked boxes, repacked boxes, moved furniture, yelled, cussed, threw things, etc. In my rage, I also managed to find 6 trash bags worth of stuff that my life can function well without, so I threw it all away. But, alas, I found the stitch holder and am free to continue with the sock project.

Free Patterns

2006-05-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

I love free knitting patterns. I've got a 3-ring binder that I keep all of my free knitting patterns. It's awesome. It's got dividers in it and is split up into several different categories, then the categories are organized by level of difficulty.
Anyway, I have several places I get my patterns. Most of my patterns came from Lion Brand's Website. This is an index of their free patterns. They also have a good Pattern Finder page. You can search it by keyword or by category. The categories you can search by include skill level, yarn, item type, size, and also what publication they appeared in. They also have free crochet patterns.
About.com is also a great knitting resource. They have an index of original knitting patterns, as well as a readers pattern library.
Lily's website has a few free patterns as well, though as far as I can tell, they're just the patterns from inside the yarn sleeves. Free crochet patterns here also.
And always a fan favorite, search free knitting patterns on Google.
I will also be posting all of these links on the sidebar by the end of the week.
Happy knitting.

Socks

2006-05-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on my first sock. It's also my first attempt at using double pointed needles. I started it on Tuesday. Things are going well so far. This is the beginning.
This is how far I was Tuesday night.

This is how far I was Wednesday night.

And this is how far I am now.

I had a little scare because I thought I was doing my purl stitches wrong, and I thought I was going to have to tear the whole thing out and start over. The good news is I looked it up, and I've been doing it right all along. I'm so glad because I've also been knitting an afghan, and I started thinking I was purling wrong on it too.
Here's a link to the sock pattern. I'll post the afghan pattern and pictures later.

Diagonal Knit Dishcloth

2006-05-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite patterns. I got it from my grandmother. It's great for beginners and experts alike. It's really easy, and can be finished in a couple of hours. This is a completed dishcloth. All that's left to do is work in the tails. Here's the pattern:

Cast on 4 sts.
Row 1: K2, yo, K across.
Repeat Row 1 until there are 40 sts on needle.
Row 2: K1, K2tog, yo, K2tog, K across.
Repeat Row 2 until 4 sts remain.
Bind off.

I use Lily's Sugar'n'Cream yarn for this dish cloth. It's a cotton yarn. Try it out. If you have any problems or questions, let me know.

Welcome!

2006-05-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hello, and welcome to That's Knit-tastic. I've been knitting for a couple of years now, and have recently gotten more involved with it. I started this blog to share my patterns and knitting projects with others on the web. I hope you enjoy it.