FO Friday 5/2

Today we are headed to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival in West Friendship, Maryland.  Cephalopod Yarns is having an open house tonight so after we check into our hotel we are heading over there for the festivities.  I am SO excited!!!  I have my shopping list ready, my bags packed and house straightened up.  

The Spring term for the HPKCHC began yesterday.  This term, I requested to be sorted into Hufflepuff so Jen and I could be in the same house.  Before classes began, I was frantically trying to get all of my WIPs off the needles.  I managed to get it all done by Sunday night, so I was able to work on my blanket squares for most of the week.  

Transient Socks (pattern by knitlovesteph)

Snowball Buddies (pattern by Susan Claudino)

Ballband Dishcloths

This morning, I submitted my OWL proposal and it was approved this morning, so I cast on my Adrift Cardigan.  I plan on taking it with me this weekend since the endless stockinette stitch will be perfect car knitting.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, I know I will! ;)

So excited about Maryland Sheep and Wool! This weekend is sure to be fabulous. I promise we will take lots of pictures to share with everyone!  I only have one FO to share and it is my Sunflowers socks! I promise they are the same size, I have no idea why the pooling changed at the toe of the second sock. So with that I have my first Christmas present knit for the year!

Beginning Knitter Techniques

As knitters we all have preferences in needles, yarn, cast ons and bind offs.  So I thought that I would share what I think are good tips for someone who is new to knitting. These tips are based on my experiences knitting.  You get to benefit from my mistakes!

1. Your first project should be something small. Most beginner knitting classes I have seen are for a scarf. A scarf?! A project that is 5-6' long! Most of these projects are all garter stitch too! So all you learn with that is a cast on, knit stitch, a bind off, and that knitting is incredibly boring. Don't get me wrong, there are great scarf patterns out there, and I am even going to be knitting a 12' garter stitch scarf for a Christmas present.  I just think that when you are learning something new that it should be something you can finish relatively quickly so you get to experience success early in your learning! So I recommend a washcloth.  Not only is it  small project, it is a functional item you can use all year long! A washcloth can use knit and purl stitches. Increases and decreases. You can even do lace work in a washcloth. 
Another good option for a beginner project is a hat.  You learn how to use circular needles (which you can use even when knitting flat), you learn how to knit in the round, knit, purl, decrease.  You can learn how to cable right away, do lace.  The sky is the limit!

2. I prefer smooth metal needles to wooden ones, but as a beginner wooden needles can be your best friends.  Wooden needles are more "grippy" and make it harder for the yarn to just go sliding off the needles.  It is that reason that I use metal more than wooden now, I feel like wooden needles slow me down.  I also am a tight knitter so I tend to bend wooden needles.  When working on my first hat I changed to smooth metal dpns (double pointed needles) near the crown.  I was almost done with this cabled awesome hat! The next thing I knew one of the needles was in my lap, and the stitches were starting to drop! It was a knitting EMERGENCY.  Luckily I was able to catch as many of those stitches as I could and a woman at the local knitting shop was able to get everything back on the needles.  This traumatized me from metal needles, and dpns in general.  I eventually got over those fears though :-)
Like Jen mentioned, wood/bamboo needles are perfect for a new knitter.  I still use wood needles once in awhile, if I find myself working on a tricky pattern.  

3. When you move on to projects beyond washcloths use yarn that you wouldn't mind wearing.  You do not have to spend a fortune on yarn (I have spent over $30 on a skein of indie dyed sock yarn to make a pair of socks), but you should stay away from anything that is so inexpensive that it hurts your hands to knit with it.  There are many companies that make great inexpensive acrylic yarn like Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, and Knit Pick's Brava. Once you want to make something that you want to be able to shape and stretch you need to use something that contains and natural fiber. Acrylic doesn't block like other fibers. 
I would like to add that even while learning, you don't need to knit with something that feels awful in your hands.  There are plenty of budget friendly, lower end yarns that are great for learning and that won't make you feel like you are knitting with steel wool.  Use what you love and makes you happy.   

4. The best tip I can offer is to join Ravelry.  It is a fantastic community of knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, and other fiber artists. You can get access to thousands of patterns many of them are free. You can keep track of your yarn stash, your projects, your needles and more. You can find local knitting groups and groups of people who have similar interests like the HPKCHC (Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup).  We even have a group there where we can share our projects with each other and host giveaways :-) Find us there too, Jess is SameOldKnit and I am jpester.  
Another great source if you get stuck with your knitting is knittinghelp.com  They have a large variety of video tutorials that can help you with pretty much any knitting technique.  I can't even count how many times I went there to learn how to do a specific cast-on or bind-off.  

These are just a few tips that I have for beginner knitters.  We are hoping to start making tutorials to post on this blog soon.  

Stash Enhancement Sunday 4/27

I am so excited about the first item that we have to share this week.  Jess and I are planning a trip to Maryland Sheep and Wool and wanted to be able to get the word out about the blog.  So we designed business cards to hand out with stitch markers on them!  Jess and I took some photos of my sock yarn blanket to use for the cards and this is how they look!

Each card we hand out will feature one of these (this isn't all of them, I already started attaching the stitch markers to the cards last night).

The stitch markers were easy to make, and I can see how addictive it can be.
The next stash enhancement shows just how little will power that I have. I am going to be at a fiber festival for an entire weekend and still managed to order over a pound of fiber!
A few fellow Puffs were chatting about some new fibers that they wanted to try and they said that they were ordering from Paradise Fibers. I have never ordered from them so I checked out the site.  Not only were they having lots of sales you could add a 20% coupon to your purchase. I am a sucker for a good deal so I ordered a pound (yes a whole pound!) of Merino, and another braid of Malabrigo Nube. It was so yummy to spin up the first time that I knew I wanted to spin more of it.

I am hoping that I have enough yarn with that pound of merino to make a garment. I am not really good at making my yarn any weight that I want when I spin it so hopefully with some practice I will get better at that. 

Those are all the enhancements we have to share this week, next weekend is Maryland Sheep and Wool so we should have plenty of goods to share then.  If you see us at Maryland Sheep and Wool be sure to get a card and a stitch marker!

FO Friday 4/25

So Jess has been hard at work on her WIPs but doesn't have any FOs to share this week so I am writing this post solo.  I have been working on more preemie hats for the local NICU. I have ten finished so far.  Here are the three latest ones. They are all knit in DK using Plymouth Dreambaby DK, and Sirdar Snuggly Crofter

I have been working on Pufflecards during break month in the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup.  I have been sorted into Hufflepuff the last two terms.  Break month is the month between terms but the hard working Puffs don't just relax we keep working heh  To play I must complete a variety of tasks from finishing WIPs to getting my yarn ready for my OWL with each task earning a card.  One of the prompts talked about getting past a project that has been holding me back. You either frog it (reclaim the yarn from the project), embellish it or overdye it.  I have a baby blanket that I started last year for a friend and realized that I would not finish it before the baby was born.  I decided I was going to frog it and use the yarn for something else.  When I pulled it out I realized that I was over halfway done! So instead of ripping it out, I decided to work on it until it was done.  

Lion Brand Pound of Love in pale yellow and antique white

It measures about 34" square which should be good for a car seat.  I am mailing it to a friend who is expecting her first baby this year.  It feels good to have this project done and I even earned a Pufflecard for it!  

WIP Wednesday 4/23

Can you believe that Maryland Sheep & Wool is in a little over a week?!  I am so excited to get away for the weekend, spend quality time with my bestie, meet some internet friends and just relax, shop and admire all of the handknits.  If you see us at MDSW, please stop and say hello!  

This week, I have been focusing on knitting the socks I am test knitting for knitlovesteph.  Last week I posted a picture of the yarn I wound that I planned on using.  Sadly, the yarn just wasn't made for this pattern.  There are too many colors and the texture got lost.  I tried a darker, rusty yarn that I had in my stash, but that also wasn't right for the pattern.  I finally decided on using a skein of yarn that a friend of mine custom dyed for me.  My favorite drink is a margarita on the rocks, so she dyed me margarita colored sock yarn a few years ago.  This yarn is PERFECT for this pattern.  You can see the pattern easily, the stitches pop and it's super pretty.  The pattern itself is potato chip knitting.  It's crazy easy to memorize, which makes it perfect for tv knitting.  (I just got sucked into Game of Thrones and am frantically trying to catch up before I see any major spoilers)  

Transient Socks by knitlovesteph-knit in custom dyed yarn by trikel

Last week, I finished my Tea Time cross stitch and felt motivated to pick up my Halloween Sampler.  I still have a long way to go until it's finished but I am determined to get it done so I can display it this year for Halloween.  

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery Halloween Sampler

That's all I have this week.  I made a list of things I need to knit this year, so there will be a lot more to post in the next few months ;)

I have been working on my socks from last week and have finished one whole sock!

Knitmore Girls Vanilla Sock, Opal Van Gogh - Sunflowers

I should be farther, but I have been working on more preemie hats for our charity drive.  I also picked up a WIP that I started in May of 2013.  I am happy to say that I finished it as well.  So I should have lots to share Friday.  

I am also looking forward to Maryland Sheep and Wool! I have been busy planning my shopping out and looking forward to the yummy curly potato things!  They have nacho cheese and sour cream and are so good!  I am also looking forward to being surrounded by people who love all things fiber!  Please say hi if you see us!

FO Friday 4/18

This week I have a few FOs to share and only one of them is knit! The first one is another preemie hat to donate to the NICU at St. Luke's.  

Preemie hats for Charity -  by Carissa Browning 

I used Sirdar Snuggly Crofter to make this hat.  I love that it looks like I did some colorwork because of the Fair Isle effect of the yarn.  
Since I finished my April square already for the month, I decided to finish the border on my Once Upon a Time sampler.  Now I am ready to go each month as I get the new pattern. I left off the year for now. 

 The last FO I have to share is a sewing project.  I followed this tutorial to make pillow cases for my couch.  I wanted to be able to take the cases off to wash them or change them for the seasons.  The tutorial was so easy to follow and I know I will be making more of them in the future. 

Just wanted to add, the pattern for that shawl that I test knit just went live.  

Here is a link to the pattern :-)

~Jen

I only have one FO I can share this week, but it's a huge one.  (okay, maybe not HUGE, but it's a big deal to me)  I finished my Tea Time cross stitch by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.  I started the Halloween Sampler when it was released but it isn't even 1/3 of the way complete.  I started Gingerbread Lane when that came out...another one that is only 1/3 complete.  I bought this pattern 2 weeks ago and am so thrilled that I finished it!  Now I need to try to find the perfect frame for it so I can proudly display it in my living room.  

Tea Time by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

-Jess

WIPs Wednesday 4/16 and a Winner!

So this week I have not touched my shawl.  I am on the foot of my sock. I really like how they are pooling. They definitely remind me Van Gogh's Sunflowers.

Mostly I have been obsessed with my sock yarn blanket.  I started the month with 67 squares on the blanket. I have been knitting on it like crazy.  I have knit 29 squares so far! Most months I have knit 7-10 squares, but in half a month I have done triple that! I love how it is coming along and find it hard to stop when I finish each square. 

It doesn't look like much, but it already keeps me warm while I am working on it. 

Jen motivated me to work on my sock yarn blanket this week.  I don't have nearly as many squares as her, but I'm enjoying working on it when I can.  I moved a bunch of my mini skeins into a cute bucket that I keep in the living room so it will help inspire me.  Most of my mini skeins came from leftovers from old projects, Jen's projects and swaps.  I started a journal where I keep track of who sent what yarn, include any cards they sent and things like that.  When I'm done it will be neat to look back and see where certain squares came from.

I've also been busy stitching on my Tea Time cross-stitch but left it at work, so I can't share any photos :(

I am about to cast on a pair of socks that I am test knitting for knitlovesteph. I'm going to be using Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock-Fit for a Queen Angel Fish.  The pattern looks relatively easy, yet I still get to learn a new technique.  I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to share photos as I get started on it.

Three Irish Girls-Adorn Sock-A Fit for a Queen Angel Fish

  Now we have a winner to announce. We had 15 entries in 16 comments (one was deleted) and the Random Number Generator came up with number 

So our winner is mostlymunchies with this comment:

mostlymunchiesApril 4, 2014 at 5:20 PM

I'm horrible at remembering to check blogs - I love the Instagram posts to remind me

Congratulations!

I will get into contact with you on Ravelry to get your mailing info!

Stay tuned for our next giveaway!