New beanie hat

I made this beanie on commission for a friend. This hat is similar to another hat I made a few weeks ago. For this hat I did use a pattern, and I knitted it instead of crocheting. It's a really fun pattern and so easy to customize.

Update: Apparently my friend's father hates this hat. Which is fine, because he is a total douchebag. I hope that whenever he looks at this hat it hurts his pathetic little feelings.

This project I am not all that thrilled about. I didn't gauge, and it came out the wrong size. It is way to big! That is why you should always gauge.  Although the yarn may just be too thick for this pattern. I will have to do some experimentation.

Beanie from a new pattern

This beanie is from an absolutely new untried pattern that I found on the net! I really love the cute spiral star it creates on the top. I am also thrilled that I finally found a pattern that I could use for my two skeins of cashmere yarn. This hat is so soft! Soft and warm!

Today my friend and I are making pies for Thanksgiving. I am going to document the process and share it with you, my readers! I hope that you like pumpkin pie.

Knit bangles are all the rage

Have you seen the new knitted bangles? I first spotted this concept on the cover of Vogue knitting while I was perusing the sewing patterns in Joanns. Something jogged my memory today and I was able to find a pattern for them. I can't wait to try making a few with my left over yarn! I'm just not sure where to find the bangles. I might try at a thrift store first and if that doesn't work I'll try Ross or something.

Lovely stripped wool socks

Strangely enough this is actually the first pair of socks that I have ever knitted. Now it is not the first sock I have knitted; but it is the first time that I made a second sock to match the first. I don't know I just wasn't that into the gusset with my first pair, and because I used ribbing for the cuff when it isn't on your foot it looks quite ridiculous. Like a duck with a thin long neck and a big fat body. I guess it doesn't matter what it looks like when it's not on your foot, but somehow it disturbed my sensibilities.

I don't think that I will use the pattern again. It has a little problem with forming little holes where some of the joining was done. I think that I will stick with the more traditional cuff down, gusset, and kitchener stitch approach next time. Oh, I might even try the double knit approach to make two socks at once! It's been awhile since I tried continental knitting.

At first I wasn't all that thrilled about the yarn. It was a lot scratchier then the stuff I have been working with (merino). They're growing on me though. I think I will probably save these for hiking trips when I need an extra pair of socks to go over my under socks and stuff into my oversized hiking boots.

New fingerless gloves in green!

I love this pattern and working with Merino wool I finished up another pair of these fingerless gloves in a lovely forest green.

While I haven't been posting I have been knitting like crazy while I was away. I made socks, a new beanie pattern, and a head scarf. I was very excited about my new socks. While the wool that I ordered is a bit rougher than I thought it would be I really like the pattern. Also, these are some heavy duty socks so I can probably wear them over another pair when I am using my hiking boots. The beanie pattern was fun but not really my style. I am thinking about selling it on etsy.com, along with the extra fingerless gloves. The head scarf was a little disappointing, which I will get into later.

All finished with the fingerless gloves in purple!

I hope that's the effect of the flash and I'm not really that pale...

These fingerless gloves are all finished! I really love they way these look in purple. The cuff of these gloves is a little tight but I think that it will be fine for the recipient because she has much thinner arms than I do. 

Now I love merino wool but I wonder if Malabrigo is a good brand to use. I do love the softness, the color, and the effect of the hand dying on the wool but I am not sure that it stands up very well. Some of the pieces that I made just a few months ago are piling really badly. Will a wash help with these or should I just try to pick out the little pieces? Is this a product of the merino, the hand spinning, or just the brand? I know that handspun pieces are less sturdy and more likely to pile, but they are so much softer and I really value that in knitting pieces. Plus aesthetically I like the look of a thick homespun strand. I will have to experiment with some new brands.

Fingerless glove no. 1 finished!

I hope that you like the fingerless gloves so far. People always request that I make these longer and longer. Even when I have added quite a few rows to the original design it never seems to be long enough, lol. I have the same problems with scarves. People, or my friends at least, enjoy long thick scarves. Honestly, never commit to making a scarf for someone if they are 5'10'' or bigger. You'll spend a fortune on yarn, a long time knitting it, and they'll probably still think it's too short.

Can't sleep

It's 1 AM but I haven't been able to sleep. I lost track of time catching up with season 3 of Dexter and working on the fingerless handwarmers. Now my mom is snoring so loud I can't hear myself think.

I wonder if it is normal to snore that loudly? I sure hope that she doesn't have sleep apnea. It would explain a lot if she did though.

I'm sorry this is so off topic. I will post again only when I finish the handwarmers or if I see something really cool. Until then I am going to look for some earplugs.

All new purple fingerless mittens!

I started a new project making some fingerless mittens. I went out to dinner with my friend along with her family and because her mom treated I thought I would knit up a pair for her. It's funny my family is so strange that I end up going out to more family functions with Ashley's family than my own. No one there was our age either so I am glad that I went because she would have been totally alone with a bunch of teenagers and baby boomers with no one to talk to.

I really like this pattern; it's very simple, easy to remember, and looks great. I got it from the Last Minute Knitted Gifts. They have a lot of cute patterns but I usually stick to the fingerless mittens and the hats patterns lol.

You should check out the user submitted photos on amazon! The look awesome in all sorts of different yarn.

Chuck Bartowski is annoying me!

Argh I am so angry! I just watched the latest episode of Chuck and he is totally falling for his ex despite so many reasons not to. She didn't believe him when he was kicked out of Stanford, left him for his best friend without even a goodbye, and then suddenly shows up in his life and demands complete honesty from him. I hope they aren't going to drag this out much longer. 

Plus Chuck seems to have totally forgotten about Sarah. I mean it just seems out of character for him. Well, I guess not. I mean when Lou showed up he forgot about Sarah pretty quickly. Chuck is kind of shallow. Or maybe it is just low self esteem? He seems to fall in love with any pretty girl that gives him any sort of attention. Well as much as it annoys me I guess I have to admit that he's not all that deep.

All new merino leg warmers

As of late my apartment has been very cold. I recently found a pair of size nine sixteen inch circular needles with 66 stiches of stockinette. For the life of me I couldn't remember what I was making at the time. I was too thin for a hat, to big for gloves. I thought it might have been a sleeve but I think if I had planned to make a sweater I would have bought more yarn. I have just two skeins of it. For a short time I thought it was a leg warmer which made me really excited. 

After I finished a few more rows I realized that it was way too big to make leg warmers but I have always liked the look of the loose ankle socks Japanese girls wear. With the thick proportions of my generous calves I have always had trouble finding socks big enough, so I decided to just make them into leg warmers.

All in all, the project was pretty boring. Strait stockinette with get to anyone after long enough, but I persevered.

Update: I thought that these would work but they are way too loose and fall off as soon as I start walking lol. I'm keeping them as pajamas for now but I may end up making them into something else.

Custom crocheted merino hat

I finished the hat I started making! I like the way that it turned out, although the ears are a little off center. I was thinking about putting it on Etsy, but now I am not sure about it.

I especially like how the earflaps flip out! It kind of reminds me of lamb ears or something.

Update: Gave this hat away as a very early Xmas present

Why I voted and so should you

I voted today and I think you should too. There are so many important decisions to be made and if you can't spend an hour voting I think you should really reevaluate your lifestyle. 

I know that Obama will win California and I know that a lot of people think that this is a good reason to skip voting. Now off the top of my head I can tell you two reasons why this is stupid. 

No. 1, if enough people think that Obama is going to win and don't bother to vote, McCain will actually have a chance. McCain supporters are definitely all out voting today so don't let 2004 happen again. If you really think that California is completely democratic look at the election results by county. See all that red in the interior and down South? Those are republicans. We outnumber them, but a higher percentage of them actually vote.

No. 2, and probably more importantly, that isn't the only thing on the ballot! What about proposition 8? 10? These all have to do with your civil rights, the environment and your tax dollars! 

Now I have to speak out a little about prop 8. I have seen so many ads all over the internet, in grocery stores, and even people walking down the street with signs. I don't care what your stance on gay marriage is this is about equality. I don't care if you are straight, if you are gay, if you have gay friends and family, or if you're a total homophobe! These are people we are talking about! People that are lucky enough to have love and now our government is going to discriminate against it? Separate but equal does not work. Read Brown vs. the Board of Education. Separate institutions of marriage are inherently unequal and a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States. 

By voting no on prop 8 I am protecting families. Families that love each other, raise children together, and want to grow old together. My final thoughts on the matter; if you don't support gay marriage don't have one. Don't take away such an important moment in someone else's life.

Making a new hat

So I stumbled across a little blue disk of Merino wool that I had made a few months ago but hadn't the foggiest idea what it was supposed to me. I looked at it thoroughly and decided that whatever it was meant for in the past now it was going to become a cute crocheted hat. I just started it last night, but I'm about half way finished with it now. I still haven't decided about what kind of trim I am going to us on it. I love the spirally look that just crocheting through the furthest loop gives it.

I love Merino wool! It is so soft and sooooo warm. I have a ton of it stockpiled for Christmas this year.

Oh! This morning I remembered what the project was supposed to be. I was making a little bear from Amigurumi! It's this book of crocheted animals. Very nice. I found my copy at Joann's but I also found it on Amazon. It's so cute! I would recommend it if you crochet at all and know any children or people who like cute little stuffed animals. 

Delicious Domo cake with pictures!

Okay so I made this cake a few days ago but it was definitely blog worthy. Besides, I don't want anyone to miss out on the awesome Domo-kun.

Who is Domo-kun? Well, frankly, have you walked into a Target in the past few months? He's that brown toothy fellow that has been showing up on everything Halloween related. Well my friend loves him so I decided to make a cake for her!

Here's what he's made of:

Box of yellow cake + 3 eggs, 1 1/3 cups water, and 1/3 cup oil

Milk Chocolate frosting

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant + food coloring

Junior Mints (eyes)

Actually making the cake was pretty easy. I didn't use a mold for the body I just baked the cake in a square mold and cut away until I had a nice body shape. This way will generate some stray cake pieces but my brother and his friend made short work of those lol. 

The only hard part was making the Fondant. Man that stuff is sticky! Of course I couldn't find any pastry gloves so while I was mixing in the food coloring for the tongue so my hands got all red. 

Also, check out these awesome playing cards! They come in a really cute Domo-kun tin too! I got them for my friend and we spent the whole night trying to remember how to play speed and war, and how they were different. Strangely the only game that I can remember how to play is Egyptian Rat Screw.

Welcome to my craft blog!

Hello and welcome to my craft blog! I like to think that I am a creative person and because I recently got a wonderful Canon 350D Rebel XT camera I thought I would share the crafts that I have made with the community. I like to knit, crochet, bake, cook, make soap, jewelry, take photos and try out new things! Stay tuned for more interesting posts!