Knitting & Crochet Blogging Week 2011 - Day Four: Where Are They Now?

About two weeks ago, I knitted a bookmark for my best friend. When I had it finished, I thought I was such a clever so-and-so, as I had created the bookmark without a pattern, and even had some yellow/white striping going on.

But when I look back, was I really that clever?

No.

First of all, I used 4mm needles, so the bookmark was thick, I also used double knit yarn which probably didn't help. Second, I didn't weave in the ends, I tied knots so they would hold and snipped of the ends.

WHAT was I thinking?!

All I can say is sorry to my friend, and I promise to buy smaller needles and thinner wool, and knit you up a replacement! (And I will weave in the ends this time... yeah, sorry about that)

According to the Knitting & Crochet Blogging Week 2011 schedule, April 1st is "an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create."

Only one word can sum up my reaction. Help.

Knitting & Crochet Blogging Week 2011 - Day Three: Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches

Since I have only been knitting for two months, I haven't got much stuff to stash away. So currently, I can squeeze in all my yarn, needles and other tools in a medium-sized craft bag, which fits nicely into my bookcase.

I keep my current project on my bedside table, so it is in easy reach when I can't sleep at night.

My finished projects get slung into a cotton bag, which hangs on my wardrobe door.

As my room is still in the process of being organised/furnished/decorated, I will soon be getting a chest of drawers. Which will be turned into a little knitting haven. One of the smaller drawers will be used to store my finished projects while they wait for their new, unsuspecting owners, and one of the larger drawers will be used to keep my balls of yarn. On top, I will have a pot for my knitting needles, and another pot for scissors, darning needles etc.

Knitting & Crochet Blogging Week 2011 - Day Two: Skill + 1UP

The aim of today's blog post is to look back over the past knitting year, and see how many projects I have completed,what new skills I have learnt etc. Here is the snag. I've only been knitting for 2 months. So that'll just have to do.

When I first started knitting, I couldn't even put the needle through the wool to make a stitch, a lot of wool later though, I can happily cast on, cast off, knit, increase, decrease, stripe, darn and follow a simple pattern. I also learnt how to put my wool into balls, which means my yarn no longer gets tangled.

This is what my knitting looked like when I started:

And this is my knitting now.

Baby Bootie from Knitty Gritty: Knitting for the Absolute Beginner

iPod Touch T-Shirt Sock from Knitty Gritty: Knitting for the Absolute Beginner

In the first project (which is meant to be a knitted square...) I was learning how to garter stitch (knit every row) without messing up. As you can see, I didn't do the best job.

On projects two and three, I learnt how to increase and decrease and how to darn up (or sew up, which ever term you prefer) my knitting.

My next project is a Baby Hat, in which I will learn how to Pearl and 1x1 rib (Knit 1 stitch, Pearl 1 stitch), which I am very excited about. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Knitting & Crochet Blogging Week 2011 - Day One: A Tale of Two Yarns

I have so far only ever knitted with double knit yarn and so it is the only type of yarn you will find in my stash.

Fortunately for me, my local wool shop has a nice selection of cheap double knit wool (most are under £2! Which is great for me, as I tend to go a little wild in there...), from bright neon colours (which I am dying to use) to soft baby pastels.

Out of my stash, my favourite wool to knit with has to be my white double knit. It's very soft, which makes it a dream to work with, and it never frays!

My least favourite wool to knit with was probably my bright yellow double knit yarn. Not only do you continue seeing bright yellow after working with it, it also frays quite easily which makes it very simple to accidentally create stitches which shouldn't be there!

The yarn I would love to one day knit with, is Wendy Happy 4ply Capricorn yarn.

I would love to knit myself an iPod Touch sock out of it, I think it would look rather snazzy!

Booties for the Modern Woman & A Hat - Oh My!

After reading my first blog post, my Mum quickly reminded me that my 'man-size booties' couldn't really be 'man-size' as they are pink. So from now on, they are to be known as 'booties for the modern woman'.

Anyway, back to the knitting.

After two hours of knitting I managed to finish my first pair of booties. And they were big. Instead of being for a newborn baby, I'm pretty sure it will fit a 3 month old.

Would you like a close up? Of course you would.

And because I was making a set for a new baby (Booties, Hat and Mittens)I had to start another pair, this time though I decided to disobey Aneeta (the creator of the Baby Booties pattern) and use 4mm needles. And here is the first bootie in progress.

And now, the finished article. Placed next to the original bootie for scale purposes.

I am pleased I have to say. They turned out just as I had hoped . Not bad for a first project. Not bad. Once I have finished the final bootie in 4mm my project is complete.

So my next project you ask?

Well the blog title may give you a clue... yes I'm aiming to do the third project in Knitty Gritty: Knitting for the Absolute Beginner. I am very hesitant to start it though, as the pattern requires 1x1 rib at the bottom of the hat, and I can not yet pearl confidently.

But that's another blog for another day.

Yarn Bombing, Chocolate & My Man-Size Booties

I managed to hunt down some baby wool for my first project using a pattern - Baby Booties. The pattern is from the book Knitty Gritty: Knitting for the Absolute Beginner. After reading through the pattern five times, I thought it was time to get started. So I removed my new 5mm Bamboo needles from the packaging, took out my wool and got started.

After casting on and knitting two or three rows, I paused to look at my progress and realised how big my work was actually getting. In the pattern it said to cast on 38 stitches, clearly these are meant for babies and not small adults? But, after consulting with my book I carried on relentless of their size. An hour and a half later I was on step 7 and my man-size booties were coming along well. With a mixture of cockiness, chocolate munching and M.E brain fog though, I neglected to look at step 8 and found myself knitting the entire row without decreasing - DOH! After realising what I had done I undid the row of knitting and tried to put the stitches back on my needles. What a stupid thing to do without a crochet hook (Which I forgot to buy while at the craft shop that morning, despite having a list AND the book with me). I ended up dropping all my stitches and having to undo another row of knitting. This process continued until I found myself with nothing but two bare bamboo needles and a pile of pink yarn.

An hour later I decided I liked knitting again and started Man-Size Booties II. This is where I am at thus far:

Pathetic I know. After I've completed my blog for today though I'll knuckle down and get some work done.

While trawling through several knitting blogs today, I found this.

All I can say is, "Where can I find the pattern for my car?"