Knitting Dragonflies

Enjoy your Holidays! Get your pointy sticks out and do some knitting. Thanks to http://mochimochiland.com/blog/ for the animation, check out the blog for more creative goodness!

I’m in the middle trying to finish all of my knitting works in progress. Taking a look at them & deciding if I should frog them or continue. I had 5 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun, and had crocheted approximately 2.5 of them up in a cocoon wrap. I don’t know about you, but I get sucked into buying this yarn occasionally. It is easy to forget how splity it is. It is soft and squishy but maddeningly hard to use (for me). My crocheted project was uneven on  the edges and looking dismal. I decided to frog it, but this yarn is wrapped with only a piece of thread to keep the twist in and I’ll describe it as one ply. No way could I rip it out. So I gritted  my teeth and tossed it. With the remaining two skeins I decided that knitting on very large needles was the best way to go. I couldn’t settle on a pattern so decided to make the fallback triangle shawl pattern that you can knit as large as needed and use all of this up. This recipe is a general one, and you can switch to any...

I had a little idea that we needed a snowflake or two on our tree. I had one in the ornament box, handmade in crochet cotton thread. It was always a favorite, and I have no idea who made it or where it came from. Well that started me thinking I needed another one. I wanted an updated look, not so thin and old fashioned looking this time, definitely different yarn., First step, start a online search for snowflake patterns. After finding quit a few, I started trying them out, and quickly decided that I would not knit but crochet them. Seemed faster & easier to me. I tried a few and thought I wanted to make a variety of them, but ended up making one pattern over and over. I liked the way it looked and it was easy for me to master. After several of them. I had to go buy more  yarn, and then more yarn, and different yarn…..I ended up preferring yarn with a slight “fuzz” and one that said it was for dish scrubbies (this yarn was my favorite look). Snowflake pattern : Easy Snowfl...

Holidays can be a difficult time of year. Everyone is busy with lots of things on their minds. People that are missing from your life leave a black hole in the Holidays. Sometimes you just need to show someone a little extra love. This pattern is super cute, fast and easy & I’m no crochet expert. Thanks to HappyAmigurumi and her free tutorial ( tutorial link) it was a no stress project. It only took a small amount of yarn. I used Caron Solids in a red, I like the finish on this yarn. In nothing flat I had a cute little stuffed heart to leave on my husbands desk to brighten his day!

This was a chill Thanksgiving, I decided to try a crochet pattern & make some quick table ornaments. I found some cute pumpkin/gourd crochet pattern & decided to try it out. I also found some cute acorns but haven’t gotten those made. The pumpkin pattern is in a small/medium/large size. Fast and fun. I was attracted to this pattern because she had made them in non-traditional colors and they were so cute.. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Pattern: Pretty Pumpkins by Kris Moore Free link , she blogs Here Pattern Crochet Acorn by Kristi Tullus Free Link , she blogs Here  

I’ve been in a productivity slump. Well I’ve been gardening and doing life, but falling way behind in the fun fabric & yarn stuff. I happened across this YouTube of Fairy Little who vlogged knitting a sweater in 24 hours. I have a sweater I’ve been stalled on for 3 years (I believe, may be longer) After watching this time lapse video, it was like a kick in the pants for me. I thought “Yes, I can do that!, (well maybe in a weekend or week), Now I’m trying to decide if I’m frogging the pattern & starting over as that was when I stopped. I had to heavily modify  the pattern and……need I saw more? Check out the video & thanks Fairy Little

I have been knitting, but not blogging for quite a while now. I’m getting organized and back into blogging. Colder weather is here and it is time to get the needles out. I decided that I would start by dragging out all of my unfinished projects and take stock & decide which ones I’ll frog or finish. I’ve had a sweater on the back burner for years, I’m not happy with how the pattern was turning out and you know how that can stall a knitter. So I’m determined to be ruthless and not knit, (well not start anything big) until all of my UFO’s (unfinished objects) are taken care of one way or another! If there are any other knitters out there that would like to join me leave a comment! Next post will be a ruthless inventory (I hope) of what I’ve got going on.

http://publicdelivery.org/dave-cole-knitting-machine-mass-moca/ Above photo is from   Arjen Noordeman In 2005,  MASS MoCA  (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) presented a monumental and uniquely American sculptural installation by Dave Cole. Cole’s project  The Knitting Machine  comprised two excavators specially fitted with massive 20′ knitting needles which produced an oversized American flag, which can be seen as both a celebratory gesture of pride and a commentary on America’s role in world affairs. When the flag was removed from The Knitting Machine it was folded into the traditional flag triangle and was on display in a presentation case which Cole described as  slightly smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle , accompanied by the 20′ knitting needles, and a video of the knitting process. There is a video of this also  http://publicdelivery.org/dave-cole-knitting-machine-mass-moca/#arve-load-video If you are interested in smal...