Knitting Dragonflies

Yay, the sun is out. We have so many sunless days here in the winter. I feel like when it does come out, I need to go out and really enjoy it! So I’ve been catching up on my “to do” list! 1)Let me see I made 3 Hula Hoops, for Christmas presents, very easy and fun. If you are interested in making one yourself, I have included some info on how to do it: This is the best tutorial I have found for making a hula hoop yourself, watch out, you can’t make only one! He also includes all of the supplies you will need. A taping link, and a hula hoop demo to get you started. Watch out it is addictive and fun, (and burns calories)! 2) Felting gnomes, which turned out to be elves, and Santas! See photo at top, more than one was made but the rest became presents, and this is the only one that got captured in a photo! Felted gnome tutorial here   3) Painting more Sumi-e paintings. Bamboo, Prawn and Iris…. I was amazed that all of my “practice” bamboo paintings were eagerly taken by ...

After knitting several Big Bags. I decided to try a crochet one. I’m not an advanced in the crochet world. And have trouble following crochet patterns. I thought that maybe it would be faster to crochet a big bag than knit it. I was inspired by a girlfriends purse, one of those crochet ones out of the shiny cord. I wanted the bag to be simple and fast. Sturdy and fun. My first attempt was with a single crochet stitch, later I frogged this and used a half double crochet. I like this stitch as it seems to be sturdier and quicker. This is what I came up with . Any combo of yarn can be used, be creative! The colors and size of the bag are up to you!    Size 14 L x 11 W inches          Size 11 L x 11 W inches Both of my bags shrank about 1.5 to 2 inches on each side after felting in a top loader Crochet Hook: I used a size K, look at the recommended size on your yarn label and use that size or close to it. Yarn: Any kind of yar...

In a continuing effort to tackle the stash bins. I gathered all of my yarn up that is left over from other projects. I am surprised to find that I am able to separate the colors into, yellows (quite a lot of yellow and gold), greens and blues, black and grey and reds. I have an idea to make a scrappy sweater, after searching for patterns and looking at my yarn I decide against that and decide to search for bag patterns. I had the Big Bag pattern by Maia Discoe , in my Ravelry queue. I think this would be a great stash busting bag if I can get the colors to work. Her bag has such a nice stripe pattern of various widths. After playing around awhile I decide that the blues and greens and yellows are my best color combination. The pattern is knitted with two strands of yarn, and I decide to carry one yellow strand along the entire bag. Hoping this will tie the colors together. While keeping the pattern stripes with the blues and greens. Amount of scrap yarn: I had approx 38 oz of ya...

Up this dark, and rainy morning and am reminded of how knitted items are so comforting. I have bought many a house shoe, slipper, and sock, to warm my perennially cold toes. But it wasn’t until I finally knit some wool socks that I came to believe in the miracle of wool as a perfect fiber. Now I understand those knitters are that sockaholics. This pattern is from Fiber Trends , the felted clog pattern (price around $5.00). I did use the Fiber Trends suede soles (ave price $15-20, look around, you can usually find some on sale) the soles really make the clogs last. They are worth the investment! I knitted mine clogs all in Malabrigo , (yes I’m a Malabrigo freak). I have knitted two of these clogs, and just follow the pattern, keep going, it will look unbelievably large, but remember they are going to felt and become warm and long lasting. [ rav link here ] [flickr photos here ] Remember cold weather is upon us and we all need warm feet.  Oh no, upon looking at the Fib...

I started out with my first handspun, and decided to make a plain little knitted in the round bag to store my Tarot cards. It was my first attempt at spinning on a spindle, so it was pretty wonky. Thick and thin, so the square gathered up as the gauge changed. Just a row of ktog, yo, knit 2, repeat for the drawstring, and I’m ready to sew it up. Then I decided that I didn’t like the plain beige. Being in the middle of a Kool Aid Dyeing frenzy , I decided to give it some color. A little microwave dyeing , and then decided to felt it , because the shape was irregular enough that I couldn’t think of how it could be used.  Well, felting is unpredictable, sometimes too small, or too fat. But like life, if given lemons, lemonade it is. And so my tarot bag became a make up bag. Which even works out  better. Due to the triangle shape, everything fits it in perfectly. Great, a cute little bag and it holds just enough to make a girl pretty, and fit in my purse! May...

I bought a needle felting kit from Wildhare Fiber Studio on Etsy .  It was reasonable, and had everything I needed. I have never done any needle felting, but was intrigued by the Spin, Knit and Life blog and her results. She directed me to this great site . I decided to begin with my first attempt on my Sophie bag by Julie Anderson (rav link) . Which I actually saw on the Instructables site first and became interested in. It is a very easy felted bag, it would be great for a first time knitted project, the handles provide a quirky interest and make it look more complicated than it is. Bag is quickly knit and I start on the handle, along the way I decide to make it a tri handle twined bag instead of two twined together. Because, hey who can make a pattern without a little tweaking. Then just twist them all and attach. Easy. Prefelted photo and a close up of the handle. Here we are post felting. Then I decided to pick out some fabric to line it ...

I have been knitting, frogging, knitting, and frogging. Now I’m knitting again. Syd agrees, “not quite right?”. I saw the “Knotted up” Bag from Bags that Rock Book (this is a felted bag pattern) and picked out some lovely yarn. It is Araucania Nature Wool Solids   from manufacturer “this 100% pure wool is carefully kettle dyed with the subtle variations in colors only hand dyed yarns have it's individual beauty emerges as the artisan carefully blends the colors in a kettle to create it's several unique shades.” Yes it sounds lovely.   Perfect for the bag I had in mind. You know the feeling, yarn + pattern = greatness. Ha. I started knitting the first time on the bag, which is knitted in 5 sections, front and back, bottom, and sides/straps. After knitting the front, I looked at the amount of yarn left……I had only used a tiny amount. I had cast on with one strand, many felted purses use two strands of yarn held together. This pattern didn’t “say” use two strands. ...

This pattern is from Bags That Rock . Yarn is Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted. I picked two of the kettle dyed variegated skeins that complimented each other. (or so I hoped). This pattern is very easy, and suitable for a beginner knitter. It was a fast to knit, the “propeller” patterns on the purse are done in duplicate stitch. This was the first time I even did it, super easy. After felting I decided to use purchased handles, because I wanted this purse to keep its shape. I usually line my purses and put a strip of pockets across each side, for organization. I had an enormous amount of trouble finding a fabric that “made me happy”, of course the one I found was pricy but worth it. It is a batik fabric with trees on it, I also used a two way zipper, what the heck I’ve already spent more than I planned on. Giggles I was afraid this pattern might make a purse that was too flat and not hold enough, as you can tell, I like to be prepared for anything, guess it wa...