Somehow, I could see this being true about me 
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Posted in Blabber, Knitting, Yarn
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Surgery Recovery Presents Part II
Besides the hat, I wanted to include something else more specific to surgery recovery in the care package for my friend. I thought about a book because he has a little more time than usual to read, but he mainly reads sci-fi and I know nothing of that genre. Then, the day after surgery, he talked about how he managed to get coffee that morning by filling a mug, putting it on a plate, and shoving it across the floor with a crutch one step at a time. Creative, but there had to be an easier way. I had an old travel mug so figured I would include that (easier than trying to carry around a normal mug), but he still needed a way to carry it. A quick Google search of crutch bags turned up several commercial options and one homemade one. They didn’t seem that complicated and so with some fabric scraps, a little velcro, a pair of crutches from the basement for testing purchases, and one evening, this is what I came up with:
It appears to work quite well for carrying all sorts of stuff and it was quick to sew up (did it in one evening from inspiration to finished product). And I made it out of an old, ripped up pair of his shorts so I know he’ll like the fabric (the pocket is from the shorts too, although I had to pick it off the butt of the shorts and re-sew it to the bag – bit of a pain but it adds a nice touch).
And its super easy to attach thanks to a little velcro.
Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Hopefully, he enjoys it.
Posted in Finished Objects, Sewing
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Surgery Recovery Presents
A friend of mine just had knee surgery, so I wanted to send him a care package, but the question was what to put in it.
Prior to surgery, he had been waxing on about an old hat that he loved but lost (yes, I know, it sounds like the knitting version of a romance novel). Gray alpaca with ear-flaps. Anyway, I wanted to replace his hat (especially since surgery meant he was going to be laid up in Michigan for the winter), but maybe with something a little different. Don’t tell him this, but I wasn’t sure he could pull off ear-flaps anymore(or at least, I’ll say “anymore” in case this makes it back to him). I had some green Cascade 220 from a failed previous project that seemed like a good base yarn. And then while we were visiting each other, I had him help me pick some contrasting colors at Knit Temptations, a super nice yarn store outside Columbus, Ohio. Knitting Temptations will get remembered for the needle closet, the excellent tea place across the parking lot, and the woman there who had made impressive knit skirts – they’ve never been something I’ve thought about making, but hers were quite nice.
Anyway, two attempts later, I had a knit hat. The first version, despite being to gauge and measured correctly, appeared to be massive. He was now far away and out of trying-on range. I know his head is bigger than mine, but I refuse to believe it is as ginormous as the hat turned out. So, ripping and re-knitting ensued. The finished hat is a little big on me and thus likely to be perfect for him (fingers-crossed).
The stripe pattern was devised using a combination of an excel spreadsheet to try out different stripe patterns (yes, I’m a dork) and using Biscuits and Jam’s random stripe generator. I fiddled some to make the stripes jog-less using a couple different techniques and am pretty happy with how it turned out. Its not perfect, but close enough for me (as you can see below.
And, look, this is actually a post about my knitting. What a novel concept.
Posted in Finished Objects, Knitting
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One more random cool wool thing
I just found one more awesome cool wool thing (can you tell that I’m procrastinating everything else I’m supposed to be doing today?). How amazing is this yarn bombing?
Also, the rest of the pictures from their Top 100 Pics of 2012 are pretty amazing (and include my other two loves, tiny houses and kiteboarding!).
Posted in Blabber, Other Crafts
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Neatorama (knitting and other cool things)
There are days where I spend a little time running through my blog roll while drinking my first cup of coffee and I find myself clicking through things that are just too good not to share. Today is one of those days and Neatorama is really to thank for most of it. None of it is useful, but all of it is cool!
First, on the knitted front, I’m assuming that these were not hand-knitted Shetland sweaters.
Of course, these are not only handknit sweaters, but handspun sweaters too. And you can see the “wool” source standing next to their owners. I’m all in favor of loving one’s pets, but somehow I don’t see myself doing this from my cat’s fur anytime soon.
And now we move on to the crafty, but not knitting related posts. These are just unbelievably-cool. To have thought this up, much less actually executed this is amazing! 
In case you couldn’t figure it out, its metal sculpted in seeminly random blogs that turns into an image in the reflection on the pole. See, I told you it was cool!
This is an ingenious way to get wooden cows! You know, the next time you want a wooden cow and happen to have a lathe lying around. But seriously, how cool would it be if you could do this for knit mittens or whatever.
This is a bit disgusting, but you have to admire the person for the idea (its made from cow dung!)
And finally, while I always appreciate the classic snowman, I have to enjoy the variety from this house.
Posted in Blabber, Knitting, Other Crafts
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Itsy Bitsy Spider Book
Continuing my non-knitted craft trend, here’s another project that I completed a while ago. Its an oldy but goodie since it turned out surprisingly well. One of my nieces favorite songs when she was a baby was “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”. It was sung in grocery store lines, car rides, and any other time that crying needed to be stopped. When she got old enough to like textures in books (e.g. That’s Not My Dragon), I wanted to make her a fabric book using textures, but I wanted it to be a little more interesting. And along came the idea to use the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Some random fabric scraps, some fleece (to make the pages a bit thicker for easier turning), lots of velcro (good texture!), some ribbons, and a fabric pen combined into this end result. I’m quite happy about it (and so is my niece!).
Posted in Finished Objects, Sewing
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Ravelry, Pinterest, and Holiday Crafting (for reals)
Because I’m in my month of super flexible scheduling, I’ve managed to lose massive amounts of time to the internet, primarily to four sites.
1) Ravelry. Need I say more? I did have a very, very nice Ravelry moment where I introduced my aunt, who taught me to knit when I was 7, to Ravelry over Thanksgiving. She was looking for a new pattern and had never heard of Ravelry. Of course, the two patterns she liked either had a broken link or were only in old magazines, so she may not have been quite as thrilled with Ravelry as I am. Between organizing my stash to finding random new patterns that I want to try (we won’t comment on the length of my pattern queue), its easy to pass a LOT of time on Ravelry.
2) Pinterest. Why didn’t I get how awesome this was before? I never really understood it or bothered to look through it until one of the random crafting tutorials I stumbled upon linked to it. And down the Pinterest rabbit hole I went. I come up with one craft I want to do. I search for it on Pinterest. I find five awesome tutorials. All of those tutorials are on other people’s boards which have five new crafts I want to try. And all of a sudden I have 20 tabs open on my browser going to different Pinterest boards and pins. And this may be why I have 18 boards in just over a week. Oops. But, it means that instead of random lists and bookmarks that I never remember to organize, I can have a Pinterest board of potential craft ideas for my niece’s presents, another for desserts I want to bake, and a 3rd for potential ornaments to make. It’s awesome! Even if it eats up time like there is no tomorrow. My one request is that Pinterest would let you rearrange pins (so I could put similar pins on my boards together), but apparently they are working on it.
3) SimpleNote – my favorite app/website for making lists. And I love lists…especially around the holidays.
4) Hulu/Netflix - because I need something to watch while I’m knitting, organizing, etc.
Speaking of Pinterest, here’s my first two Christmas presents done off of ideas from Pinterest. 
Tutus and fairy wands for my nieces. It doesn’t get much girlier than these. They are almost too girly…but I think my nieces will love them and they were so much fun to make.
The tutu is made from a piece of elastic sewn to be a circle and then strips of tulle are looped around it (good tutorials here and here). I used four colors of tulle (two regular, two glittery) bought pre-cut rolls for each tutu. Four colors was probably a bit overkill and my sisters may hate the glittery-ness (since it leaves a “fairy dust” of glitter behind), but I think it looks good.
The wand is a pom-pom made from the leftover tulle and some ribbon scraps that is hot glued to the top of a non-sharpened pencil (I didn’t have any dowels, but a pencil worked just fine). I covered the pencil in ribbons (tacked down with a hot glue gun). Its a combination of this idea and this tutorial.
I was going to make fairy wings as well, but I can’t get psyched to make them. They may get felt crowns though as part of the get-up.
Posted in Blabber, Knitting, Other Crafts, Yarn
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