The Stash.

I'm always curious about what people have when crafting.

You might not be. But I know there's others out there like me. 

There's something about seeing the raw material they're working with and then seeing a finished product that is so awesome, it's hard to find words to describe it. Part of it is probably due to the fact that crafters know what kind of work goes into making things. 

So I thought I'd share pictures of what I'm working with, yarn, knitting, and crochet related.

This is my odd and end box. It's got my scissors, stitch markers, some embroidery thread, gauge reader/ruler, yarn bobbins, darning needles, etc.

This is my yarn. And it's constantly changing and growing or shrinking. It's made up of Red Heart brand (which I honestly don't like, I think it's too rough for much of anything) and I Love This Yarn! acrylic worsted weight. After taking this picture, I got two things of Peaches & Creme 100% cotton. My kitchen needs some potholders.

These are the only two sets of circulars that I have. They're size 8 and 10, both 29". Needless to say, I use a LOT of the magic loop method when knitting on these.

Theeeeese are my knitting needles. Thanks in large part to my best friend, Kristy. Her mom had moved into a house that had a mess of things left over, including a large amount of knitting needles. I've got a pretty good amount of 14", then a couple sets of 10", and then a few sets of DPNs.

These would be my crochet hooks. I had, literally, ONE before Kristy. I also have a big assortment of pattern magazines and books for crocheting, straight out of the 70s and 80s. My house would be retro-fab right now if it wasn't for Kyle stopping me.

And, you know, if I could actually crochet. >.<

So, that's my knitting and crocheting stuff. Not a lot, but it's mine and it works for me.

Hopefully one day I'll be able to show you my craft room.

If only someone could get it done...

(Kyle, if you're reading this, HINTHINT.)

What a hoot.

I needed a good laugh/smile. 

Why?

Well, you know that green thing I was knitting for-freaking-ever?

I finished it. I loved it. I started trying to crochet the edges together to make a bag.

It didn't work out right. So I tried just sewing them.

It didn't work out right. So I tried pulling out the yarn that I had used to sew up half of one side of the bag.

It didn't want to come out. So I broke out the scissors and...

This happened.

I cut the knit part. *facepalmfacepalmfacepalm* I was SO freaking angry. Like, almost swore off knitting for a month angry. It was very bad times. And I needed something to bring me up.

While stewing, I (ofcourse) ended up at Hobby Lobby and came across this book.

First thing I noticed about it? The owl. The cutest effing owl I've EVER seen. I've been on the hunt for a great owl knitting pattern and couldn't find one that I liked. Well. I found one now. And I squealed.

Legit squealed in Hobby Lobby.

Ofcourse I went home with the book and got to work. Only to realize the pattern was for size 6 needles. And ironically, that's a size I DON'T have. So, I pulled out some size 5s and went to work on them.

His name is Robert Paulsen. Though, Kyle likes to call him Bitch Tits. :(

His little wispys are what killed me the most. I love, love, LOVE him. I snugged him a few nights after I made him, actually. 

And, yes. Without the wispys, he's only about 4 inches tall.

HOW FREAKING ADORABLE IS HE?!

There's an option to knit the eyes, but I had some toy eyes left over from making SIL's Monster Book Of Monsters, so I used them. And you know what? I doubt I'd ever knit the eyes when I make this pattern again.

I figured it out!

Remember that lime green block of knitting I was doing?

If not.

So, I just continued and continued with it, still unknown as to what it was going to be.

It was GOING to be a scarf/cowl type of thing. Like this.

You know, finished, minus the knitting needle, with some cute buttons.

But I decided against it.

This will (soon, hopefully) be a case for my 14" long knitting needles, and I will have to fashion up some polymer clay buttons for it to close. *squeal* I'm excited to pull out my polymer clay again.

Then, I'm going to (hopefully) knit up another one in a different color for my 10" long needles. Then figure out some sort of thing for my DPNs and circulars. 

I'm not sure about knitting a case in the same pattern, though. Because this is kinda time consuming...and a pain.

Fingerless Gloves Bug

You know, I think it's a sickness. I went through making 12+ beanies before deciding I was sick of making them.

The fingerless glove epidemic began after making these hats. And it started with...

Kidlet fingerless gloves. But it didn't stop there. Then, I made the ones for my SIL. And now?

These have plans to be Domo face fingerless gloves. And I can't wait to finish them up.

A gift worthy of the sister-in-law.

I'm DIY-ing a lot of things. Some for the kids, maybe something for me here and there. 

Recently, I'm DIY-ing for my sister-in-law.

If you ask Kyle, I'm very much like every woman in his family. Often, he stops and almost screams at himself in fear and realization. Poor guy. "IT'S TRUE! GUYS MARRY THEIR MOMS!" Heh. ^.^

So, Kyle's family is coming the first week of February for a visit from wayyyy across the USA. We don't see them often, and unfortunately my brother-in-law won't be coming with. So, since they weren't coming for a while, we held off on getting their gifts. Christmas was tough as it is, and we appreciated the extra time we had. So, there's...7 people we still need to get gifts for. 

We have a good idea as to what we're getting them, but it's all pretty much left up to me. Kyle sucks at this stuff. So bad.

For SIL, I made her a pair of fingerless gloves.

This pattern can be found here : Button Flap Fingerless Mitts

Now, my flaps don't currently have the buttons on them. I need to find the buttons that scream to me to attach. I also thing I'm going to track down some pins that she could put on the flap part. Favorite bands, humorous sayings, that type of thing. Or Harry Potter. Because we can't go wrong with Harry Potter. Especially since I made these with the idea of keeping her hands warm while reading.

Do you have that problem, too? Your hands get ice cold while reading? Because mine do, a lot, and it's quite annoying.

I've been planning her birthday gift, too. It'll be late, as her birthday was just a day or two ago, but it's going to be totally awesome.

Also, I got a new signature picture. Bordeom = AWESOME.

What's this? What's this?

I...really don't know.

First off, I got this yarn for Gabe's hat. It's called "Limelight" by "I Love This Yarn!" -- Hobby Lobby. It's 100% acrylic worsted weight yarn. You can't wet block it without any sort of results, so you steam block this yarn. Don't directly apply an iron, because it will burn. Come on, acrylic IS plastic.

Anywho.

It's this gorgeous lime green. After using it for Gabe, I knew I had to figure out something else to make it into.

The pattern for the stitch can be found here.

I cast on 29 sts, always slip the first stitch knitwise, then always purl the last stitch.

It's soft. Not as soft as ewe or alpaca per se, but it's soft for acrylic yarn. If you were to feel it, then feel Red Heart brand, you'd be shocked that they're both acrylic. I really do love this yarn. Hobby Lobby win.

So, I was going to do a scarf, but this pattern is time consuming. It's going to take me forever.

And then I remembered. I don't wear scarves.

So...what do I make this?

Gabey's OWN Dino Hat!

After using him as my model for my other dino hats and having to fight to get the hat back, I was finally able to sit down and knit his!

He was more interested in getting the camera, unfortunately.

Then, it was the phone.

Now, he has no interest in wearing it. Just ripping it off his head.

But I love it. And I love him. And that's all that matters.

Loom Knitting - QUICK REVIEW

First off...

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I also hope you have a wonderful new year!

For Christmas, the kids got a lot of great things. Gabe only got a couple of items, but the girls? They made out like bandits. 

Me? I got the gift of actually having a husband that listens. :)

He made sure to get me knitting needles in sizes that I didn't have, plus Hello Kitty pajama pants that I didn't even ask for. How amazing is he?

He also got me a round loom set by Boye. I've been wanting to try these things for a while, now. 

And as a gift to you, because honestly I can't really hand you a gift, I'm going to do a review on these suckers.

Teehee. Pretty colors. :)

The kit comes with the 4 rings + plastic needle + loom hook. It also has easy to follow directions.

So, I figured I'd start with something simple. I used the blue ring and was going to just make a roll brim hat. 

I started wrapping my yarn around the pegs, as per the directions. Easy peasy.

And then I go to town with the loom hook.

After a few rows, I noticed that my stitches were loose. REALLY loose. I was using the suggested yarn and everything. I'm not sure if it was an issue with me or what, but it wasn't any good. No matter what I did, it was loose. It almost looked like fishnets. You won't stay warm in that, yo.

I also didn't care too much for the idea of not really being able to control the stitch pattern. See, I'm the type of person that searches high and low for new stitch patterns to use, but these looms seem like a one trick pony.

All in all, for the price, they're decent. I think these would be better suited for the girls, but I'm not sure that I'm going to keep the kit. I think I may return it for some new sizes of DPNs or circulars. 

Long story short:

Great for kids (under supervision, because the hook is QUITE pointy), but as an adult knitter, I need more.