The Vortex Shawl

I finally finished my first shawl, it took awhile, mainly due to my knitting ADD. I had gotten this really nice Blue Heron Yarn from my local yarn store.

I had tried to make a sweater with it but I didn't like it and ended up ripping it out. Then I thought of making a shawl but my first attempt ended up being a small lap sized square that couldn't even be passed off as a scarf. So I proceeded to rip it out again. I finally decided to look up a pattern (something I should have done in the first place) and I finally found this gem on ravelry. It is the Vortex Shawl. It was easy and fun to work on. I took it with me everywhere, I didn't have to pay close attention to the pattern since it repeats itself constantly. I eventually ran out of the beautiful blue yarn and had to run to the yarn store to get more. Since they did not have the same color I got a variegated fiber from the same company that had the same blue in it. It is now finished and I am so pleased with it. This was a fun project!!!

Knitting a Hat 101

Time to learn to knit a hat!!!! Knitting a hat has different techniques because hats are knit in the round. First we need to learn how to join our yarn in the round. To start we need circular needles (a cable of smaller than 16inches) you also need the yarn you would like to use. Also if you don't already have one get  stitch markers. There are many different types but anything similar to these will work.

Alright now it is time to learn to knit in the round. Before you attempt your hat just master knitting in the round. 

After you are comfortable doing this you want to find a easy hat pattern online. We can use this one for example. The only other new technique you need to learn is decrease. 

Know you know everything you need to know to make a hat. Eventually you will be able to make fancier hats, with different size needles and different yarns. Share your first hats with me by commenting below! And remember to always have fun.

Happy Knitting!!!!

Breakout Designer Moment and Announcement

I have typically used patterns for all of my projects. Occasionally I will see something or see a pattern and try to mimic it the best I can. Most of the time everything works out perfectly, every once and awhile things do not work out. I have been playing around with making my own projects, my own patterns, things I have seen in other patterns and can change to do something else. Well this entire week I have had this idea haunting me. I just needed to get it out of my system, see it in real life. So today for the first time I sat down started knitting and kept going until I finished the project. Took me a few hours and so far it is AMAZING.

So with out further ado I announce that my new line of beanies will start being sold on my Etsy Shop today!!! You get to choose the main color and the bow color. Plus I will size it to the measurements you provide!

 Have you had a breakout designer moment? How about an idea for a knitting project that you just started knitting and it turned out? Share your stories in the comments!!!

Happy Knitting!!!!!!!

Knitting 101- Part 2

Now that we have the cast on and knit stitch you are ready to learn to purl. Purling again has two styles: Continental and English so depending on which knitting style you chose from my last posting you will want to watch the same style for purling.

This will set you up nicely to knit your first project, I recommend your first project to be a scarf. Cast on how ever many stitches you you think you would like and start knitting. The important thing to remember this is your first project, it is not going to be perfect but when you finish it, you will feel so proud of yourself. 

There are two more things to keep in mind for your first project, you want to decide on Garter Stitch or Stockinette Stitch.  Garter stitch is when you knit every row (easy to do) it will look like this on the front and back: 

Stockinette Stitch is a little different, you will knit one row, then the next row purl, then knit, then purl ect... to get what looks like this (this style has a right side and a wrong side) :

If you get frustrated or tired just finish the row you are on and put it down. That is the beauty in knitting, you can set them down and come back to them later. 

The next knitting lesson posts will be on increases and decreases. Let me know in the comments below if there is any other topics you would like me to cover. Also post pictures of your works in progresses (WIPs). 

Happy Knitting!!!! 

Arm Knitting

I was on Pinterest over the weekend when I stumbled upon this post. It caught my eye because it was a bulky yarn Infinity scarf. Those are my favorite, mainly because they take no time at all to make and they still look amazing. Well once I read more into this post I was super excited. Basically you use two balls of super bulky yarn like this:

Any color will do but I choose Sky Blue. This happened mainly because I did not want white since it stains so easy and black was to dark (most of my clothes are black), and my have a lot of pink as well so blue it was.

After you have picked your yarn you get to knit the scarf with your arms as your needles. I am not joking. This is the best thing ever. The tutorial on how to knit with your arms is here.

And here is the finished product:

Happy Knitting !! 

Mustache Time!!!

I spent the majority of the day on Ravelry. Which for you knitters out there who don't know what I am talking about go find the website and join. NOW.  Any who I found this awesome pattern that took me half an hour to do just a small project. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/its-a-moustache-for-your-fingers