#still have 2 full skeins in my stash

[lphaneuf]

This has been almost done for weeks, waiting for me to knit ribbing and sew side seams. Finished just in time for fall.

Tortured myself in sizing but it's good after blocking.

[gaviicreates]

Journeys in Amigurumi (Bingo Roll 1)

Spoiler: This was a challenge!

For my first roll of the bingo card, I got "make an amigurumi" - and as someone who is most comfortable with flat 2D projects with little sewing, I knew this one would really be taking me out of my comfort zone. I'm not happy when I have to sew, and I am incredibly not happy when I have to attempt embroidery.

I may not do a full blog post for each bingo roll, but as this is so completely new to me and a large part of this bingo is the journey, here we go!

For full disclosure, I've made ONE amigurumi project before this, and I haven't picked up the technique once since. So before we dive in - have a quick picture of where I started 12 years ago.

I had to dig some really old photo archives for this one.

This lil' guy was made to be a warbler for my fandom at the time. I am sure he was based off a pattern, but it's unlikely I'll be able to find it now. I also don't think I know where this lil birb is anymore; he's gotten lost in the shuffle of moving a few times since.

Step 1: Research

Research - Before even choosing a pattern to begin this challenge, I wanted to first understand more about amigurumi, so I took to Youtube, which is my usual place to learn all things.

For my intro to amigurumi, I started with a few channels:

LePetitSaint Crochet, especially this Amigurumi fundamentals playlist; olliehollycrochet, especially this beginner tutorial video; For inspiration, I've also found Skein Spider

There are quite a few amigurumi channels out there - these are just a few that I enjoyed across my youtube dashboard.

The next step of research was finding a pattern, and I feel as though this is the part of the rabbit hole I am going to ADORE continuing to explore.

Step 2: Practice

Before I started "the" project, I wanted to first get a sense of the tension and play around with a project. Just something small. In effort to avoid buying more materials, I took to stash busting some of my scrap cotton. For the test piece, I found the pattern Octobuddy by the blog, Sweet Softies.

As someone with already pretty tight tension, working with a smaller hook took some getting used to, but I liked the way this pattern was written - he's an adorable little Octopus, but it also helped me get used to the shaping and stuffing process. I used household cotton balls since poly-fil isn't the type of thing I just have on hand. I did end up buying some for the final project.

This was a good exercise for me, as I started to feel comfortable with the actual crochet and using a tighter gauge. As I was sewing the eyes, I ended up pulling the cotton up or not being able to push the needle through. He was a bit overstuffed, or maybe I tried to assemble out of order, or maybe it's just my lack of sewing experience striking again.

Beyond that, the hardest part was in fact the the embroidery of the eyes, and his are quite... something. I was not originally going for the wink, but as the two sides became less uniform, I decided to lean into it. They still turned out pretty shoddy, and I can NOT stand doing this. I told myself never again, but for another spoiler... I did it again.

My Octobuddy might still be a bit overstuffed, but he's super squishy and relaxing to squeeze, just like a stress ball, the perfect size for my palm. So he's been hanging with me at my work desk.

Step 3: Do the thing

I won't say I was ready for the next thing, per se, but I also wasn't getting anywhere just looking at the cool things that could be made with this technique. So why not jump right in?

For my actual pattern selection, I chose "Hubble" by Projectarian, available on ravelry. I love me an aquatic creature, and it called to me that not only was this pattern free, it also came with a beginner friendly pdf, quick reference, and an entire selection of written tips for the new-to-amigurumi crafter.

Squid time!

Again, I wanted to use up scraps, so my first challenge with this pattern was adjusting it for the yarn weight I had on hand to use. As a result, the eyes were made with a way too tight tension. The pattern called for some crochet for the sleeping pupil lines, but there was no way I was going to get my hook in there. For the second time, I took up a sewing needle and attempted embroidery. This time turned out a bit better than the Octopus. I adore how soft he looks with the brown cotton yarn I decided to use when I couldn't find black.

At some point in attaching the legs and tentacles, I did lose track of where I was - but that was on me since I got lazy with the stitch markers. It was so close to the end, I was able to wing it to decrease the final row and stitch up the center. Before then, I added a bit more poly-fil.

I chose not to add pom-poms at the end of the legs for the same reason as I didn't add tassels to the blanket I made. Being a mom of three dogs makes you super aware of the types of things the furbabies will get into. You should've seen their faces when I brought home the poly-fil.

But I'm ranting away and you haven't even seen him yet!!

Step 4: Finished Object!

Body: Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 - Rosewood, 3.5mm Eyes: Hobbii Rainbow Glitter Gold 8/4 - Natural White, Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 - Light Brown, 2.00mm Legs and Tentacles: Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 - Rosewood, 3.25mm Pattern: Hubble the Squid by Projectarian I call him Hubblet since I made him so small. Sleeeepy squid baby.

Make an Amigurumi✔️

[prettycraft5]

Everything I knit in 2023

This would the final 2023 video on my would-be knitting podcast, but I do not have a knitting podcast so enjoy it on here instead.

I'll go in chronological order since every item is different (there is 1 hat, 1 garment, etc) except for the socks, as I'm delighted to say I knit 4 pairs of!

Keep in my that this is my 3rd year knitting.

Btw, the cost is for the number of skeins I've bought and opened for this project. If I only used half a skein, it will be calculated like a full skein price wise.

Buffalo Rose Beanie by KC Knitting Co

Project on Ravelry. My first stranded colorwork & my first proper hat! I learned a ton of techniques with this, like colorwork and how to construct a basic hat and a new cast on. I did so many swatches before starting this project. I love the rose design but I think my choice of yarn made it a bit squished?

It's slightly too tight and quite too short. The tightness is my own fault (I should have probably used 4 mm needles instead of 3.5 mm), but other people on Ravelry have said that their hat ended up being too short, so I think this might be a problem of the pattern itself. I had to open the top and knit another round of squares and it still doesn't cover my ears (the photo is from before I did this surgery).

Yarn: Mondial Merinos Extra, Mondial Merino Baby

COST: around 15€

USAGE: Not much because of fit issues.

FUTURE: I might knit it again with 4 mm needles & longer but I don't know if it's worth the hassle anyway.

Avo-can-do by handmade by SMINÉ

Project on Ravelry. Used it as a power bank pouch. It served me well over the last year but I've realized that this design with strings is not the best. It doesn't close completely and I'm always scared I'll be losing a phone cable. I remember I didn't do the eyelets for the strings properly either, I should have watched a tutorial.

Yarn: Mondial Merinos Extra

COST: Nothing, from stash.

USAGE: It's been in use for almost 1 year

FUTURE: I'll knit a new version with a different pattern and cotton yarn in 2024.

Cheval qui tien debout | Self-supporting Horse by Kathleen PETTIER

Project on Ravelry. A gift for my sweet little cousin. I was very impressed that I was actually able to pull it off. I used LadyTemeraire notes for this pattern and to her I give my heartfelt thanks. Link on the Ravelry page.

I only have two regrets: I think the back legs are a bit wonky (but nobody is going to notice except for me) and I should have taken the time to make the tail fuller. By that point I was pretty fed up with the project, tho.

Yarn: random yarn I had in stash. I unraveled a scarf and a hat to get the little bits for the rainbow mane, actually.

COST: Nothing, from stash.

USAGE: Dunno. Gift.

FUTURE: Making stuffies is fun and I'd really enjoy making another one for another child.

Nalu Mitts by Leila Raven

Project on Ravelry. A gift. It's a fun project that I would recommend to someone looking for some easy mittens and/or cables. It was fairly quicky to knit up. I did mess up the cables positioning a bit (they are too close to the thumb on one mitten) but oh well. Hopefully my friend won't notice, haha.

Yarn: Mondial Merinos Extra

COST: Nothing, from stash.

USAGE: It was a gift so who knows

FUTURE: I'l probably knit some mittens for myself sooner or later, but not using this pattern because I want fingers.

Step by Step Sweater by Florence Miller

Project on Ravelry. I feel like everyone and their grandmother knit one of these this year. It was an easy pattern, even with the 2 "more difficult" modifications (folded collar and short row shaping). Certainly a good foray into garment-making but it did take me some 5 months to complete it!

I'm proud that after realizing I had chosen the wrong size, I frogged, did the math & casted on the correct size rather than keep going. At the time it made me very cranky but it was necessary.

And now, for the bad. I, once again, used 3.5 mm needles instead of 4 mm. The fabric is way too dense and the yarn (Mondial Merino Plus) is scratchy so I have to wear a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath

I wanted the collar to sit closer to the neck. I don't know if this wasn't the right pattern for that or if it's something I did wrong? But I see lots of sweaters online with this same problem.

The sleeves are too short. It's my fault as I ran out of black yarn so I had to improvise and do some sweater surgery to lengthen the other colours (as I didn't want to spend any more money on this) but they still ended up too short.

Lastly, it gave me clicker thumb and I had to take a month long break from knitting in order to recover so, yeah. Not a really fun knit.

Yarn: Mondial Merino Plus

COST: around 40€, I think

USAGE: only a couple of times but one of the sleeves has kind of started to unravel already in the sweater surgery bit. The yarn is quite scratchy so I have to wear a long-sleeved t-shirt with it.

FUTURE: I think it's fine as it is.

Headband with a twist by Mirella Moments

Project on Ravelry. I wanted a quick way to knit a hat and this seemed like a good choice. It came out pretty well: it fits perfectly and the twist makes it look classy and complicated but was actually so easy to knit. But unfortunately, it's not warm enough for the winter here. I will have to knit an actual hat after all!

Yarn: Mondial Merinos Extra

COST: nothing, yarn from stash.

USAGE: I wore it for a couple of weeks and I immediately got a colt. Sigh. Also, if I wear it for more than 15 min the yarn will start to feel scratchy on my forehead.

FUTURE: Will probably gift it to someone.

The socks

In chronological order, from the top left:

Vanilla Sock with Gusset & Choice of Heel by Jo Torr. My third attempt at sock-making. Yarn: Mondial Kim (6€).

Stolen Bike Socks by Monica S. My pride and joy. Photo taken before I bought sock blockers but really, they are excellent. Yarn: Mondial Kim (from stash).

Simple DK Shortie Socks by Woolfield. A gift that I had to make quickly. The gusset decreases go in the wrong direction but that's ok it became a design feature. Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia (8€).

Togetherness Socks by Little Home Designs. Wonderful stupendous, to die for. My second foray into cables I did have to make the toes a little longer but whatever. Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply (£8.95).

Some conclusions

This year I knit 9 objects: 1 garment, 6 accessories, a random home object and 1 plushie. It's a lot more than I thought!

I think the reason why I felt that I didn't knit much this year was that I didn't focus on what I'm most interested in: sweaters and socks. I'm a product knitter. I knit because I need something. All of these things were useful, but one can never have too many socks and my sweater drawer is pretty miserable.

My 2024 knitting resolution: knit 2 sweaters + finish my Deborah cardigan before summer. Then another sweater in autumn. All the while, I'll be knitting as many socks as possible (not vanilla). I also need to knit a hat and a new power bank pouch, but those two are less urgent. I already have a ton of sock yarn (ok not quite but) and will purchase the other yarn after finishing the previous project.

Also, 3 of my projects were gifts. It's nice to knit gifts, but it takes a bunch of time and my wardrobe stays empty. At the end of the day, I'd rather knit for myself and tick something off my "want" list. No, I don't think that makes me selfish.

2024 resolution n2: No gift knitting at all.

Lastly, I hadn't realized that this year I knit almost entirely with Mondial yarn. Mostly because that's what my LYS carries and because I had it in stash from last year. In retrospect, I really don't like it. I find it scratchy, even the merino. But I do still have a fair bit left so I need to find ways to use it up. Perhaps the Mondial Merinos Extra would make decent socks?

New Year's Resolution part 3: Never buy Mondial yarn again.

Thanks for coming to my written knitting podcast. Here is to another year of crafting!

[blankie-wanky]

ooh I've never made a blanket post (like, I've got too many finished projects to post about and blankets aren't on the top of the list 😅) so woo blanket blog!!

This guy I teeeechnically worked on for 10 years bc I started it back in high school and never finished. I pulled it back out early in quarantine and realized that I had for some reason I had decided to do it in popcorn stitch? And alternately did rows in double and triple chrochet?? And was working end to end rather than inside out???

So I ripped it all out and did a neverending granny square blanket lol.

Buuuut when I was stash searching recently, I realized I've still got another full skein of this yarn lying around that I could add to it. I don't super want to redo the scallop edging though, especially since I played extreme yarn chicken and ended on less than 6" of yarn!

In contrast, this is a blanket I knit up for my mom out of three balls of a nice chunky yarn in about 2/3 weeks last year!

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Original post by: @kelsiekin​

Ooooooooohhhhhhh so COZY.

Congrats on winning your yarn chicken game; that’s a game I always lose and end up having to buy more yarn and then I end up with nearly a whole skein as scrap and then it’s time to start a new project to use up the scrap and then I get to the end and don’t have enough yarn and then - - -

[angelofdirewolves]

Tour de Fleece Day 8

The one with pictures @swords-n-spindles​ ;)

I actually managed to surpass my goals from yesterday, which makes me happy. However, I also forgot to take a picture of my full cotton spindle, so it comes out as a wash. 

I spun my 13th cotton ball, and then used the ball winder to pull the singles off my spindle, because it was getting very full, and because now I can do a fairly simple 2 ply once I finish this half of the cotton balls. Then I spun a cotton ball on the newly empty spindle once again. Today I’m going to match this again, and spin 2 cotton balls.

Gratuitous pic of my pretty pretty yarnbowl, which I am using as a base for my faux supported spindle. 

As for my alpaca, I managed to spin five rolags (instead of four yesterday). The green bin, as you can see, is about 2/3 of the way full still, and the shoe box with teased fiber is overflowing. I don’t think I’ll be carding today because I have a 2 hour exam that I need to take, but I think I can still manage 4 rolags (each rolag takes about ten minutes, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to fit around my day).

The mega alpaca skeins, compared with one of my bubble nebula skeins, which I wound on my 1 yard niddy noddy. You see why I call them mega, especially in comparison. Each mega skein came from one very large spindle.

When I prepped the bubble nebula roving, I split it into four pieces, first lengthwise, and then widthwise, and then split each of those in half, with the intent of plying them together. The roving had a blue grey blue gradient that I wanted to preserve, and in the skein on the right, you can see that. The skein on the left is the one that I plied during the Tour, and you can see that it is very much marled grey. This is because I split the roving by eye, not by weight. All of the other three skeins were decently balanced where some judicious fiddling could preserve the color sequence. This one wound up with one longer and one shorter single that after the first color change, switched colors in opposition. One would be blue, the other grey, and then the grey one would be blue for an inch and then the blue one would be grey. It was very frustrating. But it’ll make a nice accent skein for whatever project I use this up with. 

Finally, at the end of this very long post. I offer you all a question. Do you use old stash first? Or do you use up the things you bought recently? Because I want to add a third project back in rotation, now that the buble nebula is done and now that I’m halfway done with my cotton spinning. I have three choices, two new batts (pictured at the top), and one old braid (pictured at the bottom). They’re all pretty, and all very nice fiber contents. Any thoughts?

(Apologies for glare in this picture, I don’t want to open the batts yet, for fear of mucking with them, so they’re all pictured in their plastic sleeves)

(Also, can you tell I like the color blue?)

[rannadylin]

Ranna’s Guide to Knitting Your Next Sweater

Step 1: Finish a sweater! Otherwise, this would be a guide to knitting your first sweater, and obviously it isn’t *gestures at the title*.

Step 1b-infinity: Seam it. This step somehow always takes the longest, which is why you should have read the pattern more carefully to see how many pieces it was knit in before you started knitting it. Also, sometimes this step does not get finished and we skip to step 4.

Step 2: Block it. 

Step 3: Wear it! Take pictures! Hope it looks good in pictures! Wish it had blocked a little better. Already be thinking about what to knit next...

Step 4: Go through the stack of knitting magazines you hadn’t yet found time to read properly and bookmark the sweaters you thought looked cute and also wearable and also knittable, though this last is debatable.

Step 5: Go to the Stash. Use caution when approaching it, lest you become lost beneath a yarn landslide or something. Sort through the storage containers and/or shelves and/or piles haphazardly arranged throughout the house until you find the bags of sweater-appropriate yarn you bought when there was a great sale years ago.

Step 5b: Count the skeins within each bag and wonder if you were planning on making a vest or possibly a small bag instead of a full sweater when you ordered these?

Step 6: Consult the Bookmarked Patterns again to see their yarn weight and gauge and attempt to match them to bags of sweater-appropriate Stash yarn.

Step 7: Find a calculator. Determine, based on the patterns’ listing of weight and yardage of the recommended yarn, plus the number of skeins called for to make your size (oh yeah, 7b: Find a measuring tape. Attempt to measure your bust. Attempt to figure out how much positive or negative ease this sweater really needs. Attempt to make those numbers fit one of the sizes with four to six inch variations between the options), once again check the number of skeins called for to make your size, do the math and see what yardage and weightage that would take, do the math on the skeins you actually have. Wonder again if the original plan when ordering was a vest? Wonder just how much negative ease you can get away with. Calculate again for the next size or two down in the list. Repeat ad nauseam.

Step 8: Finally find a pattern and a yarn that seem like a match, though alas, it wasn’t the pattern you liked best from that stack of Bookmarked Patterns, nor even the second choice, but it is still in the stack and it is cute so it will do. 

STEP 9, THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP OF ALL: Gauge swatch. Really. I do not do gauge swatches for most knitted patterns, but I have learned my lesson with sweaters. We swatch or we go back to knitting socks.

Step 10: Try a different needle size because the first one definitely didn’t get gauge.

Step 11: Get THE EXACT SAME GAUGE on the next needle size up. Shake your head. Double check the ruler. Sigh. 

Step 12: Go on Ravelry. Do a pattern search for sweaters, in your queue, in the gauge you got regardless of the needle size you used with this yarn that might or might not be enough to make something bigger than a vest. Filter it for the fiber content of the yarn! Filter it for the yardage you actually have! Be amazed when actual sweaters, not just vests, show up in the results.

Step 13: Open all the cutest results in new tabs.

Step 14: Examine the cutest results more closely. Look at finished projects and attempt to determine whether your actual size would look as good as the tiny one shown on the pattern’s model. Do more math to make sure the yardage is still within the skeinage you bought back when you were [obviously] thinking of knitting vests.

Step 15: Having narrowed it down to two or three that could actually work in this yarn at that gauge, check the pattern source. Discover that, while two of them are available for a very reasonable price but one which you have not yet paid, having just queued the cute patterns awaiting the day that the stars all align for yarn and pattern and what you feel like knitting to work together JUST SO, the third one is from a book in your very own library!

Step 16: Approach your knitting book/magazine library. Wonder whether the book you need is in the neatly arranged bookshelf of books you have had for more than a decade, or in the haphazard stack of books mixed with magazines on the nearby table that have not yet been organized into that shelf, primarily because the bookshelf is already full and there is no room for another knitting bookshelf anyway.

Step 17: Peruse the table stacks first. Rediscover so many books you had such fun looking through when you first got them, but you have not yet knit anything from [most of] them! Delightedly discover the book with your chosen pattern in the middle of the stack!

Step 18: Keep looking through the stack anyway because these books are really nice. Finally go away with not just the book in question but a whole stack of old friends to catch up on. Half hope that you won’t find anything even more suitable to that vest-sized bag of yarn, because then you would have to do the math all over again.

So. I think my next sweater might be Victoria, from the Refined Knits book on top, in that shiny green yarn (Sugar Rush, Queensland Collection, Sugar Cane Viscose which is sort of a cottony/rayon-y type of yarn and REALLY SHINY and will be nice for summer wear? and I have 1370 yards of it and my gauge is 24st to 4″). But I will let you know if that changes after I catch up with the rest of that stack. ;-D

[dreamstormdragon]

OC Snippet Tag

Rules of the game: Pick an OC and answer the following 7 Qs!

I got tagged by @theblueskyphoenix

As for an OC… Darnit making me choose between all my babies.

I pick my Spider-Verse OC Athena Parker, because I’ve been wanting to do more with her but am on a bit of a “Don’t do anything new until after nano” so… Yeah.

1. Your OC is at a jazz bar when they see a mysterious, alluring dame being pestered by a joe that just won’t let up. What do they do?

She, really wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place. She was just there to make a trade of goods, with a seller because it was cheaper than shipping.

However, she wasn’t about to sit there and watch that happen. The girl stood up, adjusting her gloves, taking aim.

The guy opened his mouth, for another pickup line, when he was silenced by a glob of web across his mouth. He let out a muffled yell of alarm, as he started looking around, expecting New York’s favorite webslinger to be hanging around the bar somewhere.

Athena tapped the woman’s shoulder gesturing for her to sit next to her.

“Thank you… I have no idea where that came from though.”

She smiled.

“Maybe there’s a friendly neighborhood spider chilling around. Root beer?”

“Please.”

2. The world will be destroyed in three days. What does your OC do with their remaining time?

The world, was going to collapse in three days. No one had expected that blasted device, to be recreated in another universe… Let alone a universe full of danger like no other.

“This is going to be tough.” She remarked, looking down at the ruined city, her hair blowing in the wind.

The man beside her, narrowed his eyes, giving her a nudge.

“You wanna sit and wait for the world to die, or get home in time for dinner?”

Athena smirked, pulling down her mask.

“Let’s stop the zombie apocalypse. I wanna punch zombie you in the face.”  She gave a thumbs up, showing she had a capsule in one hand. “We can make a cure rain right?”

Peter patted her head, before pulling his own mask down.

“Let’s roll.”

3. Your OC spends the night in a haunted house for a bet, only to realize that the rumours might be true… What do they do?

She hummed a little under her breath, her mind trying to block out any of the noises coming from around her.

Yarn over, pull through, yarn over pull through…

The air around her went cold, as something icy grabbed her shoulder.

“I, swear if you interrupt my counting I’m gonna sock you.” She growled, turning as a large misty apparition shrunk down behind the couch. “That’s what I thought!”

“Boss…” A voice whispered. “What do we do? She just gets mad!”

“Take her dang yarn!”

Athena held up a spray mister, meant for plants.

“You touch my yarn, I cleanse you out of this dimension.”

4. A character your OC cares deeply about has just passed away. How do they handle their grief?

She supposed, it was too good to be true. To believe she’d ever have a full and happy family, where no one was going to disappear from her life.

She sobbed harder, burying her face into a bundle in her arms. His spare suit, his mask… It still smelled like the laundry soap he used for it and baby powder.

MJ was downstairs, dealing with the press but Athena… Athena couldn’t go down there. It was just a reminder, that in the end…

 Spider-Man, chose to save her instead of himself.

Dad… Why? Why did you do this to me?

 She sat up, slowly staring down at the mask. No more night time runs in their casual clothes, no more sitting up late watching movies while making jokes.

No more dramatic sighing whenever we go to the craft store…

No more tucking me in at night… No more kissing Mom goodbye before patrol…

“You were supposed to be there for me… I’m not ready for this part…. I’m not ready,...” She growled, her voice shaking as she punched the mask down into her mattress. “You were supposed to give me away at my wedding you jerk!”

She sunk down into her bed, curling up.

“You… You were the only one who got what I’m going through…”

Dad….

Please come back.

Please let this be a bad dream I can wake up from…

I need you… I’m scared.

Daddy, I’m scared…

I’m scared of the dark...

 5. Your OC walks into a coffee shop. What kind of coffee do they order?

Athena hummed a little, strolling into her favorite shop.

“Ah, if it isn’t the weaver!” The barista laughed. “How hard did your dad’s credit card cry this time?”

Athena grinned, holding up a hefty bag from her favorite yarn store.

“Pretty bad. Can I have a mocha frapp with extra java chips, six pumps of vanilla and caramel?” She asked.

The barista winced.

“Oh… Oh, you are terrible. You want actual coffee in that?”

Athena stuck her tongue out.

“Nope. Give me my overly sugary drink fix please!”

6. Your OC finds themselves in a financial pinch - they need money, and fast. Who do they go to or what do they do to get the dough?

Athena sighed heavily, looking up from her laptop, to the people across the room. Her mother met her eyes, as she shook her head getting up quickly. She wanted no part of this upcoming war.

“Daaaad.” She called, in the most sugary sweet voice she could manage. “How much do you love me?”

Peter didn’t look up from the report he was typing up for the Bugle. “How much is this gonna cost me?”

“Just… a hundred and fifty…”

“For what?”

“Freshly dyed, baby alpaca yarn… and angora in some beautiful shades.” She batted her eyes, trying to get him to look her in the eyes. “I promise, I won’t ask for anything else!”

“Athena… I’m gonna teach you a lesson my aunt May taught me.” Peter looked up at her with a stern look. “I’m not made of money. I’ll drop cash gladly on your yarn that doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg but if you want that really fancy crap, either wait until the holidays or your birthday. Or find a way around it. But I am not dropping that much on new yarn, when you have tons of it upstairs.”

Athena sighed heavily, looking down at the skeins she oh so desperately wanted. She already could imagine the sweaters and shawls she could create from them.

Then… she got an idea… Athena looked up at him, giving another innocent look.

“Dad? Can I have an etsy store?”

“By all means, if it gets rid of the yarn you’re stashing in my spider shed go for it.”

A few days later, Athena was listing batches of Spider-Man related memorabilia on her new etsy store, from jackets to order by commission, to premade little plushies of the famous webslinger… and a few of her own persona.

“You think people really are gonna buy Arachne stuff?” She fidgeted, looking at the tiny plushie in her hands, that resembled her costume.

Peter patted her head, taking it and slipping her a twenty. She looked up at him in surprise.

“I know at least one person who will.” He winked, giving her a grin. “I think I’ll make her my little desk guardian at work.”

Athena giggled, hugging him tightly.

“Love you Dad.”

“Love you too Weaver.”

7.  Your OC somehow obtains the ability to time travel. Where do they go, and what do they do?

She was going to stop this. She had been so determined to stop it… she didn’t think about what would happen when she did. She saw her younger self, milling around a shop room, singing under her breath.

Before she had been bitten by a radioactive spider, dropped into her dimension… while it sucked her newly divorced future parent into another.

She had been intending to jump back, to stop the divorce from happening in the first place… but it made her pause.

Her younger self, had been so alone… She had her group home, yes. Her fiber art club at school.

But years of accumulating skills, taught to her by people who had said “we promise this is the last home.” Had hurt…

Arachne stared at Athena, spotting a familiar bright green, blue and black spider crawling along the wall.

Soon, I’m gonna get bit… Then in a few months, Mom and Dad are gonna drop in on my life...

Gosh and I was gonna mess up a good thing I had…

I love my parents… but I know if I stop that, then I stop this.

Then I stop my family from existing…

So, she turned away. She jumped back to her own time, throwing away the device that was letting her make the jumps. Trading her costume, for her favorite dress and jacket, bolting down the streets towards home.

Home, with her room that had the special shelves, just for her ever growing collections of yarn and thread.

Home, with the old school sewing machine her aunt May had left to MJ when she passed.

Home, with her weaving loom and her knitting needles and crochet hooks…

Home…

With her parents.

ooooo

Aaaaahhhh this was fun, to explore Athena a little bit, since I do wanna do more for my spider gal. For now… This shall be it. This was fun!

Let’s see…

I taaaaag….

No one. >83

[awkwardkrafts-blog]

EXPRESSION FIBER ARTS YARN CLUB MARCH 2017

I haven’t been able to find anyone reviewing or posting the monthly yarn club limited edition skeins from Expression Fiber Arts so I’ve decided to start posting them here.

But first a little introduction… I’m really new to knitting but I’m absolutely in love with this company and I feel like I can relate a lot to the founder, Chandi, and how she took up knitting in her late 20s during a bad time in her life and it really helped her get through it. - I’m 27 and currently not working due to a back injury and suffering from pretty bad depression. I’m certainly a lot better than I was last fall, thanks to antidepressants, rest, the loss of an abusive friend and the acquisition of a very loving and kind boyfriend. Sadly all of that isn’t enough though. I used to be an artist and I’ve always felt like I need to be making things so what better time to be doing it than while I’m virtually trapped at home with nothing to do and running out of tv shows fast? So here I am, I started with “friendship” bracelets that I decided to make friends and such for valentines day, then dabbled a bit in embroidery, then started attempting to knit after a trip to the craft store to get more embroidery floss and I kept looking over my shoulder at the yarn section feeling like maybe I should try that too and after going home and watching some how-to videos on knitting (which included Chandi’s oh-so-very cringably dorky intro to knitting) I gave in to the call, bought some yarn and started up! I read more and started looking for better yarn to try because what I had was cheap and a little hard to work with. I remembered Chandi talking about the yarn she uses in her video so I clicked her link and lo and behold I found the most beautiful yarns I’ve ever seen. So now I have a stash of some fantastic squishies and more coming and I’m finally working on my first full project, which is just a scarf but I decided to make it of my own design and not someone elses, much less something so basic as just a stockinette stitch… we’ll see how that turns out.

ANYWAY the Expression Fiber Arts Yarn Club is sort of like a monthly subscription box sans subscription and you have 4 choices every month from a selection of themed pictures that the yarns will be based off of. This months theme was BIRDS! - Green Honeycreeper - Ruby Throated Hummingbird - Quetzal - Scarlet Macaw

I opted out of the macaw because I wasn’t feeling the rainbow at the time and I now regret it and the Quetzal was already sold out and my heart is still broken over it :( I ordered 2 each of the honeycreeper and the hummingbird and I have to say I’m in love with the honeycreeper. It is gorgeous!!! Just look at how the blues and greens melt into each other. Lovely ♡♡♡ The humming bird is very springy, and while I’m not as head over heals for it as I am the honeycreeper, I still look forward to making something nice with it :)

The yarn used this month for all the colors is a yak silk lace weight and the goodies that came with them are a pack of pastel stitchmarkers (which I really need for that scarf - Thank You Chandi!!!) And a measuring tape, both of which I recieved 4 each of, because I ordered 4 skeins altogether.

There are also recommended patterns each month, one for crochet and one for knitting. Crochet Pattern: Apple Blossom Stole by Kai Rochford nee Mistry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/apple-blossom-stole Knitting Pattern: Wirbel by Sue Berg http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wirbel

And lastly I recieved a coupon for 2$ off each item in one order

Next Months Theme: FLOWERS! Go check out the inspiration pictures Here: http://www.expressionfiberarts.com/categories/yarn-club.html

I’ll post pictures of the April Yarn Club on May 1st as Chandi requests nobody spoil the surprise for anyone who hasn’t gotten theres yet.

The yarn base for Aprils club colors will be Alpaca Silk DK which should be a good medium weight yarn for beginners (and also feels amazing from that 50% silk) so if you want to learn to knit, order a skein or 2 and watch these beginner videos by Chandi while you wait for your yarn to arrive! Absolute Beginner: https://youtu.be/ONVQCK_-rKc Purling: https://youtu.be/2UJcXclkbvg

(Yes, they are a bit cringey but she’s a really good teacher)

[trnchd]

Made | My Journey Into Socks Part 2

In the last post I wrote, I was barely scratching the surface into sock knitting. I had learned so much in knitting two pairs of socks.

Most patterns are written either cuff-down or toe-up, the bulk of them in the former. This may be great for most, but I get an uneasy feeling knowing I may not have enough yarn to complete the toe. I always pick patterns that ‘require’ more yarn than what I have available so I rather have a shorter leg than having toe-less socks. Designers write patterns using a specific yarn and use that yarn’s yardage as the amount needed to complete the pattern whether it’s a sweater, scarf, socks, wtc. Usually people don’t need that much yarn, but it’s better to overestimate than under and have some leftover for darning and mending. Regardless, I always end up converting socks from cuff-down to toe-up.

Thraw by Clare Devine became my third pair of socks, made from Mrs. Crosby Train Case in a gorgeous raspberry tonal color Hollywood Cerise. I enjoyed working with this yarn, but I feel it doesn’t live up to the hype (it’s also the same base as Lorna’s Laces Solemate). It’s made with 30% Outlast, a rayon that’s supposed to regulate tempature but I didn’t feel any difference. In fact, these were the first pair of socks that made itself a hole :gasp:. I can’t blame the yarn, my feet weren’t in the greatest condition when I discovered the hole, but it’s the only pair I’ve seen a hole so it makes me suspicious.

The pattern itself is gorgeous and the yarn perfectly complements it. I absolutely love the cable and leg lace details on one side and mirrored to match. Converting the pattern to toe-up wasn’t so easy though. Because the cables and lace were charted for a specific length and were located in the middle of my magic loop, I had to do a lot of shifting, recalculating and reversing the charts. In the end, these turned out beautifully, definitely the best looking pair of socks to date. Ravelry notes.

After Thraw, I started to discover I didn’t like the basic trapezoidal shape for my toes. It didn’t look right and it wasn’t fitting my toes correctly, I have a longer 2nd toe on both feet, my mother calls it my ‘alien’ toe, ha ha. I did a little research and came across a method for a more rounded toe and it’s now been the only toe I’ve made since. At the same time, I decided I needed to experiment with other heels. There’s nothing wrong with the heel flap varieties, I personally don’t like the look of them and they were going to ruin the appearance of my next socks.

I can’t remember where I discovered this yarn by Turtlepurl, probably on Instagram when I used to check it everyday, 2-3 times a day... Anyways, I saw Striped Turtle Toes in Trenchcoat that looked like the traditional Burberry checks, except in stripes. I immediately fell in love and needed to get my hands on this. Trouble was they were always sold out, and I wasn’t exactly thrilled with having to pay $30 for yarn shipped from Canada. I eventually threw in the towel and ordered the yarn when I saw my opportunity and didn’t turn back.

You may have noticed up to this point, I’ve only knitted more difficult patterns that a novice wouldn’t dare touching until more experienced. That’s not my MO; I’ve always tackled more interesting patterns/projects first, then work my way backwards, learning as I go. When I first started sewing, I was told by countless people that I should start with pillowcases and stitching across lined paper to learn how to sew in a straight line. Nope, I started with a jersey knit dress and melton wool coat. The dress wasn’t a complete disaster, the grains were in different directions, I used a woven fabric for the waistband and all my seams were disgusting. But it was a completed, mostly wearable dress except it made me look pregnant (it was one of those bad designs), so I only wore it around the house. The coat I finally threw away knowing it was never going to be completed. It has so many problems and looked far to regal for my taste. It was one of those ‘what was I thinking’ moments in royal purple and a shawl type collar, just no.

Anyways, because I didn’t want to distract away from the self-striping, I decided this was going to be my first vanilla sock with an afterthought heel. I think the reason why I stay away from the basic patterns is they’re boring. It’s a nice change to knit TV projects, those that don’t require a lot of attention and can be done while watching a TV show or movie, but my brain gets bored of them. Because I wanted the striping to end right before I knit the heel, these socks are a little too long in the foot. There wasn’t a way to prevent this other than reknit the whole sock, but I can live with my small mistake. Like I’ve said, this is a learning process. Regardless, they turned out exactly as I wanted them to and they’ve worn wonderfully so far without issues. The color is starting to fade a bit after machine washing them a few times, but that’s to be expected with hand dyed yarns.

After finishing those, I took a break from socks and knitted sweaters for a change. At the time I had three skeins of sock yarn left and I didn’t have a plan for them. A skein of a cashmere blend, by far the softest sock yarn I’ve touched so far (until I bought more, see below). My only skein of 100% superwash merino, a rare oddity because I’ve always made it a priority to have some nylon for strength and durability. And a skein of white, grey and black marl, my unicorn.

For the longest time I’ve wanted black and white marl socks. I don’t know why, a small rustic side of me had dreamed of them, searching high and low for the right yarn and always coming up empty. Then one day I randomly spotted the yarn I’d longingly desired after it’d been discontinued and I thought I’d never obtain. I fell so hard in love that I went back after the yarn was discounted even more and bought everything this store had because I wanted a classic baseball raglan sweater knitted with the same marl with black sleeves. Here’s the kicker, it’s Cascade Heritage Quatro in Pepper (no link, it's been discontinued). Wait, WHAT??? How could I go back to this yarn after it ruined my first sock experience? The Quatro line was spun in Peru before Cascade moved most of their operations to China, which means this yarn lives up to the previous hype that made me want to knit it in the first place. I could tell the difference between the two, the Peru one was spun tighter, making it a tad less soft, but less likely to pill, and it’s held up after going through the washer once.

I didn’t want anything flashy, but I didn’t want a completely vanilla pair, so I added a touch of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in charcoal for a slight hand dyed effect. In hindsight, I should’ve gone with a darker or solid black, but Tanis was another highly recommended dyer that I wanted to try (I wasn’t super impressed). One thing I did differently was knit these on smaller needles for a tighter fit. All the socks I knitted thus far were a little too big, especially after wearing them for a day. I made the mistake of knitting these a tad too short in the foot, oh well, I’m still learning. Ravelry notes.

Soooo... I have a small confession. I’ve become obsessed with sock yarn. I’ve become that person I thought I’d never become. They’ve become my drug. Lately I haven’t been able to help myself. I’ve seen too many extremely great deals on Ravelry from both stores and people trying to destash. How can I pass up some of these beautiful colors for a lot less than I would pay retail, most of them 50% off including shipping? Just take my money. I don’t want to know how many skeins I’ve added to my stash, the above picture is a small amount, but I know I have enough to wear a different pair everyday or more. Imagine a 70 qt. storage box neatly organized, almost full of just sock yarn. I’ll admit I have a problem, but I buy these knowing either I’ll knit, weave or sell them, knowing I can’t buy socks in a store. It’s not entirely about the colors or patterns, it’s about knowing my and/or someone else’s feet will be warm and comfy. Yep, some of it's already planned as Christmas presents for others (I shudder at that time of year thought in April).

Since I’ve acquired all this yarn, I’ve made myself a goal, knit at least one pair for myself per month. This includes the summer months because they don’t make my hands and lap extremely hot as a bigger garment would. So far I’ve held to my word. Because socks are a smaller project taking less time than a sweater, I feel more accomplished faster, therefore the rewarding factor is more satisfying. I don’t know if I’ll feature all of my socks on the blog, but I’ll definitely share the more special ones. The rest will go on the social media accounts so be sure to follow for the continuing journey into sock knitting.

[wulfiesessentials]

The Caribbean Ruana

If you haven’t seen or heard yet.. Red Heart Yarns has some new yarns!!!! I had received a email a week or so back from Red Heart introducing the new yarns & a SALE!!! So… me being the yarn hoarder I am, I bought a couple skeins of each to try.

Red Heart has been around for as long as I can remember. It was the first yarn I had ever used. If your a yarn addicted like myself, I’d recommend reading the history of this Company. There’s some pretty interesting facts and I was pleasantly surprised to have found out, and understood why it was my Grandmothers favorite after I read the history and found out they are part of Coats & Clark, which comes from Scotland 😉

I know alot of experienced Knitters & Crocheter’s that Cringe when you mention Red Heart yarn. The first thing that goes threw their mind is.. Scratchy. Red Heart has come along way and has many yarns with many degree’s of softness. Super Saver, being the cheapest, In my mind has come along way though. It does not feel as stiff and “scratchy” as it used to. You will run into a skein here and there that doesn’t feel that pleasing to the touch BUT don’t let that deter you from purchasing because there is a very simple and easy trick to make that yarn feel just as soft as a baby’s bottom 😉 haha

Your gonna go to the local Dollar store and buy yourself a bottle of hair conditioner. Basic, not fancy, not fragrant, just cheap plain hair conditioner. You can either do this prior to making your item or after. If your making several, I would wait til your done making them.. then do this trick. Depending on how large your item is you can either do it in the tub or sink. Fill the sink with just enough warm water to cover the items. Then you will squeeze in about 2 – 3 handfuls ( depending on the size of your hand) into the sink. Now gently knead your item in the water.. squeezing out the water then dunking it again a couple time… Leave the items in the mixture for atleast 20 mins. Drain the sink, then rinse your items with cold water, lay out flat to dry or block your item at this time if need be. When Items dry’s you will have Softer yarn!! 🙂

Now that you have no excuse to not use Super Saver lol I’m going to talk about The New Super Saver Ombre yarns….

I have tried Caron Cakes & Mandala so when I saw the Ombre I did a little dancing jig in my chair!!! I was not pleased with Caron Cakes  but I was impressed with Mandala. Eagerly wanting to try Ombre I went threw my pattern stash before the yarn arrived I was not going to mess with making my own design for 2 reasons.

1.) I was only purchasing 2 skiens, Scuba & Anthracite. These skeins are decent sized 10 oz (283 g) Yardage 482 yds (440 m) but I wanted to make sure I made something that was going to use just one full skein. 

2.) I wanted something that was going to show off the colors of these yarns. After being disappointed with my pattern stash, I went to Red Hearts website and started looking at their patterns. I saw the Ruana but the Ruana is more of a Fall/ Winter items so I did alittle of my own tweaking and came up with a Ruana that was more open and flowing along with being a bit shorter. Something that was going to work great for the summer breeze’s & nights.

As I worked this yarn.. I was noticing soo many neat little aspects about it. Ombre is a #4 weight yarn so even though I used a 9mm ( recommended is 5.5mm) it was still working up great with the colors. The color gradient is smooth & almost unnoticeable as your working. It is kinda hard to see in the photo’s, even though I tried 20 million lighting options .. grrr… to see it but it kinda has a “frosted” type look to it… And…

JUST LOOK AT THAT COLOR!!!!!! ❤ ❤

This is definitely going on my “Yarn Stash” list of must keep handy at all times.!! I have already started on the Anthracite skein. Kinda just flying by the seat of my pants on this one.. It will most probably end up being some type of wearable cardi, cocoon, poncho thing hahaha

Comparison

Since I have only used 2 other brands of “gradient” type yarns. This isn’t a huge comparison list…

Caron Cakes VS Ombre… To me, There is none. Caron Cakes does not meet my guidelines of “gradient” yarn. Ombre was far more superior. I found so many issues with the Cakes. I would direct you to a review I had done but when I decided to get a domain and tried to transfer my posts from the other site.. well it got eaten by the big transfer monster 😉

Lion Brands Mandala VS Ombre… This was going to be tough for me TIL I realized a important factor between these two yarns. As stated above Ombre is a weight #4. Mandala is a weight #3!!! As both have a flawless blend of color changes I was torn between which I loved better 😉 Seeing as how they are different weights this made it possible to love both. Mandala is a bit softer than Ombre but both were pretty dang equal with each other.

SUMMARY

Super Saver Ombre….

Comes in 12 colors – Is a weight #4 yarn – Skeins are a good size – Gradient is smooth & flawless. As in most all super saver skeins I have purchased in the past, there was no frayed sections, knots, etc while working with this yarn…. No surprises.

The only way to get your hands on this new Ombre is from Redheart.com   or

A.C Moore Arts & Crafts store. As far as I could figure out.. A.C Moore is a East Coast craft store. I never recalled hearing or seeing one back home on the West Coast.

I’m hoping they will release it at other stores as time goes on.

Have A Wonderful Holiday Weekend!!! 🙂

I am NOT affiliated with anyone mentioned in this post. Any &/or all opinions are solely my own, I do not get paid to write reviews.

Redheart’s Ombre Yarn Review The Caribbean Ruana If you haven't seen or heard yet.. Red Heart Yarns has some new yarns!!!!