Craft in Style

Knitting Addiction!

Ok, so I admit, I must be addicted to knitting, or at least to the process of finding projects to make and buying yarn. I've only been knitting for a month or two at most, and I've already put 14 projects on Ravelry (4 in progress at the same time), with 25 different types of yarn in my stash (some partially used), and almost 200 patterns that I have tagged as favorites, with 41 projects in queue in Ravelry. If this is not a testament to my quickly growing addition, today I purchased a whole bunch of yarn online at Webs and Yarn and Fiber for future projects, and some because they were on sale. With all the growing number of projects, finding deals on yarn is paramount! Since my first yarn purchase at Yarn and Fiber, I've received a coupon in the mail. With the economy as it is these days, I'm sure you'll find lots of coupons and deals too! What I love about the Yarn and Fiber site is that they have free shipping, if you don't mind waiting 7-21 days for your delivery. Since my projects are future projects and I have enough yarn stash to keep me going for awhile, that was no problem for me.

If you're interested in buying yarn at www.yarnandfiber.com, here are a few coupon codes that are valid this hoiday season. Coupons expire on 1/14/09.

$5 off purchase of $50 or more: XCH4VC
$10 off purchase of $100 or more:  WL7NTL

So, another thing that really shows my quickly growing affinity towards all things knitting is the fact that I purchased a yarn winder. After my excursion to Knitty City in NY, I had a whole bunch of yarn that I wasn't able to wind there before I left since they were closing. And since I was from out of town, I wouldn't be able to go back there to wind the yarn myself anytime soon. And after a bit of contemplation, I thought it wouldn't be polite to bring in yarn purchased at a different store into a local yarn shop and ask them to wind it for me. Since I knew this passion wasn't going to die anytime soon, I decided to invest in my own yarn winder. It just came in the mail recently and I finally set it up in my home office. It is so much fun and gratifying to know I can wind my own yarn. Such simple pleasure bring me great joy. Please excuse my messy desk...lots of receipts and things still to be filed.

I found this yarn ball winder on Joann.com and used a coupon to purchase it.

I'm taking it one step further... are you ready for this one? Today, after much contemplation, I decided to also buy a knitting machine. I know, the whole point of knitting is to knit things by hand, but I want to use this for the simple projects where I need to knit scarves or baby blankets with simple patterns. I'm finding that I want to knit so many gifts for people, but there's no way that I could possibly knit all those gifts and knit all my new projects too. At this rate, it would take me my entire life to knit all the projects I have on my favorites and queue on Ravelry. So, where I can, I'd like to shorten the time frame to completion.

The reviews for the knitting machine said that the machine is cheaply made with cheap plastic and that you need to take the time to really learn how to use it before it will be of value to you, but once you learn how to use it and have the patience to move slowly to prevent from dropping stitches, that it's been very helpful. I don't think I'm ready for a real commercial knitting machine yet (although that sounds exciting), so I decided to purchase this one anyway because it's the only alternative I've seen out there. I purchased the Ultimate Sweater Machine on Joann.com again. It was on sale and I was able to get free shipping.

Here's the Joann promo code if you plan on buying over $35 on joann.com before 1/3/09:
EAD003

There is also a Deluxe version of the sweater machine. It looks like it is the same machine with a few add-ons, an extender (for longer blankets or larger sweaters) and a row counter. I didn't see anything else that was different.

Stay tuned for my first experiment with the knitting machine when it arrives!

Cute Notions Bag

I love this little notions bag. I bought it on Etsy from a crafter in London. I ordered some knitting needle cases from other people, but was a bit disappointed by the actual product, but this one is great. I use it all the time and it's handy to carry my crochet hooks, needles, and markers. I love the fabric pattern.

I am planning on creating an etsy store for my future knitting and sewing products: craftinstyle.etsy.com. I currently have an etsy store that sells bath salts, called whitelilyorganics. If you are interested in detox bath salts, take a peek.

Cable Scarf Finished!

I finished this scarf several days ago, but didn't get a chance to post the final images until now. I made this for a friend of mine for her birthday, so hopefully she'll like it! This is the Palindrome Reversible Cable Scarf.

   

Next time I make this scarf, I think I will try to make it out of baby alpaca or wool. I used acrylic for this one and it really was hard on my hands trying to twist the cables in the pattern. I really like the color of the scarf, though! It'll match any colored coat.

While I was knitting this scarf in Brazil (family vacation), I also enjoyed some cappucino. What a way to enjoy the afternoon.

My First Pattern Contribution

I created my very first pattern of the men's ribbed scarf I made a couple of weeks ago. Here is a link to the pattern on ravelry: Men's Ribbed Scarf with Accent Stripes.

You can also see it as one of the pages in this blog by clicking here. There is a pdf version of the pattern you can download there.

Cable Scarf Update

It turned out the Irish Hiking Scarf is not reversible. The wrong side looks very strange, so I've decided to abandon that project and start an identical scarf that is reversible. It is called the Palindrome: A Reversible Scarf. The pattern is free, so you can join along too!

Next Project: The Cable Scarf

I'm learning to create cables through the Irish Hiking Reversible Cable Scarf. This is the beginning of the new scarf.

It looks like there's an Irish Hiking Scarf Knit Along. It's always fun to see what others' projects look like. There's a whole bunch on Ravelry too.

This pattern is truly gorgeous. The blue knit scarf on the pattern does not do it justice. I don't know if I really would have tried this one if it weren't for my co-worker wearing the one she made. That's how I discovered this pattern. I hope you like it too. If you complete an Irish Hiking Scarf, please share your pictures or posts by leaving a link in the comments.

Finished Lace Scarf and Baby Booties!

The lace scarf is finished! It turned out really nicely and is a very easy project for anyone interested in learning how to knit lace. Here's the original pattern and final scarf.

I also finished the Cute-as-can-be baby booties from the Knit Knack Kit. 

This is what the original pattern looks like.

And here are the final baby booties! The yarn is a bit scratchy, so I'll probably make a new pair before giving it away as a gift to an expecting mommy.

Cute Sweater Patterns

I found the cutest sweaters that I hope to make in the future. Since the images may be copyrighted, I don't have them posted here, but you can see them here:

• Chic Cables and Lace Cowl Neck Sweater Pattern from SweaterBabe.com, a new site I discovered through an ad from Ravelry.

• Cables and Lace Kimono Wrap Cardigan, also from SweaterBabe.

• Drops jacket with A-shape, a FREE pattern from Garn Studio & Drops Design. 

My First Lace Scarf

The first lace scarf I attempted to do was a free Feather and Fan Lace scarf pattern I received from the knitting store, Nina. I saw it on display there and it looked so nice that I purchased the exact same yarn to make it. The yarn is Suri Merino from Blue Sky Alpacas in the Fog 413 color. It's very soft. The pattern was very easy, even though the final result looks more complicated.

Here is the beginning of the Lace Scarf. It looks much better live than it does in this picture. I ran out of yarn about 2/3 of the way, so I'll have to purchase another ball to finish it.

Baby Booties!!

The instructions for baby booties were long, and I thought I might get stuck with no one to help me, but surprisingly the instructions were pretty straightforward. For someone who's never read a pattern before, this was quite an accomplishment for me to have finished a bootie! And, I actually made two different ones! Here is my work in progress:

I-Cord Boogie Baby Bootie:

Cute-as-Can-Be Baby Booties from the book, Knit Knack Kit: