The French Press Cozy knitting came about because I was committing a major knitter’s faux pas: using my hot water bottle cozy AS a wrapper for the coffee, indicating that there was a dire shortage of appropriate cozies in my household. Thankfully, the hot water bottle is now comfortably back in its own jacket:

This knitting-for-household-items crisis led me to look back at the other inanimate objects I have knitted for. A teapot cozy for a friend of mine, shown here being modeled by a bookend and three rubber stamps, awaiting its journey to its final cozying assignment:

A mug that had a hard time keeping its temperature up in a sometimes-chilly warehouse work environment:

I know there have been at least 2 iphone covers also knitted, but they’re no longer in use and I apparently never got bloggy pictures of them. Apparently the tech gadgets around here are more worried about looking sleek than staying warm- I swear they are going to catch a cold without their sweaters on, but hey- no one every listens to me!

I have this beautiful yarn bowl made by my friend Kirsten of Long Dog Yarns, but the slot in it was pretty wide, so that the fingering- or laceweight yarns I favor would easily escape the orifice when I would pull to draw out more yarn. A little bit of sugru means that the bowl is now more customized for my own yarn tastes and projects… since yarn is squishy and hardened sugru has a little bit of give to it, I’ll still be able to squeeze any yarn through the slot, but now they’ll be a lot more likely to stay in place when I pull, and the yarn will keep feeding nicely out of the hole in the bowl, the way they’re supposed to. I already know I’ll get more use out of my yarn bowl this way, which is part of the point of sugru. Why buy new things when your existing stuff can be made better and more useful?

This second sugru project is another version of the same concept… customizing my crafty tools to make them more useful to me. I totally fell for this Fiskar’s model when I was in the market for a craft knife- it might have been the bright orange color that I love, or just the promise of a more ergonomic knife handle, but I bought the “finger” knife instead of the regular cylinder handled ones. This was kind of one of those better in concept than in practice designs… using the knife on the end of my index finger is great, but the backs of the handle dig uncomfortably into the top of your finger if you have to apply any significant amount of cutting pressure.

Enter sugru! I used the squishy clay to add padding to the parts of the handle that were uncomfortable, and the wide pad of sugru helps distribute the pressure over a larger area, making the strain less acute. The leverage of the knife still requires using pressure on the back of the finger, but now it’s just useful pressure and not two plastic prongs digging unforgivingly into my flesh. This sugru hack is more about quality than quantity in making my stuff better. With the yarn bowl, I know that I’ll use it more often now with the repaired design, but with the knife, I imagine I’ll use it the same amount, for the same craft tasks I used to, but the uses will be much more enjoyable now! Isn’t sugru neat? I’ve already started a list of things to hack next time I open a package… probably more crafty things, knowing me! My spinning wheel is next.

The pattern is Verdaia, found only on Ravelry here. The yarn is Sundara Silky Merino (fingering weight version) in Cobalt over Mediterranean. I hadn’t worked with this yarn before, but I will be on the lookout for an opportunity to do so again! It was delightful. The beads in this shawl are my own addition, 6/0 silvered glass applied with the crochet hook method, inspired when I browsed some of the other Verdaia’s on Ravelry. I really liked the ones like this where the beads stood out in high-contrast, so I went looking for a bead choice that would really show up well. I think I definitely achieved that!

I like the idea of adding beads to patterns that don’t ordinarily indicate them (like I did for Ishbel). I’m not sure I have the patience for an entirely beaded piece… sitting with an open container of beads for too long is just asking for spilling trouble in my house! But just a few sections of beads is the right amount of beadwork for me, and some of the popular small-shawl designs seam to lend themselves nicely to beaded highlights. The other thing I like about beading a shawl’s edge is looking forward to it… for neck-down shawls, the end sections can seem to take forever, and having the beads to look forward to helps me get through those long rows.

But all of a sudden, it looks more like this, just three rows from binding off, blocking, and being done:

I’m hoping to finish it off tonight and block it over the weekend. I just can’t _wait_ to see this beautiful yarn all blocked… it’s the Sundara Silky Merino 50/50 silk/wool blend, and boy do you feel the silk content. It’s really smooth and soft as you knit with it, I think the finished shawl is going to be so special and luxurious feeling. Another thing I love about this fancy yarn is that I won it in a charity raffle! You might remember when I posted to encourage you all the enter the drawing… well I guess that good turn deserved another, and I totally won the most delicious prize box of fantastic yarns. This one is the first to jump on the needles… lucky me!

Sundara Silky Merino Finger in Cobalt over Mediterranean

]]> http://standardd.net/skyblog/?feed=rss2&p=1453 2 http://standardd.net/skyblog/?p=1445 http://standardd.net/skyblog/?p=1445#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:17:20 +0000 Emily http://standardd.net/skyblog/?p=1445 It was only a couple of hours after I wrote up my last post before I was spinning, plying, and finishing the spinning project that I was so worked up about. Sometimes they’re just totally addictive! We had plenty of episodes of bad TV stored up, so I just worked through the remaining fiber until [...]]]> It was only a couple of hours after I wrote up my last post before I was spinning, plying, and finishing the spinning project that I was so worked up about. Sometimes they’re just totally addictive! We had plenty of episodes of bad TV stored up, so I just worked through the remaining fiber until it was done, since I was so excited to see how it would turn out. And how indeed! Here are the final results, after washing and setting and everything.

The recipient of this skein doesn’t work with thinner yarns, so I intentionally spun heavier than my “default settings.” I’m pleased with the results! The wpi measured out to a solid worsted weight, and the drape is wonderful because the big plies just loosely loop and play with each other.

As for yardage, this skein came out just over 150 yards, which seems like it’ll be a good amount for my friend to do a nice project. I’ve been thinking a lot about knitting with handspun recently… it’s definitely been “on the brain.” I have a huge skein of laceweight I’d like to make into a cardigan, although the color is a little -meh- for me so I haven’t been too tempted to dive into that undertaking. I recently made a fingering weight handspun triangle scarf that I sent away in a swap package, so I may have to replace that with another one. I think I need to get spinning so I have yarns to fill in all these knitting dreams!

I did use this spinning project to work in a little extra craft time, too. I carved a rubber froggy stamp to help make the green-themed tag to label the handspun! I love carving stamps, but it turns out I have way more aptitude for it than I have for doing actual stamping projects. Making labels for my yarns is about all of the papercrafting commitment I can handle, but I do love it when my fiber projects create excuses for me to make another carving!

Hopefully I can find another stamping use for this little frog! Maybe another green spinning project?

The fiber is from Woolgatherings, and the color didn’t come with a name, though if I had to name it myself I’d probably just go with “Drool Inducing Greens.” The yellowy neon greens are just my thing, and I love the hidden highlights of forest-floor browny greens. This combed top base is known as “mixed BFL”- mixed because the sheep who contributed the fiber were all different colors, and their wool was combined and combed together, so that the “background” for the dye job is a variety of fiber colors, not just plain white. That’s part of what makes this colorway so complex and gorgeous. (The other part is of course the colors themselves, being gorgeous and green!)

At the rate it’s going, I expect to have finished yarn pictures to share with you soon from this spinning project. The singles are looking beautiful, but my favorite part is always the plying. It’s totally “the moment of truth” when you get to see how the colors are really going to come together in the texture format of a finished plied yarn. I’m looking forward to it!

I had no idea these little favors would turn into such beautiful yarn!

I did a little group badge and banner project for a Finland-based group without thinking much of it; I mean, I couldn’t even understand the text I was applying to the images! I just whipped up the banners and delivered. But Niina, the group admin, is such a sweetheart that she sent me this gorgeous package of yarn and goodies from Finland as a thank-you. The above is an aloe-infused wool/nylon sock yarn in an orange I love (and it actually looks like a colorway I designed, that’s how “me” it is), and below is some RED laceweight that really tugs my heartstrings. I have always loved a good red, and I always swear I’m going to knit lace “just as soon as time allows.” You know how that one goes!

Still, I’m not sure what I like best, one of the yarns, or the adorable handmade teddy bear buttons they came with. I just love collecting buttons… Niina really had my number when she was putting together this package!

I was really taken by the generosity of this Ravelry friend, and am so excited to try out some yarns from so far away! Who cares if I can’t translate the labels or pronounce the names… lots of great yarns have names that are hard to pronounce!

I don’t usually get into purple, but sometimes the fun of these commission projects is working outside of my comfort zone. I get to try yarns/combinations/techniques that I wouldn’t ordinarily pick for myself. All three of the KP projects I’ve shown you recently have been in cotton or cotton-blends, which I rarely if ever knit of my own devises. But, I have enjoyed working with the yarns, and I particularly appreciate the smoothness of the knitted fabric. It’s really ideal for baby wear like this set– no fuss, no muss! Again though, I’d leave out the ends-weaving if I could.

As usual, I’m including that second picture both as a point of comparison between professional and phone photography, and to prove that I’m not just ganking KP images here! I really have been working on secret projects behind the scenes, and the blogging delay means that I get to share the extra nice pictures eventually. Not sure when the next secret project will become available for sharing, so in the meantime you’ll have to look forward to my regular old blog posts to keep you busy.

]]> http://standardd.net/skyblog/?feed=rss2&p=1433 1 http://standardd.net/skyblog/?p=1431 http://standardd.net/skyblog/?p=1431#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 23:23:14 +0000 Emily http://standardd.net/skyblog/?p=1431 I think knitters universally agree that baby stuff is great to knit. It’s satisfyingly quick to knit and it’s just SO darn cute! An item’s adorableness exponentially increases as its size scale diminishes. Knitted grown up slippers? Pretty neat, OK. Knitted baby booties? OMG squee! This booties and hat set is a sample knitting project [...]]]> I think knitters universally agree that baby stuff is great to knit. It’s satisfyingly quick to knit and it’s just SO darn cute! An item’s adorableness exponentially increases as its size scale diminishes. Knitted grown up slippers? Pretty neat, OK. Knitted baby booties? OMG squee!

This booties and hat set is a sample knitting project I did for Knit Picks back around New Year’s. I finally found it published on their site, meaning I’m free to share the pictures with you! The pattern is from Natural Nursery Knits by Erika Knight, and it has everything you want in babywear- no fuss cotton yarn, adorable styling. The only problem is, both the hat and the booties are knitted flat and then seamed. I don’t mind seaming (I kind of like it actually), but do you know how many extra ends to weave in that created on the striped hat, since I could carry yarn up the inside when the stripes were an odd number of rows? I think pattern publishers (especially British ones, like Debbie Bliss?) always default to “knit flat and seamed” since it requires the least common denominator of tools- straight needles. Personally, I say invest in a set of DPN’s in the sizes you use a lot, and let the knitting options flood in!

I guess there is the other end of that extreme, too. The sample-knitting project I’m currently working on has required no less than 7 sets of circular and double-pointed needles, all in various lengths and sizes. It’s a doozy!  Of course I won’t be able to blog about it for several months again, but I’m willing to bet you’ll be impressed when it finally comes out. I know I will be (whenever I finally finish it)!

The name of this pattern, from the book Knitting in the Sun, is “Windansea” hat. It’s an interesting name that manages to be very descriptive and utilitarian yet whimsical and artistic at the same time! Knit Picks has handicapped it to “Wind and Sea” hat, which just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Their Cotlin yarn is perfect for this type of outdoorsy, summer weight knitting though.

When I share the professional pictures on Ravelry, I always make sure to show my own images of the project as well, so that people don’t assume I’m just ganking the cover image. Those gleaming photos really are representations of my work! –it just happens to be my needlework, not my photography skills! My picture of this hat really dates the knitting project perfectly, since the very dim indoor lighting correctly represents that it was the darkest days on winter, and I can even spy some Christmas-related crafting among the mess in the background!