Inbetween projects!

Zup?

I finished up the leggings for my niece the other day and threw it into the washing machine yesterday so now I'm just waiting for it to dry so I can snap proper pictures of it. But this thing was horrible...and I knew that when I started it. This is the third time I've made leggings, second time in ribbing and let me tell you something...I hate it! I don't mind doing ribbing on sweaters and socks and whatnot, but leggings, that's ALL ribbing on teeeny tiny needles...that's just pure nightmare. But I did it! Once again! And I'll probably end up doing it a couple more times if I know myself right, and I'll bitch and moan just as much about it when I do. But for now! I'm done! I finished these and they look good! I just hope that they'll be better than the last pair I made. These are ment for my middle niece, but I bet that my oldest niece could easily fit herself into these.

 

*sigh* Another project done... (I'll get new and better pictures up sometime later) And now I'm in that inbetween spot again. It's weird...after every big project with a deadline, I feel kinda empty inside and have problems starting on the next one. There's these couple of days (or sometimes only hours) where I don't know what to do next...and I just end up doing some small, mindless things instead. Like my Granny Bacon blanket! I worked a few rounds of that one before I pulled out the Dovremittens again. 

I did 20 rounds on the second mitten before I pulled out scrap yarn and started working up some Granny Squares.
For some time now, I've been longing for my own traditional Granny Square blanket. And while I've got a bag full of wool scraps lying around, I've been putting it off... The thought of Ugly Scrap Socks has claimed all my scraps already.

But last night, I did pull out a bunch of small scraps from this bag (which only made me want to tear Granny Bacon to pieces and save more scraps) and worked up some squares. The plan is to do a good bunch and then join them together by the last round. I'm too lazy to sew them up together, and I'd like to not use too much fresh yarn skeins. I'm using scraps for a reason.

NOW! Just watch me grow tired of it only to have a handfull of finished granny squares lying around for months before I either frog them or use them for something else...

Granny square scrap blanket?

Hello everybody! Thought I'd do a little update on the scrap blanket after my kinda grumpy and frustrating blogentry from yesterday.

As I did mention, I was tempted to just say "fuck it" and do the scrap blanket in granny square so that I could get it more or less evenly no matter what I did. The normal back and forth one did not go so well...at all. Actually, I haven't told you guys that I did try out two other stitches before going back to single crochet again. I did half double and slip stitch and also a combination of the two, but I did eventually decide against that because the edges looked too jagged for my taste.

Please, don't pay tpp much attention to my keyboard. It's not dirty, it's actually yarn dust from when I frogged the blanket in the first place.

So yeah, I scrapped that idea and went back to single crochet, which didn't go that well if you've read my previous blogentry. I don't know what caused it, might be just my horrible crochet "talent". I did pay a lot of attention to my tention and the stitches that time around though...

I ended up having to give granny square a try. More precisely, rectangular solid granny square. I found this one guy on Youtube that had a little tutorial up about it, and I decided to give it a try to see how it went. And after a few tries and one frogging, I think I've got a result that I'm pretty happy with.

I've yet to frog the previous attempt, so I ended up just winding up a new yarn cake and start with that one istead of going back to the very start. Lucky for me, there's longer scraps here, so I've got a good beginning. These are also long enough for russian joining, so I'm trying my best to keep knots and ends at bay. I did have to work with one scrap that I couldn't do the russian join with though, but since I'm doing solid granny square, it's easier to hide the ends than with normal granny square by just crocheting over them. I'm still not 100% sure, but I will most likely work up this whole yarn cake and see how it progresses and then make a decision.

Also, I decided to give it a nickname. It'll still be called eternity scrap blanket, cause that's what it is in reality, but I just can't decide on what to call this thing otherwise. Rectangular solid granny square scrap blanket is too much of a mouthfull, so just to cram another reference into everybody's faces, it's now called Granny Bacon! Cookie if you get the reference.

We'll see how it goes from here! I might have to toss out a bunch of the smallest scraps if they can't be worked into this one...which I'll be pretty sad about, and will set me back a little. But I'm already cutting out some of the biggest scraps that I added at the very beginning of this blanket, scraps that I can work into ugly scrap socks instead. Here's two examples of what I've taken out already, expecially the blue one. These are way too big for this blanket in my opinion and could easily work several rounds on a pair of socks instead.

Bowling ball of yarn!

Took me forever, but I've finally finished up frogging the scrap blanket! I'm left with what I can only describe as a bowling ball out of yarn!

It measures 71cm (28") in the round and weights in about 1,3kg (2,86 pounds). That equals to 26 50gr skeins or "normal" skeins.

Now I just need to decide on a stitch and start all over again!

Frogging the eternity scrap blanket!

I've talked about my eternity scrap blanket several times already, so lets talk about it some more, shall we?

For some time now, I've noticed that the scrap blanked started to curve in on itself a little bit. I first didn't pay much attention to this as I was (and still am) a big crochet n00b and figured it would work itself out. Turns out, it just gets worse! Either my tention has changed somewhere, or I've messed up some stitches somewhere about a year ago.

One thing is sure though...it takes FOREVER to frog down! Expecially since the yarn has gotten tangeled here and there and the hook might have gone a bit wrong... I feel like I'm ripping every inch, tearing it appart rather than gently unravel the whole thing...

And the skein is MASSIVE! This is only about half way through! The ball measures a little over 50cm around now (19,5"). Can't wait to see it all done, but I'm starting to feel the weight and sice in my elbows.

The plan is to wind it up into smaller yarn cakes when I'm done and work from there. I've wanted a lazy kind of mindless project while I wait for some new inspiration to strike, and here it is! Just need to work out how I'm about to do it this time. I'm kinda over single crochet and want to try something new, but since I'm using small scraps (down to 10cm/4") there's not much I can do. It would look horrible if the stitch was kinda lacy or made a lot of holes. Currently, people have been suggesting half double crochet and slip stitch...the latter I've never thought about working as a stitch like this.

If you as my reader know of a good and compact stitch for a scrap blanket, let me know in the comments!

Scraps all day long!

Scraps, scraps, wonderful scraps!

So! I've just finished the first yoga scrap sock! Pulled out the most boring colors from my wool bag and worked up this thing! I was lucky enough to pull out exactly enough yarn for a pair! That's skills, man! I'm gonna start the second one now. I've managed to misplace most of my 3mm DPNS, so I'm currently stuck with using only four on these. I'm used to work them both at the same time, expecially when I'm using scraps because I need it to be exact, so I had to stop a row showrt on most of the colors I used, just to be sure... So it could have been a little bit longer  for my taste... But hey, it's night socks, who cares?

Looking at them, lying flat like this, they look horrible and you don't really know what it is...

But then you put them on and it's like someone took a sock and chopped off the heel and toe!

They're horrible to wear on our floor since it's all cold tiles, but they'll be awesome and snug in bed! And it's always a smart thing to keep your feet and ankles warm, even if it's summer, expecially if you got bad legs, cramps or other pains caused by cold. Personally, I do have knee pains, but I'm going to wear these just because full wool socks are a bit too warm in bed even for me during the warmest of summer...but it's so comfy!

Latest projects!

Well now... It has been over a week since my last update on this blog... I am SO good!

I didn't really have much of a reason for this hiatus either...maybe except for this past weekend. You see, the 17th was Norway's national day over here, and also the 200 year anniversary for when we got our own constitution, so it was a big thing! Usually, I've gone to my parents for that day to celebrate it in my home town. But this year, since it was the 200 year anniversary, they were moving the celebration and the...parade? thingy...up in the mountains and my parents were going to celebrate it in Levanger and join in on that...parade...thingy...thang...along with my ex-sister-in-law and my oldest niece. So I was left straded, with no real place to go and people to celebrate with... But my brother, my sister-in-law and my two youngest nieces, which lives close by. Their kindergarden was going to join in the same parade in Levanger, so they offered me to come and stay with them over the weekend.

SO! Ofcourse you gotta dress up nice during this festive day, and usually, I'd wear my bunad (our national costume), but since mine is back home at my parents place...and also a tad bit too small for me, I ended up just using a normal dress. Ofcourse I needed accessories. What I've allready shown on my blog here, is this bag. I needed something to hold my wallet, camera and phone.
I used the Quinn Cabled Bag pattern from Ravelry and used leftover yarn from my Jackie sweater, Drops Nepal. It turned out a little bit wider than the pattern though, I ended up with 14 stitches too much.

I also figured that I needed a pair of socks. After a quick search, I found these lace, lightly ruffeled socks that was just perfect! The yarn here is Silja, the same as my Batman sweater.

As if this weren't enough, I also made myself a pretty little hair ornament! I knitted three flowers in leftover cotton yarn, representing the colors of our flag, and crocheted two green whines in more leftover cotton. No real pattern here.

Also a little snap of them in my hair.

The last completed project that I got to show you guys right now, is the granny square blanket that I made for Pepsi. It didn't take long to work this blanket up, with a 4,5mm hook and three skeins of yarn, it was a quick fix. Two skeins was Amazing from Lionbrand and the last skein was Eco Wool DK from Sirdar. He was obsessed with the Amazing skein that was sent to me from Drunk Uncle June earlier this year, so I just had to make something for him with it.

 

That's all for now! Currently I'm working on dishcloths to fill the time before my next project. If you are wondering, I'm working up a good bunch of the bleached cotton yarn for these and I'll be posting pictures soon!

 

More Kool-Aid dyeing!

I'm back baby! Hopefully, blog updates will come more frequently now than this previous week.

I'm gonna jump right into it and blog about some yarn dyeing I did before I left. I promised Pickle some Kool-Aid dyed yarn as a thank you for all the Kool-Aid she sent me. I digged out three skeins of white/beige. One of the white ones was 1/3 used up and the two others was almost new, missing less than 10 meters each. The smalles one I cut up in two equal parts and the beige I divided into four. These parts I was going to dye individually as much as I could. The last white skein, I decided to use for the leftover colors, trying to make it kinda tie dye.

Three of the parts was dyed green with Lemon Lime, two red with Black Cherry and then I dipped the last one in Mango Peach a couple of times since the color wasn't as pigmented as the other two. I also dunked half of it in the rest of the Black Cherry and it turned out pretty spiffy!
The tie dye one turned out amazing too! I'm really pleased with that one! So much that I'm gonna keep it for myself...which I ment to anyway just in case I screwed it up.

All the socks!

Wish I could live off socks...  They my favorite thing to make and they keep my feet warm and toasty!

Now, as I've told you guys, I'm in the middle of a "socks for cookies" trade for Brooke, and I'm having too much fun making socks for her. Now, I'm not sure if she's seen these yet, or if she likes them, but I surely do. I finished them up yesterday and I just love the colors. I've used Karisma from Drops Design, a 100% wool superwash yarn (the purple) and then a variegated mixed blend called Ragg Soft. It's 60% wool, 20% nylon and 20% acryllic. Good for socks, but has a little too much acryllic feel to them for my taste. I got a bunch of scraps like these so I might whip up a ugly scrap sock pair for her too.

Now, our trade involved a pair of socks for her daughter too... And if you guys remember way back, I said I was working on a secret project. Well, I was actually making a secret sock pair for little Brenna, BEFORE Brooke asked me to make her some. Now that I've gotten her shoe size, these are sadly a bit too big for her, but that only gives her something to grow into. They're in a yarn fairly similar to the green/blue variegated I used for Brooke's socks, and they got the same quality too. So... SURPRISE! I might end up making an extra pair for her though, just because I can, I got more of this yarn to use anyway.

Then there's this Zelda contest at Knitting-and-Crochet group on dA... I suddenly hit me a couple of weeks ago what I were to make for the contest; socks ofcourse! I sat down and used three days to get the charts right, and today I started them! Had to turn the livingroom upside down to find my darling fair-isle needles though. I refuse to knit fair-isle socks without them.

And then there's these last socks... I found these while roaming through my workshop yesterday. I made these for some old friend of mine...before she stabbed me quite painfully in the back...and I have no idea what to do with these... My calfs are too fat for them, so maybe someone else out there wants them instead? I haven't weaved in the ends on them yet, so that has to happend... but other than that, they're pretty fancy if I could say so myself. Definitly scrap socks though.

More socks ahead! And no, I don't have a foot fetish...just in case you were wondering...

Can you craft with all the colors of the scraps?

First stitches of the year: Eternity scrap blanket!

Yes, I've allready started crafting! ...or you can call it and progress from last year...and the year before that...

I started this project about two years ago cause I realised that I had a bunch of smaller scraps that I just get myself to toss, and seeing as I rarely makes any plushies, using the scraps as stuffing wouldn't do me any good. Now you could argue that I would have a ton by the time I actually had something to stuff, but still, some of these scraps were big enough to get a few rounds on a knitted object! If only I had the determination and patience, I could have made a bunch of colorfull, striped garments by now!

But no, I decided to make something different, something I've seen around on other blogs I follow: a scrap blanket!

Seeing as my scraps weren't THAT big since I could save those for actual projects...I couldn't make something as awesome as this:

 

Or this:

 

Or this:

Instead I started this...

This picture was taken one and a half year ago. It's crochet and the scraps are pretty small...though, the ones you see here are actually bigger than the ones I'm saving right now. I got a rule to save any scraps 10cm (4 inches) or longer as long as they're not big enough for actual project...or any weird kind of thickness, and I slowly work them into my blanket. It measures about 2 meters (6 feet 5 inches) in lenght and over the two years of working on it, it has grown to 51cm (20 inches) in width! The plan was to make it a bed spread, but lately I've been thinking of keeping it as a blanket in my crafting chair.

I am using a 3,5mm crochet hook for those of you whom might be wondering. Yes it's small, but when I usually work with this thickness in yarn, it was the best option. Thicker yarn I usually just toss, smaller ones I crochet with double thread as long as it's long enough or I got two sepperate and similar strands.

Took these pictures of the blanket earlier. Sorry for them not being the best, but my phone was running low on battery so I couldn't use flash.

I was thinking og getting this blanket to 2,5meter (8 feet 2 inches), so if I keep it up like this, the blanket will be done in 10 years. Yeah... That's a long time!