Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Portland Zoo.

As far as knitting goes I'm still working on the Hogwarts and suprise scarves. The surprise scarf is not going well. I am having a very difficult time with the mesh stitch. I'm going to practice it more with some scarp yarn before I do any more damage to the actual scarf.

As far as everything else goes...my family and I went to the Portland Zoo today. It was awesome. We were there literally all day. We got there at 9.30am and didn't leave until almost 3pm. Tons of pictures were taken and everyone had a good time.



This first picture that I am sharing with y'all is a picture from the hotel room. Make note of the name that was chosen for the shampoo and conditioner. I do not understand why the word 'tame' has been brought in to play, but there it is.

Mom and I at the beginning of the day.


This happens to be one of the cutest animals at the Zoo. Also one of the cutest Otters I have seen in a while.



This picture would be perfect if there wasn't a rain spot right on my neck. It is neat to have a picture of the three of us togehter. Thanks to a passerby this was possible.


This is my favorite picture of the day. The Walrus back there is totally checking me out...
There was an incident with a Tiger later that day, but I didn't have the camera with me at the time. Said Tiger watched me for at least five minutes and smiled (meaning roared) at me three times. It was great.


Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Ravelry

I finally got my invitation to join this site. It is a beta site for a knitting community. There are already a TON of people on there and there is so much information. I'm very excited about this knitting community and all of the information, ideas, and everything else that is here for me to discover. There is a notebook section where I can share what projects I'm currently working on, how much progress I have made on those projects, create a database that includes what yarn and other knitting supplies that I have on hand. Also I can see what everyone else is working on and what they have completed. The other features that I have not checked out yet are the forums and the shop. It seems to be a fantastic website and I love everything about it.

In other events: I'm in Portland on my family trip. We are having a great time. The three of us spent 3+ hours in the store looking around. My mom got plenty of new quilting supplies. I bought some yarn for a super cute baby bootie pattern I want to try out (more info on this later), an amazing thing known as a "Yarn-tainer", a row counter, and some folding scissors. We did not take any pictures in the store although we had every intention of doing so. The good news is that there should be plenty of pictures from the zoo tomorrow.

That's all for now! More later when I'm back home and on my own computer/not super tired. Happy knitting! And those of you that are on Ravelry already look me up and add me as a friend. My user name is shopgirlkc

Ta-ta:)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Today's mail!

Today in the mail I finally got my book of Harry Potter inspired knit projects. This wonderful book is called Charmed Knits and is by Alison Hansel. There is all sorts of neat stuff on her blog too. There is also this blog that goes with the book.

I was so excited that if finally got there. There are TONS (28) of patterns in this book and I literally want to knit them all RIGHT NOW. I'm not sure what I am going to start with. I don't know if I'm ready to try a sweater yet or not. Anyway stay tuned! LOL. I am just going to have to pace myself. There are tons of other things that I have to get done like presents for other people and stuff.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Two Scrapbook Pages

New Year's Eve 2008

I have finally started putting together some pages from my 21st birthday...which was over a year ago. Here is the first page I have made. To celebrate the occasion I went to Las Vegas with my mom and one of my best friends. It was on New Years Eve and we had a great time. I want to remember that vacation forever.




Supplies:
  • 2 sheets of 12'x12' paper. One regular, one card stock.
  • One sheet of smaller, colored card stock
  • Glitter cardboard alphabet letters
  • Alphabet and travel theme stickers
  • Travel stamp

These page took me about an hour each to make, but I'm sure it doesn't take that long if you know what you are doing beforehand. My personal method is to get out all of my pages, pick out a color theme, and go for it. I do not plan out a whole lot; I just go with the flow. I am not totally in love with the page, but I do like certain aspects of it. I'm sure it will grow on me. I'm such a perfectionist that I rarely like anything I make right away.


Poker Tournament


This picture is from a Stud Tournament that I played in last Fall. Again, I finally got around to scrapping it.

Supplies:
  • One page 12'x12' colored card stock
  • One page smaller theme card stock
  • Poker stickers
  • Rub-on vellum boarder designs
  • For the "STUD/8" letters I used a Cricket but anything would do. Magazine letters, handwritten, etc.

Needle Holder

I use all sorts of things to carry my knitting supplies in. My favorite things to use are lunchboxes. Plastic or tin both work fine. I like that each one is unique and fun. You can find them all over. They seem to be making somewhat of a come back. Although I'm sure not many of them are being used to carry around lunches anymore.

Another thing that I am using to carry my knitting supplies around in is this needle holder that mom made for me. She used two pieces of spare fabric, some ribbon, and a sewing machine. It took her about an hour and she didn't even need a pattern. She just started sewing away and came up with this.

There are two levels for storage of needles. I don't have that many needles right now but I'm sure that someday I will. Especially since I have been trying so many different types of patterns lately that require very different sized needles.
Thanks mom!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Hogwarts Scarf

I am what you might call a Harry Potter fanatic. I am obsessed with the books and movies and have been for over eight years. So when I found this free pattern for making a Hogwarts House scarf I had to immediately start it.
I had to go out and buy a 16" size US9 circular needle and the appropriate colors for this pattern. The pattern recommends a size 6 or 8 needle but I prefer to work with larger needles. I'm sure some day I will try the pattern with even smaller needles but not this time. It is the first time that I have knit in the round and it is going well so far. I like it quite a lot. There is not as much to keep track off when I'm taking a break.
This is the progress that I have made so far. The colors of the yarn do not show up quite so well in the pictures. I will have to experiment with light and such a bit when I post updates. The scarlet yarn is Red Heart (worsted/4) #0376 Burgundy. The gold/yellow color is TLC Essentials which is a Red Heart brand (worsted/4) #2327 Sandstone. These colors would not be my first choice but after working with them a little I do like how well they go together. The colors fit my purpose and since they were the only colors I could find in a store I'm happy. I did not want to have to wait for something I ordered online to show up. Maybe next time I will try some of the suggestions that are found on the website but for now I'm glad I got to start the project right away.

Mary Jane Baby Booties


For the first time ever I have tried to make some baby booties. One of my best friends ever is having a baby girl soon. I have only made one bootie so far but it seems to be going well. I found this free pattern on the How Stuff Works website.

I used some scrap yarn that was probably a little too heavy of a weight for baby booties, but this was more of a test run. I have never made booties before and there were also some techniques in the pattern that I have never tried before. The size 3 needles recommended in the pattern work quite well. I'm sure if you tried a larger needle you could make booties that fit older than newborn children.

Some of my fav knitting sites

This site is an amazing resource for all knitters but specifically for beginners/intermediate. It includes tons of how-to videos for nearly every technique. They are all very simple and straightforward. I use this site often especially when I'm trying a new pattern. If I come across something I have never done before I go to this site immediately and have my questions answered.

Lion Brand Yarn
This is the official website for Lion Brand Yarn. They have over 2,000 free patterns for all skill levels.

Free Patterns and Helpful Info
This is the "How Stuff Works" site and it has all sorts of hobby related (and other) information on it. The knitting section has plenty of useful information on it. I have found a couple of great patterns on here and some good tips as well.

Harry Potter Crafts
The-Leaky-Cauldron is a great website for Harry Potter fans. I have checked it out several times in the past and recently I found the section of the site that has HP projects that I can make myself.

Harry Potter Knitting Projects
This website is run by a true Harry Potter fan and a talented knitter. There are free patterns on this site for House scarves, hats, gloves, etc. I am currently working on a Hogwarts scarf with the pattern from this site.
I finally started a blog! Welcome. This is going to be the place where I share my knitting and other creative projects with the world. My wonderful Grandmother taught me how to knit when I was fairly young. I learned the very basics then: how to cast on, knit stitch, purl stitch, and how to cast off. I played around with yarn and knitting needles as I watched her turn a pile of yarn into a pair of socks or a sweater in mere hours. She was amazing to watch and very talented. I never saw her with a pattern and I am quite sure that she didn't even know how to read them. All she needed was a set of needles, plenty of yarn, and a little time and she was capable of making just about anything. I personally did not start knitting seriously until a couple of years ago. I was using simple patterns to make things like scarves and pot-holders. However, in the last couple of months I have really gotten back into knitting and I have learned some new techniques by expanding on what Grandma had already taught me. I have also learned how to read patterns. Online I have found many resources and free patterns to help me along the way. The internet really is an amazing and helpful place.