Create, CReate CREate CREAte CREATe CREATE!!!!

And I have been doing just that!!  Amazing!!

I want to mention a few other things in this post as well.

I have a pattern for an infinity scarf!!  HOORAY!! 

But first, I found this amazing site!!!  I am a godmother x3 - I have my godson, and my two goddaughters and I can NEVER find anything during the holidays or birthdays that says or shows godmother -goddaughter/godson status; whether its clothes or cards.  This right here has them!!!!!!!!!!!  My godson just turned 7(!!!!!) on sunday (4/6) and I got him a shirt and just because I was there I got shirts for my goddaughters tooooo!!!!!!!!!!!  I may be going back and purchasing the keychain too.   I was so so so so so so so sooooo excited!!!!  Here is the link to the site!!!!

I have also gotten into this going green phase.  composting, reusing items, I've reused paper towels, rinsed them, let them dry and used them again, saving things, and we got rain last night and late last week too and I used the rain water to water my indoor plants rather than from the tap.  Little things - but I have noticed that my families trash can now fills up about once per week rather than 3-4 times per week.  I even started a loom knitting project with plarn!!!!  I'll post that pattern once I have completed the project but if anyone wants to try it out this shop here has plarn already done up - it ships to you and you just start your project like you would start with yarn.  I found it saves the hassle of sitting there from hours on end trying to make it yourself.  Plus, I purchased from a few different places just to see - this shop's has been sturdier and held up a lot better - its also what is known as double ply in the plarn world - so its double stranded.  The other ones I bought - I purchased from I believe 8 different places - 6 were only a single strand, and the only other one that was double ply was thinner strips and I felt like I was retying pieces together every ten minutes or so.  If you find a different shop that has a good quality as well just let me know and I can add it to the list :D

So those were the other two things I wanted to let everyone in on.  Below is the pattern for the infinity cowl/scarf.  It is a stripped multicolor cowl/scarf so you will want 3-4 different colors to create the look.  My sister has my finished one down at school with her, and I unfortunately don't have any pictures of it.  I have started a new one and will upload pictures as it gets bigger

Items needed:
2-3 pairs of circular needles (all the same size)
1-2 DPN's (double pointed needles)  (same size as circular)
1-2 skeins of each color (same brand and coordinating colors work best)
Needle tip covers (optional)

((Side note: Your can use almost any stitch for this pattern.  If you have a favorite you can use it.  I just stuck with a knit stitch, I love the flat look it makes especially with the stripes.  ALSO I found my Knit Picks Interchangeable Needle set worked amazing for this)

To start:

On circular needles; cast on the number of stiches you wish to create the desired finished length.  You can start with any of your colors, just be sure to write down the order you with to use them in.  I will be referring to them as "Color A", "Color B", "Color C", and "Color D".

Your are going to begin back at the beginning where you began to cast on.  If you are using 3 colors, you are going to want to slide (CAREFULLY!) 20 stitches onto a double pointed needle (DPN).  If you are using 4 colors, your are going to want to slide 30 stitches onto a DPN.

Make a loop like you are going to cast on with "Color B".  Using another pair of circular needles, knit in your desired stitch across until the end - you should have two live ends of yarn on that end.

Once again you are going to begin back at the beginning.  Slide ten stitches back onto the beginning of the circular needles.  Leaving your last ten if you are using 3 colors, and 20 if you are using 4 colors.

Make a loop like you are going to cast on with "Color C".  Again using another pair of circular needles, knit in your desired stitch across until the end - you should now have 3 live ends of yarn on that end.

((For those only using three colors scroll down to **CONTINUE**))



Once again you are going to being back at the beginning.  Slide ten stitches back onto the beginning of the circular needles.  Leaving your last ten on DPN.

Make a loop like you are going to cast on with "Color D".  Again using another pair of circular needles, knit in your desired stitch across until the end - you should now have 4 live ends of yarn on that end.




**CONTINUE**

So you have used all your colors but still have ten unknit cast on stitches on your needles??  PERFECT!  This is what you want.

Make sure that your word is facing the same direction at both ends of the circular needles, making sure that no twist managed to sneak in.

YOU CAN NOW JOIN IN THE ROUND!!!

The first few rows while easy it takes some getting used to.  Using "Color A" knit those ten cast on stitches. 

Done?  Ok now keep going until you have reached the rest of the yarn!  Drop "Color A" and pick up "Color B" and knit the circle.

Drop "Color B" and pick up "Color C" and knit in a circle.  You want to be sure that you don't twist the yarn when picking it up the back of your work does begin to look like a continuous  knit. ( I found different tote bags for each color worked)

Using four colors??  Drop "Color C" and pick up "Color D"

Continue until you have your desired width.  I staggered the ending of each one.
Using "Color A" knit around and begin your cast off at 20 stitches left.
Using "Color B" knit around and begin your cast off at 20 stitches left.  Cast of "Color C" entirely if your using only three colors.

Four colors??

Using "Color C" knit around and begin your cast off at 20 stitches left.
Cast off "Color D" entirely.


Hopefully this makes sense.  If you have any questions feel free to ask. :D

Hurricane Sandy knitting frenzy

We survived.  Barely.  The family I work for got SUPER lucky, there was a tree bending towards the house, and I would have put money that if it came down that they would have lost the master suite, garage, parents closets, half the kitchen, and my car.  It ended up coming crashing down, but went AWAY from the house.  We lost power on monday afternoon, and got it back on thursday, thankfully the family has a generator and were able to poorly hook it up to the fridge, tv, cable box, and water.  During the week since the kids didn't have school and were absorbed in their electronic games ( I tried to teach them card games but those were referred to as "boring") I was able to knit a pair of fingerless gloves on DPN's.  I just knitted in a circle without a pattern, made a spot for my thumbs and VOILA!  I do have a note to self to use a pattern next time.  I was also able to finish my sisters hooded scarf BUT as promised I did take a video to help explain the pattern and hood cast on.  I have never uploaded a video before and I hope I do this right.

Here is how to put the scarf onto the round loom:

And here is how to wrap the pegs inbetween:

I hope this helps.  If there are any questions please ask, I want to make sure I explained everything right.

A few days late is better than never.

I've been going to work during the day while the children are at school with my mom.  So I haven't gotten much knitting done.  I feel like I've gotten nothing done even thought I've finished two projects over the the past two day.  I finished the hooded cowl for my friend.  She will be leaving next weekend (October 27th) for Ireland and it will apparently be a staple among her wardrobe while she is there.  While doing it I was able to revise the pattern a little bit, and it actually made it a lot easier in the end.  I am finishing up the scarf portion of my sisters here in a few days and will take picture documentation and post it so that it is less confusing.  I won't be able to make myself  an all white one in a single week with everything else that I already have on needles or a loom.  I did however last night make myself an all white beaning using Lion Brand Yarn, from the Hometown USA collection, in New York White.  It is a super bulky yarn and worked up the beanie quite nicely.  I added in a 3 inch brim and after working the first 3 inches I started to add in Lion Brand Fun Fur.  I was then able to, after working 6 inches, fold over what was worked up, leaving the fun fur on the outside, and a nice soft yarn on the inside so I don't have the "fur" in my ears when wearing.  It came out really nice and I cannot wait to wear it next weekend.  Although I may have to use it before then, the anticipation is killing me.  I'm off to work with my mom (its an hr drive).  I will take pictures of the beanie tonight as well as the friends hooded cowl I finished and upload them.  I did take one yesterday and upload it to facebook.  I have 4 friends that want one and have already offered to pay.  I may be on to something.

Not much progress....

The girls decided last night after I asked them to get ready for bed around 7:30 that they were going to horse around, throw pillows and stuffed animals.  This is nothing new, and they play like this all the time; Best of friend, and worst of enemies.  I went in, asked them to get into their pajamas, brush their hair, and brush their teeth.  I began to hear the horse play and decided to wait a few min before hounding them again.  A minute later I hear a loud cracking noise, and then a blood curdling scream.  Thinking someone just died I ran across the hall to their room to find Alyssa half dressed, holding her head looking stunned.  And Emma, the source of the scream, crying hysterically.  Upon taking a look at Alyssa head we discovered a tiny gash, with an already purple area surrounding it.  Jenny after much fussing decided to take Alyssa to the ER.  They arrived home around 10:45, Alyssa tired, in pain, and sporting two new staples in her head, so Jenny decided she was staying home today.  We spent our time watching TV, walking to the store to get her meds, bringing the meds home, going to starbucks to get a drink and bite to eat, riding bikes, and we painted our nails.  I only got to work on my knitting while Alyssa was consumed in the tv shows.  While I wish I could say I was able to get a lot done, but I can't.  I was only able to get about 3-4 inches done of the scarf I'm working on right now.  My goal is to get it done before my friend goes off to Ireland for her family vacation.  My next project to be done by the same time??  An ALL  WHITE hooded scarf for the Ohio vs PSU White out game on October 27th.  Allen won tickets in a raffle and is like a kid in a candy store ready to go.  Me?  I'm excited but need to get an all white hooded sweatshirt, and the hooded cowl done so I don't freeze.

Happy knitting.

Hooded Infinity Scarf

I started a project a while ago on needles and it didn't turn out like I expected.  It works, I'll wear it, but the "scarf" part isn't as long as I wanted.  So instead I came up with a better idea.  Use my loom!!!

I'm still working with the pattern and working out the kinks.

Supplies:

-1 short loom (I used the pink Provo Craft Knifty Knitter)
-1 extra large circular loom loom (I used the yellow Provo Craft Kifty Knitter)
-1 loom knitting hook
- Approx. 4-6 skeins of yarn (I used three strands for this project and used 6 skeins)
-1 yarn needle

Directions (Scarf):

Cast onto your short loom using the cross rib (figure 8) stitch. Here's how if your unsure and go straight to the 3:00 minute mark.  Continue with knitting with this stitch until your scarf has reached the desired length.

*I recommend resting the end on a shoulder and wrapping the scarf while on the loom loosely around your neck so that the loom is on the other shoulder and in the same position.  You don't want the ends to go to far down your back since they will be attached to the hood.  Once you find your desired length, cast off.  I did about 5 feet, and can wrap it twice for extra warmth.

Directions (Hood):

Take the scarf and lay it flat one end near you, the other far away.  Take the end near you and bring it to the side of the far end making a single twist. Take the ends and place them onto the circular loom, careful not to add any more twist or take out the one that was made.  Place them side by side careful to not where one ends and the other starts, you don't want to knit them together as these will be the sides of the hood.  (I have found that doing a k1/p1 repeating for the first few rows helps prevent the curling that can happen using circular looms).  Start knitting side to side using the E-wrap going back and forth until the hood has reached the desired length.  Cast off.  To complete the hood turn the purl side out and sew up the cast off seam so that it is on the inside.

Voila!  Ready to wear!  

(Like I said I'm still working out the kinks, if there is something that isn't understood, please let me know)