Tag Archives: crochet

Inspiration: Early Summer

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It’s weird outside, guys.  And it’s starting to freak me out.

We’ve been having ridiculously good weather here for the last month or so.  It’s been sunny.  The sky has been cloudless, and we haven’t had more than a sprinkle of rain in the last few weeks.  It’s even gotten over 80 degrees.  That’s August weather for Seattle, and it’s only the beginning of May.

If it wasn’t 8 in the morning, I’d want to be sitting outside sipping on a can of my favorite IPA and a reading good book.

Like I said, it’s weird.

But, as a former resident of Austin, Texas, I know how to knit for warm weather.  So at least I’ve got that going for me.

First, focus on light, flowy layers knit in thin-gauge wool, like this lovely summery cardigan with beautiful openwork detailing.

Summer Festival by Georgie Nicolsonfestival14_medium2[1]Or if you were determined to go big, instead of a chunky pullover, think about an adorable sundress, like this one.

Summer Sundress by Mari Lynn Patrickep1044_medium[1]But, sometimes, even the thought of knitting up something bigger than a handkerchief is too much in hot (OK- 70 isn’t actually hot, it’s just Seattle hot) weather.  In that case make something tiny and fun, like this ridiculously adorable floral headband.  (If only I could pull this off… sigh.)

Summer Girl- crocheted headband by Monika Sirna3-4_medium2[1]What do you knit when it’s too hot for sweaters and blankets?

And Now For Something Completely Different

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Do you ever get a bug under your skin, and suddenly, you can’t imagine anything you want to do less than work on the projects you’ve already got on your needles?

It’s not just me, right? (Please tell me it’s not just me!)

Well, this weekend, the last thing I wanted to do was anything to do with knitting.  And I certainly didn’t want to steam block my husband’s sweater.  (I’m definitely not procrastinating or anything… Ha!)

I got it into my head that I wanted to do something utterly useless, and totally pretty and silly.  So, I thought about the supplies I had on hand, and it came to me:  a doily.

I have never made a doily.  Because I’m not an 80-year-old grandma.  (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)  But I poked around on Ravelry, and found this beautiful pattern, published in 1969, that was (amazingly) available online:

Brocade #A-792 by Coats & Clark4263729381_b3c5f43ded_z[1]I pulled out a size 10 steel crochet hook (it’s super tiny!) that used to belong to my great-grandmother, and a big spool of crochet cotton that I inherited from a friend of a friend.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd I went to work!  Three days and a small callus later, My doily is finished!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt’s huge (about 15″ across)!  I ran out of thread, so I  couldn’t finish the last three or four rows of the pattern, but I am still pleased with how it turned out.  I even got to learn how to use starch, which was a kind of fun old-fashioned skill to gain. (And I’m all about old-fashioned skills.)

Now the question is what to do with the finished doily.  I’m not really a “doily” kind of person, and my house isn’t really a “doily” kind of house.  Right now, it’s hanging out on a little end table in my knitting studio, but I’m open to other suggestions!

What projects have you done while avoiding stuff you “should” be doing?

AND! Don’t forget to sign up for the Aura Giveaway!

Inspiration: Valentine’s Day

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It’s Valentine’s Day this weekend, and I haven’t gotten my husband anything.  To be fair, we said “no presents” this year, but I always have trouble with doing “no presents.”  I think it must be a knitter thing.  Or maybe it has something to do with my Midwestern upbringing.  Either way, I feel a compulsion to make something. It’s a problem.

And since I’ve only got a couple days, any gifts I make will have to be very small.

I could go completely silly (yet adorable), and make a herd of these tiny heart-carrying bunnies.  But, I don’t think I can translate this pattern before Sunday.  If only I’d taken French in college, instead of German!  Dang.

Valentin by Anisbee Anisbee20_medium2[1]Or I could make something marginally more useful (again, the Midwesterner in me is showing- I love a useful gift!), like these adorable nesting baskets.

Heart Nesting Baskets by Sonya BlackstoneHeart_Baskets_3wm_medium2[1]But my husband is not the kind of guy that likes cutesy little things like heart-shaped baskets.  Maybe he’s the kind of guy who likes miniature little cupids on strings?

I could knit up one of these guys (sans halo):

Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi Angels by Anna Hrachovecangels2_mail_medium[1]and add a teeny bow and arrow:

Valentine Cupid Bow and Arrow by Linda DawkinsValentine_medium2[1]And, hey presto!  Cupid!

Oh, I don’t know.  That’s probably too silly a gift for my husband, too.  I suppose I’ll just get a bottle of something yummy and make him dinner.  You know, like a boring grown-up.

(But that doesn’t mean that I won’t make a teensy Cupid for myself!)

Do you have any Valentine’s Day knitting plans?

Apparently It’s Leftovers Month

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I feel like I’ve been talking about using up leftovers a lot lately.  I suppose, I have been trying to use up my stash before I go buy more (I’m almost out of space in my yarn bins).

And this week isn’t any different.

Over the years I’ve collected a bunch of Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool in a selection of natural heathered colors from off-white to dark, chocolate brown.  I’ve used this yarn in a bunch of projects- mostly blankets, and no matter how carefully I plan, I always end up with a bunch of half-skeins leftover.  I even had several half-skeins of the same colors, but different dye lots.

I had to figure out what to make with this ragtag bunch of yarn.  Anything fancy, like a sweater, was out because of the weird amounts of each color yarn.  Anything that took a lot of planning was out, too- I wasn’t in the mood to do a lot of math on this one.

So, I arranged the yarn in a gradient from lightest to darkest, dug out my crochet hooks and just started making a granny square.

And kept on going- using up one skein after another.  (The little bits leftover are going to turn into another Mother Bear– I think I have a problem.)OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe blanket ended up about 4 feet by 4 feet- a nice size for a lap blanket or maybe a baby blanket (though I don’t know if I’d give a baby an itchy wool, non-washable blanket).OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOllie seems to like it.  He saw me taking pictures and came over to give it the official “Dog Seal of Approval.”OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA And then he fell asleep- because he leads a very high-energy, stressful life.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat have you been doing to use up your leftover skeins of yarn?

Mother Bears On the Needles!

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I can’t get the Mother Bear Project out of my head.  The stories of little kids with next to nothing positive in their lives just break my heart, and I can’t stop thinking about them.Mother_Bear_in_Liberia_1_medium2[1]So, I took the plunge and ordered my pattern!  The patterns are available for $5 (proceeds go to running the charity and helping with shipping and handling), and is mailed to your house via snail mail.

size

I’m itching to pull out my scrap yarn and get to work on a whole army of bears!

But here’s the thing- I’m only one person, so even if I do nothing but knit teddy bears from now until the end of time, I won’t be able to make that much of a difference.

You guys, however, are more than one person!

So, I propose that this year for the holidays, everyone who reads On the Needles knits a teddy bear or two!  We can make it into a big On the Needles knitalong!  I’ll post updates about my bears, and whoever wants to play along at home can send in pictures of their bears, and we can all share our projects!

What do you say?  Want to join in?  How many bears do you think we can make before New Year’s?  20? 50? 100?!

Mama Bear

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve already got Christmas on the brain.  I’ve been cranking through lots of projects… that I can’t talk about here because family members read my blog (lame!  Not really, but it does throw a cramp in my blogging this time of year).

But when I do a lot of targeted, purpose-driven, knitting sometimes I get a little burnt out.  I can start to feel like I’m “manufacturing” projects, not actually knitting.  Sometimes I want to just make something fun- like a stuffed animal.

And, you know, if it’s a stuffed animal for a good cause, that’s even better!

So, imagine my excitement when I found this amazing teddy bear-making project (or rather, re-found… I had read about it before, but totally forgot about it).283434_220092554695040_4064929_n[1]The Mother Bear Project  makes adorable, one-of-a-kind, hand-made teddy bears and then distributes them across Africa to children whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS.  Could you ask for a better cause?lesotho1[1]I went over to their website, and saw that they have patterns for the same bear, both knitted and crocheted, worked flat and in the round.  bear_about[1]The best part (other than that whole helping-children-in-need thing) is that the pattern is so simple, it just begs to be embellished.  Take a look on Ravelry to see everyone’s take on the basic Mother Bear.  There are bows and dresses, overalls and striped shirts,  and teddies of every color of the rainbow!Mother_Bear_in_Liberia_1_medium2[1]This project is just inspiring!

Have you ever taken part in a big group-knitting project like this?

Inspiration: Shark Attack!

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Remember a couple months ago when I was mildly obsessed with these mermaid tails?

1962699_10153195383503330_642696267624178778_n[1]Well, I’ve gotten a new obsession, and I think it’s even cooler.

SHARK ATTACK BLANKETS!

Bulky & Quick Shark Blanket by MJ’s Off The Hook Designs003_medium2[1]So fun, right?

Someone posted this to my Facebook wall a while ago, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them for weeks.

Fast and Easy Shark Tail Blanket by Sheila Hunt11781678_10153449629468632_5745988423847236629_n_medium2[1]They’re essentially the same as the mermaid tail blankets, but much more bad-ass.   (Just look at those sharp, sharp teeth!)

Can I justify spending the time and money on something as silly as a shark attack blanket and still conciser myself a grown-up?

Maybe.

For the Dogs

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So, you know the Woven Stitch I talked about last week?  Well.  I worked up a nice big square of woven stitch in big squishy Biggo yarn.  It measures about 2 and a half by 3 feet.  It’s thick and squishy and warm and lovely.  And it was going to be a fantastic new bathmat for the guest bathroom.

But Ollie had a different idea.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA(These are the best pictures I could get with him wiggling around and carrying his blanket around the house.)

So, it looks like Ollie has a new blanket.  (How could you say no to that face?) Whoops!

***OH!  And the Twist and Tweed giveaway has been extended until Wednesday!  Be sure to comment here to enter!***

Not just knitting!

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Of course knitting is my One True Love, but sometimes… sometimes I get itchy fingers and have to break out my sewing machine, my embroidery hoop, or my crochet hook.  It’s not that I don’t love knitting.  It’s that sometimes I need something… else.

And this time, it was my crochet hook.

I had a pile of Knit Picks Biggo in several random colors (leftover from making some Human Beans).  Not enough to make a sweater, or even a really satisfying scarf.

But I did have my giant (size N crochet hook) and a crochet stitch that my mother-in-law taught me over Christmas break (she was making a huge, gorgeous afghan for a friend’s wedding).

The stitch, called the “Woven Stitch” looks a lot like the knit “Linen Stitch,” except that it’s crocheted.  Which means it goes way faster.

CJBVCJAUsAAzuVB

All you do is chain 1, single crochet 1, across, making sure your sc’s go into the ch1 space of the row before.  Over and over again.  So easy!

And the fabric made with the super-chunky Biggo was thick and warm and cozy.  Such a fun little break from my every-day knitting.

I think I’m in love!

What do you do wen you need a break from your usual crafting routine?

(And, don’t forget!  Two more days before the drawing for the Twist &Tweed giveaway!)

Wedding Blanket- the Last-Minute Edition

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As a knitter, I use any excuse to break out my yarn.  Whenever a friend has a baby, they get a sweater.  When a friend gets married they get a blanket.  That’s just the way it goes.

Usually, I pay attention to the schedule of these things.

Except, for some reason, I totally spaced on my friend Michel’s wedding.  It’s next weekend.  I started her blanket last weekend.  I’m a dumbo.

I knew I had only about two weeks to do it, so I had to pick my pattern wisely.  I decided to crochet the blanket, since that goes faster, even for me.  And, I wanted something super simple, without any seaming, so granny squares were out.

I considered making a ripple blanket for a while.  I particularly liked this one.  The white against the brightly colored stripes is super cool.l32025a_medium[1]Modern Ripple Baby Blanket by Lion Brand Yarn

But, a couple rows in, it turned out I had messed up on my counting and I had to rip it all back.  So, I decided to try something a little simpler.  Something I could work on while binge-watching Parks and Rec.

1_medium[1]V stitch by Sucrette

Totally cute, right?  I used the V-stitch pattern, and a made up a semi-random stripe pattern inspired by the first blanket.  But, in a very cool (if I say so myself) neutrals-and-neon color palette.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI think it turned out pretty well.  It’s a good size for snuggling under with a good book and a cup of tea, or throwing over the back of a couch.  I hope she likes it!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANow I’ve got to go put ice on my wrists from crocheting too fast!

Do you ever knit to a (ridiculous, self-imposed) deadline?