Halloween 2013

I was lazy this Halloween.  I recycled a costume from, get this, 10 years ago!  Yippee, I fit back into a costume from 10 years ago...sweet!

 

I will not have a tutorial for you this year, but I so have some pics from my day at work.  Yes, I wore this from 7am to 3pm.

 

I was a 1920's Flapper Girl!  Complete with the red-fringed dress, red sequins trim, long strands of pearls, feathered headpiece and cigarette with holder.

 

I did sew this dress from a Butterick pattern.  I remember being in JoAnn's and buying the whole bolt of red fringe by-the-yard and ticked off one mother who was looking for the fringe.  Sorry Lady, but I'd fight you for this fringe!

 

I also remember bending a few sewing machine needles sewing the sequin trim onto the dress.  The needlepoint would deflect off of a sequins and bend!  Once the needle bent, it was useless.  I even used the heavyweight needle.  I was a sewing-maniac that particular weekend and had 3 needles to spare, thank Goodness!

My cigarette holder was the only thing that I made fresh this year.  Vince and I had a challenge: we each made one...who's would come out better?  They both came out pretty darn good.  I used them both, double smoking!  (We used sheet of white paper, a drinking straw, black and red marker & some cotton (smoke wisps)).  I did not even take pics of us making those...

I hope you enjoyed my retro costume!

Relay For Life - Knitted Donations

Our work is involved in a charity, Relay for Life.  It is an American Cancer Society event and we are putting up a tent and walking a track on April 5th from 6 pm to the next morning.  We are getting excited to do this because this is the first time our company is having their own team there.  We have a monetary goal of $5000.  Which sounds like a lot and we are doing all that we can to raise this money.

If you would like to donate, please follow this link [Relay For Life] and click the orange DONATE button.  Then choose the blue Search For an Individual link.  Type in Nancy Victorino.  Any donation is greatly appreciated!

One of the fundraising events we are having is called a Silent Auction.  We asked the employees to donate a new or gently used item and on a designated day, they will be displayed for everyone to go around and place a bid by recording your bid on a sheet of paper for that item.  At the end of the bidding (We gave 2 days), the person with the last and highest bid wins.

So, I have donated a few items and two of the items are knitted items that I never got around to finishing them in time for the baby there were originally intended for.  I won't mention who they were supposed to be for (I feel too bad about it).

First up is a baby sweater knit in Berroco Touche (50% cotton, 50% rayon) in a raspberry pink.  The yarn has since been discontinued.  

All I needed to do was sew up the side and arm and weave in ends.  This was a UFO, so I am happy to be completing it and giving it to charity. 

I don't even remember what size I was making.  Probably a 6 month old or 1 year.  I can't tell!  I don't have kids, so I really have no clue how big or small babies are.  I know, for shame!!

Next up is a pair of baby booties knit in Berroco Suede (100% nylon) in a tan color they called Butch Cassidy.   This yarn has also been discontinued.  The name was cute, so I remembered it all these years.  I would consider this yarn a novelty yarn.

These were actually already complete, just sitting in my yarn stash and UFO bin.  They have little fringe going around the top edge.  So cute!

I am glad to have brought these two out so that some baby may enjoy them.  I've been wanting to knit for charity, so since I have not yet, here is my chance.

The auction is coming up on March 12th and 13th.  I'll update everyone if they sell! 

Fuzzy Wuzzy

I am starting my Christmas knitting early.  I am on a roll and have completed two hat and scarf sets.  I don't know how many items I will make as Christmas gifts, but I will just knit until I run out of time.  That always seems to work :-)

I start out by buying some really cute yarn at a local store; they were inexpensive so I figured I'd buy a bunch and figure out what to do with them later.  The first set of yarn is a wool-like multicolored strand with a novelty strand of mini fuzzy nubs on them wound together.  I'll call this set of yarn "Fuzzy."  The brand is Gala Yarns and I believe it is a yarn company that must buy out other company's yarns and recycles them.  So I am being green by knitting something with recycled yarn.

Fuzzy

The second set of yarn is a brown worsted weight acrylic yarn with a novelty strand of mini fuzzy nubs on them wound together, like in the other yarn.  This set is also from Gala Yarns (again, being green).  I will call this set of yarn "Wuzzy."

Wuzzy

I decided to make a hat and scarf set for my friend's two daughters.  I made them a hat last year (I Heart Hats) as well, so they can add these to their collection.

The scarves are first.  It is a pattern that I am improvising on.  Here is my pattern:

• Any yarn, at least one ball of 50g (more if you want fringe)
• Size 8 or 9 knitting needles (8 if thin yarn, 9 if thick yarn)
• Work the following pattern until you run out of yarn or reach the desired length:
• CO 16 st, loosely
• Row 1: k1, *yo, k2 tog, repeat from * to end
• Row 2: p
• Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until you reach desired length
• Bind off loosely
• Cut fringe in 10" pieces for fringe that is about 5" long once attached
• For Fuzzy, I used 3 strands of yarn for each fringe
• For Wuzzy, I used 2 strands of yarn and one strand of ribbon for each fringe
• Attach fringe at the ends of scarf at the ribs

This pattern created a ribbed look with eyelets (holes) in between each rib.  It was to have an easy pattern to mindlessly knit without a pattern, but different than stockinette.  

Here is Fuzzy, while in the works:

Here is Wuzzy in the works:

Next was fringe.  I cut 54, 10" strands for Fuzzy and 36, 10" strands for Wuzzy.  Wuzzy also had 6, 10" strands of purple ribbon cut.  

I explain how to attach fringe in a past post: Quintet Scarf.  For Wuzzy, I placed the ribbon one on each end and one in the middle, so there are 3 strands of ribbon weaved in at each end.

On to the hats.  The hat pattern is a pattern I have used in the past and love it.  It is very versatile.  That pattern is available in my I Heart Hats post.  This time, the yarns were pretty thick, so the bottom edge did not naturally roll, so I made them like beanie hats.  You gotta roll with the punches and just go with it.  

How cute, huh?

Here are them as a set:

So, I can officially cross two little people off my list.  Not too shabby.

Cotton Wrap

I'm doing what we knitters call "stash-busting" with this weeks project.  Stash-busting is taking yarn that you already own and making something with it.  It could be yarn that was bought but never used or it may be leftover yarn from a completed project.

In this case, it was leftover yarn.  I made a sweater with it back in 2007 and had a lot leftover.  I always buy too much.  The sweater had it's issues, but it came out nice enough that I do wear it.

This yarn is a hand-dyed cotton that I bought when I visited Mass one winter season.  It is a cotton yarn that when it was spun, it was done in a way that makes the strand thick in some places and thin in others; very cool.

I chose to knit a small shawl that I am calling a wrap.  It came from the Holiday 2011 issue of Knit Simple.  This is not the suggested yarn, so I had to wing it a bit.  The original pattern called for a silk yarn that had beads and sequins attached to it. That sounds very pretty, but not within my budget for this week.

The wrap is knitted by casting on 3 sts and increasing at the beginning of each row to create a triangle.  I used a size 13 circular needle to accommodate the large number of sts it will have when finished.

The yarn is a purple/brown/pink variegated yarn, which you can see a bit better in the above pic.  This worked up pretty quick because it was just knit and purl back and forth.

Since the original pattern with the beaded and sequined yarn was a fancy idea, I knew I had to put a bit of pizazz into this one.  She's a bit of a plain Jane.  What I decided to do was to make fringe.

I cut strands about 12" long, held two together and placed it at every end-of-row hole.  It came out very chic, in my opinion.  My new summer cotton wrap:

Stash-busting was fun.  You can stash-bust too, by seeing what supplies you have on-hand (which could be fabric, beads, ribbon or anything that is leftover) and make something nice for yourself.  Go ahead - Stash-bust!

Lace Dress Repair

I bought this dress to attend an outdoor wedding.  I loved how it had the lace and the satin band, empire-style.  When I saw it on the rack at Forever 21 and tried it on, I noticed that there was a section of lace by the top edge that was frayed and had come unstitched.  I bought it and got 10% off because of the frayed lace.  No problem, I can fix that.

Lace Dress - Before

I tried it on again at home and was thinking that it was a bit short for a wedding, in my opinion.  I could have left it, but instead I wanted to sew ruffled satin on the liner hem.  I wanted to give it the look where the liner or lace peeks out from under the main dress.  First, I needed to attack the frayed lace.


This fray saved me $3!


I tucked the fray strands inside the lace and arranged it so it lined-up with the rest of the lace seam.  I took a needle and thread and sewed along the lace seam where it was once attached.

Good, old-fashioned darning!


I knotted the thread so it was under the lace, to keep it hidden.

Seamless - Can't even tell!

Then I bought a length of satin at Jo-Ann's to add my ruffle edge.  I measured the circumference of the liner edge and then multiplied it by 3.  Creating ruffles takes alot of fabric, so the equation could be anywhere from 2.5 times to 3 times the length of the garment the ruffle will go on.  Based on that I had to cut quite a few strips of satin.


Satin ready for cutting


I wanted to have the ruffle folded at the bottom edge, rather than hemming the edge.  This meant that my cut strips had to be about 6 inches wide, so I could fold it in half.  I bought enough fabric, so I could cut plenty in case I made a mistake.

Cut strips (these are folded here to make cutting easier)

Once I had my strips cut, I went over to the sewing machine and sewed each strip, end to end.  This is a technique I learned in strip quilting.  This created a very long strip.  Then I ironed the seams open and folded wrong-sides together in half, matching up edges.


Use low setting on iron and keep going over the fold.

I then lifted the lace part and started pinning the satin to the hem of the liner.  I used my mini measuring tool to create my ruffle evenly all the way around the dress.


I left the fray, but I would have serged it if I owned one.


The liner was pretty lightweight, so I pinned the ruffle so it lined-up with the liner hem.  The weight of the satin flipped the ruffle so if was turned down.  It worked out, that is all that mattered to me.  I'm sure there could have been a more proper way to do this, but I couldn't think of it at the time.

Once I made it all the way around, I worked it so the end of the ruffle was tucked into the beginning.  I then sewed that hole closed.  I then sewed the pinned ruffle.  I had my fingers crossed that it would work out to how I envisioned it....

Viola!  Me at the wedding!

It was perfect weather for the wedding.  The ruffle was just as I had hoped it would turn out.  It added about 1.5 inches to the length.  Still a bit short but I loved it anyway!  I also bought my cameo and pearl necklace from Forever 21.  It is a great place for accessories.

The newlyweds had a table of various succulent plants as the wedding favors.  The table was so beautifully arranged.

I loved the bell jars!

The wedding was outside and the reception was in a converted stable.  Very well done along with the sangria flowing like water!  Let's just say, the sangria was very tasty!  Did I ever mention that I love sangria?  Bottoms-up!

Hooded Scarf

This project came as a request.  My boyfriend had his eldest daughter down from California for a visit over winter break from college.  She knew I knitted because I knitted her a scarf for Christmas.  Below is the Christmas scarf:

Third scarf of the season

The scarf I knitted her for Christmas was the same pattern as the Trio Scarf and the Quintet Scarf.  One thing that was different between this scarf and the other scarves is that I knitted this with hand-dyed cotton rather than hand-dyed wool.  I did continue to use the Katia silver novelty yarn.  I am definitely getting my money's worth with that yarn.  So, by using cotton, the drape is heavier than the wool, but I think it has charm. 

Ok, so back to the request: She had asked if I could make her a hooded scarf and a skirt.  I said that I would make her the hooded scarf, but to ask her grandmother to crochet the skirt for her.  (Hey, I have to divy up the workload, you know?)  I have a ton of knit magazines and there is a wealth of free patterns on the web; I was bound to find something.  I searched the web first to get an idea of what this will entail.  It appeared simple enough, although I did find a varied selection of how the hood is assembled onto the scarf.  I looked through my knit mags next, but found a scarf with a cap rather than a hood.  Eh, I didn't like it much.  Now, I just got a Knitting desk calendar (the kind that has a pattern-a-day) for Christmas.  Even though I vowed not to look ahead at the patterns and to take it one day at a time, I thought since this is for a purpose, that I should be allowed to look in the index and search for a hooded scarf.  So, guess what?  In March, there is an easy, great pattern for a hooded scarf!  Who knew this would be popular? 

So, I talked it out with the daughter, and the yarn she selected was not the one they knit the sample with, but it looked like a pattern that you could work up with just about anything and it will come out good.  I went to Joann's that evening and bought Vanna's Choice (100% Premium Acrylic) from Lion Brand in Oatmeal.  It is a natural-grayish-brown yarn with tweed flecks in it.  It is the very yarn that my sister knitted up my cabled blanket that I showed at the end of the Crazy Cables post. 

The right-side is wavy

The scarf in the pattern sample was made with a faux mohair yarn that gave a flatter look than my scarf was.  Vanna's Choice is very, very stretchy, so it tended to shrink into itself and give this wavy look to the right side.  The pattern alternated between knit and purl to make a sort of basketweave ribbing.  Here is the appearance from the wrong side (back side):

The wrong-side basketweave

I really liked the wrong side and during the process, I had asked if the daughter wanted this to be the right side, but, after thinking, she chose the right side to be facing.  So, this yarn, as I mentioned, is very stretchy.  I had to do a few gauge swatches to get it right (and it still was questionable)!  The pattern called for size 9, I ended up using a size 11.  I even could have gone up another size, but I did not want to make another gauge swatch, so I stuck with the 11's. 

This pattern is so simple that you knit the scarf really long, then fold the scarf in half to find the middle, then seam down from the fold along one edge about 12 " and, viola!  You have a hooded scarf!  Very clever.  The creator of this pattern is Designs by KN.  She is also known as DBKN and she has been published in several books and magazines.  Her website offers free patterns, too.  This is a great beginner project.  It is something more than a scarf, but not complicated.

The best thing about this scarf was that I bought the yarn on a Thursday night and knitted it throughout that weekend and finished it up on the following Monday.  Here is the hooded scarf complete:



Definitely will keep the chill out!

After the hood was seamed, I added fringe to the ends and added a tassel to the hood.  At first I was not going to add the tassel, but it really does add a cuteness factor to it:

To tassle or not to tassle...

The original pattern called for the tassel and not the fringe, but I think that it needed something else than just the tassel.  Maybe if I used the yarn recommended in the pattern, the fringe would have been unnecessary, but since I like to reinvent the wheel all the time, I added it.

I feel like all I have been knitting lately are scarves.  I am actually working on one right now.  I think once my current one is done (which it is for me, yippee!) I am moving on.  I like scarves and will most likely come back to them after a few months have gone by, but I am feeling overscarved right now.  I have some sewing projects in the queue and a few more knit ones, too.  I have a couple of dying projects too, but I am searching for a used stock pot that I can dedicate to dying on the stovetop.  The bucket method took a long time (remember Halloween 2010?), so I will be searching yard sales and the local Goodwill for the perfect one.  Wish me luck!

Quintet Scarf

This is basically the Trio Scarf, but with, guess how many different yarns....five.  This installment of the scarves will be about attaching the fringe.  Another thing I loathe about knit or crochet patterns is that the pattern assumes that you know something about knitting or crocheting beyond your nose.  But sometimes, you just don't.  You just see something you like and want to pick up a pair of needles or a hook and start!  Practice is something that comes with time, how can you practice if you don't work on patterns?  So, in the Trio Scarf post, I simply stated "attach fringe" as a step to complete the scarf, but if you don't know how that is done, then the pattern is just dumb.  Trust me, I get it!

Let me start by explaining why this is not the Trio Scarf, but the Quintet Scarf.  The five yarns I used were out of necessity, not want, but I made the best of it (and my yarn stash).  First my MC (Main Color) was the wool that I mentioned in the Trio Scarf, with the all purple hues from South Company Rio de la Plata.  Did I mention that the Rio de la Plata is hand-dyed in Uruguay?  !Es fabuloso!  Then the second yarn was the rest of the Berroco Opulent FX.   I did not have enough of the Opulent FX to knit all the way through, so I knit it in the beginning then at the end.  My third yarn was Katia Sevilla in a silver color.  I said cream in my last post, but upon further inspection, it really is silver.  My fourth and fifth yarns were also novelty yarns.  The fourth yarn was leftover Berroco Jewel FX which is 94% Rayon and 6% Metallic.  It has a silver thread, purple thread with nubs and a blue thread with nubs all twisted together.  I used it in a felted purse project years ago.  Finally, my fifth yarn was a purple eyelash yarn.  I no longer had the wrapper label, so no clue of the brand.

If not "nubs" then what are they?

The eyelash yarn, I do remember, I bought at a yarn shop in Middleboro, MA called The Wool Patch.  It is the cutest shop built on the same property as the owners home, built like a rustic cabin.  The yarns are in wooden cubbies, baskets on the floor, hanks hanging from the wooden rafters and in an antique wooden hutch with the yarns popping out of the drawers and cabinet shelves.  In addition to the knit shop is a llama corral.  She only has a few, I believe, more as pets than shearing them for profit.  But I could be wrong.  Definitely check out The Wool Patch if you are in the area.  I don't see that they have a website, but they are on Facebook.  I included the link above. 

Like in the pattern in Trio Scarf, I alternated between these five yarns.  It gave a slightly different look than the Trio Scarf, but just as pleasing.  Ok, so now for the fringe lesson:

1. Cut fringe twice the desired length.  It will eventually be folded in half, hence twice the length.  I organized it by laying each set out because I knew I did not have enough Opulent FX to have two strands per fringe.  In the pattern, I used 11 sets of fringe for each end of the scarf.  You may add more or less, depending on how full you want it.  I put one strand of Rio (MC), one strand of Katia, and one strand of Opulent.  Then cut a few lengths of Eyelash (not too much, this can overpower the look), and a few strands of Jewel and randomly selected sets to add these to.  Not every set had an eyelash or a Jewel.

Eleven sets, organized in the order I will use them

2. Work on a flat surface and put project right side up (knit sts up).  Examine and plan out where the fringe will be attached by looking at the spaces at the end of the scarf.  This is usually the cast-on edge (alternately, bind-off edge).  I started with the very side-edge loop with the tail of the MC hanging.  The stitches may elongate as you attach, that is fine and will blend in once done.  I was able to count every other space/hole, using the knit sts space.  It doesn't matter where you put the fringe, as long as you are consistent, it will come out beautifully.  Insert the crochet hook from underneath into the hole you want the fringe to go.

Be consistent when choosing the placement

3.  While holding the crochet hook in one hand, take the first set of fringe in your other hand and find the center of the length.  The center, place in the crochet hook.  Use a big hook, it will give you the deepest notch to hold all the strands.  You may have to hold the yarn tight in the hook to prevent from losing it.  Move the crochet hook with all the strands from the front to the back until it is about half through (called, "pulling it through").  Once through, maintain the center, drop the crochet hood and place your fingers through the hole/loop that you have created (where the crochet hook was).

Make sure all the strands have made it through the space

4.  Once your fingers are in the loop you have created, take the tail of the fringe with the fingers that are in the loop and pull through.  Now with both hands, tighten and adjust the fringe so it fits snug against the scarf hole.  One fringe has been added.

Hooray!  Only 20 more to go!

5. Add the remaining fringe evenly across the edge.  You have the freedom to add as much as you want or as little as you want.  I wanted a full look, sort of chunky looking.  If you feel like it needs more bling, then in the spaces in between the existing fringe, add a few Katia strands or other shiny yarn.  I added extra teal Katia to the Trio Scarf.  I felt like the silver shows up very well and did not think more bling was needed.

I love the mixed look!

Now that you are an expert on fringe, repeat on the other end of the scarf.  You can leave the ends a little ragged, with the fringe uneven, or you can choose to snip them all the the same length.  Just be careful if you are the straight-edge type and make sure that you are cutting an even amount off.  You don't want what happened when you tried to cut your bangs when you were a tween and one side ends-up shorter than the other side, then you try to cut the longer side to match the short side and then that side is shorter and then you go back and forth before you realize you need a stylist to cut your bangs even again, now that there is only two-inches left.  But in this case, you can always "grow" new fringe, unlike your poor bangs, which will take a month to grow out.

Ragged-Edge all the way, baby!

So there it is, the Quintet Scarf.  I did not measure the full length of this scarf, but I'm sure that it is taller than I am.  What else in the world can you wear that is taller than you?  That is why I love the scarf and I hope that you love knitting them too.