Double Knit Adventures

I've done some double knitting in the past, but never really made an actual project out of it.  Mostly just little patches for fun.  I decided it was time to embark on a larger double knitting adventure! So I made a hat.

One thing I learned on this project that I didn't really learn on my smaller double knitting experiments is that double knitting takes twice as long.  Who would have guessed? :P  Also, I was knitting in the round orange side out, and you can tell the orange side looks a little better than the blue.  I need to work on that.  I think what happens is that I don't pull as tightly or as consistently when I purl, so the blue side looks a bit lumpy and uneven.  But it looks fine when it's on a head, so that's good.

Made another double knit hat, this one portal themed!  I had this idea since I first started experimenting with double knitting and I am glad I finally got around to it.  I also have a good idea for a double knit Super Meat Boy/Bandage Girl scarf.  That will probably happen sometime.

I plan on selling both of these at Anime Detour in Minneapolis later this month.  Speaking of which, I need to get knitting!  There is so much to do!

Hats

Whipped up a few simple hats in December.  Nothing special.  One slouchy hat that is very fuzzy and comfortable.

And a cabled hat made from hand dyed wool.  

That's all for now! Expect a Jake the Dog pattern next week!

Update Explosion!!

It's been a while!  I had a bit of a knitting slump in August, and then I have just been a bit lazy about knitting and posting things.  So here is a mega update!

First off, I finished a beautiful shawl.  The pattern is called Cladonia, and I decided to take this project on after seeing one of my knitting friends make it as well.  This is the first project that I have successfully blocked and I absolutely love it!  It's a great weight for fall.

 

(I apologize for the bad quality of this picture)

I also whipped up two hats from the book "Weekend Hats".  And because it's my favorite color, they are both green!  The beret is made with hand dyed yarn.

I didn't use quite the right type of yarn for this project, so the hat ended up a little floppy.

I made some hand warmers which have been wonderful for the cooler days.  They don't match but I think that gives them spunk. 

 

Last but not least, my mother requested this as a gift for a friend of hers.  It's very free hand and I didn't bother writing down the pattern as I went.  Anyways! I give you Gunter:

 

And along the lines of Adventure Time projects, no, I have not yet finished Jake the Dog.  I have been really lazy about that project...I will hopefully get to is soon. :)

Blue

I finished my hat for my friend!  It was a Navi hat!  I really like the way that the yarn I dyed worked out.  The hat ended up looking kind of pixel-y which worked really well since Navi is from a video game and all.  Anyways, here he is with his brother as Link at Comic-Con:

 

Here are some more images where you can see the hat a bit better.  I used some thin wire to hold the wings up, which worked quite well.

I recently got an itty bitty crochet hook and some embroidery yarn and tried my hand at making an little octopus!  It is super cute!  It made my hands hurt a lot to use the little hook, but it was worth it!  And then I turned it into a key chain!  Woo!

Also, I finally started to make Jake the Dog for my sister!  Hopefully I will finish it within the next two weeks.

Finished Octopus Hat

I figured it was about time to post pictures of the finished octopus hat since I actually finished it about two weeks ago.  I apparent had a brain fart when decreasing the top of the hat because it ended up way pointer than I wanted it to.  Fortunately, I was able to turn this around by folding the top down and securing it with a button (one of the many new buttons I recently obtained).  The button I picked fits the hat perfectly and I am kind of glad I goofed up, because I quite like the look of it.

 

I am currently working on two projects.  One is a stuffed Kraken (progress shown below).  The other is another Finn the Human, which I will be slowly making during my 15 minute breaks at work.  Speaking of work, my first two weeks have been good and I have found that I still have a decent amount of time for knitting in the evenings, which is very nice!

Intarsia

I decided to do my first intarsia project...I might have been a little too ambitious.  It's ultimately going to be a hat with an octopus on it, but it mostly just looks like a flying spaghetti monster at the moment.

 

I continue to do a few rows a day, but I can't take too much more than that without going crazy.

Winter Hats in Spring

I ended up making some hats just in time for 80 degree weather! Woo!
I first made the hat Long Leaves Beanie from the book "Weekend Hats". I used some Red Heart Super Tweed yarn that I had been wanting to use for quite a while. The yarn coloring made it so that the pattern didn't turn out as clear, but you can still see it. This is going to be a hat for a friend of mine, but I will probably give it to her on her birthday, or Christmas or something.

This picture was taken without flash and better shows off the pattern.

After making this hat, I was in a hat mood, so I decided to try my hand at an original hat pattern. I first made a sketch, and then tried it out with some scrap yarn.

Little practice pieces!

Then I sketched out a better pattern. It's super sloppy, but I could read it.

Then I went on the making the actual hat! I got to use a really pretty mustard yellow color (called Pea Green for some reason). Everything worked well! Though, I do have to say, that this hat contained the most annoying row I have ever had to do: cable, cable, cable, cable, k6, make bobble, k7 repeat. Blech, not fun! And I wrought it upon myself! But it was totally worth it! The hat turned out amazing! (I plan to sell this on Etsy whenever I get my store up)

I call it my "Hint of India" hat!

Taken without flash, so you can see the pattern better.

So overall it was a very successful hat week. I plan to next work on finishing my shirt for my steam punk outfit. It is so hard to go back to a project that you haven't worked on, but I would like to have it finished by the end of the month so that I can wear it to an anime convention. We shall see what happens!

Chrsitmas Gifts!

It's been a long time.

Mostly I just haven't been crafting. I got a full time job this summer in the Chicago area. I lived with friends of the family and just didn't really get around to making anything. Then school came around. It was my last semester....which doesn't mean that I worked really hard or anything. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It was my smallest credit load and the classes weren't all that difficult. I just didn't really feel like making things.
That is until November came around and I realized that Christmas was just a month away. It was time to make gifts!!

I made a few things, mostly for my boyfriend's (Alex's) family.

I made this Rikke hat for my Alex's brother's girfriend.


I made said brother a Wisconsin hat. He had one that was similar to it back in the day, but it got destroyed when his apartment caught fire. (He really liked it!)


I made Alex's sister a pair of mittens. I end up only finishing one for Christmas, but fortunately her birthday is on the 29th of December, so I was able to give her the second one then!




And last but not least I made said sister's husband some Star Wars ornaments for their tree:




So, that is it for now! I will probably update again soon as I have gotten back into the crafting mood!

Christmas Stuff

Now, you may think that because I haven't posted anything on my blog lately that I haven't been crafting. But OH HO HO dear readers, I have actually been quite busy! I have made quite a few hats:


And I am currently in the process of making ornaments for my boyfriends family. The on pictured below is an in-process Krampus. I will also be making three kitten ornaments that represent the three cats in The Shadows by Jacqueline West (my BF's sister).


More pics to come when there are projects to post!

Beret

So, finished the beret quite a while ago but haven't gotten around to posting it until now. (Pretty Puffs Slouchy Hat)
Here it is!




















It was a bit tight at first, but it has loosened up quite nicely! I'm probably going to make my sister and my mom this hat but in different colors. They both though it was cute and it would be a quick and easy Christmas present.

Haven't worked on Beartato too much lately. I have a busy week (two tests and a project Friday! eep!) But here is the current progress. Just a few more rows and I am going to add the details to his face/body before closing up the body. I also still need to figure out how I am going to make his stick arms.