Friday, November 28, 2008

And then there were two, two and a half, three...

Two down...one more to go! I rather like the look of Drew's stocking --all green and white except for the red toe and heel. My stocking will be the opposite --all red and white with a green toe and heal.

A lot of people seem interested in what the inside, or wrongside, of this sort of colorwork looks like, so here's a picture:
You can really see how thick these are. They would keep feet nice and toasty even on the coldest of nights.

Here's a look at my stocking, which is on my needles right now.
That metal thing around my finger is a Norwegian knitting thimble. I decided to try it out to see if it helped keep the two colors separated, since I prefer to hold the two strands in the same hand, rather than one in each hand. I haven't quite gotten used to it yet, so the jury's still out. It does keep the colors in order, but I find it a bit awkward, and I have to wrap something inside it so that it doesn't slide around (or off) my finger constantly. I'm not so sure I'll continue to use it or not, but I can see it's potential as a handy little do-dad.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tricot Machine



Another knitter had this video posted on her blog and I just had to share. It's an animated music video unlike any you've ever seen --the entire thing is knitted, believe it or not. More info about the project is on youtube. Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Christmas stocking for Si

Christmas stockings are fun to make. Really! This was a very satisfying project; so much so that I'm going to make one for myself and one for dh too. After all, one stocking hanging by its lonesome just won't do. Here's the pattern I used. It's very versatile, with several motifs to choose from, which should keep things interesting as I begin stockings # 2 and 3.

We are not really into decking the halls for Christmas, but I am into the idea of homemade holidays, so making this stocking for Silas was a first step in that endeavor. I will not be making gifts for everyone because that's just crazy and stress inducing, but Mr. Silas will be getting something special, and there will be a few more handmade decorations too.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Pumpkin Sprite Costume

Better late than never, here are pictures of my son's Halloween costume.
The hat ended up being a pretty tedious project. It was first knit, then felted, and then the pumpkin segments were needle felted onto it. My goal was that the needle felting would make the hat plump and ridiculously cute.

Knowing that he would never keep the hat on otherwise, I made ear flaps. And since he hated how it felt and tore it off of his head within 2 seconds, I had no choice but to line it with a soft flannel. That seemed to do the trick as he wore it for 4 hours straight on Halloween without trying to take it off once.

To complete his costume, he wore his pumpkin longies, which I had completed in early October...
...and I crocheted him a quiver to hold Chinese lanterns. He wasn't too thrilled about the quiver but luckily soon forgot that it was on.
Good little pumpkin sprite that he was, I had him pass out mini pumpkins to people we know during trick-or-treat.

This was Silas' second Halloween and the second time I've made him a costume. I love doing it, but I may have to tone it down in the future and opt for something less time consuming (I saw a toddler "mummy" wrapped in strips of old sheeting--now there's an idea that wouldn't take over a month to render!). Then again, he wears both the pants and the hat all of the time, so it's not as though I went through the effort just for a one-time deal. Well, who knows. During trick-or-treat, Silas eyed some boys who had made themselves cardboard cars and seemed really interested in them. Hmmm. Maybe next year, it will be Drew's turn to make the costume :)