Thursday, December 20, 2007

Free Pattern: The Nutcracker Scarf



Materials:
1 skein Moda-Dea Dream or any aran or fingering weight yarn
US 11 needles

Gauge:
15 stitches (worked loosely) in stockinette on US 11 needles=4 inches

Snowflake Lace (adapted from Snowflake Lace Socks)
Row 1: K2, YO [Slip 1, K1, PSSO], K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO [Slip 1, K1, PSSO], K1, K2tog, YO, K2.
Row 2 and all even rows: P across.
Row 3: K3, (YO, K3) across.
Row 5: K1, K2tog, YO, [Slip 1, K1, PSSO], K1, K2tog, YO, [Slip 1, K2tog, PSSO], YO, [Slip 1, K1, PSSO], K1, K2tog, YO, [Slip 1, K1, PSSO], K1.
Row 7: K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, [Slip 1, K1, PSSO], K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, [Slip 1, K1, PSSO], K2.
Row 9: K3, (YO, K3) across.
Row 11: K2, K2tog, YO, [Slip 1, K2tog, PSSO], YO, [Slip 1, K1, PSSO], K1, K2tog, YO, [Slip 1, K2tog, PSSO], YO, (slip 1, K1, PSSO], K2.
Row 12: P across.



Pattern:
CO 15 using Provisional Cast-on.
K 1 row.
Work in Snowflake Lace until the scarf is as long as you want. On the last repeat, work 11 rows of the pattern, then knit across the 12th row.
BO using Picot Bind-off.
Unravel Provisional Cast-on and pick up 15 stitches.
BO using Picot Bind-off.

Blocking Dimensions:
This scarf can be as long or as short as you want, but you should block the width to 4 inches.

Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

FO: The Nutcracker Scarf




Aww, look how cute I am in my self-designed scarf (ignoring my horrible un-glossed lips, of course)!

The lace detail

It turned out really great, considering it was my first time ever blocking.
Ooo, and I have photos of that, too!!

Maybe I'll give the pattern as a Christmas present ;)

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Another 10

11. I hate Comcast commercials.
12. Making lists is boring.
13. Writing down patterns gives me a similar feeling.
14. Hopefully Christmas will increase my yarn-money supply.
15. I eat ice cream all year round (yes, even in January).
16. I have way too many bookmarks (both the virtual and actual book bookmarks)
17. Blocking gives me angst and lots of of it.
18. So does deciding on what to knit next.
19. I need more paint!!
20. Wow these 10 are really negative and kind of angry-sounding, so here's so exclamation points to cheer things up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

I am much too lazy to think of 100 things right now

so I'll just give you 10 today.

About Me:
1. I am the oldest child.
2. When I eight, I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in two days.
3. No, my first name is not Mary.
4. But yes, my middle name is Jane.
5. My first ever acrylic painting was a still life of plastic apples and a silk sunflower in a bucket with a green and brown backdrop. It really wasn't that bad.
6. My first ever knitted project was a garter scarf in lime green eyelash yarn. Yes, it really was that bad.
7. I do not like knitting with any needles but Clover Tatami Bamboo Needles. Anything else just doesn't feel right.
8. I learned about how to draw people from a book called How to Draw People. However, while this book greatly improved my shading, it improved my noses (my drawn noses) very little.
9. I'm an incredibly fast reader (see #2)
10. There is a lot of novelty yarn in my stash.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Great Gaping Dropped Stitch Hole, Batman!

Yay!! John's Cool Dude Hat is done!

So that means, my Christmas knitting is done!!! *jumps up and dances*

It also means I have now have no projects to start and no new yarn I need.
*twitch*
I take that back. I need new yarn. Or at least something to knit.
So I dug through my stash, and seeing my very un-wispy Wisp, picked it up and started to knit.
And then I spotted IT.

Look at it. How on Earth did that sneak in? No amount of blocking will close that crater.
So I performed a trademark knitting technique.

And now my yarn problem is solved :)

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Bleck

That pretty much sums it all up.
I have the sick today, which means:
runny nose
headache
clogged throat
tiredness
contagious-ness (I wipe down everything I touch)
In other matters, here's some art.

I drew it as a cover for this mythology thing we had to do in Language Arts. The crying lady is Selene, the moon goddess (you can find the myth here ((And please ignore the crappy image quality, the one below is kinda better)))

Well, that's all to report!
Ugh, I need some soup.
*sniff* And tissues.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Addiction

I've been browsing through old posts on Thinking in Magenta, and I noticed something: I can't seem to more than four days to publish a new post. Is this common among new bloggers? That we get so excited we just post post post until something comes up and then we forget about the blog and then three weeks later we remember about so we post but by that time all the readers are gone?
Anywho, I finished the Tough Guy Hat. This was an incredibly fast knit. I swear it was finished in less than three days, probably two if I had more time.

Does a brother this geeky deserve a hat this awesome?

Ah, it's Christmas :)

Monday, December 3, 2007

More boredom






What Greek goddess are you? (Females Only) (PICS)
created with QuizFarm.com
You scored as Athena

You are Athena - goddess of wisdom, war, and crafts.


Athena


80%

Hera


70%

Aphrodite


70%

Artemis


50%


Saturday, December 1, 2007

New (secret!) WIP's

My brothers have been begging and begging for me to make them hats. So I intend to make them hats for Christmas.

Now it's time for the small problems to come in.

I want the hats to be a surprise Christmas present, so I can't knit them while the bro's are around. That means no knitting in front of the TV :(
Also, how in the world will I measure their heads without them thinking something's up?

Honestly, what would your brother (or sister) think if you just came up to them, took a tape measure and wrapped it around their head, wrote something down (which CO 80, K1P1 rib 1 inch, K8 M1 around, K2P2 rib 5 inches must look like some kind of code to a non-knitter), and just walked away?
I'd be pretty suspicious, that's for sure. And slightly creeped out.

I hope my brothers aren't light sleepers, cause they'll probably get a visit from the head-measuring fairy tonight ;)