Knitting

Choosing a Pattern [Indie Design Gift-a-long]

stargrace November 22, 2017 1 Comment

I spent most of my free time yesterday evening on Ravelry, looking through the 300+ designers who are participating this year in the indie design gift-a-long and hunting for the perfect sock pattern. Eventually I stumbled onto ‘Forest Canopy Socks‘ by Cynthia Levy, a [pattern that looked beautiful due to the lace and ribbing, but not too complicated so that it would be beyond my skills. I’ve only been knitting for two years, and this sock really has a nice wow factor without being something that I think would confuse me too much.

I purchased the pattern using the indie design gift-a-long code (25% off!) and took a look at the pattern before bed. One thing that really impressed me and confirmed that I made the right choice is that this pattern is written beautifully. It’s charted with simple instructions between the charts, and I’m just so pleased I picked it.

I’ll be knitting it in my January Yarns Llama Sock yarn, which is a llama, merino, nylon blend. I’ve never knit with llama fiber before, and I’m really interested to see how it knits up.

We have until December 31st to complete our projects (you can craft as many as time allows) and if you manage to complete them and post them in the FO category you become eligible for prizes. I don’t have a whole lot of time to knit, but I am really hoping I can finish this pair of socks in time to enter them.

Honestly, I’m just so excited about this whole thing. If you’re participating let me know in comments! If you’re interested in seeing the designers and their patterns you can check it out in this thread.

Indie Design Gift-a-Long

stargrace November 20, 2017 No Comments

This will be the 5th year that the event has ran over on Ravelry, and it’s a fantastic way to learn about some indie designers, and get some great discounts on their stuff.

300+ indie designers are participating, and I’ll be on the search for some knit designs for toddlers, as well as some new sock designs. I don’t have any designers in mind yet, but I participated last year and I never fail to find a whole bunch of really neat things to pick up.

For more details, you can read below:

What is Gift-A-Long? It’s a multi-designer promotion to help you kick your holiday gift-making into high gear!

The Indie Design Gift-A-Long is a 6 week long KAL/CAL of holiday gifts made from patterns designed by a rather extensive list of independent designers. From November 21, 2017 at 8:00 pm US EST to December 31, 2017 at midnight US EST there will be fun games, contests, and 8 KAL/CALs that will help you get your holiday knitting and crocheting done with companionship and fun! From November 21, 2017 at 8:00 pm US EST to November 28th at 11:59pm US EST tons of indie designers will be discounting between 10 – 20 of their patterns 25% for this event. Use coupon code: giftalong2017. You can read all about the details in this post: click here link coming soon!or on the FAQ page in our group pages. link coming soon!

Star Wars Christmas Ball

stargrace November 14, 2017 No Comments

I made a lovely practice ball first before attempting what I really wanted which was a Star Wars themed tree ornament. The pattern (found on Ravelry) called for fingering yarn, but I did it with sport, and size 1 double pointed needles. The problem is during the construction of the trial one I snapped my dpn when it came to closing up the ball. Doing those ktog were really difficult on the needles and involved a lot of bending.

I started a second one in fingering – and realized my gauge was way off. There was no way I was going to be able to close the ball up with that size, so I scrapped the entire project and started over, this time using red and green sport yarn. It went much better, but once again I snapped one of my wooden dpn.

If I want to continue to make these adorable little Christmas balls I’m going to either have to replace my wooden dpn with metal ones (and hope I don’t warp them too much) or start using magic loop (I know how to magic loop but I don’t enjoy it, my stitches seem to have long runs that way). I have 21 of the styrofoam balls, enough for a really nice collection of hand knit tree ornaments, themed or otherwise. This year I’m trying to have all my ornaments be hand made as a surprise for my husband when he comes home from depot for Christmas. Me and llama bean are going to be making some salt dough cookie ornaments for the tree this weekend. I haven’t made those since I was in elementary school so I hope they turn out.

I have been taking a bit of a break from knitting my shawl, I worked on it pretty regularly until I got to the feather / fan portion and then set it aside. That will be something I need to pick back up before too long. I just haven’t really felt like dealing with a pattern that I have to follow along with, and I needed a bit of a break. The yarn is an absolute dream to work with so I’m sure I’ll get back to it before too long.

The Importance of Quality

stargrace November 2, 2017 No Comments

I bought a package of 7cm Styrofoam balls with the idea that I could knit custom made Christmas balls for my tree which is sorely lacking in the decoration department. They would be quick little knits that didn’t require a lot of technical finesse. Or so I thought.

I struggled for hours trying to complete the first ball. The yarn was dragging along my double pointed needles to the point where I was getting blisters from pushing the needles against my fingertips. After reaching the half way point I was tempted to throw the entire project in the garbage, but I kept on because the ornament was pretty cute.

Safe for kids and pets, they were personal to me and I really wanted to complete a test version before dedicating myself to an actual pattern.

By the time I completed the ornament I was completely fed up and doubting my knitting skills. Being self taught means I am constantly learning, and some projects are just beyond me. Then I took a closer look at the yarn I was using. It’s about 15 years old, ancient 2-ply yarn in acrylic.

The more I thought about it the more I was convinced that the problem didn’t actually lay with me at all, but my issues stemmed from using a poor quality product. The yarn was like trying to slide wax up and down the needles, and by the end my fingertips were bloody. It was horrible.

So the next day I bravely started a second Christmas ball, this time in the stash colours I wanted, using “good” yarn, or at least better. Still acrylic, but much newer.

It made a world of difference.

I’m on the colourwork portion already and the Christmas ball is just flying along. I’m not having any of the difficulties in doing my increases that I was previously. The yarn glides along the needle easily (as it should) and I’m not fighting with it. Of course that being said, I DID break a size 1 dpn because I was stressed out and gripping it too tight. Even our supplies have their breaking points (har) it seems. I’ll need to get  myself a new one before too long, I use them for socks. It was disappointing, but I was incredibly pleased that the knitting itself is going very well and as it turned out I was right. The problem wasn’t me, it was the quality of the materials I was using.

Just because you fail at something doesn’t mean you should completely give up. Sometimes, changing just a single aspect can yield a very different and far more enjoyable result.