Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Links

As promised, here are the links to the websites where I got my patterns.

1 - The baby carpet comes from "Instant Expert: Crochet" book.
2 - The pattern for dishcloth was found on the website, but I can't trace back the link. I am pretty sure I have it printed out somewhere and I promise to post the URL as soon as I can.
3 - The purse comes from January 2008 issue of "Crochet today!" magazine.

4 - The pattern for hook case is a modified version of this one. I changed it to a 2-color model and also adjusted the dimensions.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Knitting disappointment and some links

Inspired by my multiple successful crocheting projects I decided to plunge into knitting. My great grandmother taught me how to knit when I was 5 and even though I haven't knitted anything since then I was sure that 2 needles are better then 1 hook, and my work should progress at least twice as fast with the needles.
I started with a simple scarf:
(5 purls, 5 knits) repeat 5 times
it was flying off my needles. YEY!!!

Yesterday I wanted to knit something a bit more complex: how about this gorgeous shawl (picture on the left) from the latest issue of Knit1?
The pattern is marked as "advanced", but hey intermediate crocheter is an almost advanced knitter, right? So I casted on 5 stitches, knitted them, and started to untangle the world of yarn over's and sk2p's when after a 20th row I found out that my shawl looks nothing like the one on the picture.
I checked the instructions again, and yes, they do ask you to practice several times, since the pattern is rather complex. After my third attempt, I realised that I am doing something very very wrong. I re-read the instructions, made sure I understand what every abbreviation means, and finally decided to get back to basics and check if I am knitting and purling correctly.

This is when it hit me: all along I was knitting and purling WRONG!!! I was doing everything right, but instead of inserting my needle behind the front "leg" of the loop I was inserting it in the back ... and in the wrong direction.





All this to tell you that here are some useful links with videos of most common knitting stitches. I'll be practicing those for a while, before reattempting my gorgeous shawl!

Knittingatknoon
Arcadiaknitting - check under knitting tutorials

And finally, my personal favorite:
KnittingHelp - not only they have great videos and all the stitches in English and Continental style, the also feature the very comprehensive stitch glossary (with the links to the videos). I will definitely be referring to this one over and over and over again.

I am off to practice my knits and purls, and to check out some yarn stores later on today!
Happy knitting to all of you!

What NOT to crochet

I just had to share this link with you:


First Steps

It all started after I heard the news that my very good friend (best childhood friend) in Tashkent gave birth to a baby girl. I decided that I have to send a little something for her, preferable hand-made. So I got some yarn and some hooks, and since I've been practicing crocheting for a little bit over a week, I started the baby carpet in extremely psychedelic color scheme (to tell you the truth, colors look rather tame on this photo):

After finishing the carpet, I wanted to continue crocheting, but make something smaller this time. I also wanted it to be useful and simple enough that if I would not get the design correctly I would still be able to use it. So the big winter sweater was out of the question, and I decided to crochet a dish cloth:
It was a fun and easy project and I decided to continue.
Next was this bright yellow purse that I now use to carry my current projects around:

After the blanket it was the biggest project so far. I really like the texture of the finished material and will probably use this stitch for something else in near future.

Finally, this morning I finished my hook case. I got 7 hooks as a Christmas gift and so far they've been stored in the empty chocolate box. Now they have a cozy home. This is how it looks from outside:

And inside it has room for 9 hooks:


The original case had buttons and would roll to "close". I am contemplating the idea of attaching some ribbons to mine, meanwhile I can just fol it in half to close and it actually stays closed!


I really hope that I would be able to find enough time to camp, cook, and crochet/knit. For now, while it is cold and rainy in Montreal, I'll keep knitting and crocheting!

P.S. The colors on the pictures are not as good as they are in real life. I definitely should start taking pictures during the day - daylight makes everything so much prettier!
P.P.S. I will post links and references to places where I got my patterns from very soon.