I love to knit. I love to take a ball of yarn and make it into a shirt, a toy, a blanket, a bag. Something functional. Something userful. Something tangible. Something to be proud of. Maybe that's a side effect of being a software engineer. I work all day on something you can never touch. On something most people will never use or need. Everyone needs a shirt, or a blanket. But I digress.

I love getting to that finished project. I love getting the chance to enjoy what I've made, to wear, it to play with it, to give it away. I hate getting frustrated and abandoning a project three quarters of the way through. I hate getting to a technique I don't quite understand, and then messing it up.

I taught myself how to knit from books and a few online videos. I feel that I can knit most any pattern that's presented to me. I'm good. But I know I could be a lot better. I need to take a step back and larn how to do things the right way. To understand which increase to use where. To know what type of cast on is best for each project. I want to actually know and understand this craft, not just do it.

Enter the Knitting Guild of America's Master Knitting Program. It's a three-level certification program that involves knitting, research, and writing. It's meant to help you learn the craft to understand it, and to become a better knitter. It's exactly what I'm looking for.

The Level one certification consists of:

• 16 swatches (demonstrating different techniques like ribbing, mirrored increases and decreases, cable and color work).
• 17 questions (discussing guage, increase and decrease uses, bind-off techniques, etc)
• a simple hat knit in the round (not the most attractive hat -- maybe I'll donate it
• 1 report (about blocking and the care of knit garments)

This is exactly what I need. Stop, take a giant step back and really learn about knitting. Research technique, understand what options I have when making a seam (I hate seaming), and what the right way is to weave in ends (ugh... all those ends). This is going to be good.

I've made one swatch so far. It didn't take long to make (it's about 5 x 6 inches), but depending on what I learn as I go forward, I may re-knit it. Although I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. Hopefully I don't screw it up when I block it and weave in the ends (ugh... all those ends...).

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Posted by Jessica on May 23, 2008 3:21:40 PM EDT #

If you asked me last year, I never ever would have thought I'd say this, but I love using cloth diapers. And I think its awesome that I can knit covers to put over them.

These are a pair of "longies" that are worn over a cloth diaper (like a prefold diaper or prefitted diaper). It works as a breathable barrier between the diaper and the outside world. Because its made of 100% wool -- it helps to wick moisture out of the diaper while staying dry to the touch, and because it has the natural lanolin of wool, its got some anti-bacterial qualities, too. Plus, they're just cute.

• materials
  • 1 ball of Cascade 220 in red
  • small amount of Cascade 220 in orange for embellishment flowers
  • Size 8 circular needle
  • Set of size 8 double pointed needles
  • 5 stitch markers
• pattern: Picky Pants by Little Turtle Knits
  The picky pants pattern is pretty neat -- it's written with various options that you can "pick" as you go along to create the perfect pair of woolies. You can choose a waist (1x1 rib, 2x2 rib or elastic); choose body shapping (short rows, increases, both, or none); choose a length (shorties, capris or longies); and choose a trim (picot edge, rolled edge, icord edge, etc). Its very well written, and very versatile.
  • Size: medium
  • Waist: 2x2 rib with crocheted drawstring
  • Body shaping: short rows
  • Length: capri
  • Trim: picot edge
• embellishments
  I made 2 crocheted flowers to make the pants a little bit girly. They are based on "Square 11" from 101 Crochet Squares, by Jean Leinhauser

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Posted by Jessica on May 22, 2008 2:19:00 PM EDT #

Dodecahedron is just a fun word. I really don't know if this qualifies as a dodecahedron. Dodecahedron is 12 an object with sides... a cone has 1 side, right? its one long continuous side?? and this has 12 points (cones) -- so I'm going with my original name. This is a pointy dodecahedron.

I'm REALLY happy with this project. As soon as I gave it to Amiya she started playing with it. That was awesome. All those points make it easy for her to grab and bat around. I used yarn I had left over from my Felted Alphabet blocks. I really like the bold colors. I used 6 colors -- 2 points for each color, each on opposing sides of the star.

I actually started this back in February, and finished the first eleven points a week or two after I started. But I wanted to put some bells inside before I finished the last point -- so the project went into a bag til I got my act together and got some bells. Yesterday I went to Petsmart and bought some jingly cat toys to put inside, so this morning I finished knitting the last point - and voila, its done!

• the materials:
  • leftover balls of Patons Classic Merino Wool in contrasting colors (paprika, black, rich red, that's blue, leaf green, old gold, royal purple, and winter white)
  • set of size 2 double pointed needles
  • polyfill stuffing
  • 2 jingly-bell cat toys
• the pattern:
  Celestine by Berroco
  • There are a few minor goofs in the instructions, but nothing that you can't figure out as you're knitting it.
  • There's NO SEWING required, which I love -- you'll just get REALLy good at picking up stitches (a very good skill to have).
  • And what's even better -- you don't have to weave in any of your ends -- they can just hang out and live on the inside of the star with all of your stuffing!
  • I used a size 2 needle, which is much smaller than what is called for in the pattern -- but because this was going to be a toy for an infant, I didn't want to risk any of the stuffing coming out - so I used a small needle in order to produce a tight-knit fabric.

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Posted by Jessica on May 11, 2008 9:08:00 PM EDT #

Green Green Green. You're seeing it more and more on the news, on TV shows, in magazines. "How to go green", "Green up your life", "Reduce your carbon footprint". I'm psyched that its catching on. I'm all over that bandwagon.

We try to do lots of little things to reduce our trash output and to increase our recycling. I know we can do more -- so I'm making an effort to pick up more small things we can do to reduce our footprint.

• Use cloth diapers: With 10 or so diapers a day -- resuable cloth diapers really reduces the amount of trash we put out. Yes there's the added energy / water used to wash them, but there's arguments that its less of an impact than the creation / disposal of plastic diapers. In the summer I'll start drying them in the sun -- that's supposed to help with staining, too. The thing I like most about cloth diapers is that they hold in mess SO much better than the disposables I've used.
• Recycle: Luckily, our township does bi-monthly recycling of paper, cardboard, plastics 1 & 2, glass and cans. I wish they could handle other plastics -- it bothers me to throw out those other containers.
• Compost: I love our compost bin, it doesn't smell (its got a nice screw lid on it), it makes pretty soil for the yard, and it helps to reduce all the trash we throw out. This year we're actually going to buy a 2nd composter because this one is all filled up.
• Reusable bags: My big goal this year is to remember my reusable bags whenever I go shopping. I'm getting much better at using them at the grocery store. Its getting ingrained in my head. I just need to get better at remembering them at other stores too.
• Lights: We've changed out most all the lightbulbs in the house to those new longer-lasting lower-energy bulbs. You don't have to buy them as often and you use less energy.

I want to do more. I figure if I start doing one new "green" thing every month, then I'll make some good headway towards being greener, reducing our energy bill, reducing our trash output and reducing our carbon footprint. Here's some of the stuff I'd like to start:

• Buy local: This year we're going to buy our fruits and veggies locally as much as we can. We looked up some local organic farms and my goal is to make weekly trips to Mill Creek Organic Farm in Medford, NJ to get our produce. Local and organic. How great is that. I just wish we grew more apples on the east coast. I pretty much eat an apple a day...
• Walk more/Drive Less: One of the great things about living in this town is that I can walk into town, and even to the super market (granted, its a microscopic supermarket, but they've got all the basics).
• Eco-knitting!: Even my knitting can get in on the "Green" thing. Yes, I know I love green colored yarn... but there's other types of "green" yarn -- yarn made of bamboo, corn, milk, silk, organic cotton, local wool, all sorts of good stuff. I joined an "Earth Day Yarn Swap" on Ravelry.com. I'm really excited to see what kind of yarn I can find for my swap partner and what kind of yarn I receive. That'll be cool.
• Green energy supply: This one will require a bit of research. But I need to find out if we can buy our energy from a supplier who gets their energy from eco-friendly sources.

I think the thing I like about all this stuff -- is that it gives you those nice "warm fuzzy" feelings that you're doing something good to help out the planet. My daughter is going to be living in this world a lot longer than I am. I want it to be a nice place for her to be, too.

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Posted by Jessica on March 6, 2008 10:16:00 AM EST #

I'm quite happy with how this little hat came out -- and in fact, I'm wondering how it would look as an adult hat... maybe I'll make one for my sister Di. I'm thinking that if I follow the same pattern with a worsted weight yarn on size 7 needles... and maybe if I cast on 150 stitches?? hmmm I'll probably need to do some calculations... or maybe I'll just start knitting...

• materials:
  • set of size 2 double pointed needles
  • 2 balls of sport weight yarn in contrasting colors (or you could use a varigated yarn)
    This pattern really needs to have stripes to get the full effect
• pattern:
  • The pattern is free and available in both English and Norwegian (come on -- you know you've always wanted to knit in Norwegian)
  • The stripe pattern I used is:
    • 7 white, 1 green
    • 6 white, 2 green
    • 5 white, 3 green
    • 4 white, 4 green
    • 3 white, 5 green
    • 2 white, 6 green
    • 1 white, 7 green
    • green til the end
  • To make the chin ties, I used the same "twisted ropes" that I used in my Bamboozled headband

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Posted by Jessica on February 20, 2008 10:19:00 PM EST #

These baby mittens are nice and warm as they are done on a size 2 needle with worsted weight yarn. Because of this they should stay toasty while even blocking out some of the wind.

The ribbing around the wrist should help to keep them on baby's hands, while the tie will make it even more secure. By actually crocheting the center of the tie to the mitt, the strangulation hazard is reduced.

• the size - 0-3 months
• the guage - 7 stitches and 10 rows = 1 inch
• the materials
  • set of 4 size 2 double pointed needles
  • size D crochet hook
  • 2 balls of worsted weight yarn in contrasting colors
    (I used some leftover Patons Classic Merino Wool in Rich Red and Royal Purple)
• the pattern
  • Mitten (make 2):
    You can use any color pattern you like. For the purple/red mittens I alternated 3 rows of red and 6 rows or purple.
    • Cast on 30 stitches, distribute the stitches equally across 3 of the dpns
    • Round 1: Place stitch marker, join stitches, being careful not to twist. Begin a 1x1 rib (*k1, p1, repeat from * to marker).
    • Round 2-9: Continue 1x1 rib.
    • Round 10: k all stitches.
    • Round 11: *k1, m1, k8, repeat from * (33 sts)
    • Round 12-13: k
    • Round 14: *k1, m1, k9, repeat from * (36 sts)
    • Round 15-16: k
    • Round 17: *k1, m1, k10, repeat from * (39 sts)
    • Round 18-23: k
    • Round 24: *k1, m1, k11, repeat from * (42 sts)
    • Round 25-26: k
    • Round 27: *k5, k2tog, repeat from * (36 sts)
    • Round 28: k
    • Round 29: *k4, k2tog, repeat from * (30 sts)
    • Round 30: k
    • Round 31: *k3, k2tog, repeat from * (24 sts)
    • Round 32: k
    • Round 33: *k2, k2tog, repeat from * (18 sts)
    • Round 34: k
    • Round 35: *k1, k2tog, repeat from * (12 sts)
    • Round 36: k2tog across
    • Cut yarn leaving a long tail. Draw tail through remaining sts and tie off. Weave in ends
  • Make tie with color A and crochet hook:
    • Row 1: ch 37, sc in mitt in the middle of the 1x1 rib, ch 37 turn
    • Row 2: sc 37, sc in mitt next to other scin the 1x1 rib, sc 37. Cut yarn and draw through last stitch. Weave in ends
  Tags : completedproject pattern mittens baby
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  Posted by Jessica on February 12, 2008 8:47:27 PM EST #