For the Love of Knitting

Hello!

Welcome to my knitting update. Care to think of a catchy name for me? Thanks, doll!

Bound Off 


I finally finished this super yummy scarf! Yes its summer and I am wearing a scarf in 90 degree weather! It actually is quite breathable though, if I were outside all day it may be a little much. It's the Ribbed Lace Scarf by Pearl Avenue, which you can grab here (its free!)

This was actually really fun and super easy to knit! Also, I love the yarn that I used. Not the most practical color, sure, but it is so beautiful and soft (especially for acrylic). Its Uptown DK in colorway Desert Rose.


Cast On 

Since the next few projects I want to work on are all longer projects, I decided I needed to knit something short so I don't get burned out. Enter the Vintage Knit Tie Headband from Mama in a Stitch which you can find here.  It is so freaking adorable! I am knitting mine with some leftover black yarn. Not the most exciting color but my entire wardrobe consist of black and grey so I think its a good start. Depending on how this goes I may knit up a few in every color! Good stash buster.

In the Pipe 

My next three knitting projects are all cowls.

One for John/Me for when we get colds from Purl Soho (see here)

one for me because it's awesome... and really more like a scarf than a cowl (color your own? yes please! mine is grey, white and yellow)   from verypink.com (see here)

& one for my mom just because it looks so freaking cool  and I want to try it but it's not my style. (see here)

I would add the pictures here but I don't want to violate copyright or something. Just clicky the links!

Reading/Listening To... 

I just found out that knitting podcast exist. I know, I know, I am way behind. I have lots of catching up to do! Currently, I am loving the Knitmore Girls Podcast.  (BTW, they followed me back on instagram as did Staci from Very Pink Knits and I fangirled so hard!!Please tell me I'm not the only one that finds this exciting!)

Top 5 Tips for Knitting Christmas Presents

As many of you probably know by now, I have decided to knit most, if not all, of our Christmas presents this year. Yeah, I know, Christmas is still several months away, but as I am a new-ish (read: slow-ish) knitter and I have several people that I want to give presents to... it is something I needed to think about. Depending on where you're at in knitting/present giving, you may want to start to think about it too! Christmas is really only 163 days away here people! As this is my first year of knitting Christmas presents, I've had to learn somethings along the way and I thought I would share some of my tips and tricks with you! 

(P.S. This applies to any craft)

5. Make a list, and check it twice

Luckily, since you are not actually Santa, you don't have to determine who's been naughty and who's been nice but you should have a solid idea of everybody that you need to give gifts to. I would recommend starting with family, then moving on to close friends. Knitting or crafting anything takes time so your list does not have to include all of your co-workers or acquaintances. If you really want to give those people in your life something, stick with gift cards or candy canes. 

After you've made your list, check to make sure everyone is on it and that everyone on your list is someone that you would invite over to your house for no special reason (i.e. not a party). If you would, great. If not, maybe you should consider giving them some of those candy canes. 

When you've made your list, and checked it twice, write down some ideas of what you should give to each person. It can be general or specific. Although, the more specific you are, the easier the next tip will be! 

4. Stock up on yarn (or craft supplies) when it's on sale 

This is probably obvious to most knitters, but it is also why you need to start (at least planning) early! Even if you already have a pretty impressive yarn stash, chances are you'll want to make something that requires a color you do not have. Also, make sure that you buy all of a specific color you need for each project at the same time at the same store so that you can be assured that the yarn was in the same color batch. Otherwise, the color might be just slightly off. 

Also, if you are buying yarn for making gifts, personally I think its best to stick with acrylic yarns because they won't break the bank and they are easy to take care of. Most people I am gifting to won't want to fuss with specialty wash instructions for specialty yarns and honestly probably don't know what the differences in yarn are. When picking yarn, it is best to know  your audience. If you are gifting for a yarn snob, then by all means, use the best yarn you can find. 

3. Figure out a schedule

Want to know why I know that it is only 163 days till Christmas? Because I have to stick to a schedule to make sure that I get all of my presents done on time. In order for me to get all of my Christmas presents done before Christmas then I have approximately 2 weeks for each project. You don't have to schedule each and every project like: I'll do this hat, then this headband, etc. etc. But, you do want to do some basic calculations to see about how long you have for each project. Remember, some will take  you more time, and some less so don't stress!

The math: 

So, its 163 days till Christmas. Say you have 10 people you want to gift things for. 

First, let's see how many weeks that is:

163/7 = about 23 weeks

Take that number of weeks and divide it by the number of people/projects

23/10 = 2.3 

So, you'll have about 2 weeks to finish each project. 

See? Easy-peasy. 



2. Stay small

This would be my number one tip if the first one wasn't so darn important! Seriously though, staying small is key unless you can do nothing but knit all day. As for me, having a job and schoolwork to do, I may only have a couple of hours to knit per night or sometimes even week. That is why it is so important to stay small while knitting Christmas gifts. If you get done with time to spare, you can always make more... but that sure beats racing the clock and stressing out. 

While I would love to make these things, this for Christmas, I'm staying away from: scarfs (take awhile depending on weight of yarn/etc and they're kind of boring if you make a ton), blankets/afghans, shawls, sweaters, etc. 

Small gift ideas: headbands, hats, gloves, leg warmers, slippers, bookmarks, coffee cup cozies, and phone/ipad/kindle covers.

1. Make sure it's something they'll enjoy/use/etc.

When looking up projects online, it is easy to get caught up in the ohh I would love that or ohh that would be so fun/easy/cool to make. However, this gift is not for you! Ultimately, the person that receiving the gift should not only be appreciative of the time and effort you put in to make it but also the time and effort that you put into picking the right project just for them. Make it personal. Great at making socks? Cool. But who really wants socks for Christmas? Even if they are knitted. If you're going to make socks, at least make sure they are super personalized. For example, a Doctor Who fan would probably be okay with getting socks for Christmas if they were Tardis socks. 

(Psstt... Cool site I found for turning pictures into charts. If its not working for you, just change the size and that should help. Did I mention its free?) 

I've found this relatively easy to do with the girls in my life, but the guys on the other hand were a little harder to figure out. My tip? When in doubt, go with a hat. Everyone needs hats to keep their ears warm in the winter. So even if they may not "get" how awesome having a hand knit hat really is, at least it will be useful (and warm) and they will be grateful. 

Knitted Rug

I'm so excited to share with you my knitted rug!

I finished it a while ago but I have had so many other blog ideas I wanted to do first!

This was super simple to make. I used Lion Brand's Jiffy yarn in the color oat. It is basically just seed stitch, make however big you want. I used 4 skeins. 

I got the idea for the rug here. 


I love my rug!

For some reason the sides are a little wavy but, I think that may just have been not keeping the same amount of tension all the way through? 

Let me know if you know how to fix that so I know for next time!

It is so soft on my feet!

And its kitty approved ;) 

Knitted Sherlock Scarf (Free Pattern Chart)

I am so very excited to finally get to talk about this scarf! I made it for my friends birthday and I just gave it to her today so I finally get to share it with all of you! (I didn't want to spoil her birthday surprise!). 

My friend is a huge Sherlock fan and she is the one that taught me how to knit, so I knew I wanted to knit her something with a Sherlock theme. So, I searched and came upon a really cool "pattern" on Tricksy Knitter. I use the quotes because it didn't have any instructions, just the chart. However, I downloaded, and used it and I love it! You can find the chart here. 

As this was only my... hmm... fifth knitting project, I had no idea how to add text! A couple of google search results and youtube videos later, I decided to use fair isle with stockinette stitch (which is apparently the only stitch fair isle works in? Not sure on that one). 

I used two different weights of yarn, which was scary, but it didn't seem to be a problem. I also didn't realize that stockinette stitch curled and that you can't really block acryllic yarn so... I lined it with fleece, which helped a little but not fully. Here are the results:

Yarn:
 Loops & Threads Charisma in Charcoal 5wt
Loops & Threads Impeccable in White 4 wt
Needles:
6mm (I think, I don't really remember!) 

I think if I were to do it over again, I would create a border so that it didn't curl on the edges and maybe add some tassels on the end but, otherwise I'm pretty proud of this scarf as I think it looks good and is my first adventure in fair isle! :) 

I loved this project so much, I am actually using the same technique for my current project! 

How to Do Colorwork in Knitting

Since my last Cozy Housewife post, I've made a infinity loop scarf and a pretty awesome knitting binder. I will not show the loop, its nothing fancy, but I will show the binder if you all would like. 

One of the pictures I'm working on right now is a present for my friends birthday that involves doing color work. I found a chart that I wanted to use, but there was no pattern attached to it. I did some research on what would be best for my particular project and here is what I found. 

Intarsia- 

From my understanding, Intarsia would be best for color blocking. As in shapes and colors you only use once, or sporadically.

Fair Isle

Fair Isle knitting is better for when you need to carry your work. 

and 

Double Knitting

(Don't watch Biz or Sarah! A possible present is shown!)

This is really, really cool. Its basically, the stitch you want to use if you want something reversible. I will definitely be trying this out when I get the colors of yarn I need.

Stripes

I'm sure that these aren't the only stitches that you can do for color work, but they are definitely the most popular. 

For my project, I chose Fair Isle, and I really like it so far. Its amazing to see a project come together and turn into a pattern. I can't wait for you guys to see it! 

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Knitted Bow Headband

Hello darlings and welcome to my new series,The Cozy Housewife. For now it will be mostly documenting my knitting journey but, eventually I would like to add printable, my sewing journey, and other crafty things.

So far, I've made a grand total of four things. One was just a beginners scrap, two were Christmas presents for my parents, these washcloths with the number "48" (Jimmie Johnson) for my mom, and "88" (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) for my dad.I'm pretty proud of them as they were my first real projects, and I think I did really well.

Which brings me to my third project, a headband for my sister-in-law that she requested during Christmas. 

I'm pretty proud of this, I think its super cute! I used this pattern and it was super easy for this beginner knitter. Check out the pattern if you want to knit this too! 

Happy Knitting