I have an allergy to nickel. A bad allergy. Yet we live in an apartment that has brushed nickel fixtures. Not a good combo, and I have a painful and itchy right hand to prove it. Then my husband hit upon the idea that I knit up some knob cozies so that I can touch them without triggering my allergy.



What a great idea. I really wish I'd thought of it. Here's a few that I whipped up really quickly.



It's basically just a tiny hat for each knob. But it works!! It really works!!! Whew!



What do you all think? I'm really happy with them. And I have a whole bunch more to make, but it's no problem. They work up super-fast.

I am a HUGE fan of the crochet designs at Mon Petit Violon monpetitviolon.blog spot.com and her fabulous Etsy shop. I just made up a very simple (one yarn color instead of two) version of her Flower Petal Mary Janes and love them.



What do you think? Comments welcome! Thanks.

I made these fingerless mitts for a craft exchange.



I used a mostly cotton yarn, which I know isn't ideal for mitts, but I think they turned out pretty nice. I love the color. The pattern is at: http://carissaknits.blogspot.com/2007/06/cabled-fingerless-mitts.html

What do you think?



Thanks for looking!

One of my New Years resolutions is to use up as many of the yarn scraps and ends left over from making gifts as I can. I would like to put them to a good use, not only in terms of being a good steward of resources but also in terms of helping others.

I've decided to make baby hats to donate to an as-yet-undetermined charity (I'd like it to be local). Here are the first of my scrap charity knit baby hats.



I'm honestly not sure where this yarn came from, but I found a small ball of it and it was almost the perfect amount for a cute baby hat.



Kinda cute, don't ya think?

This one is my favorite, though. I used tiny balls of 4 different scrap yarns to make this.



It's made from a bit of handspun angora (brim), some leftover sock yarn, handspun art yarn and a bit of brown cotton yarn (crown).



Kinda looks like a layer cake. What do you think?

Thanks for looking! Happy New Year!

This is my very first food-related post but this cake was hand's down the best dessert I've made this year. Unbelievable moist and buttery. Perfect balance of sweet and tart. Incredible.



Blogged about (including the recipe) by the Beantown Baker:
http://www.beantownbaker.com/2010/11/pumpkin-cranberry-pecan-upside-down.html

This cake is definitely worth making. I hope you like butter, because this small, square cake uses a full 1/2 pound of it. Yum!

This is the second time I've made the Basketweave Scarf pattern, found at Knitting Daily, but this one is a present to myself!



I find this pattern tedious to work up, so I'm not at all sure I'll ever make a third, but I'm happy with the way the yarn and pattern work together here (debbie stoller's baboo yew).

Thanks for looking!

I made this for the pre-teen daughter of a friend. I wanted it to be appropriately girly.



Did I succeed?

It consists of the most basic stocking net stitch hat pattern (made up) and the addition of simple crochet flowers from this page: http://www.woolcrafting.com/crochet-flower-pattern.html

What do you think? Thanks for looking!

A friend asked me to knit a Christmas stocking for his sweetie. I've knitted one pair of socks before (with help!) so I knew it would be a challenge.

I used variations from the Cascade Yarns knit Christmas stocking pattern. Unfortunately I'm broke, so I used a mish-mash of old acrylic yarn (from my mom) to make it. I'm still pretty pleased with the overall result, although my fingers are irritated from using rough acrylic yarns. But, yeah, I'm pleased I did it. Maybe I'll do another one next year (in prettier yarns).



What do you think?



Thanks for looking!

I'm allergic to most common metals and so have been experimenting with crochet jewelry.



What do you think? Thanks for looking!

I needed a secret Santa gift for a co-worker and I don't have much time or money. I knitted this up quickly and hope he'll like it.



I know it's pretty plain and simple but what do you think?

Thanks for looking!