Hello to all the daring knitters that take up fair isle! I have a conundrum for you. I just finished the owl mitten pictured below:

I think the owl turned out alright but there are some things I'm not happy with and I'm not quite sure how to remedy.
1) My mitten turned out really wide (but strangely the length was fine). The fair isle cuff is especially distorted. Could this have to do with the tension I keep on the two yarns? I'm right handed and really struggle with keeping the yarn in my left hand from going too slack or being too tight. Any suggestions?
2) The edges of the wings and eyes, where there is only one row of the contrasting color get lost in the green on either side. Again, tension problem? Maybe I'm just knitting to tightly.
3) This was a tester project so I knit in acrylic. Would wool be better so that I can block? Would blocking help with the huge width problem? This thing really fits more like an oven mit (and will probably get used as such) instead of as a mitten.
All insights are appreciated! Also, would you wear an owl mitten knitted like this? I was making them as a gift but I think I'm going to have to go through the pattern and tailor it to a smaller width...or block. Let me know what you think
Thanks in advance!
echo_brook

My mom recently gave me one of these as a present...very grudgingly. I think she wanted to keep it for herself. So I thought, wouldn't it be great to make her one...or more! They seem like they would be so easy to make! I just don't know how to get a wire to retain this shape. Here is an example of what I'm attempting to make:

It looks like a whole bunch of bangles stacked together but really it's just one big wire coil around the wrist. MUCH easier than putting on and taking off 10 or more separate bangles.
My first thought was to use memory wire. But the stuff I have would be better suited for making a choker  - not a bracelet. Do any of you brilliant craftsters know if there is a smaller coiled memory wire lurking out there that I am not familiar with? Or any other recommendations? Could I train my larger memory wire to shrink it's coil?
Thanks in advance, everyone! I would really appreciate the help!

I have a real problem with letting mail, paper scraps, and other such paraphernalia take over the desk/crafting space. This HAD to stop! So I dismembered a cardboard box and created this cute little solution:

Close up of the front:

Fully loaded with my junk!  ...hrrm, I may need another one

Craftster, meet Mugwump and MushMush:

My newly adopted (and soon to be spoiled rotten) chinchillas. This is the first project I made for them:

It's a fleece covered tube that Mugwump is inspecting in the above picture. I may have to make a larger one when when they are full grown. They are less than two months old right now. They seem quite pleased with this one for the time being, though. Which I'm thankful for because there was no way I was paying for the premade ones when these are SO easy to make.

Thanks for looking and letting me show off my furbabies

So ever since I encountered these swirly looking trees in the Tree Swap Round 2 I have been kind of obsessed. That combined with moving and loosing nearly all of my cabinet space that I used to store my jewelery prompted this project.


With only a few pieces on it.


Fully loaded.

The paints were stolen borrowed from my fiance and the rest was scavenged from our old under-the-sea themed room (netting) and ample supply of cardboard packing boxes. I believe this might be the first time I have painted anything. So please be gentle. I tried doing a sunset type effect behind the tree at first but acrylic doesn't seem to lend itself well to that. Water colors would have been better. So I went with the simple two color thing. But I think it actually works well since it gets so cluttered with all my stuff hanging on it. I would like to frame it so you can't see the hideous cardboard edges (where in the world is my box cutter?! Someone needs to help me unpack my craft stashes. lol) but that will have to wait until I get one of those job things.
So, a question for your crafsters: should I make another one to separate the earrings from the necklaces? That way I could place the earrings as if they were actually hanging from the trees. Same colors? Reverse colors?
As always, comments and constructive critiques are welcome.

Hello Craftsters!
The most recent earring swap had me playing with my polymer clay to make a few pairs of these. More are in that swap's gallery. Here are a few I made after the swap when I still had tons of supplies left over. More will probably be coming because I still have a huge pile of faux wood circles and ovals laying around. I would love to hear what you think about these. Ideas for what should be done with the remaining pile of supplies would be much appreciated, as well.


Green and silver


Blue and silver


simply silver

As always, C&C are welcome. Thank you for looking.

Hi everyone
I received from gemusia and koalascout. Here are pictures:

From gemusia:


From koalascout:




Thank you both so much!

[pseudo_pix]

I received from pseudo_pix!  Check out these rad earrings! (Yes, she spoiled me rotten)


I couldn't quite get the exact shade of green captured with my camera. Try as I might. But trust me, these are gorgeous!


LOVE the yellow!! Gemusia did such a great job with colors!


Shell button earrings!! My favorites (though really hard to pick one) and I've been wearing them around all day.

Thank you so much, pseudo_pix! You are a very talented jewler

(and I'm a very disorganized receiver! Again, I am so sorry for the mix up!)

I received from pocketwatch. I think there might be another item on it's way, but I'm unclear. If there is I will post again later. Here is the goodness she betowed upon me

Hand drawn Mollusk Note cards! These rock my world. I might have to frame them instead of using them

Nudibranchs  (sea slugs are the most beautiful slugs)


Octopi!!  Tentacled goodness!

And she sent me a DNA knitted hat! How cool is this?!


Thank you so much pocketwatch!

So I finally learned how to knit! To practice my basic knit, purl, increase, decrease skills I have been churning out hats and scarves. Here are my first projects:


These were made for the tree swap. I chose the yarn colors to simulate wood grain. No ribbing because this sucker was a good 7 feet long and over a foot wide. Ribbing would have driven me nuts! The felt appliques are also hand embroidered.


Hat and scarf made for a friend's birthday. First time working with cotton yarn and I think I'm in love. The hat was too short when I took it off the needles so I had to put it back on. I had trouble catching the ribbing pattern again so I just turned it into a brim
Fun action shot just because:


Thank you for looking! Comment and critiques welcome. I'm a newby knitter so any pointers are greatly appreciated!