I've been having a lot of fun lately playing with my obscene collection of vintage buttons and I just wanted to show you guys what I've come up with!  Getting these photographed and put on etsy was one of my new years resolutions and I'm pleased with the results!  Lemme know what you think












Thanks for looking and I'd really appreciate some feedback!

I've only been knitting for under a year and I've only completed one sweater... top-down raglan, at that, no seaming involved.  But... I can't help it!  Every sweater pattern I see has something wrong with it and I have way too many ideas for things that would be fun to knit.  I've seen books on the subject of designing sweaters, but I have no idea of what would be best... something clearly written, though, obviously.   



An idea...a top-down raglan with yo increases and maybe shaping somehow hidden into the yo curviness on the sides?  I don't know if that's possible (hence the book!)  How fun would this be over a coordinating color tank top? 

Herro!  I'm going to be knitting hats for chemo patients and premies and I've been looking for a nice, but still inexpensive cotton yarn to use.  Worsted or higher is best, for quickness's sake.

I know knitpicks sells shine worsted for $2.50 for a 75 yard ball, but I'm just wondering if there's anything better out there.     I figure that the more that I can afford, the more hats I can make!

I'm not too knowledgeable (understatement!) about using cotton and apparently the ladies at my Joannes (closest LYS is pretty far, I usually buy online or there) aren't either...after an hour of bumbling about I got pushed into buying that crap that people chrochet doilies with and it looked aweful when I tried to start the hat.

Anyways, Rowan Calmer + shipping is a bit more than I'd like to spend on a hat (I'm cheap!), so what's a brand that'd be suitable for Shedir?  I tried searching and didn't really find anything.

Thank you!

edit:  http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/itemid_5420140/yarn_display.aspx  Would this work?  The weight is a lot different (75 yards/50 gram ball versus Rowan's 175 yards/50 gram ball), but the gauge is the same.

I love the idea of the illusion scarf, but aliens aren't really my thing.  If I were to make a new chart (of a llama, haha, I'm such a nerd), would it look right if I did it in normal proportions on knitter's graph paper?  Or do you have to distort it in order to account for the fact that you have to look at the image from an angle?  I'm not even sure if that even makes any sense. xD

Bad Penny on Knitty.com seems like a really simple first sweater for me to knit, plus it's something I'd actually wear!  Haha.  But I don't really feel comfortable knitting with cotton, sooo...

Would it be possible at all to knit it in worsted weight wool?  Or would switching fibers make it look completely wrong?

AND, if it's the latter, does anybody know of similar easy short sleeved sweater patterns that are knit in worsted weight wool?

How would I knit a tote bag where the handles seem to be made from a slit a few rows from the top of the bag?  Does that even make sense?   I know I've seen it before, but gah!  I can't find a pattern and I don't know the technique to do that. 

Can someone explain how I'd go about doing this?  I bet it's exremely easy and I'm just daft, but I can't figure it out. xD

So, I recently started knitting after I came across some lovely, lovely handspun yarns.  I figured it was illogical to leap into spinning without knowing what the heck to do with the product other than admire it, haha.  But now I'm getting ready to take the plunge and try to see if I can even come close to the beautiful yarns I've seen here on craftster, so I've got a bunch of silly questions.

Where do you buy your fibers and what would be good for a beginner to work with?  I have no clue where I'd go to buy some...I think I'd have to buy from e-bay, but I have no clue what a good price is and I don't want to get ripped off.

I've seen lots of tutorials and websites for spinning with drop spindles, but they all seem to show the outcome as a rather thin yarn.  How do you spin large singles?  I'm a big fan of super chunky yarn.

Okay, so the only things I've ever knitted before are scarves, but I want to move up to something different and a little more challenging.  Thing is, every thing I look into doing just looks so difficult and, well, scary.     I want to improve my knitting, not get frustrated into quitting!

So, ideas for a sort of a stepping stone project I can do to ease myself into more difficult knitting projects?