pattern:
http://www.onesheephill.com/fidget.html
inspired by SpunK:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=222305.0
my ravelry (can't believe i got an invite so soon!):
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/silbi/the-fidget


Blocking:


by happy chance, the striping came out symmetrical. half of it was from another skein, same dyelot, but there was still a somewhat noticeable difference. the second skein was not as brightly colored. i joined the second skein by spreading out the fibers of each end, overlapping the ends together, and felting by rubbing with my hands. i think it turns out pretty sturdy, albeit a bit felted looking but its not noticeable at all once knitted up. while felting, i try to get the two yarns to spread out a bit so the double layer isnt too thick, which is a problem with joining this way. but no big deal in the end.

With buttons:


one of the skeins had a lot of knots in it. so i just kept undoing the knots and using the above method for joining the ends together.

Action shot:


im pretty glad that i made it wider than the pattern (7.5in x 25in, US 9 needles). the yarn is not as bulky as the suggested so i like how it folds in at the neck for a double layer of squish and warmth.


Does anyone feel the SWS is a bit scratchy?
I washed it with Kookaburra but it didn’t soften up much. Maybe a little hair conditioner will help? Or another brand of wool wash?

I'm making some Jaywalker socks toe up using short row toes and heels. After I did the heel, I started the leg, but when I tried it on after about an inch of the leg was done, it was very difficult getting my heel through the leg part, even when I put the stitches on waste yarn.

Is this normal? I had already increased stitches for the heel  (it was really tight around my ankle bone) but after the heel, I started decreasing it back to the normal pattern number of stitches.

I think I should go back to where I started decreasing and keep the extra stitches. Maybe this is a flaw of short row heels? Maybe my feet just don't work with the leg and foot stitches being the same number.

Any words of wisdom would be awesome! Thanks.

Not sure if this topic belongs here. But I thought knitters would know about the many uses of eucalan and other wool washes.

Has anyone used Eucalan to bathe their dogs or other pets? If so, how did you do it? I imagine you would fill the tub with water, add some eucalan, swish it around to make bubbles and then drop the doggy in. And then what? You can't just make them soak in there..I dont think they will like sitting there for very long. So do you just keep rinsing them with the eucalan water? Does it get all the dirt out? Are the dogs ok with the lanolin on them?


Kind of a funny question but I was just trying to think of ways to bathe pets in a more nature friendly and pet friendly way. They always advertise that wool washes can be used on pets but don't really say what is the best way to do it. I suppose it is kind of common knowledge but what about us newbies with no experience?

Thanks for any help/advice!

I am not a Naruto fan so I am not sure why in the world he wears this sleeping cap to bed. But it's cool looking and a friend requested it a while back. I don't think he expected that I would really make it, so I hope it is a good surprise for him!

here are screenshots of the hat:


here is a picture of hats that you can buy on Amazon and other places:


i based it loosely on this cute santa hat pattern.
::edit:: by coincidence, i found this page with a similar hat, and she kindly wrote out the pattern too.




I made the 2 teeth first and attached them while casting on (i used a cable cast on) for the rest of the hat.



I knit the brim in Lion Brand Jiffy and switched to Caron Simply Soft black. I used US 10 circular needles. I got tired of knitting the black part so I took a break and made the pompom.

After miles of stockinette and some annoying magic loop for the tip of the hat, I tried to duplicate stitch the eyes on. But it was terribly ugly.
Then I tried to crochet them. But then I remembered I havent crocheted in years.
Finally I said, screw it all, I'm knitting them! And they turned out pretty well I think! =)



And then, I tried to embroider the black parts of the eyes. And i thought it was ok for a while...but then I didnt like how messy it was....So, Buttons!
And then I pondered what in the world I should do about the nose....I was thinking perhaps another pompom...or a flat crocheted oval....
So I tried to the crocheted oval thing..and in the process, I though I should make it more 3D. So I made more of an oval bowl. Then I rolled up some of the leftover black yarn and used it as stuffing. Then I sewed everything on.

I also put in some elastic at the brim because it was really loose. I probably should have cast on less stitches. You can see in previous pics that the front part puckers in a bit. Thats because I originally had the elastic in two parts: a strand in the front between the teeth, and another strand around the back. I did that because there was nowhere to hide the elastic on the reverse stockinette wrong side of the teeth. So to fix the pucker, I just used one round of elastic and sewed it onto the backs of the teeth so there isnt so much elastic hanging behind them. Hope this makes sense!

<< pucker   << no pucker


Thanks for looking! Sorry for such a long post...Comments welcome!

I went kind of hat crazy over my winter break.

First, the Zeebees (click for the awesomely addicting pattern)!

Red Zeebee for my bf who loves red

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Classic Al 005 Aged Wine
About 36 sts or so (he kind of has a big head) on US8s

Green Zeebee for a friend who likes to wear a green hoodie a lot

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft held double
25 sts on US11s...I'm terrible at counting my gauge sts for garter st. Something must have went wrong because I stopped it at 3 quarters of the zeebee and it was wide enough.

White Zeebee with Earflaps for me, made the night before a ski trip because i just HAD to have a matching earflap hat to go with my ski jacket! 

Yarn: Vanna's Choice held double
22 sts on US11s, increased 5 sts for the earflaps.

I also made a similar earflap one for a 2 yr old kid out of bernat softee chunky tweed..i dont have a picture, twas cute but alas, the child cannot stand hats that are snug on the head and would rather play with it by throwing it around than actually wear it. oh well!

Cabled Hat for another friend

Yarn: Wool Ease
140 sts on US5s - I originally made the hat too short...and I thought it might be ok, but after a while I couldnt stand it anymore so I ripped back to the main pattern. I had forgotten what needle size I used but thank goodness for pictures! the first pic shows what color the needle is so I easily picked up my US5s and knit away!
Pattern: my own - just a simple 5x repeat of 3 2x2 ribbing and mirrored cables. tried to make it manly but still nice!

And the surprise.....

Naruto Sleeping Cap!
I think it deserves its own post so the link will be here as soon as I get that done!
EDIT: here is the link to the post!
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=220466.0


Hope you enjoyed my winter break madness!

Here is my ice queen, made for my bf's mom. Note: It's not blocked yet. Its a bit snug around my chin but I'm sure it will be fine after blocking.



The picot bind off is fiddly but i have to say, its so cute!


Bottom scallops: I didn't feel like doing a provisional cast on so i just did a regular one. Then, I thought i did it too tight so i started trying to stretch it out but then i heard a couple of snaps - i broke the yarn in a couple places. So i spliced some more yarn onto the cast on tail and single crocheted around the edge to save the loose stitches. This loosened out the edge more and spread it out. I'll spread it out more by blocking. You can also see some garter ridges - this is because i mistakenly started doing the garter version but i just left it.



Other info:
Yarn - Mohair Luxe color 88, from Lang Yarns.
Each ball has 175m (~192yds) and I used a little more than one ball.
Needles - US 7 circulars

Hope you like! I couldn't find any other completed ice queen's on craftster. Comments welcome. =)

I hope its ok to put this here...

This is probably a topic some people have seen many times so sorry if its kinda boring but I am trying to make a slytherin robe for halloween.

i have never really sewn before (i can mend my own clothes but ive never used a sewing machine so nothing professional?) but i thought this might not be too bad.

i got this pattern because it looked like it only needs a little modification to turn it into a robe:

its reversible too so the contrast can be my green lining

and here is the PDF of the instructions (after i "bought" the pattern from joann, they send u an email to download the actual pattern to print out but the instructions are available at printsew.com):
http://printsew.com/instructions/sti4638.pdf

and i thought all i need to do is give it sleeves:


so all you expert sewers out there...do you think this will work? i'm just kind of worried about the shoulders part because most clothing dont have straight shoulders like that. but i think whatever little details are kinda wonky would be ok because the robe is suppose to be loose fitting?

here is a reference picture of what a hogwarts robe looks like (its gryffindor of course but mine will be slytherin with a green lining instead..i thought it would be more fun to be a "baddie" on halloween hehe) :
http://www.starfirephoenix.net/Images/hp/gryf/gryf1.jpg

what do you think? any advice for a first timer?

thanks!

made on a whim, winged it as i went...gifted to my cupcake loving manager for her birthday...




used this pattern as reference:
http://ax174.blogspot.com/2006/02/my-own-pattern-iv-cupcake.html

Pattern (from memory)
Cast on 6 sts of Peaches n Creme in Ecru on US2 dpns.
Row 1 (and all odd-numbered rows): k all sts
Row 2: kfb into each st (12 sts)
Row 4: [kfb, k1] across (18 sts)
Row 6: [kfb, k1] across (27 sts)
Row 8: [kfb, k2] across (36 sts)
Row 10: [kfb, k2] across (48 sts)

Row 11: p all sts
Rows 12-21: [k1,p1] across

Row 22: using double strands of Caron Simply Soft in Soft Pink, p all sts.

Fill with stuffing (polyfill) as you go.

Row 23: switch to US10.5 dpns or circulars for magic loop.
Make bobble: k, yo, k all in 1st. turn and p 3 sts. turn and pass middle st over rightmost st. repeat for leftmost st. k st left on needle.
[Next 2 sts: k2tog.
Make 2nd bobble: repeat as first bobble but when purling, p 2 sts and p2tog the last st with the k2tog st from before.] x repeat to end (16 bobbles made).

Row 24: k2tog last st of row 23 with first st of row 24.
[pick up 1 st from the k2tog space from row 23.
k the st on top of the bobble.] x repeat to end (32 sts).

Row 25: k all sts.
Row 26: k2, k2tog (28 sts).
Row 27 - 28: k all sts.
Row 29:  k1, k2tog (24 sts).
Row 30 - 31: k all sts.
Row 32: k2tog (12 sts).
Row 33: k all sts.
Row 34: k2tog (6 sts) - optional for tighter close: use US2 dpns for this row.

Cut a comfortably long tail, pull yarn end through remaining sts and close opening. Tuck in ends securely (can use long tail to weave through loose sts by bobbles where the stuffing shows, also a crochet hook comes in handy). Sew in sprinkles (beads).

weird portions are due to winging it as i went.


Hope you like!

I just got 2 skeins of Patons SWS in Natural Plum. One of the skeins is practically flawless, but the second one has THREE KNOTS and a big slub. I'll live with the slub I suppose, but is there a way to fix the knots? I don't understand why there are 3 of them..each only a few yards apart.


im tempted to cut off some of the slub, is that a bad idea?


the knots...you can tell by the ball's color changes that the knots are only a few yards apart.

I was thinking I might be able to undo the knot and spit splice or hand felt or something like that?

Darn me, I should have waited to get the second one but there were only 2 left at the store. I had a bad feeling about the second one, because I could see the slub..but I never expected there to be more problems with it. i did get 40% off one of them though with a coupon, if that makes me feel any better...

I still think its lovely yarn despite all that 

What do you do when the yarn of your scarf's fringe starts untwisting?



or perhaps the only way to not have this happen is by preventing it somehow...but ive never seen instructions for preserving the fringe before....i can't imagine putting glue/clear nail polish on the ends or something =/

i did make the fringe slightly longer than i wanted for the purposes of evening it out more later, but i decided i liked it enough and it didn't need to be cut anymore...and i suppose i can clip the ends off..but u cant just keep cutting away forever =/

any advice? wait until it gets bad and refringe? what do you think? what have you done in this situation?