I need to remember to take pictures of my projects! My stepson's mom is getting married, today actually, and among our gift bag is a washcloth that I knitted. I used Bernat bamboo yarn, chunky.
C/O 35
Rows 1-7: k1, p1 till end
Row 8: (k1, p1) 2 times, k till last 4, (p1,k1) 2 times
Row 9: (k1, p1) 3 times, p till last 5, (k1, p1) till end
Repeat rows 8 and 9 until piece measures 6.5 inches
Repeat rows 1-7, b/o
Finished piece measures around 8 in sq

Sage's First Birthday

Due to my very strong political beliefs, we did not purchase any "objects" for Sage's birthday. (This is of course very easy to do with a baby, my anarchistic anti-capitalist views go out the window for the older kids ;-() I made him some very cool stuff though! I'm still finishing two projects, the quilt and bamboo bunny.

My first battle with fondant. Sage's birthday is near several holidays, so this year we themed it Cinco de Mayo. The Mexican flag is backwards because it looked better that way.



I also made a felted ball with some old wool sweater scraps. I dyed them with kool aid, seamed them up, and washed them repeatedly, then stuffed with bamboo stuffing.





I crocheted some Morroccas (sp?) with dishcloth yarn and a few jingle bells inside from this free Ravelry pattern
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/b13-32-ball-and-rattle



I made a large star shaped doll with organic bamboo velour and an old organic cotton shirt that was stained up. I cut out a star shape (you can find instructions online), seamed it up, turned it right side, cut a slit in the neck, took an old scrap from a t-shirt, stuffed it with stuffing, tied it off, put it inside the neck, stitched the neck by hand, painted the face with fabric pens, knitted a wool hat (the orange/red is hand kool aid dyed, the brown is natural undyed), and that's it!



This doll was similar, but I cut it out wrong somehow and ended up with the wrong shape. Waste not, want not! I made a triangular doll!



I also made a very large felt ball, like the ones I've blogged about in the past. The only difference is that this time i wrapped leftover wool scrap yarn around it in oranges and browns. It looks kinda cool but I can't find a picture, I swear I took one...

Wool, Wool, and More Wool!

A friend of a friend gave me bags and bags of raw wool. I will be making a futon, spinning some, and doing other various craft/art projects with the rest. The first thing to do is clean it all, which is a very big job! To clean raw fleece here's what I did:
1. laid it all out on a blanket and picked through to get rid of the clumps of poop and vegetable matter
2. filled up a bunch of lingerie bags from the $ store
3. used my grandma's top loading washing machine (front loaders don't have enough water)
4. soaked in hot water with Dawn dish soap (I don't know why Dawn, everyone just seems to think it's the best) DO NOT AGITATE!!!!
5. spin DO NOT AGITATE!!! Spinning is okay and won't felt your wool.
4 and 5 again. repeat
6. rinse in cold until water runs clear DO NOT AGITATE!!!
7. let dry in sun
8. made two "combs," basically make a T with cheap wood (one part for the handle, the other for the comb), drilled holes for long nails alternately spaced along one end.
9. combed the wool (videos on Youtube)
10. carded at the Eugene Textile

Flapper Cap

I finally made something for myself. It's crochet, which I'm very terrible at, but it was great practice. I did have to rip it out and start over 4 times, but it was well worth it. I do wish that my crochet would be tighter, it's a little too big and no matter how tight I pull on those stitches, it doesn't seem to ever tighten up. I was going to link to the pattern that i used, but it seems to have disappeared from Ravelry, though I could find similar ones. It's called a Flapper Hat and the pattern was free. If someone really wants this specific pattern, let me know and I'll research it more.

Baby's First Teddy Bear

My mom gave me the book, "Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts: Amigurumi," by Chronicle Books. Although I wish it had more detailed instructions on things like joining a nice ring (I'm still a beginner at crochet), it is a great book with easy to follow patterns. I made the oversized teddy bear, which is the size of a normal teddy bear and larger than any amigurumi I've ever seen. I made Ronan some woolies with clearanced organic wool (see previous post) and used the leftovers for the bear. I'm a loose crocheter and decided to felt it. After it felted, the stitches tightened up and it looks more, smooth I guess. I'll try to remember to post a pic later. Here it is prefelted-

Circus Striped Woolies

My mother started them, then I finished them, so this is a joint project ;-) My mom bought some organic wool on clearance, but they only had one skein of pink and one of blue. She bought them both and they came out really cute! I had enough left over to make a teddy bear to match. We don't use patterns for these, but basically it's k2p2 rib over the entire pants, knitted in the round top down. When you get the rise long enough, put half the stitches (-5) on a stitch holder and the other half (-5) on circs using magic loop or on dpns (I used dpns). The five stitches in front and 5 stitches in back, can be kitchenered together for a nice crotch (I would usually make a wider seam here, but the wool was super bulky so 5 stitches was wide enough). I used the stretchy bind off for the very loose, circusy cuff. I double strand chained some pink to make a stretchy belt. Since these were knitted top down, I can take out the bottom of the legs and add more as he grows. They are stretchy enough, thanks to the all over ribbing, that he will be able to wear these until he's at least 4 yrs old (at that point, they may be shorties). They are very easy to make. Maybe my description sounds complicated, but I think that longies are the simplest garment to make and I started knitting these up when I was still a very beginner knitter.

Sweaters

I knitted some sweaters a while ago and forgot to post them here. The first is the first article of clothing I ever knitted. I love the way it came out! I used some yarn my mom gave me. Instead of adding snaps to the side, I chained four lengths that tie together. I think it's much cuter that way. Anyway, it was a very easy pattern and very quick to knit. Here's the FREE Lion Brand pattern- Hooded Baby Poncho




I then tried my hand a knitting another sweater. This pattern is from Ravelry (have to be a member to access patterns, but it is free). If you want the pattern, just search for Yoda Sweater. It was also easy. I adjusted the pattern a bit to make it fit an older baby. I do wish i had only made it longer though, it's quite wide. Again, I just used some gifted yarn because I really thought it wouldn't turn out so well. I just keep surprising myself ;-) I also made matching hat, mittens and booties. The booties don't stay on his feet though, so I definitely won't share that pattern!!!