garter knitting: wip wednesday

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Anastacia Knits

Good morning! Happy Wednesday to you all.

I was very curious, so I had to check my own blog, the last time I posted a Work in Progress Wednesday post was October! I show yarn for a pair of fingerless gloves (that I frogged) and a log cabin afghan… that I’m still working on! And the wip post the week before shows a vest (that I’m still knitting) and 3 afghans that I did manage to finish!

I didn’t have time to take wips of everything I’m working on but I did manage to snap two very badly lit & photographed pictures… and I bet you don’t know what they are! Drumroll, please, it’s WIP Wednesday!

Guess what they are?

I’m spending the morning catching up on my reading & hopefully writing a couple of reviews, working on editing some photos I took last weekend, and ideally spending some time actually finishing one of my massive wips.
link ups
what are you doing wednesday?
Keep Calm Craft On

platpus neckerchief: friday fo

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Anastacia Knits

I’ve been a busy bee!

First of all, I finished 3 more of my scrap cascade fixation / elann esprit socks

I bought this little charity pattern on Ravelry & whipped up two Platpus Neckerchiefs, starting with this pile of scrap yarn

and turned it into this

and this

Cute huh?

I also finished up a stack of squares

Now that mom got her birthday gift, here’s my finished Full of it Felted Bag, minus the pocket which I somehow lost AFTER I knitted it & before I felted it

Free Pattern: knitted handspun (bulky) cowl

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

Yup, believe it or not, Anastacia Knits Designs actually did design a knitted project! This uses very little handspun or bulky yarn & is really fast even for beginner knitters to whip up!

A simple cowl knitted flat, designed to use up every precious inch of your handspun yarn.

Materials:

o approximately 20-22 yards of bulky, handspun yarn. I used 22 yards of bamboo yarn that I Navaho plied. Any super bulky yarn will work. If you want a slightly taller cowl, add 2 extra stitches & knit an extra stitch on either side of the pattern.
o Size 11 straight needles, or needles to get gauge. Gauge is not extremely important in this design.
o Yarn needle

Gauge: 8 stitches = 3â€

Finished size cowl after washing/blocking: 3â€ high by 22â€ around

Directions:

Cast on 8 stitches with long tail cast on, and purl one row. Always slip first stitch for a neat edge stitch. Start pattern: k1, p2, k2, p2, k1

Next row: p across.

Repeat these two rows until cowl is desired length or you are almost out of yarn, ending with a patterned row. Bind off & whip stitch first & last row. Wash, block, and wear with pride!

Feel free to use this pattern to make items to sell at craft fairs, bazaars, auctions, raffles, and the like, but no online sales please. This pattern itself is not for sale. If using this pattern for charity, please include my contact info with the finished item (anastaciaknits@verizon.net / anastaciaknits on Ravelry), and let me know what charity.
Thank you to slippergirl, honeystalks, olive2 for test knitting, & the Testing Pool group on Ravelry.
Copyright 2010 anastaciaknits on Ravelry

fiber friday: hats around the twist log cabin & more

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

First of all, please go visit Crochet Concupiscence for an interview with little ole me & a giveaway for a copy of my Anika vest design! How exciting and she’ll be giving away 3 more patterns later this month!

So with no further ado, fiber friday!
6 scrap dc hats I made for charity, I actually finished these in Sept but I’m showing them off today.

And all lined up in a row

various scrap acrylics. They were all donated to a homeless vets charity

I also finally finished the 10 stitch crocheted version, I decided just to make it cat sized & call it a day. I keep casting on/starting projects & really needed to finish up a few things

what do you think?

I finally took better photos of this free form lapghan I finished a while ago

I worked hard all month, & I finished my “A” project for my Ravelry A through Z stash down group. I finished my very long outstanding wip, the around the twist log cabin afghan

I started this in August of last year, & finished mid-November. I procrastinated weaving in the ends & taking photos, of course.

some of the seams are much worse then others, I started seaming it 6 months ago & somehow, my seaming improved over that type period, even though I didn’t learn a new method, seam anything else in any other projects, take a class, or anything else that would explain the improvement. It’s made with 100% wool, various odds & ends of yarn, mainly paton’s classic wool & knit picks wool of the andes, the purple & gray you see a lot of came from recycled sweaters.

And, if you missed it, I posted my first of many free patterns yesterday for free pattern month – I have a ton planned for the Creating Christmas week, too, so please stay tuned !

link ups:

girl creative
Today’s creative blog

Knitting Green by Ann Budd

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

Knitting Green by Ann Budd

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are a ton of cute projects in this book, well written, charts as needed. Some cables, some lace, some basic, some more complex. The yarns used are all “green” yarns, like Eco Wool (yarn is neither dyed nor chemically processed) or Schulana Sojabama (bamboo & soya, a fiber from soybeans, that is similar to silk in feel).

There’s smaller projects, like Sustainable Bamboo Scarf & Soap Nut Vessels (a little bag to throw your soap nuts into).
market bag
(green grocery bag)

There’s wearables, like Organic Sprout tank, which uses Classic Elite Sprout yarn (organic cotton), or the classically styled All (North) American Hoodie
hoodie
using St Denis Nordique wool yarn (a yarn grown, harvested, processed, & distributed all in North America).

There’s also short essays, if you will, about “green” topics, which I found interesting.

View all my reviews

Very Easy Guide to Lace Knitting by Lynne Watterson book review

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

The Very Easy Guide to Lace Knitting: Step-by-Step Techniques, Easy-to-Follow Stitch Patterns, and Projects to Get by Lynne Watterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love lace, both knitting lace & crocheting lace. I’m a big fan of bright, bold, color, too, but there’s just something about lace that makes my heart beat a little faster.

This was a new to me book, that I randomly found searching through the online interlibrary loan system. Having never heard of it, I immediately had to request it. Apparantly I’m not alone in this; this book or any projects found in it are not to be found on Ravelry.

If you’ve never knit lace before, there’s a good primer in the beginning. Having knit some lace, other than flipping through & looking at the clear, close up photos, I skipped that section & got right to the meat of the book – various lace stitches, with some projects thrown in for good measure. There’s a plain, short sleeved lace tee that I liked, using an arrowhead design, but it’s not anything any good knitter couldn’t figure out on his or her own.

There’s a few edging patterns at the end of the book, but they aren’t anything new to me or terribly exciting.

All in all… I give the book 3 stars because it’s laid out very well, the photos are great, the instructions look very clear, but there’s nothing very new here. Of course, it is called the Very Easy Guide to Lace Knitting, and that’s exactly what’s here.

View all my reviews

Modern Top Down Knitting by Kristina McGowan review

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

Modern Top-Down Knitting: Sweaters, Dresses, Skirts & Accessories Inspired by the Techniques of Barbara G. Walker by Kristina McGowan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a big fan of seamless knitting, especially top down knitting, & I’m definitely a Barbara Walker fan as well. I got this book out of the library after seeing some of the projects people made on Ravelry, because I’ve been itching for a new top down project.

There are some gorgeous, but impractical projects in the book – Jill’s dress comes immediately to mind.

(photo found via Ravelry)
I love the simple, classic lines, one color, in a multitude of sizes from 32″ to 51″ (finished measurements). But… the fact remains, how many people are going to actually knit a dress, at 5 sts/inch, using a beautiful, but expensive yarn? As a knitter, I definitely know that it’s more often about the process then the finished object, but in the case of a dress… I do think it’s going to be a lot about the finished object. A quick google search yields me an average price of $9/skein – which isn’t too bad, really, but you need 10 skeins for the smallest size, yielding a dress of $90. In my size, however, that quickly jumps to almost $110. Of course you can always sub yarns, but this is a dress after all… Considering I buy my dresses at the thrift store, I won’t be making this anytime soon, no matter how gorgeous I think it is.

I also really like the Blueberry Cardigan, that calls for Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, that averages $13/skein. I love the stitches used in this, but I’d personally mod the cardigan so much, my finished object would bear little with the original.

Looking for a smaller project? There’s a cute hat, Mulberry Hat, that I really like…

but there are a dozen very similiar, free hats available online (ditto the Pigeon hat). In fact, you can get the Mulberry Hat as a free download

My conclusion? If this technique is new to you &/or you don’t have any other top down books in your library, then it’s definitely worth buying for the infomation, but if you are already familiar with top down knitting… get the book from the library.

View all my reviews

new knitting related videos

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

Every once in a while I come across a cute knitting or crocheting related video that is worthy enough to share. Here are 2 new-to-me and maybe-to-you videos!

halfway point

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

It’s just about halfway through the year, so I wanted to write down how I am doing so far on my goals:

Cut & pasted from original post (bolded), with notes

Goals for next year:
* Knit or crochet 131 cat shelter blankets in memory of Zorro, one for each month he lived with us.

Chain Stitch Square pattern (free download)

The above is definitely my most important goal, and I’ve finished about 70 or so for the year with some in progress, assorted various patterns, so I think I’m right on target!

* Knit or crochet at least 26 hats for the homeless

Only 3 hats so far have been made, but I did make 2 scarves & several of my sample shawls were donated.

* Continue making the odd blanket or two for nursing home residents (goal of say, 10)

I had to check Ravelry because I wasn’t sure how many I had actually finished, but I’ve actually made 9 so far. The above is my favorite (my Coins Quilt free pattern). I am planning on continuing to design a few more afghans, & the samples will then be donated, either to a nursing home, or raffled off / auctioned off for charity.

* Continue knitting/crocheting for charity as the need arises

Nothing so far. One afghan in progress to be donated to the New England Falcon Club of America raffle for their August show (not really for charity, but still…)

* Make 2 pairs of socks for dad â€“ one for Fatherâ€™s Day, using the yarn I gave him at Christmas, and one pair for Christmas 2011. Make 1 pair of socks for mom for Motherâ€™s Day, using the yarn I gave HER at Christmas, and possibly a pair for Christmas. Make 3 pairs of socks for Jon; probably one to just give him, and 2 for Christmas. Make 3 pairs of wool-cotton blend socks for me, using scraps Iâ€™ve been saving, & at least 1 pair of worsted weight wool slipper socks, to replace the badly felted pairs.

pair for mom for Mother’s Day is done, 1 pair of cotton anklet socks for me, done

* Try the cable resolution again: 3 small cabled projects.

None so far!

* Finish the sock yarn afghan

Have worked on this a smidge – I’d guess I added about 20 squares to it.

* Finish the Moorish Crochet afghan

Done!

* Finish the Around the Twist afghan, and write up the pattern. Possible KAL.
Ha! I’m still working on it. I was actually doing well on it & started sewing up the squares, but I still need to finish about 4 squares & sew it up. It’s a big blanket, done in garter stitch, and 100% wool. The pattern is written up, I do need to draw a little schematic for it & I cannot draw straight lines!

* Finally make Jon a sweater. This needs to be a priority in my personal, non charity, non designing craft time!
Ha! Still hasn’t happened, and I don’t expect it will. I’ve always wanted to make him a sweater, but he just doesn’t wear them.

* Finally get my act together & do some serious sewing.
I did do some sewing – I still want to sew – but I really just don’t have time!!

* Read 52 ya/adult books new-to-me, and 25 additional â€œyoungerâ€ books, rereads, or audiobooks. Try to read more fan fiction, which I love but never seem to actually read. Utilize the kindle!
Not sure how many I’ve read, I haven’t updated my excel spreadsheet in a while so you’ll have to read all my reviews to find out how many I’ve finished!

* Continue blogging at least one review per week, keep up with In Your Mailbox (helps keep me organized), and write one craft post a week, probably WIP Wednesday or Fiber Friday.
Well… I’ve dropped In Your Mailbox. I figured no one really cared what books I got from the library or in the mail or d/l to my kindle & I really seldom get books in the mail & even less often buy them. I think I’ve done pretty good with a review a week & a craft post a week, though!

* spin more.
did spin a bit this year, but not a lot.

* use my slow cooker more.
I was actually using it quite a lot for a while, but haven’t used it much lately. I’m not sure why, but every time I use the slow cooker, let’s just say I get sick. Doesn’t matter what I cook.

Not on my list, but other things I have managed to accomplish:

I self published 16 patterns so far this year, 8 paid patterns & 8 free patterns, with 2 patterns due to be published by the Crochet Calendar later this year, and 6 more patterns in various stages of testing/editing.

Spring Stripes scarf – a very easy, summer scarf pattern, written for 2 widths, skinny & regular, and also available as a kit !

Dudley, my favorite shawl pattern so far this year…

buy now for only $5!

And changing the subject slightly, but while I have your attention LOL go check out Hookin It Up! a monthly crochet blog party I’m going to participate July 10th!