Knitty Crochety

Vintage sewing tin

2012-02-04T15:38:00.002+01:00

My dad went on a daytrip to the Netherlands and saw this vintage sewing tin.

And for some reason (I really can't imagine why, hehe), he thought of me and bought it for me.

Isn't it lovely?

Since we had the first snow of this winter only yesterday, I thought today would be a great day to take the tin outside and take some pictures in the snow.

I also noticed that the garden gnomes hadn't been able to escape the snow.

And with the building materials still lying around, the one in the back even looks like he's lost an eye. I swear he hasn't, it's just an optical illusion!

Doing big renovations also means that you end up with quite a large amount of rubble. We've already had several containers removed, but right now, our garden is piled up once again. But just a tiny layer of snow makes it look pretty idyllic in the end.

Just a little bit more snow, and we can rent this place out as a skiing resort ;-)

SnB's boob tube

2012-01-21T19:53:00.000+01:00

Another pattern straight from Debbie Stoller's lot. How do you like my boob tube?

Sorry about the quality of the pictures. I wanted to redo some nice ones, but I just don't have the opportunity to do so at the moment. These are taken at the house, which is basically still a building site. But at least by now the plastic in the background has been replaced by windows :-)

So, this is a convertible boob tube, since I can use it as a skirt as well. Although I guess I shouldn't try that without leggings underneath...

What I liked

This is a quick knit and the lace is pretty simple as well. Ideal telly-watching knit
It was the first time I tried knitting bobbles. It's pretty easy, all in all. I used the explanation in Debbie's book, and it got me there right away

What I altered

I didn't use the the yarn from the pattern. Instead, I used Debbie Bliss Cotton DK. This changed my gauge a little, so I used the 3.75 mm/US 5 needles as the biggest ones and 2.5 mm/US 1.5 as the smallest
I did an elastic bind-off, the same one I use for socks. I wasn't too sure that this was the right decision in the beginning, but I'm pretty happy with it now
I blocked the tube after I was finished. I'm not sure if that actually makes a difference for this type of yarn, but I did it anyway.

As for the rest, I hoped everyone enjoyed the holidays. I know I did! My hubby and I were delighted to tell our parents that we're expecting a baby in July. Woot! I guess that may mean that some baby knits are coming up, people. If you have any nice suggestions, let me know!

Custom-made skirt

2011-11-06T11:31:00.000+01:00

I'm really enjoying the pattern classes I'm taking. I must admit, it was a bit confronting in the beginning. Sure, we had to take each others measurements, I was prepared for that. And that each one of us had to go and stand in front of the class so we could determine where our lumps and bumps were to decide where the darts should go, I could live with that as well. Eventhough I was marked as a hollow-back girl. Literally, of course, not the Gwen Stefani kind. Hey, I'm married after all ;-)

At that point, silly me even thought the hardest part was over. I had been scrutinized, now I could draw my pattern and take that hollow back into account. Easy peasy. Of course, I had totally forgot about fitting. And believe you me, when you say the word fitting, you should hear thunder and see lightning to indicate how ominous it actually is.

So, I had to make my first skirt. In muslin (or left-over fabric), so it could still be altered and perfected afterwards. And once again, I would have to go in front of the class to be scrutinized. Oh boy. I made sure I'd had enough sleep, focused on a positive mood and put on my skirt. And my thick skin. I was ready for battle.

Now, you may ask yourself why we had to go through all this hassle again. Wasn't the skirt already made to fit? Well, it was. But only in theory. And that theory does not take your actual built into account, or your standing posture, or how one side of your body is not necessarily exactly the same as your other side.

The picture below comes from Posture for a Healthy Back: What is Good Posture and shows you what kind of postures there are. And each of these postures influence how you wear a skirt (or any other garment, for that matter).

So, there I was again. Turning in every direction, so my classmates wouldn't miss a thing. It does feel a bit weird, seeing a dozen faces focusing on your skirt, pulling it down a bit, then up a bit again. And these gals see every tiny detail!

For me, the conclusion was that I was not symmetrical. My hip is a bit higher on one side, which makes that my skirt is a bit higher up on one side as well. My standing posture also sways back a bit, which makes my skirt look a bit longer at the back than it looks on the front. These 'faults' had to be taken into account in my pattern as well. I also had to adjust my side seams a bit, so they were in the middle of my hip. That's because I have more bum than belly. Which is a good thing ;-) And that was all!

To be honest, I considered myself lucky. True, some people were a lot better off, having to change nearly nothing. But others had their skirt cut over their bellies, or over their thighs, to indicate where extra fabric was needed. A very good practice, but I was just glad that my underwear wasn't suddenly showing.

So yes, the conclusing is that I'm a hollow-backed high-hipped girl, which actually means that I'm a bit lopsided and slightly out of balance. But from now on, noone will be able to tell that any more from the way my skirt looks.

How about you? Do you have good posture, or do you recognize yourself more in the other postures?

Thundercats, ho!

2011-10-29T21:34:00.000+02:00

Ah, youth sentiment, I guess I'll always carry you with me. And now even on my feet. Here's a little Panthro tribute to go on my right foot.

And of course I couldn't not do the logo.

You can download both the logo and Panthro charts, or you can find them on Ravelry through the links below.

Next up is the second sock. Any guesses who'll be honoured on that one?

Logo:

Panthro:

Creepy bride

2011-10-26T19:54:00.004+02:00

Another recruit enlisted to my creepy cute crochet army!

Given that the last enlistment happened over a year ago, I don't think I will be invading anything soon, though... For the moment, I'm not even sure where the other members are stored... I blame the move!

If I'm completely honest, this creepy bride has actually be finished for ages. Except for one tiny detail: her veil. I just couldn't find one.

Eventually I chose this pink one. I actually got it from a baby shower, and although it's not visible in the picture, it contained chocolates. I kept the pink fabric, but the chocolates have been long gone :-)

Still, my creepy cute pink bride does smell a tiny bit like chocolates. I wonder whether that makes her a trick, or a treat. What do you think?

Saucy convertible

2011-10-21T20:53:00.002+02:00

I may have already mentioned a few times that I like retro clothing. So I thought the Knitting it old school knitting book would be just my cup of tea. It contains some great-looking vintage patterns (although, to be honest, not as many as I would have hoped).

The pattern that I really wanted to make was the saucy convertible, which is the top displayed on the cover of the book.

I'm still working on it, and it's not going as fast as I had hoped. But here are some tips and hints that may already help you if you are experiencing some difficulties with the pattern (as I did).

All pieces except the yoke are worked in stockinette stitch. I know, it couldn't get any simpler than this, but the pattern never mentions the stockinette stitch. You can see it in the pictures, but I got a bit confused in the beginning because it wasn't mentioned. And I don't like getting confused, especially not in the beginning of a pattern.
Shaping the waist went fine, but when I started to do M1R to shape the bust, I ended up with holes.

Apparently, I misunderstood the explanation for M1R in the book: I did something wrong when slipping the picked up stitch to the left needle. To avoid this mistake and to do M1R correctly: with your left needle, pick up the bar from back to front. Knit this picked up bar/stitch as you would knit any other stitch.
Short rows for the bust darts: I didn't know that the technique of wrapping and turning ends you up with short rows. The pattern uses both terms, but it doesn't clearly mention that both are linked, and it got me confused. But what confused me most of all is that the pattern doesn't mention that you need to pick up your wrapped stitches. It just tells you to work evenly. Here's what you got to do to pick them up:

On the RS: Knit until you reach the first wrapped stitch. With your right needle, pick up the wrap from front to back, i.e. from left to right. With the wrap on your right needle, slip the stitch that is wrapped onto your right needle, as if to knit. Knit both the wrap and the wrapped stitch together through the back loop. Repeat for all wrapped stitches until the end of the row.
On the WS: Purl until you reach the first wrapped stitch. With your right needle, pick up the wrap from back to front, i.e. from right to left. Slip the wrap to the left needle. Purl the wrap together with the wrapped stitch. Repeat for all wrapped stitches until the end of the row.

Grafting sleeves to the body: I'm not that familiar with grafting, aka kitchener stitch. And once again, I didn't quite get the instructions in the pattern. I can't remember exactly how I did it, so I'm sorry if this bullet doesn't really offer the help you are looking for. Since I am making the medium size shirt, I needed 10 stitches of the sleeve and 10 stitches of the body. Of course, don't pick just any 10 stitches: you need 5 stitches on one side of the seam, and 5 stitches on the other side. I put these stitches on separate needles: the sleeve stitches on one needle and the body stitches on the other. You have to make sure that the right side of your work is on the outside. So you have the body in front of you with the right side facing you and your needle pointing to the right. To get the sleeve right, you need to hold it on the wrong side of your body, so it's the furthest away from you. This means it will be on top of the needle holding the body stitches; The needle with the sleeve stitches should also be pointing right. Once you have grafted the stitches you will be able to flip the sleeve over so that it's in front of you in front of the body. I hope this makes sense. If not, ask, maybe your questions will help me to explain it better.
Yoke: It starts as just a simple rib pattern. So on the RS you slip one knit wise and then k1, p1 until the end. The last stitch will be a knit stitch, the one you knit together with the body. On the WS, slip one purl wise and then p1, k1 until the end. The last stitch will be a purl stitch. I'm halfway there now with the yoke. I'm very curious about the result!

Pattern drawing classes

2011-09-23T18:09:00.001+02:00

Have you seen this clip?

It was used to announce the grand opening of Westfield Stratford City. Pretty neat, hey? I love how the couple dances its way through all that fashion. So pretty!

Ah, retro and vintage. It sure is my weak spot. That's why I took up pattern drawing classes. I'm secretly hoping to design my own versions of the outfits in this clip. On the menu in class this first year: skirts and trousers.

So, even though we're still pretty busy renovating, it's time for me to get my sewing gear out again, space or no space. I can feel the itch, and it would be cruel to ignore it. Who knows what my wardrobe will look like this time next year :-)

How about you? Anything retro on your needles, hooks or machines? Do share!

How to steek - crochet method

2011-09-20T20:57:00.000+02:00

Steeking means that you cut right through your knitting. Now, don't get your scissors out just yet. You need to prepare your attack: secure your stitches first to avoid the rest of your work unravelling.

Steeking is usually done in circular knitting. It's said to be very useful to get your armholes right in fair-isle work, or for turning a knit-in-the-round sweater into a cardigan. I have made a steek to create a thumbhole into a sleeve.

To steek using the crochet method, you can work over 3 or 5 stitches. In my case, the garment was already knit when I realized I would be doing some steeking. So I did it over 3 stitches, so as not to lose a lot of stitches. Doing it over 3 stitches means that you will reinforce the outer stitches with crochet stitches and will then cut through the center of the center stitch. Doesn't that sound simple?

What you need

A small, sharp pair of scissors
A piece of yarn in a contrasting colour
A tapestry needle
The garment you're going to attack
Some left-over yarn you want to use to crochet the edges of your steek with
A crochet hook that is a slightly smaller size than your knitting needles. For example: if you used size 4.5 needles for your knitting, use a size 4 crochet hook.

How to steek

Prerequisites: You need to know how to make the following crochet stitches:

slip stitch
single crochet

Decide where you need to cut your garment.
Example: If you're turning a sweater into a cardigan, you will need to make a steek in the center front. To make the thumbhole, I needed to steek in the center bottom of the sleeve. I was lucky, I needed to do it in between the grey and the black of the sleeve. That was a nice visual aid.
Take a close look at the stitches where the steek should come. Look for the vertical line of V-shaped stitches that make up the cutting area.
To make it more clear, I've indicated the V-shapes in red in the picture.
Take a piece of yarn in contrasting colour and, with a tapestry needle, weave it through the center of the V-shaped stitches.
This piece of yarn will function as a visual aid while you cut through the center of these stitches.
Make a slip stitch on your crochet hook.
Look at your garment again and turn your work so you can start at the bottom of your steek.
Note: You'll be crocheting through the V's of the stitches on the left and right of your soon-to-be-steeked V's. The stitches look just as crochet stitches when you hold them like that.
Do a single crochet in the first V of your steek.

If you're start the first stitch

left-handed on the left.

right-handed on the right.
Repeat in each V on the verticle line.

Left-handed Right-handed

If you're making	you will need to
a cardigan	bind off at the end of the line; and repeat step 7-8 on the other side.
a thumbhole	do a single crochet at the top/bottom of your center steeking row, so as to join one side of the thumbhole with the other side; repeat step 7-8 on the other side; and do a single crochet at the top/bottom of your center steeking row and join with a slip stitch to the first single crochet you made.

Bind off.
Put your hand underneath your steeking area, and stretch the stitches as wide as they go.

Note: You can also lay your garment flat and pin it down, if you find that easier.
Look at the contrasting-coloured yarn you weaved in and carefully cut the horizontal bridges of your stitches.
Important: Pay close attention so as not to cut the V's themselves or the adjacent crocheted stitches.

Finished!

How to knit intarsia in the round

2011-07-31T14:41:00.002+02:00

When you try to find information about knitting intarsia in the round on the internet, most of the time you'll be told that it's not possible. The big problem when you try to do it: your yarn ends up at the end of your row, while you need it to be at the beginning.

If you don't like bending the knitting rules, you'll have to learn how to live with it: knitting intarsia in the round cannot be done. If, on the other hand, you don't mind a little experimenting, there are actually two methods to solve this problem:

the yarn over method
the 'stranded intarsia' method

Both methods are explained below.

Yarn over method

Knit in the round until you've done the last row before the intarsia starts.
Use your main and contrast colours as you would when knitting intarsia flat, until you get to the end of the row.
Turn your work, so the wrong side is facing you.
At the beginning of the row, do a yarn over.
Since you're working on the wrong side of your work, purl the rest of the row as you would when knitting flat, but do not work the last stitch of the row yet.
Purl the last stitch of the row together with the yarn over you made in the beginning of the row, seaming both sides together while doing so. Pull tight enough.
Turn your work, so the right side is facing you again.
At the beginning of the work, do a yarn over.
Since you're working on the right side of your work again, knit the rest of the row as you would when knitting intarsia flat, but do not work the last stitch of the row yet.
Knit the last stitch of the row together with the yarn over you made in the beginning of the row, by knitting through the back loop of these two stitches.
Repeat steps 3 to 10 until the whole intarsia part is done.
Continue knitting in the round as you would normally do.

Pros and cons

+	-
You can knit intarsia as you are supposed to do it: using separate strands per change of colour	You create a seam. You have to knit back and forth as long as you're knitting the intarsia part.

Examples of the seam

What it looks like

On the outside	On the inside

'Stranded intarsia' method

Knit in the round until you've done the last row before the intarsia starts.
Start working the contrast colour, but: instead of using a separate strand of yarn every time you change from contrast colour to main colour, use only one strand per colour. When you're not using the second colour, carry it around in the back every two or three stitches, as you would for stranded knitting.
Note: Don't pull your yarn too tight, it'll take the stretch out of your work. Don't leave it too loose either, or you'll create holes in your work. To maintain a nice stretch, make sure that you can still spread your stitches on your needles as you would when working with one colour only. It may take some practice, but you'll get there.
When you've reached the end of your row, cut the contrast colour yarn if you haven't done so already. Make sure to leave a long enough tail to weave it in once you're finished.
Continue knitting in the round, adding the contrast colour to each row when you need it, carrying it along the back of your work until you've reached the last stitch on that row.
Repeat steps 3 to 4 until the whole intarsia part is done.
Continue knitting in the round as you would normally do.

Pros and cons

+	-
No seam You can keep on knitting in the round while doing your colour work	You're dragging the colour your not using along behind your work, which goes against the intarsia rule

What it looks like

On the outside	On the inside

Now it's up to you

So, I've explained both methods I've tried before. Personally, I prefer the stranded method. Have you used one of these methods before? Do you happen to know any other methods? What's your favourite? Let me know!

It's going to be Legen - wait for it - dary!

2011-07-30T14:37:00.004+02:00

Any of you watch How I met your mother? I didn't know the show at all until a couple of months ago. But then, from one day to the other, I was hooked. My husband and I watched all 6 series in just a few weeks time. And we're very much looking forward to the next season!

Our favourite is Barney. So, I thought I'd dedicate a pair of socks to him. As you can see, they are...

...wait for it...

That's right, legendary!

So suit up!

What I liked
I did intarsia in the round! I used the yarnover method on one pair, but as discussed for my granddad's socks, they leave a seam.

For the second sock I tried my own method, which is a bit of intarsia mingled with stranded knitting. I'm working on a tutorial now and hoping to publish it soon!

Pattern
I knitted the 'legen' pattern over the 34 stitches that made up the front leg of the sock. The 'dary' pattern only took up 29 stitches, so I added 5 extra background-coloured stitches to the sides, to make it end up in the middle.

If you like it, you can download the pdf, or you can also find it on Ravelry. Don't forget to visit my sponsors on the right, thank you :-)

Materials used

yarn: Drops Fabel
needles: 2.5 dpns

Sock pattern (in Dutch):

Legendary chart:

I love to cycle seat cover

2011-07-08T20:12:00.001+02:00

Living in the bicycle-friendly city of Ghent, my bike is my main means of transport to get from one place to the other. I cycle every day. That's why I thought I'd pimp my - very nice and purple - ride and crown myself Queen of the road.

And not only that, of course. I found a very lovely pattern for a bicycle seat cover on Ravelry. The person who designed it needed it to keep her seat from getting too hot in summer. A very good reason, of course, but - living in Belgium where it tends to rain quite a lot - I thought I could use one to keep my seat dry. It would certainly save me from some embarrassing moments. I've walked around with odd wet spots on my trousers more often than I would have liked.

It had been a while since I had crocheted something, but it's like riding a bicycle - you never forget.

What I liked

The pattern is easy to crochet and fairly straight-forward. I got confused once, but I think I decided to do the right thing in the end.

Rough patches

For the side of the cover, the pattern says to 'work 115 sc evenly spaced, placing more sts along wide curves'. I didn't quite know where to start increasing at that point, but I did it as follows: starting in a bottom corner (left corner for left-handed people, right corner for right-handed people) sc 27 st, 2sc in next 5st, sc in next 32 st, 2sc in next 5 st, sc in next 27 st, sc in 9 st at bottom of your work (115st).
There were a lot of loose ends to weave in. I think the weaving in took more time than actually crocheting the thing. Part of it is my fault, since the pattern said to 'carry the tail of the first colour through one stitch, when changing colours'. Still, a lot of loose ends.

So, it is finished now. And now I'm a bit afraid to actually use it. I'm scared that it'll get stolen right away. And I also discovered that it's slighty too small for my bicycle seat (which is bigger than your average seat, so no worries when you'd like to have one, it'll fit!).

I think that problem can be solved by just adding an extra row to the side. But I've been thinking, maybe I should give it to my mom. Sure, the colours match my bike perfectly, but I think it'll be more thief-proof when it's on her bike. What do you think?

Materials used

yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Bravo
hook: 5.0/H

Socks and stripes

2011-06-20T21:03:00.000+02:00

Self-striping yarn. Have you used it for projects? Do you like it? I've started to love it! The first time I read about it was in a The knitting circle, a novel by Ann Hood. In this novel, a woman named Mary learns to knit to find comfort after her daughter died. In her knitting circle, Mary learns to knit using self-striping yarn.It's a good read, you should give it a try if you have the chance.

I read this book a couple of years ago. I already knew how to knit at that time, but I hadn't been as involved as I am now. I'd been on a bit of a knitting break as well, so the concept of self-striping yarn was completely new to me. I was intrigued!

So, I picked up my needles again, and I have used self-striping yarn for several pairs of socks and a pair of mittens since. I like it a lot. It gives a buzz to your socks without having to think about a pattern. Perfect for knitting very quickly in front of the tv. Or on the train after a long day's work. It also gives me a buzz: I just want to knit on and on to see how the yarn will knit up.

Self-striping yarns I've used up till now are:

Still, this seems to be just the top of the iceberg. I've seen so many nice brands on Ravelry, and I'd like to try them all. Do you have any experience with this type of yarn? What's your favourite brand? And what did you make with it?

One for you, one for me

2011-05-01T17:22:00.001+02:00

Two more pairs of socks finished! One for my husband, and one for me. Don't we look happy together?

Materials used

needles: Bergère de France bamboo dpns size 2.5 (5)
tapestry needle
yarn:

For my husband's socks: DROPS Fabel (602)
For my socks: ONline Supersocke 100 Sportive Color (1169)

Tip

Usually I use 50 grams of yarn for one sock. With the DROPS yarn, that is easy: one skein per sock. But for the ONline yarn, skeins are 100 grams, so you only need one for two socks. Now, how best to prevent that you run out of yarn while knitting the second sock?

A friend at the knitting circle gave me a great tip: she weighs the yarn. So when you have a 100-grams skein, use your scale to divide it up into two balls of 50 grams. Et voilà, you don't need to worry about yarn shortage!

Lace of hearts

2011-04-26T20:31:00.000+02:00

It's official now: I'm a sock knitting addict. I love making them, I love wearing them. They seem to fit so much better than the ones you buy in the store! And they are great projects to knit on the train: small, compact and no poking other people with long needles.

To get something of a challenge into the sock knitting, I decided to try and do some lace work. I used the basic Sokbasis pattern I had used before and added the lace pattern from the Falling in love lace pattern.

What I liked
I was a bit afraid at first, I didn't know what to expect. But in fact, lace work is not that hard. You just need to keep your head clear and keep count. And once you have the pattern in your fingers, the repeat gets easier and easier.

What I altered

Because I used the Sokbasis pattern, I needed 64 stitches in total, while the lace pattern only called for 62. To solve this problem, I added a knit stitch to the start of the front part and the start of the back part. In hindsight, it would have been better to make it a purl stitch, but the knit stitch looks OK as well.
For the cuff, I decided to plain knit 18 rows instead of just binding off when the lace pattern was complete. Now it has a nice curl-down at the edges.

To get the curved top of the heart right, the pattern calls for k4tog. This required some practice. It's also best to knit the previous row not too tight, to make it easier for yourself.
The edges of the sock have a cable pattern as well. For the first sock, I sometimes missed the cable twist: I either forgot or twisted it the wrong way. Concentration for lace and cable patterns truely is everything!

Materials used

yarn: DROPS fabel uni color pink (102)
needles: Bergère de France bamboo dpns size 2.5 (5)
cable needle
tapestry needle

Falling in love lace pattern:

Sokbasis pattern (Dutch):

Piranha slippers

2011-04-09T19:34:00.004+02:00

When I made the fluffy bunny slippers from Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker for myself last year, my husband already dropped the not so subtle hint that he would like a pair of slippers as well. Not fluffy, not bunnies, but the basic slippers. So I thought I would drop the bunny ears and just maze a simple face on them. Nothing fancy, just a simple pair. Wouldn't that go fast? Sure, I needed to make them a bit bigger, but still.

But while I was working on them, my husband started tweaking them. Or, more accurate, he started asking alterations and left the tweaking to me. It was a bit like having a crochet coach. So every time I was nearly finished, some other question came up, something like "Can you make them higher around the ankles?" "Can they get a big fin, like a shark?" "Can you stuff the fin?" "Can you make some teeth as well?" "Are they finished yet, I'd really like to wear them now."

I must say, I may have sighed with every question. I may even have cursed now and then, who knows? But in the end I must admit it paid to follow his input. I love these guys! Although they do look more like a piranha than like a shark to me.

What I liked
I experimented with crochet shaping, and I really liked that.

Rough patches
I think there might be a mistake in the original. I know I had some trouble getting the right amount of stitches for the bottom sole the last time I made them, but then I thought it was just me. This time I encountered them again, so maybe it wasn't my fault at all! I forgot to write down how I solved it, though. Sorry about that!

What I altered

To get my husband the slippers he wanted, I did the following:

I enlarged the slipper by adding a few rounds to every part.
I made the slippers taller around the ankles. They're still a bit too loose though, so that plan didn't really work out as it was supposed to.
I swapped the ears and cute face for a more "malicious" looking piranha.

Pattern

To enlarge the pattern so they would fit my husband, I added about 3 rounds to every part. To get the stitch count right, just follow the logic of the pattern. Not hard at all!

As for the rest of the alterations, this is the first time that I've written out a crochet pattern. Should you encounter any mistakes and/or things that are not clear, please let me know, so I can correct the pattern. Thanks!

Fin (make 2 per slipper)

Hook: 5,5 mm / I
Yarn: Phildar Impact 3 1/2, jeans (same as slippers)

Ch11

Row 1: sc2tog in 2nd and 3rd ch from hook, sc in remaining 8 sts. Ch1 and turn. (9)

Row 2: sc in next 9 sts. Ch1 and turn. (9)
Row 3: sc3tog, sc in next 6 sts. Ch1 and turn. (7)

Row 4: sc in next 7 sts. Ch1 and turn. (7)

Row 5: sc3tog, sc in next 4 sts. Ch 1 and turn. (5)

Row 6: sc in next 5 sts. Ch 1 and turn. (5)

Row 7: sc3tog, BO.

Finishing: sew the two parts together, leaving an opening at the bottom. Fill it with stuffing, then sew it on to the top of the slipper.

Note: I realize that on one side of the fin, the wrong side will be showing on the outside, but this is the way I did it.

Eyes

Hook: 3,5 mm / E
Yarn: Phildar Impact 3 1/2, white (scraps)

White background (make 2 per slipper):

Ch4

Rnd 1: 2 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, rotate so as to work through back loops, 2sc in 1st loop, sc in next back loop, 2sc in last back loop, sl st to join (10)
Rnd 2: ch 1, 2 sc in 1st st, sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next 2 sts, sc in next 3sts, 2 sc in next st, sl st to join (14)
Rnd 3: ch 1, sc in 1st st, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next st, sl st to join (17)
Bind off

Black pupil (make 2 per slipper)

Hook: 3,5 mm / E
Yarn: Phildar Lambswool, black (scraps)

Ch2
Rnd 1: 3 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sl st to join (3)
Rnd 2: ch1, 2 sc in each st, sl st to join (6)
Rnd 3: ch 1, [2 sc in st, sc in st] 3 times (9)
Bind off

Teeth

Hook: 3,5 mm / E
Yarn: Phildar Impact 3 1/2, white (scraps)

Ch2
Rnd 1: 3 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sl st to join (3)
Rnd 2: ch1, 2 sc in each st, sl st to join (6)
Rnd 3: ch1, sc in each st, sl st to join (6)
Rnd 4: ch1, [2 sc in st, sc in st] 3 times, sl st to join (9)
Rnd 5: ch1, sc in each st, sl st to join (9)
Rnd 6: ch1, [2sc in st, sc in next 2 st] 3 times, sl st to join (12)
Rnd 7: ch1, sc in each st, sl st to join (12)
Bind off

So now they are ready to be worn! Poor bunny slippers, they never stood a chance!

Baby booties

2011-03-25T22:17:00.000+01:00

Friends of ours recently had a baby, little Alison. To honour this new life, they had a baby shower last Sunday. About a week before that, I suddenly thought of making a little present for Alison myself, instead of only going for a registered present.

I found the pattern for Saartje's booties on Ravelry and I still had some Phildar Super Baby yarn lying around, so I had everything to start going. All I needed was some time... As you may know already, my husband and I are renovating a house, and that really narrows down my crafting time. But there's always the daily train commute I take from Ghent to Brussels, good for 40 minutes per ride.

Saartje's booties come in two sizes: a smaller size and a larger size. Since we were talking baby, I decided to do the smaller size. They went quite fast, and the were finished by the middle of the week. Easy peasy! But then it suddenly dawned on me that babies grow pretty fast. And the booties looked ever so small. What if they wouldn't fit? What kind of present would that be?

So, I started knitting the larger size as well. I must say that at this point, I did start feeling a bit stressed. I was running out of time! And then something happened. Not something good or lucky, but in the end, it did come in handy. There was an accident where a crane fell onto the railway tracks and messed up the cables. Luckily, nobody got hurt, but it did cause major delays. All trains going to and coming from Ghent had to be diverted, taking 20 to 40 minutes longer. Not really something to be happy about, but it did give me enough time to knit the second pair of booties.

And then there still was the finishing up to do. I bought some buttons during my lunch time on Friday and found the time to attach them at midnight Saturday night. Finished! I know, the buttons on the smaller booties aren't as cute as the one on the larger ones, due to a minor miscalculation by yours truly. But they're still cute!

Edward pattern

2011-03-13T12:18:00.001+01:00

Remember the Edward Cullen bag I made for my friend Karmen?

I've finally gotten to uploading the Edward pattern pdf. Have fun with it!

Musical hoodie

2011-03-07T19:49:00.001+01:00

In the past, I haven't always had the best of luck with my mp3 players. No matter how careful I was, for some reason they would always end up at the bottom of my bag on those days that I put heavy stuff in it. I racked one by dropping a flask on it, for instance. I took revenge, though, I broke the flask in that same bag just a few months later.

So, when I bought the latest player, a Creative Zen (which I absolutely love, by the way), I once again vowed to take extra care of it and to try not to break it. I've had it for nearly a year now, so I'm definitely on the right track. But it's starting to look as if it's owned by me. The screen has some scratches already, so I needed something to protect it from getting any more.

Enter the iPhoodie. Isn't it cute?

What I liked
You can easily knit this with some left-over yarn and finish it in a couple of hours. I did this one in between two socks, to avoid the second sock syndrome.

Rough patches
I did have some trouble with the bottom cuff. It's knit in the round and that means that you knit in a spiral. Once you've knit the hood and that you've joined in the round, that means that the start of your round is always in the front middle of your hoodie, right? And because I also started the ribbing at the start of the round, that means that I have one more ribbed row on the right than I have on the left. It's hard to explain, but basically it means that you should only start ribbing at the side of the hoodie, and not in the middle.

What I changed

I used sock yarn for this hoodie, and since I knit socks on 2.5 mm/ US 1.5 dpns, I used these for this hoodie as well.
I started the pouch at the bottom instead of at the top. Otherwise I had the wrong side facing the outside. Also, I guess because I used a different gauge, the pouch then ended up way too high. So from the bottom up it was. To do so, I picked up 13 stitches about 2 rows above the ribbing. I knitted the uneven rows and purled the even rows. To decrease, I knitted the uneven rows as follows:
k1, k2tog, knit remaining stitches until you have 3 left , ssk, k1. I did so until I had 7 stitches left in total.

Instead of casting the pouch off and then sewing it to the hoodie, I used the 3-needle bindoff. To do so, I picked up 7 stitches with a second needle, held it behind the first needle with the stitches still on and then used a third one to knit them together and cast off.

That's one very well protected mp3-player we have here!

New look

2011-02-28T19:13:00.000+01:00

As you may have noticed, I have updated the look-and-feel of my blog a little bit. My hubby has been so kind as to design me a nice pink logo, and I have updated the colours of the blog to match the logo. Do tell me whether you like it or not!

In case you were wondering, the name Fabulies comes from the BBC series Absolutely Fabulous, which I Absolutely Love. For now, I thought just Fabulies would be enough. But once I have the time and the skills to make and share my own fabulous designs, I may just as well need the Absolutely in there ;-)

Any suggestions for further improvements are welcome, so don't hesitate to leave me a comment.

Birthday socks

2011-01-31T20:56:00.004+01:00

My granddad turned 80 years old yesterday. Happy birthday to him! Of course I paid him a visit, and I ate more cake and waffles than I should have done. But they were good!

As a present, I knitted him some personal birthday socks. Since we call him 'pepe Fons', I made him socks that said just that.

And I added the number 80 as well.

For the characters, I just took out some checked paper and coloured the boxes to get the words and the numbers right. What I needed next, was a basic pattern for toe-up socks. I found a really great one, in Dutch. It comes with a table that gives you a clear overview of all measurements and stitches you need for each size and leaves you space to fill them in in the pattern as well, so you don't need to check the table all the time. It uses a reinforced heel, which may be for the best for my granddad's socks. Maybe that means less repair work for me, since I usually darn his socks.

To do the characters, I used intarsia. I know they say it cannot be done in the round, but I chose to browse the web and see whether that was true or not. And you know what, you can do intarsia in the round! You need to use yarn-overs and then knit those together again, and you do see a slight seam, but it works!

And be honest, if you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't see it at all, right? I feel another tutorial coming :-)

Tip toes

2011-01-28T21:16:00.000+01:00

Am I still in time to wish everybody a happy new year? I'm sorry I didn't post my best wishes for everyone any sooner, but it's been a very busy time.

Now, these socks have been finished for a couple of weeks now. Just like my new year's wished, I should have posted these toe socks earlier already, but I just couldn't find time enough to actually post. But here they finally are!

I think they look pretty neat. And it doesn't show at all that (ahem) that one is shorter than the other, right?

What I liked

By using this pattern I learned how to do a Turkish cast-on. Since I needed it to start every toe, it was a great opportunity to practise it. And now I'm a fan. A tutorial is coming! I'd say soon, and I'll really try to make it soon, but I'm also going to stop making promises. It's coming. Eventually.
This pair of socks was the first pair that I did from the toe up. And yes, I'm a fan of this method as well. I think these Turkish cast-ons and the toe-up method turned me into a sock-knitting addict. I mean, the reason why I didn't have time to post was, among others, was that I had a pair of birthday socks to finish. And now that those are done as well, I can't wait to start yet another pair.
These socks knitted up fairly quickly. At first I thought they would take me forever, what with all the toes that needed to be done separately and then needed to be joined. But the pattern is very straight-forward and fairly easy, so it went a lot faster than I had thought.
I got this pattern from Debbie Stoller's Superstar knitting, but it's also available on Ravelry, for free. Just follow the button at the bottom of this post.

Rough patches

I did some miscalculations on this one. The pattern is for a medium sized foot, and my feet are slightly larger than average. So I measured that I needed to add an inch and added some rows, but apparently not enough of them. So, for my first sock, the heel is not exactly where I want it to be. But it doesn't show all that much, so it's OK for me! The second one is better, but I was just too lazy to start over again.
I trusted the lenght of yarn that was mentioned on the label too much. I had two skeins of this self-stripping yarn, so I figured I could just as well knit as far as the wool allowed me, and they would end up roughly the same lenght. Of course, because for one sock the foot is smaller than the other one, I knew they wouldn't be exactly the same, but I didn't think there would be a several centimeters difference. Not just my fault there, I guess.
Keep on knitting until the ball ends was not the smartest idea from another point of view as well. I mean, legs get slightly thicker as you go up. And I didn't widen my socks accordingly. So I can't pull them up to their full lenght. Which, considering that they don't have the same lenght anyway, may be an advantage in the end.
While gloves are easy to put on, toe-up socks are not. It requires some fidgetting to get every toe where it's supposed to be. My husband compared my toes (especially the smallest one) with amoebas when he saw me trying to get them on. Of course, it may just be that I have oddly shaped toes, so if you've tried on toe socks before, let me know how well your toes fitted.

I know, quite a few rough patches there, but once I get them on right, I really like these socks. They do feel comfortable and warm. And most of those rough patches are my very own fault. So if you don't have toes that look like amoebas, these socks might be just the thing for you ;-)

Stitch 'n Bitch button:

Free pattern button:

Biker boy cardigan

2010-12-30T20:28:00.000+01:00

There goes my first cardigan! I'm very pleased with the result, it looks great, if I say so myself. I'm convinced my husband will actually wear it more than the one obligatory time. So that is one marriage saved!

What I liked
It's a plain stockinette stitch. I know a lot of people are put off by projects like that because they think it gets very boring, but I don't. For me, it means relaxed knitting, without having to think about the pattern too much. I could sit back, knit, and enjoy numerous episodes of Grey's anatomy. And Weeds. And The Big Bang Theory. In other words, it makes a great excuse for my couch potato syndrome :-)

The sleeves are knit in. No fussing about afterwards to get them exactly right, the pattern forces you to get them in where they need to be. And the way it's done looks so nice. This definitely is a way of knitting that I hope to encounter more.

The neck is finished so it has a lining. Extra thick and extra warm. It gives it a cozy look. I actually like wearing it myself. Too bad it's way too large for me.

There's hardly any seams to close up afterwards. The only ones there are in the bottom half of the sleeves, next to the vertical stripe. And I guess you can avoid these as well by doing the whole sleeve in the round, instead of knitting flat and then joining. Maybe something I'll do next time!

Rough patches
Casting on stitches for the sleeves was a bit of a mystery at first. Since there is a vertical stripe in them, I needed to change colours at one point. It puzzled me, and I really didn't have a clue how to do it. While, in fact, it's not that difficult at all. Just like you do when you need to switch to a new ball or when you are working intarsia, you need to twist the old yarn with the new yarn, and then move on as if nothing ever happened. Just make sure to twist it rather tightly, since this is the edge of your sleeve.

The skull patch was a bit difficult as well, but, once again, that was completely my fault. I didn't know what technique to use, so I started doing stranded knitting. Not the best choice. It looked like a skull, but I had been pulling my yarn too tightly and it made the patch look rather lumpy instead of straight. So I frogged it and started over, doing intarsia this time. Way better.

Not really a rough patch, but certainly a time consumer: getting the zipper in. The pattern says to wash the cardigan first, before you measure it for a zipper. And then I still had to get to the store to get the zipper. And then, of course, get my sewing machine out to get the zipper in.

What I altered
This pattern has really long sleeves, so I added thumbholes to them. My hubby wanted them, and I thought it was a great idea. Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as just leaving a hole while doing the seam of the sleeve. Because both sleeves are knit in exactly the same way and because this also involves a vertical stripe, the seam ends up in a different place when you get the sleeves in. So, for the right sleeve, I could just leave a bit of the seam open to get a thumbhole. But for the left sleeve, the seam ended up slightly to the back. So, to get the thumbhole right, I had to steek. That's right, I had to cut my hard work! I'll explain how I did that in a separate post. I must say it made me a little bit nervous, but once I saw the result, I knew it was worth it. I'm never doubting the steek method again.

All in all, knitting this cardigan took me about 1,5 months. I was really motivated to get this right and I concentrated on this project alone. It was quite addictive as well, I wanted to pick up my needles to get on with it almost all the time. At first I thought it would take me forever, with the renovations in the new house and everything. But now I think that I needed a project that's not related to that house in any way, just to get my mind off it. And it sure worked! I should pick out another cardigan or sweater to knit soon. Maybe for myself this time, haha.

Merry knitmas!

2010-12-23T19:55:00.000+01:00

A very merry knitmas to all of you! I know I'm a bit early, but I don't think there will be much time left the following days to post.

I don't know about you, but I can't believe that the holiday season is already here. I'm hardly prepared. What with the renovations of the house and all that, we haven't even found the time to put up our tree yet. Although, I must say, there's also an upside to that. We have two cats running around the house, and they see it as their personal challenge to knock out as many ornaments as they can by the time we get home from work. I think there's record-breaking involved.

So, while I wasn't even ready for this Christmas, I'm secretly looking forward to next year's. By then, we'll have a larger living room with enough space to actually put a tree, and we will be able to keep it cat-free when we're not at home. It may still take a while, but I'll conquer in the end!

Still, to be on the safe side, I'm going to stick with soft and stuffed Christmas decorations. I've learned to use those a few years ago and, to be honest, I love them. They make the tree look more cudly. But, I don't have enough of them yet. So, by next year, I want it to be a very happy crochetmas. I want to make loads of ornaments myself. I've seen loads of nice patterns on Ravelry already. And, if you're looking for inspiration, there's Crochet every day by my fellow blogster Megan. She's listed some very pretty ones on her to do list, and it's a good start before diving into the endless waters of Ravelry.

Anyhow, I think I'd better set myself a reminder to get started somewhere in August, haha. But, until then, enjoy your presents, enjoy your family and - the most important one by far - enjoy all the desserts! Merry Christmas!

Tip toes

2010-12-22T20:33:00.000+01:00

I've always wanted toe socks, and now I finally have a pattern for them, woot! I've already knitted 5 toes, I'm amazed by myself.

When I see my toes lined up like that, they seem to be very long. And in Dutch, that means you're easily offended... Oh well, they'll fit. And if not, I can turn them into kids gloves, haha :-)

Lucha libre balaclava

2010-12-21T19:58:00.001+01:00

Last Sunday, my friend Reinout celebrated his birthday. As a present, he wanted to have a balaclava. Given the low temperatures and snow we had here lately, that wasn't so bad an idea. So I got out my knitting needles, took out Debbie Stoller's Son of Stitch 'n Bitch and started working the Lucha Libre balaclava.

What I liked about it
This one is a fast knit. I only started it at the beginning of December, and I got along quite fast.

It's also a great way to practice your intarsia technique. Or should I call it intangledsia?

Now, I know this looks like some kind of nightmare, but in fact, it's not that bad. If you are knitting intarsia, you do not drag your yarn along behind the work. Instead, you use a new strand of yarn every time you change colour. So in fact, it's a bit like a puzzle. Of course, while knitting, these strands get a little tangled, as shown in the picture. But untangling it all is a bit of a puzzle as well, and, to be honest, I don't mind it all that much. Weaving the untangled ends in is a bit more tiresome, though.

Rough patches

As I said, I wasn't too wild about weaving the ends in. All in all, it took me a few hours to do so. I guess you just need to put your mind to it. Brace yourself for the fact that you won't be knitting that night, but you'll be weaving. And all in all, the end result wouldn't look as nice as it does when you leave all the ends just dangling about.

I was also a bit surprised that this mask was knit flat, and not in the round. Since you have a center back seam, it seemed so obvious and less tedious to do it in the round. But then I just read today that it's not that simple to do intarsia in the round. Since you leave your coloured ends dangling and then pick them up again on the next row, it's important that you knit back and forth. If you do it in the round, your yarn will always be on the other end of your colour patch. Not that handy. So flat it is.

I'm quite happy with the result. It's nice and warm, and it looks a lot more friendly than your average balaclava. If the person wearing it is laughing, that is. If not, it actually looks quite scary.

So I gave the balaclava to Reinout last Sunday. The best day, since it had been snowing again. We immediately went out to test it.

It passed the sleighing and snowball fight test. Not only did it keep Reinout's head warm, but his nose and ears as well. And no children started crying or screaming when he went by. All that's still left to do is the cycling test: does the wind cut through it, or not? Let's hope it doesn't.

If you're	start the first stitch
left-handed	on the left.
right-handed	on the right.

Left-handed	Right-handed