My First Knitted Doll

FO

As you can see, I have finished the Belinda Jane Doll by Flutterby Patch.  I think she is just darling.  I have packed her up already and sent her off to Arizona for my niece's birthday this weekend.

I learned so much making this doll.

I paid for the pattern, because the dolls on the Flutterby Patch site are just wonderful.  And the pattern is fine, but it is all knitted flat and then seamed together.

I just could not do that.  So, for the first time, other than adding stitches to socks for size, I altered the pattern, and knit everything in the round.  Head and body were very easy to do.  as were the arms and the leg parts of the shoe/sock/leg pieces.  But I really had to think to change the shoes from flat to in the round..

I did follow the pattern directions for the face.  So often when I try to make a toy the face just never looks right.  Mine is not exactly like the pattern, but I appreciated her advice on how to place the eyes, and mouth.  The nose I did myself.

The skirt is just like the pattern except,..... yes, it is supposed to be knitted flat and I changed it to the round.  That was an easy change.

I could not figure out how to alter the panties pattern from flat to the round, so I just made up my own.

And, once I had mastered the panties, I just made up my own top for her.

I still need to make her a cardigan (which I will make in purple like the bottom stripe on the skirt).  This, too, is supposed to be knit flat with a raglan sleeve.  But I was looking at the pieces, and I think I can figure out how to knit it in the round also, and STEEK!   I have never tried steeking, but Jasmine, of the KnitMoreGirls says it is easy, so I'm going to try it.

The hair was a tough one.  The directions for this were not very clear, and there were a few photos, but not enough for me.  I think I figured out a reasonable method, and I think the hair came out pretty nice.

I packed her in a box with Coco the Cat.

I decided that I didn't like the way Coco's dress fit, so I made her another one.

Then I mailed them both off.


Where in the World is f1bercat?

I had energy this morning, so I knitted 6 miles, and walked another .52.


I've stopped just South of Portland.


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The walking went really well today.  I am starting to be cautiously optimistic about getting in good enough shape to go to New Zealand with Moogie.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with the beginning of my own "designing."

Back On The Bike!

2012.04.23

Eastside Knitters Guild

The EKG met for our regular monthly meeting tonight at Crossroads Mall, in Bellevue, WA.

Tonight, we had the knitwear designer, Andrea Rangel, of Andrea Rangel Knits as a speaker.  She had a slide show, and brought many samples of her very different designs.  She does do socks, and scarves, and hats, BUT, not the usual.  And, she designs clothes, and clothes that you might not think of knitting.  For instance, she brought 2 pairs of knit pants, and a pair of shorts.

It was really interesting listening to her talk about how she gets her ideas and inspiration, then her process of developing the pattern.  She was very generous with her information, citing the computer programs she uses, and blogs/webpages that she has found useful. 

This is one of the things that I have seen again and again in the fiber world, this generosity of spirit.  You might have figured out that I am a children's writer.  In the writing world, you hear stories of people being very tight with their ideas, and expertise, always worried that someone might get the jump on them.  This is not at all true in Children's publishing.  Children's book writers and illustrators are extremely helpful and generous.  It is a group that shares information, helps each other, and is genuinely happy for the success of others.  I am so happy to see this same generosity in the knit/crochet community.  People are so happy to help others get started. 

I didn't take any photos, and I'm sorry for that.  Her work is beautiful.  Please take the time to visit her site and see her designs.
 

Where in the World is f1bercat?

Woot!  I made it to the Y today for the first time in 2 weeks.  I wasn't 100% by any means, in fact I only knit/rode the bike for 20 minutes. But, it is a beginning.  I had hoped to do about 30 minutes, but at 12 minutes my head started to pound, and it was all I could do to stay knitting for 20.  And I only knit 3.62 miles, but I did it.

So where did that get me on my trip south to California?  HOORAY!  I have crossed the border into Oregon!


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I am on my way to visiting my first Oregon LYS (Local Yarn Store), but did not quite reach it.  I should be back in yarn tomorrow.

This is what my trip looks like so far:


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And here is where I am on the big map:


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I plan to take it super slowly and carefully on the bike this week.  I do NOT want to have a relapse of this flu.  But, it is good to be getting some exercise.

What was I knitting?  The Fish Hat Dead or Alive by Thelma Eberts that I am making as a wedding gift for my nephew, A, who is getting married this summer.  I am still on the "lips" which is the very beginning of the hat, so it was super easy knitting in the round.

FO Friday

2012.04.06

Finished Object Friday!

I finished my first Snuggly Sock!  This is the pattern and yarn from the Liz Marino Gift Knits Club.

And I immediately cast on the mate.  I had my daughter, S, try the sock on because she wears a 7 and this sock is for my nephew's wife to be who wears a 7.5.  I think it will fit really well.  S was a bit jealous.  I totally plan to make this pattern my "go to" Better than French Vanilla" pattern.

I was down to 2 WIP's (other than the 12in Squares for April for the 2012BAMCAL Group on Ravelry).  So yesterday, I cast on 3 new projects.  More on those, next week.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

Today, I started out my trip at a LYS in Longview, WA, Evie's Yarn Emporium.

They have a wonderful selection of yarn, offer classes in both knitting and crochet, and have a nice supply of sock yarn.



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Then I jumped on the bike and knitted  8.27 miles.  


I am on the Columbia River Highway 


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 Look!  I am getting super close to Portland

 
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I can't wait.

Happy Easter Everyone !

Chocolate Roses from Boehms Candies in Issaquah, WA.   Shhhh!  This is what the Easter Bunny is bringing my kids this year.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one sock at a time

 

New Yummy Yarn

2012.04.05

Why does it start raining just  before I take the daily photo of my Fuji Cherry?  It was sunny this morning, then at noon (which is when I try to take the photo for consistency sake) it was raining.  Now that I am sitting down, writing, it is sunny again.  O well, we do live in the Pacific Northwest.

WIP's
Not a lot of WIP's to report, though I am still knitting away on my Red Hot Sweater for Lewk, and starting to see daylight at the end of the Sleeve Tunnel.  I just need the toes on the Snuggly Socks for the Liz Marino Gift Knits Club.  Liz  writes the blog Knitting with Karma , teaches knitting, and designs.  Her blog was one of the first I discovered in the knitting blogosphere, and although I have read many many more now, I have stuck with her.  I like her advice.  I love the things she designs.  I like all of the free pattern links she gives.  I like the common sense and stay calm tone of her blog.  And, I love these Snuggly Socks! I will post a photo of the finished first sock tomorrow, because today, I am casting on casting on casting on! (photos to follow probably next week).

The only knitting photo I have is an addition to my stash.

The yarn came for the monthly sock challenges for the  Solid Socks and Sock Knitters Anonymous groups on Ravelry.  The color for April is yellow.  Since I had no yellow in my stash, I had a legitimate reason to BUY YARN!  I bought some "Yummy" superwash monochrome 2 ply sock yarn from Miss Babs.Hand Dyed Yarn & Fiber.

The color is "Squash Blossom."  We grew pumpkins in our yard when we lived in Santa Monica.  The blossoms are this gorgeous color.  I picked a pattern from the suggested ones in Sock Knitters Anonymous (so I can get credit from both groups and be eligible for the monthly prizes), but now I am not sure.  The SKA challenge is to use a pattern with a literary theme.  I am going to look at the acceptable patterns again because this yarn is so wonderful, I want wonderful socks.

These socks are one of the things I am casting on today.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

I rode a bit faster than yesterday, though not as fast as Tuesday.  But, I made my goal of 8.25 miles.  In fact, I knitted 8.74 miles today in 43 minutes.  I made myself finish the row.  That is a great motivator to knit (ride) just a bit more...

Where am I today?


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I reached an LYS!  La Favorites is described as a "house of fine yarns, espresso, home decor and warm conversation."    The website is more of a blog, with photos of the lovely yarns and many sweet FO's.  They have a nice selection of knitting books for sale.  There is a group on Ravelry named La Favorites Favorites.



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I am just so happy to get out of the woods and into a comfy LYS again!.
Tomorrow, I will start at another LYS.  I am indeed out of the wilderness with 2 shops so close to each other.

Have a great evening.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet 2 new skeins of YUMMY sock yarn at a time

Make New Friends but Keep the Old

2012.04.04

Eastside Stitchers 2012.04.04

Yay!  I snuck out of my legion's fort defense, and went to knitting tonight.  There were 4 of the "regulars" at Crossroads Mall . AND!  3 of the "old" Eastside Stitchers who have moved north drove down and joined us for the evening.  They were so much fun.

Who was there?  and, (the important thing) what were they knitting?

MsWiz was knitting a "green blob." (that is her description, honestly)

Colleen was cranking away on another delicious looking mint green baby blanket

Chockelet brought some extremely yummy fiber that she had combined and processed in her new drum carder, as well as some gorgeous looking art fiber, but I only got a photo of this beautiful scarf

Angelvet, one of the  returning Eastside Stitchers, was starting a dog sweater

Ecogryff brought some socks she was designing

and, Tassereine had a green baby sweater

While we were all there, LM from Spokane stopped by our table in the corner.  She was walking through, and her knitting radar had picked us up.  She didn't stop to knit, but was wearing a ruffled scarf

 Allifer stopped by for the last 30 minutes after work.  She brought the new placemat she was hooking






Where in the World is f1bercat?

Today, I got back on the bike and told myself, "slow down, f1bercat.  You can do it."  And, I did it.  I knitted 8.29 miles.  Of course, it took me 45 minutes.  But I was alive and knitting at the end of the ride.  I think I have a bit of a cold.  That might explain the lack of energy.  Or, staying up until midnight to do a Besh Temple run with my legion mates in Aion might explain it.  (Sorry, non-gamers for the gaming talk).

I have not reached the next yarn shop, but I am close.  And I reached my goal of 8.25 miles. I would like to knit faster, but not at the expense of the miles.

Here I am, near Kelso, WA:


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Ugh!  I am not sure why, but I can't get the big map again.

Well, I will just say then, that I am making progress.

Sleep well.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one great knitting group at a time

Biking (Knitting) Accident

An older woman gets on the exercise bike next to me this morning and says, "I could never knit AND ride one of these things.  It would be way too hard."

I say,"O, I only bring simple thing to knit, so I don't have to concentrated."

She says, "I can see the stitch markers, so that is not uncomplicated."

I say, "I have this pattern memorized now, so it's pretty easy."

FAMOUS LAST WORDS!  By the next row, I was so messed up that I actually put my knitting down and just rode the bike for 5 minutes.

I did not reach my goal of 8.25 miles knitted.  I stopped at 7 miles and only 32 minutes.  I was so mad at myself. 

Those 7 miles put me at 147.03 miles.

Here is my trip with all of the stops:

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And here I am on the big map:

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I don't have much knitting/crochet to report on.  I am still working on the red sweater, my snuggly socks, and some amigurumi.  I hope to be able to post WIP photos tomorrow or Thursday.  I plan to meet up with the Eastside Stitchers tomorrow.  I will bring my camera, and maybe I will have some nice photos of THEIR work.

Good night

f1bercat

shaping the planet one messed up sleeve at a time

Cascarones!

Today I made cascarones, or my version of these special eggs, for Easter gifts.  We used to make and throw these hollow eggs, which are traditionally filled with confetti, during Cinco de Mayo celebrations when we lived in Santa Monica.  I think they make wonderful Easter gifts, especially, since instead of confetti, I fill them with bird seed.

This is how I made them:

Step 1

With a sharp knife (or a needle) make a small hole in one end of a raw egg. 








Step 2

Make a larger hole on the other side of the raw egg, Use the knife, or a needle, to pierce the yolk membrane inside the egg, then carefully blow out the egg into a bowl. You can use these eggs for cooking.







Step 3

Wash the eggshells inside and out and let dry.  I started "blowing" eggs 6 weeks ago when Lent began.








Step 4

Make dye.  I used food coloring (about 10 drops), about 1 tablespoon of white vinegar,

and about 1/2 cup of boiling water.  If you look closely at my cups, you can see they melted a bit!

Usually I use coffee cups for this, but I wanted something clear so the photos would look good. When the water cooled, I added the eggs.

The longer you let them sit, the darker the colors.  I rolled them around in the dye a bit to color all sides.  Set them back in the carton to dry completely.






Step 5

Fill the eggs with bird seed.

I have tried to use a funnel for this step, but it just clogs up.  The best way is just to use a spoon.  You can make the hole larger if you need to.  But, by just scooping up the seed, and pouring again and again, the egg fills up.






Step 6

If you made large holes

you can make a sugar-water solution to use as a paste, and dip some tissue paper in the paste, and "paste" it over the hole.





Crack them over people's heads!  Outside, of course.


Where in the World is f1bercat?

When I woke up this morning, I did NOT want to go to the Y.  Thank goodness I am blogging about this trip, or I would have stopped after the second day.

I did go, and once I started knitting, I mean riding, I felt much better.  I knit another 8 miles today.  It only took me 36 minutes.  I am getting faster.  My next challenge is to knit 8.25 miles.

So, where am I?


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You guessed it, stuck on the side of the road, again. 

This puts me at 140.03 miles.  Wow.

Well, good night.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with one broken cascarone at a time

Tutorial For Corkscrew Square Multi-Color

2012.03.30

Hello!  f1beristas,

This is a short, finished round post of a multi-color version of Suzetta Williams  of Suzies Stuff  wonderful Corkscrew Square.  This is the 6 in. square for the 2012BAMCAL group on Ravelry.  It is a wonderful, quirky, creative square.


I have a detailed tutorial a few posts back, if you want to check that out.  Here I will just post photos of the finished rounds, and how I attached the color changes.


Round 1

Finish with ss, and cut yarn.

Round 1

Round 2

 Begin with ss in any sc.














Finish with ss in bottom of first chain.  Do not change color.

Round 2

Round 3

Finish with ss in bottom of first ch 6.  
Change color.

Round 3

 
Round 4

Do NOT ss up the first ch 6. Instead, attach new color with ss on the top of any spiral in a ss.













Finish with a ss in first ss.

Round 4

Round 5
no changes

Round 5

 

Round 6
no changes

Round 6

Round7
no changes
Finished Square

Round 7

Where in the World is f1bercat?


As I head south towards Oregon, I have hit a stretch of Washington that is very foresty and beautiful, but kind of empty!  So I am stuck on the side of the road again.  But, since I am focusing my knitting-while-riding more on keeping a 12 mph speed, rather than watching the mileage or time, I was able to knit 8.19 miles in 36 minutes today!  My goal was to hit about 7.5 miles.  I am very happy with my knitting.


I have reached a total of 131.93 miles knitted.



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Here is my total progress to date:



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Enjoy the new square!


yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one multi-color corkscrew square at a time

The One Where I Mostly Untangle Yarn Yet Finish My Gorgeous Gloves

2012.03.29

Do you take your yarn from the inside of the ball or the outside?  I always take it from the inside.  And, yet, I know that the ball will collapse, and there will be a tangle at some point.  It happens every time.  But, still I like to take the yarn from inside.  Why?????

I spent most of Sunday winding yarn so I can finally start a lace shawl for my mom.  (still haven't started it )  Then I rewound the yarn for those brown Cobblestone socks for the Doc that I posted yesterday, because the balls had collapsed and were a tangled mess.  Today I spent most of the morning rewinding the balls of red yarn for the Red Hot Sweater for my friend Tony.  I knit 5 rows while riding the exercise bike.  I spent as much time fixing the tangled yarn BEFORE I went to the Y. 

I almost took photos of the balls of neatly wound yarn.  They were my finished objects.  How pathetic.  I do have another really nice finished object.  

 I didn't need to untangle the yarn for these.  

 A few weeks ago, I posted my first glove EVER.  Over the weekend, I finished the mate.   

And again, I am so proud of myself.  Really. I owe it all to LizMarino.  I would never have even tried to make gloves if it hadn't been for her Gift Knits Club.  

Where in the World is f1bercat?

I have decided that, while I am still going to work on increasing my minutes spent knitting (I mean riding the exercise bike WHILE knitting), I am going to try to work my way up to 10 miles, rather than focusing on how many minutes in the bike seat.  I need to increase my speed a bit.  Today, I worked on keeping the speed up to 12 mph and pushing 13 mph as much as possible.  So, I was able to get 7.33 miles in about 38 min. 

Where am I?  I reached Yarn & Things, in Chehalis WA.  This is a tough one to visit virtually, because I can't find a website for the shop.  I can only assume they are still in business, and I am busy virtually peeking through the window.

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Good night, everyone

Yours,

f1bercat

shaping the planet one PAIR of gloves at a time.