Daily Review - Knitting Cast-on E-book

A while back, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to review an e-book on Brioche Knitting.  The author of that e-book, Liat of KNITFreedom has a new video course - this time a guide to knitting cast-ons. 

When it comes to knitting cast-ons, I've always defaulted to the trusty long-tail cast-on.  It's the first cast-on I learned and works for most things.  There are definitely those times though when the long-tail cast-on just isn't as pretty and fitting as the piece calls for.  I do know that there are lots of other cast-ons out there, but I didn't know how many until taking a look at this e-book!   [Did you know multi-colored braided cast-ons even existed?  Mind blown!]

The course covers some basic info on cast-ons, even including some tips about the long-tail cast on that I didn't know.  No more pulling 100 stitches off the needle when the tail gets too short!  Turns out there's a pretty easy fix for that.  As with Liat's other video courses, the videos themselves are clear and very easy to follow along.  It's a lot easier than scouring YouTube for something when you're not entirely sure what it's called.  There is a very handy table of contents at the top of the guide which takes you to the exact spot you need - whether you're looking for a cast-on by name or category.    I really like the short description included with each cast-on video, explaining how it is best used, along with tips, and a clear swatch photo to show what the finished product is supposed to look like. The only thing I would have liked would be a video covering how to get a nice clean join when casting-on in the round (i.e. for a hat or top-down sock). 

In the end, I think this video course is a fantastic reference tool for knitters looking to take their craft to the next level.  For all the hours of care and love put into a project, starting with the perfect cast-on makes sense, making this a great resource to have at your fingertips.  I know it's going to make me think twice next time I pick up the needles to start a project and I'm excited to try some new techniques.

This cast-on video e-book is available for $24.99 through the KNITFreedom site.  Check out the other classes on offer too!

DISCLAIMER:  I received no money for this review, but received a preview copy of the e-book prior to release.

Daily Craft - The other thing I knit

I shared with you the blanket that I finally took pictures of, and now to share the other thing that I knit up for the little one. Baby's first cardigan!  I also started knitting this before knowing gender, so went with what I hoped were relatively neutral colors.  I think it'll work out just fine for baby boy.    :)

Even after sorting through the many, many piles of baby clothes, I'm still in awe of how tiny each piece of clothing actually is.  I know this picture would look much more inspiring if it were on a real life model rather than a plastic hanger. I'll have to take an 'after' picture when he's actually big enough to wear it!

Daily Craft - A finished blanket

You may recall that I started a baby blanket a while back.  I actually started it before I even knew that we were having a boy, and had elected to knit up neutral beige/greens.  At the time, I had also decided to incorporate a pale blue, which is a nod to the fact that I suspected he was a boy all along.  

While I've been making various things all at the same time, I'll admit that I finished the blanket a few weeks ago and had put it aside for blocking.  Seeing as it's knit in an acrylic/micro-fiber blend, steam blocking was required and I only just managed to get around to doing that.  It could probably use a little more work to square it out, but I'm sure running it through the dryer a couple times will probably take care of the last part.    

Here it is though - one super soft blanket, which I adore and can't wait to snuggle the little guy in it.  :)  

Daily Craft - Coming along nicely!

3 hours into knitting the baby blanket, I'm really quite thrilled with my choice.  After getting over the fiddly beginning with only 8 stitches, several double pointed needles, and feeling a bit like I'm all thumbs - this is now proving to be a super quick knit.  Thank you no purl stitches.  I'm thinking all blankets should now be knit in the round so that you can eliminate purl stitches altogether and just whip in circles. 

I'm also pretty psyched about how the colors look together.  The dark color in the picture is actually more of a pine green, and I think the combination is a good one.  I'm following the stripe design from the original pattern (sort of), but incorporating 6 colors instead of 5.  I think I'm going to love it.

I should also give two very big thumbs up to the yarn.  This is my first time working with Plymouth's Dream Baby, and I gotta say that as an acrylic/nylon blend, this may actually sway even the most particular yarn user that not all acrylic yarns are bad.  It is SO soft that just want to curl up with it.  I've heard that it just keeps getting softer with washing too.  Soft and functional?  Sold. 

Daily Craft - The great blanket debate

As my parting payment from sample knitting with Plymouth Yarns, I opted to get a bunch of baby yarns.  I got some Dream Baby DK, Jeannee DK, and a fun textured yarn, Whitney.  All in neutral colors of course, seeing as we have another 2 weeks before I go in for my anatomy scan and find out gender.

What's up with this poor kid's head
being super-imposed on here?!

One of the things I intended to make is a knit blanket...but my search for a blanket ended up being quite complicated with thousands of patterns out there to choose from!  With 6 coordinating colors, I wanted something that would be fun and show off the colors nicely.  In the end, I narrowed it down to 3. 

I did somewhat fall in love with this Honeycomb Stroller Blanket - which looks amazing in bright, bold colors (thank you Ravelry!).   The pastels in the pattern photo do NOT do this justice.  I decided against it for now though as I want something that looks nice on both sides and didn't feel like dealing with adding a backing fabric to a knit piece for now.

I also considered the Bright Blocks Blanket pattern (pictured left, courtesy of Lion Brand). I really like the woven look of the squares, but I've not done a ton of entrelac and I feel like I'm looking for something that won't take forever to do and I don't have to pay much attention to.  Yes - I'm aiming for a good quantity of knit items while I still have the time to do it! 

My final decision?  I've opted to make the Constant Baby Blanket, which will be a nice square blanket, worked from the middle out using simple stitches, but will show off stripes nicely, while being a good mindless (and quick) knit.  Time to cast on...  :)

Daily Craft - and so it begins...

Ever since finding out my preggo status, I've been wanting to get started on making a million things for baby.  I even resigned my position as a sample knitter for Plymouth Yarns, knowing that I'd much rather be making stuff for my own little one, as wonderful as it's been to be knitting for them the last couple years.

I still won't know gender for a few weeks at least, so decided to opt for something delightfully gender neutral to begin Peanut's clothing stash and made this Noggin hat.  The advantages to making tiny things for little babies as that they really come together quickly.  I think this took half a skein of Lion Brand Wool-ease, and just over 2 hours to finish.  

I can't wait until I have an actual baby head to put it on, rather than a kitchen bowl.  :)

Daily Craft - Yarnbombing FTW!

Somebody on Ravelry posted a link to this today and it was just too good not to share.  Not sure if any of you are familiar with the concept of "yarn bombing".  It's essentially a crafty twist on graffiti and street art.  Instead of the medium being paint or chalk, yarn bombing involves wrapping knit pieces onto public items - trees, railings, benches, statues etc. 

Of everything I've seen so far though, this Olympic themed yarn bombing that's just popped up in the U.K. really takes the gold medal!  This piece is 150 ft long and represents the various Olympic sports, each with their own knit athlete.  The sheer detail that has gone into this is quite incredible, and even more amazing is that it was left there anonymously!  I know it takes me a couple of weeks to find the time to finish up a 5ft scarf, so either this was one incredibly talented and dedicated individual, or there is some kind of knitter conspiracy that I would love to know about! 

I highly recommend checking out the full article for more detailed photographs.  I hope they find a way to preserve this so it can be enjoyed by many for years after the London Olympics have come and gone.

Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk

Daily Craft - Candy Corn Socks

Excited to have finished knitting these socks yesterday, before becoming engrossed in the Oscars.  I had originally bought this yarn (Lion Brand Sock Ease) to make my cardigan but it didn't take me long to realize that the patterning just wasn't going to work out and the cardigan would be better suited to a solid color.  That left me with the ball of yarn to do what was originally intended - make socks!

I opted for a basic sock pattern so as not to muddy the candy corn looking stripes.  I think Lion Brand somewhat missed with naming the colorway "toffee" seeing as the darker grey mixed with the orange, yellow and white really reminds me of Halloween.

The only adjustment I made to the knitting pattern was to shorten the length of the sock so that they sit at the ankle.  I'm not a fan of longer socks, and I live in Southern California where socks aren't really needed most of the year anyway.  I'm also pretty bummed that I broke one of my DPNs finishing up the second sock.  I can still work with a set of 4 in that size though.

It's been such a long time since I knit socks that it was nice to get my sock mojo back...even if we're heading into spring and open toe weather again.

Daily Review - Brioche Knitting e-book

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.  Sorry I've been so quiet - we were pretty busy and had a nice time with family in town.  PLUS - I had the opportunity to meet my 5 week old nephew (so small, squishy and completely adorable!)

Given the extra day off work, this finally gave me a chance to review an e-book tutorial for Beginner and Intermediate Brioche Knitting.  I was excited to review this as it's something I've been meaning to try and I'm always happy to learn a new technique.  Thank you to Liat of KNITFreedom for providing a copy of this e-book for me to review.

[NOTE:  This e-book does require the latest version of Adobe Reader to view, although there is a handy link within the e-book that you can follow to download an update (which I needed anyway!)]

This e-book lesson is a wonderful collection of step-by-step Brioche knitting videos with written direction.  The videos are nice and clear, and I found I was able to knit along at the same pace as the video was going even though I was learning.  They compliment the written directions well as I think that trying to learn this stitch using written directions alone would have me completely lost.  The videos are also presented in both American and Continental knitting styles so you can follow on no matter which way you prefer to knit.  By a half-hour in, I was comfortable with the cast on, set up, had knit about 10 rows of my swatch, and even learned a new bind off technique.  

Although just starting out, I did try the section regarding brioche knitting in the round, which I know I'll want to be using for hats along the way.  This involving learning both the brioche purl stitch and joining in the round.  I also tried Brioche knitting with two colors - which makes for beautiful scarf designs that I've seen but never known how the patterns were achieved.  Following along with the video, it didn't take long before my little swatch started taking shape and I'm thrilled that I was able to produce this just by following along with the videos.  [I was using a bigger needle than necessary for my yarn, so my stitches are super wonky in the swatches that I did below, but you get the idea.]

Plain one color Brioche stitch.

Two color Brioche.

This is definitely going to take more practice and I'll probably stick with the one color Brioche working flat for a little while until I get the hang of it.  While I'm learning though, this e-book is a great reference guide and the table of contents is really nicely laid out so that I can jump to whichever section is needed as I want to learn new things.  There's also a variety of helpful links throughout, plus tips for blocking techniques and fixing mistakes (which I know will be coming in useful at some point!)  It's like taking a knitting class, except you can refer to it over and over!

The e-book is selling for $34.77 on Liat's website, or through Ravelry.

This is what it's supposed to look like....with a little practice!

Daily Craft - All done!

Remember that cardigan I was knitting in sock yarn that I thought would take me 6 months to make?  I'm proud to say that one month and six days later, I am DONE!  I think I surprised myself a little bit with this one, especially considering I didn't actually spend every day knitting obsessively and giving myself carpel tunnel.

The verdict?  I'm actually very happy with it and my only complaint would be that it's perhaps 2 inches shorter than I'd like it to be.  I should have trusted my instinct on that when I was knitting it up and gone a little longer.  Hopefully it'll stretch out a little bit with some love and washing.

Knitting a garment with sock yarn wasn't as painful as I thought it might be, and I find that lighter yarns are better for me anyway - both more flattering and better for my internal temperature control (I run warm).  I was also pleasantly surprised by how easy the DROPS pattern was to follow.  When I was a less confident knitter, I remember looking at a couple of DROPS patterns and being completely intimidated/confused.  Apart from anything, the way the patterns are laid out in a clump of text makes it all look far worse than it actually is.  I ended up cutting and pasting into a word document, which I formatted to my liking and made it much easier to follow.  They have a truly extensive database of good patterns though so I'm glad I'm over my mental block when it comes to their patterns!

I've dubbed it the "Year Round Cardi" as I suspect this will be getting lots of use.  I've got the cardigan bug now though and I'm contemplating what I may make next.  Hopefully I can finish another in a similar time frame!

Daily Craft - Tiny Little Stitches

I am excited to say that I got a decent start on my cardigan over the weekend.  I could have gone on a search for the perfect yarn online, but to be honest I'm too impatient for that.  That's several days of knitting time that I would have lost while waiting for delivery!  I ended up buying Lion Brand Sock-Ease from Michaels, which is a wool/nylon blend and also states that it's machine washable, and can even be put in the dryer.  Caution says I'll likely be using my trusty hand-wash setting on the front-loader then line drying, lest I end up with a cardigan better suited for a toddler.  The materials cost about $25, which is not unreasonable (yay coupons!)  I will admit to originally being attracted to the pretty variegated sock yarn colors and spent quite a bit of time musing over the potential to avoid bad color pooling or inconsistent stripes.  In the end I decided I'd be better off with a plain color and chose this green (which is actually much more olive in person). 

As much as I enjoy working lace and cables, I'm actually really happy that this is a nice plain stitch because it feels like it's working up pretty quickly, despite the tiny little stitches.  I've done 5.5" so far, and feeling like I'm getting somewhere at least.  Wishful thinking says I really will be done by the holidays...

Daily Craft - The search for the perfect cardigan

I don't knit things for myself very often.  One factor being that I live in Southern California, which doesn't present itself a ton of opportunities to bundle up with warm wooly items.  [Really, it probably would have been a good idea for me to learn to knit when I was still living in England, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that.]  The other factor is that I do a lot of sample knitting - which I enjoy, but it is work and leaves me very little time to knit for myself because I tend to gravitate toward other crafts between sample knit projects.

As the weather is starting to cool off out here in sunny CA, I have concluded that it's about damn time I made myself a cardigan though.  I love the patterns for cardis and jackets using fun, chunky yarns that knit up in no time...but realistically, I won't wear a lot because the cold season is so short.  I also wouldn't wear anything too thick in my office.  A month from now they'll be turning up the heat in the building and I'll end up sweating with my desk fan blasting at my head because my office is a closet (complete with fuse box for the entire floor - ah yes, I have the power to turn stuff off!) 

So, yesterday I continued my search for the elusive cardigan pattern that would carry me through some of the colder days, but also work nicely during fall and into spring.  Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner!  Check out this jacket by DROPS Design.

I will admit that despite being pretty advanced with my knitting, even if I say so myself, DROPS patterns have always been somewhat intimidating to me.  I think it's because a lot of them are converted from Scandinavian into English and aren't written in the standard knitting language that I know and love.  I decided to copy and paste the pattern into a word document and reformat slightly so that the directions were a little easier to follow.  Now, all I have to do is find the right yarn and I'm ready to go. 

Naturally, I picked something that's done in sock yarn so potentially could take me until the spring to finish anyway, but I love it and can't wait to finally be working on something that I'll be able to proudly wear and say "yes, I made it!"

Daily Craft - Knitting fail!

Last night, I was happily knitting and had the "only a few more rows then I can bind off" anticipation going.  I could tell that I was coming to the end of the ball of yarn, but was still hopeful that I could make it.  I finish up the last row and this is what I see....

Yup, a 2 inch tail.  I actually had to start a new ball of yarn in order to bind off those 25 stitches.  Talk about a serious knitting fail.

What are you craft "fail" moments?  Please share.  :)

Daily Craft - Knitting patterns are up!

Pretty much since I started this blog earlier in the year, I've been meaning to link to my available knitting patterns.  It took me long enough, but I'm happy to say they're now up on the patterns page for you to enjoy.  I love stalking checking out the finished projects that people have made from my designs so if you knit any of these, let me know!  :)

Daily Craft - Just too cute!

I've admittedly been slacking a little on my crafting over the last few months, but I'm back into it now and using this pattern, decided to make some baby socks with small pieces of yarn that I've got around.  How cute are they?!  They don't take long, are great for left over balls of yarn, and they're simply adorable.

I have more of this yarn in green and white so I think I'll be making more.  :)