craf·te·ra·ti

166I started working on the cable rib hat last night and I finished it tonight. I’m proud because I decided to use this project to learn how to do the continental style of knitting and actually use cables for something. On the recommendation of my knitting friend Heidi, I used 2 strands of KP’s Merino Style in Rhubarb and 10.5 needles. Then I added a big pompom and it is now wrapped as a gift for Natalie’s birthday. I used this pattern. Now if I was to make another, and I probably will, I would have the hat be 6-6.5″ before I started my decreases. I have a big head and while it fits it definitely could be a little longer to cover my ears.

I have started making Knitty Cleaves as a gift for someone. But as others have done, I’m modifiying the pattern to make the sleeves less huge. I’m doing it in Lamb’s Pride Bulky. I can’t remember what the actual color name is but it’s a deep turquoise.

I picked up some cheapy yarn at AC Moore’s yarn party. I also got a Lion brand pompom maker set. Yes I know how to make them from scratch, but this was like $2 and then I won’t have to make one everytime.

So then I made a striped hat with a pom-pom that my mom thinks is too small. Then I came home and made a pom-pom for my kitten. I hung it in a doorway and she’s having great fun batting it around.

I was trying to make a waffle stitch beanie using alternating dc and fpdc but it’s huge pain in the ass to try to do it when you are doing the increases at the top. So I did that using straight dc and then started using the waffle stitch on the non increasing rows. Well..after a few rows I realized it is still a bit of a pain to do and that you couldn’t really see the waffle very well with this yarn. However on the other side the rib was looking really nice. At that point I was bored of the rib/waffle and switched back to regular dc for awhile and then ran out of yarn. I’m using the leftover grey Caron Simply Soft from the Orange/Grey fade beanie. Which was wound into 3 balls. So when I picked up the next ball I decided the ribs would look cute with some beads between them but I didn’t have enough to go in each space. So anyway..I think it came out pretty cute and I’m going to try the waffle again with a bit bigger yarn and hook.

I wanted to make a little handbag for vanessa for her wedding. Originally my thought was a little envelope style clutch with a wrist strap. I bought some TLC Cotton Plus in white and some purple beads from Blue Moon Beads. But I still needed to figure out what I was doing. I took out my Crochet Stitch Bible and tried a few different stitches out but none really caught my fancy. So I went and got a copy of Lily Chin’s Knit & Crochet with Beads. There are only a couple of patterns I really liked in there, but she has really good descriptions of the different ways to incorporate beads into your knit and crochet. Also it was totally worth it just because I learned that I could use dental floss threaders to thread beads onto my yarn. Brilliant!

After doing a bit of googling I came across The Nylon Shells Wristlet Bag on Crochetville. It looked simple enough and I could work my beads into the sc of the shells. However the pattern is written a bit strangely and I modified it a bit to get the shells to work the way I wanted. But I love the way the bag came out. However I still need to figure out if I should line it or the straps. It’s 50/50 cotton/acrylic so I’m not sure if it will lose its shape. However it’s probably going to be used only once so it can’t get that out of shape..I think.

And shh! It’s a secret. I’m going to give this to her at her bridal shower on the 20th.

So here is the bag (click to view full size)