Tag: finished objects

twirl.

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i finished my hat on the plane to california. it was pretty funny because i wanted to finish it night before but couldn’t, and when we got to the gate we immediately boarded, so i feverishly did the final decreases on the takeoff, and pretty soon into the flight i completed it and attached the tassels. it was an early morning flight, so most people were sleeping or groggy, but i was doing a little dance of happiness in my plane seat.

UPDATE: here’s a pic of the finished hat:

california was so beautiful, but the most fiber-related part of the trip happened in a yarn store in Petaluma. Knitterly was the most wonderful little place. i took a walk around, noticing and petting all the pretty skeins, and then i came back to the front of the store, almost about to walk out without purchasing anything, and then i found the most breathtaking (seriously..) display of yarn i had ever happened upon.

handspun, pre-center pulled balls of yarn nestled in white tissue in wide, shallow blueberry boxes were stacked on (i think) a picnic table with bench “shelves.” i lost all interest in anything but this, and touched every single ball of yarn. some of the yarn was undyed and ranged from a very dark dark gray black to a light brown mocha to a wonderful light smoke. the dyed colors were reds, purples, blues and greens. i must have picked up almost every ball to consider purchasing it.

one of the employees saw my enchantment and explained to me that the yarn was made by a woman in Napa who lives on a farm with all of the animals who provide their wool to make the yarn. she shears, cleans, spins and dyes all the yarn herself! on the labels she includes the names of each animal who contributed to the finished product. the kind employee also told me that this wonderful fiber artist started out not using dyes, but once she made some herself, she couldn’t resist the amazing colors she could achieve. the yarn is only sold in two stores, knitterly and another store in downtown san francisco, and sells out very, very quickly. it is also ridiculously reasonably priced.

i deliberated about what yarns to get for a very long time. i settled on two bright grass green balls, and two medium heathery gray ones. i plan to make a cladonia striped shawl with these beauties.

bravo, california.

FO’s to report.

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theres a lot in progress here in the emilyWools craft room. this weekend i made:

1. a lace collar from a thrift store shirt (total cost: $3).

i looked for a peter-pan collar necklace at several stores, but all i found were low-quality, overpriced styles that weren’t quite right. frustrated, i went to goodwill and i happened to find a woven shirt with a lace collar. i cut it off from the shirt and then sewed a ribbon over the cut edge. im not quite sure how much i love it yet, but im excited to try it this weekend with the pictured polka-dot dress.
2. peacock costume tail. i sewed hot glued the felt “feathers” together, and then i also hot-glued them to the tulle. i originally attached the feathers to ribbons and they dangled down by themselves, but they kept falling to the back of the tulle and you couldn’t see them, so i resorted to gluing them to the tulle. i also started out sewing the felt pieces together with metallic gold thread, which looked awesome, but was just way too time intensive for a halloween costume. im happy with how this has turned out!!!

3. im also THISCLOSE to finishing my norby hat. i love love love the yarn for this project. pics when its finished! i am pretty sure ill finish before i leave for my trip, so i have some colorwork mittens lined up, as well as the sleeves to my sweater for travelling knitting. 
(OH! by the way i seamed the front + back of the sweater. i also did the inner collar knitting/tackdown, but im really dissapointed with it. i think i need to use a more sturdy yarn, and do some decreases on the first row. so i will have to redo that, but i want to finish the arms first. im proud of my progress with it, though!!)

baby blanket.

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i finished the baby blanket! i used a multi-color cotton batik and a polka-dot flannel. i spent a while in the fabric store trying to find two flannels that looked good together, but as i was unsurely carrying around several bolts i happened upon the batik and thought it was so pretty. i like the pink bias tape for the color pop, too.

the tutorial was easy to follow, but im a little disappointed in my sewing skills… you wouldn’t think it would be so difficult to sew three rectangles into a little quilt, but whoa was i wrong. it took a lot of patience to cut out each piece correctly, and then to sew the bias tape on to the blanket. i can only hope mom-to-be and baby Gemma enjoy it. it took about 3 1 hour sessions to complete, and it cost about $25 to make. i considered making my own bias tape, but i think i will save that undertaking for a future project.

my first lace shawl!

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i did it!!!! i finished my first shawl! its not perfect, but i cannot believe how good it looks. i furiously worked through the last of the edging on saturday, and then i bound off the top using the russian bind off, which is perfectly stretchy (but not TOOOO stretchy). when i finished it, i laid it out on the couch and i was pretty mneh about it– the top of it wasn’t straight, and you couldn’t really see the edging points at all.

so i blocked it! i soaked it in lukewarm water with wool wash for 20 minutes, and then gently squeezed it, and pinned it out. it took A LOT of pins to get every single edging point, but it was so worth it. As I impatiently waited for it to dry, i kept visiting it, which was a little silly. When i finally removed the pins and put it on, i was sooooo giddy! im so happy with it, and i love the color. i definitely feel a sense of accomplishment.

first sweater complete.

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so the joyous day has come! i finally finished my first sweater (rav link). i started it during a tumultuous time in my life, and i brought it with me and knitted in some situations that carry heavy and difficult memories. it felt like i was knitting these feelings into the sweater, so i put it down for a very long time– over a year. at the beginning of march, i told myself i needed to finish this sweater by the end of the month. i made it JUST in time!
when i started this project, i had never done cables, increases, sleeves, or seaming– i was a complete knitting newb. i have learned so much! ravelry is so helpful.. i dont know how many times i consulted the forums about almost every step in the pattern. im really happy i did the icord bindoff.. it looks really smart and professional, albeit very time-consuming. my main disappointment is the stripes. they didnt line up at all.. but i dont think it looks that bad. i ALMOST ran out of yarn.. see how much extra i had:

ahh, my knitting mind feels so at ease. 🙂

two hats and withholding.

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(insert witty Arrested Development reference here.)


hello! i know i havent written in awhile but ive been making lots of things but they are surprises for people so i cant discuss them! two of the hats i made have been gifted already, though, so i can share about them:
first up is a trilobite hat made with cascade 220 .

this was a fun, easy pattern to follow. i had never used a chart before in knitting, and its pretty easy– especially if you have the pattern printed out (right now im working on something and i keep forgetting to print it– annoying to have to stay by the computer to read it). it turned out a little snug, but i sent it to my sister for her birthday and she said she likes it.. i haven’t seen it on her yet to verify.
next up is wurm (pdf). this hat turned out a lot bigger than i wanted. i’ve had the ‘hat too small’ problem several times in the past, so i opted to make the largest size for this. it turned out like a rasta hat, which may or may not be a good thing.
the brim was something i haven’t done before: it is double-thick. it was easy, and definitely worth the extra (slight) effort of doing double the knitting and then matching up the fold-over to keep knitting.

i’ve got two more yarn projects in the works, but they are presents for christmas (HOPEFULLY), so i’ll share them after they have been delivered.

completion!

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i am finished with the arm warmers! they look and fit the recipient very well! they are very difficult to photograph, though. maybe if i used a real camera (not my phone) id have better luck. i still have to sew in the elastic and palm pad/reinforcement, but the knitting part is over. i am very happy with how they turned out. im also very happy i decided to incorporate finger holes.