Sometime between this week and last week I completed my first feasible garment.  I say "feasible" because I've previously crocheted a clothing item that wasn't.   It ate too much yarn, it weighed too much, it just... didn't quite work out the way I had envisioned it.   I could alter the pattern, but for now that previous project has been relegated to, well, actually it's just on top of a yarn bin in the Yarn Unit[*].  

I used a free pattern with a few slight alterations and some calculating.  I swatched for the first real time.  I have a habit of forgoing swatching, but I was aiming to make a particular size, which is an important factor in wearability.   I calculated out how big my version would be based on the swatch-size difference, then matched up the size I was aiming for with the size(s) the pattern would turn out with my yarn/hook combination.   I love numbers.  
And it worked.  I used Vanna's BeBop Cardi pattern, Emma-sized it, and came up with what should be a size 2-3T in purple cotton blend.   I don't yet know how it will fit, but I can attest that it is cute enough to make your teeth ache --- or maybe make you wish that you too were toddler-sized. 
For now, I'm making another one in yellow because it was so much fun.  We'll see where it ends up. 

[*]The Yarn Unit :  Earlier this year, I came to posess an old family bedframe -- headboard, footboard, cross-tie slats, the whole thing.   It wasn't in great shape finish-wise, but it was real, solid wood.  And it was old.   These are the two main facts my mother gave it to me with.  I crammed the whole thing in my car --along with a bunch of other stuff-- which attests to the cram-ability of the Toyota Yaris.  I okay-ed reuse of it with my mother ahead of time, because I felt a little bad just cutting up something that I feared might have family signifigance.   She gave me the okay, though not before telling me more about the bedframe.  The bedframe, it turns out, had been my grandparents', then my parents', and my mom had used it all these years before she acquired her parents' more recent bedframe and had no more use for it.  It had sat in her carport for a while with nowhere to go before I Yaris-ed it here.  I came home one (awesome)day to find that Jason had used it to make a set of shelves for me, to hold the multitude of bins of yarn that were encroaching on our living space, which is fairly limited in size.   And, having no other use for it and having already okay-ed its reuse, I thought this was just beautiful.  He used metal shelving that came from a tire shop somewhere in Georgia for the shelves and used the bedframe wood as the legs/edges/facade for it.    It's like heirloomy re-made usefulness.  Just for me.  It's full of yarn bins and reminds me of my grandparents, and I just love it.

I used most of my free time the end of last week to work on a few very small, but very personally-important projects.
In No Order WhatsoEver, they are/were:

1: My first Knit Hat!
 
   I've fielded a lot of confused questions about knitting versus crochet, and the easiest way I've come up with to explain it to random passersby makes some minimal explanatory sense without getting into yarn-y detail.  
Knitting is done with two needles.  Crochet is done with one hook.  
It was also very difficult to offer up much explanation when I only knew how to do one and knew hardly anything at all about the other, so now that I know the basics of knitting...  Well, I'm not sure I can really explain the difference a whole lot easier, so I'll probably just stick with the hook/needle line.   So ONTO THE HAT I MADE, right-o!
  As I mentioned, I just finished off my very first knit hat and it went alright.  It's not the first knit hat I started, but it is the first to be finished, so that's how that will forever lie.   I used a free Bernat pattern (free patterns available on the Bernat website, but you do have to log on to get them), and the only variation I made was that I worked a couple of extra rows at the end/top to bring out the shape a little more.  I was hoping to knot the ends, but they aren't long enough for that.    I may still give the hat as a gift though, so I don't want to post a picture juuuuust in case.   The hat was worked flat, then seamed at the back and top, and it generally adheres to the most basic flat-knit hat pattern you can find with the exception of some increases thrown in for fun.  I didn't have the smaller size needles called for to make the bottom band, so I just made those rows extra tight and it worked out. I had my first go at seaming a knit piece, which started off a little sketchy, but improved with practice/patience (Note to Future Self: begin seaming somewhere besides the most obvious edge...).   If I were to make it again, I think I'd try adding even more rows to see if I could make the tops ends long enough to knot, but otherwise it is what it is.   I followed the largest size listed (it's in baby/small kid sizes) and it's stretchy enough that it easily fits an adult head.   Three cheers for stretchiness acheived by knitting.  That's something that's almost not crochet-able.   Honestly, I'm pretty excited just to have it turn out anywhere close to average-ly passable without a Major Glaring Flaw to contend with.  

2: Kitchen Window Curtain!

   The kitchen window curtain deserves an exclamation point for being smack in the middle of the works for So Long.  It's been hanging up with pins in it for a possibly embarassing amount of time.  Possibly embarassing because while that's OhSOCraftyIsh, who uses a curtain with pins in it?
Oh, the things that are possible!
A while back we did some painting in the kitchen and needed a new curtain to match, and it just so turned out that I had some great fabric from my grandmother that matched perfectly.  I went to town measuring and folding a piece of the fabric to the right size, but it all somehow stalled out once the thing went up on the window.  I thought I had made some notated plans about what I had in mind then, but I found out when I went back to it that I had made very, very little notated anything.  All I had written down was measurements for the window opening itself and a quick sketch of some possible seam allowances.  None of that was very helpful so many months past its inception, and I was ready to make the thing and have it finally finished.   
I ended up leaving the fabric folded in half with the raw edge folded back over at the top behind the curtain (window side) and the folded edge making the bottom of the curtain.    I narrowly seamed the side & top edges and used some satin stitching for some minimalist decorative aplomb (I'm a fan of understated details.  And the fact that the machine I was using has a satin stitch), leaving the bottom edge plain.   The raw edge at the top back makes a deeper blue-d area of the curtain as the light filters through without being any sort of fancy.  I really like how it turned out, even though I know that one edge of it isn't exactly perfect.  I'm excited to have it done though, just done, however it turned out. 

3: Khaki Chair Cover! 

  The chair cover earns its exclamation point from its potentially awesome-but-simple design.   I have this cat (She's a long story), she's been spending a lot of time on one chair, and sometimes when we're not around she goes to town on the chair seat (No Good).  I had in mind that maybe I could use old denim to make a sort of cover for the seat, but when I pulled out my denim stash, I found that a pair of khakis looked the best for the purpose-- very mute, almost the same color as the chair itself, but heavy enough to hold up to some claw.   I fileted the legs open by ripping the easier of the two seams; I left the triple-stitched seam and used it as the approximate middle of the seat cover (pants legs are not entirely symmetrical, and the chair didn't necessarily seem to be either).    I wrapped one edge around the front of the chair seat, seamed the edges to just fit the width, and used the buttonhole ends of two waistbands as straps to run around the side of the chair seat to the bottom.   I used two brand-new metal buttons on the piece that folded under the front of the chair to button the side straps to.   Then came the make-do engineering.  I tucked the back edge of the fabric into the back of the chair and created some long straps to cross under the chair from the back and attach to the front buttons.   I realize this is making no sense without visual help.   I darted the back of the cover to fit the curve of the chair with a few darts on either side that I put in with no real design whatsoever past making it fit on the chair (result: vague similarity, lots of stitching, good enough for a cat cover).  I reused the bottom leg hems and side leg seams as much as possible, which meant that there was NO ironing or seam pressing.   It blends in nicely, fits like a glove for the most part, and the cat is still using the chair.   When it's full of cat fur -- or someone wants to sit in the chair-- it comes off easily for washing (or nonFurry sitting). 
Cara-Pholstery Chair Project: Success.

I edited the previous post to include this info, but I wanted to re-mention it because I was so impressed with KnitPicks' customer service.   I had emailed them/filled out their online form last night about the defective needle tip that I got, and I received an email response today.  They'll be sending me a new set of those tips as soon as they come in (right now they are back ordered till the end of the week) and said I can just discard the defective one.   I'd like to again say: How Awesome!  They were super nice and I don't even have to mail the bad one back.   I would have recommended them before, but now I highly recommend KnitPicks after this.

About a month ago, I ordered the Options Try It Needle Set from KnitPicks.com.  I also ordered a couple of sets of straight needles and a few different kids of stitch markers, all because I had learned to knit and quickly realized that:

1: The set of needles I learned with were almost more toys than tools.  They came in a kit that I bought on clearance for the yarn and locking stitch markers it contained.  I mistakenly thought that it would contain a nice set of How to Knit instructions, but HAHAHA --No.

2: There's no way to try out any new knitting skills without any new knitting supplies.   One of the downsides to knitting is that when you're working on something it's literally on the needles, meaning you can't very easily up and use them for something else.

All in all, I was really impressed with all the needles I ordered.   I really like the Harmony Wood straight needles that I got, not only because they're nice to look at, but also because they're well made.  I could immediately tell the difference in using them over what I learned with.  I don't have much experience with knitting needles, but I'm pretty sure they're a lot nicer than anything I could purchase locally in a store. 

The Options Try It Needle Set comes with three different sizes of tips, each made of a different material -- one set of Harmony Wood tips, one of the Zephyr acrylic, one nickel-plated set-- as well as two cables, a tightening key, and four end caps.  Whole sets of any of these are available, but the great thing about the Try It set is that you get to, well, TRY IT.  It's a great idea, and overall I was really happy with what I got, at least looking at it.

Enter this weekend.   I found some clearance yarn at WalMart for fifty cents a skein, so I decided that I would try out not only knitting in the round, but also knitting on circular needles using the Magic Loop method, all of which are new to me.   I like to attempt some things the hard way first --  by blazing on through it, usually doing something wrong along the way.   First I couldn't find the tutorial that I wanted to use, but I did eventually find a helpful KnitPicks tutorial that didn't seem as confusing as some of the others I looked at.  
This is when I figured out that one of the wood points to my needle set is defective; the point doesn't screw all the way onto the cable, leaving a small gap just big enough for stitches to get caught on.  Bummer. 
I forged ahead anyway, and while it all seems pretty cluster-y still, I am actually knitting in the round on circular needles using the Magic Loop method as I set out to do. 
I contacted KnitPicks customer service to see if I might be able to get a replacement for the defective tip (*), but for right now the yarn is still on the needles and we'll see what I come up with as far as the project goes.  
*[I received an email back the next day telling me that they'll send me a replacement pair of tips and that I can discard the defective one.   How great is that!  I've been really happy with KnitPicks, which was recommended to me by a friend.  Even though you can't feel the yarn before buying it, they do a really good job of describing the color and they're all about providing quality products, and, it just so turns out, excellent customer service too.]

I'm using the Basic Beanie pattern from the Debbie Bliss book design it, knit it babies as a guide, except I changed... hmm... almost everything.   Maybe I should say I plan on using whatever decrease scheme comes towards the end of that pattern, because otherwise I'm just making something up here (and definitely not holding anyone else responsible).   It's also my first time trying out a knit hat, so I figured I'd start with something on the small side.   
As far as the circular needles go, right now I keep feeling like --AAAaaa, my needles are connected!  -- so maybe I should try DPN's and see if I like them better. 
 ...DPN, by the way, just stands for Double Pointed Needle, but DPN is all inside lingo-y.  Like "Frog", which just means ripping out your stitches.  I prefer "rip" or "tear" instead of "frogged", personally.  I don't know why, but I have definite word preferences for some things.  

Eventually I hope to have more than self entertainment on this page.  But for now, I know it's all very plain and could stand to include a picture or something besides linketylinks all over the place.   Just think of it as a blog base (like bouillon!  high sodium content!) with the hopes of building something vaguely interesting upon it's meager beginnings.   The meak, as you know, shall take over the intarweb one day.  
What, you haven't heard that? 

I've taken a lot of time off from actively producing and selling handmade items this summer, and it's been a welcome break after what I can only describe as one Long, Hard Winter.  

[DO NOT even begin to laugh at me if you live North of the Panhandle and own a proper snow suit.  I will send small beings to come steal your snowsuit and I will relish its warmth the next time Florida has another Arctic Draft of Many Months.   So maybe I don't have small beings really, but seriously.  I don't own proper Arctic wear, so just go with it: Long, Hard Winter: Check.]

Don't get me wrong, it was an AWESOME hat season and I am truly grateful to my many customers, but it's been really nice to simmer down my production hands & hooks a little and take some time to do some creative expansion.   Also, there's a very small summer hat market, so I've been working on expanding my item selection to include more non-winter wear too.
I learned to knit, which is really exciting (or at least I think it is), because I think it will open up a lot of possibilities for me.   I love crochet dearly, and I especially like some of the knit-look crochet that I've done, but there are some things that are knit-specific (and many more that are crochet-specific too!).  My knitting skills aren't exactly up to retail-par quite yet, but that will come with time.   And more knit-sperimenting. 

I also (somehow!) won (!) a kntting book from Knit and Crochet Now!, a television show that airs on some PBS Create channels.   Here it's on latenight Sundays, so sometimes I catch it and dream about what it's like to be Brett Bara, the crafty hostess superstar.   I like that she crochets and sometimes gets in a little humble hook promotion.  There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about crochet (it's not all granny squares), so I like to see someone that is primarily a crocheter (like me!).  Anyway, the book is called design it, knit it babies by Debbie Bliss, and the patterns look really sharp.  Maybe I will get to trying some of them out soon, but for now all I can say is that it's a very nice looking spiral-bound book with pages in the back for putting together your own design variations.  There's also a full alphabet chart and a lot of informational and idea pages, which is neat.  I suspect maybe the reason I won is not luck, but more that I'm one of a pool that isn't all that large (the show doesn't air everywhere and I won the book from a drawing I entered through an email).   Either way, I still won a cool book that couldn't have come at a better time since I just learned to knit and am still trying out new things (and buying supplies).  I don't currently have many baby patterns either, but I'm most excited about trying out the Leaf Edging, since it could go on anything.