Frog, Knit, Frog, Knit

That seems to be my knitting life right now. I guess it's just one of the challenges of learning new things. Remember that kiwi that I knitted for my friend? He loved it, but when he let his niece play with it, she became absolutely enamored with it, so I let her keep it and am knitting him another one to keep. The new one is actually better because I knit it using a different pattern for a sphere, and there are a lot less obvious seams and sides. the other one came out somewhat like an over-stuffed pyramid -laughs-. The one in the picture was knit with the Sugar 'n' Cream brown, and as much as I love the Sugar 'n' Cream colors, I've discovered that I hate knitting with cotton. The texture as it runs through my fingers literally makes me shudder. But I'll suck it up if need be. =D

I also decided to start learning how to knit lace, and that's been an.... experience. (experience: (n) what you get when you don't get what you want.) I got about 1/4 through a lovely lace shawl, and then realized everything was done in stockinette stitch instead of in garter because the directions called for the use of a circular needle. Lesson 1: READ DIRECTIONS BEFORE STARTING. Needless to say, I frogged it (unwove it) and will attempt it again with my new pair of needles. I found a lovely bamboo pair for only $6, which is a whole one dollar more than those basic Boye aluminum needles. We'll see how they turn out. ^-^ The picture is of the piece I had done before I realized what was wrong. I love the wool I'm working with on this one, though. It's soooooo soft! It's Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in Palomino. If I had the patience it would make a wonderful afghan.....

Knitty Kitty

Well, I started knitting up that Kiwi again, and he looks much better this time. I'll post pics when he's done.

Another project that I've finished was my knitted cat, the pattern was from Acornbud's Yarns, and is absolutely wonderful. I'm not very good at embroidery, so I ended up gluing felt pieces to the body for the face, but I think it came out decently well. This is for my darling Teddy, as I am his Kitten, so when I can't be there, this cutie can. =] Sorry about the fuzzy quality of the pictures, I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with my phone. -_- This is the project where I learned straight knitting on DPNs and also the intarsia technique, so there's a few mistakes here and there, but this is also my third attempt and darn it if it isn't good enough! Lol. Maybe I'll make a few more of these later as it was a great "stash buster," meaning it got rid of some yarn that I had but didn't have enough of for a full-blown project. Does that even make sense? Oh well.

Hopefully this  kiwi will be done soon and I can put something new on the needles, but I don't know what yet. I would like to make something for my mom for Mother's Day, but I'm not sure what exactly she would like. I already made her a monster (pics later, it's adorable!). If you have any ideas please feel free to leave a comment and let me know!

Over and out!

LaLeLiLo,

Alli

Sad Kiwi

Well, day two of having a blog and I already have something new to say!

Fig. 1

I was working on knitting a kiwi bird for my friend Devin using this pattern by BitterSweet, which is a lovely pattern, but not what I was looking for (fig. 1 is my attempt at the pattern). Devin draws these hilarious, yet simple, kiwis on everything (see fig. 2), so I wanted to knit a kiwi modeled after his drawings. I ended up frogging my work (I unwove it in order to start over), and started with the pattern for the Roly Poly Kitty in order to get the spherical body. Then I'll probably add the legs from the BitterSweet pattern, but I'm still trying to decide what to do for the beak. I'm pondering simply cutting out a triangle from yellow felt and stitching it on the body, or perhaps I'll modify a pattern for a cat ear or something. We'll see where it goes when we get there.

Fig. 2, though I think I messed up the eyes a bit

Long story short, one of the reasons I love knitting is because it's challenging and frustrating enough to keep me interested, but can be absolutely mindless when I need it to be; I can watch a movie and stitch away while focusing on both. Plus I can put it down and do homework and come back to it at any time. I don't need to finish a project all in one sitting. (Also, notice the can in the last sentence. I didn't say do. =P)

Oh! I forgot to mention, I have a policy where I will make you anything (or try to make you anything) if you give me yarn, an idea, and a bit of your patience.



Have a wonderful weekend, Kids!

LaLeLiLo,
Alli

Welcome!

Hey, Kids, (Kids referring to everybody from conception to 150 years old, for we all have a kid in us, it's just a matter of how much of him or her we let out!),

Welcome to Alli's Knitche! I have recently picked up knitting as not only a hobby, but as a habit, and after reading through a few blogs about it, I have decided that here would be a great place to gather all of my FOs (finished objects), UFOs (unfinished objects), and observations.

I am definitely still a beginner when it comes to knitting, but I am slowly getting better with each project. I make it a point to learn one new skill in each project. For my first few, of course I had to knit scarves. From there I learned how to make a striped scarf. I learned to knit in the round on circular needles, then on double pointed needles, etc, until my most recent project in which I learned short row knitting/wrap and turn. It was quite a challenge, but not as bad as when I tried to learn intarsia and how to knit flat fabric on double pointed needles. Oh, man, that one was rough. But in the end, it came out wonderfully. As I have more time, I'll post pictures of the projects that I have completed along with links to the patterns.

The inspiration for my blog title came from a recent conversation I had with a friend. He told me that I definitely had my own "niche" when it came to my interests, and previous to that I had been frantically looking for knitting puns that hadn't been driven into the ground, and voila! My title was born. =D

Anyway, this blog will not be just about knitting. I make random observations about the world around me that I've always wanted to share, but have never found the right context for sharing. That's what blogging is all about, right? (Well, at least when you're starting out and don't even know if anybody will actually read what you write. >.<) The only other "art" I do is snapshot writing, so maybe, if I write something really good, I'll post it on here, too.

All in all, you'll never know what you'll find here, and we'll just have to go on an adventure together, eh?

LaLeLiLo,
Alli