Navajo 3-ply tutorial is up

November 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

There is now a tutorial for the Navajo 3-ply method available.  This method allows you to use 3 strands of 1 ball at once, eliminating the need for multiple balls of yarn when tripling up.  It works with both knitting and crocheting, and is ideal for when you have a ton of fingering or lace weight yarn that you don’t know what to do with.  Turn it into worsted or bulky yarn with this method!  To view the tutorial, you can find it under “crochet tutorials” in the drop-down menu bar, or you can

click here

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoy the tutorial!

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a finished cowl & other fun stuff

November 3, 2013 by 21 Comments

A third chunky circle scarf has joined the ranks of yarncrafted items in the front closet:

chunky circle scarf 3 1Yep, the pattern is good enough to make at least 3.  Granted, at least one will be a Christmas gift, but I don’t want to let go of this one because grey is my new favorite color.

chunky circle scarf 3 2This one was made with Cascade Yarns Heritage Paints, which is a fingering weight yarn.  The pattern calls for either 2 strands of worsted held together or chunky yarn, but I used the Navajo 3-ply technique to triple-strand the fingering weight yarn, making it suitable for this project.  I may do a tutorial on that if anybody is interested, so let me know!

Yesterday Chris and I went to the Renaissance Festival with a bunch of friends.  It was really fun, but I only got a few pictures.  My favorite is from the falconry show, where many raptors were brought out and flew across the audience.  This one is an eagle owl:

photo 4 (2)The friends we went with also gave me some yarn-related birthday presents which I thought I’d share with ya’ll (this is the same friend who made the yarn bowl for the giveaway).  A wonderful ball winder, which I have already used:

photo 2 (1)She also gave me a needle gauge and some needle holders, which should make things a lot easier!  Did you know that, while KnitPicks needles are my favorite, the interchangeable ones aren’t stamped with their size?  Now that’s not a problem!

photo 1 (1)After arriving home from our visit to the Renaissance Fair with our wonderful friends, we were getting out of the car and found this little girl outside with no tags:

photo 1 (3)She looks like a little pittie/lab mix, and she’s sweet as can be!  We asked around and I think she belongs to some neighbors we haven’t been able to catch at home yet, so she’s inside with us.  She’s not housebroken, she’s covered in fleas, and she was very nervous about being in a house with new people, but I pulled out the trundle bed and some washable pillows and blankets and slept with her last night.  She and our dog Zero are getting along fine, but if we have to keep her for the rest of the day we’re gonna have to give her a bath in Dawn dish soap (which kills fleas better than actual flea shampoo).  I hope she’s OK with water.

Well that’s about it for today, I think.  See you soon!

 

 

 

 

 

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finished The Northern Loop cowl

October 29, 2013 by 8 Comments

northernloopfinishedI love it!  It’s made with 2 full skeins of KnitPicks Billow in the shade Lichen and size 10.5 straight needles.  It includes a provisional cast on and a three needle bind of.  This was my first three needle bind off ever:

northernloopthreeneedlebindoffI think it turned out fine!  There’s a bit of a bump where I weaved in the ends at the spot where I changed from one skein to the other:

northernloopedgeBut it’s not too noticeable, especially when you have it on.  The two skeins gave me about 50 inches of cowl, and the yarn is SUPER SOFT.  I think the thick and thin bits make the cowl look somehow more handmade and maybe a little “rustic.”  Not sure if that’s the right word… What do you think?  Click here for the Ravelry page (the pattern is free).

Now there are only 4 WIPs left to finish.  I would like to finish one or two before moving on and starting something new, although I have lots of things I want to start now!  Do you find yourself with multitudes of WIPs, or are you a one-project-at-a-time kind of gal?

That’s all for today, I think.  I do have a crochet WIP to share but it can wait until it’s a bit further along.  I hope you have a wonderful day/night, and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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PDF pattern for the CAL (with step-by-step photos)

October 26, 2013 by 12 Comments

Working through the day I have finished turning the as-we-go stripey blanket CAL into a PDF with the photos included.  This version is not so printer friendly as the photo-free version — this one’s over 80 pages!  But for those who want to follow the instructions without being online, this will hopefully help out.

click here for PDF pattern

Enjoy!

cal114

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PDF pattern for the CAL blanket available!

October 26, 2013 by 6 Comments

As requested by a few people, I have made a PDF version of the as-we-go stripey blanket!  This version does not include the step-by-step photos — it is meant to be printer-friendly.  Hopefully soon I will get the chance to make a PDF that does include the photos, as well.

click here for PDF pattern

Enjoy!

cal114

Filed Under: announcements, CAL Tagged With: , , , ,
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