First up is something I made for myself, a felted guitar strap! I just love the SWS yarns and so when I saw a pattern for a needle knitted strap on the Lion Brand site, I thought, hey! I could do that on a loom with no trouble at all and this SWS would be terrific for it! So I kinda made up my own pattern as I went along. I used my pink long KK loom, working with the figure 8 wrap and started with about 12 rows of straight knit stitch (stockinette) in a dark purple SWS (called Natural Raisin). I then went into a sort-of-garter stitch, still following the figure 8 path, and switched to a variegated "Natural Violet" SWS. I did that for 2 skeins and then went back to the stockinette stitch with the Natural Raisin to finish it off. I machine felted it and because it wasn't as "felted" as I wanted, I also machine dried it :) The result is a very thick strong strap that will be perfect for my guitar...not that I've had time to put it on and test it out yet! Anyway, here's a few pics of that project:
Next up, a "soft" hooded sweater I made for my niece Kayla's second birthday. I say "soft" because that's what she calls it, a "soft". I basically used the pattern by Janet Brown called Child's Hooded Sweater, but made adjustments for size difference since it was originally a pattern for 4-5T (and resized for 12-18 months as well) and Kayla is a 2T right now. I used Lion Brand's Homespun yarn in Baroque, a nice purple color that Kayla loves and I really like how it turned out. I especially like the pocket Janet came up with which reminds me of a cross between a slash pocket and a "muff". The best part is that with this yarn, the pocket virtually disappears from sight on the sweater so it's not super obvious that it's there. Anyway, here are some photos of that project. Kayla curled up with it right after she opened it at her birthday party. This first photo is a size guide so you get a reference.
Next is a picture of the pocket that I just love! This pic with the flash on shows how the pocket blends into the sweater so it's hard to see.
This one WITHOUT the flash shows the pocket a bit better...
This is one of the sleeves. I love the way the knit/purl pattern makes it almost lacy and wavy.
And these last three are just overall shots of the finished sweater. Proud of it, can't you tell! :)
Ok, SPOILER ALERT!!! IF YOU ARE A FAMILY MEMBER, STOP RIGHT HERE!!! CHRISTMAS GIFT INFO FOLLOWS!!! DON'T YOU PEEK!!!
If you are a family member and are still reading this post at this point, don't blame me if Santa takes back your gift! :)
Ok, the next thing on the photo tour is the scarf and hat set I made for my mother-in-law for Christmas. In my previous post I talked about the yarns I used, but here are the final results. The hat actually took two tries, so I'll post the "bad" hat after I post the "good" one :) The scarf was just a straight stockinette stitch on the KK pink long loom, using the double sided (figure 8) stitch pattern. I added fringe to the ends which I knotted to keep from fraying. The hat is loosely based on the "Keep Warm" hat in Denise Layman's "Learn to Knit on Circle Looms". Both were done with the Lion Brand Organic Cotton in Bark and the Bernat Natural Blends Bamboo in Linen, using 2 strands throughout. I really like the feel of these two yarns together. They came out incredibly soft and warm. The bamboo "frizzes" (for lack of a better term) a bit when washed, but it's still very soft and warm.
The first photo is of the "standing" finished hat.
Ok, the next thing on the photo tour is the scarf and hat set I made for my mother-in-law for Christmas. In my previous post I talked about the yarns I used, but here are the final results. The hat actually took two tries, so I'll post the "bad" hat after I post the "good" one :) The scarf was just a straight stockinette stitch on the KK pink long loom, using the double sided (figure 8) stitch pattern. I added fringe to the ends which I knotted to keep from fraying. The hat is loosely based on the "Keep Warm" hat in Denise Layman's "Learn to Knit on Circle Looms". Both were done with the Lion Brand Organic Cotton in Bark and the Bernat Natural Blends Bamboo in Linen, using 2 strands throughout. I really like the feel of these two yarns together. They came out incredibly soft and warm. The bamboo "frizzes" (for lack of a better term) a bit when washed, but it's still very soft and warm.
The first photo is of the "standing" finished hat.
Next is the "bad" hat... It's not really "bad", but ended up too loosely woven for a northern winter hat. So I'm keeping it for me :) The original pattern, from Anne Bipes "Learn New Stitches on Circle Looms", is for a "Woven Top Hat" and the yarn she uses in the pattern is Lion Brand Thick & Quick, which is considerably thicker than the four strands (two of each yarn) that I used for the woven part. But I like the way it turned out, even if not for a colder climate.
Last but not least is a shawl I made for my stepmom for Christmas from the Lacy Shawl pattern posted at Loomknitting.com I used YarnBee's Featherwisp yarn in Creamcicle. I have to say that this is the SOFTEST acrylic yarn I've ever worked with AND it's a pain in the neck to keep untangled! It's so soft and slippery that the ball doesn't stay intact and once it starts to slip, it tangles horribly. But it's still beautiful and soft :) I love this pattern and the frame it creates around the edges so I'm hoping Mom will like it as well.
So, that's all the "done" projects... I still have a prayer shawl on the prayer shawl loom and have been making Knifty Knitter Christmas bells as ornament gifts (will post photos later of those). And I finally got the straw loom, so am looking forward to playing with it a bit later. Meanwhile though, hope you enjoy the pics!
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