Knittle Ho's!

2009-03-01T16:50:00.001-08:00

First of all, I just found this on the internets:

Knit´tle (n.)
1. A string that draws together a purse or bag.

Proof that we're legit, as if we needed it.

I'm still having a tough time getting serious about knitting anything, so I'm going to cheat and post this picture, which is something I completed over Christmas and which you've already seen:

Robert's ironic scarf

I say it still counts. Here's the stripe-a-licious bag, which was my first felting project. I carry it everywhere and tell total strangers, "Hey, I made this!" I do like felting. I'm sure you both recognize the kitty paws lurking along the sidelines:

I bought this book with my 25% off birthday Borders gift certificate, w00t! It has a lot of cute patterns in it, and I'm going to make the purse pictured here for a friend of mine.

I bought the yarn for it yesterday--it's not exactly what was pictured, but close. It's a herringbone pattern, which fortunately doesn't require too much attention. Ryder and Smokey have been very helpful with all my knitting projects, as you can see.

And that's all the knitting news for now. Not much, I must say, but there ya go. Knit on, gals!

Tits for Tats

2009-02-16T13:20:00.001-08:00

Okay, so these aren't exactly knitted, but fuuuunny, don't you think?

Is anybody out there knitting? I knit, then I frog what I knitted, then I knit again.

It's a cruel cycle.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2008-11-24T19:11:00.001-08:00

Have a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving!

Third Birqa

2008-11-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

This Knittle Ho is now posting her birqa (so much more sophisticated than scarf). She obtained a model who had just been to the Ansel Adam exhibit to pose for it. Now, this particular model said she actually quit smoking in 1985, but the whole day made her feel so artsy and the birqa made her feel so, well, anonymous, that she opted for the unlit prop. It may be a very interesting winter.

Albuquerque Ho Avoids Chores By Blogging

2008-11-16T08:16:00.000-08:00

I know winter is coming because I've been spending way too much time perusing knitting books and web sites and plotting my next projects (after the at-least-three unfinished projects that are staring at me right now). By the by, Jenn, looking at knitting patterns is what you do when your wrists & fingers have become so sore that you have to take a knitting break.

Anyhoo, I found this blog that has some really beautiful--and free!--scarf patterns on it (including a handsome one for the male species):
http://monika-freepatterns.blogspot.com/

And I've become addicted to the Mason*Dixon Knitting book that I checked out from the library. The gals who wrote it are hysterical and include things like, "Places We Have Tried to Knit and Failed." As a Visually Disoriented Person*, I found it easy to read and not too overwhelming on the eyes. The patterns are beautiful and most don't look difficult--in fact, they really encourage the new knitter to step away from the scarves and try other projects. Looking at their blanket patterns got me thinking that sometime we might want to do a collective block blanket. We could choose a color scheme and each knit a certain number of blocks; as long as each block is the same size, we could use whatever stitch we wanted and then put it all together at the end.

I'm almost done with Zak's scarf, which is taking forever. It's too wide, but I'm sure he'll learn to live with that, right? Then I'll need to do Robert's which I'm going to make not-so-wide and probably not do seed stitch, either, since it's really starting to annoy me. I'd like to try doing the miniature socks and stockings from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, but I think I'll need help from my SnB group for that. Good thing they're nice. I've never worked on double-pointed needles before, and some of the instructions made me scratch my head and say, "huh?"

What are you guys knitting right now?

*Visually Disoriented Person: a person who, when something is sitting right next to her, has to ask someone where it is because she can't see it. This happened to me yesterday. It's not a visual acuity thing, it's a visual processing thing. It's the same reason going into the Wal-Mart makes me twitch violently--too much to look at and process.

Can you make me a birqa? YES WE CAN!

2008-11-07T19:48:00.000-08:00

Ms. Ho our projects are complete. Where is your birqa? and What's our next project?

FOs & UFOs*

2008-10-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

*Finished objects and unfinished objects, that is.

As the days get cooler, cozying up on the sofa and knitting becomes more and more what I want to do. The up side is that I actually finished my "Good heavens, this is going to take forever on size 3 knitting needles" scarf. The down side is that not much else is getting done around here, although I think I may have elevated Sofa Sitting to an Olympic art form.

I started this scarf forever ago, using Bamboo yarn from Loops and size 3 or 4 needles. I saw how pretty Tulsa Ho's scarves were from the same yarn, and wanted something soft and elegant but a little edgy--hence the lime green yarn. As you know, cats are attracted to photo-taking opportunities when yarn is involved. Here's Max, "helping":

This was before I tucked in the ends and blocked it. Fiona couldn't stand not being in the spotlight, so here she is, also "helping":

Here is a picture of the actual finished project, blocked and all (this was my first serious attempt at blocking):

I love this chevron pattern, which is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Muy bonito, if I do say so myself! Success!

And now we talk about unfinished objects (grump, grump, grump).

Intarsia is a nightmare. Whoever thought this technique up should be smacked upside the head. In theory, it's simple; alternate between two or more colors to create a pattern in your knitting. In reality, you end up with lots of loose yarn ends and bobbles hanging off the back of your work. And if you're all ADD like me, reading the instructions takes too long and you just want to get started and how hard can it be, anyway? Well, I'll show you.

Here's the front. There are random stitches of black interspersed where they aren't supposed to be, which I don't like. I was not motivated to do it over, however. This is the first of two scarves that I'm making for Robert & Zak. I wanted to put "R" on one end and "Z" on the other to represent their "RZ Studios" venture. Ha.

Sure, you're thinking to yourself, that's not so bad. Well, let me give you a close up look:

See what I mean? Meh. Aaaaaand, here's what the back looks like. It will shock you to know that I have already woven in several of the ends.

The "Z" was the easy part. I can't even think about the "R" yet. At least now I'm on the straight red part of the project, and seed stitch is easy enough to do without giving it too much attention. You can expect another post on intarsia in a few weeks, mostly with me yelling and cursing about how stupid it is and swearing never, ever to do it again. I think I'll go look at my pretty green scarf now...

Please, Join Me in My Slackitude

2008-10-19T19:36:00.003-07:00

Am I knitting? No.

Am I cleaning house? No.

Am I folding laundry? No.

Am I preparing for the week ahead? No.

Am I cruising the internet for weird knitting stuff? Ohhh-ho-ho, YES.

The Last Knit

2008-10-19T19:36:00.001-07:00

My Week Unknitted

2008-09-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

OK, the Tulsa Knittle Ho had a meeting, or series of meetings, all by herself and sometimes included her significant other. It was actually a field trip, or a few field trips, and involved thinking about what she was not knitting. Below is the documentation and a few thoughts on the subject.

You might not immediately recognize these guys, but it's Billy, Dusty, and Frank. Last night instead of unknitting the end of a stole that I want to lengthen, my significant other and I went to see ZZ Top. They did not disappoint. They can still put on a show and played the favorites and did a Jimmy Hendrix number from their touring days. It was a grand opening for the new Spirit Bank Event Center around the corner from us. Yes, around the corner. I thought I was back in Houston, but no, this was TULSA!!!! Didn't think I could have my camera so these were taken with my phone. AArrgghhhh...coulda had the camera and some cool high speed film I've been wanting to try, but that's another story for another blog.

This is Zig Zigler (phone again, of the monitor - the lights were too bright). On Monday I went to visit him as well as Rudy Guilianni, Colin Powell and several others at a Motivational seminar. I got motivated alright - enough so to sign up for 5 more days of financial seminars. So, I may be telling you a lot about what I'm not knitting. This day I was not finishing up my Knittle Ho scarf project. However, if it all pays off I can buy the yarn store and fly you all in for free shopping. BTW, this was at the new BOK Center. Yes, in TULSA!!!

Believe it or not this field trip to Roaring River, MO, did involve knitting when we weren't fishing. That's Kim on the right and me on the left, and the same fish in both pictures. Just goes to show how slimming it can be to stand up straight, tuck your tummy in and turn sideways. Kim was anxious to get in on this knitting thing, so we got her going on a scarf. Watch out, she's a quick study. It's looking like there is a group Christmas project in the Knittle Hos future. BTW, the turquoise stole managed to gain a few rows on this trip.

This is Frank. Same trip, different activity. I was not knitting my charity shawl when Frank and I teamed up to beat the uncles in a game of golf. We had them running scared, they wouldn't even finish the game, said they wanted to go fishing one more time. Uh huh, all that big talk and they ran off.

Maybe this is cheating since it was taken last summer (though the idea of the Knittle Hos was formed during this time), but I just had to show you this picture of my cute Knittle Ho sister and the weinermobile. She was quite taken with it and finally found it after searching for it all her life. It was kismet, destiny, when we had to detour and bumped into it on the UNM campus. The encounter did not end there, though. She saw it once again at the grocery store a few days later and knew, just knew, it was meant to be. Now, this Knittle Ho is not as foggy as she appears to be. It's the one behind the phone lens who is foggy. New phone, protective plastic over the lens....................................

Next week, if not before, I plan on knitting. Several of us at church are getting together to form a knitting and needle group. More on that later.

2008-09-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

The ABQ chapter of the Knittle Ho's held their first meeting last Thursday, hosted by Jenn, Chris, Smokey and Ryder. Jenn made a very delicious dinner of pasta with a tomato, artichoke, garlic and pinon pesto, which was so good that it practically made us forget all about knitting. We managed to pull ourselves together, though, and once the meeting was officially called to order, the first order of bidness was to take a picture of Ryder for her grandmama:

Ryder liked her dinner, too.

Next, we opened the knitting boxes (w00t! what fun!) and selected our colors. Jenn chose the sage green and I chose the winter white.

The first lesson was in winding the yarn into a ball. Neither Jenn nor I could find the end of the yarn that would allow us to pull from the middle of the skein, so we got to rolling:

We call the following picture "Angry Knitters." We're edgy that way. We have attitude. We're all hip and gangsta-like. Please note: there is one ho missing from all these pictures. Where is our Tulsa Ho?

Guess who was lurking around the edges, just waiting for a lucky moment to nab some yarn?

Ryder finally saw her opportunity and went for it. I think she targeted the weak link knitter.

It took some time to negotiate a release for the yarn hostage. Battle lines were drawn, blood was shed, but eventually the yarn was returned to its rightful owner. And then, of course, it was time for a snack.

Jenn and I both got a good start on our scarves. I love how easy the pattern is and how quickly it knits up. We're planning our second meeting in a week. All hail to the Tulsa Ho, who orchestrated this fun project! Thanks for sending the beautiful yarn and all the implements--it made for such a fun night, and many more to come!

On a final note: that girl ain't right.

China Knitter

2008-09-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

In lieu of working on my own knitting project tonight I decided to share some pictures with you that I took in Wan Xian, China. This little lady was spotted knitting when we were on our way to visit a family who was relocated because of the Dam Project. Lack of time prevented me from checking out her project, but I wanted to know what she was knitting and what kind of yarn she was using. Bamboo perhaps? Maybe she was making something for the darling little girl on the corner.

Motivated Ho Strikes Again

2008-09-21T17:16:00.001-07:00

Thank you, Motivated Ho, for reigniting my interest in the cable purse! I lined it today, and while doing so I realized why I had been putting it off: I'm really, really bad at sewing. And I hate trying to get an accurate fit for a liner. Pah. Maybe sometime we can do a tutorial on that. Oh, well, the bag is done now and I have pictures!

This was the first time that I followed a chart to knit something. It was a little disconcerting at first, but once I got used to it I really liked it. Some of the instructions were difficult for me to figure out, but luckily, I have a Stuck-up Ho Knitting Mentor to help me out of such sticky situations.

The pattern was from a book called Folk Bags, and I used a yarn called Plymouth Tweed (100% Virgin Lambswool). It's a stretchy yarn, so I shortened the strap so that when the bag is full the weight won't make it hang too low. It took 2 skeins for the bag, then about a third of another skein for the strap. I used size 6 16" circular needles and a cable needle. The recipe called for an I-cord, but I opted instead to do a cable strap. I like it much better and it's sturdier than an I-cord (or at least I think so; I've never actually done one). The bobbles on the bottom are a little weird, I think; were I to do the bag again, I'd probably skip them.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the lining is a lime green to match the green flecks in the yarn (the bag is on top of the leftover fabric). I originally wanted an orange liner, but couldn't find the right shade, so I went with this. (On a Helpful Tips note, cats really like to slide around on this silky fabric. It's hours of good, cheap fun.) I still need to figure out what to do about a closure; I thought I'd go to my LYS and see what they have in terms of buttons. I am avoiding thoughts of a zipper, even though that is what would probably work the best for the bag. La la la la la!

Cable scarf: check!

Next project: Team Knittle Ho scarf!

Knittle Ho Team Project Begins

2008-09-03T13:07:00.001-07:00

Not a great picture, but it gives you an idea of the yarn I'm using for our tube scarf. The brand is "The Cat's Meow"called Patina in Forest. It's an Italian yarn made of wool, acrylic, mohair and nylon. I got it at the big "Going Out of the Yarn Business" sale at Garden Ridge quite some time ago. The good thing is that is was dirt cheap and I'm using my stash. The bad thing is that it's Homespun-like in that a thread winds around the strand keeping all the fibers in place, and if broken it frays. I'll also be hand washing or dry cleaning when the time comes.

Even though there's only a minute bit of knitting so far, I just had to share it with you. Can't wait to see what the other scarves will look like.

I used a crochet cast on so that the cast on stitches will look like the bind off stitches. It wasn't really important since it won't show, but it's a good thing to keep in mind. When doing a scarf, or any other article in which you see both ends, it just makes the whole thing nice and tidy. And heaven knows we want to be nice and tidy. We're also slipping the first stitch of the row to make a smooth edge - a big deal when you're using a smooth yarn with no blubs in it. Or is that slubs? Flubs?

The garter stitch can be a bit boring so it's a good idea to find a movie to watch. Snacks, too, are a good idea to keep your strength up. Better yet, ask the cats to join you (they don't need much cajoling) . Today we chose Martian Child and fritoes. It was a good thing.

BANG! It Worked!

2008-08-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hey, Ho In The Know, IT WORKED!! After using your instructions and visual aid (nice arrow markers, by the way), I got a beautiful, perfect bind off. The problem of why I only had two stitches instead of three was solved when I realized that even though the instructions said "K2," I was reading it as "K2tog." Duh. So thank you for your illuminating help! Now I get to sew the sides together using the magical invisible weaving for garter stitch, line the thing with bright orange fabric, and put on a strap. Voila, bella!

I got Last Minute Knitted Gifts from the library and am thinking about doing drawstring bags (like the ones you brought to Surfside), big enough to hold a bottle of wine, for the w(h)ine group girls. We'll see....

Thanks again, Smart Ho!

--Don't Know Ho

p.s. I completely support your potato chips and ice cream move.

Here's Yer Answer (I Hope)

2008-08-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

Your question caused fear in my heart - I've never done an I Cord edge. So after reading your post (upon returning from a lovely Garden Club luncheon) I ran to the kitchen and ate potato chips and ice cream. Everything looked rosier then.

OK, this isn't so bad - it's really pretty cool. Decided it was easier to put the question into action. Here's the dissection:

Cable CO 3 sts: Okay, I can do this, but what am I casting on to? The same needles that I've been using for the bag body? Yes, you are casting onto the left needle - the bag body needle.

Now, knit the first 2 of those cable cast on stitches. You have 2 stitches on the right needle and on the left needle you have the last of the cast on stitches, a gap, and then the 1st of the bag body stitches. These are the stitches from "2 different places".

ssk (1 st from cord and 1 st from bag): Oh, dear. This one really has me stymied. "1 st from cord?" What cord? Is this related to the cable CO? How can I have stitches from 2 different places, when all I have in front of me is the bag body?? These are the 2 stitches on the left needle with the gap between them (see last question) Also see pix - this is a completed step, but it shows the bag body stitch (arrow on left) and I cord stitch (arrow on right) Your needle will look like the picture after you do the ssk and slip 3 sts back to left needle.

slip 3 sts back to left needle: When I tried to cast on and then do the ssk on the same needles that the bag body is on, I ended up with only two sts. So obviously I'm doing something wrong.

Not sure what's happening here, but give it another try and let me know what happens. Don't forget your k2 in the series. After you finish this step your needle should look like the picture.

May we both have peace in our hearts now.

Knittle Ho Need Some Help, Part II

2008-08-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

The good news is that I have finished the body of the Irish cable bag. I tried to take some pictures of it, but someone was being so helpful that he obscured the shots:

Hey, what's this?

Mmm, looks yummy. Bet it tastes like chicken.

It feels nice on my little toes, too. It makes me feel pensive.

Yes, this is perfect. It is clearly intended for me.

All right, enough of that silliness, and thank you for indulging me. Now on to the real stuff. Here's how the bag looks (other side, happily, looks exactly the same):

Making the bobbles was an adventure. And here is what I've still got on the needles--40-some odd stitches just dying to be bound off.

And here's the problem--the recipe won't let me just bind off, it has special instructions that I simply cannot understand. I know you have the book (page 71, if you're interested), but I'll rewrite the instructions here:

Top edge, second side:

Work I-cord edge as follows: Cable CO 3 sts. *K2, ssk (1 st from cord and 1 st from bag), slip 3 sts back to left needle; repeat from * until all sts of top edge are joined to I-cord and only 3 sts of I-cord remain.

Now, let's dissect the particularly confusing bits, shall we??

Cable CO 3 sts: Okay, I can do this, but what am I casting on to? The same needles that I've been using for the bag body?

slip 3 sts back to left needle: When I tried to cast on and then do the ssk on the same needles that the bag body is on, I ended up with only two sts. So obviously I'm doing something wrong.

Obi-wan-knitobi, can you help??

2008-07-21T13:39:00.001-07:00

Sawrong:

Saright!

Important learning experience: do NOT use Yarn Bee Hollywood Special Effects yarn for this project. It's messed up, man.

The successful sarong was done with Yarn Bee Aurora yarn. The pattern calls for Bowen Prism, which I didn't have the time to order, hence the Yarn Bee. The pattern came from Lee Begelfer over at http://www.yarnoverlounge.com/, who I cannot recommend highly enough for the support she provided. She's got many cute patterns on her web site, and I'm sure I'll be visiting her again soon. The sarong is done on size 11 circular needles, with size 15 used for cast on and bind off. It's a yarn over pattern, which makes it go fast, real fast. I didn't alter the pattern at all, so it might be too big for the Mollster. But, as you pointed out, she can grow into it and I don't think it will be a problem. I made Dandelion's a little smaller, but not by much. I simply cast on 19 stitches instead of 21 and then ended a couple of rows early. For such a difficult beginning, it turned out to be an easy project.

I ended up undoing the fringe because I had used two yarns for it, and one of them kept sticking to the other one, which ruined the look. So I just used the same yarn on the fringe as I did on the sarong.

2008-07-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

From WordToYour.com

Cotton Dish Rags

2008-07-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

OK, this blogging business is getting to be an addiction. Or is it the knitting? Or maybe seeing my projects "published"? What the heck, it's all fun - and it's ALL about fun.

So here are some dish rags that I knitted 2 years ago and finally wove the tails in last night. All 3 are made from Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn and can be washed (good yarn choice, huh?). From front to back the patterns are: Elfin lace, basic diamonds and trinity stitch. All were quite easy and great projects for the beginning knitter.

Here's the question - can one bring oneself to use dish rags one has knitted?

Felted Beaded Flower

2008-07-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at making a hand felted flower. The technique was obtained from Carol Huber Cypher's book, Hand Felted Jewelry and Beads.

It is labor intensive but can be a real work of art with practice. I started by taking thin wisps of wool roving and layering them - adding colors where my amateur eye thought they should go. I used a dark blue for the petal, green on the underside, and added lighter blue, a little pink and yellow at the center. This is all place on bubble wrap and soapy water is poured over it. Saran wrap was then placed over the top and the bubbles squished out. Then the felting process began by rubbing a wet plastic bag over the top for 5 minutes. After this the flower was rolled in different directions over a rolling pin for several minutes to full it. A little more forming goes into it after this step. After drying I sewed black bangle beads, gold and variegated purple beads onto the center. I will probably add beads to the sides of some of the petals.

This is a project I will try again as the product can be quite beautiful with a little practice. Next time I will use more wool roving and make a smaller flower. Will do a little more research too and look for more detailed instructions on flower details.

Sarong Answers Of A Sort

2008-07-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

Knittle Ho-

You've got some fine patterns there and an outlook for fun. Here are my thoughts on the matter (for what they are worth):

If you change the needle size it will definitely resize the pattern, but you will also lose the integrity of the look. Stay with the prescribed needle size but take out a few stitches. This of course goes back to gauge and pattern repeats.

In the case of the first sarong with the shell stitch you can take out some of the repeats of the shell pattern (if you want to get really technical with the whole thing then knit a swatch and see how many inches a repeat is and adjust accordingly).

If the chosen pattern doesn't have a repeat in it (stockinette, garter, etc.), then do a gauge swatch (yeah, ugh!) and take out the number of stitches per inches that you need to cut the pattern down by.

One more thought on the subject: if your pattern is simply a triangle then you could stop knitting when you get to the width you want. Everything should still be proportioned, just smaller.

If this is just too much for an otherwise good summer, forget resizing and make according to recipe. They're going to be tied anyway - and if it's still too big it can be pinned or pulled through something. Little girls become big girls and wouldn't it be wonderful to have a sarong/shawl that grows with them?

Let me know what you decide to do and in what color. I may have a few tricks up my sleeves for matching accessories.

Knittle Ho Need Some Help

2008-07-09T08:03:00.001-07:00

Question:

Let's just say--hypothetically speaking, of course--that one wanted to crochet sarongs for two little girls to wear on the beach. And one needed it to be easy and quick because time was of the essence. And maybe one even found a pattern for such a thing (http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/ccc-shawl.html?noImages=), but the pattern was for an adult, not a child. How would one go about reducing the size of the project without messing up the pattern? Any ideas? Would just using a smaller hook do the job?

p.s. I also love this one and am tempted to just buy the darn pattern: http://www.dreamweaveryarns.com/catalog/yarn-over-lounge-beach-sarong-pattern-p-1848.html

p.p.s. And this one, but it would take far more time than I have: http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/miscell/waikiki-sarong.html

p.p.p.s. And how cute is this one?! http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/knitted_sarong_for_summer.php

Newborn Hat

2008-07-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

The pattern for this newborn's hat can be found in Joelle Hoverson's book,"Last Minute Knitted Gifts". Babies' mothers love it because it can be adjusted with the tie and actually stays on junior's head. I used Rowan's "all season cotton" to knit it. It can be dry cleaned or hand washed and dried flat.

The pattern gives instruction for 3 sizes ranging from newborn to child. I thought it was so cute that I enlarged it one more size to fit my older neices. Katie liked it so much she slept in it!

Cable Scarf

2008-07-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Not great pictures--someday I'll learn how to use my camera--but I really like this pattern. I'm using Vanna White's worsted weight yarn and size 10 1/2 needles. The recipe, which I think I got online at the Lion Brand website, calls for a thicker yarn. Were I to do it again, I'd go with their suggestion because this one is curling up on the sides despite the seed stitch edging. I'll try blocking it, but since it's synthetic I don't know how successful I will be. Oh, well...stitch and learn.

--Mandy Ho

Hot Pink Golf Club Cover

2008-07-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

All I remember of this project is that the neck was done on size 6 circular needles. The yarn was worsted weight--can't remember the manufacturer--and synthetic. Should Mr. T. ever decide he needs him some ho-made golf club covers, I can share the recipe with you. Mr. N. found it somewhere on line (a freebie). The pom-pon was the best part and apparently a critical feature, according to Mr. N.

And since all of the pictures in my posts so far have included at least one cat, I'll add this:

Kissing Yarn Kitties (oh, I am such a geek)

--Mandy Ho

Crocheted Blanket

2008-07-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

This was a lengthy, but fun, project using granny squares made with a size I/9 crochet hook. The nice part was that I could complete a square fairly quickly, which was good for the ADD in me. Putting the whole thing together was a little tedious, but once I decided to crochet the pieces together rather than sew them, it was much more enjoyable. This was the first project where I made my own adaptations rather than following the recipe verbatim, which made me feel all independent and creative-like. I used Vanna White's yarn, which I think is a worsted weight.

--Mandy Ho

First Crocheting Project

2008-07-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

This recipe came from the Happy Hooker book and called for a size I/9 hook. I can't remember the exact yarn I used, but it was fairly thin. Once I got the hang of the project, it went very quickly. I'd definitely do it again. I did another one in a slightly thicker yarn (probably Paton's) combined with a very soft eyelash yarn. It's very cozy to wear, but sheds like crazy. Fortunately, Max likes it:

Or at least I thought he did until he did this:

Rude.

--Mandy Ho

First Knitting Project

2008-07-07T12:52:00.001-07:00

I used a recipe was from the Stitch & Bitch book for this with eyelash yarn in tandem with something synthetic and inexpensive. It's held up pretty well over at the Noakes household, although the edges flattened out rather quickly. If I were doing it again, I'd actually put some stuffing into the circular outside so it would keep its shape.

--Mandy Ho