snapdragon crafts: April 2012

knitting in 100% humidity

My knitting skill set was relatively small when we moved from Washington state to Mississippi. It's easy to not really think about the impact weather has on your knitting when the majority of your projects consist of baby blankets and felted bags ... but right before we moved, I knit that first cardigan. A little number using Moda Dea Tweedle Dee, a bulky wool-acrylic mix yarn that was really soft ... and really warm. We drove cross-country and arrived in Mississippi at the beginning of June, where I was promptly introduced to humidity. I had never experienced anything like it before, having grown up in the arid, desert climate of eastern Washington state. The best way to describe it? Living in a greenhouse. Let's just say that I haven't picked up that first cardigan again since we got here ... (or my thermal long underwear ... or my turtlenecks, for that matter!).

You'd think that with the climate we have here in the deep south, knitting would be nonexistent. (the thought of wearing a bulky alpaca sweater makes me break into a sweat just thinking about it 10 out of the 12 months of a year). And honestly, after that first summer I was a little sad when I realized that I would never really need a bulky cabled sweater or fair isle knit here. But then two things happened: 1) I went back to work and remembered what sub-zero office air conditioning felt like, and 2) I realized that eventually the extreme summer heat/humidity receded to more tolerable levels. And when December and January rolled around, I was overjoyed to discover that yes, I felt cold! I actually wanted to put on a sweater! So not all hope was lost.

I was overjoyed to discover that yes, knitters do exist in Mississippi (thanks to Ravelry!), and quickly found that our climate really doesn't stop anyone from making a wide range of the traditional knitting projects ... with a few modifications!

For example, if you visit a local yarn store in the south, you'll find a much wider selection of cotton yarns than you might anywhere else. And fibers that are known for being more "breathable" in the summer, like bamboos and linens.

The main difference is the influence of timing. I still make blankets, because I do want one during that short winter season ... but you'll never catch me knitting one between May and August. Too warm to be knitting with a blanket on your lap at that point!

For me, the biggest impact I've noticed on my knitting is that our warm climate introduced me to the benefits of finer gauge yarns. After moving here, I was surprised to realize how frequently I was wearing cardigans year-round, despite the warm weather. When I paid attention to the attributes of the cardigans I was routinely drawn to, the common denominator was light-weight, finer gauges. It was that realization that motivated me to knit with yarn in finer gauges. As long as I knit something in a DK or fingering weight, the fabric stays light-weight enough to remain tolerable in multiple seasons. So although I still knit frequently with worsted and bulky weight yarns, I knit much more frequently with DK or fingering weight yarns than I would have previously anticipated!

So yes, it is possible to knit in 100% humidity. But I highly recommend doing so in a highly air-conditioned environment!

One un-related side note: I still need one more participant in my pay-it-forward project! And if you are one of my two participants, please email me your name and address so I can send you your surprise! Contact me at snapdragoncrafts AT yahoo.com.

Check out the other posts on the fourth day of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Enter 3KCBWDAY4 as your search term in a Google search to find more participants!

it's a bird ... it's a plane ...

... it's my knitting hero! When it comes to the person who has had the most influence on my knitting and crafting career, it really is a no-brainer. This person ...

Put needle and thread into my hands at an early age, teaching me my first crafts--needlepoint and cross-stitch ...
Encouraged me to bring my crafts along and work on them during long road trips as a child, instilling a lifelong need to keep my hands busy as a passenger ...
Stood in line, filled out endless forms, and paid my entry fees so that I could enter my fledgling crafts in the state fair ...
Then endured packed crowds and long lines attending said state fair so that we could admire the ribbons our entries won ...
Surrounded me with tons of inspiration, as I grew up in a house filled with her own knitting, sewing, and crafting projects ...
Taught me to appreciate the beauty and art of the handmade ...
Fixed my mistakes countless times when I fumbled as a beginner ...
Repeatedly showed me how to cast-on (and cast-off) when I forgot how ...
Untangled countless balls of yarn ...
Bought me way too many books, kits, and supplies to count ...
Never said "no" when I wanted to learn something new or try a new craft ...
Drove me to the craft store over and over and over...
Was always willing to answer my crafting questions over the phone, no matter how many time zones away I lived ...
Now is a constant crafting "consultant," serving as my sounding board for color ideas and technique advice ...
Will happily join me on any adventure to seek out a hidden local yarn store or fabric shop ...

But perhaps most importantly of all, this person role-modeled an "of course you can make that" attitude that I count as one of my biggest crafting assets today ... she has no idea how much growing up in a "we can make that" household has cultivated my creativity and brought so much joy to my life. For me, making and creating is not a want, it's a must. Knitting, sewing, beading ... making ... creating ... it's what makes my heart happy and makes my soul sing. She was the first person to introduce this to my life, and I can't imagine what my life would be like without it ...
Thanks so much, Mom. You are my knitting hero.

Check out the other posts on the third day of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Enter 3KCBWDAY3 as your search term in a Google search to find more participants!

nesting

I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't mind a nest of Malabrigo ....

Check out the other photography challenge posts on the second day of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Enter 3KCBWDAY2 as your search term in a Google search to find more participants!

color work crazy

Playing with color is one of the things that's drawn me to all the crafts I dabble in ... whether it's the artful combination of fabric scraps to make patterns in a quilt, the deep saturation of a beautiful wool yarn, the addiction of knitting "just one more stripe" of a funky self-striping sock yarn, or the glowing luster of a strand of pearls that will become a bracelet--it's color that excites and motivates me to craft.

While I've always had a hard time resisting super-saturated, gorgeous kettle-dyed yarns of any color(Madelinetosh, I'm talking about you), lately I find myself getting drawn towards fair isle and intarsia patterns more and more frequently. It's the combination of bright and funky colors that's been catching my eye, and making my fingers itchy to cast-on for yet another project (to the detriment of my countless WIPs!).

It all started with mittens. My "not-so-manly mittens" were my first foray into stranded knitting. And although I loved them, my knitting took other directions as I felted purses and began knitting my first sweaters. Several years later, it's two books that are really reigniting my desire to do some stranded knitting.

The first book that has me drooling is Charlene Schurch's Mostly Mittens. I love the clean beauty of these graphic designs from Russia ...

The second book that is making me itchy to cast-on for some colorwork is Kristin Nicholas's Color by Kristin. The book is filled with stunning patterns, but really is a great primer on how to create your own gorgeous colorwork combinations and includes tons of charts.

I love her color combinations, especially the vibrant oranges, raspberries, blues, and chartreuse greens. Just take a look at these beauties ...

Maybe it's the cute kitty, but I couldn't resist this last one, the "many hearts baby blanket." Once I saw it, I had visions of a twin-sized version for my daughter's "big girl" bed (yup, to go with the crosses quilt).

I'm using Knit Picks Swish Worsted (superwash) for these blocks, and they knit up really quickly (which is good, since I'll need quite a few to upsize this pattern from a baby blanket to a twin-bed size!). The pattern instructs you to use intarsia, but I switched to stranded knitting after my first intarsia block--there were tons of ends and it just didn't look good. If the heart was solid, then intarsia would be perfect for this project. Here's a few of my first blocks ... that's a light yellow with the turquoise blue block in the back ... I definitely need to find a good green to add to the mix!

Check out the other posts about color on this first day of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Enter 3KCBWDAY1 as your search term in a Google search to find more participants!

I may need to have my head examined ...

... because I plan on participating in the

It should be fun! Tune in for a week of knitting and crochet themed blog posts!

paying-it-forward

Want some handmade goodness? I saw this meme on Nomes’s Brag-a-long and thought, why not? I've always wanted to join in on a swap, but the stars just never quite aligned until now. So if you want to play, here's how to join in:

I will send a surprise gift to the first three commenters on this post. The gift will be handmade by me. It will be sent sometime in the next 365 days. It will be a surprise. We all love getting surprises in the mail, right?
In your comment, tell me your two favorite colors (that will help me make an appropriate gift).
To sign up and receive a gift, you must play along, too. Pay it Forward on your blog, by promising to make a surprise for the first three people who comment on the post.
You must have a blog (that is updated, as I will blog stalk you to find the right gift for you).
After commenting here, you must re-post this or something similar to your blog in 48 hours. If not, I will chose the next person who comments…

Looking forward to seeing who I get to send some joy to!

done and done!

Guess who got a face and officially entered "finished object" territory? Rose, my Kuku doll! The kit provides the wool roving, and thankfully I had a needlefelting tool on hand from ages ago. I don't know what you'd do if you didn't have one, I'm not sure if it's possible to needlefelt with a regular sewing/embroidery needle ... Although I like the look of the needlefelted eyes, they were a pain to create. I felt like I was stabbing a voodoo doll obsessively! I'm just not a fan of needlefelting, I guess.

I'm even more excited to report back that the crosses quilt has also entered finished object territory! Making this quilt was step one in decorating my daughter's eventual "big girl room." I've been slowly but surely starting to scout out cute furniture options/inspirations online (see my Pinterest board) for it, and am contemplating painting the walls purple ... but this is my long-term, post-baby project. :-D

I am sooo excited by how this quilt turned out! So bright and cheerful! I found a funky orange fabric with large pink and green polka dots for my binding, which I thought was especially appropriate given the polka dot "background" fabric I used between each quilt block.

It seems like quilt-making is becoming somewhat of a pregnancy (nesting, really) tradition for me ... I was in the midst of making a king-sized quilt in my last trimester of my daughter's pregnancy. But this time, I actually finished the quilt before arrival of baby!

going kuku

I've had this adorable kit for "Rose" (one of the Kuku felted doll kits created by the Dolly-Mamas) in my stash for a couple of years now ... motivated by my desire to do some stash busting and finally try my hand at knitted toys, I cast on for Rose on Friday, and felted her in my washing machine on Monday. Can you say super-fast project? It helps that the kit uses worsted-weight Cascade 220 yarn and calls for size 9 needles!

The entire doll is knit flat, so if you fear/dislike knitting in the round, this is the knitted toy project for you! First, you start with the "feet," knitting the two legs separately and then joining them to continue knitting the torso of the body and then the head (the ears are bobbles! such a great idea!). Then you seam down the middle of the back of the doll, and attach arms that are knit separately. You stuff with poly fiber-fill prior to felting, which was the most nerve-wracking part for me ... I'm glad I had a kit, because then I really didn't have to decide how much was "too much" stuffing (the poly fiber-fill won't felt, while the rest of the doll does, so you don't want to over-stuff). I just evenly distributed the amount that was provided, and trusted the kit instructions. Lastly, you use a crochet hook to join strands of yarn for the hair and skirt. Here's Rose prior to felting ...

And after! I should have taken before and after measurements, but forgot--she really does shrink in height quite a bit! At least five inches, I would estimate.

I still need to trim extra threads, and neaten up her hair and skirt, and needle-felt some eyes. As you can see, using this method for creating hair results in a very "dread-lock" look!

Don't forget to check out the other WIPs at TamisAmis and YarnAlong!

more tiny knits

Baby booties and hats, oh my! I knit up my recent stash addition, one skein of Filatura di Crosa Zarina. These are inspired by the stay-on booties pattern (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stay-on-baby-booties-archive), which is no longer available online but has been posted on various Ravelry project pages and within the comments. Very unusual construction, and all garter stitch (my current favorite, it seems!). Definitely a fun, fast knit!

For the hat, I cast on 70 stitches and knit in garter stitch for 4.5 inches before decreasing for the crown. I was hoping to knit something small enough that the little bambino could wear in the hospital, but I have a feeling this will still be too big. We'll see ...

stinkin' cute Easter knits

Let's just say I wish I found these adorable free Easter patterns a lot earlier ... next year, next year ...

Knit up a vintage Easter bunny! Free pattern by Sara Elizabeth Kellner. Link to free pattern on Ravelry (image by saraek).

Free pattern by Susan B. Anderson. Link to free pattern on the Spud & Chloe blog, link to Ravelry pattern page. (image by mwollin)

... and here come the little chicks! Free pattern by Barbara Prime. Link to free pattern on Barbara's blog, link to Ravelry pattern page.

Free pattern by Linda Dawkins (image by mamma4earth). Link to free pattern on Linda's blog, link to pattern page on Ravelry.

Fill their baskets and decorate your house with this adorable free knitted Easter egg pattern by Purl Soho. (link to pattern on Purl Soho's website, link to pattern page on Ravelry)