STILL Nothing new to show

Well, here spring is just about here, and I have nothing to show from our long chilly fall/winter but a bunch of looms tangled in heaping piles of yarn. :) I have no excuse except that I've been very busy these past months with the tabistry, other crafting (see my other blogs) and life in general. Don't fret. I haven't thrown in the loom-knitted towel. I really want to get back to knitting. But, I usually head where inspiration takes me. At the moment, it's dragging me into my craft room to do some much needed cleaning and organizing.

Me and my SO, Samedi, are still brainstorming a design for a new variety of loom. This has been very difficult to create at a small enough gauge. Still not satisfied with the results. Being the more mechanically inclined of the two of us, he has been shooting down many of my solutions due to what he refers to as "reality". :) I'll keep you all posted if we make any headway. I think once we are successful, it should spark a greater interest for me in trying new things. Then, I should have many new projects, at least started. :)

Speaking of new projects, if you haven't yet found Brenda's loom knitting blog called "Loom Lore" at loomlady.blogspot.com, you should really head over there. She is always thinking outside the loom with her amazing "rule-breaking" techniques. She really shares some clever ways use the loom that are sure to impress you. She is a master at making mock crochet items. I'm alway in awe when I see her new projects.

Image Viewing Problem

Yikes! Bandwidth Exceeded!

You may have noticed some of my images aren't showing up these days. I just wanted to let everyone know that this is a temporary problem. Should be back to normal around the 18th of this month. I was using Photobucket.com to host my images, and it seems they only allow a limited amount of traffic every month for non pro accounts. If this happens again, I will move the images to a new host. Or, I may have to consider taking up donations to open a pro account in the future.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Mieljolie

HP Unity Scarf Finally Finished

Well, almost one year later, I finally found time to finish the Harry Potter Unity Scarf I started loom knitting for my mom on my pick-up stick loom. I would have had it finished much earlier, but I've been busy with the tabistry projects among other things.



I'm really please with how it turned out. Though, I had to simplify the pattern way more than I would have like to by eliminating all the crests but the first one. Oh well. It's very soft, thick and heavy. Should keep her neck toasty warm on cold nights. The black yarn I used is Caron Simply Soft, which I believe is made from recycled plastic bottles. To me, that is just mind boggling. How can a yarn this soft and pretty be made from bottles? The color stripes are various acrylic worsted weight yarns that I happened to have around. Though, as usual, my camera is oversaturating the colors. They are far more muted than they appear here.



If you want to see some of the progress pics I posted while I was working on it, go to:

http://knitty-witty.blogspot.com/2008/12/harry-potter-unity-scarf-on-flexible.html

Thanks for looking!

Another Thrift Store Score!!

Just had to share this cool gadget! I just bought a "Speedy Wool Winder" (yarn ball winder) like new in it's original box at our local thrift store for $1! My daughter and I are having a lot of fun winding up balls. It really is a handy item and so far great entertainment as well. With all the yarn I've been picking up everywhere, this ought to be put to good use.



I also scored a large jar of 1" wooden tassel beads! There are a LOT of bead in that jar!! I have no idea what I'm going to use this many for! Any suggestions would be great! Or, if any of you need some, I'm happy to swap. It was a great buy, and I needed some tassels for my belly dance belts. :) I want to hang them like tribal dancers wear from my belt.



My orignal mission was to pick up a Christmas tree stand to make one of those duct tape "body double" dress forms from a tutorial I found. I found one in great condition that ought to work perfectly. If I have any success, I'll be posting that and the tassels on my general craft blog.

Pygmy Puff Version 2 on DIY Loom

So, the daughter saw Arnold, the pygmy puff from the new release "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and wanted hers to have a face like it. However, instead of performing cosmetic surgery to give Nibbles a face lift, we finally agreed to make a new one out of some fun fur I found on clearance. We plan to enter our new version in the Leaky Cauldrons August HBP Contest.



We used our DIY loom with just 18 pegs. She loomed about half of before getting bored and handing it off to me. I must say I was impressed that she stayed with it so long. Fun fur is not a pleasant yarn to work with. This one is slightly different from the old one in that the elastic hole is now on his bum to make him a finger puppet or pencil topper. Since he is less than half the size of the old one, we also used a smaller clippy to attach him to her shoulder.



The eyes are black glass beads baked into a face that is skin-toned poly clay dusted with blue and purple eyeshadow. We added a tuft of various colors of acrylic yarn at his forehead.

I'm Still Alive & Looming

Phew, it's been too long since I've posted about my knitting endeavors! Still trying to find the time to finish the Unity Scarf. Just one color band left and the crest. Will it ever get there?! I just haven't been able to pick it back up these days. Family, faires, and other crafting have kept me busy.

I really hope to start some gloves to try out the new techniques I've experimented with. I'm in love with the "slither" arm warmers Crafterella needle-knit me in a swap for my "tabistry" Turkish Vest pattern. They fit so perfectly and are sooo cool. I'm so smitten by them, I would like to try to translate a similar pattern to loom in the near future. We shall see.


Aren't they the neatest?!

Lately, I've been accumulating quite the yarn collection. I find them mostly at local swap meets and in clearance bins. About 4 milk crates full so far! Mostly acrylics, but I have managed to find a couple wool skeins I plan to try Kool-aid dying. Sounds like something fun to do this summer.

That's about all the news for now. As usual, I will keep posting my finished projects and new breakthroughs.

Lacey Cast On & Bind Off

After experimenting with the lace trim, someone in the KKLoom group had asked how it might be attached to a hat. That got me thinking. Well, I figured out how to run almost the same pattern horizontally on the loom so you wouldn't need to attach it separately.

Cast on (bottom edge)


Bind off ( bottom edge)


I then realized this what was being referred to as "picot cast on" & "i-cord bind off" here. It looks very complicated and difficlut, but is really very simple to create.

After making the above sample, I tried someone else's instructions that are what I think is the original "picot" cast on.

"...ewrapped pegs 1 and 2 and knitted off ... did this 6 times.Then I moved over to pegs 2 and 3 and did the same. Then pegs 3 and 4 .....until I reached the end..."

It ends up a thicker, fluffier scallop edge. This is what I deciphered from it:

******** Beginning Cast on ***************

Put a slip knot on #1.
Wrap yarn in front of #2, around the back of #2, between the two pegs, in front of #1, around to the back of #1 and between the pegs and back in front of #2.
Knit off both.

******** Knit off i-cord **********

Continue to wrap behind #2, in front of #1, behind #1, between, and in front of #2.
Knit off both.
Repeat this figure eight wrapping/knitting 5-7 more times.

******** Cast on New Peg **********

Wrap yarn in front of #3, around the back of #3, between the two pegs, in front of #2, around to the back of #2 and between the pegs and back in front of #3.
Knit off both.

******** End of Pattern ************

Repeat steps from "Knit off i-cord" on through "Cast on New Peg". Then, move on to next peg on and on until you get back to the first.

NOTE: You'll notice that the first i-cord just hangs. Find the original slip knotted stitch you started with (it will be the last stitch loop at the end of the chain) hanging off the end. Place the stitch on the empty peg beside the #1 peg that hasn't been caston, yet. When you work your way around the loom and get all the pegs cast on with the chains, knit the slip knotted stitch into first stitch of the last chain. All pegs should be cast on now. Then, just start knitting as normal. She recommended putting rows of purls or garter stitch in to stop it from curling.