Thread and Ink Chritmas Cards

Why is it every year I get these ideas way too late?


Oh well, 'tis the season, right?!


These holiday cards have been fun to do and I plan to make more of these, "Thread and Ink Designs," after the New Year. Some for me and for Knitterella!

***

I'm signing off 'til after the Holidays. Work is busy, busy and I'm ready to spend some quality time with my friends and family. When I get back I'll be looking forward to showing some of the gifts I've made that I haven't gotten time to show you yet.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and peace and goodwill in 2008! - best wishes, Knitterella

Olivia Tote

When I saw this fabric at my LFS I had to buy it. I had to make a tote for my niece Olivia. I mean come on, it has her name written all over it, for real!


(hey, my shirt matches)


I embroidered her a little note on the inside pocket too…



*If anyone else is interested I think the fabric line is called ANDOVER OLIVIA if you would like to google it to try to find an online shop. The whole line of designs for this fabric is based on Olivia The Piglet and is completely adorable! Actually, try this link too see what you can find.

*For the tote, I based the construction on this tutorial from Super Eggplant

Felting Flop

Excuse me, but um, what the heck am I supposed to do with this?


I have a couple friends that wanted felted purses with fun fur and I wanted to get them done for them in time for Christmas but that isn't going to happen now. Not only did this black one not turn out but neither did the brown one I did - I'm not even bothering to take a photo of that one!

I don't have a very good track record when it comes to felting. I don't know what it is but it's hit or miss with me. Oh well, that's OK, I'm working on some great scarfs in place of the purses now. The thing that upsets me the most is the $$ and time that went into knitting these. Maybe it was the iCord maker that cursed this project? I should have known then!

Guess I could always turn this upside down and give it to my niece and nephews to use for a snowman's top hat!

Felted Cloche

This Christmas I'm making a few felted knits for people. This hat is the first one that I can cross of my list.


I added one of my chocheted flower pins for a little extra somethin' and splash of color.

Pattern Source: This is a pattern print out that I picked up at a yarn shop years ago, can't recall when and where.
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino
Needles: size 10.5
Notes: Jo Ann Fabrics sells this yarn. It's often on sale and it felts great!

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Before and after shots to show how huge this was before I felted it!


Picture doesn't really do it justice.




****


Update on the iCord Maker:
Thanks you for your comments and suggestions. I also asked Betz White (she's so nice) and she sent me a very nice email and gave some tips like:

• You have to use a fingering wt yarn
• Be sure you have enough weight on it.
• Keep tension on the yarn/cord coming out the bottom so the stitches go down inside the machine.

So I tried it again, took my time and made sure the yarn wasn't splitting on me in those latches (they are picky and that was one of my problems before). I made sure the weight was pulling the icord down and that the yarn coming in had slack. It was working wonderfully. I got 60" done and then the crank started turning a bit hard, and then SNAP! One of the latch needles busted right off. You've got to be kidding me - AHHHHHH!!!

Fast iCords

I'm making a couple felted purses for Christmas gifts and I need to make 80 inch i-cords for the straps (boooring). I bought this at Jo Ann Fabrics because I thought it would quickly whip the i-cords out for me but either I'm using it wrong or it's a hunk of junk because I'm getting no where but tangled up in knots with it. (I wonder if I can still return it even though it's opened?)


Have any of you used this? Do you have an tips, tricks or tools to suggest? I really don't want to spend two nights kniting 80 inch i-cords on my DPNs!

Apron No. 3

Another Short Pleated Apron, from Amy Butler's In-Stitches.


I embellished the pocket again just like my first and second one.


Now I can cross off another gift my Christmas Gift List. You'd think I'd be doing a little bit better on time since I'm not making as much as I did last year. Time to kick it in high gear!


I swear there has been kntting going on too. Should have something blog-worthy real soon!

Deck The Halls

No blog worthy projects to post about today but thought I'd spread some Christmas cheer!


Not too bad for a 6 ft, pre-lit, $20, Black Friday tree from Menards.


This little one is for the Fisherman in the house, it's deck out in Christmas lights that are shaped like fishing lures.


I made the felted stockings hanging there a couple of years ago. The green one felted up just right. The pink one got shaped a little weird when I felted it - the shape reminds me of something that would be in a Dr. Seuss book.

I also want to thank you for the great suggestions on how to fix my bleeding problem. I knew you could help me. I'll let you know how it goes!

TGIF! Have a great weekend!!!

Help - I'm Bleeding

Grrrrr! I'm almost done with a bag that I'm making for a friend (for Christmas), all I have left to do is put in the straps, then this happened…


I used a wet washcloth to wipe up some chalk marks on the denim fabric and then I saw that there was blue all it! Then, I looked at my hands, even they had a blue tint from working with the fabric. What do I do???

I washed and dried the fabric before hand and figured I was good to go. I've never encountered this problem before. Any tips or tricks on how to fix this? If I can't fix it (sure hope I can!) how can I prevent it from happening again?

Is there some kind of solution I can buy to wash the fabric in to set the dye???

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Darn it! The bag is really cute too (if I do say so myself!).

Mental Note:

MUST

MAKE

THIS

AND

THIS

FOR

NEXT

YEAR!

Cake And Ice Cream

I got to do some baking over the weekend for my dad's birthday. This cake is my favorite to make and eat! I'm usually a chocolate girl but this pineapple orange cake is to die for. Easy to make, wonderful to eat and always gets rave reviews. Plus, it looks so pretty on a cake stand. You must try this recipe!


Now for the ice cream! This baby hat is a creatation of my own. A little neapolitan hat with a cherry on top (of course!).


The hat is knit in some Berroco Touché from my stash. I couldn't help but think of neapolitan ice cream when I saw these colors together. It's going to look so cute on my baby cousin Grace!