Down to the wire...

...and I go and do something not-Christmas-gift-related.  I spent an evening making washable pads.  Yes, those things.  I'm serious.  I'm that crunchy granola sometimes.

I've been wanting to make some for years.  I dislike creating waste, and like to find ways to make less of it. This may not be a world-changing act or one that will have a major impact on anything really, but I feel that it's a good thing.  Much more comfortable than disposable alternatives too!

 

I made them from this site.  I used some bargain-bin fleece, as the only other options were plaids with at least one stripe a shade of puke, and a towel we got when we went to some onsen or other.  My only recommendations are to use the zipper foot when seaming the outside and inside as well as for the topstitching, and to make the wings a bit wider.  Also be absolutely sure the snaps (if you're using them) are secure because that's just not something you want to be worrying about.  I also tried weighting the pattern and using my rotary cutter to cut multiple pieces at once, and let me tell you, that is an awesome, awesome trick for making things like this.  There are two fleece pieces each, so four total, and I cut them all out at once.  There are four towel layers each, and I was able to cut out all eight layers, using up pretty much the entire (very thin) towel, at once as well.  Excellent.

Ah, Christmas!

That time of year where the WIP count slowly creeps up, and then shoots back down once I've blocked things.  I was happy with the amount of yarn used, hoping maybe I could get under 40,000 yards of yarn in Japan by the end of the year, and then I realized that I haven't actually put all of my yarn into Ravelry.  Most of it, yeah, but not the stuff that's in my WIP basket (hello 5,000+ yards of WW for a huge blanket), and not the bag o' Patons Classic Wool that I brought back from the US this past summer.  Entering most of that gets me up to 48000 yards, nearly 28 miles of yarn.

Damn.

I am going through a bit of my roving for Nuno felted scarves.  The plan is to make eight of these as gifts.  Thus far, three are sent out, two are finished, and the final three are designed, but still in component parts.

I'm also working on a bit of baby knitting for my first nephew, since the shower will be roughly a week or two after Christmas.  May as well send it all in one package, even if it does make the Christmas stuff a touch late!  The baby stuff is mostly done since it's mostly easy-peasy don't-need-to-focus knitting.  I finished off some blue recycled cotton that I had no idea what to make with for a baby blanket and a matching burp cloth.  I used up a bunch of kitchen cotton on a few bibs for the baby (and a biscuit blanket I took to a Thanksgiving dinner potluck), and I've got enough leftovers from the first set of Sneaker Booties to make another pair for this little guy.  Lots and lots of presents for the new baby, all patterns I know and love, and only buttons to buy!

Thus far, I've sent out all of my cards, finished the in-laws' gifts and sent all those out, but am a bit behind with my family's presents.  I'm going to blame it on the baby shower gifts.  Even though we all know I'd probably be as behind without those too.

Must get back to knitting!

Creepy Critters

Amigurumi are cute, but are usually fairly creepy looking.  Here's an adorable hedgehog pincushion:

Pattern: Waste Yarn Hedgehog
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (now Stroll) in Black for details, Wild Fire Fibres BFL Sock from the sock club for the face, Madeline Tosh Tosh Sock in Loopy Ewe sock club for the body.

Needles: US1.5/2.5 mm, DPNs
Timeframe: October 2 - 4.
Mods: A few.  I started with the disappearing cast-on in black, CO 4 sts, Round 1: *K1, M1* around, Round 2: *K2, M1* around (12 sts), switch to brown and continue from Row 1 of pattern.

After the first set of increases (work rows 2 - 5), I made French Knot eyes, then switched to the darker color and turned my work so I was knitting on the inside, giving reverse stockinette as the outside.  I followed the directions otherwise, but didn't weave in the ends, just left them inside, and ran the final tail through the live stitches twice to close up.
Problems: None.

I used scraps of what I've already got to knit this adorable little guy.  I think he'll look better with pins in him too.  He's been sent off to a friend who should have him by now and so shouldn't be surprised by this post.

And a not-so-adorable Hedwig-esque amalgamation of patterns:

Pattern: Pocket Animals and Forest Friends (Owl and Robin)
Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Angel Hair for the body, Dupont Sayelle gold for the beak and feet, probably Red Heart acrylic for the eyes.

Hook: USF
Timeframe: July 2007 - September 17, 2010 with a hiatus of being in the US while I was in Japan for nearly 2 years.
Mods:  Some.  I crocheted the body as one piece instead of multiple, I crocheted the wings from the Robin pattern, and I didn't make the horns. 

Problems: None really, yarn wasn't the best though!.

For crochet and knitting, the yarn you use can have an effect on the finished product.  Knitting tends to be fairly neutral, depending on your technique, so a neutral yarn, with no inherent twist, is desired.  Crochet tends to induce at least some twist, again depending on your technique, so either a neutral yarn or a yarn with the opposite twist is desired so that you'll have a neutral outcome.  Of course, one can knit or crochet with any yarn one desires, but some yarns create better finished products for some techniques.  The yarn that I used for Hedwig had an inherent twist the same way as the twist I induced, so the wings and tail curl in a not-so-good manner.  A better crocheter may have re-jiggered the second wing to knit backwards so the twist remained the same, but I did not, so have one wing waving hello and one wing beckoning you closer.

Ah well, such is life!

FO: Hanging Towels

I realized that we don't really have hand towels by the kitchen or bathroom sinks when looking at an adorable towel on Ravelry. I then modified the cute pattern to make the towels hanging towels to rectify the lack of hand towels by my sinks:

Pattern: Bubble Up Towel (Ravelry)
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Naturals for the main color, various Lily Sugar & Creams

Needles: US6/4.0 mm US7/4.5 mm
Timeframe: October 17 and 18 - 21, 2010.  Short piece of work, waited on the blocking.
Mods: Quite a few.  CO 36, 4-st garter stitch border, when work is a square, K2, SSK, K to last 4, K2tog, K2 on RS rows, P2, P2tog, P to last 4, P2togtbl, P2 until 12 sts left, K2tog center sts, make bobble in contrasting color, make flap as long as desired with 2-st garter stitch border, make buttonhole by casting off center stitch and then casting on one stitch in the next row, K4 rows, BO.
Problems: None!

These are fairly cute and they match my washcloths.  Simple little knits to wipe your hands on instead of using your jeans!

How to Explode Your WIP Count in One Easy Step!

Crocheted Snowflakes!

(and bookmarks)

Enthusiasm

I keep my knitting group's bag of extras.  Mostly dollar store yarn and project leftovers that are most of a skein, there was some cute #20 cotton crochet thread in there.  I've added quite a bit of my leftovers and unwanted yarns, mostly dollar store stuff, acrylic, and mohair, as I can typically find uses for wools, and don't feel bad grabbing this little 20 gram dollar store yarn for my own purposes.  Especially when those purposes are as nice and pure as a bookmark or two for Christmas and snowflakes to decorate my school's Christmas-themed robot, if in fact there are leftovers.  20g doesn't go very far.

Things were all well and good, I was about to finish the majority of the work on the first bookmark, and I realize I've messed up the directions:

The outside edges of the fans are supposed to join a lower fan.  Less than an hour of work, the first two fans are okay, and I have the pattern memorized.  Not too big a deal.

Except.

Except I scoured the directions looking for such a thing because I was sure they joined.  Somehow, I missed it, and only saw it halfway through the seventh of eight fans.  Now I get to rip back to halfway through the third fan.

Bah.

I'll probably go out and pick up another skein or two of this stuff though to make another bookmark and hopefully get at least three snowflakes, preferably more like ten so the students can keep them at the end and everyone on the team gets one.

But we'll see.  Such things can only be accomplished if I can read directions correctly in the future.  I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Letterboxing

I am an official Letterboxer.  I signed up for Atlas Quest, username Shlaci, and found my first letterbox when I was in Tokyo with my in-laws.  There are a few around Tokyo, and I printed out directions to all of them in case we went anywhere that had one.  We visited the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo, and there is one letterbox there, the Lotus letterbox:

I used my signature stamp to mark that I was there, and stamped their lotus stamp into my logbook as the first stamp.  Many people have a nice book, but I decided that since I may want to re-order mine by place and I want to be able to bring supplies with me on hikes like the Appalachian Trail (where weight is a big priority), I want a method of recording finds that doesn't take up much space.  I got a small trading card holding binder that comes in a box.  It's perfect for trips where weight isn't a problem, I put folded blank notecards into the slots and can write the name, date, and location of the box on the notecard.  The box holds a small stamp pad and my stamp easily as well.  When weight is an issue, I can take just a handful of notecards, a small stamp pad, and my stamp.  The notecards can be rearranged and I can of course always get better trading card binders or notecard filing systems to keep track of my finds.

Later this month, I'll be traveling to Tokyo for the national RoboCon competition to cheer on our team.  We have a few hours between the bus arriving in Tokyo and the start of the competition, so I'm going to see how many other letterboxes I can cross off my list while I'm there.  I know I'll get the Tokyo Disney one when my family comes to visit, but there are a few others fairly close together near interesting sites or museums that I should be able to get.

Hopefully I'll be able to hit all the ones currently in Japan before I leave!