Vampire Swap - Outgoing!

My partner has uploaded her pictures on Ravelry, so I can now upload mine here!
The requirements for the swap:
- Cost: $25-$30 (postage not included)
- At least one skein of yarn
- something handmade
- other goodies

There was a questionnaire with quite a few questions, to be filled out by each participant, to help you get to know your partner and what they may like.  My partner is a vegetarian goth, so she was rather fun to shop for!

Patterns:
I found some really neat crochet skull patterns, so I chose two.  I'd like to crochet both of these for myself at some point, however since I don't really know how to crochet, it'll be a while.  The Sugar Skull Shrug is a cute one, with a sugar skull in the center of the back.  The Glamour Skull Slippers are incredibly clever, and had this been a knit project, I'd have knit them at least three times by now.

Yarns: My partner can only use non-animal fiber, so I found her some lovely Caron Simply soft.  It's hard to see in the photo, but the first skein is actually a lovely rich purple.

Handmade stuff:
Starting with the wearable stuff, I knit the Antique Alice In Wonderland Cuffs.  I've knit these for myself when I was given the pattern and materials in a past swap. I designed a collar to go with them, one I'll hopefully have the pattern written up soon! Both are knit with Caron Simply Soft in Limelight and Bernat Satin in black.


I noticed my partner had a few of aKNITomy's dissected knit animals on her list, and I had the bat, so I decided to knit her Fred.  Fred is a poor worm who met his fate in a science lab. And I knit her the green and black bat, possibly for her kitty to play with!

I also loomed a few little guys, one being the Happy Pumpkin from FeelinSpiffy on Youtube (CraftingFantastic on Instagram), the other being a Sheep charm from DIY Mommy, that I used Zombie colours for. The eyes on both glow in the dark!

Other Goodies:
 I found a few other goodies she would like - the tumbler matches the knits.  I found an adorable grow your own zombie, and a perler skull kit.  Skeleton nail decals, day of the dead face tattoos, and skull socks (sorry for the terrible pictures, I didn't realize I didn't get clear ones until after I'd sent it off!).


Of course, I had to package it all spooky like, so I got out the Hallmark Bat paper and some green spiderwebs (to match the knits, of course), and decked it out.

When I receive my package, I'll post it here too!

Scooby Knits

Last night (early this morning, after my last post), I curled up to knit with something scary.
I pulled out my sweater, and started to knit as I flicked through Netflix.  As I was scrolling, I felt more inclined to start my Christmas knitting.

I spent some time looking up patterns and finally set on Oliver - I bought the pattern and yarn last year, but never ended up knitting it.  I happened to use some of the yarn in a different project, so hopefully I'll still have enough!

Instead of finding something scary, I ended up putting on Scooby Doo Zombie Island and cast on.  I managed to finish the base, torso, and one of the legs.  I'm not crazy about the increases for the feet, but I think he'll look quite cute when he's finished!

It looks bumpy and unflattering in the picture, but in person it's not so bad, it'll look great once it's stuffed and filled.  While I knit, I had some sleepy kitties to keep me company.  Demon slept on the chair next to the couch, and Phoenix slept beside me on the couch - unusual for him, and a pleasant change.

It's officially N's birthday, and he came by a few hours ago - surprise!
I was still baking the cake, so it wasn't a surprise, but it'll be finished in the morning - I'll post after it's all it's all iced.  I found something to make him last night, and I'll post about it - with his present - tomorrow.

Snowball Fight!

No, it's not quite time for there to be snow on the ground yet, so what am I talking about?
I mentioned there was a new swap I wanted to join, and this is it!

If you've ever participated in, or heard of Sockwars, then you'll get the basic idea.  Using the snowball buddies pattern, there's going to be a snowball fight, and the first team to finish everyone wins!
I knew I wouldn't be able to do a large swap this holiday season - I've just finished the vampire swap, and N's birthday is Sunday, then Halloween; not to mention December is not only Christmas, but our anniversary as well, it seems wiser to save up for a nice date night rather than large swaps - but this one I think I can handle.  The pattern isn't too costly, and I can make a few for Christmas gifts as well (It's that time of year - when I start panicking over not having started any xmas knitting yet!), and since it's a small swap, other than a few small goodies (a treat and a card is suggested, so not much at all) the only real cost is postage.

I believe sign ups will be posted soon (and if you're on Ravelry and interested, you should definitely check it out!), and I will post updates as I go.  So far, there will be teams and PersonA will send a 'snowball' to PersonB, and once PersonB has been "hit" (recieved their snowball) then they knit and send to PersonC and so forth.  Whichever team has all their players "hit" first will win a prize! (I'm excited that its both a swap and a competition!) The prize hasn't been announced yet, but I'm excited all the same.

In other swapping news, my partner has received her packages, and as soon as she posts her pictures, then I can post mine here!  I haven't received mine yet, though it's still early, and there's a bout of colds going around, which is delaying people's posts.

In knitting news, today I knit an octopus!

I called him Martin, probably because I'd yet to sleep when I made him, and thought it was funny.  Although the pattern is a bit fiddly (I prefer knitting all in one piece, no seaming and such), I definitely plan on knitting more, the end result is well worth it.

I haven't worked on my sweater today, though I may have some time before bed - it is a Friday after all!  Tomorrow should be a bit low key, however, I do have a cake to bake!  I hope I have everything, I checked the other day for the main ingredients, but forgot to check if I had icing supplies!  If need be, I can pick up some packaged icing, depending on how many ingredients I'm missing.  Now, I think I'll settle in with some knitting (undecided as to which project though, I'm not exactly known for monogamous knitting!), some tea, and a scary movie!

Happy Mail and WIPS

After the last post, I went to check the mail, and had a happy surprise!
There was a package from a friend on Ravelry, in an adorable snowflake envelope.
Inside there was...

An awesome Rainbow Dash reusable bag, and a Rainbow Dash puzzle! As pointed out by the lovely lady who sent this to me, I can use the tin for knitting notions!

Now, I planned on waiting until I could buy a frame to do the puzzle - I want to hang it by my door as my greeting! - however, I ended up doing it today.  I haven't put the puzzle paste on it, so I can do it a few times before I end up with a frame; it's such a cute and quick puzzle!

Quite the happy mail! And the puzzle is only 5"x7", so it will be easy enough to find a frame.

In knitting news, I've made a bit of progress on my newest cardigan.

I haven't decided on how long I want to make it yet.  I may decide to go crazy and make it a long, thigh length sweater, I'll have to see how it looks at a normal length - ideally, I would have continued with button holes if I were to make a longer version.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a little bit more done tomorrow.

In other news, I found a new swap through one of my Ravelry groups.  I'm rather excited for this one, it's a quick mini swap that I'll update about tomorrow!

A Little Bit Of Stash Busting!

Back when I first started knitting, I bought a fair amount of Bernat Mosaic in Medusa to make a sweater.  I had the Sweaters and Accessories pattern book, and chose the top down cardigan, however after knitting the smallest size, and having most of it finished... I didn't like it.  I felt the colours looked off and the ribbing looked baggy on me, nothing like the picture.  Away into storage it went, where I hoped I would find some love for this nearly finished cardi.

I recently took out the sweater again, and still felt rather underwhelmed by it.  I had a few balls left, so I've cast on a new sweater using the left overs - if I need to, I'll frog the old sweater as I go (however, I think I have more than enough for my latest project without unraveling it.  I may use it for accessories though!).

Yesterday, I cast on February Lady Sweater, and though I was a bit uncertain about using a yarn that has a definite pattern to it, after looking at a few other projects done in various striped yarns I decided to give it a go.

I finished just past the arm separation last night, above is the finished yolk. Although I'm not sure the lace pattern is truly visible throughout, I think I like it - at least I like it much more than I liked the previous sweater, and I'm sure once it's done I'll actually get some wear out of it.

That being said, I'd like to have this finished before the end of October.  I don't have many autumn sweaters, so this one would be nice to have before the snow falls - perhaps for the last autumn walk through the valley.

Teaser!

I sent off my Vampire Swap today.  Now I can't show what I sent until after they've received the package, but I can show you what I sent off:

I found this awesome bat tissue paper last year at hallmark after Halloween.  It was super cheap and I couldn't resist getting two packages! I used most of it in this swap, but my partner would like it (and since she's crafty, I'm sure she may reuse it as a background for her art or something) and I still have a few sheets left for myself - who knows, I could find some more this year!

I'd like to make a few more crafty Halloween items - I made a ghost on the Rainbow Loom the other night, and I'm considering buying Patch.  There is one hitch, however, and that is I have patch on my Vampire Swap wishlist, and could very well be receiving the pattern in that (though unlikely).  So I must wait until I've received my swap, which may leave me out of being able to knit one for the Halloween knit along, but I WILL get the pattern - eventually.

I'd also like to make a Frankenstein on the rainbow loom, however I don't have enough bands right now, and with the man-beast's birthday 6 short days away, I feel it's an unwise investment at this point.  Although, that means in six short days you will be able to see what I made him!

In other, knitting news... I made a booboo on my Hitofude (I misread the pattern when I was tired  and knit on anyway, then found that I didn't have enough stitches... by nearly half), and since I knit without lifelines... you can assume what happened.  I tried to rip back a few rows and ended up ripping back to pretty much where I last posted.  Out of frustration, I've put the little will-o-wisp in a time out, and I haven't been feeling colourwork of late.

I started a new project, after going to Micheal's and finding a yarn I could use my discount on, however I finished the first of the slippers and didn't have enough yarn to do the second slipper... or the buttons to finish the first.  So sadly, the slipper is in two pieces, and my be like that for a while! ( They're Drops Red Riding Slippers, if you're interested).

I'm now looking for a new project to work on, but I'm not sure what I want to knit.  Perhaps a browse through my yarn shelf will inspire a new pattern... or perhaps I'll finish a long hibernated project - we shall see!

Little Bits of Knit

In one of my Ravelry groups (Colorworks by Debi), we're working on a infiniChristmas MAL (mystery knit along).  I decided on doing a stocking cap to start - in winter theme - and if I have time to knit before the deadline for clues, I'll likely make a hat or a pillow in the Christmas theme.
To start, I chose Frozen:
I followed up with landscape, then Tweet.  I feel like I may have chosen yarns that didn't contrast well enough, however man-beast seems to like how it's turned out so far and I trust his judgement.


I chose winter friends as my next motif, however I've been at the man-beast's the past five days and haven't worked on colourwork as much. I have, however, worked on the will-o-wisp during out little drives out and about.

I love this yarn under sunlight, the heather really seems to make it pop!
It's a little less vibrant under no lighting in my living room, but I'm ready to start the bind off for the sleeves.
I love how easy the lace pattern is, it's easy to remember so I can knit on the go!

Monster for Mum

As I mentioned in the last post, my mum is having surgery on Friday, and this little critter is done just in time! I give you Monster for Mum!

 

I didn't make it out to Micheal's, so instead I painted some buttons and made them into the eyes.

I plan on making at least two more, one for myself (maybe in pink?) and one for a Christmas gift.  The pattern is easy to follow and has great pictures to explain areas where you might get confused.  If you want to make one yourself, head over to Ravelry and get your very own Wild Thing!

Hitofude Cardigan

I mentioned a few posts ago, that I was going to start going through my queue list and start buying/knitting them each month.  Though I finished the high tops I purchased a few months ago, I never bought another pattern.  This month I bought two - first was a little monster Wild Thing.  I'm making this for my mum for her surgery on Friday, and it's all finished but the safety eyes and closing of the head.  Having gone as far as I can without new eyes (I'm off to Michaels tomorrow to try to find some - the ones I have are 3mm too small - if I can't find the right size, I'll use buttons instead), I decided to buy a pattern for myself - it's low cost and a gorgeous pattern that should keep me busy - Hitofude Cardigan.

I cast on yesterday when I bought the pattern.  Instead of using fingering weight, I decided to use a lace weight - I'd seen a few other knitters make this cardigan in lace weight and loved the flowy look.  Using Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Raspberry Heather, I cast on and finished the first three repeats of chart A.  I was a little worried about using such a thin yarn for this, but it's turned out pretty nice so far.  Though the stitches are delicate and I'm afraid to knit full speed in case I break the yarn (however unlikely it is), the fabric created is soft and light.  I can see myself wearing it on a warm summer night, and I'll likely reknit this pattern in fingering weight at another point in time.

Here's what the cardi looks like so far:

I've decided to dub it as m Will-O-Wisp Cardigan.

Month of September!

As mentioned in previous posts, Soak Wash was doing a knitter's photo challenge for the month of September.

The Challenge:

And my response in order (Picture heavy!):