"Pistachio" headband & neckwarmer

Item: "Cabled Headband"

Pattern: from the book "One-Skein Wonders"
Made for: Me
Time it took to knit: 2 afternoons/evenings, I think
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Alpaca "Pistachio" #458

Notes: I can't remember for sure, but I don't think I altered the pattern or needle size in any way. It's a little bit loose, I might try experimenting with a smaller needle size later.

Item: "Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf"
Pattern: from the book "101 Designer One-Skein Wonders"

Made for: Me

Time it took to knit: Probably 3-4 afternoons

Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Alpaca "Pistachio" #458

Notes: The pattern calls for 3.5mm needles (& 3.5mm DPNs), but with most BWM yarn, 3mm needles & DPNs give a much better tension. This one was knitted with 3mm needles & DPNs & fits beautifully. Also learned while making this one that Alpaca wool is the only yarn that should ever be used for this item as it feels amazing while other wools/yarns tend to feel a bit too rough for some reason. Maybe it's the stitch used, or maybe because it has a more snug fit than a scarf, I don't know, but I strongly recommend only using Alpaca wool for this.

Both items shown here on me. Photo by Dragon Enterprises.

"Midnight Tweed" hand warmers & neck warmer

Item: "The Wave" hand warmers
Pattern: from the book "One-Skein Wonders"

Made for: Me

Time it took to knit: 2-3 afternoons/evenings? 4 at most.

Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Rustic "Midnight Tweed" #919

Notes: The pattern calls for 5mm DPNs, but 4.5mm DPNs give the right tension with most BWM yarn. It also says to do 8 rounds, but that's a bit short for me. 10 rounds = elbow length

Item: "Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf"

Pattern: from the book "101 Designer One-Skein Wonders"
Made for: Me
Time it took to knit: I have no idea... 4 afternoons, I think?
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Rustic "Midnight Tweed" #919
Notes: The pattern calls for 3.5mm needles (& 3.5mm DPNs), but with most BWM yarn, 3mm needles & DPNs give a much better tension. This one was knitted with 3.5mm needles & DPNs & is a little bit loose/big.

Both items shown here on me. Apologies for the lighting, the wool I used is a very dark blue & using my dark blue couch as the background probably wasn't the smartest idea! Photo by Dragon Enterprises.

"Mulga" hand warmers

Item: "The Wave" hand warmers
Pattern: from the book "One-Skein Wonders"
Made for: Me!
Time it took to knit: I wasn't timing way back then, but a few evenings? It takes a while to get used to the pattern, but once you've got the hang of it, they don't take too long to knit up.
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Mulga" #690

Shown here on me with a simple Moss Stitch scarf made using BWM Alpaca yarn in 'Havana" #460. Photo by Dragon Enterprises.

Notes: The pattern calls for 5mm DPNs, but 4.5mm DPNs give the right tension with most BWM yarn. It also says to do 8 rounds, but that's a bit short for me. 10 rounds = elbow length. Very easy once you get into the groove of the pattern.

Owlcakes!

Item: "Owlcakes"
Made for: My sister Jo - we were waiting in line at the post office & we found a calender with a picture of some owl cupcakes on it. Jo wanted to know if the calender gave instructions for making them & I said that it didn't look like it, but I could probably make them without instructions. So then she dared me to try it & we were both pleasantly surprised at how they came out!
Time they took to make: Umm... slightly longer than normal cupcakes? They were pretty easy!
Materials: Cupcakes (I just used my favourite chocolate cake recipe), icing (I used Wilton's Buttercream Icing - when making chocolate icing, leave out the vanilla & use cocoa powder instead. You'll need to add a few more tablespoons of milk to get the right consistency), a piping bag, Wilton piping tip #233 (or similar), Mini Oreos & M&Ms (brown & orange).


(Photos by Dragon Enterprises)

Instructions:

1. Bake cupcakes & mix icing (duh)
2. To make eyes: seperate Oreos (try to get the cream all on one side), stick brown M&Ms to cream side
3. To make ears: cut/break plain side of Oreos in half.
4. To assemble: Stick ears to cupcakes with a small blob of icing, ice cupcakes using #233 tip (start in centre & work outwards - don't forget to ice ears), add eyes & press an orange M&M halfway in (sideways) for beak.

See? Easy!

Violent cakes

Item: "Bleeding Heart Cupcakes"
Made for: Valentines Day 2010
Time they took to make: About 3 hours? Make cake mix, bake cakes, allow to cool, inject with jam & decorate. Not a huge amount longer than regular cupcakes, but a lot more bother!
Materials: Chocolate cakes, Pink food dye (for cake mix - adds to the gore), Raspberry Jam, Icing, Piping bag + 2 tips (fine tip for drawing & filling in the hearts, long tip for filling cakes with jam).

Ordinary cartoony-heart cakes except...

They bleed!

Backstory: Some of my friends were not having a very good time with their love-lives & I was cheering up one friend with the Owl cupcakes (pic coming soon...) & she was saying that the only way I could do a better job of cheering her up would be to slake her blood-lust with something violent, bloody & full of gore. So, naturally I joked about making gory cupcakes & she laughed & said those would be perfect... & then I realised that I could probably do that! So I did. And everyone loved them. They made a HUGE mess though (the jam wanted to go everywhere except in the cupcakes).

Fishbowl Hat

Item: "Fishbowl Baby Hat"

Pattern: from the book "Designer One-Skein Wonders".

Made for: Some baby I'm sure I will have one day.

Time it took to knit: Wasn't tracking, probably about 2 evenings or so? It took me a bit longer this time because I stuffed up the sewing-on of the top bit the first time, so I had to undo & redo it.
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Poseidon" #743.

Notes: This one doesn't photograph well... in real life the fish shape is really obvious... as is the fishbowl rim & the gravel at the bottom of the bowl & the waves at the top. Also, it doesn't really hold it's shape well on a stuffed toy, but it looks like it would be fine on a baby... not to mention the colour is WAY prettier in real life! As for the pattern, BWM Classic yarn knits to the right gauge, so no adjustments were needed. I decided on sewing the top of the bowl on with reverse-stockingette facing out, as the pattern was not specific.

Shrug

Item: "Shrug This"
Pattern: from the book "One-Skein Wonders"
Made for: Me!
Time it took to knit: I wasn't timing it, but it was shockingly fast... about 2 hours!
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Dark Plum" #738

(Pictured here on me, photo co-starring my gorgeous niece Bridget who was (obviously) in a non-photo-posing mood at the time)

Notes: BWM Classic yarn knits up to the exact gauge & tension, so no changes needed there. This patten involves NO SEWING at all (aside from weaving in the ends which doesn't count... plus there's only 2 ends to weave in!) & it's super-amazingly-incredibly easy! The pattern looks complicated & I remember thinking "I have no idea how this is meant to work..." but it did! And it doesn't even use up 1/4 of a ball of wool (so MAXIMUM wool needed is 50g). The only catch is... it doesn't like breasts & tends to recoil from them in horror & hide in my armpits. Luckily, this is easily fixed with a small amount of Hollywood Tape/Fashion Tape (Fashion Tape comes in several shapes including curved, which works best considering where the tape goes!) & when using the tape it won't budge all day!

Bridget's hats

Item: "Fancy Scrumptious Beanie"
Pattern: from the book "Scrumptious Toppings for Tots & Toddlers".
Made for: Bridget (9 months).
Time it took to knit: Wasn't tracking, about 2-2.5 evenings worth of knitting?
Yarn: Premium Marvel 8ply acrylic (bought from Spotlight). Colours: #2002 (pastel multicolour) & #1001 (white).

Original:

Mine:

The photo was taken at night & the colours look a bit garish here. This is what they look like in real life (only prettier because they're knitted up):

Notes:
Original pattern is sized for 0-6months, but it also calls for cotton (much thinner than 8ply wool/acrylic/etc) & US size 4 (3.5mm) needles. I used the 8ply yarn with 4mm needles (standard recommended size for most 8ply yarns with average tension) & it fits her well with lots of stretch, so it should last her at least 2 winters. I bought the yarn for the pretty colours (& because it was cheap & I didn't have much money) & because it's not as nasty-feeling as most acrylics. It still feels like an acrylic, but it's a soft acrylic. I still have a heap left, enough for at least 2 more of these hats!

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Item: "Elf" hat

Pattern: from the book "Babyknits: Hats & Booties"

Made for: Bridget (9 months).

Time it took to knit: About 2 evenings at most, I wasn't really tracking, but I remember thinking it felt really quick.

Yarn: Premium Marvel 8ply acrylic (bought from Spotlight). Colours: #2008 (pink multicolour) & #1001 (white).

Original:

Mine:

Notes: This pattern is sized for a 12 month old (in 75% acrylic, 25% wool, with 4.0mm needles), but it's a good size & again, has plenty of stretch so should last for at least 2 winters. This pattern is almost too easy... the whole time I kept thinking "What's the catch? Should anything really be THIS easy to make?" Well, I found the catch. Knitting it is super-quick & easy, but sewing up the seams is AWFUL! You see how it changes colour every few rows? Each colour change is 2 extra bits of yarn that need to be woven in AFTER sewing it up. And sewing it up while keeping the colours lined up? Fiddly & time consuming. Next time, I'm doing this on circular & double-pointed needles so that I have no seams (& the weaving in should then be quicker & easier too). I have a heap of this yarn left too. Enough for at least 2 more hats, maybe 3.

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I don't have any photos of Bridget in these hats yet, but if/when I get some, I'll post the pics here.

Current & Finished Projects

This first post is where I will list all the projects (mostly knitting) on my to-do & completed lists & who they are for. In-progress projects will be marked in italics & completed but-not-posted projects will be marked in bold. Once I've posted pics & details of the items I'll add a link to the post featuring pics & details of the finished item.

This is also the post for my friends & family to leave comments with requests for things you would like me to make (if you don't have a blog here, please sign your name so I know who wants what :) thanks!).

So, without further ado... my to do list:

• Ribbed Top with V Neck (Cleckheaton pattern book 958), for me. Yarn: Cleckheaton Bamboo. In-progress, just needs to be sewn up... my least favourite part!
• "Warm Woolen Bracers" (inspired by my grey cabled arm-warmers that I named the "Warm Woolen Bracers" because they looked like something from World Of Warcraft). No pattern, just me being creative & attempting to reverse-engineer them). Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Alpaca "Jet Black" #449
• Earflap hat (pattern to be decided) for Angie. Yarn: doesn't matter (just not in cream or purple).
• "Calorimetry" scarf/hat (Knitty.com Winter 2006), for Juliet. Yarn: Undecided
• "JayneHat" (pattern by http://www.jaynehat.com/, found on Craftster), for Nat. Yarn: still trying to find the right colours. When I find them, I'm making me one as well... let me know if anyone else wants one so I know how much wool to buy when I find it!
• "Diamond Lace Shrug" (Patons book #1255, "Creative Accessories 2"), for Sam. Yarn: hopefully silk, but I read somewhere that silk doesn't stretch & the pattern is a 'one size fits most' because of stretch, so I'll have to see Colour: Royal Blue.
• "Condom Critter" (Naughty Needles book), for Crowbarr. Yarn: I don't have any yarn thick enough right now & since he's not paying for yarn, I'll just wait until my scrap-yarn collection builds up a bit & mix a few yarns together. The pattern's designed to look a bit haphazard, so that'll probably work better than buying a specific yarn anyway. Colour: Brown, style: Owl.
• "Black & Bright Beret" (Scrumptious Toppings for Tots & Toddlers), for Bridget. Yarn: acrylic/wool? from Spotlight. In progress (knitted, but needs sewing alterations because it doesn't knit up right) [Note to self: this pattern is the DEVIL & contains many lies & silly (WRONG!) ways of doing things. Fix it before attempting to make another one of these hats]

Completed Projects:

• "Fancy Scrumptious Beanie" (Scrumptious Toppings for Tots & Toddlers), for Bridget. Yarn: pastel multi acrylic & white acrylic from Spotlight.
• "Elf" hat (Babyknits: Hats & Booties), for Bridget. Yarn: pink multi acrylic & white acrylic from Spotlight.
• "Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf" (Designer One-Skein Wonders book), for me. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Rustic "Midnight Tweed" #919.
• "Fishbowl Baby Hat" (Designer One-Skein Wonders book), for some baby I'm sure I will have one day. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Poseidon" #743.
• "The Wave" hand warmers (One-Skein Wonders book), for me. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Mulga" #690 (10 rounds) & Bendigo Woolen Mills Rustic "Midnight Tweed" #919 (10 rounds)
• "Cabled Headband" (One-Skein Wonders book), for me. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Alpaca "Pistachio" #458.
• "Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf" (Designer One-Skein Wonders book), for me, Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Alpaca "Pistachio" #458.
• "Shrug This" (One-Skein Wonders book), for me. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Dark Plum" #738
• "Calorimetry" scarf/hat (Knitty.com Winter 2006), for me. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Dark Plum" #738, Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Mulga" #690 & Bendigo Woolen Mills Rustic "Green Tweed" #964.
• "Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf" (Designer One-Skein Wonders book), for Jen. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Alpaca "Jet Black" #449
• "The Wave" hand warmers (One-Skein Wonders book), for Becky. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Alpaca "Grey" #444. (10 rounds)
• "The Wave" hand warmers (One-Skein Wonders book), for Angie. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Harmony "Carnation" #255 (8 rounds)
• "Hugs & Kisses With Love" (YES the pattern is really called that!) hand warmers & headband (Designer One-Skein Wonders book), for Angie. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic "Musk" #601
• "Little Green (except they'll be blue) Wristlets" (Designer One-Skein Wonders book), for Angie. Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills Rustic "Bluestone" #992
  

Current patterns being drafted/altered:

• A 1979 legwarmers pattern. I seem to have misplaced the original & cannot continue until I find it as all my notes were with it. Boo!

Food & Other Crafts:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cake
• Owl Cakes
• Bleeding Heart Cupcakes
• Knotted Baby Blankets