Show N Tell: Nancy's Entry

 
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I wanted to understand illusion knitting for a long time. I never thought that my first attempt at it would be to design an illusion pattern, but I wanted something really special for a knitting friend for Christmas. After some trial and error, I was really happy with the final result.

The scarf is my own design. It took a while to figure out how to design illusions, though. Some of my first attempts were amusing. I started with the "HO HO HO" panel. The design takes shape on the wrong side of the work, therefore, I was thinking that I had to reverse the letters to make it come out right on the public side - WRONG. My first attempt actually said "OH OH OH". Frog it... On the Christmas tree panel, the tree ended up being VERY skinny and VERY tall. Ok - frog it.

Once I got the pattern to look right, I thought it was smooth sailing - WRONG AGAIN. If you don't reverse the design at the middle of the neck for the 2nd side, the scarf ends up with all the panels going the same direction, therefore, when worn, one side will be upside-down. Frog it...

I'm in the process of designing several other illusion patterns. If you are interested in purchasing this pattern or any other illusion patterns, please email me at nancy@3rdm.net.



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This bag was a test knitting project for a friend. She designed the pattern and I wanted to use some more vibrant colors than the muted tones she had used on her prototype. I started dying wool for this project. I love the result I got with the Wilton cake dyes. The green, blue and yellow are cake dyes. The red was some red wool I had left over from another project. I just couldn't dye wool to make the red turn out. I got a wide range of pinks and purples, but no red, so I used Lamb's Pride instead.

This bag was a lot of fun to make. I really love the decreases on the bottom. I really enjoyed the chance to practice "knitting backwards" so I didn't have to turn my work every time I needed to purl. Entrelac can drive you crazy if you don't learn to knit backwards.

Friday Already??!!

I can't believe it is Friday already. Geez time really flies by doesn't it! I get to work 7am to 5pm today so I should be nice and pooped when I get home. The good thing is I actually get the whole weekend off! Tomorrow should be a pretty full day. I'll be going to my knitting group meeting in the morning and I have a class at that God awful antique shop from 3-5. I can't wait! I wonder what tea we'll get to drink. Ooooooooooh I'm so excited! I can't say that I have ever been excited about going to work before now. It's too bad I can't do this for a living.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing on Sunday. Maybe I'll just get to work on Shedir. I have two more pattern repeats left before I start decreasing. Don't let how long it is taking me to finish this hat discourage you from trying it. I only get about an hour or so a night of knitting. I could see this hat being finished in less than a week if I had more knitting time. Ideally, I would love to get Shedir finished by Monday. That's some pretty wishful thinking. We'll see what happens.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I have another great Show N Tell lined up for Monday. Remember anyone can participate. All you have to do is email me at faerycrafty1 @ yahoo.com with a picture of your project and write up a little something about it. It doesn't have to be knitting. It can be any craft. See you Monday!

My Brother

My brother is coming home from Iraq in March!! Yay!! He's coming down here so that he can go on a cruise with his wife. I am getting them Disney tickets so that they can have the greatest time possible. I can't wait to see him and hug him!!! You all have heard me talk about Nick before. I figured that I ought to put a face with a name and share some pictures with you. This is my brother Nick with his wife Emily and children Nate(left) and Ben. What a beautiful family! Don't ya think!

These pictures were taken when he was on leave from Iraq. I think he got to spend two weeks at home and meet his son Nate for the first time. This next picture brings tears to my eyes every time I look at it. He looks so loving holding his son in his arms yet so sad that he has to leave him to go back to war. Could he be wondering if he would ever get to hold him again?


I know in my heart that God will bring him back to us all safe and sound! He has so many people praying for him. I told him that we have prayed a bubble right around his helicopter, and that nothing will ever touch him. Thanks to everyone who has sent happy thoughts and prayers his way. He really appreciates it, and I truely think it makes him feel safer. 

and the rest...

Ok so where was I? Oh yes, I taught my first lesson at the antique/bead shop last night. I had a wonderful time, and I can't believe I actually got paid to do it! First of all the shop is actually this huge, beautiful, pink Victorian house that is richly decorated and full of the most beautiful antiques you have ever seen. I'm not the best writer in the world, but I'll try to describe the evening as best I can.

She walked me into the kitchen that is equally as exquisite as the rest of the house. This is where they serve tea throughout the day, and one wall has shelves full of the different gourmet teas that they offer. They carry so many different types of tea that you could probably have a different flavor for every day of the month, and they create this wonderful scent in the kitchen adding to the pleasant experience. She tells me this is also where classes are held. What? Isn't that just awful?! I have to teach a class and spend two hours in this comfy, fabulous kitchen surrounded by delicate china and sweet smelling teas. Then you are going to pay me for my trouble? Ask me later how to act completely professional on the outside while jumping up and down, doing happy dances, and squealing like a teenager on the inside. Maybe I should teach a class on that.

My student showed up and we all sat around the table sipping tea from intricately patterned antique teacups (yes the woman even served us some of the gourmet tea. can you say spoiled!) and discussed all that the session would entail. I like to sit and chat for a bit so that I can find out what my student's goals are. Some students only want to learn the knit stitch to make scarves, while some want to learn anything and everything they can. I get way more excited about the latter. This student's main goal is to learn the skills necessary to create preemie hats and booties to donate to hospital where she works. I liked her right away.

Needless to say this was the best class I have ever taught by far. The atmosphere was incomperable, and as if it couldn't get any better my student was a dream. She picked up knitting like it was second nature. Her stitches were nice and even, and they weren't too tight or too loose. She had those Goldy Locks kind of stitches, juuuuuuuust right. Heehee. Ok I'm silly. Seriously though folks, can you believe I got PAID to do this????

Do you think I'll be going back? You bet your patooty I will be! As a matter of fact we have already scheduled a class for this Saturday. I told her to practice her knitting and purling all week long and to start looking for patterns she would like to make. I'm convinced that she'll be knitting hats in no time. She is a fast learner and very enthusiastic which makes all the difference.

Inez asked for advice on how to get started teaching knitting classes. I'm not sure if this is how everyone goes about doing it, but this what I did. After I gained confidence in my abilities I went to my local craft store and inquired if they had a knitting teacher. I brought in examples of my work and a copy of a basic syllabus I wrote up. I joined a yahoo group for knitting teachers, and did some research online and in books. I had already taught several people how to knit successfully so I was confident that I could at least teach the basic classes. After getting more comfortable with teaching, I began to offer other types of classes like pattern reading, cables, and most recently a design your own poncho class. The way I see it is that if you can do it, you can teach it. The most important thing to remember is have patience! Also, the Craft Yarn Council of America offers a Certified Knitting Instructor program that you can complete in a Correspondence Program. I hope this helps :)

Well it's time for dinner. My tummy is growling and the smells coming from the oven are making my mouth water. Can't....concentrate....must....eat...food

The Class

I taught my first class at the antique/bead shop last night. I have a lot more to tell, but I have to head out the door for work. More later...

Show N Tell: Cindy's Entry

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The beautiful shawl above was knit by one of the wonderful ladies in my knitting group, Cindy. Woohoo I get to see it in person!
She writes...

I made this with a 4 ply wool using Pat Ashford's book "Muffler Mathmatics". It uses a math equation similar to EZ's percent system. I enjoyed making it, and it is certainly big enough and warm.
Cindy

Friday!

What does a person who works too much need? How about another job!! I got a call from that bead shop yesterday, and they have some people dying to learn how to knit. I just have to give them my schedule and we'll set up prices and times. I tried to call today, but I wasn't able to reach anyone. I'll try again tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

As you can see, I've managed to find time to knit on Shedir. I think that if I had more time to knit that I would be able to whip this out in a few days. This week my knitting time has been scarce, but she's growing little by little. I must say that I am really enjoying working on this hat. Cables are too much fun! It's weird how some of the stitches look funky in this picture. They really aren't that uneven in person. Maybe it's a trick of light. Yeah that's the ticket!

I hope that you all have a great weekend. I have another incredible Show N Tell coming up on Monday. I don't know about you, but I am just loving this! If you would like to participate email me at faerycrafty1 at yahoo dot com. Send in a picture(s) and write up a little something about the project(s). Don't be shy! See you on Monday!

Rest and Stuff

I had a great day today doing nothing. Actually I wasn't really doing nothing. I did get some stuff accomplished. First of all I went through my bookmarks of free pattern sites and found about 190 bag links. This really and truly was not a lot of work, because I have already bookmarked all the sites I know that have free patterns.

After I hunted around, I went over to Rachel's websites CrochetPatternCentral.com and KnittingPatternCentral.com to see what I had missed. She has the most free pattern links I have ever seen in my life. In all actuality I could have just given you the link to her bag page, but then that would take all the fun out of hunting them down. Also there is the slightest minute possibility that I would find a pattern link that she doesn't have which would be a nice way to pay her back for all the links she has given me. You rock Rachel!

I got some more knitting done on Shedir while my husband drove us to pick up his new suit. You better believe pictures are coming of him in it! Goodness gracious sakes alive he looks good in that thang! I have never seen him in a suit even on our wedding day (We had quite the hippy wedding. I was barefoot)so it was a big deal to me.

Cherry is completely finished now and in serious need of a lint roller to get all the blasted cat hair off of it. Zoe says,"You mean that isn't supposed to be on there Momma? I shed it just for Misti!" I was going to post a picture of it tonight, but then I thought it would be better to get a picture of my sister with it :) She's coming tomorrow!! You will also finally get to see how Ribby turned out. Yippee!

I hope everyone has a great day. I want to do some more pattern hunting (I just know there is a rock that hasn't been unturned) and then I will start listing the patterns. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get them all posted. I'll probably be MIA for the next couple of days. I'll be soaking up my family until Monday! I have to get a year's worth of lovin' in! Have a great weekend! See you for sure on Monday with a new Show N Tell!

PS. Voting ends on Monday which just so happens to be my birthday. You can vote once every 24 hours up until then. Thanks so much for all of your votes so far. You are all awesome!

Back Up

Blogdrive was down so that they could upgrade their servers, but now we are all back up and running. Yay! Enjoy Show N Tell :) Brenda's bag is beautiful!!

Show N Tell: Brenda's Entry

This bag came from a Knitability kit. It is the smallest of three bags fulled. Never one to follow the directions exactly, I elimated the shaping and used a zipper instead of the snap closure provided with the kit. This was a fun and quick project, I finished it in about a week and learned entrelac and how to make an I-Cord in the process.

Picure attached, I hope it resized properly. I am using a new camera and new software. Let me know if it comes out ok.

Peace,
Brenda

Books!

All these great books came in the mail for me today right before I had to leave for work. They are Christmas presents bought by my family from my wish list. I was jumping up and down in my living room when my husband walked in with them. Just in case you can't read the titles I will list them for you starting clockwise from the top left book.

The Sweater Workshop
by Jaqueline Fee

For the Love Of Knitting
A Celebration of the Knitter's Art
Contributors include Melanie Falick, Elizabeth Zimmerman,
Meg Swansen, and Susan Gordon

Knit and Crochet with Beads
by Lily M. Chin

Southern Fried Divorce
by Judy Conner

Stitch 'n Bitch Nation
by Debbie Stoller

Knitting on the Edge
by Nicky Epstein

I haven't had the chance to look at any of these yet, and I can't wait until I can!! Unfortunately, I don't get a day off until Tuesday. Wasn't my last day off last Tuesday? Does it make me a whimp to say that it is really hard working six straight days with no day off? I'm tired! I get to work the over night shift from 8pm to 5am Monday night which means I'll probably sleep through my whole darn day off.

That's ok though, I get three days off in a row for my birthday! Woohooo!! Can it get any better than that? Oh yes it can! My mom, my sister Misti, and her kids are coming to spend the weekend with me! I haven't seen them in about a year, and I cried so hard when they got snowed in and couldn't come for Christmas. Keep your fingers crossed that nothing comes between us this time! Well it's late and I have to get up early. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'll see you on Monday with the second Show N Tell.

Awwwwwwww!!

Before I head off for bed I just have to show you this little cutey patooty! My friend Janette bought her as a Christmas present for her daughter. Ok all together now.... Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!

Cute Picture

I thought that you would enjoy this picture that my grandma sent me. It is of her and her boyfriend Terry right before they headed out for a night on the town in The Keys. They are modeling Spicey and Hot Stuff. Too cute!

She really loves the scarves I make her, and I love making them for her. I have a project in mind for her that involves the black fun fur I bought the other night. If you want to know about it, contact me (link is on the sidebar) and I'll send you the link to the pattern. For now it is a secret. Shhhhhhhhhhh!

Show N Tell: Jenn's Entry

This is a scarf that I knitted up pretty fast. In like a day or two. I used size 13 needles I think and the yarn is TLC Macaroon. And the color is Granite. I ordered the yarn from Herrschners. It only took one 3 oz/115 yd ball of yarn. This was just straight knitted too.

I made this scarf out of yarn that was left over from a shawl that I made a while back. I was going through my closet and got bored, so I pulled it out and made up the pattern. I'm sure there is a pattern of this around somewhere, its not that hard. Oh by the way, this scarf was crocheted, guess I should mention that. Also I used a size J hook. The yarn I used was some kind of baby yarn. I'm not really quite sure what it is called, since I just had the ball of yarn in my closet. I have the name of it somewhere, but it would take much digging to find it :)

This is a close up of that scarf. Sorry my pictures are so awful. Bad camera!

I have made this purse before, but it came out pretty big. I was making it for my boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend)'s sister. I'm thinking about still giving it to her. Bc she still deserves it. I shouldn't do that to her for us having problems. But I still have to put the lining in this one. The first one I made, came out too big, so that is why I made another one, and this one came out just right I think. I used Baby Coordinates for this purse. I think that is made by Bernat. But not totally sure. Here is the pattern. I think I used an I hook also.

Here is a close up of the purse

Hope ya'll enjoyed. Sorry again the pictures were bad. I need to get a new camera badly. Hope you have a great New Years, and have a great year!

 

Jenn