Brief, Random Things
1. The annual aikido barbeque was last Saturday. Lots of fun. The highlight was the aikido version of a piñata, where blindfolded participants wielded a bokken (wooden sword) and tried to chop a watermelon in half.
2. Crocheted a mooncake, stealing the idea from a sewing book I blogged about. Mooncakes are eaten during the mid-autumn festival.
3. Am knitting a seamless hippo toy. Yes, another toy. I knit mostly toys and socks, because as a child I resented wearing the scratchy sweaters my mom made. She put a lot of work into her hand-knits, but rough wool against the skin can turn you off sweaters for life.
The hippo pattern is from Kids' Knits and Crochet, a vintage book I scored from a thrift store and blogged about a while ago.
Seamless, but lots of picking up stitches. Basically, you knit a wedge for the butt (the short side is the top of the hippo), then pick up stitches all around and knit in the round. Place the leg-hole sts on holders, then knit the crotch strip back-and-forth. Knit the back back-and-forth. Cast on stitches for the other sides of the leg holes, join these with the crotch and back stitches and knit in the round. Repeat for the forelegs, then it's smooth sailing for the head. Grafting for the snout, then more picking up sts for the legs - should be a piece o' cake (I know, I know - famous last words).
4. I bought Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac today. It's a little book, not expensive at all, but packed with entertaining anecdotes and innovative patterns. Lots of bang for the buck. I bought this one for the re-footable sock pattern (I can't resist new methods of sock construction), but I think I might actually try doing one project per month, like blogger Bluestocking.
5. Rosemary's Gift Shop has selected my One-Seam Bear pattern for their "Operation Sunshine" charity knitting project. Read about it here.
2. Crocheted a mooncake, stealing the idea from a sewing book I blogged about. Mooncakes are eaten during the mid-autumn festival.
3. Am knitting a seamless hippo toy. Yes, another toy. I knit mostly toys and socks, because as a child I resented wearing the scratchy sweaters my mom made. She put a lot of work into her hand-knits, but rough wool against the skin can turn you off sweaters for life.
The hippo pattern is from Kids' Knits and Crochet, a vintage book I scored from a thrift store and blogged about a while ago.
Seamless, but lots of picking up stitches. Basically, you knit a wedge for the butt (the short side is the top of the hippo), then pick up stitches all around and knit in the round. Place the leg-hole sts on holders, then knit the crotch strip back-and-forth. Knit the back back-and-forth. Cast on stitches for the other sides of the leg holes, join these with the crotch and back stitches and knit in the round. Repeat for the forelegs, then it's smooth sailing for the head. Grafting for the snout, then more picking up sts for the legs - should be a piece o' cake (I know, I know - famous last words).
4. I bought Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac today. It's a little book, not expensive at all, but packed with entertaining anecdotes and innovative patterns. Lots of bang for the buck. I bought this one for the re-footable sock pattern (I can't resist new methods of sock construction), but I think I might actually try doing one project per month, like blogger Bluestocking.
5. Rosemary's Gift Shop has selected my One-Seam Bear pattern for their "Operation Sunshine" charity knitting project. Read about it here.
posted by ax174 at
2:28 PM
