Saturday, October 29, 2011

Dishsoap Apron

For the sheer fun of it, I made a dishsoap apron. No, theres no pattern because I can't write a crochet pattern to save my life. But I wanted to post it for fun :)




back view

Friday, October 28, 2011

Bah Humbug Halloween

For whatever reason, this year I have not been feeling the Halloween vibe. Last year it was a kinda, but the last minute I got into the swing of things. This year, nothing. Last minute finishing costume touches for the kid. Knitted a tail last night for the parade today. I want to make some hand mitts for her with pads for fun too. I've seen adult ones but not in kid sizes. Rest assured, once I get things settled I'll be posting patterns for you. I'd like to make some dress up tails, horses, unicorns, dogs, cats etc. I just feel so very blah and unmotivated. I think because this has been such a busy month, it's killed a lot of the excitement. We didn't even get a pumpkin. I'm ready to toss the decorations back into the closet till next year already. My knitting is hitting road block after road block. I try something, it doesnt turn out and it gets frogged. I try something else and it goes to hell again. I have this itch to create but it's all going to hell. Luckily some things are still going ok, small things, but it's enough to keep me knitting. Oh and you now can find some of my handmade goodies along with an awesome chickie's unique postings on facebook and Etsy! Please become a fan of Chivalry Isn't Dead at the following links:

Chivalry Isn't Dead Etsy Shoppe

Chivalry Isn't Dead on facebook

It would mean so much if you would browse, share with your friends and family and purchase from an independent, small town crafter for the holidays. That will support the economy far more than mass purchases done in a large store. We care about each of  our customers. The joy that my friend had when she made her first sale was wonderful to see. Share that joy with the other great crafters on etsy.com :)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Illness can suck my big toe

Yep, I'm sick. I've been fooling myself into thinking I've had allergy problems for the last *ahem* week. Guess what, not working. Today it hit me like a ton of bricks, apparently it's been kept at bay since then.  What does this mean for you? Diddly, seeing as I can't share this lovely germ collection I've been given. So you get to read my deathbed adventures. Nuked the hellspawn chicken nuggets. Seeing as I used up all my culinary expertise doing that, I get to eat yesterdays Micky Dee's leftovers and cold bacon from breakfast. My knitting is sitting there due to the loss of my other size 13 needle. Of all the things, thats whats stopping me. It's been sitting there for MONTH and now I need it when I can't find it. Blah, very disappointed with myself. Been wanting to make some cables, made a simple hat but it's not cutting it. Started cable feeties (which is huge, I've made exactly 1 sock lol), they havent gotten very far (4 rows). Eyeing some fingerless mitt patterns. But that all takes more effort than I can currently summon. This is the crap. Seriously.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Uttie the stuffed Uterus!

Only picture I have, I'll remake one and post the step by steps to help you along (tech hates me)



Yes, a stuffed uterus. Why? For humor. Remember those squishy stress balls every pharmacy has? This one is just for the ladies. You can throw this one, run it over, yell, scream, and cry over it and not have to worry about hurting anyone (or breaking lamps). The pattern was written while I was making it so it is a bit rough, I'll try and clean it up for you as I go. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to comment here or on Ravelry. Oh and in some of the construction pictures the eyes are cute button eyes, but the finished project has sewn on eyes. The reason being is that after it was stuffed the eyes refused to stay in place. I had to replace them when i was making the tubes.

  • Red Heart Acrylic in Antique Rose and small amounts of light pink (odd ball, don't remember what it was) You wont be using much, so this is really and odds and ends project.
  • Small amounts of black yarn or embroidery floss. Button eyes are optional
  • Size 5 dpn (set of 4) or you can use a circular needle for magic loop, whatever your comfortable with
  • Darning needle
  • small crochet hook for picking up stitches
  • Small amount of stuffing
Gage is not crutial at all, I have no idea what mine was or how big it turned out because as soon as it was sewn, it went into a gift bag and left.

Cast on 12 sts, distribute on 3 needles (4 on each, yes easy math but sometimes you just want to go instead of do math). Work in 2x2 rib for 3 rounds.
Now comes the fun part. You'll be working in the round on 2 needles. Ive used this technique once before with the Little Hearts pattern by Stitching 'n' Knitting's Teresa Fox. I made a load of them for a class and as she puts it the "figure 8 method" makes a flat increase thats perfect for stuffing. I used that to make the increases so if your not sure, check out the pattern. She included pictures as well (I don't want to get into copyright trouble for copying her directions).

Distribute the stitches from one needle onto the other two, making sure your starting point is at the end of one needle. Once they are all lined up, begin increase rnds:
Rnd 1: kfb knit to the last stitch on the needle, kfb. repeat on the other needle -4 increases total on that round
Rnd 2: Knit even
Continue in this manner for 5 rows total. Work in st st (even knit in the rnd) for 6 more rows.
Dec rnds: Skp, knit to last 2, k2tog. Repeat for other side of uterus.
Repeat this row 3 times total - 20 sts remain
Using your darning needle, use kitchener stitch to sew the top shut.

Tubes:
Using a crochet hook, pu 4 stitches along the decreases with the right side facing you. Make the i-cord approx 1", cut uterus yarn. Using lighter pink, work one row.
Ovary:
kfb every stitch - 8 sts
knit across
k2tog across row - 4 sts
Cut yarn and draw through sts, fasten off

Repeat on other side.

Finishing:
Make a face (if desired), stuff lightly. Sew at the top of the ribbing (the cervix) to prevent stuffing from falling out. Weave in ends and there you go! Again, sorry the pattern is rough, this is actually better than my quick jotted notes :)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

The Great Purge

Fed up with how things are running in this house, I decided to clean/winter shift everything today. Bug's table had to be moved away from the heater (along with too many toys that need to be sorted again). Dust needed to be swept, couch needed to be fixed, rug needs vacuuming, windows need different curtains, etc etc, Doing fairly well, still have one window and the rug to attend to, when i notice Bugs heater isnt working. Now I know for a fact the others are working. Her's is usually the only one on upstairs because of how well it works. So looks like tomorrow I get to put in a work order for them to bleed the sucker. Which also means, you guessed it, more cleaning. I have (to put it nicely) a lived in house. Theres dirty laundry in the basket by the washer, dishes in the sink (sometimes counter and stove as well depending on the week we've had), blankets tossed instead of folded, and knitting EVERYWHERE. People know what to expect when they come over (and if they don't like it, theres the door), But these guys are here to fix stuff and I don't like the idea of near strangers having gossip fodder. I know them by first name, but other than that? Nothing else. So instead of relaxing on the couch recovering from an allergy riddled weekend (yesterday was bad, I couldnt even make dinner I was sneezing so badly), I'm scrubbing out corners. (Yes, Dear Reader, I know I'm blogging instead of cleaning. Shouldnt you be doing some chores instead of reading? Hmm?) Before I discovered the heating fluke, I decided to put away those patterns I've pulled out and never did anything more with them. You've done it, I'm sure. Intend to make something only to realize a) you didnt want to make it b) you dont have the right yarn/ingredients or c) last time you tried it, it turned out like crud. I've been pretty good at keeping my downloaded patterns limited (ok not that limited, I'm no minimalist), but the hard copies hadn't had a good culling in ages. So you guessed it, out came all the binders. Even the cross stitch wasnt spared. I had a whole pile of patterns that weren't of any further use to me. Now, what to do with them all? I could have pulled ever (stupid) staple out of them and recycled them. I've done that before with patterns that just werent working out right. But this was a sizeable stack. Including those "Take me I'm free!" things you see in the yarn aisles. Whats a tree hugger to do? Donate. Yep, they will be heading to one of my local thrift shops in hope that someone else can make them part of their pattern stash. I even thinned out a bit of yarn. So proud of myself, and yes this was after i brought home that last bag so its as bad as it was before. I'm proud of myself for letting things go, even though I loved them for a while. I'm trying to avoid being on one of those Hoarder shows honestly, bit scary thinking the same thing they were saying as to why they had so much stuff. In other news, back to the gym tomorrow! I've been pretty set on going three days a week, even though weve only been averaging 2. Off all summer and those aches really set in. I do have to say, I love dropping Bug off at school in yoga pants like some of the other moms but unlike them I have a reason to wear them that morning. And I show up in jeans that afternoon, not in the same pants (now food sprinkled), I'm not hating on people who have a reason (like any kid under a certain age at home) but if I can haul myself up and get dressed, you can too. Also, working on my Christmas knitting, way behind (especially when I need to make a granny square blanket) but seeing as our gift giving list is minimal, I think I can do it.