Montmartre Fingerless Gloves

While watching TV, I like to do something else too.  Sometimes it is playing Candy Crush and Words With Friends on my iPad, and at other times I actually do something constructive like knitting.  

This week, I completed a pair of Montmartre Fingerless Gloves.  This is such a lovely pattern, with nice details and a faux cable.  No cable needle required!  A skein of Knit Picks Brava Worsted yarn in Cornflower color was used.   My only slight disappointment in the project is that the yarn is acrylic, not wool.  I much prefer to work with a wool, it feels so much softer and warmer.  

Earlier this year, I completed a pair using a skein of Maxima by Manos del Uruguay.  This is an extremely soft merino wool, and I love the variation of color.   

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

OpArt Baby Blanket

Finally finished the OpArt Baby Blanket that I cast-on about two and a half years ago!  Don't look too close at some of my poor knitting skills.   This was a project which I started soon after learning to knit, and I made some mistakes along the way.  

The free OpArt pattern is really fun and easy to knit, and available on knitty.com.  You begin in the center and knit in the round, adding four stitches each row, until you have over 550 stitches.  Even though the pattern is to knit in a garter stitch alternating knit and purl rows, I chose to simply knit all rows in a stockinette stitch.  The final two rows of black on the outer edge are a garter stitch to prevent rolling and ensure that the blanket lays flat.  Yarn used is Swish DK from Knit Picks in Coal and White.  

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

Flemish Block Cowl

Found a new blog last week, Balls to the Walls Knits, and it has quite a few patterns which require just a single skein of yarn.  And there is no charge for the patterns.  This is what I have been looking for because I seem to have several single skeins which I bought because I thought they were just so pretty, but did not have a project in mind.  So now I intend to work through my "stash" of yarn and complete some items.  

This Flemish Block Cowl was my first time doing any kind of "lace" pattern and I really like the look of it.  The stitches are divided into roughly three sections, with the middle section worked with the Flemish Block pattern.  It was interesting to knit, and much easier than I expected.

Not sure why my cowl is so much smaller around than the sample shown on the blog, as I used the same size needles and cast-on the same number of stitches.  Anyway, I am happy with the smaller size even if it does not have as much of a "lace" look to it. 

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

Felted Market Bag

Finally finished my most intensive knitting project to date.  It is a very brightly colored bag and I love using it!

Our local knitting shop had a class for a Felted Farmer's Market Bag designed by Kristin Nicholas.  I just loved it, so had to take the class.  My mother, who is an expert seamstress, was kind enough to sew linings for the bags with a fun dotted material I found that coordinates with the wool beautifully.  She included interior pockets all the way around, so the bag is very handy to use.

Even though it has been several months, I have finally completed not just ONE bag, but TWO bags!  For my project, I selected very bright colors complemented with black.  When I realized that I would use less than half of each skein for the project, I decided to just knit two bags.  The second bag is a gift for a dear friend who is also a knitter, so I know she will appreciate the work. 

To start the project, seven colors of wool are knit into triangle shapes and then connected to complete a circle for the base of the bag.

Then stitches are picked up around the outside of the circle and 80 rows are knitted, alternating colors of wool.  When the knitting is complete, the project is very large.  These are the two bags after the knitting was finished.  For a size comparison, those are yardsticks in the photo.

Just to be silly, this is one of the bags covering my head, shoulders, and upper arms.  The knitted project was very large before felting!

To felt, each bag was put into a pillow case and then washed in hot water to shrink the wool and create the felted fabric.  Wool dries very slowly.  So, I placed a dinner plate into the bottom to shape the wool and then placed each plate on top of a bottle of wine.  These had to sit on the counter for a couple of days to dry completely.  My family was very puzzled when they saw the strange objects in the kitchen.

Leather straps, purchased from Homestead Heirlooms were used to complete the bags.  

Felted Slippers

Finally finished some ballet flat felted slippers which I started in March.  All of the actual knitting was finished months ago, but I was intimidated to sew the pieces together and then throw them in the washing machine to felt.  

I have taken about a dozen photos of them trying to get a good representation.  Have tried inside and outside in shade and sunlight, both modeled on feet and by themselves.  For some reason, the camera keeps blurring the felted fabric, so I finally gave up and decided this is the best picture.  The others are very strange looking.  

All of the pieces before sewing them together and felting.  This is actually a very easy project to knit, and the finished slippers are soft and comfy. 

The Felted Slippers pattern is available online from French Press Knits.  

Surprise - It's a Jacket

This piece of knitting was quite a challenge for me.  I was intrigued with Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket and wanted to give it a try.  The instructions are written for someone more experienced and very comfortable with knitting.  Fortunately, our local library had a DVD by Meg Swanson showing how to complete each step of the pattern.  The knitting itself is not really difficult, and I was able to complete it with help from the video instructions.


When the knitting is complete, you have a strange piece with some interesting bulges.

Simply flip up each side, sew the shoulder seams and SURPRISE, you have a baby jacket!  This is difficult to envision with the pictures, and believe me it is a surprise that it turns into a jacket.

The yarn is Felici from Knit Picks.  It is self-striping and was wonderful to work with.  It is so soft, and machine washable.  Finding buttons was a bit of a challenge.  Went to four different stores, and could not find a good selection anywhere.  Finally, remembered that I had the perfect size wooden buttons with my Close To My Heart embellishments.  They worked perfectly for the jacket. 

Avery modeling his jacket.  Unfortunately, his Nana did not have the buttons sewn on yet. 



   

A Rubber Chicken!

A silly knitting project to share.  Saw this cutie on the KnitPicks blog and just had to give it a try.  The pattern can be downloaded for free from the KnitPicks site.  Following directions for the different chicken "pieces" was challenging, and I was proud of myself for being able to follow along and complete it.  Really wish I had sewed the legs on a bit more to the side of the body instead of straight out the back end.  The chicken is about 6" long, stuffed with polyfill and really silly looking. 

A top view of my rubber chicken.

And all the rubber chicken "pieces" before becoming a complete chicken.

Knitted Jack-o-Lanterns

Aren't these adorable little jack-o-lanterns?  This is the first 'cutsey' thing that I have knitted.  They were really quick and easy.  And the fun part was waiting for them to be delivered to my daughter at college as a surprise.  She loves them!  The embroidered faces are not the best, but I am still really happy with the way they turned out.