wizard double knitting

I didn’t really mean to take such a long break from blogging, but I’m back. I have been doing some knitting and crafting during my blogging slumber, so I should more coming up soon.

Here is the belated birthday present I made for Lars. His birthday was in November and I was almost done then but I decided that I didn’t like the yarn and the way it draped so I started over and finished a few months ago. This is the Lion Brand “LB Collection Superwash Merino” yarn in Cayenne and Dijon.

The colors are closest to the colors the scarfs in the first two movies, but the stripes look more like those in the later movies. The book doesn’t go into a lot of detail about the pattern or quality of the knitting so I had to go with the movie appeal.  The 6th book (Half-blood Prince) is out in the photo because Lars is reading it to me at bedtime (so sweet) as we get ready to see the new movie next week. We are a little bit excited for the movie- but we’ll be going in our muggle clothing.

I wanted to double knit this so it would have that nice finished quality on both sides, but after trying to teach myself for a week in September last year I decided that I needed to just do it any way I could fast so I would be done by Lars’ birthday in November. So I knitted it in the round with a purl stitch at the end of each side (2 purl stitches per round evenly spaced) so that the fabric turns and lays flat. I didn’t finish it in time anyway- but it was fast and easy to knit. Maybe too easy and that’s why it was kind of boring and hard to finish. Sorry Lars.

I don’t love knitting scarfs but I like the way it looks finished and I love having lots of handmade scarfs around. I think it turned out well- and Lars looks very stunning wrapped up in it. You may not know this, but Lars has a scar on his forehead in the same place that Harry Potter does, and he wears glasses. I think he really is a wizard.

Some day I hope to knit like Mrs. Weasely.

nook

This is the after result of organizing my art/ sewing nook in the bedroom.

I added EKBY VALTER brackets with the EKBY TRYGGVE shelf (x3). I also put up a BYGEL rail with ASKER containers- the while bulbus containers haninging from the rail. I love them and have coveted them since IKEA started selling them. The clear boxes on the top shelf are fabric scraps organized by color. The yarn shelf actually looked better before the magazines and books inturupted the spectrum, but I was afraid of putting to much weight on the bottom shelf. It would be nice for the yarn to actually be in baskets by color too so that there would be less of the clutter factor visually, and so that they wouldn’t tumble off the shelf when I put something down.

Below is the before. Clearly I have more work space and better access to my supplies (ie the fabric isn’t under the bed). It’s nice to have a workspace that I can use too. Some of the art stuff is still in very hard to reach places in the closet, but this is about the best use of the space so far.

Knitted covers for all

I’ve long thought that all inatimate objects are happier with knitted covers. Lars requested a cover for the old headphones and when I finally decided to go ahead and do it, the knitting really only took part of an afternoon. I had to start over a few times to get the right number of stitches cast on and then decreased fast enough but after that it was a piece of cake- and very small. Small (almost) always mean fast for knitting.

Other than this, I can’t say that I’ve done a lot of projects in my absence from blogging recently. I have been working (on and off) feverishly on Lars’ birthday present that I never finished. Sorry Lars, I love you more than an unfinished scarf can express.  I also organized my sewing/ art nook so I feel like my unfinshed projects are more evident, and I think this is actually a catalyst to finish them before buying more yarn or fabric. Ecept for the yoga matt mag that I really want to sew, and…..

the birds are everywhere

Spool bird mobile

Birds do seem to be everywhere in the crafty world. Even though I think of someone that doesn’t like to follow trends (I learned the viola instead of the violin in 5th grade because it seemed unique and unconventional) I really like the birds. Eventually the birds will fall out of hipsterdome, but for now I can’t get over their cuteness.

I happened upon the Spool bird mobile at ohdeedoh. It’s freaking amazing and I really want to make a bird mobile now. I think the bird softies would look good as a bird wreath too. I’ve always been fascinated by mobiles, so this is an amazing combination of mobile, softie, and natural texture (the sticks) all in one.

We are currently without a camera since our little POS (”point and shoot” or other words you could think of) digital camera hit the dust. Actually it hit the cement in the processes of saving Martha Stewart Living from a mud puddle. We may get another similar camera while we’re saving for a nice camera. Hopefully I will be able to take pictures of some of the projects soon and post about them.

Baaaaaaaa…wheeeeeeeee! (the sound of a sheep on wheels)

Introducing Nelson. He likes to roam the hills, especially down hills, eat grass and sing folk songs.

I have been planning this critter in my head for a long time and it worked almost as planned. I think the next versions will have a different shape so that the axels and wheels fit better into the structure of the body. They will introduce themselves when they arrive.

Right now Nelson is enjoying the sun and fresh air coming in the window. He longs to be outside and it’s a perfect day for running, but there is tatertot hotdish in the oven for a potluck tonight. I guess Neslon and I will be doing yoga inside instead.