best knitting how to video

I was searching on YouTube the other day trying to find a video to show me how to knit a particular pattern for a project I'm working on. I didn't have any luck finding what I was looking for but I ran across this really great how to video for knitting continental style. If you are interested in learning to knit, this is the video that will get you going! I taught myself to knit using the book, Knitting for Baby. I couldn't understand knitting instructions until I happened upon that book. I also highly recommend it because it gets you started right away with projects that are beautiful and useful using just the knit stitch. This video would've been a great help too!

My latest project that I've finished after the girls legwarmers was this cable knit beanie. Last time I made it for Elle. This time I made it for me, even though I'm not really sure I can pull off the beanie look. This blurry shot is the best picture of it that I have right now and it's dark out already (even though it's not even 5:00 yet) so there won't be a better picture of it today. I wore it to the City of Lights celebration last weekend. I think I need to line it with fleece though because it was really itchy. Bummer!

legwarmers are back

After getting the Hanna Anderson catalog in the mail Elle was really wanting a pair of legwarmers. While she was at dance a few weeks ago I ran over to my favorite yarn shop and picked up a cute skein of yarn and a pair of little circular needles. They make this project a breeze!

Of course, Ava wanted a pair as soon as she saw Elle's so I'm making her a matching pair now. They are such a fun and easy project that I plan to make a few more pairs. I'd love to figure out how to make the cable knit style like the ones in the catalog. It's so fun to have girls to make stuff for! :)

knitted newsboy hat

This hat was such a fun knit. I worked on it during the drive to Nebraska last week. It was a challenge for me and I had to make a phonecall while on the road to the lady that owns the yarn shop in town but after she explained a few things it went well. I already have the yarn purchased for another one for myself. I think I'm brave enough to wear it! I better hurry up though, it's feeling very spring-like here this week. The snow is melting and the sun is shining. The kids even asked if they could do their schoolwork outside at the table on the porch. :) It's not quite that warm yet!

To read more Talk About Tuesday posts visit Lara's blog. While you're there check out some of the adorable hats she has knit for her girls lately!

knitted beanie

I stopped in the yarn shop after Thomas's orthodontist appointment this morning to pick up one skein of yarn for the lap blanket I am working on but of course left with yarn for another project too. There are a few really great yarn shops around here and everything is so tempting when you're in the store! This cute little cable knit beanie was on display and they had a yarn that perfectly matched the scarf I made for Elle last year....really how could I resist?! Plus I had never done a project involving cables so this was a great pattern to try them out on. It knitted up in about 2 hours and was very fun...so was the photoshoot! :) I think Ava Mae is going to need one too.

pretty pink washcloths

I had big plans in the spring to do lots of knitting. Remember these dresses for the girls? Well, I worked and worked on Elle's until June but then just lost interest in it. Just last weekend I finally finished knitting the tank part of her dress and now need to sew up the seams and make the skirt. Elle should be able to wear it for awhile as it seems plenty big enough and Ava will for sure get many wears out of it in a few years. I will not be making one in her size like originally planned.

I decided to make washcloths for the girls to use at bathtime with the rest of the pink cotton yarn. I love the yarn and washcloths are easy, quick projects that I can start and stop easily. I'm happy with the way they are turning out though I do have to say I don't think I've dropped so many stitches on a project before! That first washcloth took way longer than it should have because I had to keep fixing mistakes. The second one is half done now though and I haven't dropped a stitch yet.

Ava was around when I took the photo above and I couldn't resist a shot of such sweet little baby toes.

this bag is finally finished!

This morning while the kids were doing their schoolwork I finished sewing the lining in this felted bag I made quite awhile ago. It is finally completely done and ready to be used! There are plenty of mistakes with it as this was my first project to try felting and sewing knitted seams. The felting part turned out ok, the seams....not so much!

party dress

I've started on the knitted dresses for Elle and Ava that I mentioned a few days ago. The bag that I was working on is almost done. All that is left is to hand sew the lining in it and then I'll post a picture.

I am really loving the pink mercerized cotton yarn I chose for these dresses. It's fun to work on something girly and dainty for a change. The floral fabric is going to be the skirt part of the dress. I can picture them wearing them already!

knitting news

This is my current knitting project. I started it on Wednesday night and have been knitting away at it since. It is going to be a bag that I am planning on felting. I have been feeling guilty about not using this yarn. I originally bought it to coordinate with the brown felted bag that I did a couple of months ago (that I still need to sew the lining for!) and decided that it was too bright of a color for my liking on that project. So now it is going to live happily ever after with this yellowish, green color. I can't wait to get it done because it changes so much after the felting process.

When the bag is off the needles I am going to start on dresses similar to these for the girls. Aren't they adorable?! I saw a Baby Gap ad with a sweet little girl in this dress in a magazine this month and loved it right away. I remembered seeing a pattern of similar style in my Knitting For Baby book so I'm going to give it a try. What better way to try out knitting clothing since you only have to knit part of it!

more spring cleaning

Last weekend we had a couple of days around 50 degrees and so I got the spring cleaning itch....then we got more snow yesterday and it's chilly again. Oh well! I've started the cleaning so it must continue! :) Today I vacuumed the rest of the tops of the cupboards and wiped them down. I took down the curtains in the kitchen, dining room and living room since they are all the same fabric and put them in the wash. Before I hung them back up they needed a good ironing and the woodwork on and around the windows got wiped down. After that, I pulled out the refrigerator and cleaned it and the floor. Several Cheerios had found their way under there! That is all the farther I got today. You'd never know I did any of it either. It's all of the behind the scenes housework!

Tomorrow I plan to finish up the kitchen and hopefully get to some sewing. Scott is traveling again so keeping busy with these projects helps the time to go by faster. I want to make some headbands for Elle that I found here. I have found some of the greatest tutorials online that people have took the time to make and put on their blogs. I'll have to do a post sometime linking to them. I did manage to finish knitting the washcloth that I mentioned last weekend. I kept dropping stitches while I was making it and do not know how to pick them up very well so always ended up ripping out rows until I got to the dropped stitch. You can't have a washcloth with holes in it! :)

i love saturdays

Scott got home on Friday night and it is so good to have him home! We've had such a nice, relaxing weekend together. The weather has been gorgeous....in the mid to upper 40's! The snow is melting so the kids got their bikes out and have had fun riding through the puddles. They made several laps around the lake both on their bikes and on foot. Spring is in site!

Yesterday there was a big yarn sale at a shop in town just a few miles away so I stopped in and came home with these goodies! Can you tell I like the color brown?! :) The brown varigated skeins were 60% off so I bought all they had! I want to knit a shrug for myself with big needles and then see how much is left after that project. It would make a beautiful lap blanket or since it's wool I could felt with it too. The other yarn is a cotton yarn and I love to use it to knit washcloths and hot pads with fabric backs. I currently have a washcloth on the needles right now, a hotpad that is knitted but needs it's fabric back and my felted handbag needs new handles. I also have the fabric to line it now too, so as soon as these 3 projects are completed I will let myself get started on that shrug.

Yesterday afternoon I sewed this little smock for Elle. It has 2 pockets across the front for her to carry around her treasures, and she's got a lot of them! She's my child that doesn't like to throw things away and I'm the opposite! :) It has 2 ties in the back that make it very girly and sweet.

Since the weather was so great we grilled for the first time this year. We made blue cheese burgers, potato packets and roasted asparagus. It tasted so good! We call Scott our Master Griller! :) After dinner we watched the 6th episode of Star Wars which made the kids very, very happy. They absolutely love Star Wars now. They've saw episodes 4, 5, and 6. I think we will wait now though until they are a little older before we watch 1, 2, and 3. They are loving movie night so I am going to have to think back about what some of my favorite movies were as a kid and rent them so they can see them too. Leave me a comment if you think of a movie you think they would enjoy!

Well, I need to go make my family some lunch. I'll post a picture later this afternoon of my little Ava who is 11 months old today!!

knitted hot pads

Here are 2 knitted hot pads that I finished up this afternoon. I used 2 balls of cotton yarn and knit in seed stitch so that it would be thicker. I then hand sewed onto one side of the knitted piece a red polka dot fabric that had one layer of batting sewn onto it along with a ribbon loop for hanging it.

the felted bag....finally

This is the bag I've been working on since Christmas and it is finally almost done. I am going to redo the handles for it because I wasn't happy with how they turned out. I also need to buy some fabric to line the inside with then it will really be done. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Definately can tell I'm not an expert knitter when you see it up close! :)

almost ready to felt

I am done with the knitting part of my bag! I am now ready to sew it all together and then throw it in the washer to felt. I put the orangey pink colored yarn in the picture because I think that I am going to knit a flower accent to pin to the bag. I'll post a picture when it is done.

my little knitter

I was given a Knifty Knitter circular loom as a gift last year and today we pulled it out and Elle used it to knit up this hat for her baby Dorothy. (She loves the Wizard of Oz!) It was so easy! I wrapped the yarn around the pegs for her. I think that she will be able to do this herself but I did not want her to get frustrated on her first project. After the yarn was wrapped around each peg she used a little hook tool to pull the bottom loop over the top loop and off of the peg. She loved it and felt like such a big girl. I was working on a pocket for my bag (I'm getting close to being done with it!) while she knitted her hat and she said, "We're knitting girls aren't we Mom?!" :) It was a fun time together.

hand felting

I'm still working on my bag that I was knitting at Christmas. I realized today that the first pocket I made for it was going to be too small to use so I decided to just hand felt it instead of undo it. I can cut it out for a flower to pin onto the bag or something. That was hard work hand felting! The way it is done is you take your knitting and submerge it in extremely hot water (I used my teapot to heat the water on the stove) then you use a little soap and the rest is elbow grease rubbing the wool together to create friction and continuing to dip it into the hot water. You do that for 5 minutes or so and then you rinse it in cold water to lock the fibers in place then start the process over again. I did the process 5 times and am very happy with how it turned out. When I go to do the bag I'll be using my washing machine instead of doing it by hand but I'm glad that I did it at least once so that I could see the process from start to finish. It was pretty interesting.

just in time for winter

I finished knitting this scarf for Elle last night. I'd like to get some more yarn to match and then do a hat but I don't know if I will do that right away. I have a pattern for some baby booties that I want to make for Ava and I've been wanting to give felting a try on a handbag. I guess I'll decide when I go to the yarn shop and get inspired by the yarn I find. :)