Lightening Online

I have finally finished off a few of the projects I’ve had on the go recently.  AND I have managed, with some help from both Snoskred and Meg (thank you both) to get some pictures into this post that don’t resemble the plant from “Little Shop of Horrors”.  Remember that plant that grew so big it took over the shop?  Wel, that’s what my photo’s were doing to my blog!!!!  Aaaaaarrrrrhhhhhh…..  But I think we’re on the right track now.  Phew!  If you’d like to see a larger version of the photo, simply click on it and it will take you to a page where the photo is a little bit easier to see without the aid of a magnifying glass. 

The first one is the felted bags I made for my nieces with the knifty knitter.  I have now completely finished them including purchasing their contents.  Now to wrap them and send them off in time for Christmas.

Each bag contains:

1.  a new handkerchief
2. foldable brush with mirror
3. notepad
4. barbie gel pen
5. bracelet
6.  lip gloss
7. large packet of lifesavers

Hopefully a good mix of practical and fun things.  I hope my nieces get as much fun from them as I have had making them! 

This one is my first EVER knitting needle project that isn’t a basic square or rectangle!

I’ve done a few dishcloths using the needles and found some wool and a pattern book for dolls clothes in the op shop so I had a go at this project.  I have to admit I’m VERY happy with how it has turned out.  It’s amazing the things we can learn to do when we just have enough faith in ourselves to give it a try. 

Hopefully DD will really enjoy getting this for Christmas, knowing that I made it especially for her.  I had planned to knit a couple of outfits but underestimated how many hours it would take knitting on such thin needles as I did with this project.  There are a LOT of hours in this little dress.  But also a lot of LOVE. 

Well here it is - my first afghan, knitted using one of my circle looms. Boy, I sure have a better appreciation of the investment of time placed in hand-made items now. I lost count of the number of hours it took me to knit this. And a loom is the fast way of producing a knitted item. I hate to think how long it would take me to knit using needles. But I had a LOT of fun doing it so the time doesn’t really count does it?

How do you knit an afghan on a circle loom? Well this one is done in 5 separate strips which are then sewn together. I’ve done it in Crows colours for my little Crows fan.

I love the pattern that using 2 strands of the same coloured yarn produces on the loom. All I used was the basic e-wrap stitch (well that’s about the only stitch I know how to do so far lol).

It seems to be a hit with my 9 year old. Usually you can’t go wrong with anything in his football teams colours. Now my 3 year old wants me to make him one. Only I don’t have enough yarn left to do that. Maybe I’ll do something for him after summer (ready for next winter).

If anyone wants to try making one of these and needs further instructions, just let me know.

Well the bags for my nieces are now almost finished. They both have unusual names so I liked the idea of putting their names onto the bags. My thinking being that with unusual names, they may not have much with their own name on it. However, with issues of stranger danger, I didn’t want someone to see their names if they were out and about and use that as a way to become too familiar with them. So I decided to place their first initial on the front of the bag and their names under the flap where they get to see them but if they’re out, no one else can see it.

I’m really happy with how they have turned out and DD has already asked me if I can make her one too. At the moment I’m trying to work out if I can make her one while she is at school and give it to her for Christmas.

I bought the glitter fabric paint and love heart buttons from Spotlight. The sequins were some that I had in my “stash” already. I’ve found the process of making these bags so special. I hope they get as much enjoyment from them as I’ve had making them. And of course, there is more fun to come as I look around for some special things to put inside.

After I bought my knifty knitter, I went searching online for ideas on what could be done with it. It was then that I came across the idea of felting.

Basically you take a woollen item (it needs to be wool and apparently not all wools work either) and wash it in hot water and it not only shrinks but the fibres all kind of matt together to give a felted appearance. Well it sounded kind of interesting to me so I decided I’d like to give it a try with some bags I was making on one of my knifty knitter looms.

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product before the felting process.

I knitted them on the red knifty knitter loom (which is the second smallest round loom in my set), using all but 8 of the pegs. I used 2 strands of 8-ply wool together - 1 pink and 1 lavender in colour. Then just used a basic e-wrap stitch back and forth until I had approximately double the length I wanted. Then I started to decrease gradually to make a shaped piece for the flap section of the handbag.

So far I have made 3 of these and because I’m not following a specific pattern, each one of them is different. I like the idea of no two being exactly the same.

For the handle I wrapped in a figure 8 movement around 2 pegs (again using the 2 different coloured strands held together as if 1). I made that up as I went along and it made quite a neat tube. Everything was then sewn together and trimmed etc before the felting process

Being the kind of person who doesn’t like to follow recipes and instructions too specifically, I also made up my own variation for the felting process. LOL. You never know what I’m going to end up with when I experiment.

I soaked the bag in boiling water for around 20-30 minutes and then threw them in with my regular light load wash. I usually wash the light load on a 60C cycle so it’s warm but not hot hot. The heat is supposed to somehow open up the fibres so that they’ll be more susceptible to matting (I think).

Here’s what they look like once the felting process is complete:

I don’t know how easy it is for you to see the difference. None of my projects have come out 100% felted yet. Probably due to my lack of scientific approach to the process. LOL. But I don’t mind really as it kind of adds to the character of the bag - continuing on with my “no 2 bags look the same” theme.

Here is another shot of the felted bag. I’m really happy with the way the 2 colours have melded together.

The other great benefit I’ve noticed with the felting is that it helps cover any little mistakes! All the stitching becomes a part of the overall piece as well. So it’s perfect for someone like me who’s just starting out and wants to make something that looks “nice”.

My plan for 2 of the bags are as Christmas gifts for my nieces. We don’t see them very often as they live in another state. I’m hoping when they see them it’ll remind them of us and that even though we’re a long way away, we love and cherish them dearly. At the moment I’m working on some little embellishments to finish them off. When I’m done, I’ll post some more pics for you to see how they’ve turned out.

Then I need to do some shopping for some small items to put inside. I’ve already purchased an Avon Little Blossom lip gloss for each of them. I’m not sure what else I might put inside. If you have any suggestions, feel free to add them to the comments section.

If anyone is interested in taking up loom knitting, I noticed that the current spotlight catalogue has a set of 4 looms for just under $10 (on sale). That’s quite a bit cheaper than what I paid for mine although they are a cheaper brand - I’m sure they’d still work just as well though.

I have a few other ideas I want to try out using the felting process - I’ll keep you posted as I go!

I succumbed today and bought the new knitting series that has just come out in Newsagents. I thought I was good the other day resisting temptation but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I would like needle knitting now that I’ve gotten quite attached to loom knitting. I learnt to knit as a child but it wasn’t something that really grabbed me at the time and wasn’t something I ever thought I’d try again.

So I spent the whole $2.95 to get the knitting needles (although I do already have a pair), 2 small balls of wool and the instructions for getting started. The instructions were what I was really after. It’s been toooooo long since I tried knitting to remember even the basics.

I’ve just given it a try and decided that I still prefer the loom knitting. It seems so much easier than trying to co-ordinate what feels like half a dozen items (but in reality is only 2 needles and 1 ball of wool). LOL. I’m not discounting the idea altogether. One problem I’m having with the loom knitting is that the cast on row is very loose. That’s okay for some things but not so great for others. I’d like to try knitting my own facewashers and dishcloths sometime and can’t see that working very well on the knifty knitter (loom) - unless I somehow learn a new way to cast on. So I think I will knit a few basic things with the needles and then see where to from there.

Knitting - I think I might make this number 3 on my “101 things I thought I’d never do” list.

Here is a picture of my latest project on my looms:

A pair of slippers in Crows colours for DS. The younger DS was very excited about these and insisted that he needed some too (even though he already owns a pair of slippers). In fact, every time he saw me not knitting his slippers he reminded me that I needed to do them. So he now has a matching pair. Well, actually I changed the design a little on his and made them higher at the top (and of course his feet are not as long). I copied a sock pattern for the heel and the toe but the rest of the slipper was just guess work so it’s all a bit of a work in progress.

I’m now working on a small handbag for my nieces for Christmas. Again, no pattern. So it’s taking a bit of nutting out to get it how I want it. It is quite satisfying when a project does come together though. I like the fact that I can make some practical things with this hobby.

Well DD is very excited this morning as I’ve finished her wrap and she’s proudly wearing it to church. Here’s a photo of her wearing the wrap.

For those of you who are into knifty knitting. I used the green loom and a basic e-stitch back and forward until I had the desired length (took 2 balls of feathers yarn). I didn’t have any wool to use with the feathers yarn and I think because of that this wrap is likely to stretch a little. It is a very lightweight wrap though which is great for DD.

Chicken Wraps and Knitted Wraps. Not a good idea to get them mixed up either. Not sure my knitted wrap would taste all that great and I try hard not to wear my chicken wrap (although they do have a reputation for being a tad messy lol).

I’ll start with the knitted kind first. Here’s a few photo’s of my completed project. I’m trialling them in a small size this time. If you want to see the photo up close, just click on it and you’ll get a full page view.

This is the wrap I’ve just finished making. I used 1 strand of 8 ply black wool and 1 strand of black feathers yarn (held together as if they were a single strand). The loom used was the yellow loom (largest one) and used in a back and forward motion (as opposed to going around and around the loom) using all pegs. I wrapped using an “e” stitch (the only stitch I know how to do so far LOL) - wrapping 2 pegs and then skipping 1, wrapping 2, skipping 1 and so on. I just stitched until it was as long as I wanted then finished it off with the most basic method for finishing a flat item. A very simple project (which is what I wanted given I’ve just started).

Here is me modelling the wrap. I wore it to church this morning and it was beautiful and warm (we have a very cold church building). DD has decided she wants me to make her one as well.

You can wear it any number of ways. I’m getting the giggles here as I’m not used to being a model. LOL.

Now I’ve just gone silly. But what I was trying to show here was that it can be folded in half and worn as a regular scarf as well.

So there you have it. If you have any questions about the method for making one of these wraps, just let me know.

Now, onto CHICKEN WRAPS. Which we had for tea last night once I had the tortillas made. They turned out very yummy. I used a cut up chicken breast coated in a bought chicken coating called “Southern Fried Chicken”. One of these days I’ll hopefully figure out how to make it from scratch but for now it’s just babysteps, babysteps…one thing at a time. We added grated cheese, grated carrot and shredded lettuce (plus whatever dressings were desired - I don’t have any) simply as that’s what we happened to have available. Sorry, I couldn’t take a photo for you - they didn’t last long enough! LOL.

As I was making the Tortillas, I wondered to myself whether or not I’d bother doing them again. It was a bit time consuming. Mind you, I wasn’t in any hurry so I did enjoy just rolling them out quite slowly. The mixing them up and the cooking are both quick and simple. Rolling them out was the more time consuming and tiring task.

However, once I’d tasted one, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go back to bought Tortillas. I think I’ve grown up with preservatives in all my food and it’s not until you start to eat more “real” food without them that you realise how much of a taste they really have (the preservatives that is). As I was eating my first wrap, it was quite a strange sensation. It was like all of a sudden I could taste the preservatives in the bought ones (in my memory that is) by the contrast in taste with the freshly made ones. So, it’s looking like I’ll need to do a few more push-ups to build my upper arm strength ready for the next time chicken wraps are on the menu. LOL. Mind you, rolling them out wasn’t a bad upper arms workout in itself.

Here is the recipe, with my own adaptations made:

TORTILLAS

1.5 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup warm water

Combine dry ingredients into a food processor or electric mixer with dough attachment. Add oil then gradually add water until it forms a dough (I used an electric mixer with dough attachment and found I mixed the last of the dough together with my hands while kneeding - not sure if a food processor would be different to this or not).

Kneed for 5 minutes and then leave the dough to rest (for how long I’m not sure, I think I allowed about half an hour or so).

Divide into 10 pieces and roll into a thin round shape.

Cook quickly in a hot, lightly oiled frypan until they bubble and start to brown (takes less than a minute most times) then turn and brown on the other side.

If you’re not using them straight away - wrap in a damp teatowel to keep them soft. You can rewarm them wrapped in alfoil (as you’d warm bought ones) but I just cooked them straight before we ate them (DH made them into wraps as they came out of the pan - can’t get much fresher than that! ).

It’s true what they say - loom knitting is addictive!!! I bought a set of looms from the Fox Collection kind of hoping that I would make use of them. I’m supposed to be working on finding a hobby or two. Something to give me some relaxation and fun. When I saw these in the catalogue I figured if I didn’t enjoy using them, the kids possibly would. Not sure how much a of look-in the kids are going to get! LOL. Just kidding! The good thing is, there are 4 looms and I can only use 1 at a time (unless I want to have several projects on the go).

If you’re wondering what on earth I’m talking about, here is a picture of the looms:

I’m finding them so quick and easy to use. And it’s amazing the range of things that can be made on them. My first 2 projects were a hat and small scarf for myself using a cream yarn called Rustica.

It varies in thickness throughout the ball so I figured even if my stitches weren’t even, it wouldn’t show (I can blame it on the wool lol). Each of these took me about an hour to make and cost me $2.50 (the wool was $2.50 per ball and each took around a ball to knit). So I’m putting some of my spending from last month to good use and there is a potential there to save money as well. I was looking at buying a cream scarf from Kmart recently for around $7.

On Monday I began making myself a black shawl using 8 ply wool combined with feathers yarn. It’s almost finished and I’ll try and post a pic when it’s done. It’s taking me a little bit longer than an hour (so far maybe 5 hours?) but it is quite a bit bigger. It feels so soft and warm - I can’t wait to finish it so I can wear it!

I find it so exciting to wear something that I’ve actually made myself! I can’t believe I’m knitting! I was hopeless with needles so it’s not something I’d ever seen myself doing. Perhaps I should make it number 3 on my “101 things I thought I’d never do” list.