Turquoise Loom Knit Scarf

**Edited to add ... I have started a new blog, called Knitting With Looms to feature my loom knit pieces. That way I can elaborate more on the knit posts without boring the paper crafters, and the knitters won't have to wade through a bunch of cards.  I won't delete or move the posts here on knitting, but I won't add any more here.**

Today I have some knitting to share as it's been awhile since I have posted anything non paper related. But my looms have been busy all summer.

Last weekend I enjoyed the sunshine out on our newly enlarged cabin deck, with my Knifty Knitter loom and some beautiful artsy yarn from the yarn shop in Canmore (Knit and Caboodle).  You can see our little Cooper watching for squirrels in the photo.

At a meeting I attended in June, a lady was wearing this sideways knit scarf/cowl/poncho. I loved it and she explained her technique to me. Last month I ordered a fabulous custom made piece from Stephanie at 'Rock, Paper, Scissors, Etc' at Etsy. I have long admired her knit pieces, and when it came - I was surprised to see that it was also a sideways knit item.

I decided to attempt one myself - with no pattern - and was SO pleased with it, I tried a second piece with this beautiful turquoise yarn. ( I'll share the first one another day). This one is more scarf/cowl and less poncho, and in a completely different stitch than my first.

The yarn has a metallic fleck in it, which you can sort of see in the photo below.

Here it is more spread out over the shoulders, and you can get a better look at the stitch pattern.

 Amazing how a circle of plastic with some pegs and some gorgeous yarn can make such a lovely accessory!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Spring or Summer Scarf

I loom knit this scarf for Spring or cooler Summer days/evenings.

It took me a long time to figure out the drop stitch. I bought a pattern book specifically for this loom knit stitch, and the author was less than clear in her instructions. Grrrrrr.   Finally found a video by the talented Isela Phillips and figured it out in minutes.  The yarn is a cotton blend with metallic bits woven into it - it has such a nice drape to it!

It's light and airy, and knit up quite quickly using one of the Knifty Knitter Looms.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Lap Afghan for a Special Someone

We  Are  Home.

Whew.

After a wonderful month long holiday in Arizona, we've been on the road for 3 days for our return trip. I had intended on scheduling some blog posts, but we had friends drop in on Saturday so instead of packing we sat outside by the pool and visited. With a cold drink. Or two.  (It was a really fun holiday!)

We had to be out of our (rented) house by 11am Sunday so there just wasn't time to get any posts done before we left, and I only had internet for the overnight hours in the Best Western Hotel's we stayed at.  (Note - they were pet friendly, as we had our 3 dogs with us on this trip. It was so nice not to have to worry about where we would sleep at night because of the dogs!)

Today's share for my 'Warm & Wooly Wednesday', is the start of the lap afghan I'm making for my Dad for his birthday. My parents gave me the loom for Christmas - it's an 'Infinity Loom'. It will make a panel up to 5 feet wide - the pegs are set in a spiral so the loom doesn't end up being 5 feet long. Brilliant!

The knit piece flows through the center valley, between the peg rows and out the bottom - this is a picture of the underside:

 

I worked on it for the first two weeks we were in Arizona, but after that we had visitors pretty much non-stop and the pattern requires concentration and counting.

 I will get back at it now that we are home.  Well, after unpacking and laundry and groceries and paperwork etc etc. It's back to Real Life for us now!

Oh, but it was a wonderful relaxing holiday. We've never done anything like that before. In fact we've never been away for even two weeks before! We loved it, ... but it sure is good to be home again.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Ivory Scarflet and Crochet Flower

This was a Christmas gift for my cousin. She had bought a cream crochet hat at a craft sale, so I made this to match - using a pattern by Brenda Myers. My cousin loves bling. Her Granddaughter Shae calls her Grandma Bling, ha ha.  So I added shiny gold buttons to her scarf. The crochet flower has a gold button with a rhinestone and a pin at the back so she could add it to the center of her scarflet or onto her hat!

Again, the thing I love about this pattern, is that the collar can be turned down or left up. She was so happy with her gift - I wrapped it together with my Moms and they opened them together. :-)

I have a new project on my loom right now, and hope to share pictures soon.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Rose Knit 'Infinity' Scarf

**Edited.  I found out a few minutes ago that today is actually TUESDAY and not WEDNESDAY. Ahahahaha - can you tell I'm on holidays?  Ahh well, I'm leaving this post up for today AND tomorrow. Sheesh.  I was SURE today was Wednesday.  ;-)

I finished the 'Infinity' Scarf,' and thought I'd share the pictures here for my 'Warm and Wooly' Wednesdays. It was made from an artisan yarn, so it's not overly soft  -- but it is pretty! Because it's not chunky or bulky, it can be worn in the Spring and Fall.

The original post, showing the loom and yarn I used is HERE, and an updated photo on THIS post.
For the pattern, I used Robin McCoy's "Summer Spirals' stitch. Her pattern is for a lightweight hat, done on a KISS loom (on my wish list, ha ha).

The scarf turned out really good - it was tricky, and I had to pay attention to the pattern repeats - but I'm so glad I tried it. And it was great to use the loom I got for Christmas!

 In this bottom photo, the pattern looks like it is straight rows, but you can see in the other two that it does form a diagonal line.

It's not a true Infinity Scarf, as it is a full circle. I believe an Infinity scarf is knit as a flat panel, with the ends joined together in a circle after you twist one of them around. Like a mobius twist!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Heather's Loom Knit Hat

It's time for another Warm & Wooly Wednesday here on my blog ... and today's share is the hat I made for our eldest daughter for Christmas:

 

I used a bright green soft organic cotton twisted with a blue/green acrylic yarn. It turned out so pretty!

The top of the hat is tapered (by moving the loop on every third peg to the peg on the right) and I added a crochet flower to the hat for a fun accent. The green textured button came from Michaels.

Remember the Infinity Scarf I started earlier this month? Here is a peek at it on the loom - it's coming along nicely! Hopefully I'll be able to share the finished project next week.

Thanks for stopping by today!

New Loom!

My daughter gave me this loom for Christmas - it's a regular gauge Baby Afghan Loom from DA Looms. I have been itching to try it out since I opened it, and I decided to make something - anything - as knitting a row here and there will help keep me calm and focused in the busy weeks ahead.

 

The yarn came from a little yarn shop in Canmore (Knit and Caboodle) so I'm going to look through my patterns and see what I can come up with.

I'll keep you posted on my progress on another of my "Warm And Wooly Wednesdays".

Thanks for stopping by today!

Loom Knit Scarflet

I have several loom knit pieces to share, so I'm thinking I will devote the occasional Wednesday to "warm and wooly" loom knitting.  ;-)  Considering that I keep buying yarns and have several projects on my looms at any given time, I should be able to keep up with "Warm And Wooly Wednesday's" for quite a while!

I made my Mom and my cousin each a scarflet for Christmas, and this is my Mom's. I whipped these up after I took them Christmas shopping, and I saw that my cousin had purchased a cream crochet hat at a recent craft sale, and my Mom was wearing one that she had bought at our November craft sale. Each scarflet matches their hats perfectly!

The pattern for this Lacey Scarflet is by Brenda Myers and I just love it. It keeps you warm and cozy, without the long dangling edges of a regular scarf. (When you are walking three dogs, long dangling edges are a PITA as you have to bend over to pick up after them).

 

I like that you can fold down the top edges for a lacy collar, or keep it turned up to keep out the wind.

I had more than enough of this yarn and since my mom is frequently cold I doubled the yarn. Good idea, but AWFULLY hard to loom knit. It took me over 3 times as long to finish this one as it did any of the others I have done, and then I had to come up with a creative way to close it up. It was too bulky to close the way the pattern indicates ...  however the two buttons work really well, as it can be buttoned up tight or just the bottom one will hold it in place under her coat.

The stitch gives the edges a lovely picot look and I haven't had to block any that I have made so far. Bonus!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Mens Loom Knit Hats

I'm back!

I had a rough couple of days, but I think I was just exhausted. When we were walking the dogs yesterday, DH suggested we invited people out for New Years Eve and I just wanted to stop walking, curl up into a ball and have him leave me there in the snow.

Not a good sign.

He just gave me That Look when I said NO. He just does not understand how much effort it is to host company for a weekend. I usually don't even bat an eye at it - but when my reserves are down it can get to be a bit much. And I was completely OUT of reserves by yesterday.

However, I rested and knit and sat by the fire. I had a nap, and we had easy meals ... with my Mom (my parents are staying with us at the cabin for a few days) looking after meal clean up and setting the table etc (Thanks Mom) ... I am feeling pretty much back to normal and peaceful again. 

With no desire to sleep outside in the snow so people would  Leave. Me. Alone.    Whew! I really don't like to feel like that.

I haven't been able to get into my studio -- between guests, errands, visiting, visitors, and the fact that it looks like a bomb went off in there ... but I do have some loom knit hats to share today.

I gave everyone a loom knit hat / toque for Christmas this year. It was fun choosing the yarn(s) for each person, and changing each hat just a little. Of course, the earlier ones are far more basic than the latter as I learned new stitches and tried new things on my own.

 

Some of these have double knit brims for extra warmth, some have longer brims that can be rolled up as needed, or pulled down to keep the ears and back of the neck warm.  

Everyone seemed to like them, so that made me happy. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Ladies Loom Knit Hat

I've hat this hat done for awhile now - it is for our Craft Sale, but if it doesn't sell I'm keeping it for ME. I love it - it is SO soft and cuddly and warm.

 

I mixed a brown alpaca wool with a wonderful multicoloured yarn I found at a little yarn store. It is thick and thin and ranges in colours from brown and grey through to purple and pink! The full range of colours don't really show up in the photo's though.

I crochet a double flower and sewed it on with a button. 

 

I had some of the soft brown yarn left and was going to put it in a baggie to save for another project. It disappeared when I went for the baggie, and by the time I found it Jasper had made quite a mess of the leftover skein.  Sigh.  He sure had fun with it though.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Baby Boy Hat

This is a loom knit baby hat that I did when I first started knitting:

It has a double knit brim and a pom-pom. Have I mentioned how much I dislike making pom-poms?
I do. I really do. I have some Santa hats finished for the sale and have been procrastinating on finishing them as they require pom-poms.

This one is ready for the Craft Sale.   :-)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Kitchen Scrubbies

Bethany Dailey at 'Gettin' It Pegged' has the neatest pattern for loom knit Kitchen Scrubbies. I had to make some for our upcoming Christmas Craft sale:

I used the Bernat pink and white cotton yarn, as a portion of the proceeds from the yarn sales went to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

While it's hard to see in the photo, there is netting knit along with the yarn. Brilliant!

And here is what they look like all packaged up for the sale. I have six of these all ready to go.

Yesterday I got six tissue box covers all finished and packaged, AND remembered to take photos. I will upload them for sharing soon.

Things are coming along!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Loom Knit Cowl

I'm completely un-inspired. Completely. Being stuck here with contractors who really couldn't move any slower is downright depressing. Yesterday I had people in and out most of the day, so at least things were PROGRESSING. Today? They managed to put up a sheet of Tyvek. And sanded down an uneven strip of wood. And boarded up a hole under the new sliding door that I'm lucky I noticed.

You see, I don't want CRITTERS in the house. We made ourselves perfectly clear - do not leave the opening for the new door unattended. I was thinking mice. But look at the size of the hole that they left yesterday and went for their hour long lunch.

 

That is big enough for a BEAR to wander in, should one have been in the mood to come check out the inside of a house. OMG. (The black fenced in area is our little dog-run, and above it are the beams for the new deck.).  Never mind the critters, the house was flippin' FREEZING! It was 2 degrees outside and they didn't even put up a sheet of poly when they drove off for their lunch break. 

I had loom knit a cowl to put in our Christmas Craft Sale, but ended up so cold I had to wear it. I don't mind, ha ha - I really like it. 

Even though I didn't have time for it, I did a quick dash to Michaels on Tuesday morning. I thought I'd seen somewhere they were having a huge yarn sale. Well - I was wrong, but they DID have the new Martha Stewart loom set and I had myself a 40% off coupon.  Score.  

I think her idea is great - you get several sections of different sizes and shapes to create weaving or knitting looms in various sizes and configurations. Cool. Even better - it comes with both large and small gauge pegs!  So I put together an oval loom using large pegs and every other hole.  I had 46 pegs, and I think it was a little large for a cowl. But now I know.  :-)

I did a 'chain 2' bind-off and I like the lacy look of it. I wanted it to have some 'give' and it does! However, I have a very short neck (more like no neck) and with the cowl being somewhat large - I had to fold it around my neck at the back when I wore it with my coat. So I did a 2 peg icord and threaded it through the large stitch holes. That way I can snug it up if I want to, or loosen it if I don't need it to be quite so warm.  

The beautiful yarn came from a local knitting store and it looks SO much nicer in real life. It has a satin sheen to it and now I want another skein in a different colour. I really enjoyed using it - it ranges from thick and fuzzy to thin and satin'y.  Beautiful stuff. I think I may becoming a 'yarn snob'. I could have spent a small fortune in that shop.

I used the Lacy Diamond stitch for the entire cowl - and even though it looks like the stitches are fairly loose - it keeps me really nice and warm!

So today is Friday, and it took these guys the entire week to get one sliding door in. It's not trimmed or insulated or anything. Just installed. Gregg put on the hardware when he got home from work - they didn't even do that.  But it's not cold in the house anymore at least, so I only wear my cowl when I go out to walk the dogs.

Happy Friday - and thanks for stopping by today.

My Hat

This morning was a morning of waiting. Waiting for the electrician. Waiting for the bobcat. Waiting for the hot-tub and people to move the hot tub. I am not good at waiting for people, as I just pace and keep checking out the window and don't really get anything done at all. I needed something mindless to work on, so ... I took some yarn from my 'tag fibre' stash, and a beautiful skein of cream alpaca and made myself a hat. In between going to the window to check for people.

 

I used the green Knifty Knitter loom (2nd largest) and the Twisted Knit stitch (e-wrap) throughout. I WANTED the brim to roll. The brim was made using 2 strands of the cream, and then I switched to one strand of each of the three yarns held together as one.

 

Notice anything different about this hat? The front (shown on the right side of the photo) is higher than the back.  !!  I am very pleased with myself for figuring this out because the hat fits my head much better this way. 

The loom has 36 pegs, so I marked the front 12 pegs with masking tape on the loom base. I ewrapped the first 12 pegs, and also the marked 12 -- but DID NOT CONTINUE wrapping the final 12 stitches. So 24 pegs had 2 loops and 12 had one loop. I then worked the marked 12 stitches as a short row and knit off the 2nd set of loops on those 12 stitches, ewrapped them again, knit off and ewrapped them a final time but continued wrapping right to the end of the row. All 36 pegs had 2 loops, which were then knit off. But I was able to sneak in that 2nd short row of stitches at the front of the hat. (Patting myself on the back here).  I did this 4 times throughout the knitting and was able to build up the front that way.

Next, I used Kristen's (from Goodknit Kisses) technique of decreasing at the crown so there wasn't so much bulk when I did the gathered cast off. This wasn't the first time I decreased at the crown but it was the first time of using Kristen's technique and I really like it! (Thanks Kristen!!)  See? No bulk!

I could have used this hat last night when we took the dogs out to do their business. I'll be ready tonight! And the electrician came (not at 8am, but at 11:30am). The bobcat arrived 10 minutes before the hot-tub, and got situated where he needed to be. The crew moved the hot tub from the street all the way into the back yard (I actually took some video's with my phone - it was quite the process moving it through the trees) and the bobcat used forks to get the hot tub-up on the deck.  'Slick as a Whistle'. 

Once the electrician is done, they will come and fill the tub with water, make sure it all works ok and then we can tick THAT off the list. Waa Hoo!  Now that I'm done waiting for people, I've got some housework to do. It's probably a good thing I'm out at our cabin today as I LOVE the new sketch at the Clean And Simple Stamping Blog and I'd much rather be in my studio playing.  :-)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Airy Scarf

I loom knit this scarf for our Christmas Craft Sale.  I used a skein of mohair yarn that I had purchased to use as fibres for my tags, but had used hardly any of it.

I used the purple Knifty Knitter long loom (26 pegs) and a single strand of the yarn so it's nice and airy.

 

Here is another look, but you can what I mean by airy with the light shining through the knitting. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Grey Knitted Headband

Knits are really trendy right now, and I can't believe I'm actually getting in on a trend. But I am SO hooked on loom knitting (pardon the pun) it's easy to be cranking out the knits. I just finished this knitted headband for myself. It looks really 'boxy' in the photos, but much better when it's on my head.

There are people who look good in hats, and there are people who do not. I fall into the latter category. In a Big Way. I look AWFUL in hats. But, come winter - they are a necessary evil as I walk my dogs every day and my ears get really, really cold. When I started loom knitting hats for our grand daughter, I had a brainstorm to make myself a headband. I didn't even know how popular they were - I just thought that I would look better in a headband than a hat. I was right. I put the first one on to show my husband, and he didn't spit out his supper, burst out laughing, or smirk.  This was a Very Good Sign! In fact, he even said the word 'Better'.  LOL - not good, but better. I'll take it.

I tapered the back of the first one I made to keep it from riding up (a common problem I have with hats) and knew I was onto something. I will have to photograph some of the other ones I've made too.

The above headband is made using a pale gray tweed wool twisted with a charcoal gray. It started out to be a hat for my brother for Christmas, but once I got going I decided I didn't like the narrow band after all. So - I did a chain-two cast-off, gathered the back and crochet a couple of flowers to sew on with a button.

Now I have another knitted headband that will keep me warm this winter.  I have a dressy scarf almost completed, and just made a 'Chemo Cap' for a friend going through cancer treatment. Yesterday when I was waiting for my Mom (heart test) I finished a pink & white hat for little Olivia!

 She looks so cute in the black hat I made her on the weekend, which is threaded with a pink ribbon. We will swap out the pink ribbon for a red one when it's cold enough for her to wear her little red coat.

Now THAT's how to wear a hat! She sure doesn't get that from her Gramma.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Baby Rattle Card w/ Gift Bag and Knit Baby Hat

Well I have a photo heavy post for you today! A friend of our daughters had a baby girl last week. J has been friends with H since kindergarten so of course I wanted to celebrate Abigail's arrival with a hand made gift.

I chose a really soft yarn, and knitted (!!) a newborn size beanie. Then I crochet the sweet loopy flower to add and was so pleased with how it turned out.
I found a sparkly pink button in my stash and added that to the flower center for a bit more sparkle.

The down side, is that I have turned into a "knitted hat mad woman". It's just CRAZINESS! I have several hats almost finished for our Christmas craft sale ... just have to figure out how to make some pom poms.  Haven't done those in years either, ha ha. I have also finished 2 hats for our little Granddaughter - who is now 3 months old.  !!

Now the gift needed to be wrapped ... and my last Stampin' Up Clearance Rack order had arrived with these cute little brown/tan glossy card stock gift bags. It was the perfect size for this hat and the pink tissue paper. But it needed to be dressed up a bit ...

Sorry for the bad photo ... it looks like there is a crease in the dotted flap, but it is just a shadow. I was in a big hurry to take the photo before I brought the gift to my daughters.  I used a Sizzix die to cut the flower layers from pink card stock, inked the edges and adhered them all together with foam tape. The Boho Flower punch was also in my Stampin' Up order ... so I used it as well. I have wanted that punch for a long time, so am going to be able to put it to good use.  Here, it is the flower center.

 I added a sweet paper pink rose (Michaels) to the flower center.

Of course I wanted to make a special card ... and chose the rattle from the "Sugar and Spice" Cricut cartridge.

  

I cut the base layer twice, as I knew I wanted to use lots of foam tape on this card. I ran the top base through my Big Shot with a Sizzix plaid embossing folder for a bit of texture. The little duck seemed to need something - so I painted it with Twinkling H20's for some yellow shimmer. When it was dry, I added a tiny pink gem with my iRock tool. 

I wanted a pink card base, so used the "Elegant Edges" cartridge for the scalloped heart panel.A pink satin bow ties it all together.  :-)

Here is a peek at the inside:  I actually ended up outlining the little bird (a leftover piece from the rattle) with a Sakura gel pen and added a sparkle eye after I took this photo.  The stamp is one I have had for years, by PrintWorks.  Oh, and the little 'Welcome' stamp on the front is by Hero Arts.

Just for fun, I ran the envelope through with the same Sizzix plaid embossing folder, and added some punches to the front and back. (Punches by Stampin' Up, as is the 'Sweet One' stamp).

 

Whew! That's it for today - thanks for stopping by.