Happy Birthday, Oklahoma!

At 9:16 am this morning, Oklahoma officially became 100 years old.
Today is Oklahoma's centennial! They have been a state for 100 years now, and there are big celebrations going on because of that.
This morning, in Guthrie (the location of S.W.A.K.), there were numerous reenactments of everything that happened today, 100 years ago. At 9:16 am, a man ran out and fired his gun, just as they had done 100 years ago when they received word from Washington, D.C. that they were now officially a state. They continued with a march to the Carnegie Library, which was the first capitol of Oklahoma.
In 1907, Oklahoma's capitol was Guthrie. Not long after, though, it was moved to Oklahoma City, since OKC's population was already five times larger than Guthrie's. While some people, of course, were angry, and made up extravagant (but fake) stories about how the state seal was stolen, it turned out a good thing. Guthrie did not have the money then to tear down their old buildings, so now they are all left standing, making the city very historical and unique.
Tonight there will be the "Oklahoma Spectacular" concert, tickets to which have sold out. Just a few of the famous Oklahomans present will be Carrie Underwood, The All-American Rejects, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, The Flaming Lips, Reba McEntire, and many others. A few other famous Oklahomans (that I am not sure are going to be present) are Rascal Flatts and Shannon Miller.
Route 66 runs right through the middle of Oklahoma, and passes through many interesting towns and by interesting places, like Pops (a restaurant) in the town of Arcadia. So happy birthday Oklahoma, and good luck in the upcoming century!

Before you go, make sure you watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqRX1BEZvxU

Knitting Club!

Three of my best friends and I have started a knitting club!

Our first meeting was last night at my house. Two of my friends already knew how to knit. One had been knitting since 2nd grade and was knitting a very complicated blanket, while the other had been knitting since 5th and was making up her own pattern for a blanket! She is going to knit a bunch of squares and sew them together. My third friend learned in just about 15 minutes last night, and is also going to make lots of squares and sew them together for a blanket! I am making a hat.

We are making baby blankets and hats to give to the Infant Crisis center. We'll be donating them around Christmas, since that's when they said they need it most. The hat I am making is using the pattern for a premie hat from "The Joy of Knitting". We're all using acrylic, since that's best when it's around lots of babies, so that they can just throw it in the wash and be done!

It was tons of fun having my best friends over and knitting together!

New Vest!

Yay! My mom and I have finished my nice new vest! It's nice and warm, and very good for these cold days that are settling in! While my mom knit most of it, I did help out on a bit of the middle part. The Broken Rib pattern is pretty fast, fun, and easy!

It is the Urban Vest by Norah Gaughan from Knitter's, and is made from Berroco Ultra Alpaca.

As you can see the vest is a nice, bright, orange. Very fun for the fall! But our original plans were for a light gray vest (like the one shown in the magazine). However, when we received our yarn, it was a bright orange, with a note stating that it had been "checked and double checked" with it. Hmm. I hope someone out there is enjoying their light gray and not missing their orange too badly. While we could have returned it, we decided orange is actually quite a nice color, and so we did the project in it.

I decided to do the vest much longer than the pattern says, since I like nice and long things, and the actual pattern makes it very short.

Book Reviews!

Today we got two new knitting books! Yay! As you can probably guess from the picture, the first one is Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel. To start with, it has a lot of really good information on making your knits fitted correctly. But, thankfully, most of the book is made up of patterns instead of tons of pages in the beginning about how to knit and such.

The first pattern that I like is the Coquette Lace Tube Top, which is a lacy tube top, but I don't think I would wear it as a tube top. I have a very nice tan tank top that would look very pretty under it, and if I were to make it, that is how I would wear it. There is also the option to add straps to it, too. The next thing that I really liked was the Two-Tone Rib Shrug. It has one color that is used around all the edges, and then the 3/4 length sleeves are made of a separate color. I really like it! In the book they show it made of pink and purple, but I think I would probably make it of two shades of green, like this shade and this shade, although I'd have the latter not as bright as I show -- more like a sort of tan-green. Next is the Bold and Bulky Mini Cardi. It also has 3/4 length sleeves. There is a separate color used along the edge and large buttons are used. They show it in a bright blue and green, but if I were to make it I might make it in a different color, but I'm not exactly sure what. There is also the Carie Cropped Flared-Sleeve Cardigan. It has pretty lace detail along the sleeve edges and a bit of a curled edge around the neck, since it is stockinette stitch. I really like it but I think I might stop knitting the sleeves before the flare, since it is knit from the top of the sleeve down, but it would be nice to have it long-sleeved for the winter. It is made all in one piece, I believe, so that eliminates almost all finishing, which makes it so much nicer! I absolutely adore the next pattern though, which is the Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties. It is made of a pretty green , has 3/4 length sleeves, a bit of a picot edging, and the ties end in a leaf shape. It is shaped much more like a cardigan than a shrug. Of the Shrugs, Cardigans, and Wraps section, I believe it is my favorite! Next is the Airy Wrap-Around Lace Sweater. It is has very pretty lace and shaping, and it wraps around many times. I think it is very pretty and perfect for "dress-up" occasions. In the next section, there is a very pretty Back-to-School U-Neck Vest that I like. The top is waffle stitch, and the bottom is ribbed. It would look very nice as they show, over a collared shirt. Also the Perfect Periwinkle Turtleneck Tube Vest would look very pretty under a jacked or maybe with one of the shrugs or cardigans previously mentioned, but I myself am not a major fan of turtlenecks. I also really liked the Cozy V-Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing. The bottom half is ribbed on the sleeves and body, and also there is a little ribbing along the v-neck edge. If I made it, I would probably make the sleeves all stockinette stitch instead of stockinette and then rib halfway down, but that is just my personal preference. It is definitely a perfect addition to the fall wardrobe!!! In the last section there is a jacket and skirt set and a dress, and both are very pretty, and great for parties!

The next book is Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael. One of the first things I liked was the Chocolate Créme Square-Neck Top. They show it in a pretty brown with gray edging alont the sleeves, neck, bottom, and in the middle. Following that, I really like the Waist-Cincher Top. It's kind of a wrap/babydoll shirt with 3/4 length sleeves. It has a pretty, wavy contrast detail along the edges, and lots of lace! Next is the Basic Camisole. It's mainly ribbed, but has some lace detail at the top, which makes it look much fancier! I also like the Silk and Pearls Cami. It is knit from silk and has very pretty pearls for straps. However, I would probably make it out of a regular cotton and use an i-cord or ribbon or something for straps but then dress it up by sewing on some pretty lace to the top and bottom. Then, there are the Leggings with Mesh Sides, which would also be very nice to have. There also is a Racerback Tank with Mesh Sides. I like it, but they made it at a cropped length and I think I would make it MUCH longer!

So, overall, I really love both books! They have lots of nice patterns and many helpful techniques!

Lots more new knits!

I've been busy with lots of knitting! I've continued with lots of Christmas knits. I've been mostly using stash yarn, since most Christmas gifts are so small and there are so many things you can make, why not? That hat you see to the left is another one of those hats I make. The colors look much different on the computer than in real life. The bottom stripe is a regular green, followed by a regular red. Next is a bit more bluish of a green, and the top is made of the same yarn as one of my recent hats. The whole hat is made of wool, so it will be very cozy! To make it, I cast on 72 stitches, then worked a simple knit one purl one rib. As you can see, I used four different yarns, and pretty much just switched whenever I ran out of one. Once I decided it was time to decrease, I decreased one every 6 stitches, one every 5 stitches, one every 4 stitches, etc. until it was decreasing every stitch.

Here's another hat I made. Now this one is a bit different...I used the Snowy Triangle hat from Handknit Holidays...at least I tried. Turns out it would be WAY too small unless you use the specific yarn they call for. It's knit from the top down, so you increase instead of decrease. So I decided just to continue increasing until it was wide enough, then I knit until it was pretty much long enough, and I finished with a 1x1 rib. It's a bit shorter and wider than my other hats, but it looks quite nice! It is made out of the same yarn as the top of the above hat.

I made another ornament. I am probably going to embroider this one since it's a plain green that will blend in perfectly with the Christmas tree if it doesn't have something embroidered on it. This is made out of the same yarn as the bottom stripe of the first hat on this post. I really like how the ornament turned out! These ornaments are nice because I can make one or two in the evening when I get home from school and still have plenty of time to do my homework and practice my viola! Hopefully I can find some other projects that are that small, because the hats either take two weekdays or one day if I don't have homework or need to practice my viola, which is pretty rare. But these ornaments can be whipped up in just an hour or two. Maybe less, but I've never actually timed it. In case you forgot, these ornaments are the first pattern in Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick. There's a pattern for a small and a large ornament, and I've been using the small. Since I use such thicker yarn than they do, they turn out probably bigger than the big size pattern they have in the book.

And here's a pretty round pillow I made! It's actually crocheted, since I decided it's easier to make something round with crochet. This is the stripy front. The back is pretty much all one color. What I did was I crocheted, increasing, until it was pretty much as wide in diameter as I wanted, then I started crocheting straight around until it was about as tall as I wanted it, and then I began decreasing. Once I had a hole left of about 4 inches in diameter, I sewed in a lining and we stuffed it up. Then I sewed on a top for the lining and closed it up with a little more crochet. It worked really well. I chose a dark blue lining and it looks splendid with the colors of the pillow. This pillow is made entirely out of cotton.

And here is my last finished creation...it is a very abstract cotton pillow. I used lots of intarsia. At first I was going to do polka dots all the way through, but it didn't work that great so I decided to do all sorts of diagonals and triangles, and that worked quite well and I decided to continue with that. I gave it to my mom for her birthday, and she likes it!

I have started another knitting, also. I am making a chevron scarf, kind of like the one in Scarf Style that is by Debbie Bliss, and I am making the adult version of that. I've only done a few rows of it, but it's already working great!

Christmas Ornaments Already!

As you can probably tell from the title, I have already started upon my Christmas ornaments. I had decided I would start on Christmas stuff in August, and I just barely accomplished it by creating my Christmas items on August 31st.
Anyways, the ornament you see to the left was made from a pattern out of Melanie Falick's Handknit Holidays. It is the first pattern in the book, and is simply called Knitted Ornaments. I made it a lot different than recommended, though. I made it on four size 9 needles and used the same yarn as my mom used on my jacket, and also a shiny gold yarn that was sitting around in the stash and has lost all memory of its name. The shiny yarn really is quite shiny, even though the picture doesn't quite do the shininess justice. The finished product was just about the size of my fist. I may add some embroidery later to make it look a little prettier.

Now the ornament you see to the right did not use the shiny golden yarn, but it did use up every last scrap of the yarn from my jacket. It is crocheted by a pattern I made up simply in my head. It is about 1/4 of the size of the other ornament. I chained 12 stitches then crocheted around for a while and then started increase one every other stitch. Then I crocheted for a while and when I had about a yard or two of yarn left I went ahead and started decreasing. Then I made the chain, and crocheted it to the ornament so that it loops to make a hanger. And even though you can't see it hear, there are actually two loops. I decided I might as well add that interesting effect instead of wasting 2 feet of yarn. I might also embellish this ornament further, too.

Now off to do some more knitting over this long Labor Day weekend!

The Finished Product

Well, obviously you can tell that my bolero is completed! I did almost all of it myself, except my mom did the rib around the front edge that you see there and the blocking. I really like it! It makes a fun, bright outfit when I wear it with my blue v-neck shirt with buttons and my yellow tank, or it would be calmer and better suited for the coming fall and winter with my tan or white tanks.

Anyways, I LOVE it! It's really comfortable! It also looks really good! It's longer than a shrug but not as long as a cardigan, and I really like that, since that appears to be the style this fall, at least in 8th grade!

Now, this didn't really take that long. During the summer, when I didn't need to go anywhere or anything, I could knit up a piece a day. The longest part is the ribbing that goes all the way around the garment, since it's about 320 stitches or so and has to be 6cm long. Also, it's knit circular and on smaller needles than was used for the rest of the bolero, which makes it a little tight and hard to maneuver.

The bolero is from Jo Sharp's Knit Issue 2 and is called Bolero. It is the short-sleeved version, as you can see. I made it from Cotton Classic because they had the perfect amount of the perfect color at S.W.A.K. and, since we were buying the book right then, we decided to pick up that nice yarn for it too. Now, for me, it took a few weeks to finish the whole thing.

I've made a bit of progress on my second sock -- I'm now on the foot part of it and should be finished soon. But I finished a hat! Woo hoo! Isn't it gorgeous? I did a 9x9 rib using the basic pattern I put up on the site under "Free Patterns". All I did was cast on 72 stitches, then work in the round doing k9 p9 until it was long enough for me, then I decreased one every 6 sts, worked a round in pattern without decreases, decreased one every 5 sts, worked a round in pattern without decreases, decreased one every 4 sts, etc. etc. etc. I really like how it turned out. And it's super soft, too! It's softer than the other hats I mad early for myself. That's because it has alpaca, silk, and merino wool . I used two strands of Andean Silk from Knit Picks. My gauge 14 stitches per 4 inches. I think I will definitely use it a lot once the weather gets cold! Although the 90 degree weather is making it difficult for me to remember that time of year...

Beautiful Table Runner

My mom recently finished this table runner as a wedding gift for someone she knows:



The pattern is from Jo Sharp's Knit Issue 2. It is simply called "Table Runner" but is very pretty. As you can see, it has deep red, gold, and bright orange in it. It also has some fun tassels to add even more interest. Maybe you can't quite see in this picture, but it also uses an interesting stitch to make it look woven. This is how it was done:

Row 1: *Pass right hand needle behind first st, K second st, then K first st in usual way; repeat from * to end.

Row 2: P1, *P the second st, P the first st; rep from * to last st, P1

Oh, and by the way, I've almost finished my bolero! Hopefully there will be a picture of the finished one up soon!

Review of Lacy Little Knits

Yay! We have a new book! It is called Lacy Little Knits. Everything in it is lacy, obviously, and there actually are some bigger things, too, such as sweaters.


The first pattern in the book is really quite nice. It's skill level is also "Easy". It's called the "After Five Shrug" and is pretty much a lace rectangle that has been sewn together to create sleeves.

Another nice thing is the "Floating Stitch Tank". It would need to be worn under or over something, of course, and I personally would make it a little longer. It is knit from the bottom up, though so you'd have to be careful.

Also, I like the "Baby's Breath Tee". It has interesting trim and a section of mohair knitted in to make the shirt look like a v-neck with a lace tank top underneath. It's a good idea, but I think I would add a little detail (to give it a layered look) between the regular silk and the mohair to give it more of a look of separation, since the way it is done in the pattern it definitely looks knitted together.

Some other patterns in the book of note are the "Multi Directional Sweater", "Diagonal Lace Shell", and the "Celestial Tie Wrap Jacket".

I like the "Multi Directional Sweater" because of its shape and interesting detail. It has some zigzags down the front, sleeves that go down to about the elbows, and a tie around the bottom edge. The "Diagonal Lace Shell" is a basic shell with a bit of a v-neck and lace along the neck edge. It's simple but very pretty! And the "Celestial Tie Wrap Jacket" is a nice wrap jacket with long sleeves and a tie, obviously. They made it out of very shiny black, white, and grey yarn, but I think that I would probably make it out of a more subtle yarn.

I think that this is a great book! It definitely has a lot of variety in it -- anything from skirts and dresses to interesting wraps, sashes, and tanks!

Loads of News!

It's been awhile since I last posted, so that means for an awfully big post. OK, here we go...

My mom and I finished a purse for my younger cousin for her birthday. It uses the Fibanocci technique and all of her favorite colors!



This is one side....



And here's the other!

It also has a nice lining on the inside that is made of the same fabric as my purse.



I also made this purse from a kit I got for my birthday. It's a felted purse, and then you felt in the colorful roving with a needle. I also sewed on some shiny grass green beads. On the zipper there is a little ball of felt that I added some of the darker blue roving to.

Remember this bolero I'm making? (The picture's from the book)



I've finished the back, the left side, and I'm almost done with the right side. Next are the sleeves, and then I have to knit like 320 stitches around for the ribbing, which is 6cm long.





Yep, I finished my first of the pair of lace socks! Now I've been working on the second. One ball of Sea Wool knit all of that above.



And now for a bit of experimentation...



I cut up some plastic bags and then tied them together to make a ball of yarn, and now I'm knitting it up. We have the Erika Knight book that shows how to knit a shopping bag out of plastic bags, so that's where I got the idea.