I have knit you up the bomb! - A free pattern!

Dudley the sad Bob-omb
Mario fans everywhere recognize the adorable yet deadly bob-omb. This is Dudley, and he is a bob-omb that does not go boom. Try as he might, he can’t even turn red. Won’t you take him home?


This is a great last minute gift for the Nintendo fan in your life. He takes oddments of black, gray, and gold worsted, white felt, sewing needle, white thread, and stuffing.

Using size 5 DPNs and gray yarn, CO 3 stitches and work I-cord for two inches. Inc in each stitch (6 stitches) and divide across three DPNs. Inc in each stitch again (12 stitches).

Knit 1 round
*K1fb, k1* around
Knit
*K1fb, k2*
Knit
*K1fb, k3*
Knit

Cut gray yarn, and change to black

*K1fb, k4*
Knit
*K1fb, k5*
Knit
*K1fb, k6*
Knit
*K1fb, k7*
Knit

Knit 7 more rounds even then work decreases as follows:

*K2tog, K7*
Knit

And so on as before until you only have 6 stitches on the needles again. Break the yarn and thread it through the live stitches, but do not tie it off. Stuff firmly, then pull yarn tight and tie off, burying the end into the body.

Cut eyes from white felt and sew onto body with needle and thread.



Feet (Make 2):

With gold yarn, CO 12 stitches and work garter stitch until piece measures 2 ½ inches.
K2tog across
Knit a row
K2 together across then cut yarn and thread through live stitches. Pull tight to close and sew up long seam of foot. Stuff foot firmly, then sew back seam and whipstitch foot to underside of body.

Key:

Using a crochet hook size J or something similar, SC a chain 10 1/2 inches long. Fold into a figure 8 shape and tack onto the back.

Weave in all ends. Enjoy!

Pattern may not be used for anything other than personal use. Do not print multiple copies, send your friends a link! Thank you!

Thoughts on a Christmas Sweater

Tonight I finished my sister's Christmas gift. Last year she borrowed a sweater I made years ago for a party, making the comment "You know, you could make me one of these". For my sister to say those words was indescribable. It was a few days before Christmas and I already had her presents wrapped and in place, but I knew I had to make it for her this year.

The sweater itself is not a difficult pattern. It's done in 2x2 rib and theres no shaping whatsoever, and a ribbon around the shoulders holds it up. (I don't suppose you remember Tempting from Knitty? That's the one!) My sister has borrowed and worn it as much as I have worn it, mainly because I rarely have an event that I can wear an off-the-shoulder sweater to.

So why is this so remarkable? you may ask. It stems from our childhood. My mother sews, and she used to make us clothes all the time. I never minded wearing them, proudly displaying my mother's handiwork even though it might not look all that professional. But my sister, when she was around 10 or so, asked my mom to stop. I guess she was more fashion-conscious than I, which wouldn't surprise me. People tend to think she's the older sister, even to this day.

She's always been my biggest critic, but as my knitting skills grew I heard less criticism from her and more praise. And borrowing my sweater was part of that affirmation that she appreciates my work. I never thought to make her one of her own until she mentioned it last year.

My sister has long forgotten that conversation about my sweater, and that works just fine for me. When it came time to buy yarn, I got Knit Picks' Comfy Worsted in black. It's incredible. The pima cotton is going to be fantastic for her sensitive skin, and the acrylic means it won't shrink in the wash. In fact hers is softer than mine - think she'll notice if I switch them? Just kidding.

I honestly have never had a sweater recipient be ungrateful, although I know that's the stereotype. Maybe it's because I don't make ugly sweaters. And I cannot wait for Christmas morning for my sister to open hers!!

I DID IT!

*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
KNITPICKS ACCEPTED MY SWEATER PATTERN!!!
*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

Today should have been awful. It's my five year anniversary (or would have been) with my ex-fiancee, the snow came down all day, and my health hasn't been the greatest. I've been dying to knit myself a sweater but with the holidays I don't have the time or money for yarn. Then when I got home I got an email from KnitPicks that said they accepted the sweater pattern I submitted two weeks ago for their independent designer program, and they'll send me the yarn to re-knit it! I'm so super excited, I've been rejected by Knitty about 4 times but this was the first pattern I submitted to KnitPicks. As if I needed another reason to love them.
The title is "Amanda's Aran", and I am so excited to get my Swish Worsted to knit it.

Cat Scarf

Well it's been a while but I have a free pattern for the blog! A scarf for your cat =^-^=

Xander, my friend's cat, was confused by his first modeling shoot. He quickly turned diva, however, and cut the shoot short for his fish treats.

Cat Scarf

Size 6 needles
Worsted weight yarn, two colors


Body of scarf:

With MC, CO 8 sts
Work garter stitch until you have 4 ridges
Change to CC, work garter stitch until you have 4 ridges

Work stripe sequence until you have 9 stripes. BO stitches and sew ends together.


Tail 1:
CO 8 stitches in MC. Work stripe sequence until you have four stripes. BO.

Tail 2:
CO 8 stitches in MC. Work stripe sequence until you have five stripes. BO

Tassels (optional):
Cut 8 four-inch pieces of MC and 6 of CC. Each piece is one tassel. I used a yarn needle to hook them on, but you can use a crochet hook if you like. I put a CC tassel in the middle, then did the two end MC tassels, and eyed the rest.


Line tail 1 up with tail 2, so that the top of tail 1 matches the last stripe of the same color, right sides facing. Center tails over the join in the main body of the scarf. Sew tail 1 to tail 2 AND scarf at the same time. Sew top of tail 2 to edge of scarf.


Put scarf on cat, and take lots of funny pictures.

Cascade Tastes, Red Heart Budget

New Blog! First Post!

My first trip to the yarn shop my college roommate lives by was this past Saturday. We completely lost track of time in there; it was huge, the people there were so nice and talkative. We had a great time oogling the shinies, and I was checking out those high-end yarns I've read so much about on the net. I've come to the realization I'm more a fan of pure alpaca than pure wool - it's less scratchy. But silk paired with cashmere - hoo boy! There's a new weakness. My roomie was bragging about my knitting abilities because I'm so much faster than her, but she's a music major, I have all the time in the world compared to her. I did break down and cheat on my yarn diet (I have like two laundry baskets full I swear). I bought one ball of misti laceweight baby alpaca, because I have one skein wonders and I knew a ball of that yarn would yield lovely lacy handwarmers for the office. Now I just need to get the size 0 DPNs *eye roll*. I knew I was crazy before this, don't worry.

As for my recent projects, I have a sweater of my own design I did for a friend that's going in my eventual self-published knitting book, a hat for a dear friend's fiancee who is in the hospital, and a bag that was going to be a scarf but with which I got bored. So it became a bookbag. Next up is the Pinup Sweater from Stitch n Bitch, in Dark Rose Heather Wool-ease. (I had bought the yarn around Christmas time thinking to make myself a heart-themed sweater by Valentine's day but that came and went. I found that pattern no longer inspires me, and Pinup does. Hence the switch.)

SO, picture time!

This is what I call, the 'circular needle of doom'. It's that sweater after one cable repeat. More pictures will follow once I can sew the zipper in and have the recipient model. =D

This is the scarf-turned-bookbag. I was trying to make the Modern Quilt Wrap from Knittingdaily.com but it was too thick and I got sick of it after I only worked half the pattern. So now it's my overnight bag. Far more comfy to tote around than my duffel. And I finally used up that international distress signal orange. Yay!

Camden is modeling the hat before I wrap and ship it. There's a story behind this hat, the pattern for which can be found here (If the designer or translater of the pattern sees this btw, this is a GORGEOUS pattern!) I've had this long-distance internet friend for five years, he's like my little brother. I've seen him fall hard and fast for girls and get his heart broken. So needless to say when he came back to the face of the Earth Thursday night (we tend to lose touch for long periods of time because of his work schedule) I was skeptical when he said he found his soulmate. But he told me all about her, and she sounded like a real incredibly good match. So he puts us in touch with each other. We hit it off instantly, I like her a lot, and I almost feel like I found a long-lost sister-in-law. Friday night I get a call, but I couldn't get back to him till Saturday cuz he was working. Turns out friday night she was in a car wreck, and she's been in the hospital ever since due to bleeding on the brain and a blood clot (which burst in surgery Easter Sunday). He's been beside himself because he can't go see her. And get this: she blurted out they had planned to elope when she visited this weekend while in post-op. I nearly whacked him through the computer for that one because she's a student, and that's going to mess up her financial aid. But that can be worried about later. She fought for her life all weekend, and she was worried he wouldn't think she was pretty because they had to shave her head (we women can be so silly sometimes). While we were talking, after she was feeling better, she mentioned to me she used to knit. Then she said she ought to knit herself a hat because of her bald head. This was before we almost lost her the third and fourth times. After those close calls I got it into my head that I would knit the hat for her, being that she's not in condition to work with even blunt pointy objects. And it's my way of feeling useful. I asked my friend what her favorite color was, and lo! I had a huge ball of buttery-soft Caron in that exact color. I started it last night, and finished tonight after dinner. This hat is awesome for her because it's smooth on the inside but it's still interesting to look at, and the flower makes it cute and girly. It should be just the right thing to help her feel pretty again. And I'm all proud of myself cuz it's the first time I actually managed to crochet something that wasn't a straight line. So thank you, Laura koo, for this awesome hat pattern. I shall post her reaction later, and maybe some pictures when her hair comes back.