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Two New Knitted Scarves

June 17th, 2009 by Manda | 3 Comments | Filed in Crafting

I’ve added two new items to my Etsy shop yesterday: a cream-colored wave stitch scarf, and a crimson-colored twisted drop stitch scarf. Cream-Colored Wave Stitch Scarf

All the scarves I have knit previously have either been in a simple garter stitch or a rib stitch, so knitting the wave stitch was a welcome change. The pattern was worked in ten rows, so I just repeated the pattern until I got the desired scarf length. The great thing about the wave stitch is that it is reversible so that there is a “wave” pattern on both sides, which is always a must with scarves! I loved the cream color of the yarn too, cream is a great color that goes with any outfit and I like it better than the brightness of white for a scarf. Crimson-Colored Twisted Drop Stitch Scarf

The twisted drop stitch was also a new stitch for me. It was much more simple than the wave stitch, so it was a quicker and easier knit. I worked the yarn over slightly larger needles than needed for the gauge for a looser knit, as the gauge wasn’t necessary for this particular project. The twisted drop stitch, like the wave stitch, is also a reversible pattern, so it looks the same on both sides.

Both of the scarves have fringes at the ends, which is something I’ve never done with my knitted scarves. When I was done knitting them, I felt like they were missing a particular element, so I added a fringe and the scarves were complete! I find that not all scarves look good with an added fringe, but I feel that these two particular ones would look unfinished without one.

As always, feel free to follow my Etsy shop’s Twitter account for all my Etsy updates!

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Cross Stitching the Sun

June 10th, 2009 by Manda | 6 Comments | Filed in Crafting

In March and May’s Every Hour on the Hour posts, there has been a photo of my current cross stitching project. I’m working on a piece called “Celestial Gathering” on a dark navy blue canvas that measures 14 x 11 inches. Cross Stitching the Sun

I started off stitching the right side of the canvas, as the chart and key for the pattern was split up into two sheets. I finished stitching the moon in March, and stitched the constellations nearby the moon (Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Cancer). Then I added a galaxy, stars, lots of cloud-like stuff, and a planet. All of that was pretty much finished last month, and then I started stitching the sun.

Man, stitching this sun is not as easy as I thought it was going to be. There are so many shades of yellows, golds, oranges, and browns, and the rays of the sun extend so far out from the sun’s center that I’m hoping there will still be space left on the canvas for the rest of the celestial gathering! It’s coming together quite nicely though; the sun’s face can be distinguished and the rays are starting to look quite pronounced!

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Knitted Cupcake

June 3rd, 2009 by Manda | 2 Comments | Filed in Crafting

In May’s Every Hour on the Hour post, one of my photos that represented an hour of my day was that of me sewing the seam for one of my current craft projects. I was making a knitted cupcake with a removable cake case! I purchased the pattern from Cakes Knits and Cosies at Etsy1, and I’ve been experimenting with different colors for the cake cases, as well as different icings and decoration for each cupcake! Knitted Cupcake

This particular cupcake was the very first one I made. It has a blue cake case, which can be removed from the actual cupcake, a vanilla cupcake base, yellow icing, with a pink cherry on top and pink sprinkles scattered atop the cupcake2. The cake case was knit in a rib stitch, the cake base and cherry in a stockinette stitch, and the icing in a reverse stockinette stitch (for a more textured look in comparison to the smooth cake base), with each piece of the cupcake and cake case having various other stitches for increasing and decreasing during the knitting process. It was a fairly easy knit; I had knitted and stuffed the cake case, cake, and decoration in one night!

I gave this cupcake as a present to one of my high school teachers. She was the faculty sponsor for my high school’s knitting club and over the years has become more of a friend than teacher to me, a sort of “mentor,” if you will. It only seemed fitting that any gift I give her be one that I knit, seeing as I spent so much time with her and other members of the club knitting! She loved it, and I think that cupcakes will make perfect gifts. They’re lovely to look at and very cute, and they would be very handy pincushions!

  1. For those who crochet and do not knit, I believe Cakes Knits and Cosies have crochet patterns for cupcakes as well as knitting ones. [↩]
  2. You can’t clearly see the sprinkles in the photo due to the lighting and my poor photography skills, but if you click on the thumbnail for an enlarged version, the sprinkles are visible. [↩]

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