Several weeks ago, I started this very-large needle point project. As you can tell, I still have a lot to go (I haven't worked on it in a few weeks. The progress you see above was accomplished in a matter of days.

My hope is to finish this by about mid-October, but I still have other projects I need to finish (I have a feeling I'll never be read of a time sensitive project. Another will keep coming up).

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What I'm more excited about is this:

Another knitting machine! I've been wanting to get another one for awhile, and finally tool the plunge. They stopped making this model (the Singer 360k) well over a decade ago, but you can still find them for sale on Ebay.

It came with almost all of the original supplies, including the original VHS tape set-up tutorial (not that I'll have a use for it):

That's it for now :) -Emma

I'm having quite a bit of fun with the knitting machine I acquired a few months ago: 

It's an Ultimate sweater machine, also known as the USM! This readily available machine can be found for sale at craft stores (I have seen them several times at A.C. Moore).

The USM doesn't have the best reputation. Some hate it, some love it. I'm one of the people who love it. More experienced machine knitters might prefer their fancier machines, but for the price of the USM, I'd say it's well worth it.

Unfortunately, my go-to pattern place (Ravelry.com) doesn't have very many patterns for the USM, so I started coming up with my own:

The machine is designed to knit straight panels of stockinette stitch, and since (as shown below) each needle makes 1 stitch, it can be hard to keep arranging stitches to make multiple shapes:

Above, I knitted a small swatch so I could show you the machine in action.

How does it work? I'm glad you asked (well, you didn't really ask, I kind of- never mind...)

You see that big, purple, expensive-looking thing in the first photo? That is called the carriage. To knit the stitches, you need to insert what is called a key plate inside the carriage. Depending on what number the key plate has been labeled with, it will make a certain sized stitch. The bigger the number, the bigger the stitch. The USM comes with plates 1-4, plates 2 and 3 can be flipped over, so you now have 6 sizes; 1 (used for thinner than worsted weight, unless you want tighter tension), 2, 2.5, 3, 2.5, and 4. It knits up to chunky weight yarn (although I have had success knitting every other needle on the loosest tension with Wool-ease Thick and Quick).

The key plates have different ridges that slide against the needles when you push the carriage across the bed of needles, moving them into certain positions:

The photos above are a bit fuzzy, but you can still see that inside the carriage, the hooks are being moved into different positions.

Above, you can see that when the carriage is pushed along the bed of needles, it pulls the yarn through the needle latches, pulls it back (pushing the old loop off, creating a stich), and returns it to the original needle position. It does these motions very quickly, resulting in almost instant results.


If you are interested in learning how to machine knit, I highly recommend Diana Sullivan's Youtube channel. She has lots of very informative videos that are sure to help you :)


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That's all for now :) -Emma

Right now, I wish I was crocheting, or knitting.

But I'm not. I could be, but I'm not.

Within the past hour my brain has become bored with all of the knitting and crocheting patterns I find. I used to have lots of projects stacked up, waiting to be started, but now they sound so boring. I guess you could call the Sherlock of needle work, except solving murders doesn't give me the thrill I am looking for (I haven't tried it, but it sounds kind of morbid).




So, right now I am wracking my brain, trying to think of what to make. A cowl? No. Mittens? No. A sweater? Definitely not. This is going to take awhile.


I don't have a lot of yarn for a big project, so I don't have a lot of options (who am I kidding, I could knit thousands of things with a skein or two). I want to make something that will be used, or loved (like a stuffed animal, but not a stuffed animal). I could knit a thneed...no. Waaaaaaaay to boring.

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Thanks for listening to my rant. I'm gonna go try to sleep it off (I hope it wears off...I really want to knit).

That must have been kind of boring to read. Here's some yarn for your troubles:

Back in April, someone commented on my Pusheen pattern asking if I could make changes to make a smaller. I responded, saying it the changes would be uploaded....it kills me to say these next words...by the end of May.

It is now the end of June.

Shortly after receiving the comment, I went on quickly making the body. After finishing the body, making and attaching one ear, and embroidering the face, other projects beckoned to me. I couldn't help but starting another project...and another...and another. So, Pusheen was shoved into a box to be forgotten (D:).

But early today, I'm happy to say that Pusheen is finally finished!

Here are some photos of the completed kitty: 

Unfortunately, I was out of light and dark grey yarn, so I substituted with black and tan, another cute kitty color combination. Although the pattern has yet to be typed out, I plan on fixing that problem in the next few days :) 

That's right! We're going back to basics. If you already know how to do this technique, I suggest taking a look at other blog posts to keep your interest (you'd probably get a bit bored). But, if you are totally new to crocheting, this technique, than this video is right for you:

It's a little fuzzy (sorry about that ;)). I'm still working out the kinks on recording. I hope you enjoy it :)

After several hours of splitting, spinning, and setting the twist on my hand spun, today I was able to (finally) dye it! I actually dyed a skein yesterday, but I got another one done today (and plan to do several more). I was super excited since I hadn't dyed anything in awhile (unfortunately, all the wool I owned was already dyed, except for one ity-bity ball), and I had lots of ideas of what colors to use. But, I only had four skeins (two being quite small), so I had to choose my colors wisely. I was very pleased with the first one:

When it comes to dyeing yarn, yarn dyed in your favorite color is often the one you are most pleased with (with me, it's blue). It's hard to see in the photos, but there is a blotch of purple dyed into it (you can see a little bit of it in the first and second photo). I really like how this one came out. Hopefully my head won't get too full of ideas to the point where I have to exclude dyeing another blue hank of yarn :)

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I'm less pleased with the second one. I used red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple all even spaced apart in the part (in hopes of getting a rainbow skein).

What I got was more like a rainbow trapped in a thick, swampy fog:

In some lighting it looks good, while others it's just...bleh! Clearly not the look was going for. When I showed my younger sisters for the first time, they said it looked pretty. I think it's pretty (to a certain extent...), but I would have liked a rainbow colored hank more. Anywho, the past is in the past (Let it go! Let it-...sorry. Got caught up in the moment...). I can't re-dye it. At least it isn't a really ugly brown. That I would be upset with...

Happy Summer solstice! Although it may not be warm where you are (yet), it is here. This week, everyday should be in the nineties (perfect for swimming!).

But just because it's warm doesn't mean I'm not cooking up something wooly (quite literally. I was able to get some stove-dyeing done :)).

First off, I ordered a pound of merino wool roving (merino is known to be very soft). I didn't get a picture of it right out of the package, but lets just say it looked like a bunch of brains (...in the best way). To make it thinner, I started slitting it down the middle (it had a circumference of about 5", so if I wanted to get worsted weight, I had a lot of splitting to do).

I did, however, get some pictures of the splitting process: 

                                                           I even made a wooly "snow"man:

I got this wool from Paradise Fibers, a family-owned business that sells knitting needles, crochet hooks, spinning wheels, spindles, drafters, and of course, wool. They have a very wide selection and I highly recommend them. I purchased a pair of circular needles from them, and the quality is wonderful. They also periodically have sales and free shipping discounts (not to mention their point system, which is another great way to save). You can visit their websitehere :)

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I was able to spin several hanks, and I'm improving my spinning skills in the process:

The finished results are still pretty lumpy, but it's better than my first attempt:

The after dyeing photo is a bit inaccurate. It really came out more of a teal than a sky/deep blue. Anyway, some of the wool is over spun, some is under spun, and the whole thing has an uneven thickness. I was still super excited when I finished spinning it, but now, not so much. This was Corriedale wool also spun on a spindle, but by a much less experienced spinner (sheepishly raises hand...).

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Either way, if it's lumpy or not, I still had fun spinning it (and I can guarantee you I will have fun making something out of it) :)

Everyone crocheter or knitter has them: Projects that you've lost the zest for (or the yarn). These WIPs eventually end up getting tossed on your yarn pile to be dealt with some other time (it could be in the next couple of years, but it will get done...maybe...most likely.......possibly...).

Clearly, you eventually have to do something about this, otherwise you will have way more WIPs than you know what to do with! I found one or two tricks that that you can use to downsize this problem :)

I know this sounds really obvious, but some knitters and crocheters don't realize how helpful this can be: If you unravel a project, you get the original yarn back (good if you loved the yarn, bad if you absolutely hated it), which is nice if you have a shortage of yarn. I recently unraveled several projects (mostly granny squares) and was surprised at the amount of yarn that I got. You may feel bad unraveling all of your hard work, but after a little while, you'll get over it. Some people feel better unraveling other peoples projects than their own, so maybe you and a yarn buddy can get together and unravel each other's projects :)  

This one is a little hard to explain, but the photos will help. This one is "marketed" toward Amigurumi makers.


The secret?: Almost every limb/head/body can be turned into an owl!

Since most Amigurumi pieces are just cylinders, with a small seam, you can make something adorable (like the owl pictured above!). Here's a little how-to:

All you need for the body is a basic circle, and several rounds of single crochet. For the body above, I used the limb pattern from this alien:

After making that, stuff the body, and sew it shut:

After you sew it shut, tie a knot and weave in the ends. You now have a little owl body! I chose a bright, rainbow-colored yarn, but try experimenting. This little guy would look great in almost anything!

This is what your owl should look like at this point:

This step is super simple (as all things should be). All you need to do is create a magic ring, chain 1, and single crochet 6 into the ring. Slip stitch to the first stitch, and fasten off. After you make two of them, take some black yarn and embroider little ity-bity eyes (this step may be a little hard because the piece is so small).

This is definitely the easiest step. Just chain 2, single crochet in the chain farthest from the hook, and fasten off. It's as easy as that! 

Sew the eyes onto the body, both right next to each other. Then, so the beak right below it,

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And that's it! You have used up a WIP, and you now have an adorable owl!

But the beauty of this technique is that you can experiment with it. Do you want make a super giant version? Try the Big and Chubby Owl! Looking for something a little smaller? Try this (this one uses some different techniques, but is still super easy)!




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These are just a few WIP using ideas to get you started. Do you have a special trick for using up un-wanted projects? If so, please share in the comments :)

A sneak peak of an upcoming blog post! I hate when I have a bunch of projects that I know I'll never finish, so after I spent a lot of time thinking of what I could do to put them to good use, I thought of several different ideas on how to get the most out of them! Pictured above is an owl that I made using an arm for an alien that I ran out of yarn for. I'll show how to make it in the blog post, and much more :)

This week, I was able to finish a little stuffed llama (it was a time-sensitive project, and I finished it in about a day). I'm not terribly pleased with it, but the recipient loved it!:

My sister made an identical one (well, almost identical), and we made up the pattern as we went along (which now that I think about, it's kind of hard for two people to be designing the same pattern. Good job, sis :)). And, yes...it is wearing a hat. And no, it doesn't have any ears :P

I also finished an owl in super bulky yarn (with a bit of aran weight yarn, too):

I have a little less than 4 skeins left of the super bulky yarn, and more than enough of aran weight yarn. I gave it baby safe eyes mainly because 1) If I were to sell it, I could be selling to a wider market. And 2) I felt like changing colors. I know that sounds kind of weird, but it's fun to see the colors change :) Anyway, I'll take photos in a different setting for the listing photo.

That's all :)




TTFN, Ta Ta For Now :)

After doing some researching, apparently you can (but only certain long-haired breeds)! I'm not terribly keen on trying it (mainly because of the habitat that the guinea pigs live in. Even if you get them a plastic bathroom, they still poop all over their bedding).

Any-who, speaking of guinea pigs, I'd like to introduce you to a little guinea pig that we picked up from the store yesterday morning:

I wasn't able to get very good photos (she's a wriggly little pig), but she has a latte/squirrel coloring (it's a she, BTW :)). Her name is LaFawnduh (it's a movie reference. Watch Napoleon Dynamite and it will make more sense). I'm not entirely sure how old she is, but is a lot smaller than other two adult guinea pigs we have. Her fur/hair is super soft and kind of long(ish...). She's still a little scared of her new surroundings, but not as scared as the two parakeets that my sister adopted the day before (they're quiet right now, but I know that soon we won't be able to shut them up D:).




All of the photos above were taken with the flash off, JSYK ;)

I'm unraveling old WIPs because I've either run out of yarn for them, or know for a fact that I won't finish them. So, what was once a the body of a teddy bear is now an unfinished bunny (It looks really weird right now, as it's upside down):

I actually made a bit more progress on it (I've finished up the body, and I just need to add the face).

That's all for now (if you look at yesterday's post, you can see a hat I was working on :)).

I'm happy to say that after hearing mixed reviews, I got to try Knit Picks circular needles!

I was a little scared because I've hear from different sources about the cable coming of the actual needle, but I've used them quite a bit, and so far I haven't seen any signs of breakage :)

I ordered two different sizes; A 4.00 mm and a 5.00 mm. I'm currently using the 5.00 mm needle to knit a hat in bulky yarn (well, technically, it's super bulky weight yarn, but it stretches out, so its comparable to bulky weight yarn):

I'm only at the brim. I was looking for an instant gratification project, and it works up pretty fast, but not as fast as I was expecting.

But, I was able to complete a stuffed owl pretty quickly with this super bulky yarn:

Wool-ease Thick & Quick is an acrylic/wool mixed yarn and is super soft! The owl I made with be shared on FO Friday and added for sale on the website soon. I purchase approximately 4.5 skeins from a Ravelry user for about $12 (which is a great deal considering this yarn costs about $8 retail).




So, what have you been making with your Knit Picks needles and bulky yarn? Feel free to tell me about your projects below :)

With 8 strands of yarn held together and 20.00 mm needles, I was able to make a blanket for Pusheen:

With only 30 stitches, this was a very quick knit. You can see that at almost 1" per stich, it is quite large:

Eek! Sorry for the blurry photos (for some reason, they turned out really small, and I had to enlarge them).

I've been busy planning lots of new things and starting new projects that I didn't have an FO this week! So...I plan on showing you what I'm plan on bringing to the blog this June!

Now bear with me. This might get long (but, probably not).

That's right! New patterns! I currently only have a few patterns for sale, but I have a lot more that I haven't added yet (plus some patterns that have yet to be typed up :D).

Although I do sell on Etsy, I get more traffic on my blog than I do at my shop, so I decided to add Amigurumi stuffed animals for sale right on the website! I'm already working on a couple of things, so look for those in June.

Has it been done before? Yes. Has it been done moi? No. To make it last longer, I'm going to do a tutorial ever 2 weeks (That'll give you plenty of time to master your new technique).

This (along with all the other things mentioned above) will go on long after June, but it should be introduced next month. I'm going to be featuring crochet/knit bloggers and Ravelry.com users, so that should be fun (if you'd like to be featured, feel free to contact me :))!
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Okay, it's not that long, but it's a lot! I have lots of a new things planned, but these are the only things I can get done for next month. I hope you're looking forward to them :)