Monday, 22 April 2013

Knitting up a storm....

Hi everyone!

You may have been wondering what I've been up to lately as for the last several months I haven't been posting as many cards as I had been previously.  Well, I was bitten by the knitting bug and it won't let go!

I'm usually a seasonal knitter.  I learned how to knit when I was 8 or so, taught by both of my grandmothers.  They were both prolific knitters, one knitting socks, slippers, and mittens for all of her grandchildren, the other knitting afgan after afgan in between other crafty projects.  While I've always enjoyed knitting, it was never something I stayed interested in all of the time.  Just every so often my hands would start to get twitchy and I'd have to pick up the needles and knit something easy like a scarf or a few dishcloths.  Then the twitchyness would pass and I would move on to something else.

For the last several years it was always the winter weather that brought "the twitches" with it.  Usually I will knit a few dish cloths when I have time, last year in particular I knit what seems like a million of those scarves made with the novelty frilly yarn (one brand was called 'Frill Seeker' but there are a ton of them out there) that makes a scarf that looks way more complicated than it actually is.  This year at Christmas time I decided I would put more emphasis on making hand-made gifts and so in addition to some card sets I made a few scarves  and cowls for some family and friends.  I figured that would be it, and once done those scarves I put my needles away until the following year.

Being of the crafty sort, however, after Christmas I started thinking that I need a new bed spread and wouldn't it be lovely if the bedspread came from my own crafty hands?  My hands started to get twitchy and I started looking for blanket patterns and I came across this:




Isn't it beautiful? I'm telling you, I fell in love!  Its called The Beekeeper's Quilt and it was designed by Stephanie Dosen of Tiny Owl Knits.  Please click here for the Ravelry page and here for her website.  I thought it was a lofty goal, but since its mostly stockinette stitch, I figured I could do it if I just gave myself enough time.  I figured a year would do it.

Until this point, I had heard of sock yarn but I didn't realize what it was yet.  Oh boy was I in for a treat!  After purchasing the pattern I immediately went to my lys  (local yarn store for you non-knitters) and. had a look at the selection.  Simply beautiful!  I fell in love again and purchased a set of dpns (double pointed needles) and few skeins of sock yarn.

The funny thing about this whole experience is that I had never even considered knitting socks before. The original intent of this quilt is to use up leftover bits of sock yarn, but I found the idea of  A Pair Of Socks (capitals required as that's how I thought of it in my head)  daunting.  So I decided to just knit hexipuffs (that's what the puffy hexagon patches are called) from my purchased sock yarn.  Here is my first one:



So I knit, and I knit, and I knit my hexipuffs. I had some stuffing already so once I had my yarn and needles I went to town and back with my knitting - literally!  I knit on the bus, I knit at work, I knit in the car (while my husband was driving), I knit whenever I had a spare moment at home.  It really is a great portable project as these little puffs are super quick.  Once I had a bunch I started attaching them together:



These make me so happy when I look at their pretty colours!

By this time I had about 100 puffs, and I had noticed a visible improvement in my knitting. I had changed how I tensioned the yarn to stop my pinky aching, and my speed had increased.  I started to want to branch out and try an actual Pair Of Socks.

I found a great tutorial series on You Tube by Knit Picks which is the company that makes my favourite knitting needles.  Click here for a link to the class playlist.  It was a great way to learn as there was no pressure to follow a pattern - you just do what Kelley tells you to do. It also taught me a new method of knitting - Magic Loop. I've come to learn I like Magic Loop much better than dpns. Here is my first pair of socks:


Ok, slightly thick through the foot but pretty good for my first try!  They are pretty comfy too.  Since then I have knit four more pairs (and a few single socks I ripped back) trying different techniques such as toe up, cuff down, a few ways to do the heel, a few ways to do the heel flap, and afterthought heels.  On the last pair that I knit I decided I wanted to try a pair with lace so I used a pattern called Lazy Lace Socks.  The pattern was perfect for the yarn the Easter Bunny just happened to leave in my son's Easter basket (hmmmm, I wonder how that got in there?).

This is the first sock finished:


And when both were finished:



I think I did pretty well for my first try at lace! These socks were super easy and I'm pretty sure I will knit this pattern again. Its a free Ravelry download if you want to try!

So in the meantime I've still been knitting hexipuffs (I'm now up to 195), although I've come to realize that knitting enough for a queen size bed was a bit too eager of an idea.  I'm now planning on a throw for my hexipuffs, which is fine because then I can keep the finished product in the living room where the whole family can enjoy them.  I think it will be a lovely blanket to snuggle under.  So now I'm thinking of what else I could do for a bed spread.  I have a couple of ideas but I'm not sure what I'll do just yet.

I'm also working on a blanket for a friend (I won't show you so as not to ruin the surprise), and a pair of slippers for my husband.  I really want to knit a cardigan for myself so that's my next goal.  The problem is my wallet isn't as big as my imagination. This is not new, however, so I will just have to grin and bear it, lol.  Goodness knows I will not run out of hexipuffs any time soon!

I just can't seem to stop knitting! I'm most certainly not giving up on my cards, but it is nice to have something different to work on.  I find I come up with card ideas while knitting, and think of my knitting when I am making cards.  One habit feeds the other! :)

For those of you who are knitters I've joined Ravelry and my name is Inkyminky184  so if you would like to friend me feel free! :)

Friday, 19 April 2013

MFP Blog Hop Day #4 Birds & Trees




April Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured April 16
Columns & Topiaries
Featured April 17
Be a Showoff
Featured April 18

Honor & Glory
Featured April 19

Birds & Trees

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on April 20,2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday April 19,2013.



 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:
"Zoo Friends"



The mini stamp set we have for you this month is:
"You May Bow"
                                                         

For the last day of this month's hop we have a really cute set called "Birds & Trees"


These little egg shaped trees are so cute!  Here is what I came up with:








I love how these images stand out on a white background, so fun!

I hope you enjoyed my cards, but don't stop here.  This is a blog hop after all, and all of the amazing design team members are listed below. Don't forget to visit them and let them know how much you enjoyed their hard work!

Please don't forget to visit the Mark's Finest Papers store! In addition to the lovely April sets you will find even more beautiful sets along with lots of quality card making supplies to add to your stash.  Since today is the last day of the hop I'll be back in May with more lovely sets.  In the meantime stay tuned, I may have a few other projects to share with you! :)

Pam 
Cathy C - you are here
Toni 

Thursday, 18 April 2013

MFP Blog Hop Day #3 - Honor & Glory



April Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured April 16
Columns & Topiaries
Featured April 17
Be a Showoff
Featured April 18

Honor & Glory
Featured April 19

Birds & Trees

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on April 20,2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday April 19,2013.



 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:
"Zoo Friends"



The mini stamp set we have for you this month is:
"You May Bow"
                                                         

Today's set is called "Honor & Glory" (you don't know how hard it is for me to spell honour without a 'u', lol).


I really like this set, I think it fills in some gaps in my stamp stash.  This set can be used for so many things.  Today I decided to make some square cards:







Similar to yesterday's cards I decided to heat emboss the image and colour with markers, but instead of water based markers I used my alcohol based ones.  This way I knew that the ink would dry fast and not smudge.  The only thing with using alcohol markers on embossing, is that the alcohol ink seems to slightly dissolve the surface of the embossing making it dull.  Its easy to bring the shine back by blasting the image with your heat gun once finished, but I wouldn't recommend using your expensive markers for this. I find that the marker tips seem to get a bit clogged and stop working smoothly.  Scribbling on a piece of scrap paper seems to fix this, but I only used my Bic markers.  I don't think I would risk the few Copics I have. 

I hope you enjoyed my cards, but don't stop here.  This is a blog hop after all, and all of the amazing design team members are listed below. Don't forget to visit them and let them know how much you enjoyed their hard work!

Please don't forget to visit the Mark's Finest Papers store! In addition to the lovely April sets you will find even more beautiful sets along with lots of quality card making supplies to add to your stash.  See you tomorrow :)

Pam 
Cathy C - you are here
Toni 

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

MFP Blog Hop Day #2 - Be a Showoff


April Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured April 16
Columns & Topiaries

Featured April 17
Be a Showoff
Featured April 18

Honor & Glory
Featured April 19

Birds & Trees

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on April 20,2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday April 19,2013.



 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:
"Zoo Friends"



The mini stamp set we have for you this month is:
"You May Bow"
                                                         

Today's set is beautiful:


I love this set, so pretty. Pretty as a peacock even! (Feel free to groan, that was pretty bad, lol). The images are so pretty I wanted to keep the cards clean and simple.










I must admit I had a bit of trouble with these cards.  I heat embossed the images and then coloured with water based markers.  I thought it would be great because the embossing would resist the marker and keep the image looking crisp.  What I didn't consider is that the image resisting the marker would mean that the ink on the embossing wouldn't dry, and would be easily smudged.  This isn't good on a white card.  It also doesn't work to wipe the image after colouring as the same thing happens, blue ink on white where it isn't supposed to be.  I ended up making the first card three times and the second one twice.  It wasn't successful until I stopped being impatient and left the image to dry overnight before trying to work with it.  Clean and simple certainly doesn't mean easy!  Oh well, now I know and I'm happy with the results. :)

I hope you enjoyed my cards, but don't stop here.  This is a blog hop after all, and all of the amazing design team members are listed below. Don't forget to visit them and let them know how much you enjoyed their hard work!

Please don't forget to visit the Mark's Finest Papers store! In addition to the lovely April sets you will find even more beautiful sets along with lots of quality card making supplies to add to your stash.  See you tomorrow :)

Pam 
Cathy C - you are here
Toni 

Monday, 15 April 2013

MFP Blog Hop Day #1 - Columns & Topiaries


April Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured April 16
Columns & Topiaries

Featured April 17
Be a Showoff
 
Featured April 18

Honor & Glory
 
Featured April 19

Birds & Trees

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on April 20,2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday April 19,2013.



 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:
"Zoo Friends"



The mini stamp set we have for you this month is:
"You May Bow"
                                                         

Can you believe its April already?  Spring its on its way - rumoured to have been sited in other places, but somewhat elusive in my area as we just had a snow storm last weekend.  That said I am hopeful it will get here eventually and this set is helping me keep my hopes up, lol.


I've always loved topiaries.  So much so that I made topiary centre pieces for my wedding reception back in 2007 (I was going to share a picture with you but I couldn't find one! I know I have one somewhere but we weren't completely digital back then, lol).

I had a lot of fun playing with the images in this set and some patterned paper.  I came up with three cards, all the same layout but with different patterns. I used my Viva Pearl Pen to accent. Something about topiaries and pearls that just seem to go together!













I think this would make a pretty note card set, or they are pretty on their own.

I hope you enjoyed my cards, but don't stop here.  This is a blog hop after all, and all of the amazing design team members are listed below. Don't forget to visit them and let them know how much you enjoyed their hard work!

Please don't forget to visit the Mark's Finest Papers store! In addition to the lovely April sets you will find even more beautiful sets along with lots of quality card making supplies to add to your stash.  See you tomorrow :)

Pam 
Cathy C - you are here
Toni