Peasblossom Creations

Hi there! I've moved things around a bit...

Are you looking for my new blog? Try here: http://PeasblossomCreationsblogspot.com

Are you looking for my shop? Try here: http://PeasblossomCreations.etsy.com

I am holding onto this blog to post how-to's (coming soon). Check back for updates in the future. :-)

Maloja Mitts for Lily

You'd think that after coming back from Las Vegas my first project would have sequins or yarn with some super-sparkle to it or maybe involve feathers...

That is not to say that this project isn't REALLY exciting.  Because I think it is.  Dark purple fingerless mittens with a subtle cable just isn't the expected project.  What makes this project so exciting, you ask?  Well, I knit both of these gloves at the same time and I used a technique called Magic Loop to do it. I'm pretty impressed with myself; this was something new for me.  I'm planning on writing a tutorial for how to do magic loop (complete with pictures and/or video if I can figure out how to film and knit at the same time) and posting it here, so keep a look out!  If you want to be emailed updates, send me a note at knittinsmitten@gmail.com and I'll add you to the mailing list.

In fairness to the visually inspiring city, these gloves were planned in advance and not a product of the Viva Elvis Cirque du Soleil show (which, I must admit, was pretty spectacular).  Like many of us who choose (or are forced) to leave our homes from October to mid-March, my friend Lily's hands get cold.  Mittens may seem like an excellent solution, but not for Lily.  I know she is asking a lot, but she wants warm hands and to be able to use her fingers at the same time, a demand that mittens just can't meet.  So!  Behold!

Maloja Fingerless Mitts for Lily

This isn't Lily. This is me.
But soon I'll try to take a picture of
Lily wearing her delightful new gloves.

I used one of my favorite yarns for this project: Cashmere Merino Silk in DK weight by Sublime.  This yarn is so soft and it knits really smoothly.  This is the same yarn (different color though) that I used for Lauren's gloves back in August and it was just as easy to knit with.  No pilling, no splitting, no yarn barf.  (Yes, Mom, yarn barf is a thing.  Remember that ball of pink lace-weight yarn that you so kindly detangled and wound up for me?  And how it would go really well for a few seconds and then you'd pull a little more yarn out and BAM! it would be all messed up and tangly again?  That was yarn barf.)

The original pattern, designed by Tracey Grzegorczyk, had the gloves being quite a bit shorter.  I added a few inches in the wrist section so more of the forearm would be covered and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  This also had the added benefit of having a more fitted look to the glove.  Without these few inches, the ribbing of the cuff was pretty loose around the wrists, but when it is up higher on the arm it fits more snugly.

The pattern was really well-written.  She even had a little chart to help you keep track of the increases in relation to where you were on the cable pattern -- something I hadn't seen before and most sincerely appreciate.  If I had been knitting the gloves one-at-a-time, this would have been especially helpful to make sure that they were the same length and that the thumbs happened in the same spot.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how these turned out.  I need to figure out a way so that when I knit in the round, my cast-on edge is even.  I usually have to do funny things when I weave in the ends to make them even.  Maybe a question for Debie at Serial Knitters!

But this doesn't mean sequins, beads, and feathers aren't in my knitting future...

Peasblossom Creations

Well, I've done it.  I've made the first steps to opening my own (small) business!  I am rationalizing this as a way to pay for graduate school (side note: I got into the University of Washington's Information School for fall 2011! Woo!) but really I just like the idea of people wearing and using the stuff I make.  And maybe making a little bit o' cash on the side.

I've been reading The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin and have been making preliminary plans.  All this is tremendously exciting!  I have a new blog and an Etsy store but there isn't anything in them yet.  I want to get a little inventory stocked up before I go live and have a better plan for how to maintain my online presence.  There is also a whole bunch of tax, "doing business as", and official stuff that I need to figure out before I really get going.  I need to do this right; accidental tax evasion is apparently the same thing as intending not to pay your taxes.

This book has been really helpful and I foresee it continuing to be so in the future.

So, without further ado, let me introduce...

Peasblossom Creations!

The blog will be at PeasblossomCreations.blogspot.com and the store lives virtually at PeasblossomCreations.etsy.com.  As I said earlier, there isn't anything there yet.  But just you wait (Henry Higgins)!  Soon enough there will be things to buy and request and comment on and generally admire.

On Facebook? Like my page at (Facebook link)!
Do you Tweet? Follow me at @PsblossomCreate (Twitter link)!

In the mean time, if you're interested in ordering a hand knitted object, send me an email at knittinsmitten@gmail.com and we'll talk.

Happy New Year!

You know, if I posted more regularly, I wouldn't feel compelled to make MONSTER posts like this... well... New Year's Resolution: post more regularly.

I'll try to keep this as concise as possible. But here is a four month update on my knitting life (or at least what I remember of it).

Cowl for Mom 

(finished July 4, 2010 -- gifted December 25, 2010)

Waaaaay back in July, I finished a cowl for Mom for Christmas. Since she is one of my most reliable readers, I wasn't able to post about it, but since Christmas has passed *and* I remembered to give it to her, here are some pictures and some info about the project.

The pattern is Plucky Curacao Cowl by Thea Colman (click HERE to download the pattern for free from babycocktails.blogspot.com). I shortened it so it would only wrap once around and I also left off the smocking. I'm not sure if it is because I wasn't able to smock the ribs tight enough or if the yarn wasn't right for the project, but I was really unhappy with how the smocking looked on mine so I didn't do it. If you look at other people's projects or the one that Thea Colman did, the smocking looks lovely; mine just looks way better without. I used Plymouth Yarn Suri Merino Wool in an off-white. Very soft!

Mom with cowl and gloves

September Knit-a-Long Fingerless Gloves 

(finished October 8, 2010 -- gifted December 25, 2010)

I did finish those fancy travelling cable gloves for the September knit-a-long: just not in September. I was very close, but pesky things like coursework kept getting in the way.

I showed them to Mom when I finished them and she thought they were quite lovely. Quite magically, she got a pair just like them for Christmas... oh Santa and his elves!

Argyle Vest for Jack 

(started October 6, 2010 -- still in progress...)

This one didn't quite make the Christmas deadline. Not even close, in fact. I'm aiming for his birthday in early August now. I'm still working on the back and haven't even made it to the arm hole shaping yet, but I'm getting close now. I've done about 25cm (in twisted rib stitch... 169 stitches... on size 3 needles... no wonder it's taking me forever!) and the shaping starts in just 13 more centimeters!

I'm going to need to do some pretty serious blocking on the project. Unstretched and unblocked, the vest is 11" - 12" wide. Ari has assured me that I am knitting the correct gauge and that it should block just fine. After all this work, I certainly hope so! And if it doesn't fit him.. well.. we'll figure that out when we get there. But I always think stuff isn't going to fit and then it does. So I'll probably be okay.

Whitman College Craft Fair! (December 3, 2010)

Early in December, Whitman hosted their first annual craft fair. As any good knitting club leader would, I signed the club up for their very own table! The week before finals seems to have been a rough time to have a craft fair. Only Hadley (a knitting club member) and myself had anything knitting related to sell (Ari had some prints from an art class that she tried to sell), but since I was trying to de-stash a bit before the holidays, the table was pretty full.

Ari and I also tried to sell knitting lessons and a bunch of people stopped and said what a great idea the lessons were. They included a trip to a yarn shop with assistance picking out a pattern, needles, and appropriate yarn. Unfortunately, no one actually bought a lesson. We were hoping that more faculty would come through and want to buy a knitting lesson for their children, but almost no faculty even looked into the craft fair.

I knit some quick projects for the fair. I sold two headbands (should have made more! They were super popular and gone within the first five minutes), but nothing else moved. I think the fair might have been too far from Christmas for people to be really thinking about Christmas gifts. Most students seem to go Christmas shopping once they get home from break. I ended up donating the red and white striped scarf (see image above) to a man who works with youths whose lives have been affected by HIV. He was collecting scarves to give to the kids in his support group. So at least it went to a good cause!
Note: The three hats (blue beanie, blue cuffed hat, and red-white beanie) are still available if anyone is interested. Email me at knittinsmitten@gmail.com to inquire.

Fingerless Arctic Blast Gloves for Lauren M.

(started December 2010 -- finished December 24, 2010)

Modelling by Mom

One set of three fingerless gloves I hope to finish over winter break. My friends Lauren M., Lily, and Alyssa saw a pair of fingerless gloves (from earlier post HERE) and really liked them. They all asked for a pair and since I was going to be knitting stuff anyway...
The pattern I used for Lauren's gloves is called Arctic Blast by Star Athena (click HERE to get to Star Athena's blog and see her pattern). I used Rowan Cashsoft DK yarn in Opulence and they turned out quite lovely if I do say so myself. Mine didn't turn out nearly as lacy as the gloves that others made, but I like them all the same.

Fingerless Maloja Gloves for Lily

(started December 29, 2010 -- still in progress)

I'm trying a new technique with these gloves. I'm using my brand spankin' new Addi Naturas (soooo nice!!) and trying magic loop AND knitting two at once. It looks like I'm having a laddering problem so I might have to start over which would be a huge pain. Getting everything lined up and started is by far the most challenging part of magic loop. Once you get going, it's super easy.

Imagine these gloves...

in this color!

The pattern I'm using is Maloja Fingerless Mitts by Tracy Grzegorczyk (click HERE to buy the pattern). I'm using Sublime Yarns Cashmere Merino Silk DK in Black Cherry (purpley-plum.. very pretty).

Learn How to Knit Fair Isle Swirls Hat!

(started January 3, 2011 -- class on January 6, 2011)

I’ve been talking about learning stranded Fair Isle for a while now and since Serial Knitters in Kirkland is offering a class that works out with my schedule while I’m visiting my parents, I figured, why not?! So I’m signed up for the class, have bought the yarn, and have already done the ‘homework’. The first few rows are finished up to the first Latvian braid (the chevrony arrows near the rim of the hat).

The pattern is Swirls Hat by Carolyn Doe (click HERE to purchase). I'm using Cascade 220 superwash wool in charcoal grey, white, and light pink. The main color will be grey with white swirls and pink accents. Hopefully it will be cute... we'll see!

The class in on Thursday, January 6, 2010 from 6pm to 9pm. There isn't very much to take a picture of, but hopefully after class I'll have some color work done and will post about it then.

I’m using the magic loop method. I’m might have a slight laddering issue where I switched colors for the first time, but I think that it’ll be small enough that it will either be an easy fix or not noticeable.

Things I hope to learn:

- Stranded color work!

- Latvian braid trim

- Braided tassle

Spring Beret for Me!

(Planned)

I have this pretty light yellow yarn and I'm planning to knit myself a slouchy spring beret. The pattern I've picked out is called Pasha by Jane Richmond. I'm pretty excited to start it! I hope to get it done before April 2011. (Check out RAVELRY to get this pattern).

Big Tree Blanket

(will be in progress forever...)

No progress has been made past the first 6 or so rows. The blanket is currently about the size of my hand. We'll see how much work I get done on it before summer 2011...

**

That's all for now! Happy new year to everyone!