Knitting list

For my 100th blog post (yeah!) I decided to change topic and just share this funny list I found on this nice blog. You just check all the things you've already done and maybe highlight the thing you actually want to try - things I've already tried are BOLD:

Afghan/Blanket
American/English knitting
Baby items
Bobbles
Buttonholes
Cable stitch patterns
Cardigan
Charity Knitting
Combination knitting
Continental knitting
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm-warmers
Darning
Designing knitted garments
Domino knitting
Drop Stitch Patterns
Dyeing Spinning Fibre
Dyeing with plant colors
Dyeing Yarn
Entrelac
Fair Isle knitting
Free-form knitting
Fulling/felting
Garter stitch
Gloves
Graffiti knitting
Hair accessories
Hats: Cuff-up
Hats: Top down
Holiday related knitting
Household Items
I-Cord
Intarsia
Kitchener stitch/grafting
Knitted flowers
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Knitting for Preemies
Knitting in public
Knitting Items for Weddings
Knitting on a loom
Knitting smocking
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting to make money
Knitting two socks simultaneously with double-knitting and magic loop method



Knitting with alpaca
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Knitting with corn yarn
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Knitting with beads
Knitting with Camel Yarn
Knitting with cashmere
Knitting with circular needles



Knitting with cotton
Knitting with dpns
Knitting with Linen
Knitting with metal Wire
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Knitting with silk
Knitting with soy yarn
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Knitting with wool
Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Machine knitting
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Moebius band knitting
Norwegian knitting
Participating in a KAL
Pillows
Publishing a knitting book
Purses/bags
Rug
Scarf
Shawl
Short rows
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Slip stitch patterns
Slippers
Socks: toe-up
Socks: top-down
Steeks
Stocking stitch
Stuffed toys
Swatching
Sweater
Tassels
Teaching a child to knit
Teaching a Male how to knit
Textured knitting
Thrummed knitting
Toy/doll clothing
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Writing a pattern
Spinning
Double-knitting socks two-at-a-time

I've learned a lot of new stuff in these last months and hope to fullfill this list by the end of the year!

I'd like to add some very important skills I also have acquired and recommend:

-Knitting while your cat plays with your yarn ball
-Realizing you're knitting your hair together with your yarn
-Knitting on the train while young guys make dirty jokes about what you're doing
-Spending 3 times the time you needed to undo a wrong row just trying not to make it look like a mistake
-Knitting 80% of an item just to realize you don't like the color at all. Or the yarn is scratchy like hell. Or you just ran out of that beautiful yarn you bought 10 years ago and can't find anymore. Or the gauge is wrong and you're actually making a doll size cardigan (could go on forever..)
-Buying a very expensive yarn to make, let's say, a blanket, just to realize your boyfriend is superallergic to that.
-Wishing for snow in spring so you might finish the freaking sweater you totally forgot about while it was cold enough to wear it

I should make a list for beading too...

Destinations

If I could really escape this city for a while, I would choose some place cold where I can still wear a fluffy, hand knitted sweater (like the one I'm trying so hard to finish!) and drink a hot, steamy tea looking at the snow from a window.
Instead I have no time for tea, nor for beading, so I didn't enter this month Etsy Beadweavers challenge.

Fortunately a lot of fellow beadweavers did:



Aren't they gorgeous?!!! I already have a favorite... and I promised myself I will make the entry I have in my mind anyway, no matter how much time I'll spend.

Got to EBW blog, voting starts March 9 - March 15th, don't miss it!

February 2012 Challenge: NEST

It's time to go to Etsy Beadweavers blog and choose your favorite nest jewel:



The inspiration was given by last month's competition winner, who said:
“It will still be winter in the Northern hemisphere in February and I believe thinking about nestling could make us feel comfortable. What I would like us to do: If you think about (or google for) "nest", you will find much more than birds building nests. Insects like bees, hornets and others also do.
So let´s get inspired by their pieces of art. Let´s see what ideas nature gives us. I´m sure, everybody will find a way to find their own interpretation of NEST…"

You have time until February 15th to vote for the piece you like the most and please share this gorgeous display as much as you can!

February 2012 EBW challenge

This month's EBW challenge is really lovely.
Nesting is what's on my mind almost every day since my tiny house is pretty small and messy, and I'm trying very hard to make it as comfortable and tidy as possible.
So my entry for this challenge came out naturally



I had a lot of fun making the nest, it's a plastic ring covered in RAW technique and then I made a circular peyote back for it.

I would have loved to put inside some 3D hearts, but even using the size 15 miyukis it was impossible to fit in 2 of them.

Please visit our team blog, http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com between the 9th and 15th of February and vote for your favorite entry!

Done!

My custom order is ready to be shipped



Have to run to the post office!

Little Lulu & Tubby

Here are my latest creatures:



I wasn't familiar with Little Lulu and Tubby (looks like I mispelled their name in my previous post)so it was hard to decide the right colors to use.
Hope my customer will like them!

Custom order

I received a custom order just before Christmas.
Due to my job schedule and my trip home for the holidays, I had to start it very late and I'm still struggling to finish it in a couple of days.



It's a necklace with two beaded dolls (like this one) of Little Lulu and Toby and 2 beaded heart earrings.

I love the crocheted rope. I just hate the stringing part...
I had to re-start it from scratch 3 times because something in the pattern I had made wasn't ok; then I realized I needed an "upside down" pattern to have hearts in both the directions (which you can't see in the pic).
Now I just need to go on for 10 cm and then I'll have fun with the little dolls.

Kindle case

This Xmas I received a Kindle touch from my BF.
I was soooo happy!



I've been wanting to buy an e-reader for a year, and now I'm glad I haven't because I've saved a lot of money. The kindle is much cheaper and more performant.
It arrived home just 1 day after my birthday, but I was so excited I bought a pattern for a case on etsy a couple of days before.
This is the result:



Despite my studies, I am NOT a good seamstress, even though I really try hard.
So for a first time it's not that bad.

My BF's grandma took out all her fabric stash to help me!

I bought the pattern from Birdiful Stitches and received it on my mail in less than 24 hours.

Happy Birthday...

...to me!




I cheated on the candles, but only because I ran out of those little supports you put under...in case you're wondering, they should have been 29!

Ready for the new

I bet everyone is getting ready for the new year right now - as the radio is saying, we don't know if there's going to be another one, according to Maya predictions, LOL.
Lately I've been knitting instead of beading (though I just received a custom order ^^): my Mom & I have been making tones of these



as Xmas gifts.
I have so much wool I never use! But one of my new year's proposition is to knit more, possibly with some concrete result!

He approves


Happy New Year to all of you, and as my beloved David Coverdale always says:
"Be Safe, Be Happy, and don't let anybody make you afraid".