A Tiny Treasure

I loom knitted a little something today. I had a lot of fun doing it and for some reason it made feel quite good inside, maybe is because I am planning to donate it to a little treasure, or maybe because the yarn was so wonderful to work with. I used Katia Diana from Little Knits and I absolutely love it. The feel is so soft and I just want to cuddle it. I am sure the good feeling came from everything combined.  Now, I just need to make a few more and send them off to one of the many charities out there.

If anyone is interested, here is a draft of the pattern. I will be posting it in the Decor Accents, Inc website soon.

Done in e-wrap (twisted stitch)
Single Stitch throughout

Begin:
Cast on in the round.
Wrap the loom 3 more times.
Knit over the bottom 3 loops off the peg.

Wrap the loom 1 time. Knit over.
Knit for about 1.5"

To create eyelets for ribbon. You will be moving a loop from a peg
and placing it to the peg on the right. Thus creating an empty peg.
Do so in this manner:
Move the loop from peg 4 to peg 3. You should have 1 loop on peg 1,
1 on peg 2, peg 3 should have 2 loops. Peg four should be empty.
Now, move the loop from peg 8 and place it on peg 7. Continue around
the loom, removing the loop from every 4th peg and placing it on the
peg on the right. In total, you should have 3 pegs with loops on
them, and 1 peg empty, all around the loom.
Knit over the pegs that have 2 loops on them, (peg 3, 7, 11, 15, 19,
23, 27, 31, 35, 39, 43, 47).
End of Eyelets

Wrap the loom 1 time covering all the pegs. Knit over the pegs that
have 2 loops on them. Wrap the loom one more time. Knit over 1 over
1. Continue knitting in the round until your item measures 5.0" or
has 30 rows. (I prefer to just measure, but if you like to count the
rows)

Remove with gathering method.

(Optional add a pom pom)

It is a very soft yarn and I love the feel of it. I think you can
make about 3 preemie hats from one skein.

So, in conclusion, if you make a preemie hat with the XXL Sock loom
and no eyelets.
Knit a Chunky Braid edge.
Knit the single stitch for 30-32 rows or until item measures 5-5.5"
Remove with gathering method.

A day in time

The day was gorgeous today, not too hot, not to cold, just the perfect temperature.

As soon as Sam got back from the shop, we all got in the car and went to Hydro Park for a little picnic. Sandwiches and juice in tow, we were ready for a nice day out. Sam and Bryant had an awesome time playing on the swings, Nyah and I just lounged around playing. But, at one point, Nyah with the help of dad was playing ball with Bryant. It was a beautiful sound hearing them all playing and laughing. It was like a movie was playing--everything was perfect! I felt like the luckiest woman on earth.

To top the wonderful day, my friend Sarah, who just moved to Texas called us. It was super to hear from her. I really miss her, for a little while we were going everywhere together. 

Knitting took the back seat today, not much got done, except for some knitting on my new loom. But, it got interrupted when I measured it and realized that it would be wayyyyy too big for anyone's head--24" around. So, I sat down and did some math and figure out the correct size for the double frame hat looms. Math sure comes in handy in life, so if you have kids like I do, engrain in them that Math is used in life and it is not just a myth adults tell ya to bug.

Yesterday, our apartment got a huge hole in the wall--on purpose :). Our landlord is opening up an extra bedroom for us. It is a great relief as we are really getting cramped in our 2 bedroom basement apartment....my yarn alone is taking up a whole closet!!! Kiddin' aside, the extra bedroom will allow us to assemble Nyah's crib--finally!!! Her little arms are sticking out of her little craddle and she can rock it all by herself. Only one more week and she will have a huge bed all to herself. But, Bryant is not too keen on the idea of having his own room with his sister. He wants to keep sleeping in our room. His first words when I told him that we will move to the next room "But, but, I am going to be all alone :(". I assured him that he won't be alone and that we will be just right there, but he is not too sure yet. Hopefully once I "decorate" their room, he will be happier with the idea. By "decorate" I mean slapping some stickers and wallpaper with Buzz Lightyear...I am not a decorator at all. My house is an eclectic scene of Wal-mart furniture, with some ShopKo add-ons, and garage sale decor, and lets not forget the wonderful colourful pieces of toys laying about in every little corner of the house.

My new toy :)

It may seem like I have abandoned my blog, but I haven't promised. I have been busy as a bee knitting away with both my needles and looms.

I finished my cables bag--it is super cute and now, I can say that I know how to do cables. I wonder if I am able to knit Rogue yet...hmmm, I don't think so. Maybe in 2 years from now. You know that I have been knitting with needles now for about 2 months, wow!! In those two months I have acquire lots of needles and more yarn than I can fit in my closet :).

Yesterday, Sam brought me a beauty of a loom home. His latest design. It is a double round frame loom-works like a knitting board, except in the round.

Here is a top view

Also, I got the name of my Secret Pal :)....fun, fun, fun ;).

Knitting as fast as I can..

So, it is Tuesday night and I am half way done with my homework for my cables class. I am so way behind and I don't know if I will have enough time tomorrow to finish it--32 more rows to go. Gosh, it is never ending, help!!!
It is looking good though, I just wish I was a little bit faster.  I was coming along really well, then I realized that I had a huge mistake in the middle panel, not a small one, but a huge one, so I had to frog about 20 rows and go back. It is still not perfect, but it is not as bad as it was. 


I have also been looming away, I am working on that pattern book. I have baby hats, baby boottees, and now, I am waiting for some yummy Debbie Bliss Cashemerino Chunky to make a baby blanket.

In the midsts of all these projects, I have not had one single chance to start my Oregon Tote bag :(.

In the upside of my life, I started running this week. My muscles ache all over, but I am hoping that I can lose my baby weight in about 6 months. If you know me, you can see right away that my face and my hips gain all the weight, well, my face is getting rounder and rounder as time passes, and I have to do something about it. I started by running 1.5 miles and man!!! It is taking me forever. I run and I walk, but the running is in small intervals.  My goal is to be running 2 miles in 15 minutes (which is very slow for runners, but fast enough for couch potato Isela).

Here are some pictures of my family at Willow Park, our local small zoo. Bryant loves to go there and look around and it has been our destination most of the afternoons.


Oh, and tha pesky cold, yep, it is still around, it is blooming hot here in Utah and with a cold, I am completely and absolutely miserable. I get nose bleeds every day from the dryness---ohh, how I miss the humidity of my lovely NYC.

Later :),
Isela

Applied I-cord--not so scary

Well, what I thought would be brain surgery, ended up being more like a band-aid fixer upper. It is easy. I am so glad I have Miriam to teach me all this fun stuff. I am so bad with written instructions but as soon as I see it done, I get it, I am such a visual learner :). Now, I am ready to do my Oregon Tote diaper bag, I have the yarn, the needles, and the knowledge, so ready set go, go, ok, I am going to first have to finish some of my loom knit projects.

Today, I got some more real mail again :). My friend Ana from New York is getting married (Yippee!!!) and I received a small fridge magnet to remind me of her wedding-she is getting married in Guatemala. We met in college and she has been beside me through so many things that we are just like sisters.  It was great mail :). Happy, happy joy, joy.

Oh, my cold is still hanging around. I slept most of the day today. Even Bryant has a cold now, poor puppet. We are sleeping lots and drinking lots of OJ.

Miriam gave my little Baby Nyah a pair of hand knit socks, they are super adorable. I will post pictures of them later when the batteries have charged. Cute little socks for my little girl, the first socks that don't cut her circulation off.

Oh, I almost forgot, I would like to wish my Blog Loom buddy a Happy Birthday--Happy Birthday Denise :). May you have lots and lots and lots of happiness this day with a million kisses from your loved ones. And if you get yarn, share some this way, LOL.

Til later :)

Cables and Gifts

The color of these letters reflect the way I am starting to feel right now--yep, blue. I feel sick. My eyes are watering, and my throat is feeling tight, and to top it all off, I am super tired.

Today, I got a wonderful little package from Laticia--home made soap. It smells wonderful and it feels so silky to the touch. I want to try it out, but I am afraid of using it all and then have none. I have heard wonderful things about home made soap and I am sure everything is true.  Thank you Laticia :).  It is sure nice to get real mail :).

I also wanted to share a picture of all the goodies I got the other day from Becky.  You see all those cute beads--wouldn't they make awesome looking stitch markers and bracelets :).  It is so great to get real mail....oh, the joys of real mail :).

My Cables class was this evening and let me tell ya, it is not difficult to make the cables, the difficulty arises in the concentration part.  We are doing 3 types of cables-a 6 stitch cable, a honeycomb cable, and a main cable that I don't recall the name for it right now, and in the middle of the main cable, it has some Irish Moss Stitch--I am loving the look of the Irish Moss Stitch :). Anyways, the cabling is easy, try it if you haven't yet, but you will need to concentrate. 

Oh, update on Nyah's bum--it is getting a lot better. She is back to her happy disposition once again :). 

Til later :),

What a day!!!

Today has been one of those days. Everything is just going crazy around here. You see, Nyah is on some type of medication for her acid reflux and she has been on it for a week. At first, it was ok, but she has had some terrible diapers for a couple of days. It has been so bad, that her bum is raw. She is crying non-stop because of the rash, the rash ointment works at a slower pace than a snail and Nyah is miserable. She just squeals all day long and when she finally falls asleep my wonderful 3 year old decides to have a fit that happens to wake her up. 

In the middle of this dilemma, I decided to *really* potty train Bryant. Well, not much gets done when one is trying to potty train. I have the timer set for every 15 minutes. Well, in between running him to the potty picking up Nyah, sitting down to feed Nyah, the beeping of the timer, the phone ringing, etc, etc. I am going completely NUTS!! At one point, I just got in the computer room and screamed my lungs out. I just couldn't handle it anymore. Goodness, I never thought potty training someone could drive the mom insane. Yeah, and in the midsts of all these, now I have a mountain of clothes do wash because little said person did not make it to the potty.  The funniest part of all this, I told him to take off his wet underpants and put it away. Well, Bryant was obedient, he put it away in the garbage :).  Oh, what a day, what a day. And I still need to fix dinner, hahahahaha. I am seeing tortillas and cheese for dinner ;).

Well, now that you have heard me rant about my terrible day. I can tell you something really fun. I got to go to Borders on Saturday and I picked up some fun books on knitting. You see that sock book, yep, I am going to try making socks. Wednesday, I need to get some double pointed needles from my LYS and then I will dive in.  I also got to play with my yarn winder and my yarn swift :).

I have also started working on the pattern book. I have decided to really break it down. I am starting with the easiest first: a Baby Loom Knits pattern book.  I am working slowly, but surely. 

Hugs to all,

I

Lovely Addi's

Last night, I went to my Felted Bag Knitting Class. It was lots of fun. Miriam  taught us lots of interesting facts about wool and its properties. And, I learned the proper way of picking up stitches :). Thanks Miriam :).

I took my brand new pair of Addi Turbos to knit my bag, at first, I had ordered a set of bamboo circulars, but they did not arrive in time. So, I had to take my Addi's. I was at first concerned that I will drop all my stitches, but alas, it was a beauty to behold! They are super, super nice. I really love them ;). I got home after class and I continued knitting on my bag and I could definitely see an increase in my knitting speed. They are very smooth and they warm up with your touch. Nice Addis :).

I was browsing around on the Internet and I came across these beauties from Golding. I am not a spinner, but I would love to have Habetrot in my living room. It is simply gorgeous. But, it is candy for the eye only.

Oh, and I have to tell everyone about my wonderful care package from Becky. She sent me a whole box with beads, the tools, and a magazine full of ideas for making beaded items. Now, I just need Sam to take Bryant on an outing so I can sit at the table with all my pretty beads :). Thank you Becky :).

I almost forgot-Miriam was wearing the cutest pair of handknit socks. They looked purrrrfect. I wish I had a picture to share with all of you. Ohh, so many things to try out in life :). Now, I have decided that I must learn how to knit socks with all the little double pointed needles.

Til later :)

Not much happening...

I know, the title is lame, but I couldn't come up with anything else. It has been a slow day here at the house. Trying to come up with some ideas on what to knit next. I really want to try making cables on one of my knitting boards, but alas, no knitting boards with nylon pegs around, except for my 30" AJAL.

My tootsies are getting better and I can walk almost "normal" again. One of them is really bruised though, all the poking with the needle left me with a purple toe.  So far, I have been able to keep my toes safely away from my tyke and all his toys. 

My bag making is in a halt process for a bit. Instead, I picked up some of my other looms to finally start with the dreaded task of my upcoming DA Pattern book. We have so many knitting looms, in 4 different gauges, it is going to be difficult, if not almost impossible to come up with only 1 pattern book. I was thinking to make one for each of the gauges, and then one for the knitting board in general. Oh, too many looms and too many ideas in my head.  Any ideas out there? Help me, please :).

I signed for Secret Pal 5 :). I am looking forward to it. Shhhhhhhh, don't tell anyone :).

Hugs to all,
I

Poor little toe, poor little toe....

Caution: Ugly picture coming up
Yesterday seem to be a normal day. I had my day planned out, clean the house, knit a bit, then go to the podiatrist, then take Nyah to her doctor's appointment.

What I thought would be a nice visit to the podiatrist to talk about my toes, especifically the toenail. I thought it would be a matter of just using some of that over the counter stuff to take away the yellowing of it off. However, no simple nail lacquer for me. I came back with these:


The doctor said I had ingrown toenails, the only cure, take the bad part out. *&%$!!! I was so not ready for that. What seemed to be a very simple procedure, turned out into a 2 hour ordeal. It looks like I have a high tolerance for the painkiller and what usually takes only 3-4 shots of dosage to numb each toe, it took 4 times as much to numb mine!! Then in one of the pokes, one of my nerves was hit and I had a reflex and the stupid needle when through the skin...OUCH!!!

I am not hurting much from the removal of the little piece of nail, it is the stinking pokes that hurt!!

Needless to say, I was feeling liike poop last night. I wasn't in the mood for anything.  Right now, I am walking like a pigeon, trying to keep my toes away from Bryant and his little cars, trucks, tractors, and trains. 

My loomed bag, the flat knitted version of Rowan is felted and it is just sitting there waiting for the pattern to be written. I highly recommend Iceland Wool by Crystal Palace. It felts thickly and fast.

Here is a peak:

Oh, I also took some time yesterday morning to make some mini-videos for the Decor Accents, Inc. website. I made one for the Lucet Cast-On . And I re-did the Flat Piece on a Round Loom/Rake . I hope these two can help some of you out there.

Till later :)

Buttonhole bag finished

The buttonhole bag is finished and felted. It looks so cute. I forgot that I was felting and I left it through an entire cycle in the washer, but it came out the perfect little size. 



The yarn for my looming project finally came and I finished the bag too. No pictures yet, it is still in the last touches process. All I can say is that I love ICELAND WOOL from Crystal Palace it felts wonderfully and super thick--great for bags.

That's all for now :).

Stash cleaning

In the midsts of all my junk in my closet, there is a small space for a little more yarn, I just need to find it. Can you see it anywhere?

Well, the dreaded time arrived and I had to clean my craft closet. Goodness, what a mess. Yarn everywhere, how can a person have so much yarn. I must really be going nuts!! I remember I used to collect clothes, now I collect yarn!  I cleaned up and arranged the stuff into acrylics and the "good stuff". I am in love with all the yarn in my stash--all of it is nice and one day I will use it all. If not me, maybe my daughter ;).

As if I didn't have enough yarn, my stuff from Jimmy Bean arrived this morning, along with my yarn swift from Little Knits and my size 11 needles. Sue from Little Knits even included 2 skeins of yarn absolutely FREE. She usually does that when I order, she is a doll :). Good thing I cleaned up the closet over the weekend, now I know where the yarn goes. I am going to have to alphabetized the yarn by name, lol.

In the midst of all these yarn arriving, the needed skein of Iceland wool has not arrived. My loom knitted bag is still missing its last 12 rows.

In the clean-up, I found this little hat that I had made for Nyah awhile back. It barely fits her now, of course, Summer is around the corner and she won't be able to to use it.

I wanted to try my hand at making cables. It is not as hard as it seems, but it does take some time. I took some time also to look at the instructions on Continental Knitting on Knitting Help and come to find out, I was doing it all wrong. Yeah, my stitches were happy stitches, but I am wrapping them the wrong way somehow. Aahh, one day I will be good with the needles.

The waiting is killing me

I started a version of the Rowan bag as a flat piece. I am 12 stinking rows away from finishing and no more yarn!!! I was furious, how could I have miscaculated by such a small amount. AAAAHHH. So I had to rush and order more yarn, yeah, as if I don't have enough yarn, I had to order some more. Oh well. Unfortunately, the yarn is taking its own sweet time in getting here. I am anxious to felt the bag. But, I found out something great in my search for my 1 skein of Crystal Palace Iceland wool. Everywhere, they are selling this yarn for $11+ a skein. Well, I found a new source that has each skein for $6.00 for solid colors or $6.50 for variegated. I think there is a mistake in their pricing. Anyways, I had to take advantage of the awesome prices and I ordered some more of it. It is wonderful to the touch and I have a feeling that it is going to felt nicely too. 

Since I couldn't finish my loom knitted project. I had to pick up my needles and do something. So I knitted the The Unpattern Buttonhole Purse.  I just finished it about 5 minutes ago. I wanted to have it with me for Knitters Nite, but I finished it way before...now, I don't know what I am going to take to Knitter's Nite. Ohh the dilemma, LOL. The pattern is really easy to understand and I had lots of fun knitting it. Highly recommend it :).

Here is a pic of it unfelted. I'll take a pic of it when felted. I am going to wait to felt a few bags at the same time :).

And baby Nyah is sitting up by herself now. Here she is eating her brother's Legos :).

A little fun quiz

You are a -
Neutral Sheep!
Congrats - you do what you like! You make your own rules, not follow the flock!

Which sheep do you follow?

Rowan is finally finished

I am pleased to present Rowan

An everyday handbag. The bag gently tapers at the top. Approx. finished size 9"x4" at base (7" at the top) x 8" (high)

The bag was loom knitted on a 30" Regular Gauge AJAL.

A new start

Well, after looking myself on the mirror and not fitting into my pants, I decided to start my exercise routine again...bummer, I love the exercise, hate the starting stage. I took out my Fanny Lifter and the Firm video and I buckled down and exercised for 40 minutes...boy, am I pooped!!! I have to keep it up though, I think the fact that I am not exercising is affecting my back and thus the back pain.

Saturday, we went to kiddie kandids and took pictures of the kids and one of the family.

It was a very pleasant experience, both of the children were good and cooperated. Bryant loved it and kept laughing nonstop. His pictures were super easy to take. I will be including pictures of the kids in my mom's package for Mother's Day. She has not seen Nyah since she was a few weeks old, boy she is going to be surprised to see her :). 

We took copies of the pics to Grandma Phelps, she has pictures of all her grandkids and of every family. As I was talking to her, I was mentioning that I look so fat, and she said, you know, "I used to think that I looked fat in my old pictures, now that I look back, I realize how skinny I really was and I wish I was that skinny again, LOL." Great piece of advice to keep in mind. 





In the looming front, check back tomorrow, I will have something to show you :). It is drying up right now.

Well, I am off to clean myself up for the day :). Later :)