Saturday, June 28, 2014

Yarn Book Haul

So, it's happened again. Another yarn related book haul to expand the library....not that i don't have enough XD. I'm sharing them with you via my latest Yarn Addiction update, and am including a list at the bottom with links via Amazon if you're looking to purchase any of these. Enjoy!



This Haul consist of:

Big Girl Knits
Fitted Knits
Mission Falls Goes Crochet (wasn't able to find this one in Amazon)
Alterknits
The Natural Knitter
Son of Stitch & Bitch
Baby Knits
Curvy Knits Cambride
Knitted Gifts
Shibori Knitted Felt
Not Another Teen Knitting Book
Araucania Designer Mini Knits - Book 4
The Knitter's Year
Knit.1 - Fall 2007 (magazine)
Noro Kids
Twinkle's Town & Country Knits
Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Envelopes & WIPS

This week i worked on some cute envelopes that i'm in the process of making a vid tutorial for. This is a free Lion Brand pattern(available on their website). I made some knitted versions as well, which i may or may not throw in there someplace(or make a separate one? hm...). I also started working on a crochet shirt which i totally frogged....BUT, instead of ripping it away i made it into a bag. Not only did it take time to crochet that piece, but it was also the result of my wonky calculations and wanted to avoid even further shame(lol). It's not lined yet nor did i finish the bows but i think it will be one cute bag once done. I'm also playing around with the idea of adding a zipper, and perhaps even pockets.

I also started on another baby blanket inspired by Nintendo's mushroom. No pictures yet since it's
really at the beginning stages, but i'll keep tabs on that for you. Blankets aren't my thing usually, but small baby-sized ones are a decent size to do without it being overkill. This one will be all half-double crochet, and yes it will be pixelated(hopefully this works out).

That shirt which gave birth to the bag.....i'm actually still making that. Due to the hick-up it's not as far along as it should be, but there's no rush. It's an easy enough pattern from the book Contemporary Crochet: 37 European Designs . Wish me luck! I'm not sure if i'll be cheating and counting this as my 2nd sweater(one of my yearly goals was to make 2), but who knows, maybe i'll get lazy starting on another actual sweater and make it happen.

I've also spent a bit of time updating my website(malonsshop.com) and made small changes on my blog here(specially the left hand column, if you couldn't tell). I'm still not 100% aware of all the capabilities this site has to offer, nor WordPress for that matter(it's what i'm building my website with), so if anyone has ideas or tips they'd like to share that would be great. If you're good at all this and want to tutor me, that would be amazing...


Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Plenty of FO's....and a couple of WIP's!

So, it's time to bring you up to speed!! I was pretty  productive these last couple of weeks i must say...specially since i finally finished the sweater!! It's a little bigger than i'd like, but that just teaches me that swatching is essential(i've heard that here and there). I can deal with the slightly bigger sweater, not to mention i also made quite a few other mistakes, yet it's my first and i'm just glad i got through it!

For those not familiar, if you're making something where size is important(anything you would wear for example since it has to fit you) it's suggested to make a gauge swatch(aka a small piece of fabric using the needles/hook and yarn you'll be usin
g for this project) which is used to measure the stitches per inch which in turn lets you adjust accordingly depending on the size you're going for.

I got a couple of hats done as well; my favorite is inspired by the character Pascal from Animal Crossing(once again lol)! He's a sea otter that trades you furniture for a scallop(in New Leaf)... <3  The other hat i did didn't end up looking quite like the pattern's pictures. Perhaps it was that i didn't block it and/or shaped it and i skipped adding the tassel...somehow i was not impressed. It did help me realize that i hate garter stitch and that i'm not the biggest fan of short rows.

You guys remember the gorgeous hand-spun from shespins.com? Well i finally casted on and i'm about 80% done with this project. I wanted something where i could use up all the yarn and something that would showcase the colors. Didn't quite find what i wanted anywhere so i opted to make up a pattern for a simple... doily? Place-mat? Table runner? Not sure what the correct term for it is, but it will sit on my table or nightstand probably under my misc trinkets and such. It's a very simple knit, maybe i'll write up a pattern in the near future. Love it!

Talking about patterns, i've yet to make any tutorials from Lion Brand's free list. Just haven't found the time! But, i think i know what my first one would be, hence this little cute(and quick) crochet envelope. I may even do a knit version since the concept is so simple....we'll see!

I've also spent quite a few hours working on my website which you can view right now! Check it out here - malonsshop.com. As i've mentioned before i'm a real newbie and editing while learning takes me a long time! Lol. There's still a lot of tweaking to do as far as the content and plugins/feeds, not to mention the lack of pictures and the like(it's a little boring right now). But, at least i got both shops linked in and it's on it's way.


Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Amigurumis & Lion Brand Tutorial Updates

Animal Crossing! I've been doing most things AC recently...and it probably has to do that it's one of my fave game series of all time. This week it's not totally my fault though; i had a custom order to get done. This time i made a pair of pigs(lol), Hugh and Gala. I think they turned out pretty adorable :).


The rest of my week was taken over by life; not much time for yarn. I'm still working on a couple of WIPs, the purple shawl as well as the sweater. I'm so close to finishing that i can't wait, in the meantime i tell myself that i'm 'SOOOO' close, i have time to work on another project and still be able to finish it by the end of the month. I think secretly, i may not want it to be complete...>.> Oh and the socks....man those socks...who knows when they'll get done(if ever). I actually got somewhat stuck when thinking of what kind of heel i wanted to do since i'm doing them toe-up. Not being a sock knitter, i'm not very familiar with all the types and all of that(yet).

I did get some awesome news however, from Lion Brand. My request to make tutorials/videos using their free online patterns has been approved so that has me pretty psyched! Of course, i haven't started yet all thought i have a couple in mind i wouldn't mind starting off with. I've used them often enough i think where i can say they're pretty good(in a general sense lol). Definitely looking forward to that!

This week i plan to finish the shawl, hopefully get halfway done with my sweater sleeve(at the least), and brainstorm what pattern(s) will be featured in tutorial form first. Not to mention my website (malonsshop.com).... that's a huge can of worms... and it has been opened probably without fully realizing what it may mean. I'm a newbie when it comes to that and at this point i feel somewhat overwhelmed, however i know it's doable. I'm just sort of dreading putting in the work. To have something to look forward to, i have made Delaquan's awesome yarn into a cake which is ready for knitting. I've yet to pick a pattern, but that's half the fun. Check her out at shespins.com!