Fidget from Craftster inspired me with her sewn pincushions so I made my own.
Another view. I’m planning on keeping one and giving the other to a friend.
Sewn Pincushions
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Monthly Archives: November 2006
Wine Cork Board
I finished my wine cork board and am really happy with how it turned out. The corks don’t fit snugly; there’s a space around all the sides. If I would have arranged them differently and cut some corks I could have had a tighter fit. But I thought half corks would disrupt the pattern so I left it as is.
A side look at the board-
I want to make wine bottle shrinky dinks for tacks.
A Bad Mistake
Shit. Shit. Shit. I made a really bad mistake on the eyelet sweater.
Remember when I posted a picture of the completed back and said it was a little long? Cue the forboding music and let’s look at that pic again.
As I was nearing the armhole shaping on the front side I noticed it seemed to be taking a long time to get to the actual armhole. I looked over the directions and saw two words that spelled doom.
“from beg.”
Yes, that’s right. Two words fucked me up. I read the directions as knit in lace pattern until piece measures 9 1/2″. I somehow didn’t see “from beg.” This means I knit 9 1/2″ of lace pattern when I was only supposed to knit 4 1/2″.
Much crying and cursing commenced.
So what now? I’m almost to the armhole shaping on the front. And I’ve about knit 9 1/2″ of lace pattern by mistake for a second time. Do I frog my work on the front and then frog inches upon inches of the back which I already bound off on?
This so sucks. Damn this advanced pattern. Really, though I have no one to blame for myself. I can’t believe I missed “from beg.”
I have a wild hope. Possibly it is naive and insane but I cling to it desperately. I will finish the front piece as is. Before I start on the peplum I will pin the pieces together and try it on. Yes, it will be longer. But maybe, just maybe, it will look ok.
Gods I hope so.
Starting The Eyelet Front
I’m learning so much knitting this sweater. I cast on for the front and wondered if I had done it correctly. After reading the directions several times I frogged the cast on stitches because I had made another mistake. Sigh.
On the upside here’s the correct way to do a provisional cast-on:
Mind you I didn’t cast on correctly for the back piece but there’s no way I’m taking it out. The peplum looks fine so I’m calling it good. But now I know how to do provisional so it wasn’t too frustrating.
I wasn’t too upset because I knew of the glory that awaited me after casting on. Behold the beauty:
How I love stockinette stitch. Rows and rows of relaxing knitting. I am enjoying it thoroughly before the lace pattern begins. Thebes came into my work space while I was knitting and remarked that I looked so happy. And I was. I was zenning out on the beautiful rows of knit, purl, knit, purl. So peaceful, so easy, so enjoyable to knit.
Knit Pincushion
Rocknrollfun from Craftster posted a tutorial for knitted pincusions.
First, an action shot:
This is a great project and I plan to make a few for Solstice presents.
Wine Corks
Since I’ve successfully knit the back of my Eyelet Pullover I’m taking a break and starting on a new project. For awhile now I’ve wanted to make a wine cork bullentin board. A poster on Craftster gave the link to The Wine Enthusiast where I bought my cork board kit.
Luckily I have several friends who have been collecting corks for me because I don’t drink wine that fast. A sampling of my cork collection:
A Successful Back
I’m so happy! I finished the back of the Eyelet Pullover. It seems a little long but when I hold it up to myself the length seems right.
I’m so excited to start on the front because I get to do simple stockinette stitch again. How I’ve missed it.
Draft Blocker
My work space is the furthest room from the wood stove and is notably cooler than the rest of the house. The back door is in this room and there was a draft coming through the bottom of the door. I decided to make a draft blocker.
It’s the time of year when insects sneak in through the cracks in the door so I used my insect fleece fabric from my stash. I cut out a retangle long enough to span the width of the door.
A close up of the fabric. It’s so cute!
First I sewed up the end sides then I sewed up the long side to make a tube.
After turning the tube right side out I stuffed it full of recycled stuffing. I have scored a handful of old pillows and sleeping bags that were all but worn out. I took them apart and have kept the stuffing for projects like this.
Using some ribbon from my stash I tied up the ends.
A close up of an end piece.
The completed project! This took me under an hour to complete. It costs me nothing because I used pieces from my stash and recycled bits.
The draft blocker in place. Not only does it work to block out cold air it’s also a cheery sight.
Homemade Patches
I still wear my very first pair of bell bottoms. Unfortunately they were showing some wear in the form of holes on the rear. In the past I’ve simply covered holes with store bought patches.
This time I covered new holes with homemade patches. I went through my fabric stash and cut out flower shapes.
After sewing on the center of the flowers I ironed them onto fabric stiffener.
I then cut out the flowers before sewing the edges.
A completed flower patch.
A peek at the back of a patch. Notice the thread loops-these were handy to grab and turn the patch around while sewing the edges.
Then I hand sewed them onto the bell bottoms.
A close up of the patches sandwiched around a store bought one.
A handmade ice cream cone. An ice cream cone on the ass of my pants cracks me up. The strawberry is store bought.
Here’s a peak at what my craft space looks like while I’m working on a project. Crafty goodies everywhere plus cat toys mixed in.
Knitting Craziness
At the bottom of the Eyelet sweater is trim called Peplum. I took out the red thread I used to cast on only to discover the stitches wouldn’t fit on my needles.
I was at my knitting circle and luckily a friend had stitch holders.
At this point things seemed ok. The neckline shaped itself after I bound off. That was a nice surprise.
Although I’ll admit this sight made me nervous. I started the peplum which is the same lace pattern as the top part. While purling I suddenly realized I was missing some stitch markers.
I counted my stitches and realized there were two stitches missing. I had forgetten to pick up two stitches where the lace pattern changes.
Argh! No! I’ve had to rip out rows so many times on this project it’s driving me crazy. Now I had to take more stitches out and repick up stitches for the peplum. Picking up the live stitches wasn’t easy; I wasn’t sure which ones to pick up even though I thought I had followed the cast on directions correctly.
After having a brief fantasy of throwing the back piece into the woodstove I walked away from the needles. Thebes poured me a glass of wine and we hung out while I let go of my stress.
I’ve started on the peplum again. This time I’m counting the stitches at the end of each knit row. Now I’m nearing the end and the directions are changing a bit. Yay-more complex instructions! I hope I get it right the first time. This project is driving me bonkers!