Loom Knitting

Yeah! I have found a way to knit without knitting! I received a knitting loom for Valentine's Day and I've been having such fun with it. So much so, that I've researched and found a sock knitting loom.

The sock looms are made by Decor Accents. They are round and come in 2 gauges: fine gauge(FG) or extra fine gauge(EFG). The FG is for DK weight yarn with 4.5 to 5.5 sts per inch, while the EFG is for sock weight yarn with 7 to 8 sts per inch.

Each loom is made with a fixed # of pegs (or sts), such as 64, 72. My mathematician background kicked in . . . I measured the circumference of my foot and multiplied by 8. Then I checked my sock books for the # of sts for a Woman's size. Armed with all of this information, I ordered a 72 peg round EFG loom.

When the loom arrived, I eagerly set to work on my first sock. I chose a pattern that had a slight texture, but could still be considered "easy". To be sure there were errors in that sock, but I totally enjoyed the knitting. The stitches to close the toe were still warm when I slipped it on my foot.

The sock was too big! I should have read the fine print. Socks should be snug and should contain 10 to 15% negative ease. In essence, my loom was too big.

What next? Stay tuned

Pink Lollipop Cardigan

MM's cardigan turned out cute! I made it twice as long as the pattern called for, but much smaller in width. It will have a button at the top in the center front.

Pattern Sources

When I started to crochet, both children were quite small, which meant not much time or opportunity to shop. So, I did a lot of tooling around the internet during their naptime. Here are some of my favorite sites for patterns:

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com
http://www.freepatterns.com
http://www.lionbrand.com
This site requires registration, but it is free. Click on the option to the left on your screen for Patterns.
http://www.caron.com/free.html
http://www.berroco.com/pattern_library.html

Child's Cardigan

I found a cute pattern for a child's cardigan while looking around on the Lion Brand website. I bought 4 balls of Lollipop at Fiber Art--2 balls of pink for MM and 2 balls of purple for K. Both girls are smaller than the measurements stated in the pattern, but I thought they would have room to grow. I started and finished K's and she is proudly wearing it now!

I started MM's and I'm planning some modifications to sizing because she is the smaller of the 2. And I'm changing the stitch pattern of the body(it's fun to experiment!).

Yarn Basket

We all have a stash of yarn . . . which brings about the need to store the stash in a way that is easy to access and somewhat attractive to the eye.

I took 2 balls of cotton from my stash and made a . . . stash basket. I was quite pleased with the outcome!

Digital Copies

There has been quite a bit of excitement about the T-Shirt Rug (which has excited me), with folks hunting for a copy of the April 2009 issue of Crochet World. Did you know that DRG Publishing offers digital copies of all its magazines and some pattern books as leaflets for download?

Here is a link where you can download back issues as well as current issues:

http://www.e-patternscentral.com/classification.html?classification_id=M&cat_id=2

Getting Along

This was too cute to pass up! Bunny initiates the snuggling, but Peeper is beginning to tolerate it more. Peeper will now lick Bunny's forehead, which is a show of affection.

Finished Shrug

I finished the Day to Evening Shrug! I modified the pattern by making the sleeves short and I eliminated the tie in the front and added a button closure. This picture was taken before blocking, so don't be dismayed by the pointy edges. They blocked out nice.