Technique Tuesday: Applied I-Cord Bind Off

This is a great way to add a little interest to a bind off edge and is great for really any project from the bind off edge of a lace project to the cuff of a sleeve.  Another thing that is useful is that this type of bind off creates a tube with you can use as the casing for elastic or a draw string.

When you come to your bind off you are first going to cast on 3 stitches using the backward loop method.
Next you will K2, SSK.  This way you are always decreasing a stitch in your bind off row.

Slip the last three stitches from the right hand needle back to the left hand needle
Repeat this method till you have one stitch left on your original bind off row.

Bind off the I-cord as follows,  Knit 2 pass first stitch over the second, SSK, pass the second stitch over the third stitch of the bind off pass yarn through loop and pull tight.  Weave in ends.

Day 5: Easy Knit Garland with Button Ornaments

You can see our Lobster hanging out in the background

 Our Apartment is small, I mean really small, so we never have a Christmas tree.  Simon is always a bit sad that we don't have a Christmas tree so this year I surprised him with a small rosemary cone from Whole Foods.  It fits on our entertainment center nicely and gives the living room a festive feel and it smells wonderful.  I made a few quick ornaments and a i-cord garland for our little tree so he could decorate it.  Here's How.

I-Cord Garland

Materials
Novelty yarn (Mine was a with nylon with sequence attaches)
Leftover Bit of some special yarn (This was some of my hand-spun left over from another project)
2 DPNs the appropriate size for yarn (I used US 2)

Cast on 4 stitches and work in I-cord till Garland is desired length, (mine was about 4 ft).  Bind off and weave in ends
Tie the I-cord and the left over bit of yarn together.  Wrap the leftover bit around the I-cord, knotting them together at the end.

Button Ornaments

Materials
Different Size and color Buttons
Ribbon
Hot Glue Gun

Stack buttons and glue them together in interesting combinations.

Cut about 2 to 3 inches of ribbon.  Form a Loop and glue on to the back of the button stack.  
 Now you can go and decorate your tiny tree!

Lebowitz Cactus

When my friends moved into their new house we hatched a plan on what they would put in the giant picture window in the living room.  The plan involved me knitting a cactus, not just a knit version of a smallish house cactus, this cactus needed to be well interesting, weird, I mean it was going to sit in the picture window facing the street, it had to be a bold statement piece.

After about 6 months of trying to figure out the best way to accomplish this, along with a few failed attemps on the way I give you the not quite finished Lebowitz Cactus.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photo, but this lovely pile of color will soon be a stuffed and potted cactus.  My friend Mike who described the cactus to me only really said a few things.  It should be knit, it should be "patchy" and that it shouldn't look like a cactus except in shape.  So here we have it the outer shell of what I think is a pretty good interpretation of what he was asking for, and a good use of multi-colored eyelash yarn on my part.

All I need to do know is sew up the strips, stuff it, knit the base, stuff that and then gently hot glue it into its pot.

Old Curatins Become Fab Yarn

I just sewed new curtains for our bedroom and when I took down the old ones I was sad to see them go.  They were the first curtains I made for our apartment back in the day and they had become faded and worn since I first made them.  They were too faded to donate or make into a cute skirt.  I was inspired by this post on One Pear Button from February and decided to make them into some interesting looking yarn.

Shredded curtain in a sad pile on my dinning room floor.  Don't be sad old curtains I'm going to make you into something cool!

One curtain down one more to go!  When I finished ripping up the curtains I figured I had about 100 yards give or take a bit.  The curtains were two yards and in the end I had about 56 strips that I tied together.  Now It was time to knit and I, like Ali from OPB, decided on a rug. 

New Pattern Coming Soon

This square of knitted fabric is actually my new pattern folded up waiting to be worn for photos. The release is planed for Tuesday April 12th. Check back on Monday for a sneak peek of the new design.

Photo Shoot!

Simon took some photos for me yesterday. Here is the Indigo Banded Cardigan from this falls knit scene. I love how it turned out although I think I've had it when it comes to seaming.

I had the cream colored yarn in my stash, but it was the wrong weight so i adjusted the guage and used a size 8 needle instead of nine and made a size bigger than if i had been working the suggested guage.

This sweater is so warm and cozy and it had a lot of room in it so I'll be able to layer under it for the winter.

Clapotis Crazy

That's right I've been knitting a clapotis. I'm almost done too. Check the Pattern out here.

Fish Tails and Jasmine

I Just finished this hat. I love this lace pattern and this yarn, it looks beautiful all knit up with the eyelets. The lace pattern is fish tail lace and the yarn is Louisa Hardings Jasmine, which has been sitting in my stash for months and I still have more. This yarn is 48% cotton, 39% bamboo, 10% silk,and 3% polyester , which is the silver metalic that runs through this yarn. These pictures really do n't do this hat justice, but I couldn't wait to post it.

It's so yummy to work with and comes in many colors, the one i used is duck egg and I love it! I can't wait to wear it and I may consider making a few for my Etsy.

And that is a plate that the hat is blocking on. It's perfect for blocking tams.