Knitting Nellie

More Armwarmers!

2009-07-02T14:40:00.003-04:00

A quick update -

I've added another pair of armwarmers to the Etsy shop today, and another pair should be popping up fairly soon as well. I've also got lots of little gnomes waiting to be posted as well as knit headbands! Here are the gloves...

Finally back!

2009-06-24T14:36:00.003-04:00

Ok, so it's been 2 WHOLE YEARS! (oh my goodness) since I've posted on this thing. Way too long. So much has happened in that amount of time. I graduated from college last year - got my degree in textiles. I moved to San Francisco, 3000 miles away from home. I really feel like I need to start posting again. I've got an Etsy shop going now and just bought myself a nice little weaving loom, so I feel like I'm really going to be crafting quite a bit in the upcoming months. I see all these people on Etsy who have made crafting their full-time job and dream about how I wish that were me. It could be me, but I've really got to stay on top of things.... like posting on this blog at least once a week .... and updating my shop... and looking for craft fairs to sell my goods at. I'm going to try as hard as I can to do all these things. I started today by posting a few new items to my Etsy site. Here are some fingerless gloves I made. There are more of these to come in the next few weeks ...
I also posted a custom order for gnome dolls! Here's a picture of one that I as a birthday gift order. She wanted an angry gnome.

more on the fashion show

2007-04-15T23:29:00.000-04:00

More info incase anyone wanted to know the processes that went into making the outfits.

The blue and yellow dress is hand dyed and hand woven. I started off with blue and white pearl cotton. I ikat dyed the white pearl cotton butter yellow, then light brown, then deep brown, tying up different parts of the yarn with strips of plastic bags so the lighter areas wouldn't take on the new color. I wove the bottom half of the dress first and then put on a separate warp of just blue to make the top portion and the pockets.

The angel wings top is all hand embroidered on the back and all of the edges were frayed with a stitch ripper. I also made the little engel wings necklace she's got on and crocheted the beads for that too.

The vest is hand crocheted on the bottom. I made about 100 little circles, embroidered half of them with flowers and sewed all the individual circles together. The top half is quilted fabric. I also crocheted the trim and the flower ties.

I'm wearing Rowan's butterfly. I also crocheted my hat. It's got beads around the bottom of the hat, but they're really hard to see.

The flower tunic is hand knit on the top using Lion Brand Wool Ease chunky. The hat's knit in the same. All of the edging is crocheted.

student fashion show

2007-04-15T22:56:00.000-04:00

Our school's student fashion show happened last night and was amazing! There were so many great designs and everyone had a blast! I'll update this blog with more info in a little bit, but here are some pics of the 5 designs I submitted.

Knitty's Thermal

2007-03-09T20:21:00.000-05:00

Wow, so it's been a really long time since I've posted....almost a year. I can't believe I neglected my blog for so long! I've knitted so much this past year and haven't even written about it! I'm currently busy designing for this year's fashion show! ... can't wait until April when I can show my new designs! And I'm also working on Knitty's thermal. It's coming along pretty slowly. I have about 9 1/2 inches done so far. I'm using Knitpicks Pallette in Green on size 3 needles. Here's my progress so far...

more fashion show

2006-06-22T00:13:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I know I've been really bad about updating, and finals are over so I don't really have much of an excuse. I'd actually forgetten that I had this blog for a while. I've been knitting up a storm so far this summer...working on the amazing Sgt. Pepper knitted military jacket, Knitty's Hush Hush, and some other projects. I was hoping to get more photos from the school fashion show as promised, but only managed to get a few of each outfit. The show went to well...I think it was close to being sold out! So here's the bolero/jacket you've already seen, and my knitted mermaid/fairy outfit. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Fashion Show

2006-03-23T13:21:00.000-05:00

So I've been designing a couple of pieces for the student led fashion show over the past few months. Over spring break, I finally finished one of my designs. I plan this post to be a temporary one...the show is in a few weeks, and I'd really like to get a picture of my models in my designs. But for now, it's me in one of my designs...I just couldn't wait to post!

Here's the sketch I started with for my model, Cariad:

morgan doll

2006-03-07T11:56:00.000-05:00

I made myself a Morgan doll! It was so much fun to make, and it came out so cute! I just wish it would show up bigger in my profile picture. Does anyone know if that can be fixed?

And sorry about the lack of blogging. Midterms are this week, and the student led fashion show is coming up so I am busy with studying and knitting. I'll add some updates over spring break next week, hopefully!

Finished: Stockings!

2006-02-02T13:03:00.000-05:00

I finished my Norwegian stockings! They ended up taking me about a week to finish not counting a few breaks in between that I took to work on other projects. I ended up using 5 balls of Falk Dalegarn in Natural, Tan, and Cyclamen knitted up on size 3 dpns.

Overall, it was a pretty easy knit..they only problem I had with the pattern was picking up stitches on each side of the stockings after making the gussets...they came out looking quite loose and messy. Other than that, the pattern was fun and easy to follow. I LOVED this pattern, and now that I've finished knitting my first pair of socks, I think I've become addicted...I'm already thinking of what colors I want my second pair of stockings to be done in.

Norwegian Stockings Progress

2006-01-26T13:36:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update on my Norwegian Stockings progress!

Norwegian Stockings

2006-01-24T19:32:00.000-05:00

I'm soo excited! My book came in and I finally got yarn to make the Norwegian Stockings from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I started last night because I couldn't wait. It's my first time making socks and doing fair isle, and so far I'm having a lot of fun with this project. I Can't wait to finish the first sock!

Corinne Dress, Monkey Mittens, and Painting

2006-01-16T15:27:00.000-05:00

Ok..so it's my last week home from school, and I haven't been called back to work at all, so guess what I've been up to?....knitting of course! I haven't taken many progress picks, although my black and white Rowan cape is soooo close to being finished. All I have to do is knit up the collar and I'll be done! I have, however, taken some pics of finished objects that are long overdue. First, is the Corinne Dress taken from Stephanie's lovely pattern at www.knittingfog.net.

I loved this pattern! I was hoping to wear the dress for New Year's but couldn't find a full nude slip to go underneath it. I still haven't found a slip, so that's why the scary mannequin is modeling. And don't mind all the spots in the background, it's where my Dalmatian has his bed!

I finally got around to cleaning my room and some of the basement this week, and ended up finding lots of things I had forgotten about. First up is these monkey mittens I made using knitting and crochet. I used an old mitten pattern I had and added some crochet disks for ears to make it look cute. I can't wait to wear them in this crazy snowy weather we're having!

I've also been wanting to post some of my artwork on my knitting blog, to show what I've been up to at college. I'm so excited that I can finally scan them to the computer with the scanner/copier/printer my boyfriend got me for Christmas. I LOVE this gift and I've been having so much fun playing around with it all week! So here's a picture that I painted last year (freshman year) in my color class. It's done with acrylic and it's partly modeled after a picture I found on the internet and my own knitting which I was doing at the time. It was my final painting, and I made it in memory of my great great Aunt Nell who has passed awayw a few years earlier. She taught me how to knit when I was four, and now the skills she taught me have turned into my passion. Thank you so much, Nell.

American Beauty Rose Capelet

2006-01-06T14:37:00.000-05:00

Since school and the holidays are over and done with, I've had some time to myself to knit and crochet. I've started so many new projects, but only finished a few. I made the Corinne Dress from knittingfog.net and started a knitalong for it. It's finished, and I was hoping to wear it for New Year's but I haven't been able to get a nude slip. So..pics will come as soon as I pick one up.

I got two great books for Christmas that I've been wanting for a while: Knitting on the Edge and Knitting over the Edge, both by Nicky Epstein. They're great books with tons of information. The first project I've made is the American Beauty Rose Capelet from the second book. I modified it a little bit. I knit the capelet in garter stitch instead of the basketweave stitch because with the boucle yarn I was using, I didn't think the pattern would show up. I think it came out pretty well... sorry, it doesn't look as good as it is because I'm lacking in the picture taking department, but I'm still pleased with it. I hope you like it! And hopefully you'll see more projects from me in the near future now that I have some more time to keep this blog up!

2005-12-05T19:26:00.000-05:00

Wow, I didn't realize I've haven't written in so long. I've been soo busy with schoolwork and can't wait for classes to end in about a week. I have a huge fiber arts project that's due which is taking up most of my time, but I have managed to get a little crafting in. I'll post some pics next week once I have more time.

Busy Busy Busy

2005-10-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, I guess I haven't written in quite a while. I feel like I've been busier than ever here at school. It's so different from last year. I remember having so much free time last year that I didn't know what to do with myself. This year I'm lucky if I get any free time for myself. My art classes have been keeping me busy, especially fiber arts. I feel like I should bring my sleeping bag and camp out in that room since I'm there so much. But, I really do love that class and the time that I'm in the studio passes quickly for me. We just finished dyeing fabric pieces last week. I decided to make mine a fall scene. Now we're working on quilted samplers with embroidery and applique. It may not sound that time consuming, but we have to dye all of the fabric for the quilt. Hopefully I'll get it done in time!

capes galore

2005-10-04T13:26:00.000-04:00

So, I've finally gotten some time to knit and so far I've finished up 2 capes from the Rowan 38 magazine . The first cape is made with tweed and mohair and has a really great pattern of dashes all over it. The second is a red turtlenck with a diamond pattern going across it. I can't wait to finish both of them.

Oh, and sorry about the weird formatting ... still haven't figured out the whole picture formatting thing yet.

2005-10-03T15:17:00.000-04:00

I haven't really had time to craft that much - it seems like within the last couple weeks, the workload at school has become a lot heavier. Although spending the last two weekends at home was great, I feel even more pressured with time. So, instead of posting some of my recent knitting that hasn't been progressing very much, I'll post a picture of my Rowan Butterfly from magazine 37 which I finished a few months ago. I'm pretty happy with how it came out an wish the weather would stay warm for a few more weeks so I can wear it again.

1st blog entry

2005-09-29T21:51:00.000-04:00

So, this is my first blog entry and I'm not quite sure what to say. I've always wanted a blog, and it's nice to finally have one. After going on Craftster, I got really inspired when I saw the knit aviator cap that was used for a 1920's halloween costume. So, I decided to make my own version of it. I added pearl beads to give the hat more of a vintage feel, and I think it came out pretty good!