mk carroll

Blanket Top

This would have counted as stashbusting if I hadn't bought this fabric just a few days ago. I bought remnants from Fabric Mart on Kalakaua Ave., and they weren't long enough to really do much with, so I cut the fabric into strips instead of blocks and sewed them together. I'm looking for a spot with enough space to spread this out and get good light (my bed is currently covered with clean laundry that needs to be folded and hung up).

Fabric Mart has an online shop: the fabrics I used are all poly/cotton Hawaiian border prints.
Green with white flowers and leaves, PB2952
Brown with turquoise tiki bands, PB3160
Green with turquoise and brown Hawaiian quilt motif, PB2942 <-- this is a seafoam green background, not the same color that I used, but I don't see the more olive-toned green on the website.

Daddy's Girl

I'm making a couch throw as a wedding gift, a simple sewing project that shouldn't take me too much longer.  Fingers crossed.  I bought a plush throw at Ross' for $8.99, and ordered 2 yards of the fabric from equilter.com (Alexander Henry, Indochine Collection, 'Tatsu Dragon Collage', Lavender).  The throw is more of a camel color, matching the bodies of the dragons. The fabric is pinned to the throw, and now I just have to stitch it down around the edges and then hand-stitch small areas to get the fabrics secured together. 

For the border measurement, I could use something called a hem-maker, which looks like a small ruler with a sliding bit in the center.  Or I could borrow a heavy locking measuring tape from Dad's toolbox.

The measuring tape is a lot harder for me to misplace.

You may have noticed that the tape in the photos isn't lined up perfectly with the edge of the fabric - I spotted that and re-pinned the section. 

Heather Knits: Knit Pullip/Blythe Beanie Wig Mod

August 2007: Heather of Heather Knits modified the knit Pullip/Blythe Beanie pattern to make a doll wig!  She used the Locked Loop Rerooting Tutorial from Puchi Collective, but using the hat instead of a rubber scalp.  You could also use the Simple Crochet Beanie doll hat pattern too, and even use a lighter weight yarn (like fingering) by using the same rate of increasing but working until the circle is large enough for the doll's head, then working even to the length you want.  Isn't this a great modification?  Imagine the yarn/felt dreadlock possibilities!

Photos by Heather Wolff.

Wig as modeled by Heather's Pullip doll

inside of the wig

Slippah Luggage Tag

One of our clients, Frances, brought me a gift today:

LITTLE RUBBAH SLIPPAH LUGGAGE TAGS!
The pattern is available as a free project sheet from Hawai'i Ben Franklin Crafts stores (www.bfcraftclub.com might be able to help you if you are not in Hawai'i).  Frances noted that the pattern calls for a size D hook, but she uses a size G.  So would I - it calls for worsted weight yarn, and I think it might be possible that the size D is a typo.  I'm definitely using these the next time I fly - I have a black duffle bag, like so many other people do.

Too Bad I Don't Enjoy Sewing.

Because there's no way I could justify the purchase of a Clover Mini Iron II with Interchangeable Tips.

Top-Down Ribbed Beanie: The Kureyon

As has been discussed amongst the Aloha Knitters, Sue of Isle Knit can really sell stuff without doing a "hard sell."  Things like displaying yummy sock yarn in a delightful felted basket, for example.  Or placing the new shades of Noro Kureyon at eye level (well, okay, my eye level.  I think Sue has to look up to see them).  I walked in knowing exactly what I wanted (and she had it), and then I found myself holding this skein of Kureyon colorway no. 164 and buying yet another set of dpns (US 6, Crystal Palace Bamboo) because I couldn't wait.  By the time I got to the Aloha Knitters meeting that night, I had the beginnings of a beanie all squished up on the dpns.  Transferred the stitches to two circs when I got home.

Top-Down Ribbed Beanie, US 6 needles, Noro Kureyon no. 164

they are just playing!  they are friends!

Handpainted Sock Yarn: Beanie Beginning

The sock yarn I handpainted with food coloring, now becoming a Top-Down Ribbed Beanie for a Pullip doll.  US 2 needles, paper clip used as stitch marker.

So I dyed some sock yarn: skeined

I've started a Pullip doll-sized Top-Down Ribbed Beanie with this on US 2 dpns, and I'm liking the way it's knitting up.  The flecks of red and purple are very small (1/2 - 1 stitch wide) and it looks like little berries on a bush, or tiny flowers in a field.  Vivian suggests that it also looks like fresh blood on a lawn, but I'm just going to hand her a nice full bottle of gin and suggest she go slice some limes.

I am up late, steaming yarn.  How many people do you know who have a thrift-store wok set aside specifically for using with the bamboo steamer to cook yarn with?   

So I dyed some sock yarn: update

I'm not sure if I want to overdye this or just wind it into a skein and knit some up to see what it looks like then.

Commuter Project progress report

The commuter project is almost done:

This is the unglamorous pre-blocking shot.  I think I want to do more with the brim.  I added a lining of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton in 1x1 ribbing to be nice and comfy against the ears, since this beanie is made to be worn low over the eyebrows and ears, what Mr. Bob likes to call "sensitive thug".  I prefer to call it cloche.  Semantics.

You can see the distinctive "X" shape of the double increases done on alternate rounds.  I used yf, k1, yf for the increases (yf = yarn forward - like a yarn over, done in the reverse direction.  If that makes no sense to you, you can just do a yo and on the following row remember to knit it through the back loop so that it twists and does not leave a hole).  As you can see, I still need to thread the tail through the cast-on and tighten it, as well as give this a good washing and blocking.

This is the with the hem/lining turned up.  I used odd scraps in sky blue, lemonade yellow, and honeydew green. 

Pattern: my own Top-Down Ribbed Beanie
Modifications: Done in stockinette, hem added.  Increases worked as yf, k1, yf (yf = yarn forward, like a yarn over in the reverse direction).
Yarns: Ella Rae Classic in Turquoise Green, 1 skein (with some left over) and Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton in Sky Blue, Lemonade Yellow, and Honeydew Green, probably about 20 - 30 yards total but don't take my word for it.
Needles: 16"  Addi Turbo Circular size US 6 - link is to Knitter's Review needle review