My first knitting project!

All after a few months of practice I made my first project, a scarf. It's a simple garter stitch scarf from Stitch-N-Bitch. This book has been so helpful for me. I love it. It's quirky and cheeky, which makes it fun to read. It is super for anyone starting out. The book has really helpful step by step pictures and cute patterns.

Over all I am fairly pleased for my first project. I loved working with larger needles and chunky yarn, it made the project go so fast. I did learn that I should trust the pattern or make a swatch for next time. The pattern called for casting on 15 stitches, I didn't think that was enough so I did 30. Big mistake the scarf was HUGE. So I frogged it and started over as the pattern said. My tension has really improved so the stitches are pretty even. My only problem is that I need to work on my edges so they are more even looking. I guess I will read up on how to do that. I think that my next few projects will be wash cloths. They are fast to make and I can practice lots, plus work on my edge problem.

details:

pattern - Go Go Garter Scarf from Stitch N Bitch
yarn - Wool-Ease Chunky Yarn (Lion Brand) in Bluebell

Happy Holidays!

I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday!

corks

Over the summer I was at a garage sale and found this

a box full of wine corks. I wound up getting the whole thing for $1.00. How could I turn that down? I really didn't know what I would do with them, but I knew that they would make for a cool project. Well after months of sitting in our closet Ryan started to get a little cranky about them taking up space so I needed to find a project to make with them. I got a shadow box for 50% off at Michaels, which came to like $6.00.

Next I removed the class and started sorting through all the corks. I was looking for ones that were fun. It wound up being like a puzzle finding corks that would fit to make rows. Once I had them all laid out in the rows I hot glued them into place and wound up with this

I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. I'm planning on hanging it in my office/craft room and using it as a cork board. I think that it's a fun alternative to a classic cork board.

I also decided to make this. We needed some more Christmas decorations for the apartment so I thought that this would be cute. It was super easy and fast to make.

I still have a ton of corks left and want to make some more Christmas stuff. Considering that today is Christmas eve it won't do us much good for this year, but I think I will make them next week so they will be ready to be packed away for next Christmas. I want to make these cute trees and some reindeer ornaments. Both look easy and super cute!

It's Christmas time again!

I decided that this year I wanted to make Ryan and I stocking for Christmas. I took a sewing class before Halloween and decided that this would make a nice first project.

The stocking took alot longer than I expected to make. I hand stiched the elf and elfette as well as our names. They took me quite awhile to do. I worked on them a llittle in the evenings when I had time. I really lucked out today and got placed on call for work. So I didn't have to go in and got to get them done. I think that they turned out pretty good for my first attempt at sewing. But it was a good experience and I learned a TON! I added little bells for some flair. Sorry for the picure quality!

Here is a picture on our Christmas tree this year! We still haven't found a topper that we like nor a tree skirt. So the tree is a little naked at the bottom. I really need to get cracking and finish up my Christmas shopping. I'd love to one day get good enough at my crafts to allow me to do a homemade Christmas.

It is begining to get alot colder here, which is making me really want to finish a knitting project. Now that the stockings are done I can really focus on knitting.