This is a crochet, knit, needlework group that meets up regularly in oxnard.
All skill levels welcomed!

Major knitting update. After about 6 months of knitting I have discovered that I am mainly a combination knitter. What this means is that I knit in the back loop instead of the front and purl counter-clockwise instead of clockwise. For anyone that also knits this way, this is not a “wrong” or “backwards” way of knitting, it is perfectly acceptable as this does not twist your stitches.

However, there is a problem with combination knitting in the round. When you are knitting in the round, because you are not turning the work it is not “untwisting” your stitches. Most will tell you that it is far easier to just learn continental than to try and figure out how to untwist your stitches in the round but I have a tip for anyone who knows how to do the knit stitch in both combination (back loop) and continental (front loop).

When knitting in the round, if you are doing stockinette stitch, use the continental (front loop) knit method. If you are switching from stockinette to garter, knit the row before the the switch over in combination (back loop) knit method. If youare switching from garter to knit, knit the row after the switch over in combination (back loop) then knit all other knit rows in continental (front loop) method.

Pictures of this coming soon!

Hello. My name is Kasi! I just wanted to introduce myself as a member of the Craft Brigade! I look forward to going on a internet crafty journey with everyone!!! I’ve been crocheting for about 16 years now and knitting for about 7 months. I love all things crafty and try to utilize it whatever way I can for my favorite hobby….bellydance!!!

What you should have in your bag

After becoming bi-craftual (a crocheter AND a knitter) I realized that there are certain things I must carry with me in my main work in progress bag. I know some of these things are obvious but some might not be. So here is what I feel every crocheter and knitter should have in their bags:

• A. Liquid Stitch Stitchless Sewing – I found this product over a year ago when I read a post on craftster.org about some people using various glues to glue down their ends. This is the best product I have found for this purpose so far. You can both weave in your ends and then snip them down very low and put a dab of this glue on it. Your project will NEVER fall apart. It is a permanent glue that dries completely clear and will not come off if you wash the garment in a machine. It is about $2.50 for a tube at walmart, and about $2.99 at Michaels. It can be found in the sewing notions areas.
• B. Gauge check & needle chart – These are easily available everywhere yarn crafts are sold. The one pictured is made by Susan Bates. While I don’t particularly like the brand for their needles and hooks, I  have to say this little tool is very helpful. If you are a crocheter learning to knit, one of the easiest bind off methods is to knit off with a crochet hook. However, in order to avoid having an extremely tight or extremely loose bind off you have to know which hook is equivalent to your needles. This chart shows you that.  It can also tell you what size hooks or needles you own if you  have any unmarked ones (i noticed that a lot of circulars are unmarked so this is really helpful for that).
• C. Paper and writing utensil – The more you crochet or knit, the more you will find that you will make modifications to patterns. For example, I wanted to modify an adult hat to an infants. I used different sized needles and a different number of cast on stitches to do this.  If you’re not near a computer, a paper and pencil is perfect to jot this information down.
• D. Crochet Hook – Even if you do not crochet, a hook is useful for many projects. Like I mentioned above, you can use it to bind off or you can use it to help pick up stitches or fix messy looking stitches on your knitted project. Make sure you always carry the equivalent hook to your needles, though!
• E. Knitting Needles – These are self explanatory. If you knit, your needles are a must!
• F. Scissors – Also a serious must because without scissors you can’t change colors, bind off a project, or finish anything!
• G. Measuring Tape – Even though you might have a gauge tool like the one outlined in B., you still need a measuring tape. Example situations include wanting to make a hat for yourself or someone else but don’t want to make it the wrong size, or if you want to make a cozy to fit your ipod but you need to know the size of it. A Measuring tape is an indispensable tool in your bag!
• H. Markers and Clips – If you are a crocheter, you need a removable type stitch marker so that your marker does not get stuck in your project (the pink heart shaped marker and the earring style marker with the blue beeds are perfect examples). If you are a knitter, you need stitch markers with a ring, especially if you plan on knitting in the round (the purple marker on the far right is an example of a knitter’s stitch marker). Finally, these hem clips that look like hair clips are perfect if you are making an afghan composed of squares. I used it on my last granny square afghan and highly recommend it. You can use these clips to “piece” together your afghan before you sew it together. It’ll help you keep a row of squares together while you’re sewing them or you can simply use these to see how your finished afghan will look like incase you want to make any changes to it.

And that is what is in my WIP bag. I  hope this was at least a little bit useful to you all!

This weekend, I dyed wool yarn with koolaid packets! This is only the second time I’ve dyed yarn with koolaid, I originally followed along with this website through the process. But I will give a short tutorial on what I did to make my yarn.

Supplies:

• 100% Wool yarn (I used Lion Brand’s Fisherman Wool in the light color)
• 2 packets per color used (in my case, i had 2 packets tropical punch, 2 packets black cherry, and 2 packets grape)
• 1 large plastic container per color (i used tupperware that could hold at least a quart of liquid)
• 1 Bottle of Vinegar
• Water
• 1 cardboard box 10″x10″ or larger (I used a USPS large flat rate box)

Step 1: Take your cardboard box and make sure it is assembled with the top open and the bottom taped shut. Take your yarn, and place your strand in one of the gaps between the top flaps. (refer to terribly drawn box photo)

Step 2: Begin wrapping your yarn around the sides of the box. By doing this you are unraveling the yarn into a big loop, making it easier for the dye in the koolaid baths to penetrate the yarn. Continue wrapping the yarn around the box until the skein is finished or until desired yarn amount (I split my yarn into 3 batches, a large, medium, and small). Once you are done wrapping your yarn around the box, cut off about 8 inches of the yarn, then cut that piece into 4 segments. With each segment of  yarn, wrap and tie it around the yarn on each side of the box. This will keep your giant loop of yarn contained so that you can easily take it off of the box.

Step 3: Prepare your container(s) by filling them 2/3rds with water. For every quart of water, add 1/4th cup of vinegar (I personally just put 1/4th cup of vinegar in all of my containers even though they might be more or less a quart of water).  In each container, add 2 packets of koolaid (NOTE: If you’re going to do all 400+ yards of yarn in one container, I suggest adjusting this to 2 quarts of water in a large container and at least 3 packets of koolaid to make sure all of it gets a nice saturated color).

Step 4: (optional) Rinse your yarn in water for about 5 minutes or until all of the yarn is sopping wet. Then wring out the water from the yarn (I did not do this step, it’s not necessary but if you skip this step your yarn might have a mottled look to it in the end, which isn’t necissarily a bad thing).

Step 5: (I highly recommend you use at least one glove for this step as koolaid will stain your hands for the rest of the day) Submerge the yarn in the koolaid bath. If you are using more than one containers/baths, place the containers as close as possible to each other, and place a book or object underneith the containers if you need to in order to  make all of the containers level with each other. If you are using more than one container, submerge one half of the yarn in one container and the other half in the other container. There will be a segment of the yarn that will not be in the water. Some of the dye will still soak up that segment, but if you do not want that segment to stay that natural color, after about an hour of soaking, pull that segment towards one of the containers and submerge it in as much of the bath as possible. Repeat with the other side. This segment will still turn out lighter in color but at least it won’t be the natural color of the yarn.

Step 6: Let the yarn sit in the bath for at least 3 hours. If you want a light, subtle color in the yarn, take it out after 2 hours. If you want a completely saturated color, leave over night.

Step 7: Once it is done soaking, carefully take your yarn out of the container(s) and over a sink. Briefly Rinse and wring the yarn out as much as possible. Place the yarn on a baking sheet and “bake” in the oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes. This will help set your color in your yarn and dry it a bit. After 10 minutes, take your yarn out of the oven and set it out to dry.

Step 8: Once it is completely dry, snip off the segments of yarn used to hold the loop together and begin winding your yarn into a ball. After you have a ball, you can begin to knit or crochet with your new koolaid dyed yarn!

If you are wondering what other colors different koolaid packets produce, check out this awesome koolaid yarn color chart!

See Photos for Clarification

+Bernat’s Satin Sport / Sport Weight Yarn
+ G / 4.25mm hook

Ribbed Cuffs (make 2)
chain 8
sc in second chain from hook and across (7sc)
Repeat for rows 2 thru 21
Seam the first row to the last row to create the cuff.

Palm
attach to the top of one of the cuffs
Round 1 – chain 1, 24 sc around the cuff
Rounds 2 to 8 – chain 1, hdc around
Round 9- chain 1, 5 hdc in next 5 stitches, chain 5, skip 3 hdc, hdc around
Round 10 – chain 1, 4 hdc in next 4 stitches, skip hdc before chain 5, 5 hdc in chain 5, skip first
stitch, hdc around
Rounds 11 to 13 – chain 1, hdc around
Round 14 – chain 1, sc around. tie off.

Removable Mitten
Turn inside out.
For right hand glove, lay upside down cuff up, thumb hole facing
the right.
{for left hand glove, lay upside down cuff up, thumb hole facing the left}
Attach yarn to second row below the thumb hole, first stitch on
the fold of the glove (see pic)
Round 1 – Sc around each post of the row below across to the opposite fold
of the glove (see pic, approx. 12 sc) Chain 13, slip stitch to first
sc
Round 2 – chain 1, hdc around, 1 hdc in each chain 13
Round 3 to 7 – chain 1, hdc around (for longer fingers, add more rows here)
Round 8 – chain 1, skip 1 stitch every 4 stitches
Round 9 – chain 1, hdc around
Round 10 – chain 1, skip 1 stitch every 3 stitches
Round 11 – chain 1, hdc around, tie off.

Turn only the outside mitten part inside out and seem the gap close.

100_3691.jpg

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