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December Crafting Thread

kvh22kvh22 member
in May 2019 Moms
Seeing a few threads with crafting ideas so thought we'd start a new monthly craft thread.

Knitting, sewing, nursery art projects, drawing, etc...put it here. Ask questions, get advice, or just share your projects plans or pictures of progress/final product.

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Re: December Crafting Thread

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  • eatinwatermelonseedseatinwatermelonseeds member
    @sleepy33 it looks awesome so far! 

    I'm not working on anything currently, but I'd really like to do some nice things to the new house. Mostly as far as decorating goes. I want to do cute wall things. I am not a decorator.... Or creative at all. So it'll be interesting. Hobby lobby is going to be my bff
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  • knarlytaurusknarlytaurus member
    @sleepy33 that looks great! Kitchener stitch really isn't that bad ... There's a rhythm to it. And for sweater pieces, I rarely find I need kitchener - I usually use mattress stitch to join the pieces. Unless, of course, the pattern calls for Kitchener. If you need help getting through kitchener stitch let me know - 
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  • sleepy33sleepy33 member
    I definitely will @knarlytaurus! It calls for it somewhere in this collar section. 
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  • kvh22kvh22 member
    @sleepy33 I'm so impressed #goals

    @eatinwatermelonseeds we are great for feedback and pinterest ideas (as you can tell form the nursery threads). I love that stuff but have nothing to decorate! A mom in my last BMB is having a house built and has been asking our group for opinions on kitchen layout, doors, etc. It's been fun to live vicariously!

    I just started teaching myself to knit and I'm pretty excited. I got that crazy nesting urge but we're in an apartment so I had no outlet since I did all the nursery stuff when nesting for DD. I used to sew so after I finished her nursery, I decided to hand stitch some cotton burp cloths but my old sewing machine is at my mom's across the country and we have zero room for it here and that was such a pain for low return. Now with the knitting I'm working on a scarf in theory although just practicing stitches and seeing some great improvement. I did 45 stitches across with 20 rows of knitting, 20 rows of purling, and now I'm going to work on the stockinette stitch next. Any project ideas for a beginner if my goal is a baby blanket (does NOT have to be achieved before baby is born, though)? I know it's big but it's pretty simple from the perspective of being flat and square (or rectangle). I'm just trying to practice all the different types of stitches and switching between them for any patterns I'd be using for a couple weeks or more (depending on how much time I can dedicate).

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  • eatinwatermelonseedseatinwatermelonseeds member
    @kvh22 thank you, I may use you guys because I'm terrible at decorating. My go-to colors are like red and brown. For everything. It's bad. I need help 😂 it'll be a slow process because decorating costs money. But I'll definitely come here. 

    As for knitting patterns, I cannot for the life of me remember any (I crochet more now than I knit) but I had done a nice one where you start small and get really big and then get small again. Ravelry is great for finding free patterns. 
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  • sleepy33sleepy33 member
    @kvh22 are you on ravelry? That's where I get all of my patterns. A blanket is definitely a doable first project!

    Whoops, and I see @eatinwatermelonseeds already suggested it!

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  • kvh22kvh22 member
    @eatinwatermelonseeds @sleepy33 no but I will check it out when I have free time and am not bumping! I feel like I spend so much time on the bump on Mondays since I basically don't go on all weekend.

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  • knarlytaurusknarlytaurus member
    Awesome @kvh22! I'll go rustle up some baby blanket options for you. The easiest would be to do sections of stockinette in different colors. I'll get some links. A great resource I'd highly recommend is ravelry. A huge database of patterns, many of them free. 
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  • knarlytaurusknarlytaurus member
    @kvh22 - These are all pretty simple patterns but there may be some things you might have questions about. For all these patterns, you can substitute for the yarn the pattern calls for. There are thousands more patterns for baby blankets so let me know if you're looking for something different. Feel free to dm me if you any questions! 

    https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2012/08/18/new-super-easy-baby-blanket/

    https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2015/04/13/flying-geese-knit-baby-blanket/

    https://m.lionbrand.com/item/313432313731

    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/izzy-3

    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/telly
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  • kvh22kvh22 member
    OMG @knarlytaurus you are amazing!! I was looking around ravelry last night and found a few patterns although I love a couple you posted above but wonder what'd be too complex for a beginner - both of the ones I found and the ones you posted. I'll definitely DM you later tonight once DD is in bed in a few hours with my questions. Like I said, still working on practicing knit, purl, and stockinette stitches right now so no rush to respond, obviously!

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  • knarlytaurusknarlytaurus member
    @kvh22 you can do it! If. You've already taught yourself knitting and purling, the only thing left is adding new stitches or taking some away! You're doing great! 
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  • poshspiceposhspice member
    @kvh22 I am an ultra beginner at knitting and I knit this one for DD while I was pregnant. The pattern is incredibly easy, it's one row until you reach the point that you reduce (you knit it diagonally) and then it's still one row after you switch from expanding to reducing. So you can make the blanket any size you want and it turns out to be a square. If you choose fun yarn it makes up for the simple pattern. 
    https://www.allfreeknitting.com/Knit-Baby-Afghans/Soft-Easy-Baby-Throw-from-Lion-Brand
    She's my rainbow baby so here's how her blanket turned out. I made it way too big for a newborn; I imagine she won't really want to use it until she's like 3.  :D 


    It's laid out on a queen size bed in that pic. Way too big lol. 

    I'm currently working on this pattern (linked below) for DD's toddler blanket. You definitely have to pay more attention to this one, but it's still quite easy. And I've already managed to eff up a couple of rows and gotten too far to go back and fix. Oh well. This new baby will be getting a blanket in the pattern above because I'm running out of time. This second blanket I'm working on for DD is taking me foreverrrrr. 

    https://www.allfreeknitting.com/Knit-Baby-Afghans/Speedy-One-Row-Baby-Blanket

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  • poshspiceposhspice member
    @eatinwatermelonseeds do you use Houzz? You have to make an account but you only sacrifice your email address. They have literally thousands of photos of every room in the house - many of them too fancy for my budget lol. Like you can search "gray walls living room photos" and get tons and tons of ideas. You can search for literally anything you can think of. I like it much better for decorating than Pinterest. 
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  • eatinwatermelonseedseatinwatermelonseeds member
    @poshspice uh, no?! I need to check that out tomorrow, yay! Another way to waste time! 😂😂
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  • poshspiceposhspice member
    @eatinwatermelonseeds you won't regret it! There's some gorgeous stuff in their photo collection. 
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  • poshspiceposhspice member
    Can anyone direct me to a good youtube tutorial for how to finish a knitting project (specifically a blanket) and weaving in ends? I did my best with a washcloth size blanket DD currently sleeps with, but she's managed to pull out both ends, which I luckily knotted, but it has the little tails sticking off now. I really don't know how to finish a knitting project properly.  :/
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  • troystory17troystory17 member
    @poshspice I really want to see your rainbow baby blanket I can’t see the pics in the spoiler is it just me? I started a rainbow blanket for this baby I’m not really happy with it, and it’s also huge so I’m thinking of just starting over  :#
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  • sleepy33sleepy33 member
    @poshspice knots really don't work when finishing a piece. They will untie eventually. After pulling the yarn through, I leave at least 4 inches (really 6 inches is probably better, but I frequently lose patience with weaving in that much lol) and weave in the ends. If you are knitting with wool or a wool blend, the ends will stay put better, but acrylic can be a little bitch. One thing I've found with acrylic, especially heavier weights, is to split the end into multiple pieces and weave the individual strands in. I usually alternate as I'm weaving in, doing some where I literally mimic the already knit stitches and weave my end along side of them following the knit pattern, and then on some I will stab the needle straight through the middle of purl bumps and run it diagonally across the stitches for a while. If the end is along an edge or seam, I'll almost always hide it in there. 
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  • knarlytaurusknarlytaurus member
    edited December 2018
    @poshspice as @sleepy33 did, but here's a great article with pictures of you like visuals:
    https://knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/FEATfall04TT.html
    Knitty is a great website with a bunch of free patterns and technical information (all free). They're a great go to for how to info.

    Here's another one from purl soho  another great site with great free patterns:
    https://www.purlsoho.com/create/weaving-in-your-ends/

    *edited to add one more link
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  • knarlytaurusknarlytaurus member
    Also, @poshspice, I think you've already figured out how to bind off, but here's a tutorial for 4 different ways to bind off, depending on what you're looking for. This is from Craftsy, an online class type site. You have to pay for classes most of the time (the link below is free and to a blog on the site), but I've never been disappointed with a class! I've done 1 knitting class on lace shawl design, but most of the classes I've done are for baking.
    https://www.craftsy.com/knitting/article/how-to-bind-off/

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  • poshspiceposhspice member
    @sleepy33 and @knarlytaurus thank you! I am like two hours away from finishing that blanket so hopefully I will be able to look into those techniques soon!

    @troystory17 the blanket isn’t really anything special! I don’t know why my photos aren’t working 😞
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  • brie_and_almondsbrie_and_almonds member
    It's about this time of year every year I have to talk myself down off of a crazy, impulsive crafting ledge. Part of me thinks "Oh, I know! I'll knit everybody a Weasley sweater for Christmas!" and starts to dive for knitting needles until the other part of my brain says "No you will not... not even socks."
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  • lappymom2019lappymom2019 member
    My cat got into my blanket and now I can't find the crochet hook! I'll have to buy a new one so I can finish it
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  • knarlytaurusknarlytaurus member
    Ha @brie_and_almonds! So so true! I usually knit a Christmas sweater for my nephew, and added my niece last year, but haven't done any this year :( that was my compromise already since I stopped doing Christmas knitting for pretty much everyone else. 
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  • brie_and_almondsbrie_and_almonds member
    @knarlytaurus yeah, it's rough. I used to crochet a ton and knit just a little, but I made my mom some wool socks for Christmas several years ago that she still wears, so I think about doing it again whenever I see her wear them. I have much less time for that these days, but I need to get crackin' on a blanket for this baby, since both of my DDs have a blanket that I made... not sure when I'll find time.
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  • knarlytaurusknarlytaurus member
    @brie_and_almonds I've been so slow in finishing this LO's blanket. It's a really basic blanket (garter stitch with a feather and fan variation around the edging) but it's taken a while! II may do a lace blanket, too, since we won't need sweaters for a while. 
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