kaleidoscopic whimsy

How to Knook!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly Bagchi) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:20:00 +0000

Knooking isn't exactly the most popular/well-known craft around, and I've been asked about it a lot, so I thought I might as well make a post about it :)

First off, if you didn't understand from my previous posts, knooking is knitting (real knitting!) with a modified crochet hook. The hook has a hole in the non-hook end, where you thread through a string or cord (usually something firm like a shoelace) to use as your 'second needle'. It's similar to tunisian (afghan) crochet in that you hold stitches on your crochet hook as you go, but you do turn around at the end. I find it a lot easier to deal with than two needles, and I'm much faster at things like ribbing this way. Anyway as far as hooks go, I have the LeisureArts kit (I actually won it in a contest, it was the best day), which comes with three knooks and instructions. You can now buy it on Amazon and I think it's also in Walmart.

Anyway, LeisureArts has some great instructional videos about knooking. I actually use a different method, but I'm thinking of trying to learn theirs too. Here's a big video, or you can search youtube for the individual ones.

By the way, whichever method you use (I think there are only two, but no idea really), make sure you use the knit and purl from the same method!! I wanted to mix them too, but it really doesn't work out and your knitting will be a mess.

So, how would you go about knooking a normal knitting pattern, you might ask. Well, there's a little trial and error involved. You should probably get an idea of how your knooking gauge compares to your actual knitting - but if you're lazy like me, you'll skip over that. I usually just approximate the needle size (sometimes you can get the exact diameter, but the needle doesn't always have a hook equivalent) and try doing the gauge swatch as suggested by the pattern (and believe me, I hate watching too, but I suppose it's a necessary evil...). When it comes to patterning, especially increasing and decreasing, that's a whole different story. I'll probably do a post about that later, so look out for it.

Lastly, here's a fun pattern for beginning to knook; I actually just finished making my own, so once it's blocked to my satisfaction there will be pictures! Anyway, this scarf (also from LeisureArts :P) alternates blocks of knit and crochet patterns, so it's pretty fun. Give it a try!

That's all for now. Definitely send me any questions you have about knooking, and I will try my hardest to answer them (from my whole 6-month experience! haha).

new Etsy listings!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly Bagchi) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:31:00 +0000

Hellooo there. More projects to share, and two of them are new listings in my Etsy shop!

This one is a sweater I half-made last summer and finished slowly since then. I'm still not very happy with the fit (I put on ties at the back, so it doesn't look so terrible in the pics), so I'll have to decide if I want to remake it or not. Not for a while, though, I have so many projects going on!

Next up is this neckwarmer. The yarn might look familiar - that's because I used the leftovers from the fingerless gloves I made earlier. I didn't use a pattern for this, just made it up as I went. Most of it was knitted on my Knook (G), and then ruffle was crocheted. (plus the buttonholes - I completely couldn't understand how knitted ones worked >.>)

And last but not least earrings I made a while back but forgot to relist on Etsy.

That's all for now! I wonder if anyone is actually reading this blog xD

project, projects, and more projects

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly Bagchi) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:06:00 +0000

Hello again!

Back at school now, so everything's pretty busy. Still finding time to make things, though! (And watch tons of dramas at the same time... :3). Anyway, I just thought I'd post a few random pictures.

This is a hat I crocheted for my mom before winter break. I think the pattern is called Post Stitch Stocking Cap on Ravelry (I'm not sure why it's a stocking cap?). The picture isn't that great, but it came out really nicely, I like the pattern a lot. It's in fingering weight yarn, I forget what but it's on my Ravelry.

Can anyone guess what this is going to be?

...

That's right! It's Kurara! (aka Clara, from Kuragehime <3) I hope I have enough stuffing to do the legs, I'm getting low on it... Anyway, I'm just improvising for this. I did the head in multiples of 6 stitches, up to 48, and then 6 even rows before the decreasing. It could have been a little more round, but oh well.

Lastly, my Wool-Ease came in, so I'm knitting a bunch of hats with it to put on Etsy. This one's not done, it has some cabled braid that goes around the back and down the corners on the sides, but I ran out of the first ball in the middle so I'm waiting to see how much the other hats use. (Totoro makes a good hat model, right? :P)

That's all for now!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly Bagchi) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:42:00 +0000

Just got back from the annual winter trip to India, and decided to finally update this blog after a million years! So, new layout etc., now it's finally time for a new post haha.

So I bought yarn in India... 50 Rupees (~$1) for 100g, who could pass that up?! I wanted to buy the whole store but I was with my mom and plus had suitcase constrictions. So I got ~220g of two different colors. See that huge blue bundle at the back? Yeah. Thankfully that thing is actually four smaller skeins together, or I would've died trying to ball the orange one yesterday! In any case, it took me the entirety of an 8-hour plane flight to make those three orange balls, and I still have five skeins to go. (Thank god for movies >_< Actually, I don't mind balling yarn - unless it gets horribly tangled like my third ball did) Not sure what the plan is for these yet. I also have no idea what they're made of and don't know how to find out :(.

Also, I was productive over break! I made these fingerless gloves while I was at the beach. They were knitted on my Knook (the Leisure Arts one, in G-5mm), from 1 skein of Cascade 220 Wool that I got from Stitch DC before I left ($16 o.O). On a side note, I wasn't at all impressed with Stitch DC; I think their collection got really limited after they moved, and it was pretty pricey. Looped is way better, but of course still a tad expensive.

Anyway, the pattern I used for these is called Lana Gloves, I found it on Ravelry. You can probably see that there are a few issues; the main one was that I did my increases a little wrong and so there are small holes in the pattern. I don't think it looks too terrible, and they're only for me, anyhow. I also probably have to re-block and re-seam the left glove, no idea what happened but it didn't quite come out right. (You can't tell when they're worn, though, so I might just get lazy and not bother.)

Not much else to say about winter break. I bought a million sizes of knitting needles, so I'm going to practice and try to get better with the real needles (I've still not been able to knit a rib properly xD). All my listings have expired from my Etsy shop....I need to repost them, but I lost all the pictures. They needed better pics, anyway. :P I'll be knitting up a storm soon, I also ordered some stuff from Craftsy recently - I never knew they had a deals section, and the prices were good ^.^ Of course, I ended up spending a lot anyway. I got some Lion Brand Wool-Ease and Malabrigo Chunky, just waiting for them to arrive in the mail!
On a not-really-related note, I sort of want a dressform. It would be good for blocking stuff and for modeling things for Etsy, too. I heard you could make one out of garbage bags and stuff, but that seems intimidating... Maybe I can find a cheap one somewhere?

Okay, enough rambling. Until next time!

Sunset Ruffle Scarf

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly Bagchi) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:45:00 +0000

Acrylic yarn & cotton crochet thread. Long!