Salihan Crafts Blog

Tinkering Twittering

Salihan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:00:15 +0000

Thank you all for your get-well-soon wishes. I’m getting colour back to my cheeks and I think I’m finally on the mend. Must be all the good vibes you’ve been sending my way! Thank you so much!

So what did I do with this bit of extra energy I have today?

Well, I’ve been tinkering on the computer for the last few hours and I have finally created a background for my Twitter page! It’s nothing super fancy but I really like it. You must pop over to see it and while you’re there, why don’t you follow me on Twitter too.

If you’re keen to make your own Twitter background, this awesome tutorial by Spoon Graphics helped me design mine. It includes an explanation on Twitter backgrounds, a free Photoshop template, links to get free stock photos and a step-by-step demonstration on how he created his background. Pretty cool stuff.

And as always, skip over to Kootoyoo for more creative spaces. Happy days!

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I would much rather be…

Salihan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:45:38 +0000

outdoors and soaking up the glorious sun
grocery shopping because I like food and there isn’t much left around here
reading a book than watch another daytime tv program
working and creating
healthy and well again

But at the moment, I can only manage this until I get over this cold:

What would you rather be doing today?

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FO: Toasty Cabled Vest

Salihan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:58:57 +0000

I’ve had a cold for over 2 weeks now. It comes in waves where I feel better and then I’m in bed for a whole day again. The up side of this is that I’ve spent a lot of time resting, knitting and crocheting. The down side is that the photos of me with the FOs look pretty awful.

Remember the Crimson Ridge Cowl? There is a reason why the photo of me is blurry. I felt pretty damn awful and my skin was dry, reddish and blargh! Unfortunately, I feel the same today. So please excuse the pale skin, puffy eyes and reddish nose. I’m putting on a smirk for the camera (well, attempted to) because I’m so dang proud of my Toasty Cabled Vest!

Knitting Pattern: Knitted DROPS top with short sleeves with cables and rib
Yarn: Patons Micromax 16 ply (Free yarn from a friend who was destashing! Yay!)
Needles: 8mm
More @ Ravelry

This vest was surprisingly easy to knit. Knitted in the round so there’s barely any seaming. The pattern had clear instructions and measurements. Love the chunky cables and boy, did this fly off my needles! I knitted most of it over the weekend and was lounging around in it last night while watching Saturday Night Fever on tv. It’s truly a too-sick-to-get-off-the-sofa kind of project.

Even with my sore head, I managed to graft the shoulder seams together using the Kitchener Stitch. The arrow and dotted line in the above picture show where the grafting happened. It’s pretty good I think, especially since it’s the first time I grafted non-stockinette stitches. I followed the clear instructions from TECHknitting in the latest Spring issue of Interweave Knits. It’s worth getting the mag for that one article if you haven’t bought it already.

Now for the bestest bit. I put on the vest for the first time and Richard said, “Wow! I love the cables! Would you knit me a cabled vest too?”

Ahhh… music to my ears!

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My Creative Space

Salihan — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:54:44 +0000

My creative space has been filled with …

… arm lengths of knitted i-cord,

(tutorial coming soon)

… shades of lofty violet cotton going round and round,

(my “forever” blanket wip)

… and the click clack of excited knitting needles.

(a cabled vest for me)

Life’s good.

Pop over to Kootoyoo to see all the other creative spaces playing this week.

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Join Women on the Bridge

Salihan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:04:02 +0000

“To honor the resilience of millions of women survivors of war around the world, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign called Join me on the Bridge on International Women’s Day: March 8, 2010.

On that day, we will bring women from Rwanda and Congo together in peace on a bridge between their countries to demand an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges to peace and development. At the same time and in solidarity, we will bring women (and men!) together on bridges throughout the world, creating a truly global movement that says NO! to war and YES! to peace and hope.”

Quoted from Women for Women website

Participants in Women for Women International's programs in both Rwanda (above) and Congo will join their handmade fabrics to create a peace banner on the bridge between their countries. Photo By: Les Stone

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend any of the bridge events but I have signed the pledge to give my support to the global Join me on the Bridge campaign. I want my government to know that I want them to invest in women. 70% of the world’s poor are women and 75% of civilians killed in war are women and children. It can’t go on like this.

Please, TAKE ACTION.

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Free Pattern: Crimson Ridge Cowl

Salihan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:20:35 +0000

When the rest of the world slowly puts away their winter woolies, it’s time for those down under to start crocheting for the upcoming chill. The Crimson Ridge Cowl is an easy project you can whip up quickly for those unpredictable autumn days.

The cowl gently tapers to the top for a better fit. No need for buttons or shawl pins to hold it in place.

Simple ridges and a rope edging adds a nice detail and makes crocheting it even more fun!

Click here for free pattern (published in Favecrafts)

Difficulty level: Advanced beginner
You will need to have basic crochet skills. This project uses a slightly advanced stitch, simple shaping and edging.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
22″ (56cm) circumference around the widest part and narrows to 19″ (49cm)
9.5″ (24cm) tall

MATERIALS
Approximately 107 yards (98m) of Lion Brand Wool-ease Chunky or any bulky/12ply yarn
US M/N (9mm) crochet hook
Embroidery needle

GAUGE
10 stitches = 4″ (10cm) in single crochet through back loop

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Learning to hem dress pants

Salihan — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:36:34 +0000

Hems! Bah! I could think of a million things I’d rather do.

But my husband has a nice, but weird, pair of dressy trousers from Country Road. The weird thing is the hem is not sewn on but ironed on using hem tape. So after a few washes, the hem comes loose and I iron on more hem tape. I’ve done this twice now. Fun eh?

I avoided the impulse to just machine sew a hem. I knew the stitching would just stick out like a sore thumb. So with the magic of Google, I came across this awesome tutorial (PDF) on how to hand sew the hem.

I carefully hand sew the “catch stitch” across the hem and I was quite surprised at how quick it was to sew.

Ten minutes later I was done hemming both legs. My stitches looked pretty even but the truth is on the other side – the right side.

Squeal! Look at that nothingness! I’m not joking. That’s already hemmed on the inside!

I also found that the same website with the tutorial – Sewing.org – has a huge list of tutorials. HUGE! Click here and be one with your sewing.

Oh before you go, do you know whether the iron-on hem is unusual or maybe I’m just clueless and it’s a standard sort of hem for dress trousers?

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Fresh off the hook

Salihan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:30:35 +0000

I’ve just finished a new crochet pattern and it’s going to be free! Here’s a sneak peak.

By the way, taking photos of bright red things is hard! If anyone has any tips that doesn’t involve buying a new camera, please share them with me. Thankyouverymuchly!

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Enchanting Brooch

Salihan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:30:15 +0000

I won a beautiful handmade brooch on my OWOH magic carpet ride a few weeks ago. As soon as I opened the box and laid eyes on it, I was captivated by it’s beauty. This delicately hand beaded piece of wearable art is created by the talented Jodi Davis. She has a collection of stunning, one-of-a-kind jewellery in her Etsy shop.

The brooch is pinned to my Clapotis shawl and it’s like a match made in heaven. It seems like the moon and stars have aligned to bring these two together. Maybe it will even bring me a bit of good fortune in the future. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

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Knitted a man’s sweater in 13 days!

Salihan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:17:29 +0000

I’ve done it! I knitted a man’s sweater in less than 2 weeks! Woohooo! *happy dance*

The 2010 Winter Olympics was a fabulous knitting companion. All the excitement and disappointment, the trials and tribulations, the love and passion – all of which poured into this gorgeous sweater.

Why I LOVE this:

Great looking yarn that kept me motivated to knit the sweater. It was fun watching the stripes form automagically.
Bulky wool and alpaca blend yarn means this sweater is very warm and squishy. It makes Richard even more huggable when he’s wearing it.
The sweater fits him perfectly which makes him a very happy man.
Elizabeth Zimmerman is a genius to work out such a customisable sweater formula. I’ve learned so much from the aptly-named ‘Knitting Without Tears’ book. But it really isn’t a beginner book. I needed my knitting experience to fudge along the way as directed by EZ.
A confidence-boosting project. To knit with such a time constraint using a formula rather than an actual pattern has really shown how far my knitting has come. My passion for knitting is further ignited and I can’t wait to start my next knitting project.

I also learned to knit two sleeves at a time. I used the magic loop method and cast on like I was knitting two socks at a time. This tutorial by Knitting Giraffe helped me get started. I love knitting the sleeves together. I think it’s quicker as I don’t have to keep track of rows and count stitches twice.

Knitting pattern: Seamless Hybrid (Shirt-yoke version) by Elizabeth Zimmerman’s ‘Knitting Without Tears’ book
Yarn: Patons Jet
Needles: 5.5mm
More @ Ravelry

So what do I get for knitting in this year’s Ravelympics? A medal of course!

Click on this button to see all the sweater projects in the Sweaterboard Cross

Now I’m off to watch the last few events before the Winter Olympics 2010 closing ceremony. See ya later!

Related post:
Ravelympics: Ready, Steady, Swatch!

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