cell phone cover

i think this is the project i'm most proud of so far, even though it was the quickest. it only took one evening to make. it's a cell phone cover for travis' motorola razr phone, knit out of red heart super saver yarn with 4 size 10 double pointed needles. the button came from my stash of those extra buttons that come attached to clothes when you buy them. do other people collect those too? i've accumulated quite a stash over the years and i'm glad that now i have something to use them for!

i'm really proud of the design for this, which i invented myself. it would work for making a cover for any very thin item, like an ipod mini. i knit the body in the round. when i calculated how many stitches to cast on, i made sure that the circumference would be a good deal smaller than the actual phone - i wanted the cover to have to stretch around the phone and fit snugly.

i knit in the round until the piece was as long as the phone. then i put 1/3 of the stitches (one double pointed needle's worth) on a stitch holder and cast off the rest. i continued knitting the flap in a stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row) until it was long enough and cast that off too. then i sewed the bottom seam shut, sewed on the button, and sewed on the contrasting brown stitching at the top. finally, i just looped a piece of brown yarn through a couple of stitches and made a knot for the button loop. that's it! easy schmeesy! the contrasting stitching really makes the piece sturdier and better fitting than it otherwise would be, and it looks really good too, if i do say so myself.

i am planning to make a full-sized ipod holder for my friend jon based on this design. hopefully it will work with a slightly thicker piece of equipment. i am going to try leaving a hole in the bottom center when i sew it up, so that he can plug the ipod in with the cover on, and also put a buttonhole in the top of the flap so he can plug his headphones in. i have to teach myself how to make a buttonhole, but that shouldn't be hard. we'll see how it works out!

fringed dropstitch scarf

this is one of the first things i knitted. i used a dropstitch pattern where i knitted a row, double wrapped a row, then dropped every other stitch for a row and repeat. it's quite open and lacy-looking, i don't know if you can really see that well in the photo.

i used lion brand homespun yarn, and let me tell you that it is a bitch to work with. it splits and frays like crazy. i do not recommend beginner knitters use lion homespun.

as you can see in the photo, the fringe frayed almost instantly. i kind of like the effect although it sheds like crazy. but cory has two cats so she can deal with some shedding.

i made this for my friend cory because she saw me using this yarn and said how much she really loved this color. i thought the stretch and the texture of the yarn knit in a dropstitch would make a feminine but funky scarf that would be both decorative and cozy and just perfect for cory. i hope she likes it! i gave it to her in june so she hasn't had a chance to wear it yet.

welcome to my new knitting blog!

i created this mostly so i can have a place to post and share photos of the stuff i knit, since i give most of it away. i also plan to ramble on about projects i'm working on and vegan yarn and knitting stores and stuff like that.

i just started knitting in the spring of 2005, and i'm definitely still a beginner. i've been a vegan for about 7 years so there was never any question in my mind that i'd use only non-animal yarns. i know knitters are very attached to their wool, but i love working with vegan yarns. each time i start a project i end up telling travis: "i love working with this yarn!"

i never would have suspected this about myself, but i have realized that i just love yarn. i think that's what i love most about knitting. it must be odd to people who aren't into knitting to say you love yarn.