LoomKnittingDesigns has been improved...

New for 2007! The patterns section over at loomKnittingDesigns.com has been updated with a detailed page for each pattern!

This is a project I've been dreading, but was sorely needed. Now you can read a little more about each pattern and find out the specs (loom used, yarn and yardage needed for yarn, skill level, and techniques used) for each pattern before purchasing. There is now a nice large picture of the finished knit item and a brief write up. Hopefully this will make it easier to choose correctly for the looming project you are looking for.

So now in the patterns section, you can click on any of the pattern names or pattern thumbnails and go to a detail page about that pattern. If you have any questions or comments - leave me a comment here!

Happy New Year!

Greetings from Maine!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I did eventually make it out of the Denver airport this past Sunday. My flight took off late and I nearly missed my connection in New York City - BUT! I made it to my family Christmas party on Christmas Eve and only an hour later then scheduled! Knock on wood for my trip back this coming Sunday. Denver is due for another foot of snow on Friday. Sheesh!

The picture above is my mom with the socks I needle knit her. She loves them! Everyone loved their gifts. The Power Scarf hostess gift went over very well. And the sparkly black Power Scarf I made for my Aunt at that same party was an even bigger hit!

The soft as silk Power scarf I made for my brothers girlfriend was also a hit. She's allergic to cats but wanted to curl the scarf up in her lap and pretend its a kitty. It was certainly soft enough to. The picture on the right is Sara and my brother as they mug for the camera with the furry scarf. It actually matched what she was wearing, so she put it right on.

So I'm having a great time in Maine so far. I got several gift certificates to local yarn shops and I'm trying to decide what to make. I've been looking through the archive on knitty.com trying to find something good! Cabled sweaters are in right now, so I'm trying to decide between this one, or this one, or this one, but I really like this one. Any suggestions? I'm also going to browse through the lovely patterns over at Elann.com.

Tough decisions, but I great one to ponder for a while. I get to look over yarn and patterns and think about what will be fun to make for myself. I hope all you needle knitters and loomers got plenty of yarn and/or gift certificates. How fun!

One last little gift...

...is...well, almost done! Yay! Yippee! Woot! The LAST 2006 Christmas gift! Alright. Maybe I'm prematurely celebrating here. But - sheesh...I never thought it would end!

Wanna see the last gift? It's in progress...but oh so exciting...



I think I saved the prettiest for last. This scarf is for my Aunt who's hosting a Christmas Eve family party at her house. This Aunt ogled a scarf a gave as a gift at that family party last year. So as a thank you for hosting I thought it would be fun to give her one this year. Since these Power Scarves are a snap to make, I bought some fancy schmancy yarn and went to work this morning. Of course, it being a Blizzard (with a capitol "B"!) outside - working on finishing up gifts is a perfect activity.

A little bit O' facts about the scarf:

Yarn: Berroco "Optik" in color "Millefleur"
Yardage: 1 skein or 87 yards
Loom: Green round Knifty Knitter loom
Pattern: Power Scarf from LoomKnittingDesigns.com

I took a few more closeups of the beautiful yarn. It's a great yarn that uses many colors, kinds, and textures of fibers all wrapped together. The effect when made is a sparkly, textured, and colorful fabric. Great for this pattern cause it has such an open laciness. At about $10 a skein it's a bit pricey but it's very pretty and, I think, worth the money. Makes a great one skein gift!

Scuffie FOs

Another pair of Christmas Scuffies are done! Ready for the Christmas wrappings! Can't wait to give these...My Aunt will love them!

Here are other shots :

Busy, but still knitting

So busy getting ready for Christmas. I have loom knitting and needle knitting classes coming out my ears! I have gifts left to make and travel plans to get ready for.

BUT - I'm still working on the needles and looms. I've gotten one Scuffie slipper done for a birthday gift for my aunt. Yep - you heard right. A birthday gift. You see...my whole family (except my brother) has their birthdays right after Christmas. (This includes myself....but at least I don't have to make myself a gift!) So, not only do I have to get everyone's Christmas gift made. I also have to get their birthday gifts made.

So I've got one Scuffie done for my aunt. I made a pair for my mom last year and my aunt begged me to make her a pair too. This pair is made using two strands of Lion Brand Homespun held together. This yarn makes great scuffies. It is super soft and easy to care for. It also looks pretty luxurious when completed - always a plus!

So I got one Scuffie down and one more to go. Of course I have a class every night this week to teach...but somehow the other will get done!

I also have another sock 1/2 finished. This one, however, I don't think is a Christmas gift. I think this pair will end up either on Etsy for sale, or on my own little tootsies. I haven't made a pair of socks for myself in quite a while...so I'm leaning toward keeping them for my own little tootsies!

This is self striping sock yarn I got from Joann's online. It's called "Jelly Bean" and it's Lion Brand Sassy Stripes. It's the weirdest self striping I've used. It doesn't seem to have a repeating pattern of stripes. This makes it much easier if you are obsessive and want to match stripes from sock to sock - like myself. With this yarn its just impossible to match so you can just knit away. Maybe I'll eventually reach a repeat in the striping - which would be disastrous for this little obsessive knitter. Then I'd have to waste half the ball looking for the next repeat...*sigh*

Anywho....that's what I've been up to. How's everyone elses knitting coming?

Found a freebie

While searching the Michael's website tonight I found a new freebie project. Its a felted Christmas stocking made on the yellow Knifty Knitter round loom. Of course I haven't tried it yet, but it looks interesting.

Also, while I was teaching this afternoon at my Boulder Michaels, the store manager comes in all excited. In her hand she had a new long Knifty Knitter loom set that they had just gotten in! She said they were selling out and she was dragging the last one off so she could purchase it herself. She was so cute!...and the look of excitement on her face was priceless!

If anyone tries that felted stocking pattern - let me know. Not that there is much time left for Christmas...

Christmas knitting off the pegs & needles!

These have been done for a while now...but I've been too busy to post a pic. These baby's are for my Aunt. They came out nice and the stripes are perfectly matching - a beautiful thing!

I've also been busy on the looms. I made two Power Scarves for people on my Xmas list. The black sparkly one is for another Aunt who's name I drew for the family Christmas Eve party. (We do a sorta secret santa thing where we all draw one name from a hat and get a gift for that person.) I hope she likes it. I've never made anything for her so I'm sorta guessing at her taste. She wears black a lot so I think it'll be OK. I DON'T want to be one of those knitters that makes ugly things for people and then expect them to wear it! HA HA!

The Black sparkly one is made from one ball of Patons "Brilliant" yarn. If you are making a sparkly scarf I'd recommend this one. Unlike most sparkly yarns, the Brilliant is not scratchy! There is nothing worse then a scratchy scarf! The Brilliant is very soft and drapes beautifully.

The furry scarf is made from Moda-Dea "Chi-Chi" Yarn that I had some left over from a demo. It was most of a ball that I had left and it still made a decent length scarf. I'm partial to the Power Scarf pattern (especially at this time of year) because it makes quick gifts for people. It looks like its a complicated pattern, but it's easy and you get an entire scarf done in a evening of TV watching and looming.


Here's some pics of the scarves:

Another classic, Classic Mary Jane's

It's finally ready for posting - the Classic Mary Jane's!

While in the midst of this project I decided to figure out the "never-quite-good-enough" bind off problem that I've always had with looms. It's always either a bit too tight or a bit too loose. The knit stitch bind off is modeled after the bind off used in needle knitting. I hope you are as excited about this as me...

These slippers were a request from a very good customer and I'm glad she did request them! Nothing like a request to get me thinkin'...

More info on this design:
Yarn: Lion Suede
Yardage: 2 balls for a total of about 240 yards
Loom Used: Blue Knifty Knitter round loom
Skill Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Techniques Used: E-wrap cast on, knit stitch, purl stitch, increasing, yarn over, and a new technique I'm calling the knit stitch bind off (detailed instructions included)

Other Notes: I use 2 strands of yarn held together throughout. The yarn used is very soft and a great choice for this pattern as it doesn't stretch out of shape once made. Since these slippers are close fitting this yarn is highly recommended to maintain the desired look after being worn for a bit. The toe up design eliminates bulk at the toe end, making a dainty and less irritating slipper for sensitive feet!

A few more pics

From the other side

The shapely little toe and the cute bow

Off the foot!