Becky Rainford

What have I been doing?

2007-04-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

So... i was going to put up some more completed projects since its been ages, and i'm looking around to see what i have. one hat. very unexcited. Ribbed all the way to the top with p3k3 in wool-ease chunky. purple, if you wanted to know. i don't even have a picture.
Surely I have something else i have made.......oh, the never ending scarf aka the irish hiking scarf. I started it in november. I'm about 6 inches from the end and i never want to make another cable again. No knitted scarfs ever again. Crochet only.

This brings up an interesting subject. I definitely research and think about knitting/crocheting alot more than i actually knit or crochet. very weird. I definitely want to make a summer top. badly. but i don't have the right yarn and i have negative money to spend on buying yarn.

So i think i'm going to have another go at fair-isle/color work. I start the end paper mitts from eunnyknits and the first one looks very ugly and wonky so i have to start over, which i am not looking forward to since its on dpns. i really need some size 1 and 2 circulars.

Maybe i'll try to make up a new tunisian crochet pattern. that always makes me happy. maybe some shorts...or a summer top! that would be perfect. it will have to be in arcylic sportweight yarn. which is also burgundy. yum. oh, well. when im rich i'll have my own yarn store with all the yarn i want.

Project Pictures

2007-02-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

So, when i made my last post i thought that i had done more projects in the last semester than I had, but i couldn't think of any. Well, I found the pictures. So here we go!

Dinosaur Hat! Rawr!

(I don't know why he insisted on sticking out his tongue, but he did)

I made it for my little brother. He told me he didn't want to wear it because it will scare the other kids. geesh. so he hasn't worn it since i made it in November. I did convince him to wear it so I could take pictures.
Pattern Info:
Dinosaur Hat Pattern from Moth Heaven
It was pretty easy and i only screwed up(completely a reading error on my part) once.
Great pattern, it was really fun to make and gave me some great experience with decreasing/increasing.
More Pictures!

The spikes are straight, really, i promise

And Bonus! One with me wearing it!

New Stuff!

2007-01-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

Been a long time. Poor neglected blog.

Let's start with pictures
Brea Bag from berroco (free pattern)
I love it. alot.

ok, i guess thats all the recent pictures i have.

I'm working on an irish hiking scarf. its taking FOREVER.

I ordered yarn. Sock yarn to make endpaper mitts: http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/11/endpaper_mitts.html

Tunisian Crochet Beanie

2006-10-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

More patterns. YAY! This is my number one favorite hat pattern. It is completely my original design. This is made in Tunisian Crochet, don't be intimated, the stitch is very simple to learn and makes a really thin dense fabric that is perfect for hats.

Tunisian Crochet Beanie

This hat has 3 rows of sc around the brim because i messed up and made it too short. But I love it with the border.

This one is completely BAS made with Lionbrand Fisherman's Wool I died myself with kool-aid.

Materials: Size J Afghan hook. Note: if you do not have a afghan hook, this project can be worked using a normal crochet hook by putting a rubber band on the end of your hook to keep the stitches from sliding off.
Worsted weight yarn
Yarn needle
Tape measure
Size: Fits adult women’s head. See variations at the bottom for tips on making the hat bigger/smaller
Gague: not important as long as the first row is 9 inches (for adult size)
Notes: Hat is worked with vertical rows.

Abbreviations: BAS basic afghan stitch

Chain 31
Row 1: Starting in the 2nd ch from hook, work a row of BAS (Forward: draw up a loop in each st across Back: yo draw through1 lp, *yarn over, draw through 2 lps repeat from * across). (31 sts)
Row 2: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (30sts)
Row 3: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (29sts)
Row 4: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (28sts)
Row 5: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (27sts)
Row 6: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (26sts)
Row 7: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (25sts)
Row 8: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (24sts)
Row 9: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (23sts)
Row 10: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (22sts)
Row 11: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (21sts)
Row 12: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (20sts)
Row 13: work a row of BAS but leave the last stitch unworked. (19sts)
Row 14: Forward: work till end of row13(19sts) then drop down to row 12 and draw up a loop in the unworked stitch, drop down to row 11 and draw up a loop in the unworked st, drop down to row 10 and draw up a loop in the unworked sts. Continue until you draw up loop in all unworked stitches (31 loops on hook) Back: yo draw through 1 lp, yo draw through 2 loops across.(31 sts)
Repeat rows 2-14 5 times or until hat fits around head. You can stop on any row as long as you finish with a full row of 31 as in row 14.
Finishing: whipstitch the two short sides together and then drawstring the top to close.
Oops: if your hat is too short then join yarn onto brim of hat by the seam and work sc in the round until it is long enough.

Variations

Different sizes: this pattern can very easily be adjusted for any size head. Measure their head or an existing hat from top to forehead and make however many sts to make your first row that length. Fyi: do not measure the chain, it will be longer than your first row. Then just make it until it fits around the head.

Stripes: to work horizontal stripes, do not carry yarn across more than 3 sts. If you alternate colors, it will be a lot easier to have separate balls for each stripe. I would recommend only doing stripes on the lower part of the hat because it gets weird if you continue into the decreasing part.
For help coming up with striping patterns, I use this random stripe generator.

Pictures: it is very easy to work a picture into this hat. As long as the chart you are working from is no longer than your shortest row. Don’t carry colors more than 3 sts!!!

Ipod Hoodie

2006-07-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start posting my patterns here. i keep meaning to start my own website, but thats been in the works for two years...so...I'll post them here. I'll start with my ipod hoodie. It's pretty sweet, its made in tunisian crochet.

I also used Tunisian knit stitch so it would be really thick and tight to protect the ipod. I really like the way it turned out. I used Lionbrand cotton ease.(cotton/acrylic blend)

Ok, here are the pics:

full hoodie view

Ok, here is the pattern

Tunisian crochet iPod Hoodie Pattern:

Yarn: cotton or cotton/acrylic blend sportweight is best
Hook: size to get a nice tight fabric (I used a F)
Gauge: figure out your own since this object is so small, just figure out how many stitches you need to make accross based on the width of your ipod plus 1/2"

hoodie is crocheted in one flat piece from the bottom of the back up leaving a v shaped gap for the hood part halfway through

chain 14(or however many you need to equal width +1/2''
row 1: work a foundation row in tunisian simple stitch
row 2: work a row of tunisian knit stitch
work even in tunisian knit stitch(tks) until equals the height of your ipod
begin shaping for collar
right side
row1: work tks in first 4 stitches(5 loops on hook) finish as normal leaving rest of row unworked OR row2:work tks accross increasing between the last 2 stitches(6 loops)
row3: work a row of tks(6 loops)
row4: work tks accross increasing between the last 2 stitches (7 loops)
row5: work a row of tks(7 loops)
repeat rows 4 and 5 until your number of loops equals half the number you chained intially (in my case it would be 7)
left side
join a separate piece of yarn in the unfinished row 5 stitches from the end
work same as right side but increase between the first two stitches instead of the last two
fasten off

pick up the stitch from the right side and work across the right side in tks and accross the left side
work even in tks util piece will fit up and over an ipod

holding right sides together, slip stitch bottom leaving opening for bottom port and slip stitch up sides.

Hood:
chain an even number of stitches so that it will fit around the opening (mine was 18)
work even in tks for about 8 rows then decrease twice in the center on the next 2 or 3 rows
fold in half and whipstitch one side together for the top and slip stitch other end around opening.

Pocket:
pick up a couple of stitch where you want your pocket then work 2 rows of tks then 3 rows decreasing at beginning and end. whipstitch top down

Recent Stuff

2006-07-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

I need to keep better tabs on this thing. Sadly it gets neglected for my xanga.
Anyway, I finished projects! Joy! This weekend i KNITTED(I'm very proud) some wristwarmers

Yarn: TLC CaraMia; worsted weight Acrylic/Angora blend in Rose( i think)
this is part of the yarn i got from joanns on clearance for like 1.25 a piece. I have four colors of it. i love it and am sad that its discontiued, but on the other hand if it wasn't discontinued i wouldn't own any of it.
Pattern: http://wineandneedles.blogspot.com/2004/12/wrist-warmer-pattern.html
This was my first experience with cables and i love them very much and i want to do more.
I used size 5 needles and i probably could have gone smaller because i knit so gosh darn lose. geesh.

Ok, I am also working on a sweater, crocheted. Using the same TLC Cara Mia yarn but in Melon. Not a great color, but hey, still ok. I am using a pattern from Cool Crochet. Nice pattern book, has some really nice stuff and most of the suggested yarns are easy to get. Not that i ever use the suggested yarn. but i could. someday. I'm about 3/4 done with the back. moving very slowly.

Progress pick:

Cupcake-a-licous

2006-04-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

Its done! I started it on Saturday.
I wore it for my birthday, super cute.
I used Lionbrand microspun which is terrible stuff but i love the color, a deep purple.

Punk Rock Backpack- In crochet!

2006-04-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

That's right. I rock. This was Mission:Get rid of yarn so I can justify new yarn.

Yellow arylic.
Rocket chart
I need to redo sewing in the lining.
Its pretty sweet.

Knitting, Again

2006-02-04T15:53:00.000-08:00

I started knitting again. I don't know what keeps drawing me to it, but I am constantly on a quest to find crochet stitches that resemble knitting and sometimes I just go for the knitting. It's odd. I enjoy it alot though. I finished a hat. I real knitted hat. I need to take a pic of it before i die it. It fits, its beautiful, it's not for me. Besides, i have so many hats and i messed up the ribbing pretty weird but sshhh we won't tell the recipient. I made it from and angora/wool sweater I bought at a garage sale for a dollar. It's insanely soft yarn.

My knitting craving is not fufilled yet. I want a sweater. i found this one that i want, it doesn't look to bad pattern wise.

Knex Swift/Ball Winder

2006-01-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

I rebuilt my yarn swift. It is alot cooler than before. It now has interchangeable pieces that easily slide on and off. I love Knex.

First it's a swift...

Now it's a Ball winder!

Ball Winder close-up

More Yarn

2005-12-21T00:14:00.000-08:00

I went to Joann's and bought more yarn. why i don't know. i have a serious addiction. i have to go back tommorrow though because i need a different yarn for a scarf. i can never manage to use what i have. I started on a sweater for myself monday and ripped it all out today because i discovered after almost a full skein that it was way to small. shoot. that was painfull. oh well. 4 more days till i get my digital camera!

Yea! New Blog

2005-12-15T00:22:00.000-08:00

Alright, the time has come for a crafting blog. And once I recieve my digital camera for christmas i will start posting my projects.

I need to start reducing my stash of yarn, it's getting ridiculous. It no longer all fits in my rubbermaid tub. The bad thing is I really want to buy more yarn. I have my eye on this one.
I think I have a yarn addiction. If I had my digital camera I could show this to you since it is currently all strewn on my floor. soon. christmas is a week and a half away.