Recycled Pouf/Floor Cushion Thing

I've been wanting some poufs for my living room only just forever. I love the look of these Urchin Poufs and this diy pattern is fantastic, but I decided not to spend anything on this project. So in a fit of stash busting and recycling, I made some tee shirt yarn (check out my tutorial!) and I grabbed a ton of old clothes and scraps for stuffing and I made myself a nice crocheted pouf. I'm usually more of a knitter, but this yarn is a bear to knit with - I broke 2 sets of circulars on a bath mat a couple years ago.

So anyway, here's my pouf. Along with my lovely assistant. :o) He worms his way into all my photos these days. 

The finished pouf is about 8 inches tall and 21 inches in diameter. I used a size K crochet hook. To fill it, I lined it with an old sheet and filled it with lots and lots of fabric scraps and some old knit swatches.

My Latest Knits

Brea Bag for my mom:

pattern: Brea Bag
yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Cranberry
needles: US 9

This a bag I promised to make for my mom last year. It's fully lined with repurposed denim. I can't wait to finally give it to her this weekend!




Fern Lace Scarf
yarn: Spinning Bunny Merino/Tencel Hand Dyed Yarn, Blueberry Patch
needles: US 10, bamboo

I've made about a million scarves since I learned how to knit, but I've sold and given away almost all of them. I got this gorgeous yarn from freecycle and decided that it's finally time to make a wearable scarf for myself. The lace pattern comes from Vogue Stitchonary. I love it!




Stripy Gloves
yarn: Knit Picks Felici, Atmosphere
needles: US 3, bamboo DPNs

I started these back in January when a wind storm knocked out power to most of Davis. We were without power and heat for 3 days. While I was freezing my butt off, I decided that it was an absolute travesty that I didn't have a decent pair of (non-snowboard) gloves. So I picked up my needles and some sock yarn and started these. When the power came back on, I totally forgot about them and didn't pick them up again until this fall.





Fall Fingerless Mitts
yarn: Mystical Creation Yarns Wool Silk
needles: US 5, aluminum DPNs

Our chilly evening walks with the puppy inspired me to finally pick up this yarn and knit up a pair of fingerless mitts for the fall. I love this yarn. It has a really rustic look, but it's so soft and wearable.

New Art

I just added these 2 collages to my shop. The one on the left is called "Rebirth" and the other is "Resurrection".

Plastic Bag Keeper

The plastic bags were taking over the space under my kitchen sink. So I declared war on them and took a weekend and about a skien of yarn and corralled them into their new home. Check it out:



It's got an elasticy hair thingy at the bottom to keep the bags in.



I kinda like how it looks like a giant squash.

It was really easy to make. I used drop stitches, a la clapotis and really simple shaping for the top.

I'd love to hear what you think about it!

**************************************************
::::The Pattern::::

*note* I just wrote this up right now, so please let me know if you find any typos or if you have trouble following it or anything!

Knit Bag Keeper

yarn:
Schachenmayr Twostep (53% Acrylic Microfiber, 47% Cotton)

needles and things:
1 set US size 2 dpns
tapestry needle, to weave in the ends
1 5 inch elasticy hair thingy

Directions:

bottom part:
- cast on 36 stitches, leaving a ~12" tail distribute over three needles
- knit all until the work measures about 1.5 inches from the cast on
- from the start of the round, wrap the first stitch and place it back on the needle.
- now, flip the work inside out while still on the needles by pulling it through the triangular opening between the three needles, so that the purl side of the work is facing outward

drop stitch/middle part:
- next row: k1, *m1 by picking up the loop between the stitches, k3, repeat from * to end of row
- now begin drop stitch pattern, k1, *p1, k3, repeat from *
- continue in drop stitch pattern until this part of the work measures ~15"

top part:
- row 1: k all knit st, drop all p st. This will create the ladder effect when all the stitches in the column drop out. You may need to coax it along.
- row 2: flip the work over and purl, working it like a flat piece, instead of in the round.

- knit row: knit 2 together, knit til 2 st from end, knit 2 together through the back
- purl row: purl all
- repeat the knit row and purl row until you have 8 stitches left on the needle, ending on a purl row

- knit 4 stitches & leave remaining 4 stitches on the needle, flip and purl. continue working these 4 stitches in stockinette stitch for 12 rows
- using a three needle bind-off, connect the 4 worked stitches to remaining 4 stitches to form a loop.

finishing:
attaching the hair thingy - the reversed stockinette on the bottom should be curling under towards the inside. place the hair thingy inside the rolling part and stitch together on the inside of the bag keeper.
weave in all ends.
fill with bags, hang it up and enjoy!

More Swap Love

Here's what I sent to my partner for the stocking swap.




I made these slippers by slightly modifying the Twinkletoes pattern from knitty.com


Biscuits for her pups.


Hand carved stamp.


Apple Cozy





Mini Stocking Ornament


Drawing of her hubby's vintage VW.


And, of course, the stocking. I sort of made up the pattern from a hodgepodge of sock patterns, stocking patterns and color patterns.

Matt's Mitts

Here's my latest FO:

Details:
Pattern: Matt's Mitts - my own design! (With a bit of inspiration from Elizabeth Zimmerman and Kitty's Broadstreet Mittens)
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss (70% Merino Wool, 30% Silk), Black and Dusk
Needles: US size 3 DPNs and US size 2 DPNs

For Christmas I promised Matt a pair of gloves and I just finished these today - just in time for summer. Well, at least his hands will be toasty next winter.




He asked for a pair of convertible mitts, so I looked around for patterns that would suit his tastes. But most of the "glittens" that I found either lacked half fingers on the inside, or look like the pop top was an after thought. To try to make the mitten top appear more streamlined and integrated, I made the whole outer-part in one piece (with a giant button hole for the opening) and added the black finger portion afterwards.



There's still a little bit of a bump - from the difference in thickness there - but I think it's not too noticeable.