Tuesday 28 December 2010

My Christmas presents :)

Hi everyone,

As promised here is pics of all my new stuff I got for Christmas:

I got loads of great crafty books, Including knitting Mochimochi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( Ive wanted this for ages) which has some beautiful patterns and is a really inspiring book! I also cant wait to start on many of the other projects in the other books too.


My very generous friend got me this cute little knitting kit which I'm going to start in January after I finish some of my Wip's. ( I have loooooootttttss of Wip's!)


I also got an brand new LAPTOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which I blogged this post from :) Its fantastic to have my very own one  instead of sharing as now I have somewhere to store and type all my patterns (and I can keep it in my room :)




My parents got me a stitch a day calendar which I am THRILLED with as now everyday I can wake up to a different stitch and be inspired to create something marvellous.


They also got me the needle felting kit which was on my list so I will be probably be posting in the near future to show you my felted creations. I'm very excited to try and see what I can make, I think I'm going to try felted beads first......


My Aunty and Uncle got me some really great stuff including this yarn and set of needles which I will be using to make cases for my laptop and...............


........... MY NEW CAMERA which I got on boxing day (as my boxing day present.) I used it to take all of the pictures in this post and I absolutely love it as it is so simple to use and takes great pics!


 My little bro got me these cute handmade felt badges. I have a little collection of handmade/felt/knitted brooches and these fitted in perfectly :)


Well that's most of my gifts, I couldn't post them all as I had over 30 (!) and some of them were chocolate and I've eaten them! I hope everyone else had a good Christmas :)


In other news I made this licorice allsort necklace:


I think its really cool! The licorice allsort patterns are from a Jean Greenhowe book and I attached the necklace part and sewed them together to make them into a quirky accessory :3


I wore it to the darts today. Sadly I wasn't caught on camera so it didn't get shown on T.V :(

ahhhhh well at least I can show my creation  to everyone on my blog :0)

See you all very very soon........

ByE bYe xx

Monday 27 December 2010

Scarflette giveaway and interview with designer!

Hi guys :)

As part of her blog tour Vanessa Ruesch is visiting In it to knit it!

She is the designer of this beautiful scarflette and is giving away 5 emailable copies of the pattern! (Details of how to enter will be at the bottom of this post.)



(Images copyright to Vanessa Ruesch)


I asked her some questions about knitting and craft and also her love of music,

I read on your blog that you love music, does that ever inspire your crafting?


 Music inspires everything I do. Then again crafting does the exact same. I find that I lean more towards projects that have something musical to them. I don’t always make them, but I have plenty of projects that have music notes on them. One huge project that I did (which was not knitting or crochet) was an analysis project on Symphony No. 101 in D major, Minuet and Trio by Joseph Haydn. http://dreamknitter.blogspot.com/2009/11/so-i-had-this-music-analysis-project.html
It took way too many hours, but I got an A on it, and I loved working on it. I had never really done any type of cross stitch before, so I learned alot!



What is your favourite ever pattern that you have created?

I make up a ton of patterns, mostly off of what I see online or out in public. I don’t write them down because I am usually too preoccupied with school… I plan to write up some shawl and hat patterns this winter break, and throughout the next semester. (I will be attending a knitting club in Casey, Illinois during my student teaching, so I will have that time free!!!) My fav pattern that I actually wrote down is my Everyday Scarflette. I feel like it is a good beginning pattern for those who want to actually learn the basics of knitting shawls!

Ohhh I want to enter the giveaway now! :/


Who are your knitting/crochet/crafting inspirations?

My biggest inspiration is my grandma and father. My dad taught me how to crochet when I was 7 or 8, and I hated it. But after he kept pushing me I actually got pretty good. Whenever I would fly out to my grandmas in NJ we would sit and crochet. I loved those times. She passed away a few years ago and every project I make I keep thinking of how proud she would be of me that I kept going with crafting. I miss her!



What is your favourite part about knitting/crochet?

My favorite part about crafting in general, is trying something new. I started knitting lace hard core this past year, it was something I was always afraid of. Not difficult at all! I started with cross stitch, something new to me. I try to outdo myself every project. I want to make the projects that make people say “wow”. Same with quilting, sewing, and making jewelry.



When you see a yarn shop what is your reaction?

When I see a yarn shop… I go inside. I text my boyfriend. He tells me not to spend to much money. So then I empty my bank account. This is why I do not keep much money in my debit account, so I do not spend my life savings. Which i totally would…..

ahhahaah wouldnt we all......................................



What other crafts do you enjoy?

I enjoy quilting, sewing, cross stitch, cooking, baking, crochet, knitting, beadwork (jewelry), and I used to think I was really great at drawing…



What do you hope to achieve in the future, knitting/crochet wise?

My long term goal in life when it comes to knitting and crocheting is to retire from teaching middle and high school band, so that I can open a yarn store. This is seriously something I have wanted to do since I was 12. I also want to make my crafting into a business. I do sell a bunch of the stuff I make, but I would love to make a living out of it!

Sounds lovely , Ill come visit in the future!



Which is better chocolate pudding or toffee pudding?

Can I get a mix of the two? That would be awesome!


To see more of Vanessa's design and check out other  items she has for sale such as cute stich markers you can visit her etsy shop or her blog :)

Blog: http://dreamknitter.blogspot.com/
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102


For your chance to win a copy of the pattern and kick off your new year knitting all you have to do is send an email containing your name to iitki@hotmail.co.uk  with the subject 'Scarf giveaway'

Entries will close on the 3rd of January and winners will be announced on the same day!

I would just like to say thanks to Vanessa for visiting In it to knit it and also for this greeeeaaaatttt giveaway :D

Good luck everyone!

Bye xxxx

Ps. If you are interested in touring to In it to knit it or would like me to tour to your blog (Yes please!!!! I promise I wont make a mess :) please email me: iitki@hotmail.co.uk with the subject 'Blog tours'!

Pps. I will eb posting pictures shortly of the amazing christmas presents I got, hope everyone had an awesome day :)

Talk soon...........................


Saturday 25 December 2010

Yuletide felicitations!!!!!..............

........(Aahahahaa :0) for anyone who doesn't understand, the title means MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!

Yes we FINALLYYYYYY made it to the 25th of december, the special day, the big one, the main man.... (you get the point! ;)

I hope everyone is having a very merry christmas! I will be posting soon about all the amazing presents I recieved. Got to go now, theres presents to be opened and christmas dinner will be ready soon!

bye xx

Monday 20 December 2010

Presents, presents and ooohhh more presents :)

welcome everyone to my bloggy home!

Last week I was girl on a mission, a knitting misson. I had to make sure all of my friends christmas presents were finshed  and get them all wrappped up in time for the next day....... My room was like santas grotto and I felt like an overworked elf! I apologie for the quality of some of the pictures about to follow but it was late and the light in my room was not good.

Firstly this was the donut I made for my friend :) Its the one her sisters turtle was sitting in in the pic I posted earlier. Its made from a Jean greenhowe pattern and then I added sprinkles.


The turtle I made can also be seen in the pic I posted earlier. She said she wanted a turtle with a moustache so with her turtle I gave her a tiny turtle accessory pack with a little moustache and harpeiece that fitted the tiny turtle. She didnt put her present down ALL day! :)


This is another thing made from a Jrean greenhowe pattern (jiffyknits) my friend said she liked rabbits and purple so this was created.............



My other firend said that she liked chocolate cake and cherries! the pattern was from Lets get crafting magazine, I spent a whole morning making it for her, she is saving it till xmas so she hasnt opened it yet, i hope she likes it!!!!!!! :-S


VAMPIRE BUNNY/BAT STRIKES AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! muhhahahahahahhaaha the friend I gave the basket of sweets and the bat for his birthday wnated a blue vampire bunny so I whipped up one of them for him, its sooooo cute:


I really did never know I had soooooo many friends :D

I created this cupcake pattern for a friend who was begging me and kept reminding me to make her a cupcake for christmas and it HAD to be pink! hehhehe she loooooovvvveedddd it <3 she carried it round all day!


Q.what do you make someone who likes hippos, purple and has a favourite purple scarf  A. a purple hippo wearning a purple scarf!:


Only a few more prezzies left to go......... Now you can see why I said OVERWORKED!!!

I just made this for someone for fun he made me laugh and I couldnt resist! My friend wanted something blue and shes quite random so.......


Whats that coming over the hill is it a MONSTER!!!, yes it is :P

I made my baby cousin a present too...


Shes really cute!!! I hope she likes my presents I made her with love!

AFTER ALLL THAT a teacher at my school had seen the presents I made all my amigos she wanted something of her own, so I got to work and created this.....


a little christmas pud!

fewwwwww Im shattered just thinking about all the knitting and crocheting but it was very fun!

Today my swap parcel from the cute and quirky swap group i set up arrived oohhh I just love everything in it!!!!

THANKYOU TO MY LOVELY PARTNER!!!

after that long post I think its nearly time for bed... I think I might have a bit of choccy before bed though heheheh mmmmmm yummy! and I have to knit more of tipsy turkey too :)

See you later

Bye xx

Friday 17 December 2010

Raindeers, who really is the most famous of them all????

Hola everyone!

Remember with your giveaway entry I told you to give the name of the raindeer, well here are the tallys of the number of votes per raindeer and suprisingly rudolph was not the most popular one (despite the song).

Comet - 3
Vixen - 2
Prancer - 2
Dancer - 2
Dasher - 4
Rudolph - 3
Vixen - 1
Donner - 2

But the winner with 6 votes is BLITZEN!!!!!!!! hahah I was laughing very hard as one of the entries said that he was a bit 'under rated' then he won!!!!!!! :)  Well done blitzen!


I found this on the web and I think that buy the sounds of it blitzen was the most worthy winner for a crafty giveaway/blog!!!!

I will be posting soon with all the pics of my friends presents, see you soon byeeeeeeeeeeeeee xxxx

p.s its blitzen a boy or girl im confuzzled??????? :) I always thought blitzen was a boy but apparently blitzens a girl, ahhh well you learn something everyday!

Wednesday 15 December 2010

And the winner is.............................

Its time for the results of the christmas giveaway :) Its them moment youve all been wating for ................................ and the winner is........... KRISSY ALLACHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations Krissy you are the winner of the christmas choclates,buttons and needles! An email has been sent to you telling you what you need to do :)

(winner generated by random number generator at http://www.random.org/)

Dont be sad if you didnt win there will be loads more chances to win something coming very soon (and lots of other cool stuff too!)

Congratulations again!

See you soon, byeeeeeeeeeeee xxx

Entries now closed!

Just a quick nte to say that entries for the christmas giveaway are now closed. The winner will be announced later today :)

see you soon!

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Don't eat it all at once!

Yola!

This is just a quick blog post to show you a pic mysome of my friends sent me after they got their christmas presents today :) I will be doing a longer post with pictures of all the yarnie presents I made all of them but I reallly wanted to show you all this!


Awww so cute! my friend loved her turtle sooo much, I never knew one small turtle could bring so much joy! (she named it Fred!) and her sister loved the donut too :)

He looks so happy in there, well its everyones dream to be sitting in a giant donut (.... no? Just me then :)

Blog again soon,

Bye!

P.s dont forget to enter the giveaway, not long left now!

Saturday 11 December 2010

Quick n easy christmas tree decoration!

Hello everybody!

Ive been working verrrryy hard recently trying to finish all the knitted and crocheted christmas presents for freinds and family :) Im nearly there but then I started another project........... ( I cant help myself!) My familys having a dinner party today and wnated to make something each for the guests. I needed something quick easy and christmas themed and so was born the QUICK N EASY CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATION (hahaha pretty much what it says on the tin!)





Im giving away this pattern free as another christmas gift to all my lovely readers, hope you like it!

Each christmas tree takes under half an hour each so you can make a bunch in no time :)

Abbreviations:
  • Gst = Garter stitch (knit all rows)
  • K2tog = Knit 2 stitches together
  • Inc = Increase
  • st/ sts= stitch/ stitches

You will need:
  • 1 pair of 4.00mm knitting needles
  • DK yarn, in any colour (for tree)
  • Glue (to stick on tree decorations)
  • Sequins/glitter shapes (to decorate tree)
  • You can add any other decorations to tree or just leave them blank, whatever you feel like!
To make:

  • Using 4.00mm knitting needles and DK yarn cast on 16sts
  • Gst 3 rows
  • *K2tog, k to end, K2tog (14sts)
  • Gst 2 rows*
  • Repeat from * to * until 8sts remain
  • Inc 2sts at each end of next row (12sts)
  • Gst 2 rows
  • Repeat from * to * until 6sts remain
  • Inc 2sts at each end of next row (10sts)
  • Gst 2 rows
  • Repeat from *to* until 4sts remain
  • K2tog twice (2sts)
  • Gst 2 rows
  • K2tog (1st)
  • Fasten off and cut leaving long thread (for loop to hang)
To Finish:

Darn in cast on thread length. sew length of thread at top of tree into a lopp for hanging and decorate however you want! (I used glue and sequins!)

Enjoy!



tis' the season to be jolly falalalalalalalala.....................................................................

DONT FORGET TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!!!! CLOSES ON 15TH DEC DONT MISS OUT! :)

Sunday 5 December 2010

Snowman finger puppet: free pattern :)

Hi everyone,

I have been feeling very christmassy and found this pattern I wrote a while ago and thought what the hey! its the festive season why not give you all a treat :0) Here is the pattern for these little guys!! :



Make loads of them with different coloured scarves to get you in the festive mood :D
Awww I think they are soo cute!

(I call them freddy and eddy.)

You will need:
  • 3 1/4 mm needles
  • 3mm crochet hook
  • White DK yarn
  • Black DK yarn
  • and oddment of orange yarn for carrot nose
  • and another odment of coloured wool for the scarf :)
  • a tiny bit of stuffing for the head
  • an embroidery needle!

stst: stocking stitch
sts: stitches
k2tog: knit two stitches together
ch: chain

Snowman:

With white yarn and 3 1/4mm needles cast on 14 sts

stst 23 rows

change to black and stst 3 rows (for hat)

last row: k2tog across row (7sts)

cut long piece of yarn and thread through all 7 sts on needle, draw up and fasten off.

Scarf:

Using 3.00mm hook ch 25. fasten off

To make up:

Snowman:

Sew around 1.5cm down back of snowman (down from  head) and thread yarn all the way around neck, stuff  and draw up and fasten, do not cut yarn, continue to seam the rest of the back of snowman. Embroider features as seen in picture.

Scarf:

Thread pieces of same coloured yarn through ends of scarf tie then cut short to create tassel effect.tie round neck, done.

Congratulations you are now the proud owner of your own little eddy (or freddy :)

You can put small sweets in the end and use them as place settings or sew a loop to thier head, stuff and sew  body and hang them on your tree!

Enjoy, and think ITS CHRISSSSSSTTTTMMMMMAAAAASSSSSSSSS! (hahaa)

Bye!

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Christmas giveaway!

Hello all faithful readers,

As it is the special festive season I thought I would do a special christmas giveaway just to kick start the celebrations!

 
Here is what you could win!!!!


  • A set of  'upcycled' christmas handpainted  knitting needles (long story short; old, abandoned needles that I bought and painted to make better than new! :)
  • Some hand made christmas pudding buttons (also hand made by me!)
  • And some yummy chocolate tree decorations :P
Here is a close up of the needles:


They even have a little red gem on top that will glint in ight of your fairy lights!

Here are the buttons:


AND THE CHOCOLATES!!!!!!



For your chance to win all these prizes all you need to do is send an email to : iitki@hotmail.co.uk
including your name and the name of one of santas raindeer! (I added the last bit for fun :)

The giveaway will close on the 15th of December and the winner will be announced then as well.

Hope you enjoy the giveaway and good luck!

See you soon :D

P.s The giveaway is open to anyone, any age, who lives anywhere.