In Case of a Knitting Emergency

 It's a well known fact that I knit everywhere I can.  On the bus, at work, in the movies.  Everywhere.  I keep it all organized into a bag to make sure I have everything.  This means I always have the bag on me, in case of  any knitting apocalypse.  It contains a pouch for little accessories, any current projects I'm working on, and my notebook.

You can never have too many accessories.  My pouch is literally splitting at the seams right now.  It'll be time for a new one soon.  Inside you can currently find:

- Scissors

- Measuring tape

- A pencil

- Needle sizing gauge

- Stitch holders

- Stitch markers

- A container of tapestry and sewing needles

My notebook is pretty cool.  I like showing it to everyone, even if you've never touched a pair of needles. Inside I keep all my designs for patterns I'm working on.  Some pages look like absolute code to the untrained eye!

When I am designing a new pattern I start by sketching it out.  I take my measurements for sizing (desired length of item, gauge, etc)  and write them down.  Then I keep track of the pattern as I make it.  Here's the starting of my Adipose.

You can also find various charts in my notebook.  This is one of the early charts I had for the batty wristband.

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So Much Knit!

I feel like I'm going a little knit-crazy.  Which I'll admit, some of you think I've been knit-crazy for years.  When most people are standing around thinking about nothing (presumably) thoughts of designs and new ideas for charts, or cables are floating though my head.  I carry a bag of knitting and knitting accessories everywhere I go.  There is no place that can stop me from working on a project.  Not even movie theatres!     I think the best was all the looks I received St. Patrick's Day when I was knitting in the bar.  Yep, definitely gone crazy.

All sanity aside there have been great strides in the Not Your Grandmother's Knitting world.

If you haven't already, please take a look at my etsy store.  New items are getting updated and I've been adding more options to create custom items.  I'm making a pair of Depeche mode fingerless gloves for my friend, knitted a skullkerchief in Rastafarian colours, perfected the double-knit batman wristband, even a few pairs of leg warmers.  I'm always open to knew ideas for things to knit.  If you have any requests for items, send me a message and I'll see what I can do.

You can also like me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NotYourGrandmothersKnitting.  That way you'll receive notifications when new blog posts are up.  I also post some pretty cool photos on there.

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Scott Pilgrim Hat

I recently spent some time in Toronto, and decided to make a Scott Pilgrim hat.

Scott Pilgrim is a series of graphic novels that were turned into a movie.  It was written by artist Bryan Lee O'Malley, and filmed in Toronto.  The basic plot is the main character, Scott Pilgrim, falls in love with a girl named Ramona Flowers.  To be with her, Scott must defeat the Leauge of Ramona's seven evil exes.  This is done with a great amount of video game flair.  In the movie Scott and Ramona are portrayed by Micheal Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.  

The design of this hat is actually really unique.  It is knit in alternating colours, with the contrasting colour worked in purl stitch. This gives it a ribbed effect.   The style of hat is long and tapered.  The coolest part is a button is added in the middle and the tail end is curled up.  This gives the effect of a snail shell and looks awesome!

The finished product looks fantastic!  The colour scheme was dead on to the one in the movie.  It is also the warmest, comfiest hat I've ever made.  I will definitely be making more of these in the future!

Pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/scott-pilgrim-stocking-hat-snail-hat

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Adipose

I've realized that I'm at a point in my knitting where I can imagine something, and then create it.  I was sitting down one day thinking about how to make an Adipose.  After a bit of thought I was able to work out a pattern.

The Adipose is an alien creature from Doctor Who, featured in the episode "Partners In Crime".  The episode stars the tenth Doctor, David Tennant, and his companion, Donna Noble.  Adipose are adorable hand-sized marshmallow-shaped beings, composed almost entirely of fat. An adipose tissue is a fat cell, so its quite an appropriate name.  

I knew I was going to stuff and sew it, so I had to plan that out first.  I decided to knit one long piece as the body, and then make smaller pieces for the limbs.  I sewed up the sides and the bottom when I sewed on the hands.  That way my seam would not be showing at the top of its head.  

I used a series of I-cords for the fingers and toes, with the thumb started earlier in my rows.  I made the legs a little bit longer and changed the angle of the thumb so it was a big toe.

I added some black yarn embroidered as a face, then stuffed it, and sewed it closed.

I'm very happy with how it turned out.  I wrote down the pattern, so you can expect to see a few more adipose running around.  

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Batty Wristband

Nananananananananana BATMAN!  Now in wristband format.  

Batman is a masked vigilante from the DC comic universe.  Originally introduced in the 1940's, he is one of the oldest comic book heroes.   Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire playboy who witnessed his parent's murder as a child.  This transformed his life forever, with an oath to bring justice to the criminals of Gotham City.  



This is my attempt at learning how to make and apply charts.  Charts are used all the time for designing knitting patterns.  The tricky part of it is that the stitches are not perfect squares.  This means your pattern will look distorted when using normal graph paper.  There are a number of chart makers available online, and I've included some links at the bottom of the post.



I made a few different charts for this pattern.  The first chart looked good on paper, but was much too large once knit.  As you can see here.

So I reworked the pattern and made the logo a little smaller.  I am much happier with the results.

The Batman logo is 25 squares x 20 squares.  It measures 3" x 1.5" unstretched when knit. The chart is available here for free.

My next step will be to complete logos for the rest of the justice league.  

Chart makers: http://jacquie.typepad.com/Charts/knitChart.htm

                        http://chartgen.orangellous.com/

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