Episode 4: A Long Overdue Update

Episode 4: A Long Over Due Update

You can find me on:
Ravelry: Humerusknits
Instagram: april.k.smith

Finished Objects: 

Socks for Dad (August 3, 2016)
Pattern: Easy Peasy Socks for First Timers by Stacy Trock
Yarn: Lion Brand Heartland
Coloway: King's Canyon

Michelle's Coasters (August 21, 2016)
Pattern: Noro Mitered Coaster by Ratchadwan Chambers
Yarn: Premier Yarns Isaac Mizrahi Sutton
Colorway: Amsterdam 

Works in Progress: 

Franchesca Hat
Pattern: Franchesca Hat by April Smith
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Rios
Colorway: Purpuras

Brambles Beret (April 3, 2016)
Pattern: Brambles Beret by Amanda Muscha
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Solids, Heathers and Twists
Colorway: Black

Delphine
Pattern: Delphine by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport
Colorway: Green Apple

Iona
Pattern: Iona by Heather Dixon
Yarn: Elann Lara
Colorway: Natural

Sporty Ribbed Gloves #2
Pattern: Sporty Ribbed Gloves by April Smith
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft
Colorways: Grey Heathered and Country Blue
Yarn: Loops and Threads Soft and Shiny Solids
Colorway; Green?

Ann's Go To Socks
Pattern: Ann's Go To Socks by Ann Budd
Yarn: Loops and Threads Woolike
Colorway: Mauve

Emilien
Pattern: Emilien by Ariane Caron-Lacoste
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted
Colorway: Wallaby

Kitchen Towel
Pattern: Red Chili Pepper Kitchen Towel by Janet Carlow
Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream Solids and Denim
Colorway: Jute

Stash Additions:

Cascade Yarns Venezia Sport
Colorway: 160 Ginger
Yards In: 614

Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima
Colorway: 3740 Sprout
Yards In: 220

Cascade 220 Superwash Worsted
Colorway: 900 Charcoal
Yards In: 220

Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solids, Heathers, and Twists
Colorway: Mustard
Yards In: 788

Premier Yarns Isaac Mizrahi Craft Sutton
Colorway: Amsterdam
Yards In: 68

Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport
Colorway: Golden Heather
Yards In: 328

Big Twist Yarns Chunky
Colorway: Black
Yards In: 195

Total Yards In: 2,443 yards

Sewing Projects Complete: 

Small Drawstring Bag

Large Drawstring Bag

Simplicity 1589 Top

Simplicity 1363 Top

Up Next: 

New Look 6217

Oven Mitts

Pot Holders

Episode 3!

Episode 3 of my podcast is up and running!

You can find me on:
Ravelry: Humerusknits
Instagram: april.k.smith

Finished Objects: 

Candence Socks (February 6, 2016)
Pattern: Cadence Socks by verybusymonkey
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll
Colorway: Cork

Berry Baby Hat (February 10, 2016)
Pattern: Berry Baby Hat by Michele Sabatier
Yarn: Jo- Ann Sensations Cuddle
Colorway: Pink
Yarn: Elann Sonata Soft
Colorway: 5382 Green

Cromarty (March 30, 2016)
Pattern: Cromarty by Heather Dixon
Yarn: Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport
Colorway: Golden Heather

Brambles Beret (April 3, 2016)
Pattern: Brambles Beret by Amanda Muscha
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
Colorway: Amber

Skully Cowl (April 13, 2016)
Pattern: Ossuary Chart by Kristi Hallamaa/ own cowl pattern
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft
Colorways: Black and White

Red and Black Mitts (May 10, 2016)
Pattern: Sporty Ribbed Gloves by April Smith
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft
Colorway: Black
Yarn: Bernat Satin?
Colorway: Red?

Works in Progress: 

Iona
Pattern: Iona by Heather Dixon
Yarn: Elann Lara
Colorway: Natural

Sporty Ribbed Gloves #2
Pattern: Sporty Ribbed Gloves by April Smith
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft
Colorways: Grey Heathered and Country Blue
Yarn: Loops and Threads Soft and Shiny Solids
Colorway; Green?

Ann's Go To Socks
Pattern: Ann's Go To Socks by Ann Budd
Yarn: Loops and Threads Woolike
Colorway: Mauve

Emilien
Pattern: Emilien by Ariane Caron-Lacoste
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted
Colorway: Wallaby

Kitchen Towel
Pattern: Red Chili Pepper Kitchen Towel by Janet Carlow
Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream Solids and Denim
Colorway: Jute

Casting on SOON: 

Socks for Dad
Pattern: Easy Peasy Socks for First Timers by Stacy Trock
Yarn: Lion Brand Heartland
Coloway: King's Canyon

Stash Additions: 

Knit Picks Hand Painted Stroll
Colorway: Make Believe
Yards In: 462

Premier Yarns Isaac Mizrahi Broadway
Colorways: Various
Yards In: 1,968

Premier Yarns Isaac Mizrahi Central Park
Colorways: Various
Yards In: 165

Premier Yarns Isaac Mizrahi Skyscraper
Colorways: Various
Yards In: 830

Lily Sugar'n Cream Solid and Denim
Colorways: Red
Yards In: 120

Lion Brand Woolspun
Colorways: Various
Yards In: 762

Total Yards In:
4,307

2015 Year in Review

So, this year was definitely a knitting year. I managed to finish:

17 hats
7 scarves/cowls
2 blankets
1 rug
2 cardigans/sweaters
1 pair of socks
1 dishcloth
2 gloves
1 cami (technically, I made 3 of these, but only one was actually right!)
1 shawl

with a total of 10,772.5 yards knitted!

My stash also grew A WHOLE LOT this year, mainly because of getting some hand-me-down yarn from my aunt, along with just buying a bunch more than I usually do. Yesterday, I brought home my last yarn haul for the year - 4,846 yards of acrylic/cotton yarn from Michaels that were on sale. I was really excited about getting some more Lion Brand Heartland:



This stuff is REALLY nice for acrylic yarn -- and really beautiful colors too! I bought 4 skeins of it!

I also got some really inexpensive fingering weight yarn for making more socks:



I also bought some Lily Sugar and Cream  yarn to see how they compared to Knit Picks Dishie. In my house, we really need a few more kitchen cloths and potholders, so I'll probably be making a few of those in the future. The rest of the yarn I got was for a charity project I'm planning on doing for the Annual Meeting for the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. A nice skully - themed cowl using the Ossuary Chart!

Also, my mom got me a $75 Knit Picks gift card, and so I'm waiting on yet another large package of yarn! I got enough yarn for a bulky weight sweater, some socks, some dishcloths, and a pair of gloves! So, first thing for the new year -- go on a yarn diet, or really, a buying anything diet.

Also, here are a few more goals for next year:

1. Start a podcast - Obviously I'm not really great at writing on a blog, and considering how visual knitting is for those who are interested, making a video diary to share would probably simplify the process. Maybe.

2. Etsy - this will happen this year!

3. Socks - make more socks, a lot more! Goal: 5 pairs

4. Sweaters/Cardigans - I have lots of yarn I've already designated for sweaters and cardigans, so lets try to make 3 this year, minimum!

5. Stashdown - I signed up this quarter for the stashdown challenge, and failed miserably -- like 7,000 + yards miserably, so my goal for 2016 will be to end up with a negative yardage balance for the year. Also, I'll track my yardage in, yardage out, and how much I'm paying for crafting stuff, becuase I would really like to know what I'm spending on this! That can't be that hard, can it???

Happy New Year, everybody!

So, I've decided...

I hate this color.

Baby blue. Dull baby blue. And I have 11 skeins of this.

So, what is a girl to do?

Dye this crap. Dyyyyeeee it.

So, into the pot it went. I decided to try my hand at kettle dying, since literally anything would be an improvement upon this color. Anything. My test swatch came out this beautiful royal-purple color: 

But the final product (with Kroger brand food coloring), came out a little bit lighter and more variegated: 

I love it! This is such an improvement. It is now in my queue to be made into a beautiful henley-type shirt. Now to get to swatching....

Yarn porn

Earlier this year, my aunt sent me an e-mail telling me that her mother, who is sadly in hospice, has decided to relinquish her stash to anyone who is willing to take it. She told me that if I wanted anything, I should come get it. So, on my way to visit my parents, I stopped by my aunt and uncles place to have a look.

I left with six bags. SIX.

And no, I didn't take everything. There was still more left. SO much more. But six bags is still a lot.
I mean, it is beautiful, isn't it?

There was Italian yarn...

And Noro....freakin' Noro...

Maybe I won't buy anymore yarn... for a few months...maybe

Busy, but still knitting (sometimes)...

So, since beginning the PhD program that was the impetus for moving to Athens in the first place, life has been really, really busy. In the two years, I've survived my core classes, traveled to Italy for six weeks, survived yet another, even more disturbing year of school, and now I've just returned from two months in Italy. So, since blogging has not been a remotely high priority for me, I'm just going to review some of the things I have finished in the past two years (I can't believe its been TWO years!). Most of what I work on now are small projects, but I did manage to finish a large, beautiful lace shawl for my mom's birthday before the madness took me:

Japanese Waves

I'll be honest, I did not really enjoy knitting this, but I think that's because I knit combination style. Combination style is great for knitting quickly, but unfortunately knitting a flat piece means that all of your knit stitches will be facing the wrong way. Sooo.. knitting lace is a little difficult. Maybe one day I will learn how to knit continental style...

Nevertheless, I love how this turned out.. so beautiful! And my mom LOVED it!

 I've also finished making a Dragon Scarf for my aunt:

And multiple hats and scarves, usually as gifts for others.

In grad school, I have found that small projects are awesome because they don't usually take up much time. Time is precious now, so very precious...

Like Copper!

Codex Costume Done!... (last October)

Though I have not had much time at all to blog, I have made some progress on a few projects while I was working on my first year in the PhD program. Oh, and I'm officially a 2nd year student! Huzzah!

I'm most excited about getting the Codex costume done, especially since it is my first 'true' corset project. I want to do a tutorial-esque post, so I'll go over each of the parts and how I made them.

The Cuffs:

The cuffs were the first and easiest parts to make. To make these, I just made a template out of paper by wrapping it around my forearm and cutting the paper into the desired shape. I then used the template to make the cuffs out of craft foam, added a layer of sheer white fabric, and trimmed in gold bias tape. I then added the grommets, which was greatly helped by using the handy-dandy tool below:

I found this tool at Walmart -- the only place I found that sold bronze grommets instead of brassy-gold ones. (I am not a habitual shopper of Walmart, only when there are no other options.) This was the first part of the costume that I completed, and I love them!

The Skirt: 

The skirt was the second-easiest part to make, if you know what you are doing. The first time I tried, I obviously did not have a clue! My first attempt at the skirt involved trying to make a tube for a draw string using a circle skirt pattern. Um, yeah -- that didn't work out so well. I managed sew the tube onto the skirt with the wrong side facing out, and then had issues figuring out how to make the drawstring work -- it was a mess!

Anyways, I finally broke down and followed this tutorial. I used a solid white satin fabric with a sheer white overlay. 

Once the fabric was cut, all that needed to be done is to make an appropriate-sized elastic waistband, and sew the skirt layers to the waistband. Finishing was a little harder since I had to learn to use a hemmer foot, but I think it ended up looking pretty good for my first time. 

The Necklace: 

The necklace was completely made of craft foam and flat-backed rhinestones. I painted the craft foam using gold model spray paint I bought from Michael's (like, the kind for painting plastic models). The best tutorial to explain how to paint craft foam can be found here. Essentially, I had to add a layer of watered-down glue to the craft foam pieces before spraying them with the model spray paint. Once they were dry, I just glued them together with superglue and added the rhinestones. Though this worked for the Halloween, I will probably add some kind of tie in the back since the necklace came off when I was taking my friend's daughter out to go trick-or-treating. 

The Headband: 

I really got lucky and found some awesome headbands that would work perfect for this outfit at Walmart (yes, again, I know, but they were the only place that carried them! I swear!). Essentially, I only had to spray the plastic headband with the same gold spray paint as the necklace and add flat-backed rhinestones to finish the headpiece. This is definitely my favorite part of this costume.. I wonder if I could wear this to school and not look completely insane?

The Knee Pads: 

The knee pads ended up being much less work than I thought they would be. The first time I tried making them, I made them much smaller than I should have. Knowing this, the second time around ended up much better. For the front part, I used red corduroy and some metallic fabric from Joann's, sewing the gold part on the bottom, and then making a duplicate shaped fabric piece for the back using some scrap fabric. Then I made some red corduroy elastic casings at about twice then length of the elastic pieces. Then I just sandwiched the right side of the front and the right side of the back together, and placed the elastic pieces and casing in between these two layers such that the seam on the casing would be against the right side of the back fabric. I just sewed a half-circle around, and had planned to finish the top by slip-stitching the fabric together, but I ran out of time by that point. Just another thing to work on before next year, I suppose!

The Top: 

Oh, the top was sort of a nightmare, but ended up looking pretty good. I took an old white tank top for the base of the shirt, cut some of the satin fabric I used for the skirt to cover the chest, and overlaid that with the sheer white fabric from the skirt like so: 

I sewed around that, placed it so gingerly on the tank top, and cut out the parts that were not needed from the tank top. For the shoulder pads, I used craft foam cut into triangles and sewed onto the tank top:

After these pieces were sewn on to the tank top, I trimmed the whole thing (very, very poorly) in gold trim, and added red jewels for finishing. Voila: 

Not terrible, but much improvement is needed; Such as properly sewing on the gold bias tape as demonstrated here. But, all in all, I got to be codex for Halloween, so I'm happy: