Halloween Crochet Project

I know, this is a knitting blog and here I am sharing my crochet project with you all. I think it is a really cool crochet project though and some of the things about it can be transferred to a knitting project! Okay, now onto the post!

I participated in the Freshstitche Halloween CAL (Crochet-A-Long). Here is the link to her blog post about it: It's a Halloween CAL! For the CAL you could make any Freshstitches pattern, but make it Halloween themed!  Since I  currently don't have the budget to purchase patterns, I decided to make one of her wonderful free patterns! The pattern I decided to make for is Howie the Holiday Penguin pattern. The pattern is for an adorable penguin and a Santa hat for the penguin. I knew I was going to need to change somethings to make Howie a Halloween penguin.

The first thing I did to make him more Halloween themed is I went with a different color scheme. Instead of using normal penguin colors, I used purple for the body, black for the belly, and a cream/tan color for the nose and feet. I didn't use orange or yellow nose and feet because I didn't have any orange or yellow yarn. Once I decided on the colors, I crocheted him. He was really quick to make!

I decided he wasn't Halloween themed enough. So, I made him a wizard hat and a broom! I made the  wizard hat so it could come off easily and stay on easily.

I made loops to go under his wings to keep the hat on his head.

I made him his broom and I wanted to find a way to make it look like he was holding it. Then I realized the loops could keep the broom in place as well as the hat!

I placed the broom through one of the loops and twisted it around. 

Then he was finished!! I am really happy with how he turned out! I named him Wizard Penguin! It is not the most creative name I have thought of, but I can always change it later :)

Happy knitting (or crocheting) adventures!

The Adventure of Pandle and the Lacy Keyhole Scarf

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I shared with you my knitting adventures. I haven't had many since school started, but the ones that I have had have been epic! I think they have been epic at least :) The first adventure was making the Lacy Keyhole Scarf. Then my even more daring adventure: making Pandle (A.K.A Pan). Okay, they weren't that dramatic, but we can pretend they were!

Making the Lacy Keyhole Scarf

This adventure started out when I was on Ravelry looking through the forums and I saw someone had posted that Craftsy was giving away free classes for people who had never taken a Craftsy class before. For everyone who may not know, Craftsy is a website where you can take online classes. The classes are videos, and there is a place for you to ask questions and the instructors will answer them. It is really great! I got this class called Knit Lab. It was really great!
When you get the class you also get patterns that go with the class. The class had step-by-step videos on how to knit the scarf! Whenever I had some difficulty I could just go to the video for the part I was on and it would teach me what to do!! I did not have a lot of trouble with the project and I learned a lot from the class!

Here is a picture of the lacy part of the scarf. The picture was taken before I finished the scarf and before I weaved in the ends. The color showed up pretty well in this picture too.

Below is a picture of the scarf when it was finished!

Making Pandle (A.K.A Pan)

Making Pandle was a great adventure! I used the Maddox the Mischievous Monster pattern to make Pandle. The pattern is by Rebecca Danger. Here is the link to the pattern on Ravelry: Maddox the Mischievous Monster. Here is the link to the pattern on Rebecca Danger's Etsy shop: Maddox the Mischievous Monster. I would like to say, any problems I had while making Pandle had nothing to do with the pattern. The pattern was great! I am just new at knitting still and make mistakes. :)

I knit Pandle on DPNs (Double Pointed Needles). Instead of making Pandle all one color, I decided to give him a few stripes! I had a very interesting time making the stripes because I had never done stripes in the round before and I wasn't too sure about how to carry the yarn up. I am pretty sure I carried the yarn up incorrectly, but the way I did it worked so I am happy. I had a hard time with my stitch count as well. I kept getting off more or less stitches than I was suppose to have. When I was working some of the plain rounds I just let the stitch count be off until I started decreasing then I tried to get the correct number of stitches (I think I was still off though haha) Next time I make this pattern I will use an actual stitch marker instead of yarn to mark where my end of the round it because I think that was part of my trouble. I will use a row counter next time as well.

I am really happy with how the stitches turned out! I think they are pretty consistent. I am also really happy that there wasn't gaps in the fabric from moving between the DPNs.

At first I wasn't sure if I wanted Pandle to have arms. I finished him and left him without arms for a while to see if I liked him with out arms. The picture below shows the yarn color really well.

The next weekend I decided to give him arms because it just seemed like he needed some :)

I made his arms out of the same color yarn that I used for his stripes. I am really happy with how he turned out!!  I snuggle up and watch Doctor Who with him. He is my Doctor Who watching buddy and I love how he turned out!


What knitting adventure have you finished recently?
Happy Knitting Adventures everyone!!

An Update!

Hello everyone! I am sorry I have not posted in a while. School started and then it seemed like I had no time for anything! I have had a little bit of free time here and there which has allowed me to finish some projects.

Here is a little bit of an update about what I have been up to. School started in August and that takes up most of my time. When I haven't been doing school work I have been crocheting and some knitting. Recently I have started having problems with my left wrist hurting more. The bones in my wrists rub against each other. I had to have surgery on my right wrist for it a little over a year ago. I haven't had any problems with my left wrist hurting until recently. I have discovered that it hurts less when I am knitting than when I crochet so I will be knitting more often. That means of course I will have more knitting adventures to share with you all!

A more positive thing that has absolutely nothing to do with knitting is that I have started watching this show called Doctor Who. I had trouble getting into the first season so I skipped to season 4 and I love it! It is my favorite show now!

Getting back on the topic of knitting and knitting projects, I have finished one or two since my last blog post. I will talk about them in a different post so this one isn't extremely long!

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who follows my blog! I am actually not really sure if anyone follows this blog, but if you do THANK YOU!

Happy knitting adventures everyone! :)

School and Monsters!

Hello everyone! I am sorry it has been a while since my last update. Since then, school has started and I have had hardly enough time to breath (let alone knit or crochet!) Thankfully, it is Saturday and I don't have a lot of homework. "Not a lot of homework" is as close as I get to having no homework. I am happy though because I finally have sometime to sit down and tell you all about my most recent knitting adventure!

I will get the link to the pattern I am talking about out of the way first. Here is the link to the pattern's page on Ravelry: Daphne and Delilah the Momma and Baby Monster. The pattern can also be on the designer's Etsy Shop: Link to the designer's Etsy Shop.

This pattern was a back to school gift from a friend. I really appreciate the gift!!

I received this back to school gift a while ago and I started on a monster right after I received it. This pattern is actually 2 patterns in one. It is for a larger Momma monster that has a pouch/pocket and a little Baby monster that can fit in the Momma's pouch/pocket (the Baby monster doesn't have a pocket). I am still a beginner with double pointed needles and the Momma monster seemed a little bit too much to start with. Instead I started with the Baby monster. In the pattern it mentions using long circular needles, but since my circular needles aren't very long (I think they are 29" circulars) and since my circular needle size is too big, I used my acrylic DPNs, or double-pointed needles, instead. I later looked on the designer's website and she actually makes her patterns so you can use either circular needles or double-pointed needles. I think that is awesome!

I started out with a little bit of difficulty. I made one leg and I thought that you continued working with the same strand of yarn for the other leg. I'm pretty sure you were suppose to cut the yarn and then make the other leg. I ended up with the yarn being carried from the top of one leg to the bottom of the other. Here is a picture showing what I am talking about:

I knitted using 3 double-pointed needles. Two needles were holding the stitches and the other one was my working needle (I think that is the correct terminology)

After I finished knitting the rest of the monster, I tied off the yarn that was carried by accident. Other than that little mess up I think it was really easy! I have not started on the Momma monster yet, but I do have the yarn picked out for her. I am looking forward to attempting knitting stripes in the round. 

I finished the Baby Monster pretty quickly (I worked on it for a few hours spread over a few days) and I would call this knitting adventure a success!! Here is the finished Baby Monster:

What knitting adventure are you working on right now?

Stress, Stress, and More Stress

This week was my first full week of school. It was so stressful. I have had homework everyday this week. Even though it is the weekend, I still have homework! I am hoping that next week I will have less homework and will have sometime to work on and tell you all about my most recent knitting adventure I have started on. I will try to tell you all about my current knitting adventure soon. I can't talk about it right now because I am typing this on my phone and I have too much that I want to share about it and it would take me forever (or at least a very long time) to type all about it on my phone. I just wanted to post a quick update saying Hi! I have been busy and stressed and haven't had very much free time! Hopefully, next week I will be able to share about my adventure!!

Sorry if this post was repetitive.

I hope you all are doing well and all of your knitting adventures are successful! :D

My Waffle Knit Dishcloth Knitting Adventure!

First off, I want to go ahead and post the links to the Waffle Knit Dishcloth pattern. Here is the link to the Waffle Knit Dishcloth pattern on Ravelry. Here is the link to the website where the pattern is: Waffle Knit Dishcloth.

One of the patterns I chose for my Ravellenic Game projects was the Waffle Knit Dishcloth. I am really glad I chose to make this!! I think it helped improve my knitting skills a lot.

You start the project out by making a few rows of garter stitch because the cloth has a garter stitch border. I think I did pretty well on that part. However, I did loose count of how many rows of garter stitch I had, but I think I ended up with the correct number of rows (or close to the correct number of rows.

After you do the few rows of garter stitch you start on the repeating part of the pattern. You just repeat the four rows of the pattern to create the dishcloth. I started out pretty well. I wasn't having too much trouble with the stitches or anything and I didn't even really need to look at the pattern after a few repeats (it is really easy).

Here is a picture of my work after I finished the border rows and started on the repeats.

The pattern directions were readable in the picture so I marked them out. (The link to the pattern is at the beginning of this post)

All was going well until I thought I dropped a stitch. I counted the stitches split between my two needles because I was in the middle of the row. I counted that I was one short so I must have dropped a stitch (more likely I miss counted).  I quickly fixed it (or so I thought) and continued the row. As I reached the end of the row I saw that I had the wrong number of stitches left. Thinking I had just messed up earlier in the row I continued on, until I had the wrong number of stitches left again! I counted my stitches again and realized I had added a stitch somewhere! I think the stitch was added where I had thought I dropped a stitch.

I remember taking this picture around the time I made the mistake. 

If I kept knitting, the entire pattern would continue to be off. I had to get rid of a stitch somewhere. I was already towards the end of the row so I simply knit two stitches together. I once again, had the correct number of stitches on my needles! Luckily, the mistake was towards the beginning. The pattern shifted one stitch on the rest of the dishcloth, but I think it looks alright.

I think I probably could have just frogged back to the row before I added the stitch and all would have been fine, but I don't know how to frog back in knitting yet. The way I fixed it worked well for me this time and I am happy with how it turned out.

I am going to use this for a blanket square instead of a dishcloth. I am very happy with how it turned out!

I think it looks pretty fancy, if I do say so myself :)

Overall I would call this knitting adventure a success!! 

I have started on my other knitting project for the Ravellenic Games, but I am going to start over on it because I want to use different colors :)

I had a really fun time making this and I can't wait to start my next adventure!! 

What knitting adventures are you working on right now?

Knitting Projects for Ravellenic Games

The Olympic and Ravellenic Games start today and I am excited!! The Olympic opening ceremonies start in about one hour and that is when the Ravellenic "Mass Cast-On" begins as well! I have both crochet and knit projects that I am making for the Ravellenic Games and I cannot wait!!

Ravellenic Games Flag Thingy

All of the knit projects I chose are pretty simple. My first knit project is a Waffle Knit Dishcloth. This project will be an interesting adventure indeed. I haven't really done anything like this before. The patterns difficulty rating is "Very Easy" so I think I shouldn't have too much trouble with it :) I am planning on making it out of purple cotton. I really like cotton yarn and that is what I make most of my projects out of. So far cotton is the only yarn I have knit with, but I am sure that will change as time goes on. I think I will use this as a blanket square instead of a dishcloth :)

Here is the yarn I will be making my Waffle Knit Dishcloth out of:

This picture shows the color really well.

My second knitting project for the games will probably be a Monster Chunk. I normally don't like remaking patterns but I know this project will be good practice. The first Monster Chunk I made I had to put lining in so the stuffing wouldn't show through. The stitches in the spots where you switch from one double pointed needle to the next double pointed needle were not the best. I think with practice I will get better at knitting on  double pointed needles. I think I will make my Monster Chunk's body with this multicolored blue yarn and it's feet in a dusty blue-gray color (I might change my mind on the colors once I get closer to starting that project) I am using cotton yarn to make the Monster Chunk as well. Here is the yarn I am using for the Chunk:

Monster Chunk's Body color

Monster Chunk's Feet Color

It is a dusty blue-gray color

The color doesn't show up well in this picture.

My third knitting project for the Ravellenic Games is Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth. I have made this pattern before as well, but the first time I made it I did the increases and decreases differently so that there wouldn't be holes in it. This time I am going to follow how the pattern says to increase and decrease because I want the holes this time. I haven't increased the way it does in the pattern before so I am excited to try!! :D I have no idea what color yarn I will use for this. I am thinking that I will use scrap yarn to make this because it would be a good opportunity to practice changing colors as well :)

I am really excited to get started on these projects!! I have quite an adventure ahead of me and I am excited to set forth on it! I'm not sure where this adventure will lead me, but I know I will have fun getting there!! :D

A Little Bit About Me and My (Sometimes Epic) Knitting Adventures

I just started learning how to knit not too long ago (May 27, 2012 to be exact) I learned how to crochet in April of 2012 and became a member of a website called Ravelry. I discovered so much about crochet! I also discovered that a lot of people knit and crochet. Then one day, (May 27th to be exact) I decided to try my hand, well hands, at knitting. I only had one slight problem, I didn't have any knitting needles. Being the sometimes stubborn person that I am, I found two pencils and and instructional YouTube video and learned how to cast on and how to make the knit stitch. That is how I started learning to knit.

My first knit project and my pencils "knitting needles" I used to make it :)

Now I have a real pair of knitting needles, thankfully! I must say that I find real knitting needles much easier to knit will than pencils! My knitting needles are Yarnology 29 inch circulars, US size 8. I have one pair of double pointed needles as well (I think they are US size 6) I am still very much learning about knitting and the needles I have now work well for me since I still consider myself a beginner.

You might be wondering why I chose "My (Sometimes Epic) Knitting Adventures" as the name for this blog (or you might not be).


Why call it "My (Sometimes Epic) Knitting Adventures"? Whenever I decide to learn something new I like to call it an adventure. I think learning new things is fun and you never know where you have learned will lead you (just like, what I consider, an adventure) I put the (Sometimes Epic) part in the title of the blog because I am still in the process of learning how to knit and just like with learning other things, you sometimes succeed and sometimes you fail. Also, when you are learning something new there are parts that are more interesting and epic than other parts. Overall, I think the name sounds cool and it makes me think of a story about pirates on the search for buried treasure :)


I am planning on sharing my knitting projects and things I learn about knitting here.I really enjoy sharing what I learn and maybe inspire others to learn to knit. Right now, my knitting skills are not very good, but I know that as this adventure goes on they will get better. I hope to make this blog interesting and fun.

I'm not sure where this adventure will lead me, but I sure hope I have fun getting there. :)