Sunday, November 28, 2010

I think I need a support group.

Hi, my name is Kristin and I have a serious problem.

I'm pretty sure it's called Hey-I-Can-Make-That-gitis.  Want to know if you suffer from it too?  Read on.

I've been a little obsessed with Card Creations By Lorraine lately, and a few days ago she made a post about making a cute scarf using the Provo Craft Knifty Knitters.

Here's what I SHOULD have said upon seeing her cute scarf:

"Wow, how adorable!  She's really good.  Well...off to do something I already know how to do!"


What I ACTUALLY said:


"Wow, how adorable!  She's really good.


...


HEY!  I bet I could make that!"


I think it's important here to mention that I have never knitted a single thing in the entirety of my life.  In fact, just the word "knitting" made me think of someones 80 year old grandma sitting in her front parlor with a pair of needles knitting a sweater that you will never, ever wear.


(My apologies to anyone with an 80 year old grandma who like to knit sweaters.  I'm sure they're beautiful).


So, after chatting with the lovely Lorraine on the Provo Craft forums I set off to Wal Mart and Michaels to buy knitting supplies.


(Honestly, I can't believe I just said knitting supplies).



My Wal Mart only had two looms, and luckily, they were the exact two I needed:
Purple Rectangle Loom
Flower Loom




I bought some really nice, thick, soft cream colored yarn from Michaels.  I wish I could tell you the brand but I can't because my dog ate the band that goes around the yarn.

I wish I was joking about that.

I also bought some teal colored yarn that matches a winter coat I wear a  lot for the flowers, and a crochet hook because the guy on You Tube told me so (more about that later).

And then I knitted a scarf.



The End.


...

Come on, did you think I would let you get off THAT easy?  Let me tell you a little of how I did it.

I was actually surprised at how EASY it was to knit my scarf, once I got it going. I started this project last night about 6 PM, knitted for a few hours and went to bed.  This morning I finished the project after church.  So, 5 to 6 hours for a full scarf.  Not bad.

The hardest part was actually STARTING the scarf.  Provo Craft, I love you lots (and I'm sure you love my money), but your instructions for things kind of suck.  Luckily, I had my BFF YouTube waiting in the wings to help me out.  If you're thinking of picking up the Knifty Knitters, make sure to check out THIS You Tube channel.  He also has a website.  His videos on casting on/casting off looms were SO easy to follow.  Once I figured that part out, the scarf was smooth sailing.  I used 10 pegs, I kind of wish I had used a few more to make the scarf a little thicker, but I still love it.

The final touch I wanted to add were flowers using the Flower Loom.  Lemme tell you, these are a BREEZE to make.  So easy and it's really hard to screw up.  The instructions in the package were actually helpful for this one, but there are some great video tutorials out there for these as well.  One is of an 11 year old girl whipping out flowers like nobodys business.  If she can, you can too :)


There was a tiny bit of sewing involved to attach the flowers to the scarf (thanks, high school Home Economics!), but all in all it turned out pretty good for my first attempt at knitting!


Here's one important tip I picked up from Mikey on knitting with looms: use a Styler Pen.

What's a Styler Pen, you might ask?  Now, stay with me, this might get complicated:







Or not.  It's literally a pen with the insides taken out.  You thread your yarn through it and OHMYGOSH it makes wrapping the loom go SO FAST.  Plus, you don't have to cram your fingers in between the pegs.  Win win.

So there you have it.  My mom has already put in an order for one and she wants to wear my scarf to work in hopes that her co-workers will want one too.  I agreed to all this while silently screaming "I CAN'T AFFORD ANOTHER HOBBY!!!"

In conclusion, I have a little request for my bloggy friends out there.

Please don't enable my Hey-I-Can-Make-That-gitis. If you have some super cool craft project that requires going out and buying a bunch of new tools and is highly addictive...

DON'T SHOW IT TO ME!!

Love,
Kristin
:)

4 comments:

Summer said...

LOL, your story was just too funny! I think alot of us have that problem but are too afraid to admit it.... So thanks now I am a scrapaholic and have Hey-I-Can-make-That-itis.

Monica Benavidez said...

Bravo Kristin! It's too cute.

Courtnee said...

This is adorable!!!I think I caught Icancraftthis-itis:(

icraft2create.com said...

I can so relate to your story. I too fell victim to the knifty knitter and I love it. My kids of course refer to me as Grandma now, since not only do I "knit" I've since started learning to crochet! Your scarf looks wonderful! Thanks for a good laugh!

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