Flabébé Pattern!

Hey everyone. It's been a busy month with pride and car troubles but I have a fabulous update for you all. As some of you may know I'm a huge Pokémon nerd. So the news about the 6th generation of Pokémon has made me super excited. Watching as new monsters are revealed. One of my favorites is Flabébé which is one of the newly announced Fairy Type Pokémon.

Since Flabébé  is the smallest Pokémon I thought I'd knit a version that was life size. Here is what you need to knit your very own.

Materials:

US 3 Double Pointed Needles

Fingering Weight Yarn in Colors

-Light Green

-White

-Yellow

-Black

-Pink

Darning Needle

Poly-fiber Fill

Abbreviations:
CO-Cast On
K-Knit
K2TOG- Knit 2 Together
KFB- Knit Front Back
ST(S)- Stitch(es)
PSSO- Pass Slipped Stitch Over
R- Round

Body:
CO 4sts in Light Green, work I-cord for 1". Divide sts evenly on 2 needles and continue in the round.
R1: KFB all sts (8sts)
R2: Knit round dividing evenly on 4 needles 2sts per needle.
R3: (K1,KFB) repeat till end of round (12sts)
R4: Knit
R5: (K2, KFB) repeat till end of round (16sts)
R6: Knit
R7: (K1, KFB) repeat till end of round (24sts)
R8-10: Knit
Switch to White Yarn
R11-13: Knit
R14: (K1, K2TOG) repeat till end of round (16sts)
R15: Knit
R16: (K2,K2TOG) repeat till end of round (12sts)
R17: Knit
R18: (K1, K2TOG) repeat till end of round (8sts)
R19: Knit
Cut yarn leaving long tail and draw through live stitches with darning needle. Draw closed securely and weave in ends.

Head:
CO 6sts using Judy's Magic Cast On
R1: Knit
R2: (K1, KFB, K1) repeat (8sts)
R3: Knit and evenly divide onto 4 needles (2sts per needle)
R4: (K1, KFB) repeat till end of round (12sts)
R5: Knit
R6: (K1, KFB, K1) repeat till end of round (16sts)
R7: Knit
R8:(K1, KFB) repeat till end of round (24sts)
R9: Knit
R10: (K1,KFB) repeat till end of round (36sts)
R11-15: Knit
R16: (K1, K2TOG) till end of round (24sts)
R17: Knit
R18: (K1, K2TOG) till end of round (16sts)
Place eyes using duplicate stitch in Black both should be 2sts tall with 3sts in between. Then add Pink blush using a straight st. At this point you should also add stuffing.
R19: Knit
R20: (K1, K2TOG, K1) repeat till end of round (12sts)
R21: Knit
R22: (K1, K2TOG) repeat till end of round (8sts)
and any aditional stuffing and cut long tail and draw through live stitches with darning needle pulling closed tightly. Weave in end. Then with CO tail attach head to body and weave in end.

Crown:
CO 3sts in yellow and work in I-cord
R1: Knit
R2: Knit
R3: KFB across row (6sts)
R4: Knit
R5: Knit
R6: K2TOG across row (3sts)
repeat rounds 1-6, 5 times more for a total of 6 bumps. BO and seam ends together forming a ring and attach to head and weave in ends.

Mouth Piece:
CO 12sts in white, divide evenly on 3 needles. Connect and work in the round.
R1: Knit
R2: Knit
R3: K1, K2TOG, K1
R4: S1, K2TOG, PSSO
Cut yarn and draw tightly through the live stitches. Draw tail down inside and use as a bit of stuffing. Place and attach to face.

Arms (Make 2):
CO 4sts in white and work I-cord for about 1.5". Cut yarn and draw through live stiches and weave doawn through arm. Use CO tail to attach to body.

Ears (Make 2):
CO 10sts in White and divide evenly on 2 needle to work in round.
R1: Knit
R2: K1, KFB, K1, KFB, K1 twice (14sts)
R3: Knit
R4: K1, KFB, K3, KFB, K1 twice (18sts)
R5: Knit
R6: K1, KFB, K2, KFB, K2, KFB, K1 twice (24sts)
R7-10: Knit
At this point divide onto 4 needles. We are going to work in the round on the first half of the ear. That's the first 6sts and last 6 sts of the origianl round or now needle 1 & 4. while leaving the other stitches on the other needles for now.
R11: K2TOG, K2, K2TOG twice
R12-14: Knit
R15: K1, K2TOG, K1
R16: Knit
Cut yarn and draw through live sts. Repeat Rounds 11-16 for other half of ear and weave in the ends down through the ear and close up the gap between the split for the halves. Attach the ears to the sides of the head.

You now have your very own Flabébé. You could knit or crochet a flower for it to hang on to. You could also place small magnets in to the ears and put it on your fridge. I think I may make a hat with a flower on it for it to hang on that I can wear when Pokémon X and Pokémon Y come out. I did a similar thing when Pokémon Black and Pokémon White came out. I made a Mijumaru/Oshawott Cosplay Cap.

 So if you end up knitting a Flabébé and using it to help celebrate the release of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, which are due to release on the 12th of October around the world, please send a photo to my email or the Facebook page.Pokémon and Flabébé are both trademarks and copyright by Nintendo. This pattern is not to be sold and is for personal use only in helping to celebrate the newest generation.

#27 Somewhere Over the Skein-bow Part 2

For Love of Knitters!

It happened. I never thought that it would happen to me, but it happened. I tend to be a well prepared knitter and plan ahead, but it finally happened to me. . . I ran out of yarn for a project. It was quite an awful feeling. I was working on a pair of Java Socks from Knitty. It's a wonderful pattern filled with beautiful cables. It's a pattern that had been in my que for months.

I don't tend to be the kind of knitter that has to math everything in the pattern like yarn and color. I love making changes to color and making it mine. This time I was really struck by how beautiful that this pattern looked in the brown in the picture. I though that it would be nice to find a similar color. Now brown is not my color. Every once in a while I find a brown item of clothing that I really like but it's few and far between. So finding a brown that I liked was difficult they were either too light or too flat or so dark that the cables wouldn't show. Then I found it. Not brown at all but a beautiful deep reddish-purple yarn that had the deep rich earthy quality that I liked in the brown of the picture. It was Tosh Sock in Byzantine.

I cast on and got working. It really started to move along when I learned how to cable without a cable needle. I got to play the Hold My Sock Game with Willam, Detox, and Vicky Vox as I'm sure you saw in a previous post. I worked on it while visiting with family. I flew through the firsst sock and worked my way quickly down the second. Then it happened. I had 12 rows left in the foot and then the toe left when I ran out of yarn.

 

So that is what I was left with. I decided to send an email to work to hold another skein that had been there forever. It of course had been sold. Luckily it was suggested that I check on Ravelry form anyone who had extra left over from projects. So I started emailing anyone who had finished a project recently with the same yarn. Sadly only one person replied and then it still wasn't good news.

After that I posted in a few ISO forums. Then it happened. Someone had left over they were willing to send. to me!

 

Then I was able to finish my socks. I'm so happy with them. The dye lots are undetectable, they look as if nothing ever happened.

 I'm just so happy to be a Knitter and part of such a wonderful community. It just confirms that knitters are the best people in the world. So remember try and pay it forward. You could be the Knitter that saves a project or makes someone's day.

That's all for now.Happy Knitting!

#26 Somewhere Over the Skein-bow

Family Fun / New Pattern

Hey everyone I thought I'd give you all a quick update on what I've been up to. A few weeks ago I was luck enough to have a bunch of my family in for out of town. They were in town for their aunt's 100th birthday.

While at the partyI was able to teach two of my cousins to knit. They totally asked me to do it. I didn't have to force . . . I mean encourage it at all.

 It's always nice to be able to share something your so passionate about. The weekend was full of fun and laughs. We did dinner downtown the next night, and on Friday most of us were able to do walking around through Millennium Park and go to the Field Museum.

It's funny how you never do these things until people visit but I had yet to visit Millennium Park. So of course me being me I had to get a picture of me knitting in front of Cloud Gate also known as "The Bean".

I'm a huge nerd what can I say? LOL.

Lastly you may remember the Snowman Ornaments I made well the Pattern is now up and for one week only you can get it for $2 dollars of with coupon code yuledurb. So get your copy before the end of the day on May 4th!  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/snowman-cousin-ornament

 

That is all for now keep checking back!

 

#25 Homeward Bound?

Windy Knitty Turns 2!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing splendidly. This past weekend Windy Knitty celebrated it's 2 year anniversary. I'm so proud to be part of such an amazing community. I love working at Windy Knitty for so many reasons. The yarn is one reason, I mean we all know I don't leave the house with out yarn, and if I have to leave the house I definitely prefer going to a place that has yarn. More so than that are the people. There are so many wonderful people who apart of this shop. From Mandy who created such a wonderful space that brings so many wonderful people and fibers together, to all the regulars who have become friends. I honestly love everyone I work with it's like a big family, I'm truly lucky to have this opportunity.

To celebrate the anniversary Angela, the talented dyer behind Fleur de Fiber, added four new Chicago inspired colorways. Angela's colors are amazing and they keep getting better. It's no surprise that a few skeins came home with me that day.

 Here is Angela with all her yarns on display.

 

Every year here in Chicago they dye the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day. That was the inspiration for the first colorway. Dye the River Green:

 

 

Next up we have the colorway based on the Bucking ham Fountain at night. Fire Water - Buckingham Fountain:

 

Last but not least we have 2 colorways based on the Puppet Bike.

 

I give you Puppet Bike By Day:

And Puppet Bike By Night:

 I'm so excited to knit these up now to decide what to make! Should it be socks or a shawl? Most likely I'll have one of each which I will show you all later.

I also received a new skein of yarn from my friend Laura. We started a yarn barter so we could each experience new yarns that we might not normally find especially since she lives in the UK. If you get a moment you should check out Laura's blog Knitzors. For this skein she sent me a gift card to GnomeAcres, and I picked out a beautiful color called Ninja Cupcake. I'm so in love with it. Here is a picture of the yarn with Takara guarding it for me.

 

I have a few ideas of what I will send her next. :) I'm really enjoying this! I believe that is all for now. Until next time Happy Crafting!

Another Victory in the Hold My Sock Game

So as many of you know I love the Yarn Harlot's Hold My Sock Game. I recently was able to get a few more pics with people holding my sock. Some of you may not know the fabulous trio of Willam, Detox, and Vicky Vox, but prepare to learn. These three queens have put out two hit songs on YouTube. The first was Chow Down (at Chick-Fil-A). The latest was Boy is a Bottom. Recently I was able to see them preform their hits at my favorite bar Roscoe's, where you can find me knitting much of the time. So I went and watched them preform and they were incredible. After they show they did a meet and greet where I was able to get the Hold My Sock Pics.

First up Willam

 

I think I may have freaked Willam out a lil bit. Her face says it all. . ."Why am I holding this sock?" LOL. I think I may be the first to ask her do do this.

Next up was Detox

Detox played along very nicely with my request. I love when people really get into it. You can totally tell she's not a knitter by the way she's holding the needle but that's kinda what makes it so fun.

Lastly Vicky Vox:

Vicky definitely got into the spirit. All I can say about this picture is. WERK!

If you want to check out their videos I will post the links below. Although this videos are amazing the may not be appropriate for younger viewers, just a little heads up. :)

Chow Down (at Chick-fil-A)

Boy Is A Bottom

Till next time keep on knitting!

#24 Snowball of Yarn

Post Holiday Check-In

Hey everyone, I hope everyone's holidays went well. I thought I'd give you all a little update on what's been going on here while I put the final touches on my next strip.

For Christmas I always knit for my cousins. I love to knit for them and they really appreciate the things I make. One of my cousins even opened my present first because she said she is always excited to see what I make for them. They are forever knit worthy. This years present was an original design. I made them all snowman ornaments.

    

 

        

I really enjoy the holidays and being with my family. I truly have an amazing family I love the time I get to spend with them.

Here is my mom and me with our chihuahuas Lucas and Takara on Christmas Eve.

This is Christmas Day with Me, my Grandma, my Step-mom, and my Dad.

The day after Christmas was Grandma's 90th birthday. So on the following Sunday we had a party for her. It was a very lovely day.

 

Here is a picture of me with some of my cousin at my grandma's party. I had to rock my Color Affection that day.

I also had a very exciting knitting related anniversary. This weekend marked my 1 year of working at Windy Knitty. What an amazing year it has been. I still can't believe how lucky I am being able to work in my favorite place on earth and get to see all my knitting friends more. I do however miss the wonderful people I used to work with at Applebee's but I'm excited by this new chapter in my life and the wonderful new people it has brought into it.

I believe that's all for now. Check back soon for more posts and until then happy knitting!