White Fern Illustrations & Designs: December 2012

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Cup of Joe Sunday

On this cold winters day, a hot cup of coffee, and some knitting is what's in store for today. :) Hope everyone is having a cozy Sunday as well!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Ruben's Bumper

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!! My husband and I had our first Christmas together as a family, just us. It was absolutely lovely. :)

Since yesterday evening, I have already been back to working on the designs! Here is The very first design I did...the one that was put on hold, waiting for more yarn.

Ruben's Bumper

When I was designing this piece I was thinking, 'Circus'. It originally was going to be named the Balloon Jumper, resembling something that of clown pants, but it is not exactly a jumper. It's a mix between a soaker, jumper, and overall's. My Husband came up with the name Bumper, and it stuck. :)

Thursday, December 20, 2012

What Inspires You?

This morning I was brainstorming more ideas for designs, and it got me thinking...what inspires a new design? Where does the inspiration come from? Well, there could be many answers to those questions! ;) I am going to try and keep my answer simple.

I really love the many different textures, colors, and shapes that can be found in nature, architectures, animals, and food. I also love a touch of classic and simplicity. For me, these things so often apply to my knitting, art, and photography.

What about you? Where do you draw inspiration from for your passions?

Please share! :D

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Ella's Boots

My second knit design is finished! Here is Ella's Boots...

I wanted the boots to be warm and durable with some texture. I designed Ella's boots with a high cuff, which can be rolled down, giving it a different look/style. I used genuine leather for the soles, making the bottoms durable and skid-free.

I want to bring fun, vibrance, character and warmth to each design. So, I was thinking that a cute animal illustration paired with each garment would add a nice touch, making each design more unique and personal, especially for little ones. What do you think?!

This is putting together all 3 of my passions: photography, knitting, art, and design. :)

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Lavender and Leather

Hi, guys! :)

The designs are coming along. They will have their first debuts soon! Today I got some genuine leather for part of my second design.

Monday, December 10, 2012

K1, P1, take bite of a sugar cookie

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I am allllmost finished with the first design. :D I have the pattern all typed up and just have a small amount knitting left to do, which is going to have to be put on hold for a short while. I am practically out of the colorway I am using for that design, so I needed to get more...that is a long story I am not going to get into, but after much searching I wasn't able to find what I needed. A couple days later a special someone(you know who you are) found it for me!!! Thank you!!! I just ordered it yesterday. It may not be in for a few weeks, so for the time being I am moving on to the next design.

A little peek of what is to come next...

and I am filling the house of the aroma of this yummy, deliciousness...

MmmmmM.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Bow Ear Warmer Tutorial

Being up here in the cold Canada weather I have learned a lesson...always cover your ears and hands when going outside. Haha. I have a hat to wear, but I often wear my hair up, so I made myself an ear warmer.
I decided to turn it into a tutorial, my first tutorial!

To start off I checked my gauge. I used a worsted weight yarn on size 4 double pointed needles. The gauge is 5 sts per inch, and 9 rows per inch. I decided I wanted the ear warmer to measure 21" in length, and be 3 3/4" wide.

*Note: I found the ear warmer could have been slightly tighter fitting, so if you find that your head is on the smallish size I suggest only knitting the band 18-20" in length.

Cast on 20 sts(stitches)

Knit in Garter Stitch until piece measures desired length.

For connecting the two ends, instead of casting off, I picked up 20 sts on the cast on edge(a equal number of stitches that are on your current needle;cast off edge).

Graft the ends together using the Kitchener Stitch Method. I find this pictorial to be very helpful when using the kitchener stitch.

Small Band to Create Bow:

I used size 3 double pointed needles to get a tighter gauge. You can just as easily use the same needle size you used to make the ear warmer.

Cast on 10 sts

Knit in Garter Stitch for 38 rows.

Cast off, leaving enough of a tail to sew with it. Thread your tail with a tapestry needle.

Take the ear warmer and find a spot where you would like to make the bow. I chose the area where I grafted the two ends together. Pinch and flip over(so that the under side is facing you), making sure the 3 layers are evenly lined up together.

Taking your small band, wrap around the pinched area(under side facing you), still making sure the folds are evenly lined up.

Sew band together. Weave in all ends.

Now your ready to go out and brave the cold...and look cute! :)

Monday, December 3, 2012

10 Steps Backwards

Well. Here is my first knitted design. Not what you expected, right?

I had completely finished the garment, cast off my stitches, and realized I was just not satisfied with the increases and decreases I had made. So, I decided to unravel half of my work from the cast on edge(where I started)...haha, lesson learned. Unraveling from the cast on edge doesn't really work out the greatest.

I was having to un-weave, rather than unravel. To make matters worse I thought it would be a brilliant idea to cut a little bit of the work to see if it would unravel better(a result of all those bits of wound scrap yarn in the photo), which I am still going to use, regardless of their short lengths.

Thanks to the help of Ravelry, confirming to me that unraveling from the cast on edge is not ideal, I was able to move on and instead unravel starting at the end of my work. In end, having to unravel the entire piece.

In conclusion, I am looking on the bright side, at least I have my design written down. Now it is just a matter of knitting it back together and making a few small modifications.

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