White Fern Illustrations & Designs

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.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Chocolate Time!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Progress Peek

Good Morning :)
Here's a peek on the progress of my first knit design...

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Moss Wonderland

Hi. :)
The past couple of days I have been working on constructing my first knit design...so far so good! I will show some peek photos later in the week.

I wanted to share some photos I took on a trail my husband and I explored while on our honeymoon.

We came across these awesome golden birches! I mean, I love your classic white birch tree, but a golden birch...love, love, love. The bark had a shiny ribbon like gleen to it, with a golden champagne color.

Our hike was full of moss wonderlands...

We made sure to grab some moss to take home and make terrariums with. I will blog about the terrariums once I know for sure they are going to survive.

There was soooo many different mosses to choose from! :D

I guess there is such thing as fuzzy mushrooms, too...

Fuzzy like the body of a moth or butterfly. So neat. :)

Monday, November 26, 2012

Let the Work Begin!

Good Morning All! :)
Got some tea with my honey and ready for this exciting day!

Ready to finally begin working on my designs and illustrations. My first focus is going to be getting my knit designs in order.

My lovely husband modified and built me a work space! Today I am only showing a few details and will go more in depth at a later time.

Here is the shelving unit he got me for my yarn stash and supplies.

There just happened to be a perfect place on my art table to store my circular needles on.

I have it so each hole holds a different size needle. Each hole is able to hold quite a few needles at a time. I love how easy accessible and organized it is. Yay. No more jars holding my circulars and risking them warping. :)

You could probably get a piece like this with holes in it at Home Depot or Lowes and incorporate it into your own space!

Well, it's back to work for me! Have a great day!

Friday, November 16, 2012

What a Beautiful Day

Hey guys!!! How is everyone? I have been missing my blogging. I shall be returning to regular weekly posts very soon.

Last week was the most amazing time of my life, so far. Surrounded by friends and family, my now husband and I became a family of our own. I must say, I am feeling quite complete right now. :)

David Barnes beautifully captured our wedding day for us. I highly recommend him.

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