Classes

I began my Core Java class last night and, well, I must admit to being a trifle disappointed. The instructor is an affable enough fellow, but I didn't feel that he gave the material enough explanation. I worry that if I hadn't already familiarized myself with some of the Java fundamentals that perhaps I would have no idea what he was doing. Or maybe I just prefer having more in-depth explanations of concepts that don't necessarily require them?
Anyway, the class went reasonably well, I suppose, but I don't think it's going to give me what I need to get a certification, so it looks like I'm going back to studying more on my own as well as taking the class. And I still have almost half of my Christmas knitting to finish up. The feather and fan scarf/wrap I'm working on is just not seeming to grow at a rate I find acceptable, so instead of working at it more diligently, I become frustrated and set it aside. Foolish, non?

Phone Gnome pattern

Phone Gnome

A Knitting pattern by Eve Self

Inspired by the iGnome, which can be found for purchase here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_1&listing_id=16964612

Materials needed:

· Worsted weight yarn in red, blue, pink, brown, black, flesh tone and white. Not much of any color is required.

· Knitting needles, size 6 straights and DPNs. I used size 6 for a firmer fabric.

· 2 beads for eyes, thread and needle to sew them on.

· Snap fastener tool and 4 sets of snap fasteners (only the ‘male’ portion of two of the sets will be used)

· 2 1” X1/4” pieces of wood or metal (to keep the bottoms of the boots flat)

· Tiny scraps of backing fabric for snaps

· Fabric glue (optional)

I got a cheap cellphone and, of course, my first thought was “What can I knit for it?” I remembered seeing a gnomish cellphone cozy on Ravelry, but when I looked again I saw that it was crocheted. I don’t know how to crochet, so I improvised. My first prototype was a nightmare attempt at making the phone gnome in the round. Bad idea. This piece is worked flat and seamed up the side because the color changes don’t work well in the round. The “legs”, however are done on DPNs. You could knit them flat if you prefer, but I hate seaming and avoid it whenever possible.

This Phone Gnome is made to fit a Kyocera Marbl phone. I’m sure making adjustments to fit a phone of another size wouldn’t be too hard and you are certainly welcome to do so.

Okay, I’m not sure how well this will translate into a pattern since I was making it up as I went along, but here are the basics to what I did to make this cute little guy:

Main Body:

With blue yarn, cast on 32 stitches onto straight needles.

Work 5 rows in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row).

Switch to black yarn for 2 more rows of stockinette.

Break black yarn and work again with blue. 1^st row after belt, reduce by 6 stitches evenly across row. (26 sts remaining.)

Work 4 more rows of blue stockinette.

Now we’ll be starting the beard and hair. With blue, knit 6 stitches, join white and knit 2, K10 blue, K2 white, K6 blue.

Next row (I think this is 14): P5 blue, P4 white, P8 blue, P4 white, P6 blue

Row 15: K4 blue, K6 white, K6 blue, K6 white, K4 blue

Row 16: P3 blue, P8 white, P4 blue, P8 white, P3 blue

Row 17: K2 blue, K4 white, K2 pink, K4 white, K2 blue, K3white, K4 red, K3 white, K2 blue

Break blue yarn,

Row 18: P4 white, P6 red, P7 white, P4 pink (break pink), P5 white

Row 19: K15 white, K8 red, K3 white

Row 20: P2 white, P10 red, P4 white, P6 flesh, P4 white

Row 21: K3 white, K8 flesh, K2 white, K13 red

Row 22: P14 red, P1 white, P8 flesh, P1 white (break white), P2 red

Row 23: K5 red, K4 flesh(break flesh), K red to end

Row 24: P red

Row 25: K1, *K4, K2 tog; rep from * to last st, k1(20sts)

Row 26: P

Row 27: K1, *K3, K2 tog; rep from * to last st, k1(16 sts)

Row 28: P

Row 29: K1, *K2, K2 tog; rep from * to last st, k1(12 sts)

Row 30: P

Row 31: K1, *K1, K2 tog; rep from * to last st, k1(8 sts)

Row 32: P

Row 33: K1, * K2 tog; rep from * to last st, k1(4 sts)

Row 34: P

Row 35: K1, * K2 tog; rep from * to last st, k1(2 sts)

Break yarn. Draw tail through remaining stitches and secure. Turn inside out and sew edges together. Weave in all ends.

Attach two beads to flesh colored portion to make eyes.

Arms (make 2):

With blue, cast on 4 sts. Work in stockinette for 13 rows

Row 14: knit

Row 15 : bind off

Using flesh colored yarn, pick up 4 stitches from back of row 14. Work in stockinette for ½”

K2 tog twice, break yarn and draw through remaining stitches. Secure then pull tail up to top of hand and tie off then cut very short. I used a drop of fabric glue here.

Take tail from BO end of arm and tack it to the other edge (so that the bottom of the sleeve is more or less round). Sew the cast on edge to the main body so that the cuff is at roughly the same level as the bottom of the body. Weave in any straggling ends.

Put a snap in the middle front and back of the belt, using the scrap fabric on the inside of the body.

Legs:

With black yarn and DPNs, cast on 24 stitches.

Work 1X1 ribbing in the round for 2”. Break black yarn and join brown

I can’t tell exactly what I did with the feet, but basically it was working back and forth with the brown yarn, doing each foot separately. I bound off 2 stitches per foot in front and one in back. Working back and forth, there are 3 rows then 3 stitches cast onto the front of each foot. 3 more rows in stockinette, then 4 rows in reverse stockinette, 3 more in stockinette, bind off the 3 stitches that had been cast on, 3 rows more in stockinette, then bind off.

I used fabric glue and tiny bits of wood inside the bottoms of the boots hoping that it would make the Phone Gnome able to stand up. It seems to have worked, but if you can devise a better method feel free to use it. Weave in all ends.

Apply the snap fasteners so that they correspond to those on the main body.

If everything went according to plan, you will be able to run the charging cord up between your Phone Gnome’s feet and legs and use him when charging your phone.

I frequently carry a very small purse, though, and the legs add too much bulk at times. So I also made an optional strap to keep the phone in the gnome while in transit when the legs are too much. Basically, just knit a black 12 stitch stockinette strip that is 4” long and put another male snap fastener 1” from either end.

So there you have it. And I hope you enjoy it. :)

© November 8, 2008 Cheryl Eve Self
All rights reserved. Please do not sell items made using this pattern without the permission of the designer. Thank you.

Available as .pdf here.

But the Christmas knitting...

On the other hand, my Christmas knitting is going along quite well and on schedule for the moment! I've even figured out just how I am going to distribute the gifts. I don't know if the family will like any of it, but it should be a fun experiment. :)

I'll post some pictures here eventually, maybe when it's all knitted up.

What a (insert approproate expletive) week!

I was over the moon last week with the success of my first pattern posted on Ravelry. To date, over 150 people have downloaded my houndstooth scarf pattern there and a few more here. It is an awesome feeling! So, my confidence up, I contacted an old friend to see about borrowing a substantial sum of money. M's legal issues may result in his being jailed, possibly as soon as January, so I desperately need to make some preparations for my future. This friend had previously offered to lend me the funds necessary to take classes in order to get my Java J2EE certification. I emailed him and asked if the offer still stood. He emailed back in a less than promising manner so I assumed it was a "no". I told him not to worry about it, that it wasn't a big deal, but I was crushed. That was last Monday.

Tuesday, things are going as usual; M left for work a little early and I got up a trifle earlier than usual, but that was because I expected the old friend to call and make his refusal official. (He works nights so early morning calls are more practical for him.) He did call, but not until M had arrived home with the news that he was out of a job. Great. Things were financially just about to look up for us since his oldest child will be turning 18 in November, so no more child support and his car will be paid off in December... but I guess that would have been too easy. He did get a reasonable severance package, so things aren't as dire as they would have otherwise been, but it's still not good news by any stretch of the imagination.

Then my phone call came. The old friend said that he would loan me the money after all. As grateful as I was, I couldn't exactly talk to him long since M had just been laid off and needed me. Still, on the off chance that he ever reads this, Bruce, you truly are a life saver.

So M was at home all week, which I both love and hate. It's so hard for me to get any of my usual work done with him here. Still, it's kind of nice having him around. Saturday he had agreed to accompany me on my errands (which I had put off all week). As always, we took his car since it is in much better shape than mine (oh, my poor car... but that is a story of another day). The dry cleaner we use (had to get his suit interview ready) is basically next door to the apartment complex. So we went and picked up his suit and then his car just...failed. I don't know, it's supposedly something about a vacuum leak. Apparently it's okay once it's warmed up. I certainly hope so since he took it today to an appointment with a headhunter. Keep your fingers crossed that it is going well. With any luck he'll have a job by this time tomorrow. God, I hope so. Please.

It just seems like in the time we've been together (3.5 years come Nov. 1) we have had more than our share of crap like this happen. I am so sick of all the drama and waiting for yet another shoe to drop. Oddly, considering the rest of my life, none of the drama has been mine. His legal stuff, his job problems, his freaking kids and ex-wives, his car repossession, his house foreclosure... I must really love him a lot to stay through all of this. Or maybe I just figure that eventually things will have to start going our way. Surely this streak will have to end soon?

I am a designer :D

 I was fiddling around on Ravelry last night and added a few of my original pieces to the "my original designs" section. I put comments that I would make patterns available if anyone was interested. One of my posted designs was for a houndstooth scarf I made for myself last winter. This morning when I was looking at Ravelry, I was shocked to see that I had 38 new messages in my inbox. All but 2 of these were people requesting, asking, one even begging, that I make this pattern avaiable. One lovely lady even said that she would pay! So I immediately got out the scarf and my dismal notes and fixed it up into a real, bona fide pattern. You can see it posted below. I also finally managed to get it posted as a PDF on Ravelry (you can find the link to download the PDF in the post below as well) .

  I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to have so many other people, complete strangers, interested in knitting my design. It is a lovely scarf, but for so many people to be interested just boggles my mind and makes me wonder if maybe I could sell some of my designs after all. 40 people have it favorited as a design and another 11 as a project. Wow! I know to some those numbers aren't impressive, but for me that is huge.

Bicolour tweed stitch scarf

Hey, that's just what the stitch pattern was called in the book. 

download the PDF

BiColour Tweed Stitch Scarf

 

By Eve Self

 

Using MC, CO 35

 

Row 1: using MC K1,  *sl 1 purlwise, K2; rep from * to last stitch  K1
Row 2: K
Row 3: using CC K1, *K2, sl 1 purlwise; rep from * to last stitch,  K1
Row 4: K

 

Repeat these 4 rows until scarf is desired length. BO using MC.

The only problem I had was when I moved on to my next project. After so many hundreds of repeats of slipping p-wise while making the scarf I found myself forgetting to actually make my purl stitches when I started something else! Oops...

Houndstooth scarf pattern

Okay, I figured out how to get this posted on Ravelry, but might as well have it here as well :)

Click here to download the PDF

(Note: I really don't update here anymore. I get quite a few questions about this pattern, but rarely am able to get to them anymore. I haven't knitted this in so long that it's hard for me to answer. I'll do my best, but I make no guarantees.)
Houndstooth Scarf

Designed by Eve Self

This is a pretty easy scarf but the result is stunning. I’ve had people stop me on the street and ask where they could buy one. It’s also a very thick scarf since it’s knit in the round. I used what I had on hand to make this scarf, but if you used a more luxurious yarn, this would be downright decadent! There are so many variations that could be made to this and I’d love to see what everyone comes up with. I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of people who asked for this pattern. So, by popular demand (!) here it is:

Materials needed:

2 skeins I love this Yarn! (from Hobby Lobby) in Cream (MC)

Just one skein and a teensy bit of the second are used

Any worsted weight will be fine, but make it something soft.

1 skein I Love this Yarn! In black (CC)

Size 8 circular needle or DPNs

Crochet hook (for attaching fringe)

Gauge isn’t critical here. My finished scarf is roughly 6” X 6’ excluding fringe.

With MC, cast on 58 stitches

1. (P1, K28) twice. Making sure your work isn’t twisted, join in the round.

2. (P1, K28) twice

3. {MC P1, (K2, CC K1, MC K1) X7} twice

4. {MC P1, (CC K3, MC K1) X7} twice

5. {MC P1, (K1, CC K3) X7} twice

6. {MC P1, (MC K1, CC K1, MC K2) X7} twice

Repeat rows 3 through 6 29 more times. Cut CC (or for a different look, cut MC and do ribbing in CC. You might need more than one skein if you do.)

Ribbing:

{(P1, K3) X7, P1} twice

Work this row 49 more times

1. {MC P1, (MC K1, CC K1, MC K2) X7} twice

2. {MC P1, (K1, CC K3) X7} twice

3. {MC P1, (CC K3, MC K1) X7} twice

4. {MC P1, (K2, CC K1, MC K1) X7} twice

5. (P1, K28) twice

6. (P1, K28) twice

Bind off.

Fringe:

Cut 56 strands of each color. Using crochet hook, pull one strand of each color through corresponding stitches on front and back of scarf to make a loop. Pull ends of strands through loop to knot. I find it works well to tie a knot at the ends of each strand. This adds a tiny bit of weight to the end and makes it hang better as well as keeping it from unraveling as quickly.

Copyright of this pattern is mine. All I ask is that if you make them to sell, give me some credit somehow. If you wanted to send me a buck or two that would be all right, too ;)