Update!

Wow, I had basically forgotten all about this blog until I received a comment just yesterday - it has perhaps since been deleted? - asking about my charts.

Anyone interested in the Zelda charts should find me on Ravelry.com - my username is eventual and my charts are here.

Ravelry is the reason I don't update my blog anymore! I just upload anything finished there, and I have been unable to keep up with my Etsy shop since I became a teacher 3 years ago.

Feel free to message me on Ravelry if you ever have any questions or comments!

I am still an active knitter and I have also learned to crochet :)

Direwolf Sigil House Stark Game of Thrones-inspired Fingerless Gloves!

I knit these with a cute little cabled cuff to spruce 'em up. Selling them over on my Etsy shop!

Washcloths! Armwarmers! Hat!

Head on over to my Etsy Shop Blog to see what I've been up to since November! =D

After I finished my orders, I binged on video games for four days straight, but since then I've felt weird NOT knitting. So here's what I've done since the first week of the month:

Way back in November my mom mentioned that she wanted a hat for her birthday and sent me a few pictures off of Pinterest, and then we didn't speak of it again. I was so excited to make her a matching set of hat and armwarmers, because she still talks about and uses armwarmers I made for her in 2007. Out of acrylic. When I had been knitting for only a few months. I wanted to use higher-quality yarn and show off what I can do!

The hat was quick and easy, and the armwarmers were easy and fun once I figured out that the picot edging wasn't ACTUALLY picot and was creating by hemming! The gloves turned out a bit bigger than I had hoped, which was sort of a given because the pattern called for a lighter weight yarn than I was using. But still. Gorgeous pattern.

Close-up of the picot effect and the simple lace pattern.

I just love this look.

Next, my grandma showed me some knitted handwarmers done for her by a friend and explained that she had chills and pain at night and that she wanted warm armwarmers. She was adorable because she pointed out the ribbing on a pair she had and said it was okay if I didn't "do anything fancy." I mock-scoffed and decided to find a pattern that would do her justice. This is what I came up with:

I used a cutely titled pattern called A Little Twist and made some adjustments. First, I made them longer on both the arm and the hand, and second, I didn't bind off the thumb gusset to leave a hole, but kept the stitches on a separate needle and knit partway up to help keep her thumb warm. Finally, my grandma requested TIGHT gloves, so I only used size 7 needles for the first 6 pattern repeats and then switched to size 5s for the rest.

What was really neat about this yarn (Plymouth Gina) was that the picture shows one entire skein. The yarn knit up two very different gloves from just the one skein! Perfect for my grandma. ^_^

The cabling really is nice. It adds a fancy touch with minimal work, and it breaks up the monotony of ribbing.

And finally! I bought the Spring 2014 issue of Creative Magazine because the scarf on the cover is simply divine, but I'm not monetarily ready for that kind of commitment so I paged through until I found a quick project: a set of three washcloths. What a perfect use for all my random cotton!

Front: Slip-stitch pattern using some KnitPicks yarn and Peaches & Creme. Middle: A really fun washcloth with some fancy yarn I bought from my LYS (can't remember the brand but it's luscious and soft) that has a diagonal pattern, and finally, Peaches & Creme with a cabling, which took the longest and I hated doing it about a quarter of the way through. 

I ended up giving all of them to my mom because she said she loves hand-knit washcloths (no idea!) but I'm currently making another of the front washcloth because they are SO FUN.

So fun. So fancy.

Now I think you're all caught up! Happy knitting!

-Leah

Holiday Season Update!!

Hello! Things have been going really well for me in the geeky knits arena! I've been totally reppin' my gear in style~

Got my personal Super Mario hat, my original LoZ scarf, my Portal earrings and my Mario 3 hoodie! Great day.

Here's what I've been working on!

Fun work with initials! I really enjoyed creating that ampersand.

Gorgeous LoZ scarf, definitely my most popular purchase by far, and in the green base!

A new take on the Sailor Moon scarf!

Modeling the scarf. I'm in love with that pale blue!

I'm also working on a pair of Street Fighter gloves for a friend's boyfriend! Exciting!! So I'll be super busy through the middle to end of January, and then I plan on making some big changes to my Etsy store. It will be AWESOME.

Happy geeking!

-Leah

Harley Quinn Fingerless Gloves~

"Weee! Look at the pretties~!"

I decided to modify my design for the Harley fingerless gloves I made a year or two ago. I really like how they turned out! I used size 4 DPNs and these fit me perfectly, so for most other people they'd be a bit bigger. I've decided to sell these awesome geeky gloves in my shop!

The red yarn is a true red, not a dark red. This picture pretty closely captures it:

Pretty sweet, eh?

-Leah

My own Mario hat!!

After making the Mario Transformation hat I got the bug to make my own version! I decided to make it Super Mario World-themed based on the fact that SMW is my jam, and it'd be awesome to speedrun it wearing a hat made just for that purpose. And now I can make versions to sell since it was completely my design! ^_^

My only qualm is that I haven't really made hats for other people so I'm not quite confident in my gauge. I used size 3 needles for the brim of the hat (which I ended up doing in 2x2 seed stitch and turned out looking wavy and interesting. I like it!), and then did the rest in size 5 circular, trying to keep the tension pretty tight.

This is how it turned out! I'd have pics of me wearing it but I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday and my face is really puffy still >_<

Thanks for reading!

-Leah

Some long overdue scarf update pics

I knit one special scarf a year for a friend before I open the design up to make for others. Last year it was this Sailor Scarf for my amazing friend Courtney:

This year I'm working on a Mega Man scarf... shhhh don't tell!

I did one really cool custom scarf for someone last winter. I really enjoy custom projects; I wish more people would take me up on that!

Mario Transformation Hat wee!

I used this pattern to create the hat.

The first attempt ran quite large - it was even big for my boyfriend, and he has a big head. My knitting gauge is average, sometimes perhaps running on the tight side. Other people who have made this hat have made the same observations. So.

I love it, and have gotten a lot of compliments on it!

I will probably make a variation on the hat so that I can sell it in my etsy shop ^_^

It's a little big for me even now - if I made it again I would size down even more for the ribbing (I ALWAYS forget that I should do that!!). I already have a fantastic idea for a new hat. This one is stretchy and can fit anyone's head. I'll probably make it a gift and make myself a new one!!

Charts!

Okay, so I've decided to post a few charts per requests! I've updated them since my original Zelda scarf.

I think they've been modified quite nicely. The gray is actually white stitches, I just made it gray to see the edge.

Same goes for Navi - when I originally made the scarf, I had the black be an outline. I have since modified it so the entirety of the wings are white.

To see more examples of my work, please visit my etsy shop!

Hmmm

I haven't been keeping up with this page like I should be, mostly because I now post all my projects to my Ravelry page. I updated a few of my bigger posts because I appear to have added pictures directly linking back to the T-Mobile site, and I left T-Mobile in August and therefore lost those pictures. Luckily I had them uploaded to Ravelry as well, so I simply pulled from there.

Anyway, if you ever have questions don't hesitate to email me at akemi00@live.com!

I'm working on another AMAZING scarf for a girlfriend of mine - Sailor Moon themed!!!

Scott Pilgrim and Harley Quinn?

I finished my Scott Pilgrim scarf and it's super cute. It was really easy to do the ends because the scarf rolls so much, I basically only had to tie the alternating colors together instead of the usual painstaking weave, as the little knots will not come into contact with you.

Knit on size 9 circular, CO 20 stitches, and began knitting around 20-25 rows, but the two yarns I was using had different guages so I eyeballed it. Especially since I was making it for myself, I don't mind it not being perfect.

 

My friend Kiki does a lot of amazing art, and I'm constantly envious of her work. Lately she's been painting various characters from things, and especially from Scott Pilgrim. I really like Knives and thought her character was adorable, but I didn't see Kiki paint one of her! So I requested one with offer of payment, and instead she came up with a great idea: crafty exchange!

I sent her my specs for what I wanted in a Knives portrait (she also made me that icon of me you see in the corner - Chibi Leah!), and she showed me a picture of the kind of gloves she wanted. I took a couple liberties with the image so that I wouldn't be blatantly stealing the original creator's image. 

Kiki sent me a cute diagram with all her measurements, so I followed that as best I could. I used size 3 double-pointed needles, CO 34 stitches, knit about an inch in 1x1 rib, then switched to stockinette. I purled the cast off with white yarn for the ending effect (which I think looks awesome), and knit on thumbs by pulling stitches around the hole. I did pretty good for hating fiddling with fingers! I duplicate stitched the images on, which are supposed to basically resemble cards (Joker, card, Harley, get it?). Even though the Joker card doesn't actually have any of the four symbols in it - you get the idea.

Pretty cute, huh? Can't wait to give em to her!

Randoms

Here are a few projects I've never thrown up because I forgot to-


Ignore the HORRIBLE coloring in these pics of the bag. I made it for a friend for Christmas, and the red is actually GORGEOUS.

Pokemon wristband. I have made several of these, each a little different as I try different techniques for how to get all three colors to look nice and even together:

<3 Wristband. I thought it was cute!

 

A Cactuar wristband. I wanted to see how it would look to try to make one! I'd definitely not give this to anyone - it came out very large and kinda sloppy, but it was a fun experiment.

And finally, a Link KNITTED CARD I made for Courtney. It was SUPER fun. It was my first attempt at double-knitting, and I made sure to keep the two sides separate save for the edges so that I could successfully duplicate stitch it. I didn't take a pic of the inside because it wasn't as cool as the front and back of the "card."

Currently I'm working on Knive's scarf from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It's a little over 5 feet at the moment and soooo cute! ignore the ends that haven't been weaved in yet:

Ed and Al Chart!

Whew! This is still on the DL, but I'm knitting my friend Joe a scarf for his birthday in February, based around FullMetal Alchemist. I finished the main chunk of scarf yesterday and worked on a pattern for one side of the scarf. A loooong time ago I made a FullMetal Alchemist chart with one of the symbols in case I wanted to use it for something for Joe, and then it kind of fell by the wayside.

Well, now it's back! So, here's my newest design, based off of this image. I left out the spikes for now because I think it'll make the image look messy, and I didn't tell Steve anything about what chart I'd made and sent him a picture, and he said he knew what it was right away. That's a good sign :)

The image will actually have Al (the robot) being white, and Ed (guy in center) being black or red. The scarf itself is black, which is why I'll have to change the colors. I suppose I could even make Al gray, as he IS gray, but I didn't think it would *POP* enough.

 

ETA: Finished scarf