knitting his way

While I knit something conventional and wearable, Felix occupied himself with creating an intricate web all over the house.


He told me that he was knitting a trap for his artist Dad. He also declared himself a top designer. "I am Top Designer!"


And, "I am the best knitter!" I was really proud of him, and didn't mind at all that he used an entire cone of fine mercerized cotton or that we spent 48 hours trying to navigate the web and tripping through the house.


Finally, he had to finish his homework. You can tell he wasn't that excited about it. Yeah, coloring in circles isn't necessarily as interesting as being a spider.

free pattern

I've made the Knit Bracelet pattern available as a free download through ravelry.

If you're not on ravelry and would like a copy of the pattern, leave me a message and please include your email address. Thank you!

knitting fingers

knitting fingers, originally uploaded by kat coyle.

After the Learn to Knit class, Grace continues to knit. The sight of little, knitting fingers warms my heart.

knit bracelets

An easy learn to knit project for teaching the purl stitch are these knit bangle bracelets, worked in two colors in reverse stockinet stitch.



Learn to knit class starts this Friday at the Wisdom Arts Club. Details here!

Edited to add, I've made the pattern available as a free download on ravelry. Enjoy!

puppet and shrug

I'm wearing the Alpine Shrug from Rowan 42. It's knit at a smaller gauge than the pattern. I saw Celtic Cast On's shrug on flickr and loved the snug fit. Lately, Felix has been taking photographs. Some of them look really good. I asked him to take a photo of me in the new shrug. Not bad, right?
I'm pretty happy that I have a helper!


The puppy puppet is from JudyKits by Judy Head. I made it for Felix to help get us through these tough first days of school. He has a habit of being mad at me when I pick him up. Instead of running towards me and giving me a big hug, he yells at me! Yesterday, he started in on me and I pulled out the puppet and soon he was laughing and we were making up stories for the puppy to tell us. Felix named the puppet “Vulture”.
I don’t know where that name came from, but he seems very sure of it.




Anyway, I think it’s one of the cutest toys ever! One thing I didn’t take into consideration is that I would have to be a puppeteer, and come up with a Vulture personality. At breakfast this morning, I coaxed Felix into eating by having Vulture tell him how yummy the food was. Felix said, “hm, mom that’s not Vulture’s voice.”

back to school

It's been a busy, and emotional week with the first days of school; rocky for both of us, but after a couple of tearful days, we are now easily saying "see you later".


The night before school, father and son did some serious doodling with brand new markers and notebook. When I think back to my school days, most of what I remember is doodling while dimly listening to the teacher.


To ease the separation anxiety, I knit Felix a little cat toy. He named him Captain America after a friend's darling black cat. I gave him the cat first thing in the morning on his second day. He was so happy; it helped getting him off to school that day.

The pattern for the cat came from Invisible Threads in Knitting by Annemor Sundbo. A knitter's bliss: a project that heals the nerves of two people and uses small left over bits of sock yarn.

yellow bird

Here's my first attempt at a bird toy. I'm pretty happy with her! The next one will have a wider tail and then I want to make some with color work. She's an easy knit for a knitter, but maybe too much for a beginning knitter. I tried a couple of super super easy bird shapes but they didn't please me. One attempt was a finger puppet that I think would work in finer yarn.


The alley cat that protects us from other critters is eyeing us very suspiciously! I tried to get the bird closer to kitty but she wouldn't allow it. Oh well.


And check out these moon jellies that we saw this weekend at the aquarium. Amazing! Ethereal! Mysterious!

more projects for knitting class

Hello, meet two friendly snakes, Scarlet and Grellow, these garter stitch fellows are another project idea for my kids learn to knit class to be held at the Wisdom Art Club this fall!


And, ta da, the sporty wristband!

memories

memories 4/365, originally uploaded by kat coyle.

Drawing is a way to create memories. Dreaming up hat designs, I imagined a sweet summer day, where two kids in whimsical hats played by the shore with paper boats. I wonder will their memories be the same?

Goodbye summer!

red shoe bird

PICT0007, originally uploaded by kat coyle.

I took my knitting with me to the park but decided to enjoy the lake instead. Funny, but my knitting bag was packed with yarn to make birds. In the car on the way over I wasn’t feeling any bird vibes, but now, I have some inspiration for making birds with personality; as well as some fashion ideas. Maybe red shoes and a yellow hat will remind me of this duck when ever I need to remember a very good day.


Happy Weekend!

smiles

Hey do you feel like smiling? Then take a look at this book! Sock Monkey is page after page of sock monkey portraits. Guaranteed to make you smile!

felting, and super heroes

I’m happy to report that fulling the potholders was the right thing to do. Since, I don’t have a washing machine it was easy to not over do the felting process. It’s pretty tiring to mimic the agitation of a washing machine with your own two arms. As you can see the stitch definition is still there but what you might not be able to see is that the fabric is considerably more dense and substantial.
All I did was fill a small tub with hot tap water and some dish soap. Put the potholders in and sloshed the mix with a spatula. Every few minutes I would add more water since most of the water splashed all over the countertop. When I needed a rest I’d empty the tub and fill it with cold tap water. I repeated the hot, cold bath a few times until the knitting started to look dense.
I wrapped them in a towel and then pinned them to dry.


This funny blue elephant, Oliphaunt, is from a free pattern, on Cristina Shiffman’s blog phila * craft!

Felix loves him and named him Helli.



A couple of nights ago he had a dream about a super hero named Super Kitty. Super Kitty is orange and has a green light hand and a red light hand so he can help direct traffic. His hands also change into a broom and a mop so he can help keep the streets clean.
Felix wants me to make a Super Kitty. We’re going to work on that today but in the mean time, I made a wrist band which I thought would be a great first project for the kids learn to knit class.



This is what I found this morning, Felix wearing his super hero wristband. Could it help him dream super hero dreams?

garter stitch and inspiration

I'm knitting simple garter stitch projects for the kids learn to knit class I'm going to teach. These will be hand felted but I haven't gotten to it yet. There's a part of me reluctant to felt knitting!


Garter stitch and short rows make a circle shape; and garter stitch worked straight for twice as many rows as stitches for a square shape.



The pot holders and lot's of project ideas are in this amazing, delightful knitting book, Invisible Threads by Annemor Sundbo available from Schoolhouse Press. If you love knitting, love to read about knitting, and knitting history you will love this book. It's definitely a favorite of mine, with the author's personal style of relating history through knitting and traditional craft.


When I'm working I always gather piles and piles of reference material for inspiration. I thought it would be grand to gather lots of exciting imagery for the kids to enjoy.

Endless inspiration is to be found in The Quilts of Gee's Bend.



And a new book that I'm really enjoying is Vera Textiles Add Color To Everyday Fashion. Indeed! Loads of beautiful color combinations and diverse pattern design on every page.

magical tree of everything

-click the photo for bigger magic trees!

Here are a few of the paintings that were done in the Magical Tree of Everything class.

edited to add: teacher abira ali's flickr set with all the paintings from her wonderful class.

favorite color

All the yarn looks so cute in a big pile!
Thanks to Mary Jane for suggesting to full the pot holder. I'm going to make one tonight.

I asked Felix what was his favorite color. I knew he would go for the dark pink. It's the most vibrant in the bunch.

winding

I'm not mad just tired. I finished my knitting marathon and mailed off a couple of projects that I'm really happy with. The serious look, is all about my aching hands and how much I want to start knitting something new. Next month I'm going to teach a kids learn to knit class, so I started preparing by winding small bits of yarn so that the kids can easily use lots of colors. I'm thinking of all kinds of fun projects but most probably we'll start with the basics: a striped garter stitch scarf.

Here's a question, does anyone use WOOL HAND KNIT POT HOLDERS?
I like the size, and how they are a good way to learn how to miter and practice short rows and stitch patterns, but I'm wondering if they are useful.


There are Nineteen colors here but Still I think maybe we could use some more bright ones.


Bright like Pink! and Orange!
meow >''<

family photo

Egad! We took over fifty of these crazy photos.

It was a good break in a day full of knitting. I stayed up past two in the morning knitting and listening to The Age of Innocence read by Brenda Dayne. She has a really beautiful voice. I had to force myself to turn it off.

I want to show you what I've been knitting but it will have to wait. I have other designs that have been published that I never showed on the blog, the spring and summer stuff and now it's already fall! Okay, it's not quite fall but soon!

painting together

painting together, originally uploaded by kat coyle.

Felix and I have been painting together. We’re taking a class called "the magical tree of everything" and last Wednesday we painted trees that were very different yet looked so harmonious and connected. I was inspired and Felix said he had a lot of fun. This morning he wanted to paint together. It’s so hot outside I was grateful to stay inside.

doll design sketch

doll design sketch, originally uploaded by kat coyle.

Happy Sunday everyone! This drawing is for one of my fantasy dolls that I've yet to make. I thought she could be made with hand knit pieces and fancy fabrics dotted with embroidery.

Mexican candleholder

mexican candle holder, originally uploaded by kat coyle.

I'm still not knitting. This morning, I did this painting of a candleholder that decorates my desk. Afterwards, I realized she had no hands, but flowers and then flames where hands might be.