About me from the beginning...

Well, I guess I should start with an introduction of myself. I first started crocheting when I was about 16, my mom's been crocheting like forever and passed it along to me. I picked up knitting from my sister at about 21 yrs old and fell in love. Don't get me wrong, I love crocheting too, but I feel with knitting there is much more diversity in what can be made. Before I started driving, I would do my knitting on the train and people all the time started to ask me questions and I would show them patterns of things that can be made, they saw a particular pattern, and would usually say "Wow, I would love to have this made!" and I was getting offers and phone numbers of people who wanted for me to make them stuff. People who are non-knitters do not realize the time, effort, and money that goes into making a particular item. Sure, you can walk into any department store and buy a sweater for $20, but with knitting, most of the time if you want a nice sweater, the yarn alone can cost up to or more than $80, not to mention the labor put into making the sweater. So, I started making things for people as gifts because I didn't really have the nerve to tell someone that if I charged them $150 or more for a sweater made of some very luxurious yarns, I would feel like they would laugh in my face. However, they are people out there who do appreciate a one-of-a-kind hand made garment, and my knitting has expanded to pretty much everything. So, I am starting this blog to show people some of the items that I have made, if they are interested in anything to be custom made for them, I would be more than happy to discuss what you would like done. This bag here was the first bag that I created. I've used it to carry school books and other stuff and it's held up great. As you can see in the middle pic, it has a small inside pocket that can carry an ipod, mp3 player, or other things (The pocket size can be adjusted to your liking, of course). I used a very thick wool yarn for this bag, and it was the first bag that I meandered from a pattern with. Basically, I modified the pattern(as seen in "Stitch 'n' Bitch" the original book. Everything can be adjusted with bags and I love to make them. Small, big, backpacks, you name it! And there are so many variations of yarn that can be used, but generally speaking when making bags, you want to use a good sturdy yarn. The next pic of this bag is just to show how it looks being worn (kinda blurry, sorry that's my webcam!) This next item I made is just to die for. I also made it from the Stitch 'n' Bitch book, but I used similar (and less expensive) yarns that look practically identical to the finished product. It is a turtleneck poncho that is ribbed at the neck and designed with straps of furry yarn (lion brand fun fur, along with the basic yarn) and it's a perfect poncho to wear on days that are a bit chilly, but not too chilly, like now in days before spring, or on a nice spring night. This poncho has stripes of purple and red in a charchol wool base yarn and has a tie (optional) with two little pom poms at the end. I don't know if you can really see, but it ends in a "V" shaped fashion. Very nice to wear for a night on the town, or for any chilly day. Keeps your neck super warm, too! Anyway, I make all types of items, and the cheapest and quickest things to make are: hats, glovettes (fingerless gloves) cell phone covers, or ipod covers, thin decorative belts or scarves. If you want something made, have an idea of something you may want made for a loved one, we can chat and do some brainstorming. If you want to meet in person, I live in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY, we can meet in person, if you like, or if you want to chat online my email is: vickys2133@yahoo.com Thanks for reading! PS-I am adding a photo album that shows all the projects that I spoke of.

Friday, August 05, 2011

Going back to my roots...

Well, I've actually taken the steps on learning how to make my own patterns. My mom, who's a great crocheter, doesn't crochet from patterns, she does it all in her head. I want to use the mathematics on how to write my own patterns, and I can add them on this blog. I've actually already came up with an "Extremely" simple one.
Now, I have this book, it's awesome, it's called "Field Guide to Knitting" and it shows ALL of the stitches, designs & trimmings on different designs. Such as, for example, the design you see here, which is called "Fish-Scale Lace".  Basically, for those more 'advanced' knitters, this is worked over 17 stitches with an 8 row repeat. Now, very easily, one can make a 'swatch' pattern, using this 'Field Guide to knitting' book, which has HUNDREDS of stitches & designs. It's actually easier than I thought. So, me being the extreme knitting enthusiast, I want to take it even further!
I'm working on, putting together ALL of these patterns, and, when my health is better, I'm going to put my ALL into creating my OWN knitting software. Now, I've seen a lot of 'knitting software' already, software that allows you to make your own sweater, socks, but I've never seen a software that opens up, like a wizard, asking you what you would like to make, with what kind of yarn you want to make it with, and just magically 'creates' a pattern for you.  This is an EXTREMELY hard task to accomplish.  There will be many steps in the wizard for it to accomplish this.  Things will have to be known, like, how long do you want a piece to be? Do you want to join these pieces together? Are you planning on making singular (and when I say 'singular', I mean, like a sweater, where you make the front, back, then sleeves and stitch it all together, or more simply put, a bag with a front, back and straps)
I think this software would be GREAT, because it will allow novice/beginner knitters to create their OWN patterns, fit to their specifications, and all they would need to do is put the length of the pieces they wish to make. Now, this software will generate a pattern simply showing you how to make the individual pieces, but, I would like to add a section just showing people how to sew these pieces together (ex. mattress stitch, backstitch, invisible seam, etc). All that someone would need to know is, what they want to make, what kind of yarn they would like to use (specifically, the gauge of the yarn), and how many inches they would like for the pieces to be. In the more 'advanced' settings, what I would add to this 'wizard' is specific things such as designs. This software will have the 'basic' options on making these 'pieces' in stockinette stitch, garter stitch, 2x2 rib, or seed stitch. Anything more intricate, such as cables, lace knitting, etc, would be in the wizard and it will specify what kinds of stitches are available.  For this, I would use ALL of the stitches shown in the "Field Guide to Knitting" book that I have.  I'm actually waiting for a book on how to make patterns to come in the mail, it's taking forever! It should've been here Tuesday, I hope it gets here today, or I'll just have to go to the post office and see if they have it.  I have the tracking #, but it shows it was 'out for delivery' on Aug 2nd! No other updates are available, so, I don't know!
Anyways, for those more advanced knitters who are bored with the patterns that are out there, what would you like this 'knitting software wizard' to have? What features would you like to see?
Also, I would like to do the same kind of program with crocheting, and, to be honest, I've been doing A LOT of crocheting lately, more so than knitting, simply because I've got a lot of projects that I've been working on that I'd like to finish up.  I'm working on another item for my niece, but, it's taken me SOOO LONG to make this (a simple poncho, with one big cable, and two smaller ones) but the size is up to 6 months, however, I would still like to finish it, because it's a great pattern!  So, I have to make the decision now to either finish it and accept the fact that it won't fit her and possibly have a 'raffle' here on my blog and give it to a lucky individual who knows of a baby girl who would wear it (in fact, if anyone knows of a baby girl, or someone who's pregnant with a girl, so long as they're willing to send me pictures of the baby wearing it, I'll just give it to them! Let me know!) or, abandon the project all together, but I really don't want to do that.  Any real knitter knows, it's not always about the finished project, but the joy of making it and learning to hone your skills to perfection! To me, the finished project is just a little bonus! I knit/crochet not to use the item I make (sometimes, I do) but mainly, I do it to learn, and to make the most beautiful things I can!
By the way, the slideshow of pictures you see on this page, I am ALWAYS adding pictures to it, so you can just click on any one of the pictures, and it will take you to my Picasa album and show you ALL of the pictures of things I've made (I believe there's 83 pictures in the album as of right now), so keep watching! Please comment...
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