Okay, I'm Back!!

Oh my goodness...I can't believe it has been October since I have updated this blog!

I have been really good about keeping up with  my art blog....not so much here unfortunately. I am going to try my best to at least post new items here and a little about their inspiration. I'm not even going to try to catch up from the last few months!

Anyways, my latest is a pair of fingerless gloves. I am having a lot of fun knitting fingerless gloves with colorwork - a relatively quick knit and only a little fussy with the thumbs. I just listed these Royal Purple ones:

They are available here.

I think the design came from some Latvian mittens. I have been looking through my books lately and then came up with this idea, so I suspect it was sparked by something I saw in one of my Latvian mitten books. I love the richness of the colors - this is a gorgeous purple. And they are knitted in Elann's Peruvian Highland wool which is nice and soft. I hope they find a good home!

On the needles: more fingerless mitts. I am also finishing up a gorgeous scarf in a brick red color. I will be casting on a hat and cowl to work on this weekend while the kids are skiing.

Catching Up!

Things have been busy here, with the school year ending (and now the kids are out of school) and going away for a while, I've really fallen behind on posting! I've been redoing listings in my Etsy shop - only have done about half so far. I finally have a few new things to add as well.

The first is this cuff bracelet:

I've been hugely inspired by Native American peyote beaded bracelets. I would love to take up bead weaving, but I don't think I need another hobby right now! So I decided to create the feel
of the beaded cuffs using tiny needles and very thin mercerized cotton. I made one for myself, too. I love it - and I hope that other people will like them as well...I've got a bunch of different designs for them that I want to try! The listing for this cuff is here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/51010340/handknit-cuff-bracelet

I've got a few more items almost ready to post....just need to get to all the finishing work!

Colorful Cotton Cap

Here is a new hat!
I was so inspired by pictures of some Guatemalan crocheted caps that I've decided to knit a series of colorful hats to put in my Etsy store. I am using 100% cotton for these, so they could really be worn almost year round. I am looking forward to playing with colors and patterns and making up a bunch of these.

Enjoy!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/48600238/colorful-cotton-cap-handknit-hat

I'm so negligent!

I posted a new listing last week and never blogged about it. I finished a cute little cellphone bag. I thought about all the things I wanted on a cell phone bag - including a wrist strap and a mini-carbiner for clipping it to a belt loop or a keyring.

I snuck the listing in during a slow time and it didn't get many views. You can check it out here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/48048321/weston-handknit-cellphone-pouch

I'm working on a few brightly colored little cotton hats, inspired by some Mayan crochet I have seen pictures of. I hope to post the first one within the next two days.

It's a Hat!

It's a new cotton slouchy hat!

I have a bunch of ideas in my head for hats, and even though it is warm here, I couldn't resist starting on some.

This is the first one, knit in 100% cotton. The colorwork is inspired by the designs on an early Egyptian stocking now in the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C.

Listing here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/46399109/cotton-slouch-hat-handknit-original

Done at Last!

Not sure why this bag has taken so long to complete! Could it be the areas where there were three colors in each row?!!! Anyways, it's cute - it's colorful - it's done!! The colorwork was inspired by designs on Latvian mittens. Latvian mittens have such beautiful designs.....endless inspiration!

Listing for the bag here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/45606655/camden-flowers-handknit-drawstring-bag

I'm currently working on a cotton hat. I also got some Pearl Cotton from http://www.halcyonyarn.com/. Love, love their color selection! Can't wait to knit it up to see if I like working with it as much as Pisgah's Article 960. Stay tuned!

Another Bookmark

Getting ready for Mother's Day... another bookmark done!

They sure are fun fast little projects, and I enjoy the mosaic style of knitting - and the beading is fun, too. I am using Barbara Walker's Mosaic Knitting for ideas for the motifs.

The listing for all my bookmarks on Etsy is here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShirleyKnits?section_id=6939135

Another Mini Bag

Finished another Mini Bag. I thought the little pink flowers would be fun for Spring - maybe even for Mother's Day. The colorwork is inspired by a tree and flower motif I found in a book about Arab embroidery. Such a motif is supposed to symbolize growth and abundance - perfect for Spring!

Now if it would only warm up.....

Listing here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=44313745

Work in Progress

Still working away on this bag.

It is inspired by a rug woven by members of the Great Plains tribe. I am knitting it in a worsted weight cotton. Doing colorwork at this tight of a gauge in this kind of cotton is very hard on my hands! (Hence why I am only working on it a little at a time!) The resulting bag though is nice and soft, and I like the colors, too. It will be a small-sized tote bag, and will have to be lined as well. Hope to finish it in the next few weeks!

A Quick Fix

I was in need of a little immediate gratification. I have too many ideas and images wandering around inside my head while I still have an awful lot of works in progress. So I decided to do a little project I could start and finish quickly and still have fun with.

So, voila - a bookmark. I love mosaic knitting, so I played a little with some very thin mercerized cotton, added some pretty beads, and I was done. I figured it might be a good idea to get a few of these up on Etsy for Mothers Day. Fun!

Bookmark listing here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43962772

Still thinking spring.....

This is the Carlisle Spring iPod Sleeve (or MP3 cozy). It was inspired by the colorwork on Turkish stockings.

I've been looking through Anna Zilboorg books and pouring over pictures of Turkish textiles online. There is a book called Anatolian Knitting Designs - here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Anatolian-Knitting-Designs-Collected-Shantytown/dp/B0006EAWVM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269367898&sr=8-1 that I have just got to find a copy of! I find the Turkish textiles to have such beautiful patterns and wonderful color combinations - I could be endlessly inspired by them alone. So many designs...so little time......

Gearing up for Spring....

Told you that I was loving the tulips!!

The Springvale Pouch is done! Knit with Elmore Pisgah's Article 960 (100% mercerized cotton) on tiny (2.5mm) needles in some bright, spring-y colors, it is lined with soft Eco-Fi recycled felt (recycled from plastic bottles - how cool is that?!!) and a zippered top with a little sunny beaded zipper pull.

It will go up on Etsy this afternoon....

Bristol

Bristol is an ipod sleeve - a snug little bag to keep your ipod (or similarly sized device) cozy. The size is perfect to fit my ipod classic! It is knit densely on small needles and is nice and thick to protect whatever you put inside. It is wool, so it has a little stretch to fit snugly like a sweater.

The patterning is similar to what I used on the Madison bag and was inspired by traditional Finnish designs. I wanted to see how the wool knitted up versus the cotton (for the Madison). It makes for a smaller, yet stretchier bag - more of a cozy or sweater for an ipod. I may have to experiment with more of these in the same shape!

New bag!

This is my Freeport Pouch. It is a little wallet-sized pouch - great for holding cash and credit cards or as a coin purse or other little bag. It is knitted from mercerized cotton and has a zipper top. Very cute and fun! No real inspiration for this one - I was just playing with color and patterns.

Another WIP

Here is another WIP.
I got the urge to start a new project (!) right before Thanksgiving. It should be a quick little bag, based on some traditional Finnish designs. It is knit in an extremely thin mercerized cotton.