Booties

I decided to get creative and try to make up a new pattern for booties. So far all I have is the sole.
  I'm not even sure about the colors. My mom says they look a like a carrot. But at least you should be able to find them if you're in a hurry.
I was going for something gender neutral so I could give the prototype to whichever family member has a child next.

  Why make a new pattern, you ask? Because the other one took too long to make. My cousin had twins a few years ago and I wasn't able to make both pairs before the shower; I ended up having to ship them a week later. I'd rather not have to do that again.
  I've been stuck trying to figure out what type of stich I should make the top part out of. I think I'm going to have to just bite the bullet and make one. I'm leaning towards a slip stich pattern like this pair of socks I made that my mom loves.

Sorry I didn't post for a couple of weeks, I've been working on getting ready for school. Classes start on the 28th assuming we're not underwater. Hopefully it won't be that bad.
      Have a bat-tastic day everyone!

Hair Barrette

  I've become rather enamored with the type of hair barrettes that use a hair stick and a piece of metal or fabric to hold your hair back. Right now I am trying to make my own with knitting. I have three versions in mind - I don't have the yarn for one right now, but I hope to remedy that soon.- I have the prototype for the 'original' done and have finished alpha testing it.

  The hair sticks are holding me up. I tried to dye them by soaking them in green food dye, water, and vinegar; thinking it wouldn't rub off that way, and that it would be easy to dye a bunch at once. But while it did dye them and the dye was a beautiful shade of green, the sticks are little weird looking. The are a lot paler in person then in the photo. I'm not sure if I want to go with it or not. 


P.S. I finished the shorts. They are a little long. But I only plan on wearing them around the house. Not bad considering I didn't have a pattern. Next I will be making pairs out of some fabric I bought. (The shorts I showed you were made from some fabric my grandmother gave me.)  But I won't be using a invisible hem for the others. Such a pain!    
 

                Thank you from reading Bats Bizarre's offical blog. Have a bat-tastic day!

What I'm Working on Between Projects

   Last December I started working on my first knitted blanket. Originally it was going to be a receiving blanket but over the freezing winter I've had I decided to make something I could use.

  I'm pretty far along right now, almost half way, and am compulsively measuring my work.

  I hate casting on a lot of stitches so I designed it as a corner up piece. Since this is my first blanket and I knew I would be working it on and off between other projects I decided to keep the blanket simple with a stockinet stich (one purl row then a knit row.) and a row of crochet edging to fancy it up and keep the blanket from rolling up. I went with a crochet edging for three reasons: I don't practice my crochet enough, most of the really cool edgings are done with crochet, and I stink at picking up stitches using knitting needles.       

  I knew I was going to use one of my Sensations Rainbow Boucle skeins; but that still left the question of which color to choose. I was torn between either of my greens, or my purple. It was a tough decision, but I eventually picked color#1019 or Berry Print, in honor of the color of 2014 Radiant Orchid. (I.e.: I couldn't pick which one of the greens I liked better.) Plus I can always make versions of it in both of the greens later if the pattern works out.

  Don't be surprised if you don't see this blanket for sale in my shop anytime soon.  I'm not sure if I'll sell it at all. It takes a while to knit. I am looking into selling the pattern, but I'm not sure how many people want a pattern for knitting and crochet.

  P.S. I'm using the new interchangeable knitting needles I won along with some yarn from Storey Publishing's September Giveaway.

       Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's offical blog. Have a bat-tastic day! 

P. P.S This is the yarn I use to make my Colorful Boucle Cowls. I call the purple cowl Berry Purple. See the listing here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/171658076/colorful-boucle-cowls?ref=shop_home_active_19
         

Make your own Knitting Bag

Need a bag to hold your supplies? Cut up an old pair of pants, the only thing you have to buy are the handles. That's how I made mine.

      It's not quite as neat as some of those roll up needle holders, but I can store those tiny ball of leftover yarn in it.

 One of the best things about using an old pair of pants are the pre-made pockets. If don't sew the top part down you can have two pockets in one spot.
   (Plus jean fabric doesn't unravel as easily as most fabric does and is very study.) 

  I cut the legs off the pants, so they were the same length, 21" long in this case. Then I cut up the seam so that they were flat panels of fabric.
   I lined the pieces up and sewed them together.
  After that I folded the top edge of the bag over to hold the handles. I just eye balled it when cut a slit in the folded over part for the handles to go out of.
   If you want a more finished look you could use chalk to mark where you need to cut the fold for the hands to come out of cut there and stitch the edges to limit unraveling before you sew the fold over lengthwise.

Now it's all about customization! I put the pockets inside by sewing the original pockets inside the bag. It was so easy I'm thinking of adding a couple more. All you need are an old pair of pants, a sewing machine, something to use as a handle, and an imagination.

  

                            Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's offical blog. Have a bat-tastic day!

  

  

Four leaf clover choker

I like St. Patrick's Day. Every year I wear as much green as possible.
  I thought it would be cool if I could make earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet to wear on St. Patrick's Day. I'm still working on the bracelet, but I should have it posted by Friday. 
 I also like knitted chokers so I thought I'd combine the two. Unfortunately, I don't like to (nor am I good at) embroidering knitting and I couldn't find a pattern for color working four leaf clovers in any of my books or the ones at the library. So I thought to myself 'Well I'll just make a pattern, that's how all these other patterns started out.'

   I stated by doodling four leaf clovers out of small circles until I fund one I liked. Next I cast on about 12  stiches (just enough for there to be at lest two stitches framing the clover) and tried to knit it. Of course this first one didn't look that great, and was far too large, so I made a few changes to the picture and tried again. After eight tries I finally fond one that looked like a clover and wasn't so wide that it made you look like you had a short, fat neck. 
  This probably would have been easier if I had used graphing paper, But I don't have any and don't plan on buying any.

It is 14" long and 1" wide (not stretched) and costs $16. Convo me with your order if you want a different size. The yarn is 100% acrylic. View the entire listing and buy your own here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/118288635/four-leaf-clover-choker-necklace

Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's official blog. Have a bat-tastic day!