Loom Beading Bracelet Watch - How to attach the strap

This is a short updates on the loom beading watch project. You can find the complete project writeup here.

Updates

"The attachment of the beaded strap to the watch is a bit tricky. Nylon beading thread is used in this case. This is the same thread used for loom beading which is how the watch strap is created. The type of nylon thread used in this case is thin enough to go through a seed bead a few rounds and yet strong enough to withstand breakage.

Used beading needle to go through the first bead on the strap with the nylon thread and then make a turn through the strap bar of the watch. Repeat this about 5 times until the bead on the other end is reached. You will have to secure the thread first before you start and after when it is done to hide the ends. The tricky part is that the needle may not be able to go through the hole between the strap bar and the watch face, so you may have to remove the needle and just use the thread to do this and re-thread the needle for the bead each time. I know this sound tedious. In this project I use a normal watch but there are watches sold by craft stores that are designed for beading projects which would not come under this category."

Knitting Calculator for Shaping Armhole

We have just released the Knitting Calculator for Armhole Shaping.

This is the second of the Knitting Calculator series on Craft2Style.com. The first Knitting Calculator for Waist Shaping was released earlier. Read about our waist shaping calculator here on our blog.

How to use the Armhole Shaping Knitting Calculator:

After submitting the form, click on the 'See Knitting Instruction' link at the top of the web page or simply scroll down to see the detailed knitting instruction.

Have a nice day!

Craft2Styler

Sandra Knitting Pattern - Short Sleeve Sweater

After a long wait of almost 2 years, I finally completed this project. Have to resize the gauge as a different yarn and needle was used. I was attracted to the lace pattern. I think it turns out pretty well although I took a different approach on the lace hem. For the sleeves, I tried to follow Sandra's instruction but realise that was a big mistake. The instruction is incomplete! Was about to give up after a few attempts. In the end, have to take the lace pattern and chart it out row by row, superimpose it with the sleeve template in the order that one can read for sleeve shaping. This is definitely not a beginner's project!

The sweater pattern was taken from Sandra's Feburary 2006 Issue. For some odd reason, the magazine picture shows the model wearing the sweater with the cardigan over it. There is no photographic representation of the sweater by itself.

Have a great weekend!

Craft2Styler ;)

Not Your Old Grandmother's Knits

In the beginning of this Blog, I mentioned about my Mother who learned to knit at 70. Here's a picture of her latest completed project:



I like the lace border and I think the color looks nice on her.The yarn she used was from Japan which is also my favourite. According to the label, it is Egyptian Cotton. It has a particular silk like sheen that reflects the light well.

Cheers,

Craft2Styler

Knitting Calculator for Shaping Waist

My knitting projects consist of mostly cotton knits for summer wear. Unlike knitting for the cooler weather, summer knitting requires closer fits and more detailed shaping as layering is often not an option in warm weather. To do this, many knitters employ charting and some form of computations on papers. I find the process both tedious and cumbersome but unavoidable.

I use the online Knitting Calculator for Waist Shaping. The original intention is create a set of knitting instruction that could assist or remove the charting works done on papers. Much of the testing has been done before releasing it online. The shaping computed by the Knitting Calculator is straight forward with basically one knit stitch decrease or increase introduced for the affected row. Some works have been done to round off the numbers to achieve smoother increases or decrease and to space out the stitches. However, this should not alter or affect the fit from the original intended sizing of the knitted garment.


How to Use the Knitting Calculator of Shaping Waist:

1. The Knitting Calculator for Waist Shaping is available on Craft2Style.com. Just click on the link.

2. Enter the gauge and measurements into the required fields to submit. Once valid information is accepted by the Knitting Calculator, a textbox containing the knitting instruction for waist shaping will appear below the submit button. You will also see a knitting instruction link at the top of the page. Clicking on this link leads you to the full view of the textbox.

3. To copy the knitting instruction in the text box, place the cursor in the textbox and do a mouse right click to select all. Do a right click again to copy.

Go to Craft2Style.com's Knitting Calculator for Waist Shaping

All comments on the Knitting Calculator are appreciated. Please let me know if you find a bug in the applications.

Have a nice day!

Craft2Styler

5 Ways to Knit with Your PDA

I received a few emails recently regarding my earlier post on using the PDA in knitting projects. It is difficult to ignore how technology has infiltrated our daily lives. Many knitters are savvy users of technology and are not afraid to use this on the craft that they love. I love knitting but in addition to that I love how I could deploy my little Dell Axim Pocket PC onto this hobby of mine:

1) Tool for the Creative Knitter.

The pocket notebook comes with basic programs such as Pocket Word, a simple word processing application. This is comparable to Microsoft Words and WordPad documents. I use this to read and amend the patterns generated by Knitware. For those of you who do not know what Knitware is, it is a Windows based knitting application that you installed onto your computer. It generates custom fitted patterns based on your inputs and measurements. The knitting instruction generated by Knitware is saved in .doc format and transferred onto the SD storage card that I used with my Dell Axim.

2) View all Patterns on the Go

The pocket PC is a great keeper of knitting patterns. It is the ideal tool when used as a portable reader for the knitter on the go. Download the free Adobe Reader at the Adobe website, and this allows me to read all my favourite commercial knitting patterns in .pdf formats just like my laptop.

3)Keep Track of Your Stash

One of the main complain of Knitters is the difficulty of keeping track of their overflowing knitting supplies. The people who created KnitAble seems to have come up with an ideal solution to this. KnitAble is mainly a knitting database applications that keeps track of patterns and knitting tools. It comes with metric and needles conversion information, and knitters' calculators among other uses.

4) Keep Pictures of Your Projects and Stash while You Shop

The PDA is a great tool to show off the knitter's latest achievements to friends and family. Take pictures of your completed works and share your knitting projects with the people you love. Or take pictures of your yarn and labels while shopping for knitting supplies. This keeps me from selecting the same color or yarn that is already in my stash.

5) Go Green with Your Portable Thoughts

Before the PDA, I kept rough notes of knitting projects in bits and pieces of papers. These includes unreadable scripting that only the writer understand but a valuable resource no doubt in the creative process. I use my Dell Axim to organise my thoughts and keep track of them at the same time. No more fuss searching for lost papers. Go green with your thoughts!

There are many reasons why and how we use technology. The significance of its application to the knitters is the values that only the users could appreciates.

Have a great day!

Craft2Styler

Knitting with PDA and Knitware

Being a self-professed geek, gadgets have always fascinated me. When I knit, my PDA ranked well beside my needles and balls of yarns. Not one to follow instruction religiously, I tends to alter most patterns as I start working on a project. The PDA allows for improvisation and records of changes to the patterns directly as the knitting progresses. My 5-years old Dell Axim is a faithful carrier of all my knitting pattern in their simple wordpad formats.


Not to mention I have much to thank the people who created Knitware. They have made many knitting enthusiasts happy with their click and generated, custom-fitted designs that are so portable in the same format. No more fuss with papers.

Have a nice day!

Craft2Styler

The Beginning of a Crafter's Blog

This day marks the beginning of Craft2Style.com new blog. I have been lazy in updating the web site. And for a while it seems like the creative juice has dried up. It is not until I started to pickup the knitting needles again that I realized how much crafting becomes a part of me. I would say my mother inspired me on the way. At the age of 70 she took up knitting and joined a local knitting circle where she made some new friends. She has produced some delicately beautiful pieces for the past 4 years. Will post some pictures of her works here when I meet up with her the next time.

As for myself, despite having learned the craft 20 years ago, I was slow in completing pieces mostly because of works and other crafting interest that somehow get in the way. Most of the craft you find on this site was done after dinner. My current project is a short sleeve top with laced hem. Hope to see it all done up in a couple of months before something else get in the way. I am keeping my fingers crossed on that.

Until next time, I hope to upload more projects done by the other designers and myself onto Craft2Style.com. Have a nice day.

Craft2Styler