Knitting
Finger Knit Bracelet
Hello devoted reader. Wow is it just me, or did summer fly by? It’s been a mad dash to get in all of the fun we possibly could. We vacationed, we camped, we swam, we reunioned, We’ve done it all! Now it is time to get back to some sort of routine. School is back in session, and so am I.
I don’t make new years resolutions but I make back to school resolutions and this year I have many. The usual resolutions like lose weight, eat healthier, craft more, things like that. So my drive to craft is only stronger now than it ever was. And boy do I have ideas. They float about my head just waiting to be made and then blogged about. These crafts in my brain are still un-crafted though so for a little while I might have to post some things from the past. Here, for instance, is a lovely bracelet that I learned to make a while ago. 
Have you ever tried finger knitting? Well I saw a lovely post by V and Co. on how to make a finger knit bracelet out of t-shirt yarn. Remember how I love t-shirt yarn? Well, dear reader, I saw this and I simply had to make one
I had never once finger knitted though. Crazy thing is, I had a lot of trouble with it. I can knit up a storm, but finger knitting proved challenging. I think it was because I just couldn’t understand it using only the photos on V and Co.’s web site. I found a video that helped though (this is a different technique than is shown on the V and Co website, but the results are the same.) Once I got the hang of it, my little 7 year old wanted to learn. He’s awesome at it, as you can see. 
Well once you learn, it’s as easy as can be to make a bracelet out of T-shirt yarn. I made one the other day in the car on my way to a wedding (I wasn’t driving). Seriously this takes 10 min to make. You can make them out of anything too. Jersy knit is stretchy so it makes it a little easier but wouldn’t it be lovely to make one out of rope? Oh or ribbon, or wire? So many options.
Conference Knitting
This weekend is LDS General Conference. That means 3 of my favorite things happen all at the same time. I get to (1) be spiritually uplifted while (2) wearing my jammies all day and (3) I get to knit without feeling like I should be doing something else. You see, knitting is my passion. I love the rhythm of it, I love that you can create so many different things with just one big long string, and I love the satisfaction of a finished project. It being a hobby though, I don’t feel good about sitting around all day knitting. I usually wait until the kids are in bed before I pick up my needles. General Conference weekend is the exception though. I can feel good about listening and knitting all day long. 
I want to share with you my favorite knitting and crocheting tool. ravelry.com, sometimes I don’t know how the world functioned without ravelry. I will try to explain. Ravelry is an online community kind of like Facebook but not at all like Facebook. You can post photos of the knitted or crochet projects you’ve worked on. You can join groups (for instance I belong to a gluten free knitters group. What does gluten intolerance have to do with knitting? You’ll have to join to find out.) You can browse what other people have made to get ideas. You can look through hundreds of thousands of patterns using really great filters to narrow things down. You can save the projects or patterns you like to look at later. If you have ever knit or crochet anything you should check it out. If you do, click on the people tab and look me up . I’m Joooniper, friend me, I’d love to see what projects you are working on.
Teddy Bear
When I’m in between knitting projects, and I just don’t know what to do. I like to make knitted or crocheted animals. My favorite knitted animals are teddy bears. Specifically the Save the Children Teddy. They make me super happy.
There’s something about making something with a face that’s so satisfying. One of the things I like most about this pattern is that it’s all one piece except the arms. It is sewed together up the inside of the legs, the center of the tummy and in a V from the nose to each ear. You stuff it as you sew it together, then sew on the arms and embroider a face. I’m not great at faces. Even still they turn out pretty cute and lovable. 
My first bear was the green guy on the left. He turned out great but I felt like he was a little too big for the quick, satisfying project I was going for. For the rest of the bears, including the blue fellow on the right, I modified the pattern using fewer stitches and fewer rows. I don’t think the shape of the smaller bear’s face is perfect. I only made one big guy though so it could have just been beginners luck. Old bluey here is about 10 inches and big green is 14 inches when knit on size US 4 needles. If you want a copy of my changes, email me and I’ll send them to you.
I made my bears to give to a charitable organization. I haven’t given them away yet, I’m still adding to the collection, but I love knitting along thinking about some little child loving one of the bears that I made.