How to Knit: Casting On

This is probably the most difficult part of knitting, casting on.  If you have read my last blog about how to make a slip knot, (if not, what are you doing, go read that first!), you will already have your knitting needle with your slip knot.
1. Take your needle with the slip knot in your right hand. Make sure that your have the two strings hanging from your needle ready.
2. With these two hanging strings place the string connected to the bundle of yarn on the right and the string with the end of the yarn on the left.
3. Take the two strings and grasp both with your fist
4. With your pointer finger put it in between the two strings
5. Now with your finger between the strings, and still grasping the strings in your fist move your finger to the right so that the string connected to the bundle of yarn is behind your finger.
6. Put your thumb up, continuing to hold the strings in your fist and your pointer finger still placed in front of the string connected to your bundle of yarn, wrap your thumb around the string that has the end of the yarn.
7. Now for the tricky part, with your needle, push it through the string that is wrapped around to the back of your thumb, connected to the bundle of yarn.
8.  Bring your needle over to the right where there should be a tight string going around your pointer finger, with your needle, go from moving your needle from on top of that string, to over and under the string.
9. Now you can see that there is a loop from your needle to your thumb, with your knitting needle, go through the loop and let go!
10. Pull tight and there is a another loop on your knitting needle!

Do these ten steps however many times you want to. As you continue to cast on to your needle you will be adding on to the length of your creation, so if you want more width to your scarf, that means more loops, and you will need to start out with more length to your string with the end to it.  Just remember to plan ahead! When you have finished casting on, cut off the rest of your string with the end of the yarn off.  But make sure you don't cut too short otherwise when you begin to knit the string will come up and unravel.  If you do make a mistake casting on, don't worry because pulling on the string will unravel the loops on your needle.

Knitting: how to do the slip knot

I have been knitting for over four years, but in the past year I have lost interest.  I recently started again, and have loved it! So for my blogs this week I am doing tutorials on how to start knitting!
You will need:
1. Yarn, for learning how to knit use yarn that is not too thin, and a bit stretchy.  Using this kind of yarn will prevent your knitting from becoming too tight on your knitting needle.
2. Knitting needles, they range from size 0 to 15, 15 being the largest size. For learning how to knit use larger needle sizes, like a size between 8-12.
The first thing you will need to do to begin your piece of knitting artwork is a slip knot. To do this knot drag out the end of the string from your yarn so you can work with some length.
From this point on I will refer to the end of the yarn as the "end" and the other side of your length of string as the "bundle" because it is connected to the mass of yarn.
In your right hand take the end of the yarn that is closest to the bundle, and with the left hand take the end that is next to the end of the yarn. Make a loop with the piece of yarn making sure that the yarn from the bundle is the back of the loop. Then take the side of the string closest to your bundle and bring it to the front of the loop, then from the back of the loop take that string you just brought in front and pull it through the loop.
Now you have another loop as you have pulled the string through the original loop, and with this, put it on your knitting needle. Make sure not to pull it before it is on your needle because as a slip knot, it will pull loose and leave you with your original piece of string.
Once the slip knot is on your knitting needle take the two strings hanging from your needle and pull both of them, making the knot tight.

Now you have your slip knot, and the next step is to start casting on, congratulations you are on your way to becoming a master knitter!

Metallic Nails

For a fun, creative blog I decided to do a tutorial on how to create metallic like nails.  To create this, use any kind of nail polish you want, but preferably a shiny, metallic like nail polish. I used Essie's Blue Rhapsody found at Ulta for eight dollars and fifty cents. For the unique look, use aluminum foil. Lastly use Beauty Secrets, hardener nail polish.
Start by cutting a square of aluminum foil, be careful not to bend it as best as you can.  For each nail you will cut a small triangle, so taking your square cut out several smaller squares, then cut those squares in half for your triangles. Before you use nail polish, measure the aluminum foil against each nail to make sure that the foil reaches to the left corner of your nail, and on the right hand side, the foil does not leave the nail uncovered.
Now that you have the aluminum foil measured out, apply whatever nail polish you chose to the first nail.  Wait a few minutes before applying the second coat, and right after you applied the second coat, put the triangle of aluminum foil onto the nail, in the way described in the last paragraph. The aluminum foil will most likely over lap the nail, don't worry, this will be fixed later. The important thing is to make sure the foil is all the way on the nail, not leaving any parts to stick up.
After the foil is on the nail, make sure the edges are flat before you apply the hardener nail polish which will make sure that the foil will not slide.  Continue doing this until all nails are done on one hand, and let them dry before cutting the aluminum foil for the next hand.
When the nail polish and hardener has dried you can use a regular pair of scissors to cut off the rest of foil that is hanging off the nail. If there is still extra foil, just fold it under your nail for an easy fix.
Have fun with it!

pearl bracelet

For this week's blog I decided to do a tutorial on how to make a pearl bracelet.  For materials you will need craft pearl beads, they can be any size, or even multiple sizes. I found these at Michael's for about two dollars. The next thing you will need is a silver chain, relatively small, to tie the beads onto. This can also be found at Michael's.  To tie the beads to the silver chain you can use any kind of wire, make sure it is white/silver and is easy to shape. The last material you need is bead pliers, at Michael's where you can buy them for under five dollars.
First, measure the length of chain by wrapping it around your wrist, leaving some room.  Disconnect the length of your bracelet from the chain by using your bead pliers.
cut about three fourths of an inch of wire if you are using point twenty-three plastic pearl beads. Place the a pearl bead through the wire, then for the hardest spot, take the bead pliers and holding one side of the wire, wrap the other side with the wire up around the top of the bead, leaving room for the bead to be tied to the chain.
Now with your bead secured onto the wire, with extra room for the wire to be tied, take the bead pliers and loop the wire around one of the chain's loops, making sure the wire is tight against the chain loop, keep wrapping the wire until there is not any more wire to wrap. To make sure the wire does not poke you while you are wearing it, press down on the wire, wherever it ends on the chain with your pliers, making it flat instead of upright and sharp.
An alternative to tying the wire two times is to buy headpin wire, this is wire that has one end flat, making it so that when you put the pearl of the wire, it will sit on one end, with this you will not have to tie the wire up to the top so that the pearl bead will not slip off. I would have used these head pin wires, but I have trouble finding them at craft stores.
For me, the process of tying a single bead onto the chain takes about five minutes, so instead of connecting a pearl to every single chain, I did it every four chains. When you have finished tying to pearls, you can either take a lobster clasp and bend the wire with your bead pliers, or simply make the chain large enough to be able to slip your hand through the bracelet, but not loose enough that it will fall off.


Happy Crafting!

Favorite Craft Supplies

Since a lot of my blogs include craft projects I decided to do a blog on the basic materials I use for a lot of my blogs.
One major material that I have used in multiple blogs is a plastic craft sheet that can be found at Walmart for about ten dollars.  You may not even have to buy one, just use a large, old towel to prevent your floor from getting paint, glitter, or any other mess made from doing projects get on the floor.  For me this is the most important thing you use to do your projects.
Another material I use a lot, is brushes.  These are black foam brushes that are used for applying polyurethane onto wood, but in cheer leading we used it for varsity and homecoming signs.  I would get these in each size, they are extremely useful when you want to paint large letters or a large space. Black foam brushes are found at Walmart, a twenty pack of one inch brushes is only five dollars and thirty-one cents!
A lot of my blogs also include painting, and my favorite paint to use for crafts is Tempera paint, which is found at Micheal's and Walmart, a sixteen fluid ounce bottle is only two dollars! The paint removed with water and soap, so if it gets on your clothes don't worry about it!
I haven't done a lot of blogs with puffy paint, but in the past I've made splatter pictures and used puffy paint on shirts. I also found puffy paint at Walmart, a twelve pack for ten dollars.
For glue I like to use Mod Podge instead of Elmer's because it is cheap (sixteen fluid ounces for seven dollars at Walmart), and is a great glue for crafts!
Then, of course, I have glitter, which I have used for homecoming signs, and for making a glitter jar! This costs seven dollars for a sixteen ounce bottle at Walmart.
So those are some basic materials I find very useful, (and reasonably priced), when doing craft projects.

Homemade Spray Paint

For another "artsy" blog post I am making my own spray paint and attempting an ombre type painting.  You will need a spray bottle,(the size of the spray bottle doesn't matter), one type of color of tempera paint, and another bottle of white tempera paint. Tempera paint can be found at Micheal's or Walmart for two dollars per bottle! You will want to have a plastic sheet underneath your paper you are spraying, or if the weather is nice, you can go outside.  Tempera paint is washable, so even if you get some on carpet, or clothes, it will come out with soap and water! For your paper I glued two pieces of card stock paper together because the regular paper I tried to use the first time ripped very easily.
Spread out the plastic sheet of paper with the card stock in the middle. When I first found this demonstration it said to use two parts paint, one part water, but I have found that the paint gets stuck very easily in the tube of the spray bottle if you use this formula.  Instead mix 2 parts water, one part paint. You can mix it by shaking the bottle above the plastic sheet, it will most likely leak a little.
For starters use a plastic garbage bag and spray the inside of the bag with the spray bottle, once it is a fine, solid color mix spray it about two feet above the paper lightly.  The painting will dry in about ten minutes, always turning into an interesting painting.
For the ombre painting I divided the sheet up into eight rectangles, marking the spots with a pencil mark.  I then took another piece of card stock and tapped it over the double card stock paper, only leaving one rectangle of the double card stock paper visible. After making sure the spray was fine and the color solid I sprayed the first rectangle lightly.
Moving on to the next rectangle I used another piece of card stock to cover up the rectangle that has already been painted. You don't have to wait for the paint to dry before you move on to the next rectangle on your paper. To make the color a little lighter I squirted a small amount of white Tempera paint into the spray bottle and swished it around, in order to prevent the consistency from becoming too thick I also added some more water to the mix. You will see that sometimes the white paint will get stuck in the tube of the spray bottle, and that sometimes you will not get a fine mist but a thin line squirting out of the bottle, that is why it is VERY important to squirt the inside of a garbage bag a couple times BEFORE squirting the paper.
You continue this pattern of shifting the papers to the next rectangle and adding both white tempera paint and water to the spray bottle until you reach the end of your paper.  I used a red tempera color so by the time I reached the bottom of my paper it was a pinkish color.
As my first time with this project the painting didn't turn out as well as I had intended, but I will do another blog sometime in the future with this same "Spray Paint" idea, so stay tuned!
(I do however really like how the other random squirt paintings turned out!)