black friday yarn

Some yarn buying happened yesterday, but not in a store. In fact, I don’t think there is a LYS at all in my city. KnitPicks, however, was having a sale (and still is), and it was impossible to resist.

I decided to try a new yarn, hoping for some motivation and inspiration, and the Hawthorne line caught my eye. The Hawthorne yarn is a fingering/sock weight yarn and is composed of 80% superwash fine highland wool and 20% nylon, and every colorway is gorgeous! I hope it’s soft, too, because I got 6 skeins.

Here are pictures of the colorways I purchased:

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Aren’t they lovely? I can’t wait to receive them and get to work on some projects!

Have you ever tried this line of KnitPicks yarn? If so, what did you think?

That’s all for today, I think. Thank you for stopping by!

crochet in the works — fox amigurumi

That’s right, crochet, not knitting. I’m currently working on this Fibi the Fox pattern. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

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I bought the KnitPicks palette yarn for this but I’m not sure if I’ll really need the second ball of the reddish brownish orange color:

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Didn’t think it would take so long, but the yarn and hook are so tiny! My hands also get a bit tired after working on small objects after a while, does that happen to you too? More than with bigger projects, I mean. Not that I’m complaining about the yarn size and hook — I think it’ll make a beautiful item when I’m done! All that’s left are the arms and tail and sewing all the bits together.

It should be mentioned that the patterns from that particular Raveler do cost money, but I think the shapes are so cute I’d rather just follow the instructions than try to guess and end up with something not as good. I also bought the dragon pattern because I LOVE dragons (as you may remember from my giveaway a while back when I gave away a “Dragonriders of Pern” book), but many of the patterns are so similar that I bet I can figure out the bear and mouse, etc. on my own, and the bunny mod is free.

I think these would be good Christmas gifts for children but unfortunately I don’t really know very many, so they’ll just keep me company for now, which is fine with me! I haven’t even bought the yarn for the dragons since the fox is taking so long. Hopefully it’ll be done soon, and I’ll give an update as soon as that happens!

That’s all the yarny news for today, thanks for stopping by!

sewing scissors acquisition

My parents and I went to one of my favorite antique malls yesterday up in Charlotte, NC. They got me a fantastic vintage 9″ pink Pyrex pie plate and also some [presumably] vintage sewing scissors!

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I don’t know exactly how old they are but they look awesome and they’re REALLY sharp.

Something about having pretty crochet/knitting tools just makes the whole process just a tad more indulgent (kind of like a really expensive and luxurious skein of yarn), don’t you think?

What are some of your special tools? Have any antique hooks or needles, or maybe a really cool measuring tape? Let me know in the comments, and as always, thanks for stopping by!

4 tips for making baby shower gifts

baby hat

Above is a gift I gave to my coworker at the last baby shower I attended.  This weekend I’m going to another baby shower, and I’m trying to narrow down options for an appropriate gift.  I’ve got some tips to help:

  1. Use cheap yarn.  Baby things can get messed up.
  2. Use yarn that’s soft enough for a baby’s skin.  This might mean counting out your favorite wool, even if it feels soft to you.
  3. Use yarn that is both machine washable and dryable.  This will help busy moms clean your gift easily, meaning your gift is more likely to get used if the mom isn’t worrying about getting it dirty.
  4. If you want to use a natural fiber, try cotton or bamboo.  They’ll keep the baby warm if you’re making something wearable but they will still breathe, keeping the items from being too hot.

With these tips in mind, I’ve found a few items in my house that are already complete and waiting to be gifted to a soon-to-be mom.  The first is made of Stylecraft Special DK leftovers from a previous blanket (100% acrylic):

baby blanket 1The second is also acrylic (maybe Caron Simply Soft?) and has been around for a couple of years:

baby blanket 2Both of these blankets are soft, made of acrylic, and machine washable and dryable.  Since I’m not sure if I’ll have time to make something else, it’s a choice between the two, but the 4 tips apply to almost anything you want to knit/crochet for a baby.

What are your favorite things to make for babies?

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

 

row counter ring and a summer update

Have you seen the beautiful row counter rings handmade by Kristan MacIntyre?  I ordered one and received it in the mail yesterday:

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How cool is that?  It’s made from sterling silver and can be made in your specific size.  Mine is the stamped version in size 5 but you can get the numbers hand engraved and you can also get rubies added.

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There’s a little notch that you can’t see in these pictures because the ring is rotated on my finger, but the notch indicates where you are, so you align your current numbers with it.  I like to keep that notch on the side of my finger so that I can see it really easily when I’m knitting/crocheting.

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Isn’t is pretty?  One of my favorite things about this ring is that it is an actual piece of jewelry, not just some brightly colored piece of plastic that you wouldn’t want to wear out in public.

Price range depends on whether you get the stamped or hand engraved version and whether or not you choose to get the rubies added.  You can head over to Kristan’s website here to view the options for yourself, and check out her other knitting related jewelry! She has some beautiful shawl pins, a really cool needle sizing pendant, and more! I’m eyeing that pendant…

So, for the summer update bit.  I’m happily enjoying this whole week off of work for the 4th of July holiday. I was getting a bit burned out at work, to tell the truth, so this was a great time for a little vacation! My boyfriend Chris is working all week, so we can’t actually go anywhere, but I don’t mind staying at home one bit. It’s great just spending time with him and the dog and doing lots of eating and sleeping and movie watching (and not much else)!

And speaking of home, I have some flowers on my front stoop now that my parents got for me:

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Aren’t they pretty?  That last one is actually a citronella plant to keep mosquitos away (after all we do live in a very humid climate and our location is right by a river). There’s actually a 4th plant, too, but it’s looking very sad. I think it got too much sun so I moved it to the shade, but it might be too late. Well, with my horrible gardening skills, I’m actually pretty pleased that only one plant is looking bad and not more!

You can see our dog Zero in the second picture there, looking across the road at our neighbors’ dog and wanting to play.  Poor Zero — I haven’t been able to walk her as much lately because it’s been so hot!  I don’t want her little paws to burn on the pavement and she starts panting so quickly, so we just go early in the morning on days I have off.  This week should be good for her!

Well, I guess that’s all for now.  I’m off to go eat dinner with my parents and my aunt, who is visiting from Arkansas.  Hopefully I’ll post a crafty update with some knitting or crocheting soon — I HAVE been working on things… a bit…  🙂  Anyway, thanks for stopping by!