new project!

November 30, 2014 by 5 Comments

Finally, I’m diligently working on something:

It’s the beginnings of the Gothic Lace Cowl and I’m making it for my fiance’s younger sister, who is also going to be the maid of honor in the wedding.  She asked for a scarf in a burnt orange color (it’s one of her school colors), and this particular one is cool because you can wear it as a short scarf or as a cowl — it has buttons so you can change it up.  I’m going to try to get it done by Christmas, but with the two times I’ve already had to frog and go back a ways, I’ll have to be working at a decent rate.  We shall see.

The yarn is Berroco Vintage, a machine washable worsted weight yarn composed of 52% acrylic, 40% wool, and 8% nylon.  It’s one of my favorites for gifts and blankets because it is warm, pretty soft, and commonly retails for about $8.50 per skein, which is 100g and 200m.  The color is slightly heather-y:

By the way, the cute stitch markers pictured were purchased from Ruth, who runs the blog Ruth Plus Two, on her Etsy shop, where she also has hand-dyed yarns for sale.

While I’m giving shoutouts I have to mention Nicky, who runs the blog D’NALI, because she was so kind as to send me her extra copy of a Vogue Knitting book, as well as a sweet card:

Thank you so much Nicky, the book has already helped me figure out a couple of knitting techniques that were baffling me!  It was very kind of you to send it and I greatly appreciate it!

And lastly, I want to let everyone know how delicious these are:

I bought these from Target and they are incredible!  I’ve been gobbling them up while knitting and marathoning the Harry Potter movies.  Kind of obsessed with those.

Well, that’s all for today.  Hopefully I’ll be able to post the finish scarf/cowl soon!  Thanks for stopping by!

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a beard hat and Christmas

December 14, 2013 by 6 Comments

Sorry it’s been so long!  I’ve been busy enjoying my job, Christmas shopping, and running lots of errands.  One project is at least finished: a beard hat for my friend Jamie for Christmas.

beard hatI had to show it to you while wearing it to get the full effect, haha.  The beard itself is it’s own knitted pattern, found for free here, and the hat is also a free knitted pattern, found for free here.  You can’t really recognize it in this photo but it’s the same hat pattern as one I’ve already made.  The beard is just attached to the hat with safety pins, so it can be removed and attached to other hats if desired.  The beard and hat took about a day each to make, so it was a quick gift!

I’ve enjoyed preparing for Christmas, even though there hasn’t been much to do here.  We don’t really have very many Christmas decorations as of yet, but we did buy our first tree!  Here’s Chris adding some finishing touches.

IMG_2382Some people get really stressed out during the Christmas season, but for some reason we’re managing to avoid that and stay really cheerful!  Maybe it helps that we don’t have cable so we’re not constantly watching Christmas commercials on TV, or maybe it’s the fact that we have done almost all of our shopping online, thus avoiding the overcrowded malls.  It could also be that I’m really enjoying my job and am feeling much more secure now that I’m making money, and that we’re still really happy with the new house.  The really yummy cinnamon tea I got from Target also adds some festive cheer to my mornings.  I do miss my friends back up around Charlotte, but we’ll get to see them soon, which is another cause for happiness!

I hope you are having a happy Christmas season too — I’ve seen lots of happy blog posts so I know that at least some of you are!  Hopefully it won’t be so long before my next post, but in the mean time, my very best wishes to all of you!  If you’re traveling, please stay safe!

 

 

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a new app and some projects

May 10, 2013 by 4 Comments

the app

For those knitters with iPhones (and maybe other smartphones too), there is an app that takes your specific measurements, yarn, preferred design elements, and gauge and comes up with a customized raglan sweater pattern.  Here are some screenshots from my phone:

raglanify screenshots

Pretty neat, huh?  It’s a lot of information to put in, sure, but I bet it would be worth it for a perfect fitting sweater!  The app, “Raglanify,” is $0.99 in the app store, which is great for what it does, I think.

the new project

After thinking about my last post, wondering whether or not to attempt the Wonder Woman sweater (which I would alter), I decided against it.  Can’t afford the yarn right now in anything but acrylic (and I don’t want an acrylic sweater), and our CAL is coming up so I’ll be plenty busy without a sweater!  However, I do happen to have some rather patriotic themed yarn in my stash:

spaceinvadersyarnMan, it’s hard to get good  coloring in my pictures lately!  I swear that’s navy in the back, and a true red as well.  This is Berroco Vintage, a worsted wool blend that has been gracing my stash for years.  THIS is what I’d make a sweater with, but that would be expensive.  Anyway, instead of a sweater, I’m going to use this yarn to make a few hats with the space invaders pattern by Arne & Carlos that I also mentioned in my last post.  Wish me luck — they’re for some boys with large heads (literally) and since my head is small, the size will be a guesstimate.

the finished project

And speaking of Arne & Carlos, I made the first Christmas ball in the book:

ornament1*sigh*  It’s a real red, not magenta.  Cute though, right?  I plan on going through the whole book, making almost all of them (some are a little weird, like the outhouse one, but I’ll definitely be making the pig one, hehe).  These will be Christmas presents and I can’t wait to give them away!  I’m thinking of getting some cigar boxes and wrapping them in pretty contact paper, then putting 4 (maybe 6) ornaments inside.  The ornaments are a bit large, though, so I might have to think of another solution… I can’t remember exactly how large cigar boxes are.  Anyway, the ball is a bit lumpy, and I’m not sure why.  I tried to leave plenty of give in the stranding on the back to keep it from puckering, so it’s probably uneven stuffing.  Next time I’ll try smaller bits of stuffing instead of using a few big pieces.  That should help, right?

other stuff…

On another topic, I’m going to Pineville/Charlotte tomorrow to apply for jobs at a couple of malls.  I’m getting no bites for counseling positions, and I’m still refusing to apply to anything that involves doing intensive in-home work (that’s where you go to a kid’s house by yourself and try to counsel them there with their family and pets and TVs and bugs and nasty smells all around you the whole time).  Doesn’t sound fun or safe or very effective.  Tomorrow I’ll be certain to hit up Aerie, Barnes & Noble, and Sephora, amongst other stores, and maybe even a few at the fancy-pants mall where all the rich people shop.  Hmmm…  If I apply at the frozen yogurt place do you think I’ll get free yummies?  Hehe.

I’ve started reading “A Game of Thrones” again.  Last time I only got a few chapters in and all the characters got so confusing that I put down the book in frustration.  After marathoning the whole 2 1/2 seasons of the TV show in 4 days, I understand and am going back to read the book.  It’s weird knowing the ending already.  After watching the first episode on TV, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue, to be honest — it’s an HBO show and therefore full of very explicit things — but following through I found that the story is very good.  I can thank Yoona for inspiring me to give it another go… it might have been due to all those good looking guys she mentioned.  Now I’m obsessed too.

Well that’s all for today — this post is long!  Thanks for stopping by!

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I’m back!

December 31, 2012 by 14 Comments

I’m back from my trip to Ireland and England, and boy did I have some catching up to do in the blogging world!  I’ve been reading for at least an hour, but now it’s time to write, because I have so much to share with you!

First, I met Rachel from The Little Room of Rachell while I was on my trip!  It was my first time meeting a fellow blogger, and it was hers, too.  We met up in Oxford and spent a lovely afternoon strolling around and chatting (about lots of stuff, not just blogging and crochet) and eating and drinking.  We visited some yarn/craft shops, but not everything was open due to the holidays.  I’m still exceedingly jealous that there are so many little yarn shops in England!  At least, there are compared to South Carolina, where there is only one that I can semi-easily get to.  We saw some of the tourist-y attractions as well, and I kept saying how sort of mind boggling it is to visit places that are older than my country.  The places we stopped at for foodstuffs were very tasty and they felt very authentic — I believe Rachel told me that one of the pubs had been on the same site since the 1400s and I was in total awe.  It was so much fun and it was so lovely to meet Rachel, and I hope I can meet her again some time!  Oh and she gave me a little gift she made herself (thank you Rachel!):

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isn’t this little crochet stocking the cutest thing?

While I was in Oxford, I had to stop at the Cath Kidston store.  We don’t have them in the US, and the shipping costs are ridiculous, so I tried to stock up on some cute little items that would fit in my suitcase.  I got some melamine storage bowls, a nice face mitt, and a couple of other picture-worthy items:

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a lovely new tape measure

a knitting needle roll (on sale)

a knitting needle roll (on sale)

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a new collar for my baby girl, who was trying to lick me as I took pictures

Can I share some other pictures from my trip with you?

tree at Christ Church in Dublin

tree at Christ Church in Dublin

at the Guinness Storehouse, with the pint I poured

at the Guinness Storehouse, with the pint I poured

cool bottle chandelier at the Old Jameson's Distillery

cool bottle chandelier at the Old Jameson’s Distillery

chapel of King's College, where we attended the Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service

chapel of King’s College, where we attended the Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service

Christ Church, Oxford, where some Harry Potter scenes were filmed

Christ Church, Oxford, where some Harry Potter scenes were filmed

And guess what my grandma got me for Christmas?  Two new crochet books:

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These are going to teach me so much!

And my parents got me, among some lovely other things, this magazine which I thought might interest you:

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Not only does it have 31 knitting projects inspired by Jane Austen’s books — it also has some really interesting articles about materials and clothes during her lifetime.  Here are the titles of the articles:

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It was so interesting I read it all in one sitting!

OK, I think that’s all for now.  Unfortunately, even though I took my needles and hooks and some yarn with me on the trip, I didn’t do a thing — I was too tired to pick anything up.  I’ve got nothing new to show at this time, but I’m sure I’ll get back to business soon.  Also, I may do a “review of 2012” post, like so many others are doing.  It’s a nice way to remember all the good crafty moments, don’t you think?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you drop in again soon!

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not much to show

December 15, 2012 by 6 Comments

I haven’t done much yarn stuff in the past few days,  I’ve just finished these mitts:

knit mitts

 

They’re so soft and warm!  I may yet add that crocheted trim on the top, it just depends on how much time I have.

Boy has it been busy!  Shopping for Christmas presents, hanging out with school friends, studying with school friends, studying by myself, shopping for my Ireland/England trip, and baking for Christmas parties.  You may say, “studying?  Why, it’s the holidays!” but I’ve got to study hard the whole time because I’ve got my comprehensive examination that I have to pass to graduate coming up on January 7.  I think it’s stupid to give us the test before we’ve even finished all our classes, much less to test us over those classes that we won’t have completed until May.  But what can I say, that’s just another of the growing list of annoyances and griefs that my program is giving me.

The shopping has been much more fun, although I admit I’m waaaaay over budget.  I’ve dipped into January’s money already.  I just hope my loan money comes in before January 5th so that I can pay rent and bills.  At least I didn’t make everybody gifts — that probably would have been more expensive than just buying them the things I did.  Of course, my parents got some really good presents because they’ve been so good to me and they deserve awesome gifts, and I didn’t skimp on my boyfriend, either.  I guess the real hurt has been the necessity to buy lots of items for my trip.  Here are some of my new things:

packing

 

Since I live in South Carolina, I have minimal winter gear.  Therefore a sweater with some wool in it was required, along with some wool socks.  I also had to get another pair of pants because I only have  2 (I just wash them a lot, but I won’t have access to a washer on the trip).  A neck pillow for the plane and a bag to take as my carry-on were also purchased.  These things pictured here were actually purchased for me by my wonderful mom, but trust me, I’ve had to buy quite a few other things, including more socks, a sweater/popover,  and lots of other little things that have just added up.  I hope that I will now be fully prepared for the cold weather.

Also, I have to say thanks to Patricia from DaniellaJoe’s Blog — I won one of her lovely giveaway packs!  It’s the first time I’ve ever won a giveaway, and I just love the items!  I think the package is actually at the post office already, I just have to go pick it up on Monday.  So thank you so much, Patricia, you’re so generous!

So everybody knows, I’m leaving on my trip this Tuesday (the 18th), and I will not be returning home until the 29th.   I doubt that I will be able to blog much, if at all, while in Ireland or England because I’m not taking my computer.  My phone could do it, but it would probably be really complicated, and there’s a good chance I won’t actually be knitting/crocheting much while there anyway.  I’ll be busy taking pictures, exploring towns and cities, and like I said earlier, studying for my exit exam.  This will probably be my last post until January.  I will be back though, I promise.

I wish you all the very best of holidays!

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