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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black friday yarn

November 29, 2014 by 5 Comments

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!

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Life List

October 20, 2014 by 2 Comments

Inspired by Claire at MollieandClaire I thought I’d post a Life List today. It’s kinda like one of those chain emails that used to be really annoying back in the early 2000s when you got a zillion in your inbox but now are very nice because they’re a glimpse into a more personal realm of bloggers. I enjoyed reading Claire’s, and she got it from someone else as well. I’m giving it a shot!

Making : a crocheted fox, a knitted throw blanket, and a knitted cardi
Cooking : cheese on toast
Drinking : a free coffee the Starbucks barista gave me
Reading: listening to “Dragonsong” audiobook by Anne McCaffrey
Wanting: the new iPhone 6 — my poor 4s is on it’s last leg
Looking: at all of the lovely Pinterest inspiration
Playing: Nyan Cat is my go-to phone game
Deciding: whether or not I should go back to school, when I want to have kids, all the serious stuff
Wishing: I had more leisure/thinking time, and time to spend with Chris
Enjoying: lounging around in my PJs
Waiting: in trepidation for a follow-up visit to the OBGYN in a couple months
Liking: organized desks with pretty calendars and accessories
Wondering: how I can make my desk pretty for a low cost
Loving: my family, extended and immediate
Pondering: how I can make my fiancé happy when he comes home
Considering: whether or not I just spent too much money at Target
Watching: The Simpsons… we’ve been on a kick lately
Hoping: that I can get everyone I love great Christmas presents!
Needing: a better paying job
Smelling: a hot salted caramel mocha from Starbucks
Wearing: an oversized T-shirt and cozy plaid flannel pants
Following: some pretty nice blogs
Noticing: that moths keep getting in my house somehow
Knowing: I can get through anything with my fiancé
Thinking: about the future
Buying: shoes for Chris, shirts for me, and the beginnings of Christmas presents for others
Getting: prepared for more paperwork than usual tomorrow at work
Mending: fences with people that matter to me
Disliking: myself for being overly negative and complain-y
Opening: a web-page to look for wooly clothes
Feeling: tired after a long field trip to the fair with my clients today
Snacking: on nothing now — I need to stop eating when I’m not hungry because that’s not healthy

That was fun! I’d love to see this go around so that we can learn more about each other in a fun and interesting way.

Well, that’s all for today, thanks for stopping by!

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crochet in the works — fox amigurumi

October 16, 2014 by 10 Comments

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!

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picky knitting

October 3, 2014 by 5 Comments

Firstly, I have a problem:

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What’s up with those holes? That’s my Paulie cardi, which is coming along nicely — I finished the body and have cast on the arms, and what you’re seeing in the picture is the armpit part. How do I fix that? That’s been my first problem so far.

Problem two is actually that I hate using circular needles for the arm part. I thought it would be fine but I think it would really be a lot faster and less troublesome if I switched to DPNs. Problem three: I don’t have DPNs in the required size. Argh! I’ll have to wait a couple of weeks before I can get them, so that just puts off finishing my sweater even farther into winter. Boo.

Well, instead, I’ll work on my garter stitch blanket. That’ll be a nice change of pace from tiny sock-weight yarn.

Aaaaand I know I haven’t had much crochet stuff going on lately, but I am pleased to announce that I’ve got some supplies coming in the mail for a new crochet project! I plan on making quite a few of these items in different colors, etc., and I can’t wait to share with you! And there was a surprise with the pattern I’ll be using: it calls for a hook size that I DON’T HAVE. I couldn’t believe it — after 9-ish years of crochet, there’s a hook size I haven’t acquired. Well, that has been rectified, but unfortunately the only kind I could get was Boye, and I much prefer Susan Bates. The hook size is between a US B and a US C. I have a hook that was .05mm too big, but I want to be exact so I don’t run out of yarn.

Well, there’s been lots of complaining in this post, so I’ll just wait to post anything else until I’m in a better mood. All the lovely rain is cheering me up, but it’s still so hot outside. I’m such a negative Nancy sometimes.

I hope ya’ll are having a good week. And of course, as always, thanks for stopping by! We’ll have updates very soon, I hope!

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