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Hi All -
I've finally managed to get my stash sale organized, you can find everything for sale right now on my stash sale blog located here. There's lots of yarn and knitting accessories over there. I tried to price everything fairly and well so that it will move quickly.
This is just the first wave, more items including fiber will be put up for sale later this week.
Thanks so much for looking and helping me destash! =)
Hi There - how was your thanksgiving?? Mine was very nice, I got to spend the day with hubby's family and we had quite a smörgåsbord of treats and food. Yummy! Among other things, I was responsible for bringing the bread and of course you know I couldn't just stick it on a plain old tray, it had to be handmade.
I took my inspiration from the bread baskets I saw on my travels in Europe this summer (speaking of which, I don't think I ever finished talking about that - oopsie! =)) In Austria particularly they had these wonderful quilted breadbaskets that served to keep the bread warm and had a nice presentation as well. They do breakfast a bit differently over there than they do in the states. Bread is a big staple, and not usually slices of bread, but big rolls or biscuits. They are usually covered in either meat and cheese or fresh preserves and butter slathered on thick. Mmmm - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!
Anyhow - so I had a few thanksgiving themed panels from the local quilt shop - slapped those together with heavy-duty interfacing, batting, etc and quilted the sides. It was so easy I had it done in only an hour. The hardest part was putting on the binding, I didn't have a lot of colors around so I had to make do with what I had.
The piece is sewn flat and then tied up in the corners, easy - peasy and done! What a wonderful way to present bread! I know this is kind of a slap-dash approach, anyone interested in making your own? I could do a tutorial. It's reversible too - so you can change which side shows.
In other news, I received a lovely special swap package from Kim - this poor little package has really been around the block so to speak, we thought it had gone missing, and my faith in the US postal service may have been renewed when it showed up on my doorstep. There was lovely wine (!she really knows how to swap! =)), biscotti, beautiful hand-dyed merino lace yarn and a lovely notebook, all wonderful things that fit me to a t! I have such a thing for little notebooks and yummy yarn! =) I had a hard time taking a picture, I've already eaten the biscotti and put my feet up and had a glass of wine so I had to run around the house putting it all back together to photo it! That is the most wonderful type of swap, thanks so much Kim! =)
And in other news I just did a shop update! There are new peri-twinkle battlets as well as a new color, bluebells in both BFL (a wonderful fiber for both beginners and experts alike) and Cormo wool top. The Cormo is very special to me, I got to meet the sheep that produced this wonderful fiber. The farm itself has won many awards for it's fleece and it was an absolute treat to work with. There's also a few project/sock bags as well. I'm so happy that people really like their sock/project bags, they are wonderful to carry around with you, you can hang them from your wrist and walk and knit at the same time and they also stand upright when you're ready to sit and knit for a bit. These also have the built in pockets and holders for your needles to keep you organized.
OK - enough talk about that, happy friday all! =)
Whew - it feels like it's been awhile since I had a true honest to goodness FO post up here. You may have noticed with my flurry of activity over here that I've set my mind to clean out all my old UFO's so that I can have a clean slate at the end of the year. Have you seen Tam's Clean Slate by 2008 knitalong? I like the idea of it, although I know I have too much to finish that there is no way I can finish it all, but I'm going to try!
Anyhow, so I showed you the first mitt on Friday and I knit on the other one one and off all weekend and wrapped it up Sunday afternoon. Woohoo - it feels so good to get another pair of fingerless mitts for the knitalong completed.
Pattern: Long Orchid Lace Mitts by Anne of Knitspot
Knit time: 3 months, on and off. Mostly off =) If you set your mind to it you could knit them in a long weekend.
Sizing: These mitts fit like a glove, so soft and comfy. They are done in laceweight merino however so keep that in mind if you live in a cold clime, they may not be warm enough.
Needles: 2.5mm rosewood dpns
Yarn: Fearless Fibers Golden Olive Laceweight Merino
Interested in more info? I posted about this pattern here, here and here.
Final Note: I love them - they're very soft and cozy and beautiful. The only note I would make is beware knitting these on magic loop, I normally knit most everything in the round magic loop and the pattern has you move stitches around based on the how they are set up dpn's. Either take the time to figure out where the stitches are moving too, or knit them on the recommended dpn's. I opted for the dpn's, much easier.
Ravelry Info Here
Happy Monday! =)
I just finished my first Orchid Lace Mitt in Fearless Fibers Golden Olive, and had to get a little creative with the blocking. I wanted to make sure the lace pattern opened up a bit.
I knew those giant US50 needles would come in handy some day - I stuck two of those suckers in and pinned them open, voila! Perfect mitt blocking! This is the extra-long mitt style, I already cast on for the second one and I hope to get it finished soon.
Whew! Where has the time gone? Can you believe it's going to be Thanksgiving next week? Wow! Elle is doing good, thanks so much everyone for all the well wishes. She was able to come home on Friday of last week, I had a long weekend of taking care of her, I've been sleeping on the hardwood floors next to her bed so I can get up in the middle of the night when she needs me. She's getting better though - she's already starting to raise heck like she used to, and I can tell that my new hardest thing is going to be keeping her in check so she doesn't get too spunky and aggravate her leg. Isn't that a nice problem to have??? =)
Anyhow, so I've been cleaning out the UFO's this week. I have so many patterns I want to make but I need to finish some old stuff first. (Isn't this scarf pattern cute? It just arrived in my mail today and I can't wait to cast-on!)
So - I started with the easiest one, my handspun mitts for the fingerless mitts for fall knit along. This project has been long in the process-
- It started out as fiber hand-dyed by Funky Carolina, then was started to be hand-spun by me, until my dogs ate it. Then Jenn saved me by sending me more. Then I finished spinning it but had to come up with a pattern. I decided to go plain with a simple pattern designed by me. 4x2 rib that travels up the hand and thumb seemed to do the trick. It took me about 5 times knitting, ripping and re-knitting these mitts. I found I was quite picky on how the colors matched up, the fit of the thumb, etc but I'm happy to call these finally - DONE!
I'll write up the mitt pattern soon but until then some basic stats, these were knit up on size 4 needles with my handspun that is between a dk/worsted weight (I'll get wpi stats later). This is my first time knitting with my handspun and it was so much fun, I must do this more often! =) Plus these knit up so fast, once I had the pattern down I can knit one in an easy evening of knitting, I need more projects like this!
In other news, I've been participating in Lynne's special swap again, my pal this time was Kim and she just got her package. Go check it out if you're curious! =)
Why is it when you really can't afford to be sick, you always seem to get it? This week was one of those weeks - I haven't been sick in years but I managed to pick up that stomach flu/virus that's been going around. Not pretty - too sick to even want to knit, too weak to even leave the house, I had to just hang out in bed and watch tv and read. I hated feeling so slothful!
This is a big week work-wise and life-wise and everything else-wise. I've been busy taking Elle back and forth to all sorts of specialists, the prognosis went from good, to bad, to worse, to I don't even know what! Basically, this poor little thing is only 2.5 years old. She has cruciate ligament tears in both knees, dysplasia and very advanced arthritis.
The advanced arthritis part is what scared/surprised me the most. There are things that can be done surgically, but still we are limited in what can be done. I had to make some hard decisions and I decided to move forward with the most current issues now - her knees. Yep, both of them. I just got back from dropping her off for surgery this morning for a TPLO procedure which is a cruciate ligament procedure different from the old standard of nylon sutures.
She has her right knee done today and then we have a long, hard road to recovery. Then once she's recovered enough, she has to go back in to fix her left knee, and then another long, hard road. It's the best decision for her, her quality of life is #1 to me and this offers the best chance for her to be able to run and jump and play again so I'm going to go with what I know. It's expensive too, of course. 2,300 a knee, so about 5,000 total, plus additional recovery costs, therapy, etc. Better sell a heck of a lotta battlets and project bags to cover those costs, huh? Ha! =) We have emergency funds of course to cover these sorts of things but I'm still going to have a stash sale and make a point of selling more stuff to see if I can cover it a bit. It would make me feel better.
SO - just so this isn't a post completely without knitting- here's some socks.
I'm sticking to the plain vanilla sort nowadays, the yarn is really special to me. It's kaffe fassett's regia that I bought in germany with Erica and Rachel. I love the way it's knitting up. I bought a new-to-me needle to knit them on, the hiya-hiya's. I had heard mixed reviews about the cord but I'm actually really happy with them, and I haven't found the cord a problem at all. Plus it solves my problem of never having any good 2.25mm magic loops around.
I sorta want to do a short-row heel though, but they make me nervous. I just don't "get" them like I do a heel flap. Anyone have any links to a 72 st short row heel pattern?
Also, if you're like me, it's getting cold out there! My hands are cold just typing right now. If you're thinking of making some fingerless mitts, come join us at my Fall Fingerless Mitts knitalong, the mitts are flying fast and furious over there! =)
So think about Elle today when she's in surgery and send happy thoughts here way will you? Thank you! Have a great day!
Whoa - so it's been a while since my last post and lots of things have happened. I had a great time at SAFF. I got to finally meet Emily and grab lunch with her which was a real treat and I finally got to meet Katie and her lovely family as well. I've "known" Katie since I started blogging and to finally meet her in person was wonderful - she is a total sweetheart. Things were hectic so we didn't get a chance to sit down and chat but I'm hoping we'll get the chance sometime again. Maybe next year Katie? =)
I took a class on how to dye roving and it was fun. I can't say I learned tons but it was nice to step through the process. I also went to the FRI Ravelry meetup. Want proof? Wanna see me with Bob??? Pics here! (eek! shiny forehead!)
I did some large scale purchasing at SAFF, I won't go into all the fibery details, suffice to say I covered all major fibery food groups - merino, mohair, angora, alpaca, bfl, etc. I also purchased two new toys, the first I've been having fun playing with all week. The second, well I won't tell you about that til it gets here, I'm waiting for the manufacturer to make me one and ship it. Any guesses?
Otto Strauch and his wife were there doing demos and it was such a treat to talk with them as they demonstrated how to use it. I may have been a wee bit starstruck. Just a bit. =) Suffice to say I was sold, how often do you get to buy a carder from the creator themselves? I even got a little matching light as a bonus too. Check out how crowded my car was, I almost ran out of room!
I have been having so much fun playing with it, just look at what I've been making, beautiful battlets, each 1 ounce for a
total of 4ounces. Dyed with permanent wash fast dyes in superwash
merino blended with just a hint of icicle for the lightest bit of
shimmer. It's so subtle, can you see it?
I'm having so much fun with my new toy, I may list the little battlets on etsy but if anyone's interested I'll sell them here too, just send me an email ($16+ship) for 4ounces (Edit: I just put it in etsy.) And yes, I will be making more. I've bought a ton of dyes and fibers to play around with and I'll be stocking my etsy shop soon. I'm also working on more sock/project bags so if you're interested keep an eye out. I'm using brand new moda fabrics for those in gorgeous patterns. Truthfully I love the fabric so much it's hard to give them away but I guess I'll have to get used to it. =)
Oh and a belated Happy Halloween - Did you trick or treat?
I wore my new Count Sockula socks to get in on the festivities, just in time for the end of socktober. Woohoo - I met my goal to start and finish these in October! I also started a koolhaus hat in brooks farm fourplay (wool/silk). This was one of my only yarn purchases at SAFF and it is really scrumptious to knit with. Happy Thursday!
