Tag Archive | crafts

Forever Royal

Busy day means quick post this morning. Thanks to a friend wearing some fingerless gloves I gave her, I now have some orders for KC Royals-themed items! I need to make two pairs of gloves and four ear warmers in a week. No problem, right? Right! I got the yarn yesterday and got to work. Sat outside with the hubby and the puppies for much of the day. It was just a bit cool, but perfect with a hoodie. This nifty pail came with my Easter flowers. It had a glass vase inside which of course I removed so I could use it as an unusual yarn bowl. I love the handle! I needed to refresh my memory on the stretchy bind-off, but soon this glove was set aside and I started glove #2. I got through the thumb gusset before quitting for the night. I know, I need to do the thumb on the first one still. I’m going to pick up some 5″ DPNs while I’m out today which should make the thumbs much easier. Currently I’m using 7″ metal DPNs and they’re all right, but I think the right tools will make the knitting that much easier.

Gotta dash! Happy Monday, friends!

Shoes, Shawls, and Cowls

Apr8

Do you know that old song, Three Coins in the Fountain? For some reason I thought of that this morning, only my version would be Two Shoes in the Trashcan. (I really hope you sang that in your head.) Yes, Grace is feeling some serious spring fever or something, and has returned to shoe theft with a vengeance. She got one of mine yesterday (my fault: I left them downstairs, went to put them on, and only found one. The second? Outside in the backyard.) This morning the girl came down with a destroyed black flat. For the record, this is the THIRD black flat the dog has eaten, and this one was actually MINE. The girl and I wear the same size shoes and she loved these flats too and borrowed them often. She kept them under her bed, and it worked for quite a while. But apparently Grace figured it out. Oy. This dog. I’d let her run away but she’s chipped and they’d find us. (KIDDING. I wouldn’t really do that, as tempting as it is on some days.) Maybe she needs a new toy to distract her for a while.

Let’s move on to more fun stuff, shall we? After finishing the Hitchhiker, I needed a new project. Not content with just one, I decided to cast on two new projects yesterday. One is a shawl that’s been in my Ravelry queue for ages, the Citron. I saw one on Instagram the other day and it reminded me of it, and the grass green yarn I have is perfect for spring. It’s going pretty quickly so far. I’m using DK weight instead of lace, so it’s definitely going to be a full shawl rather than a shawlette. The yarn is Lachiwa by Mirasol Yarn, a 60/40 cotton linen blend. I think it will become a fabulous spring shawl. So far the pattern is fun, with just the right mix of plain stockinette and increase/decrease rows. I don’t think this one will take long to finish.

Second is the Kerr Diamond Cowl with some of my yarn from Knitting in the Heartland. The yarn is from Show Me Yarn, the booth that talked me into three skeins, and it’s the Cyclone base in a gorgeous purple called All Dressed Up. I got the pattern, which is a paid pattern, free with the purchase of the yarn. It was written specifically for this yarn; I don’t think I’ve ever made a pattern with the original yarn! I have to confess, I was a tiny bit disappointed when I opened the pattern and saw that it was knit flat and seamed. One of my favorite things about cowls is that I get to knit in the round. BUT. I love the look of the pattern, and it’s got a neat ribbed section that intrigues me, so I’m giving it a go. The turquoise is for the provisional cast on, not part of the finished piece. I guess it’s good I got to practice that. It’ll give me good practice on my Kitchener stitch too. I mean, it’s fine. I’m not afraid of it. I guess I’m just a lazy knitter who would rather knit in the round than seam things!

One more knitting thing: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee posted a blog entry about her time at Knitting in the Heartland, and at the top she included two photos of the audience at her keynote. Well, if you look at the first photo, in the second row on the left, right next to the wall, you’ll see me! I couldn’t figure out how to share her photo, and honestly I didn’t think it was a good idea anyway, so here’s a link to the post. There you have it, I made it to the Yarn Harlot’s blog.

And with that, I’m off to enjoy a second cup of tea, last night’s Grey’s Anatomy, some knitting, and a couple of puppies that aren’t really puppies anymore but will always be puppies. Happy Friday, friends!

Hitchhiker Done

Apr7

I did it! I finished the fingering weight Hitchhiker! I only made it to 36 teeth, instead of 42, but it’s definitely a wearable length. Toward the end, I checked my yarn at the end of each row, but I used as much yarn as possible with maybe one yard left over. This is a gift for a good friend (she provided the yarn, I provided the labor) and I hope she enjoys wearing it! And honestly, once I got back into the groove, I enjoyed knitting it again. It really is a brilliant pattern.

Details: Pattern is the classic Hitchhiker by Martina Behm. One of these days I’ll get around to knitting on of her other awesome patterns. Yarn is Araucania Huasco, 450 yards of fingering weight merino. It’s lovely to knit with, and the muted rainbow is gorgeous. I used 24″ size 3 circs.

Happy Thursday, friends! Tune in tomorrow to see what’s next on my needles!

Sunshine after Clouds

Apr6

This is the hole Grace made in the couch cushion. Last night we came home from a choir concert and found stuffing scattered across the couch. ARGH. We can’t afford a new couch at this point. Any suggestions on patching or sewing it closed? I have some bitter spray that I guess I need to apply more frequently. And I’m also considering our options for containing her while we’re gone. Here’s the current state of the Hitchhiker. I knit on it all day long I think, including at the concert, and it still seems rather short. I have 31 teeth. We’ll see how far I get with this skein. But this is my first Hitchhiker with fingering weight, and I think it will be my last. It takes FOREVER. This, my friends, is why I like worsted and bulky weight yarns!Now let’s move on to happier things, shall we? Here’s the blocked Take the Crown Cowl. Yep, the pattern kind of gets lost when it’s worn, but I don’t care. I know it’s there, and I love the look regardless.

Finally, I have to share a story on why knitters are so fantastic: last week I got an email from a knitter who’d found one of my felted bags on Ravelry and then she found this blog, and she took the time to email me and tell me how much she liked them both. That’s always a boost, right? Well, then, she ordered the bag! That’s right, a knitter bought one of my knitted bags. How cool is that? When someone could have easily said, “Oh, I could make that myself” but instead thinks your piece is good enough to buy, well, I can’t tell you how good it made me feel. And when she got the bag, she emailed me again to tell me how much she loves it, and now we’ve got this lovely conversation going and I feel like I have a new friend. It’s a lovely reminder to me that compliments are free and easy to give, and often mean so much to the recipient. If you think something is beautiful, say it out loud!

A Couple of Cowls

Apr5

I have two cowls to share today, one older and one brand-new. Let’s start with the older one. A while back, I used my one and only skein of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted to make a Boomerang Cowl (pattern by MollyGirl Yarn). Here’s my Berry Cowl unblocked. I finally got around to blocking it yesterday. I blocked it pretty aggressively for a few reasons: the bind-off was really loose and I wanted both edges to be the same, I wanted it to be wider, and most importantly: I wanted to show off the pattern. I like the results!

I should be able to get a couple of wears out of it before it gets too warm. And now I need to do the same for my Take the Crown cowl, which I finished yesterday thanks to a few hours of outside knitting time.

The puppies kept me company, one by my side and one in the sun.

I decided to trust the pattern and finish it rather than frog it, and I think I made the right choice. Blocking should get it to a good width for a closer-fitting cowl. I found it fascinating to see how the colors pooled in the ribbing at the beginning (the bottom ribbing) but not at the end. This will be wonderful if I make it to any Royals night games this season!The pattern, which is a zigzag, does get a bit lost in the yarn, but I like it because in my mind, it represents the points of a crown. And again, blocking should open it up nicely. Details: the yarn is Nerd Girl Yarns Clever in color Take the Crown and it was heavenly to knit with. Soft but not limp, not splitty at all, just flowed wonderfully over the needles. This pattern is River Deep, Mountain High by MollyGirl Yarn and this makes my fourth.

What about you? What are your go-to patterns, the ones you knit over and over?

One step toward the crown

Apr4

The Royals won last night at their Opening Night game! Not only that, they won against the Mets, the team they beat for the World Series! Can’t beat that, right? I didn’t get to watch the game but I did make some progress on my Take the Crown cowl. I do love how the colors are knitting up, and I’m pleased with the pattern, except it seems smaller than the last few times I made this cowl. I know it’s worsted weight yarn, and it’s the same needles, and I didn’t make a note of casting on more than 100 with the previous projects, so I am quite befuddled. I know I can block it out a bit bigger, but I’m quite tempted to frog and start over with a few more stitches. It wouldn’t even be sad because I enjoy the yarn and the pattern so much. S0 that’s probably what I’ll do today.

Last night we got to spend some much-needed time hanging out with my siblings and all the assorted children. My youngest nephew, who’s…um…nine? months old is cute and charming…as long as mom or dad is holding him. Then he’ll smile and make faces at me and be all happy. As soon as I hold him, he wigs out. Now, in my defense, my brother insisted it was just because of time of day. Evening, bedtime, baby was tired. So I’m not taking it personally. My next youngest nephew, the one I call my baby because I got to be there when he was born, is now 3 and has embraced all the joys (haha) of toddlerhood. He still adores me, but I’m no longer allowed to play trains with him. I can sit with him so he can show me all the trains, but heaven forbid I touch them. “Aunt Bonny! Oh No! What are you DOING?” It’s okay. I know he’ll come back around. Three doesn’t last forever, thank goodness. I got a present too:My brother and his wife know I’m a Wonder Woman freak so I occasionally get little gifts just because they saw something and couldn’t resist. Yay! I’d seen these and had resisted so far. Now I need the 12″ one too, right?

OH OH OH! I forgot: I must brag on my talented daughter! Saturday was solo/ensemble contest for band and orchestra. All the high school musicians can bring a solo and/or ensemble to play for a judge, and they get a rating from 1-5 (1 is the best, 5 is…my instrument is broken). If they get a 1, they advance to the State contest. It’s kind of a big deal. So my girl took a solo, a flute trio, and a woodwind quartet and got 1s on all three! It’s kind of nice when all the work of lessons/driving around/practicing pays off.

I hope you all have a pleasant Monday!

To Market: All the Yarn

Apr3

Okay, are you ready for this? Maybe you are. Maybe you’ve been to markets at knitting events before. But this was my first, so I was a bit overwhelmed. Walking into the room, I saw yarn everywhere. Knitters were swarming certain booths, so I avoided those. Nerd Girl Yarns was the first booth I saw, but it was packed. I just walked for a while, absorbing and touching and admiring. The yarns were all gorgeous, hanging in long hanks or piled in neat skeins. Plus there was fiber for spinning (is that called roving? I’m not up on all my fiber vocabulary yet.) and there were project bags galore. There were shawl pins and tool kits and a few stitch markers, and one booth had a long table of books too. It was just SO MUCH.

Going into it, I’d thought I’d just buy a project bag, maybe stitch markers. I really didn’t think I’d buy yarn, or if I did, it would just be one skein. I know, I know. Are you done laughing now? I’m telling you, I didn’t know what I was getting into! The first time I got in trouble was at a fantastic booth called Supernatural Yarns. They had a long table with piles of project bags in all sorts of nerdy fabrics, like Doctor Who and Harry Potter and superheroes. I liked the Harry Potter ones; they were pretty tempting. But I was really on the lookout for Wonder Woman. Lo and behold, guess what I found: I admired her yarns too, which were gorgeous colors with fun pop culture names like Voldemort and Elsa and You Go, Glen Coco. All the pretties! All the happy knitters!But it was still early in the game, so I resisted. I needed to see what else was out there.

Around and around I went, and there was so much yarn calling my name. One booth had piles of bright primary-color skeins, deep reds and blues and vivid yellows and oranges, but the crowd at that table was so thick I couldn’t get close. I admired other project bags, touched more yarn, tried to make some sense out of it all. A couple of yarn stores were there, but I really wanted to support the indie dyers. By this point, I knew I’d be buying yarn, and I knew I wanted some Nerd Girl yarn, so I circled back to her booth. The crowd had thinned, thank goodness. I poked around and knew I’d found a winner when I saw this blue/white/gold skein named Take the Crown. A souvenir both of the event AND my Royals winning the World Series last year! Perfect! Wandering around more, I found myself going back to the TreasureGoddess Yarn booth a second time. She had a ton of pretty yarns, but I couldn’t get this one out of my mind. It had to go home with me too. It’s called Avast, Ye Wildcats, which I think has something to do with some Kansas university, but I don’t care about that. It’s purple, gorgeous purple.That was all I needed. That was plenty. One bag and two skeins? Sure, that was enough. But I couldn’t make myself leave. I kept circling the market, and realized I was still thinking about another project bag I’d spotted at Supernatural Yarns. It had classic Disney villains on it and was dark and purply. I found myself in that strange fugue that probably happens to most knitters in times like this: “Oh yes you NEED that it’s okay it’s a souvenir it’s a special event go ahead it’s all right just BUY IT.” And I had no one to talk me out of any of it! So yes, I bought the darn bag. As if that weren’t enough, here’s the other side: I mean, come ON! Perfect, right? Right. Sigh. Somehow, en route to pay for this, I ended up with another skein of yarn in my hand. It’s merino DK called Don’t Call Me Nymphadora! Love it. Love the colors, love the name, love the feel.

After that, I had to be done, right? I’d done more damage than I thought I would, definitely more than I should have done. But on my way out, I had to go by that one booth, that one with the rainbow skeins and thick crowd. And wouldn’t you know it, the crowd had thinned at that booth too. This was Show Me Yarn. Soon, even these people left, and it was just me petting all the yarns, the pretty pretty yarns. I wanted the pink, and the green. I liked the rainbows, but they were sock yarns. There was a lovely purple I was eyeing, but I kept coming back to this red, a color way called Purdy. Then somehow I was caressing a black and white skein called Elephant Rocks, and man, these girls were good. “Oh, those look gorgeous together!” they said. (They did.) “They’d make this gorgeous hat, let me show you the sample!” (Hat? My ears perked up. I do love hats. And having a reason to buy the yarn? I love that too.) They couldn’t find the sample but showed me the pattern on Ravelry, and it was indeed something I think I would like making. While they were writing up the sale, I found myself playing with the purple again, and one of the girls pointed out a cowl/mitten set on display, said I’d get one of the patterns for free with the purchase of the yarn. Gosh darn it. I asked if I could call her a bad name, and she said yes, if I bought the yarn. I bought the yarn. (But no, I didn’t call her a bad name…out loud. Seriously, all three ladies at that booth were marvelous. I had a great time chatting and joking with them.) So there I was, adding three more skeins to my KITH shopping bag. Sighhhh. Can you blame me? I was alone and defenseless.

The next day I made zipper pulls for my new project bags. And I wound two skeins of yarn. Today is opening day for the Royals, so in their honor, the Take The Crown yarn was the first to be cast on. I’m using my favorite cowl pattern, River Deep Mountain High, and it will be for me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go figure out which child I need to sell to pay for all this yarn!

The Yarn Harlot Speaks

Apr2

Have you ever had an experience that was so fantastic, so true and honest, that it speaks to you right at your core? That it leaves you feeling high afterward? Maybe the word verklempt applies here. That was me last night, after spending the evening at the Knitting in the Heartland event. It was AMAZING. No other word for it. I can’t believe I even considered not going. It was my first knitting conference and now I know how wondrous it is to be in a big room filled with people who speak your language, who understand what knitting means, that it’s not just an idle hobby. It’s so much more.

I mean, I walked into the hotel and there were people in the lobby just hanging out, knitting. Not one, but several. I got in line with all these other nice women who were friendly and helpful, and they were knitting! Or if they weren’t, I could see the yarn in the project bags they were carrying. I think they said there were 300 attendees. As I waited, a nice knitter sat next to me and we chatted about our knitting and friended each other on Ravelry. Then the magic truly began: Stephanie began her speech.

If you ever have the chance to hear her, GO. She is hysterical, so down-to-earth and casual and then she’ll drop these lines and have the whole room laughing. Plus she’s Canadian so she says things like “arse” and “eh” and it’s not an act, it’s just her and it’s delightful. She had me in tears at one point from laughing so hard. But it was more than just the funny stuff. It was about the “more”: How generous knitters are. How smart and persistent and creative we are. How knitting does wonderful things for our health, particularly our mental and emotional health. It was about self-esteem. She talked about how we need to own our power as knitters, embrace our talent and skill. We need to stop belittling ourselves before we can expect others to stop belittling us.

One of my favorite parts was when she pointed out often we deflect compliments of our knitting by saying “it was easy”, or “I just followed a a pattern”. Yep. I do that. No, she said, just say “Thank you.” Because it wasn’t easy. It took time to learn the skills, to practice to a point to where you can correctly follow the pattern to create that piece of art. To take it further, it takes creativity to match yarns with patterns, to put together color schemes and stripe sequences. It’s NOT easy, but we sometimes think it is because we love doing it so much. Like Stephanie, like so many other women, I am guilty of low self-esteem much of the time. There are a lot of things I don’t do well. It’s hard to be a mom–I mean, it’s great, but you don’t get a lot of validation that you’re doing a good job on a daily basis. It’s hard to be a writer–the writing is great but sharing it and being rejected sucks. So for her to tell me that yes, my knitting is beautiful, that it speaks to my talent and skill, well. I needed to hear that. Maybe we all did, because after the speech, I had women stopping me to tell me how gorgeous my Hitchhiker was (I wore this one. Loved it, except it gave me a rash where it touched my neck. Oops.) and I practiced saying, “Thank you!”

Okay, so the talk (which lasted an hour and a half, including questions) was fantastic, but then she signed books, and I’d brought one with me, of course. When I got up there, I mentioned that she’d tweeted me and told me I should come, and that I was so glad I had, and I could actually see her face light up with recognition! And then she was gracious enough to allow me to take a selfie with her. See? Amazing. Sighhhh. I want to move to Canada and live next door and be her best friend. (Except that’s really hard, apparently, moving to Canada. They don’t let just anybody in.) Heck, I want to BE her.

That would have been enough. That experience made the long drive in heavy traffic and construction worth it. But there was MORE: the market! However, this post is long enough, and that one will be equally long because OMG the market! Yes, I bought stuff. Probably too much. Tune in tomorrow to see what I got!

A Break for Beads

Apr1

So many things to share today! Nope, I didn’t cast on for that green and purple shawl yet. The right stripe sequence hasn’t come to me so I’m pondering it. Instead, I took some time yesterday to drive out to Half Price Books. I realized I only have one Stephanie Pearl-McPhee book in my library (the rest I’ve read from the library) and I thought it might be fun to have a couple to take with me, to get signed. And what do you know? I found a lovely hardback copy of Free-Range Knitter that looks unread! (I also bought a DVD of Sweet Home Alabama and a signed copy of Room. Bookstores are dangerous.)

And then, since I was near a Joann store, I had to stop by at least, right? I mean, I don’t get over there that often, and I had two good coupons, so I had to go. Any good crafter would have done the same. But the amazing thing is: I didn’t buy any yarn!! None of it called my name. I’m afraid I’m becoming more of a yarn snob, in that I enjoy the softness of fiber and the richness of color in premium yarns. I still like acrylic for some projects, but it’s definitely a lot easier to resist. So what to use my coupons on? I looked at needles; there weren’t any I needed. Knitting books? Eh. I found myself in the beading section and remembered I’d wanted to try using split rings for stitch markers. I only found one kind that looked big enough to fit on a knitting needle so I grabbed those, a bag of headpins, and then the beads were all 50% off so I had to get a cute string of beads too. I had fun!I think my favorites might be the baseballs with the blue for my Kansas City Royals! But no, I love them all. I did end up with a minor injury from using a letter opener to try to open a split ring, but we must suffer for our art, right?

Last night I needed knitting for American Idol, and I’m a little bored with my Hitchhiker, so I grabbed some gray Berroco Fiora to cast on for a scarf, called the Float Flutter Fly Scarf. Go on and look, it’s fine. Pretty, right? I discovered that ridge in the middle is created by slipping 5 stitches every other row, so this is what the back looks like. It’s just kind of…weird. The pattern does say to pull the stitches tight after the slipped stitches, and I’m trying, but maybe not enough? I don’t like the way the bottom slipped stitch hangs down. I put it down and ended up working on the Hitchhiker after all. Maybe frog and start over? I’m not that far in and now that I understand what the pattern is doing, maybe I could get that part snugger. I do like the feel of the yarn, and it is a lovely pattern…ok, fine. I won’t give up just yet.

Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend, and if anyone else is at the Knitting in the Heartland keynote tonight, find me and say hello!

The Yarn Harlot Commands

Mar31

Well, that was an unintentional break from blogging I took this week! I’d been enjoying my habit of almost-every day, but Monday and Tuesday I fell into revising my novel. I was at the end and it was going really well and I just couldn’t pull myself away. Plus, there’s not much to say about that. I was writing, it was fun. But I made it to the end, and the first draft is complete and now it’s been set aside to simmer for a little while.

Tuesday night I got another rejection, the 5th. I also pulled out the manuscript I sent to agents a few years ago, and found all the query letters and responses. I got two requests for fulls, as well as some personal feedback from sample chapters, and the overwhelming theme was “It’s good, but not good enough.” So yesterday I didn’t feel like blogging. Instead I moped and knitted, finding comfort in my yarn. And I finished my Color Block wrap and it’s so marvelous. The tails are even woven in; it just needs blocking.And I know, at least I’ve submitted the books. And the fact that I got the requests, not to mention actual thoughtful notes from agents, should be encouraging. That’s what I’m trying to focus on today. I’d like to think I’m a better writer than I was ten years ago. So that’s the manuscript coming up next. I still love that story. I still think it has potential. Let’s see if I can get it to better than “good enough”.

Here’s something my knitting friends will appreciate: this weekend is the Knitting in the Heartland conference, and the keynote speaker is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. SQUEEE, right?? I bought tickets for me and my Knitting SIL months ago. Then she and her family planned a vacation…the SAME weekend! Whatever. Poor planning, if you ask me, but she didn’t. Anyway, I was thinking about having to drive 45 minutes each way on crazy highways with construction and in the dark (I’m not a fan of those things), and going by myself, and starting to talk myself out of going. I tweeted about it, and this morning, the Yarn Harlot herself had replied to my tweet! There you have it. I have no choice. When the Yarn Harlot says you should go, you should go. So I will go and I will take my knitting and there will be lovely friendly knitters there AND those of us attending the keynote address get to shop from the vendors afterward! I will have plenty to blog about this weekend, that’s for sure.

I’ll probably take my Hitchhiker with me. It’s going more slowly than the previous ones. Maybe I’m finally getting a little tired of the pattern. But yesterday, instead of getting retail therapy at a yarn store, I shopped my stash and found my next project: It’s going to become a Tailwind Shawl; I just need to work out the sequence of the striping before I cast on. With any luck, I’ll have progress to show you tomorrow!