Tag Archive | handmade

Selfish Knitting

I didn’t do anything I was “supposed” to do yesterday. Well, no, I take that back. I did EXACTLY what I was supposed to do: relax, let everybody else do all the stuff, and only do what *I* wanted to do. So we had a lovely brunch, I got a couple of presents from my sweet daughter, we went to see the new Captain America movie (spoiler: I wasn’t a big fan.) and then I knitted the rest of the day while watching old chick flicks. (Sweet Home Alabama and Pleasantville.) I made lots of progress on a beautiful Pink Diamond Shawlette: Pattern is Diamond Shawlette and I’m using KnitPicks Galileo in Abalone and I’m loving everything about knitting this. But for now I must set it aside so I can focus on the things I have to do, like a mermaid blanket and a proofreading job.

Oh, and I finally have pictures of the rainbow scarf, which just got listed on Etsy this morning.

I hope all my fellow mothers had an equally lovely day yesterday!

Wonder Woman Bags

May6

Yesterday, my brother sent me a link about some cosmetic bags Walgreens was selling. Not just any bags: these were WONDER WOMAN bags! I’ve loved her since I was a kid, and I’m a nerd at heart so now that I’m a grown up, I love to have all kinds of Wonder Woman stuff. You guys have seen some of it. So I followed the link and then almost immediately drove to my local store. Nope, they didn’t have them. Didn’t know anything about them. Shoot. I came home, searched some more, and thought the closest store that had any was 30 minutes away. But no! My brother discovered a closer store that said it had one of the bags. I figured one was better than none and set off again. And GUESS WHAT?? They had all three bags I wanted! So yes, I bought myself an early Mother’s Day gift because how could I not? The big one will be a project bag, and I’m not sure about the two medium sizes. That littlest one came with a set of makeup brushes, and they’re cute and all, but whatever. This is a notions pouch, am I right? And that clear one in the back? It has a cape!I am more than pleased with my new bags. I think they’re delightful.

Somehow I also ended up with some new yarn yesterday. I don’t know how it happened. But it was all half off, so that’s something. This is Cascade 220 Superwash Aran, so squishy and soft! Love this stuff.

This is Berroco Lustra. You can’t see it very well, but it has a lovely subtle shimmer. I think it will make a gorgeous lacy cowl.

Now I really need to focus and get back to work. This author’s book isn’t going to proofread itself!

One Gray Glove

May4

My knitting life has become a bit boring of late, I’m afraid! I haven’t been working on exciting projects for myself in quite a while. I’m making progress on the commissioned Mermaid Blanket; it’s my top yarn priority right now. I’m loving this color combination, and so far it’s working up very quickly. I’m using this pattern and I’m still in the easy flat portion of the afghan. I had to take a break though, for an Etsy order of two Yoda hats! Hooray! I do love getting Etsy orders…but I’m also getting pretty tired of Yoda hats. They were quick, though, and last night during the girl’s band concert I finished another fingerless glove. These are great travel projects, so I keep them in a bag and work on the mermaid while I’m at home.

And that’s all the yarn stuff, can you believe it? There’s always a lot going on in late April and May when you’ve got kids, especially teenage kids involved in lots of activities. So I’m doing plenty of driving around and looking forward to the day when the girl gets her driver’s license. And also not looking forward to it, too, you know? Thankfully, the puppies have been good too…except for wanting to lay on the back of the couch. (They’re not allowed up there, but it doesn’t seem to stop the naughty girl pup.) Yep, I got her down as soon as I took the photo. Do I think she gets up there whenever we’re gone? Yep, I’m sure she does!

Weekend Whirlwind

May2

Oh, I don’t know, guys. This weekend was so crazy my brain is a little frazzled. I don’t think you’ll be getting a super good post today, but I’ll do my best. Saturday was the state National History Day competition here in Missouri, and the girl was there for the third time. We took a 2-hour road trip and spent half the day on the University of Missouri campus. (It’s nice. We like it. It’s on the girl’s short list for colleges.) Sadly, she didn’t make it to finals, so we hit up the best pizza in Missouri (Shakespeare’s Pizza. SO good.) before we left town. The hubby was kind enough to drive, so I got lots of knitting time. I made two fingerless gloves, start to finish, and got a good start on the third. I’m loving these and want to make them in all the colors. Right now I’m making gray with a hot pink stripe.At home, I started a big commission project: another mermaid blanket. It’s for a friend of a friend, and I’m trying to mimic the colors of The Little Mermaid. I’m really hoping that since this is my second, it will go more smoothly. I struggled a bit with the decreases in the tail last time. Oh, and see my new basket??So pretty! I found them at Aldi, a set of two for $8.99, and they’re perfect for my craft room.

Grace also found a book recently. I was gone, the boy was in his room, and the hubby was in the basement. I came home and found the book in the backyard. This is what was left. This dog. Oy.

Yesterday, the girl had an orchestra concert and afterward we tried a new (to us) local Italian restaurant and I managed to catch a rare photo of the boy. Yes, the photo quality is low but I had to move quickly. He does not allow many photos to be taken.

Today I have a rare free day, that is, if I don’t force myself to go to the grocery store. My goal is to turn on some chick flicks and make good progress on the mermaid blanket. It will work out just fine if these two don’t drive me nuts asking to go outside, then inside, then outside, then inside… Happy Monday, friends.

Yarn De-Stash

Apr29

After my recent yarn purchases, I spent a bit of time sorting through my stash. It was getting rather over-crowded again and I needed to make some room. I pulled out a few yarns I decided I’d probably never use, and figured I’d post them here in case any of them called to my knit/crochet readers. I’ll attach a contact form at the end of this post, or you can email me at bonny(at)bonnyknits(dot)com. If you’re willing to pay the shipping, I’ll ship anywhere you want me to! Payment through PayPal.

Araucania Ruca Solid color 109. 100% sugar cane. 4 unused skeins. DK weight, 263 yards per skein. $25 for the lot, plus s&h. (Retails at $14/skein)

Classic Elite Yarns Imagine 53/47 cotton/rayon blend. DK weight, 93 yards each. There’s a lovely shimmer that was really hard to catch in the photos. $6 plus s&h.

KnitPicks Brava Worsted, color Caution. Was just too bright for what I wanted. 3 skeins, all unused. $5 plus s&h.

KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Superwash color Camel Heather. No idea why I bought this, since it’s not really my color. $2 plus s&h.

KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Bulky Superwash. Wound but unused. One dark, one light purple. Love the colors, they just weren’t as soft as I like. $5 plus s&h.

Wool Pak Yarns NZ 100% New Zealand wool. Label not marked with ply or shade. Label states 250 grams per skein, these three weigh in at 245 grams. I bought it like this, no idea why it was split into three. $5 plus s&h.

I also have a ton of cheaper acrylic to re-home, too much to list individually. If you like Red Heart Super Saver, Caron One Pound, Homespun, or things like that, give me a holler and I can give you an idea of what I’ve got!

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Anatomy of a Photo

Apr27

Having finished my shawl and all the Royals-themed orders, I started a new project last night. This morning I set out to take a photo, and I thought I’d share my process.

This is my stack of scrapbook paper backgrounds. Note: this is only a very small sampling of my paper stash, the ones I pulled out as good options. I have A LOT more. I’m glad I’m finally putting it to use again, and actually, going through it all makes me want to start scrapbooking again. Anyway, paper. Plus a cookie sheet so I can set up the photo on it, and move it around easily to find the best light.

Here’s my stash of trinkets and treasures. The tray was handmade by my husband and it pleases me to have it out and use it more often. This is just a start; I’m sure I’ll be adding to this over time.

Then I put them all together and use my phone to come up with photos like these. It’s tricky to find the right background for the project, the way different colors play together. And then finding the best light? Let’s just say I’m a work in progress.

Which one is your favorite? What’s your best photography tip?

Oh, what’s the project? A Bit of Lace Hemp Triangle, special request from the mother! It’s a paid pattern but totally worth it.

Weekend Adventure, With Yarn

Apr26

We took a baby road trip this weekend. We’re gearing up to start painting our house this summer and found some used scaffolding on Craigslist. The listings nearby kept getting snatched up quickly, so we drove about three hours to the southwest part of Missouri, near Springfield. It was gorgeous, green and hilly and lush. I do love it down there. Our destination was pretty rural, and I was delighted to find they had a nice menagerie for me to play with while the guys messed with the scaffolding. They had four dogs, three cats (that I saw; he said there were around 18), a bunch of chickens, a horse, and five goats. Molly, a “smaller” Great Pyrenees, was my favorite. She was so sweet and mellow, and I ended up sitting on the ground cuddling with her for much of the time. I really wish I could have taken her home with me, and they would have let me too! They said they got her to be a guard dog but she ended up being the runt of the litter. But for some reason my hubby thinks two dogs is enough. I know, what’s wrong with him, right? I did get him to agree that once he retires, if we move out to the country with a bit of land, I could have more puppies. Hooray! I might actually like that. I mean, I’m not very social and don’t like many people. I spend most of my time in silence and love it. I love the wide expanse of open land. Would I like it long-term? Not sure. I’d definitely have to be relatively close to civilization. So yeah, we have that to ponder for the next several years. Think about it: more puppies! Yay!

Okay, enough about puppies. How about kitties? We stopped at a few antique malls and one of them had this little beauty. She was a miniature version of a cat I used to have.Bonus: the hubby agreed that IF we moved to a country-ish location, I could have outdoor cats! (He claims to be “allergic”. Whatever.)

Of course I also found a yarn store while we were out and about, though we had to drive a bit out of our way to get there. It’s in Rogersville, MO, near Springfield, and it’s called One City Market. It’s in a cute little house and I walked in and there was a small room full of gorgeous worsted and bulky wools, like Lorna’s Laces and Vice Yarns and Baah! and Malabrigo and so much more. It connected to another room which had the wool fingering/DK weights, also yummy colors and brands, including some small indie dyers. I picked out two skeins, only two skeins, trying to be very very good and went to the counter…then I spotted another room. Oh, yes, she said, that’s the cotton blends, and some closeout yarns. Oh well. Crap. I descended into the rabbit hole of her closeouts. I mean, good grief, it was crazy good. Brands like Rowan and Cascade, and wool and cotton and more and more. It was all packaged together in ziplock bags, some with multiple skeins of one yarn, some with multiple skeins of the same yarn in different colors. And the prices? 65% off retail! So much for being good!

What did I bring home? Well, let me show you some pictures! And I’ll preface it by saying I’ve been playing with a new technique called the flatlay. I got the idea from Jem Arrowsmith Knits, who has been taking an Instagram photography course with Makelight and producing truly gorgeous photos. I’d love to do the course at some point but right now the budget says I can just play with a few of the ideas. I have TONS of scrapbooking paper for interesting backgrounds, and like Jem, I had a marvelous time collecting trinkets to jazz up my photos. Unfortunately, when I actually had time to take photos, it was so stinking dark from a severe thunderstorm that I had no natural light. So these are very rough beginning-stage photos.

I started with some Dream in Color Classy in Cashmere in color Charged Cherry, and it’s the hottest hot pink you ever saw. And soft, so soft and squishy. I got some Manos del Uruguay Alegria, a merino blend in a vivid neon rainbow. Yes, it’s fingering, but it will make a stunning Hitchhiker. It really is much brighter than it looks here. I kept this photo because I like the pieces together, but I’d love to re-take it in natural light.

Now for my clearance finds. I got six skeins of Cascade Sierra, a bouncy blend of cotton and merino, three pink and three orange. I can’t wait to knit the two colors together; I just haven’t decided whether they want to be a shawl or a lightweight scarf.

Pink is my color right now, apparently, because I also got a bag of SMC Select Juliette, six skeins in a dark raspberry hue. It’s 100% cotton and labeled bulky but looks more like Aran weight.

My favorite deal was a bag of 9 balls of Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran. It’s mostly merino with a bit of microfiber and 10% cashmere. Soft? You betcha! And it’s a gorgeous red that will be fantastic for holiday knitting. I got all of it, 855 yards, for $28! WHEE! I mean, that could be a really sweater vest…if I had the patience to knit a sweater. (Spoiler: I don’t.)

I could have bought so much more but managed to stop the damage at that, and even that was more than I should have bought. Still, I’m delighted with my finds and can’t wait to cast on with all of it. And speaking of actually knitting, I did some of that too, and I bound off the Citron shawl last night! I was all “Meh” about it until it came off the needles, and then I realized how lovely it actually is! I love the ruffled edge, even if it is shorter than it’s supposed to be because I ran out of yarn. Again, the color isn’t true but I had to share it. Once I get the ends woven in and a day that’s not so gray, I’ll post a better photo.

Whew, this was a big post, wasn’t it? That’s what happens when I save it all up instead of doling it out in small daily doses. If you’re still reading, thanks for sticking around!

Matching Mitts

Apr13

I finished the second pair of fingerless gloves yesterday; got all the ends woven in and everything. And the best part is: I have two pairs of matching mitts! I’m the worst at making two things the same size. I lose count of rows, or I go by measurement and maybe one ends up a row shorter or longer. Even with these, the two pairs don’t match. One pair is longer than the other. No idea how that happened; I really did think they’d all come out the same. BUT, at least each person will have two gloves that match.The 5″ DPNs were marvelous, too. Much more comfortable than the metal, and I was able to put the stitches on 4 needles instead of 3, which seemed to help a lot with laddering. And the thumbs! I can’t imagine trying to do thumbs on the 7″ needles. I’m definitely glad I got the shorter needles. But this is one more reason I shy away from socks: I’d end up with non-matching socks!

How do you guys make sure your pairs come out the exact same size?

The Color Purple

Apr12

What did I do with my busy busy day yesterday? Well, not knit, that’s for sure! Nope, I spent the day with my MIL, aka my favorite hairdresser, and emerged with a new hairdo! I thought about waiting to post until I could get a “better” photo, i.e. one with makeup and a nicer shirt and a better background, and then I thought, nah. This is me. This is what I look like on a regular basis. It is what it is. So without further ado, voila: If you’re wondering WHY the heck I would dye my hair purple, read this post from a couple of years ago. I loved my purple hair, truly. The only reason I went back to “normal” hair is that I was going on a big vacation to Washington D.C. with my mom and kids, and either I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that with purple hair, or I knew my mother would rather I not have purple hair in those photos. Not sure. In any case, I missed my pretty hair and decided to do it again and this time it will stick around indefinitely. It makes me happy.

I did manage to pick up some 5″ DPNs yesterday and started another fingerless glove this morning. They’re a bit more fiddly, but they’re much more comfortable than the 7″ metal DPNs I was using. The metal hurts my fingers after an hour of knitting. And since I had a Jo-Ann coupon, it was a good buy.

If you could anything wild and crazy with your hair, what would you do? What’s stopping you?

Forever Royal

Apr11

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!