Actual Yarn Content

I promised you actual yarn content and here it is!

First up is the Willamette Scarf I’m working on.

Yarn is String Theory Caper Sock in Earthquake.  I’m nearly finished with the increases.  This is my purse knitting and part of the Stumptown Knits club that I talked about here.

Next up is Liisa‘s Hanukah/NewYear/Birthday sweater.

It’s the Yogini Bolero from by Wendy Bernard.  I’m knitting it in Elsebeth Lavold’s Silky Wool in color 113 Smokey Black. I’m to the part where she needs to try it on for length before I continue.  There’s a lot of “at the same time” in the beginning of this sweater, but otherwise it’s a quick and pleasant knit.

Finally, I’m working on a new sweater for the husband.  He requested a Dude Sweater.

It’s simply 16 rows of ribbing right now, but it will grow quickly. It’s knit in Cascade Yarns Eco Wool (just like his last sweater) and he’s already excited.  I’ve promised this one will take less than 2 years to complete.  (My goal is to get it done while it’s still cold enough to wear.)

I have a few other projects going for classes I’m taking at the shoppe, but they’re not far enough along yet to take photos.  Perhaps next week…

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Goal Board in Under 30 Minutes

In an effort to combat pregnancy brain, I wanted to make myself a pretty wipe-off board that was easy to use.  I came up with the idea for a “today’s goal” board, because somedays, one goal is enough.  This project is seriously easy and fast.  It took me longer to pick out the supplies than to actually put it together.

(P.S. It’s also magnetic!)

Supplies:

• 12″ x 12″ frame
• 12″ x 12″ metal sheet (optional if you don’t want it to be magnetic)
• 12″ x 12″ dry erase sheet
• Stickers or vinyl letters of your choice

How to:

1. Remove all the glass and backing from the frame and set aside.  You will not need the glass, do with it as you wish.
2. Add your letters to the dry erase sheet and decorate to your liking.  I used clear quilting rulers as a guide for my lettering. Remember, your frame has a lip on it, so be sure to measure how far in it will extend (in my case, it was 1/4″) and account for that in your letter placement.
3. When you are done decorating the dry erase sheet, assemble your goal board in this order:
   1. Dry erase sheet
   2. Metal sheet
   3. Spacing or cardboard sheet (this should have come in the frame originally)
   4. Backing board
4. Stand back and admire your work.

Tips:

• My dry erase sheet was slightly larger than 12″ x 12″.  I used a paper trimmer to trim off the excess 1/8″ from two sides to make it fit properly.
• Make sure your backing sheet (with the stand or hanger) is facing the correct way up in relation to your dry erase board before securing all the tabs.
• Go easy on the decoration.  You still need room to write!

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Books + Yarn

Today I’m contemplating some books (among other things).  Since pay day is still more than a week away, I’ll just have to lust after them from afar for the moment.

By Amanda Blake Soule and Stephen Soule… Rhythm of Family and The Creative Family.  (They also have some great sites/blogs like Rhythm of the Home and Soule Mama.  I love how involved their children are and admire their farm.  I don’t think I want to go that far back to country life though.)

In response to a clutter cleaning conversation with a friend, she recommended The Emotional House.  I think we’re going to band together and tackle some cleaning over the next few months.

I started the Demiluna Shawl last night with some yarn gifted by a friend.  Meliae is finished and waiting to be blocked.

I haven’t been to the thrift store in weeks.  I’m feeling the need to go.  I also need to finish up the newsletter mailing list for work, get the webby stuff together, and rig a large light box for taking photos of samples.  Anyone figured out how to stop time yet?

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It’s All Square

In recent years, I’ve loosely participated in a crochet block of the month group on Ravelry. I’ve made a few squares here and there but never really finished all of them. This year, I picked some skeins of Plymouth Encore Worsted out of the stash and I’m doing my best to keep up.  Here are the squares I’ve finished so far.

January’s square is Maggie’s Square by Drew Emborsky.

Ravelry Project Notes

March’s square is SmoothFox’s Starburst Flower Square by Donna Mason-Svara.

Ravelry Project Notes

April’s Square is the Lace Petals Square by Chris Simon.

Ravelry Project Notes

(February’s square isn’t playing nice with my color scheme, so I’m looking for a replacement.  It’s a beautiful Pineapple Blossom square, but should really be done in a solid for the best effect.)

So far, I’m very pleased with how these are turning out.  They seem to be a perfect weekend afternoon project when all I want is a little mindless crochet, some instant gratification, and (usually) some SciFi on the tube.

I’m also playing catch-up with the 2010 squares in a softer palette, so you’ll get to see a different color scheme than the one pictured above.  You know I can’t do the same thing for a whole year…  More squares to come in the future if I don’t get distract… oh look!  Something shiny!

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Monday

I’m doing Monday right.

Pictured above is another baby shrug from Knitting Pure & Simple (#288, I believe) and a honey vanilla latte from Downtown Grounds (great local coffee shop). I’m trying to figure out this whole “taking a day off” thing. I think I’m off to a good start.

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When Baby Shrugged

What do you do when there are four babies due in the span of two months? You figure out quick knit projects. Thankfully we are headed into spring which means that quick, short sleeved little knits are completely appropriate.

This is Knitting Pure & Simple’s pattern #288. Since the pattern is sized from 18 months to size 10, I had to get creative as I was envisioning a tiny newborn in this little shrug. I picked up Sirdar Snuggly Smiley Stripes DK in color #251, dropped my needles down to a size 5 for the body (3 for the ribbing) and went crazy. Well, not really crazy, but it did knit up in two days. It turned out around a 3 months size (I think). Ravelry details here.

I’m totally in love with it and so is everyone who comes into the shop and sees it. It’s no surprise that I have to knit another one for display so this one can go to the baby shower it was made for. I kind of want to knit one in every color of the Smiley Stripes that are in stock. (Besides, there are three more babies due by the end of May…)

(P.S. This is my first post from the iPad. The app for WordPress is pretty nifty, but there is definitely a learning curve.)

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Random Monday

1. Mind Bloom is a neat site promoting “life games”.  You add small, manageable goals and then get seeds for completing them.  Seeds let you buy more goals/challenges.  Pretty nifty tool.
2. I’m thinking of taking up yoga again (I’ve never *really* taken it up, but I did do it consistently for a few weeks a couple years ago).  The Chi Room offers drop-in lunch time yoga four days a week now for just $5/session.  The doc wants me to add more exercise in and suggested yoga.  It’s worth a shot, eh?  (Side note: Their site makes me sad.  I want to make it awesome.  Think they’d trade yoga classes for website work?)
3. My brain is practically exploding with ideas lately.  Hubby set us up a cheap whiteboard.  Take a roll of wrapping paper and tack it to the wall, white side out.  Add a sharpie or two and voila!  Instant whiteboard.  Bonus: It can be recycled when you’re done with it.  Cost = $0.
4. I had a bit of a falling down at the craft store and bought some Fimo clay.  I am soooo not artistic it’s laughable.  I made three beads and a flat flower to make into a fridge magnet.  I may suck at this, but I’m going to keep trying.

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Rainy Stitches

I cannot believe how much it has rained since we got to California.  What happened to the sunshine state?  Well, at least we’re indoors working at Stitches West!  As usual, I’m at the Oregon Woodworker’s booth selling fabulous swifts.  I’ve already spotted a few famous bloggers wandering about.  Jenny and Nichole from Stash & Burn wandered past the booth.  And then I saw IrishGirlie with an adorable little girl.  (Of course I was busy working and could only smile.)

There are fantastic things to see at the market.  My goal this year is to find great crocheted items to bring back to the yarn shop.  So far I’ve been really impressed with the crochet (and knit) designs from Kira K.  I picked up a pattern from Green Mountain Spinnery called Kristy.  StitchDiva also has some great crocheted hats that are calling to me.  Plus I picked up some great stitch markers with an adorable case from Miss Purl.  I still haven’t gotten a chance to see the entire show, but I’m working on it…

Tomorrow, I’ll be at booth #904.  So if you’re at the show, come say hi!

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A 13 Day Shrug

This gorgeous little number took just under two weeks to make.  It was also nothing but ribbing.  While ribbing may have great visual appeal and its mindlessness makes it a great take-anywhere project… It is BORING.  Thankfully, the fluffy soft alpaca made up for it.  Apologies for the badly lit camera phone pictures.  I was feeling lazy. (The colors are most accurate in the second picture.)

This shrug is leaving me tomorrow to go to its forever home with a friend who is recovering from surgery.  I hope she likes it.

The pattern is N026 from Plymouth Yarns and features Baby Alpaca Grande, I used a hand dye color of the same manufacture.  One cool thing about this project is there is no shaping and only two little seams.  You basically make a big rectangle, add in two seams to make some armholes and voila!  A finished garment.  Project details can be found on Ravelry.

Tip: When knitting with alpaca, wear a matching shirt so the fluff doesn’t show up so badly.  Do not wear black unless you are working with black alpaca!

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Soft Serve – A $14 sweater

Meet the 2nd FO of 2011!  This sweater is a dream to make and looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.  It still needs blocking, but I wanted to get some pictures of it anyway.

The yarn is Plymouth Tweed, an aran weight wool.  I scored 11 skeins of this woolly goodness for just $2/skein at the 2008 Sidewalk Sale.  The sweater only took 7.  Seriously.  Under 800 yards for a crocheted sweater!  And I even added length to the sleeves and body.  (Full details of the sweater, with notes on my modifications, can be found on Ravelry here.)

The pattern is from Everyday Crochet by Doris Chan.  Special thanks to Liisa for turning me onto this book.  Doris’ method of top down, seamless construction is very fun and uses up less yarn than a normal crocheted sweater.  The shells make it go fast, so this lovely only took me three days.  No, really.  Three days!

A good blocking will open the shells up further and help the drape in the front. The wool is a little scratchier than some I’ve used, so it’s not a close-to-the-skin kind of sweater.  Although, I can definitely see this as a layering piece for  a cool spring/summer evening.

And I’d like to end this post with a Public Service Announcement.  If you ask your husband to take your sweater shots, you will inevitably get a picture like this.  I’ve come to accept that.

(At least the butt shot shoes off the edging detail nicely.  Yeah… That’s it…)

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