knit your library, vol. 4

Finished another crochet edging for a fleece blanket! This one took approximately 75 grams of Yarn Bee Soft Secrets yarn (more details here).

Not being very original, because my next "knit your library" project is using the exact same pattern from The Needlecraft Book, but in red and with the remaining robot fleece fabric. When I'm done with this project I'm going to have to make a picture of the HUGE pile of blankets I make!

 

 My other distraction is the cowl pattern I'm test knitting, which has grown a lot since last week! This is Malabrigo worsted in the fuscia colorway, and I looooooove it. This one is for me, selfish me. The pattern is the Betangled Cowl by Jennifer Weissman. Everything she makes is fabulous!

one day at a time

First thirty days with no yarn purchases! Woot!

knit your library, vol. 3

I'm about half-way done with the blanket I'd started after finishing the two I posted last week. This time I'm using the "multiple stitch" edging pattern from p. 149 of The Needlecraft Book. I'm really loving this one, and the side benefit of this one is it is getting me to finally memorize the different crochet stitches since you rotate through them all! Literally it goes like this: sc, hdc, dc, 3 treble crochet in same stitch, then dc, hdc, sc, and slip stitch. Phew! I feel like a "real crocheter" now that I'm learning them and don't have to look them up every single time. :-D

I should be done with this blanket, but two projects are distracting me. First, this cute santa ornament!! It's a free pattern, and I can now I say I can crochet in a circle! Granny squares here I come! LOL. It's for an ornament swap I'm in, so you'll see me bust out another big batch of these since we send an ornament a month throughout the year. Should be fun.

Pattern: Santa (link to my Ravelry project page)
Hook: Size G (4.0 mm)
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Oyster Heather for the face, Knit Picks Swish Worsted for the hat, Caron Simply Soft for the beard.
Mods: Used hdc for the hat to make it taller, then chained 6ish and hdc in each chain to make the tail of the hat. Used 6 mm safety eyes and glued on pom poms for nose/hat.

  

And last but not least, I'm starting a new test knit, this time it's a cowl with reversible cables using Malabrigo worsted in the fuscia colorway. Yum!

knit your library, vol. 2

Working my way through the crochet edgings section of the Needlecraft Book has been going well the past week--I finished the Seahawks blanket I posted last week, and a second blanket in the meantime!

Pattern: picot scallop edging (link to my Ravelry project page) 

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted in marine heather (one sc crochet base, then dc around = 1.5 skeins, 165 yards); the picot scallop pattern is in Knit Picks Stroll Brights in sour apple held double, used approx. .85 of one skein total.

Hook: size H

Mods: None! Next time I would love to try to mirror the picot on the base dc round, maybe playing with different sized stitches.

 

 

And here's the second blanket! This one used the bold scallop pattern on page 147 of the book. I really like the substantial look of this one--cute, but not too frilly. I think this will be my go-to for the "boy" blankets I make!

Pattern: bold scallop edging (link to my Ravelry project page)

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in harvest red, used 100 grams of the 170 gram skein

Hook: size H

Mods: Nada!

 

 Hope your knit your library challenge has been going well so far this month!

sunday's stitches, vol. 1

sunday's stitches: a moment to slow down and savor whatever your stitching on

Since going small was so successful in December, I'm maintaining that theme by working on one of the many small projects filling my needlework bin. First up? This adorable owl!

See my progress from week to week on past sunday's stitches.

FO friday: asante cowl

 

first finished object of 2016!

If you've followed my blog for even a nanosecond, you'll have quickly picked up on how cowl-crazy I am. I just can't stop making them! Over time I've learned that I'm really awful at "artfully arranging" them, however .... which means that although I love a generous double-wrap cowl, they can frustrate me. Lately I've been intrigued by the "long tube" style of cowl that has been popular lately (think Joji's 3-color cashmere cowl, for example).  The length allows for generous pooling of the cowl (which is cozy and comfy) and yet since the circumference is smaller, no need to double wrap. My problem solved! So when I saw the free Asante pattern pop up on Ravelry, I wanted to make it right away. The Party of Five mini skein sets from SweetGeorgia just sealed the deal! So this was my December gift to myself--yarn to make this cowl, and I cast on right before Christmas. Fun, easy knitting that I finished up during bowl game marathon viewing on New Year's day! It feels good to have my first "following through on my intentions" finish of the year, too.

Pattern: Asante, a freebie from Sweet Georgia yarns! (link to my Ravelry project page)

Yarn: SweetGeorgia Superwash Worsted Party of Five (2 packs, 500 yards total, in the Goldigger colorway)

Needles: size 8 Knit Picks Harmony

Mods: skipped the tiny bit of ribbing detail so I could have a brainless knit!

knit your library, vol. 1

Here we go, week one of the #knityourlibrary challenge! I have not one, but two works-in-progress that use patterns from my long-languishing library. Project number one is using a pattern from the needlecraft book you see above. I love to buy these books, and then promptly forget to look at them unless I'm trying to answer a technique question. For Christmas gifts, I crocheted an edging around fleece to add a handmade touch to an otherwise ho-hum fleece blanket. It was so satisfying and fun, I've decided to make more and use up my fleece stash! Below you see my progress on the first round of the picot scallop edging. I had already done a round of double crochet in blue, and now I'm holding two strands of Knit Picks Stroll Neon Brights in sour apple for the picot scallop edging.

And my second project? Can you detect the Seahawks theme? Yup, it's a Seahawks cowl, the foolproof cowl pattern I've owned for at least two years now but still haven't knit. Loving it so far!

knit your library challenge: 2016 edition

 this is the year to tackle the tower!

I don't know about you, but we LOVE books. And after awhile, sometimes my house begins to feel something like this. Stacks and stacks of books. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way! (I would much rather have a house overflowing with books than a family addicted to video games!)

Of course, this love extends to crafting, knitting, sewing, and stitching books too. And after awhile, the love begins to feel overwhelming. Because all those books were bought with intentions, right? Wouldn't it be cool if I made this? My kids would love this! Oooh, I want this! And I don't know about you, but unfulfilled intentions weigh me down. I see that book/yarn/project/thing and feel guilty that I haven't done it yet. I started the Love Your Library challenge back in 2013 to help refocus my knitting, sewing and crafting so that I wouldn't forget to use the amazing patterns in my personal library that I already owned before buying more. Last year I refocused myself even more by picking several books to knit through in 2015. But honestly doing that just didn't fit with my personality. My crafting moods change throughout the year, and restricting myself to only a few books completed flopped (and there's just something about picking a few books to knit through that makes me want to knit anything but those patterns! ha!). But last year I had a few projects that used up old yarn that made something that fulfilled intentions I'd made for it seemingly ages ago. And that felt SO GOOD. So I'm declaring 2016 to be my personal year of follow through. Instead of picking specific books or projects, I'm going to go with the flow. But my theme will be projects that I've been intending to make, but just haven't followed through for some reason or another.

So join me every Wednesday as I post progress on this challenge with a link up! The rules are simple for this challenge: knit projects that utilize patterns you have in your personal library that you acquired before January 1, 2016. That's it! Last year I noticed some people were confused by the name "Love Your Library" thinking it was a challenge to go to your public library (I support that too!). So I'm tweaking the name just slightly this year to "knit your library." If you're on Ravelry, you can come chat about your projects with everyone else here. And if you want to tag your projects on social media, use the tag #knityourlibrary. And come back every Wednesday to link up your projects and blog posts! Of course, I'll get distracted by the ooh, shiny! and there will be projects that don't qualify for this challenge, so that's okay. The intention of this challenge is a fun way to cheerlead each other in support of better following through on our crafting intentions!

And if you want a badge, here's one to snag! See the side bar for the html code to make it a linking button --------------->

Link up below to let me know you're joining in! Wishing everyone a fun and productive 2016!