day four: week of red (and orange)

day three: week of red (and wip wednesday)

More from my garden! Serendipitously, it is my red asiatic lilies that are blooming first--perfect timing for Project Spectrum!

And moving to the darker side of red for my WIP Wednesday ... this is my Making Waves Cardigan (Rav link) in Madelinetosh Sock in Oxblood. There's a lot of black in this colorway. In some light it looks reddish, in other light a little purple. It's progressing quickly despite being sock yarn!

day two: week of red (and orange)

day one: week of red (and orange)

It's baaack. Project Spectrum, the awesome celebration of the color spectrum founded and led by Lolly, has commenced! It started as a way to explore the use of color in knitting, but has expanded to so much more. This month starts with two of my favorite colors, red and orange.

May :: Red/Orange
June :: Green
July :: Blue/Indigo
August :: Pink/Purple
September :: Yellow/Metallics
October :: Cyan/Aqua
November :: Black/White/Grey

I'm a little late to the festivities, just getting back from a trip to the west coast. So I'm kicking off my activities with a week of photos celebrating red and orange. I invite you to join me! Post a comment with a link to your blog so everyone can enjoy your photos. For now, please enjoy these gorgeous reddish orange tulips courtesy of my parent's home in Washington.

riches from stitches: part three

Projects finished during STITCHES, and new projects started!

Featherweight Cardigan

(see Ravelry for project details)

Knitting a cardigan in laceweight? I really thought I needed my head examined when I embarked on this one, and it was a labor of love. The yarn for this project was purchased at the first Stitches South I attended, and I had knit on this on and off for the past two years, so it was particularly sweet for me to cast off for this project on my first night at Stitches South 2011. I love the yarn (Ellen's Half-Pint Farm) and its great dye job! The pattern was easy and uncomplicated, which gives it two thumbs up in my book. My only complaint is that the sweater slides off my shoulders a bit too much for my liking. Not a problem when I wear it around the house, but I especially notice it if I'm wearing a purse over my shoulder or out and about. So I'll probably think twice about making a second Featherweight, or consider some serious modifications if I do.

(this shot is much more color accurate!)

Monkey Socks by Cookie A

I can't believe I haven't knit these uber-popular socks sooner! Now I see why they are soo popular--the pattern just flies off the needles, and is so well-written! These will finish up really fast, once I devote 100% of my knitting time to them!

riches from stitches: part two

At the last STITCHES I attended, the market completely overwhelmed me. I made tons of great finds, but I also missed a lot of great stuff too. During my classes, I noticed women wearing this cool jewelry made out of recycled metal knitting needles. Alas, at that point I had totally blown my spending budget. So this year I vowed to make Sassafras Creations one of the first booths I visited in the market!

My non-knitting friends would have no clue that these were made from knitting needles!

These, on the other hand, are a bit more obvious!

riches from stitches: part one

A couple of weekends ago, I was lucky enough to be able to attend STITCHES South, a conference and expo for knitters, crocheters, and fiber enthusiasts. If you love to knit, I highly recommend attending one of these events! It is sooo much fun to be surrounded by people who "get it," not to mention the amazing classes you can take, and the gorgeous yarn to be found in the market. This was my second STITCHES, and since I still haven't knit through all the stash acquisitions I had made at the last STITCHES I attended, I had a lot more restraint in the market this time around. Here's a peek at the goodies I snabbed (as usual, these photographs really don't do these colors justice!):

Miss Babs Yowza - Whatta Skein! (worsted weight) in Scarlet Ibis

Miss Babs Windsor Hand-Painted Sock Yarn in Duck Duck Quack

Ellen's Half-Pint Farm Merino Tencel (fingering weight) in Wild Pansy

Skaska Designs 50% Merino - 50% Silk (fingering weight)

Knitting Notions Classic Merino Superwash Sock in Mediterranean

The fingering weight is destined to become a couple more lightweight sweaters, believe it or not! I finished my Featherweight Cardigan during STITCHES (which I'll post about separately), and I am sooo in love with it. But I'll definitely take a break from knitting in fingering weight with something using my worsted weight Miss Babs first!

easter inspirations ...

... for next year, that is! I was too busy with creating my "inventory" for the CDAF this year to try these cool Easter crafts, but I'm definitely saving these for next year.

Isn't this wreath adorable? I'd love to make one using jelly beans, an Easter version of the funky Halloween candy corn wreath I made last fall.

I love how these simple patterns (above) create these amazing flower cut-outs (below). It's like snowflake cutting, but for spring! You could use those same patterns for some really cute flower decorations for handmade cards ... hmmm....

Next year I'd love to make my own version of an Easter egg tree. This one is Martha's (below), and it's stunning, of course.

And this just cracks me up! Who wouldn't want a bunny-shaped topiary?

recovering from sugar comas ...

I hope the Easter bunny made it to your house! A few Easter scenes from this year.

... and festivals

The Cotton District Arts Festival was exhausting, but fun. When you set up at 6 am and don't leave until after 5 pm, that makes for a pretty darn long day. I have a new level of respect for the people who make a living traveling year-round from one festival to another. Those are some serious road warriors! For my first time out, I was pretty happy with how I did. But I still have plenty of merchandise I'll be selling either on Etsy or this summer at the Starkville Community Market! I thought I'd give everyone a peek ... welcome to my booth!

For all those who made a visit to my booth, thanks for your support!

countdown to the cotton district arts festival

Remember my little post on experiments in epoxy? Well, that was really a little product development! This Saturday I'll be hosting my own booth at the Cotton District Arts Festival--something I've been dreaming about doing for a long time, but too busy occupied with other major life projects that got in the way. Hope to see you there!