Thankful

Can you believe the holiday season is already here?  It's been such a fast year, but then again, I think each year is shorter than those previous.  I'm so excited for Christmas, and for all the magic there is to show my two little boys who are just beginning to "get it".

I have primarily been knitting in the past few weeks, mostly because I'm put off by having to change my colors every 4 throws with the weaving, but I'll get back to that soon.  My goal lately has simply been production.  I need to have items available to sell for craft shows!

Today I have the finished linen stitch scarf to show you!

It turned out great!  As I said in my previous post, the yarn color is called "Pony Ride", and I think it's so appropriate.  It is just the colors I would pick to describe a horse or pony ride.  The colors also appealed to me because they were subtle, earth tones that would go well with browns, blacks, creams and khakis. 

 The fabric made when using this stitch is thick, so I'm sure it'll be warm, given it's a wool/nylon blend.  Head on over to my Etsy shop to check out all my current offerings.

I really am so thankful that I'm able to find time to do the things I love, that I have a wonderful husband who works hard so I can stay home with our two boys, and that I have the ability to create.  And a roof over my head, and plenty of food, and a fantastic family.  We really are abundantly blessed.  That really is what this season is all about.

My knitting corner in the living room has had to be moved to make way for the Christmas tree.  (I may be INSANE for placing the tree in a commons area in our house with two little boys...time will tell.)  So hopefully I'm able to keep up my productivity this month!  But on my needles now is this colorful shawl.

 

I'm a little under halfway through my yarn, and I plan to make it as big as my yardage allows.  This is self-striping sock yarn, I'll give all the details later but I really like the colors.  It's fun to work with self striping yarn - it's always fun to see what's coming up next.  It also occupies my mind, because I'm that anal type A sort who gets mad when the colors pool too much (HA! That's hard to admit!).  

More to come later - it's time to decorate the tree with my little family!  God bless you in this season!

Plodding on along...

On my needles now is this lovely scarf:

It's worked in a linen stitch lengthwise, with fringe added at the beginning and end of each row.  It's a simple, mindless knit that's been good with football and basketball watching!  I'm really loving the colors.  The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in colorway Pony Ride (YAY IT'S NOT DISCONTINUED!!).  There are 450 stitches in each row, so the scarf is slow to grow, but It looks so pretty.  Almost woven (which I'm partial to).

A bit on Kristi's organization:

I only work on 2 projects at a time with my knitting.  Now, I know hundreds of knitters who work up to 10 projects at a time, but I find it hard to keep track of what's going on with each project.  It's also rewarding to me to finish a project and then move on to the next one.

I have large canvas bags that I keep my WIP's (work in progress) in, and each bag contains a little kit with commonly used tools.  I have recycled various containers to use for these kits.  Right now I have a Crystal Light container and a Hillshire Farm lunch meat tub.  They don't have to be fancy.  Just functional!  In my kits are:

1. A tape measure - the retractable kind are nice but my kids have broken most of mine so I have a wadded tape in most of my kits
2. Small scissors
2. A tapestry needle for weaving in ends
3. A small crochet hook for dropped stitches
4. Yarn markers (number and size depend on the pattern)
5. A row counter
Other items may be included if they're needed for a specific project, such as: stitch holders, cable needle, needle point protectors, and etc.

The bags also (obviously) contain the yarn and needles needed to make the project, plus the pattern.  I like to keep the pattern in a sheet protector to make it easy to keep all the pages together.  It's also nice to keep spilled coffee off!

So two projects are in progress in my canvas bags by my knitting chair.  In my craft room, I make up queue bags for the next 2 projects on my to-do list.  The bags I use for this are actually drawstring shoe bags that came with some luggage.

I gather the yarn, needles, pattern and notions and place them together so they're ready to go.  I keep my queue updated on Ravelry, so I always know what's coming next.  The yarn in my stash that's ear-marked for a project goes into a certain drawer in my craft bureau so they are all together.

My stash that is not scheduled for a project is divided into items for sale and yarn for scrap.  I'm a firm believer in offering up my yarn leftover from a project for sale or trade on Ravelry.  At one time, I was making a sweater and even though I thought I had made careful calculations, I ended up being short on yarn.  Of course the yarn was discontinued, and the only option was finding someone who had it in their stash who would sell me some.  I literally needed only 80 yards.  After finding the "Will sell or trade" stash section on Ravelry, I found a lady with some, but it wasn't listed as for sale or trade.  I messaged her, describing my situation, and asked if she would be willing to sell me 80 yards.  Bless her heart, she mailed me her whole lot of it, it was 5 SKEINS, at no cost to me.  That very evening, I got onto ravelry and put up all my leftovers for trade or sale.  I hoped I could help someone in the same way she helped me.  And a few months later, I did the same for a knitter in need.  :)  So keep those stash lists updated.  You never know when you could help a fellow crafter!

Finished project: Reversible Blue Infinity Cowl

I'm so excited to show you some pictures of the cowl I finished.  It's lovely!  It was fun to knit, easy, and the results were great.  I may have to make more of these! :)

As I mentioned before, this is made out of Berroco Blackstone Tweed, so it's SO soft and warm.  65% wool, 25% mohair and 10% angora.  Yum.

The fully-reversible-ness of it makes it nice to wear looped either once or twice, depending on what look you want.

And see my new dress form?  My husband rolled his eyes, but I think it's great - and a must have when photographing this stuff!

It's up for sale HERE on my Etsy page.

I have more projects coming down the pipeline soon!  Busy, busy, busy. 

Hot chocolate and electric blankets

I love the fall.  Well, when I really think about it, I think I love the cool (not cold) temps.  A more temperate climate is probably suited better for me.  But I also love the changing leaves, football, cuddling under blankets, and apple cider.  Of course, knitting is better in the cool months.  I seem to have more motivation. So welcome, Fall!

My little monsters had a good time on Halloween - they're finally getting old enough to "get it".  However, once they successfully obtained candy, they immediately wanted to eat it.  :)  I guess I would too if I were 2 or 3 years old!

Aren't they adorable?

I've finished up the cowl - and it turned out great.  Here I am working a three-needle bind off to finish it out.

I'll get it blocked soon and put up some finished photos. 

My new project is a pretty beaded handbag. I've not worked in beads while knitting before, and it's been fun!  However, getting started by stringing 612 beads onto delicate, single ply wool was not fun. The Mini Mochi yarn is perfect for this pattern, though!  This is colorway 109 - Treasure Chest.  I keep checking these yarns I'm using and they're all discontinued colors.  I guess that's what happens when you have a massive stash and a huge project queue.  *guilty look*  *let's change the subject*

 

I also have a Facebook Page now!!  Please come by occasionally to see me there.

Productivity

I feel especially productive this week, thanks to some motivation!  My mom and I attended the Affair of the Heart show last weekend. While I was expecting to see many more handmades, it fueled my excitement!  I would love to do 2 craft shows a year with my mom's help, and I'm considering the purchase of a small, foldable loom to demonstrate on.  I think people would be interested to see how the weaving process goes, and it would probably open up communication with customers.  So I've spent some time planning some projects for sale.

My current weaving is going great. I finished the first scarf on this warp and now have moved to this design:

I've nicknamed it Flying Birds!  Isn't it cheery?  I think one of my nieces or nephews will like it.  There will be one more scarf on this warp.  I seem to be steadily improving. 

On the knitting front:

I finished one sleeve on my cardigan and have several inches on the second sleeve done.  Ugh.  Not worthy of a photo.  I wish I had a magic wand to finish this thing.

I finished a hibernating project: a pair of robot mittens for my oldest son.  They are in need of blocking.

And I have started a cowl (here is the pattern on Ravelry) with this lovely Berroco Blackstone Tweed, color is Cape Cod (discontinued). The yarn is leftover from a coat I made.

And one more category, a new one for the blog: felt. I have been working on a felt activity book for my cousin's little girls and this is the 3rd page set. 

A dollhouse bed and bath page. The doll has Velcro undies and can change clothes.  The bed and bathtub have pockets behind them to allow the doll to sit in them. I got the pattern from Imagine Our Life, who has SOOO many cute activity book page patterns. I have 2 more page sets to do, so I'll post those as I finish them.

WHEW!  I'm worn out just telling about all I have finished!  Ok.  Back to work.

New look

My omni-talented husband Chris helped me design my new banner and logo!  We priced having it done by a graphic design company/designer and decided we were DIY-ers and this shouldn't be the exception.  I'm so excited.  I hopefully can get business cards printed soon - maybe even some custom garment tags to put onto my handmades!

I am continuing to work on my woven scarf, as well as my knitted sweater.  I'm almost done with my first sleeve on the sweater - making progress.  My queue is ever-growing, so the sweater project needs finishing.  BAD.

So in the meantime, check out my adorable boys: Elijah (nearly 4, dressed in blue) and Noah (2 and dressed in orange).  They are my everything. 

Colorful checks

I have this pretty yellow and blue stripes on my warp now, and plan to weave scarves in 3 different patterns for as long as the warp threads allow. I threaded it at 20 sett, as the last project was at 18 and it was hard to see the pattern. I wove a while and discovered I was getting rectangles instead of squares.  I believe it is because the plain weave variation has so many overs and unders, it simply won't allow me to beat in the weft any tighter. 

I was unsure whether to carry the yarn over when switching colors and tried it for the first several inches, but I quickly discovered it was hard to make the jump firm but not pull the warp out of wack. So I started cutting the colors and alternating the starting side with each color change. I like the look much better. 

You can see where I changed techniques on the right side, where there's a yellow string near the breast beam. Although cutting each color after only 4 throws is time consuming, it seems to work best. The pin you see in the left of the fabric is my measurement- that's the first 10" mark. 

I'm having fun and learning so much. The only aggravation is that my kids love to fiddle with everything, so my weaving time is limited to naps (haha- they're rare nowadays) and bedtime (HAHA- momma is tired by then!).  

This weekend, my mom and I are going to An Affair of the Heart craft show in OKC. I've never been but hope it'll be fun. I'm also looking to glean ideas on booth presentation, popular selling items, advertisement and the like.  I'm also excited to see my mommy!!