Fall KAL with SillyLittleLady’s Patterns!

I think that early fall is the perfect time to do a KAL.  The weather may not be exactly starting to turn cold again, but at least with school starting back up and the holidays looming ever closer in the distance, we knitters are starting to think about fall knitting!

I’m hosting a KAL in my Ravelry group beginning on August 12th and ending on September 27th.  So, it’ll be a nice long length of time to crank out that perfect fall sweater, a few accessories or something totally different (::coughnewstuffcomingnextweekcough::)!

To participate, all you have to do is knit any of my patterns during that time frame!  Share your progress in the group thread and when you finish an item (or two, or three!) share it as well and you’ll be entered to win an awesome prize that will be announced in bits and pieces through to the end!  The more projects you finish, the more entries you’ll receive.  Entries will close on September 27th at midnight and a winner will be announced the following week.

All KAL participants can use the following code from today through August 13th to get 20% off your pattern purchase:

Will you be participating?  What are you going to knit up this fall?

Pints & Purls Edition 8: Pick Axe IPA

This is the eighth in a series of installments that will highlight one of my favorite brews and which knits to go with it!

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Brew: Pick Axe IPA

Brewer: Tommyknocker Brewery

Malts:

Hops: Willamette, Chinook, Summit, Mt. Hood, Nugget

Flavors:  Hops are the hero and are backed by a malty foundation.  Crisp, complex flavors with a pleasant bitterness and a medium finish.

Knit Pairings:  This is a strong IPA and I would recommend drinking it with a project that also commands attention.  It wouldn’t be right for intricate lace or delicate socks, but for those hardy staples that all knitters make at least every once in a while – a warm, cabled beanie, heavier-weight boot socks, a cozy shawl.

Notes:  Maltier than most summer beers, this is still a good one to have around for when the evenings are chilly, the fire in the BBQ pit is dying down and friends are sitting around telling stories of their mountainous adventures.

Let me know what you think!  Suggestions for future beers, more/different information to include, this is a work in progress so I won’t be offended by constructive advice!

WIP Wednesday

I’ve been making some progress on the Autumn Rays Shawl that I mentioned last week, things have been busy around these parts since I recently got a job outside of the house and I apologize for my absence!

I’m almost done with the textured rays portion and will be moving onto the short stockinette and then the lace!

Linking up with Tami, again!  What are you working on this week?

 

WIP Wednesday: Sweet Autumn Rays

This week I started a new project.  That sweater I mentioned last week?  On hold.  For now. But not for long!  I’m almost to the sleeve divide and I can’t wait to do that (mostly because I want to see how the top is fitting so far).

But onto my new project!

I’m knitting another of my Sweet Summer Rays shawls and this time I’m knitting it in Cascade Heritage Silk Paint yarn in this gorgeous colorway that reminds me of autumn leaves and grasses, so I’m dubbing this my Sweet Autumn Rays shawl.

For those of you who’ve purchased the pattern or are thinking about it for a future project – I’ve updated the original version to hopefully make it clearer and easier to understand on which rows the increases are placed!

Linking up with Tami as usual!  What are you working on this week? Something new? Something old?

A Garden For Me

Warning: Photo-heavy post. Don’t judge. I’m excited. You be too.

Over the 4th of July weekend, my beau and I spent most of our time outside.  We weren’t relaxing in the sun, sipping frosty beverages and working on our tans, instead we were building arguably the most stable fence a garden has ever had. 

When I initially started thinking about parsing off some of our backyard into a garden space, I was thinking we’d go find some pallets, secure them to each other, leave one able to swing open and tada! I’d have a quick and easy fence to keep the dogs away from my plants and compost heap.

Mentioning such a plan to an engineer with a perfectionist streak? My “easy” afternoon plan turned into 4 days, 3 trips to Lowe’s, countless leveling and securing and stabilizing attempts and, a really pretty fence with a pallet gate.

It does what it was set out to do – it keeps the dogs out (much to their dismay).

And on the inside?

I fashioned a very simple compost heap and planted this year’s seeds in containers.  If we’re still in this house next year I’ll put in raised beds and really go to town on the space.

And, even though I got a super late start on the growing season, I already have a number of my seeds sprouting!

Carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, bush beans and tomatoes (from starters, not seeds) are hopefully going to grace my dinner plate later this year 🙂

This is my first real time gardening and so far I’m really enjoying it.  I go out to “visit” my plants at least 2 or 3 times a day to make sure they’re getting enough water (as you can see in the pictures, this is New Mexico, the dessert, even container plants aren’t safe from drought) and to see if anything new has grown!

Have you ever gardened before?  Any words of wisdom for the newbie?

FO Friday: The Grey Spring Crinkle

It’s been a while since I’ve had an FO that I can share with you, but today I’ve got one!

The Grey Spring Crinkle is almost appropriate for the past few days around these parts what with the clouds we’ve been getting (although those clouds don’t also deliver rain to my new garden, sadly). 

I’m still in love with this pattern and after seeing it in this different texture and color, I think I want to make another one (or two, or three) for myself testing out different yarns and colors!

Linking up with Tami for FO Friday!  What did you knit this week?  Any fun weekend plans?

Pints & Purls Edition 7: Marble Red

This is the seventh in a series of installments that will highlight one of my favorite brews and which knits to go with it!

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Brew: Red Ale

Brewer: Marble Brewery

Malts:

Hops: Crystal, Cascade and Simcoe

Flavors:  This is a robust red, almost smokey but not like a campfire.  It’s malty, crisp and smooth with a medium to light finish.

Knit Pairings:  Because this is a robust beer, I recommend using a hearty, rustic yarn like Fancy Tiger’s Heirloom.  Knitting useful, workhorse projects like warm hats and mitts without too many delicate details would be best.

Notes:

Let me know what you think!  Suggestions for future beers, more/different information to include, this is a work in progress so I won’t be offended by constructive advice!

WIP Wednesday: Lots of New Things

With the completion of my last collection piece along with the grey Spring Crinkle, my needles were empty.

EMPTY.

For almost 12 hours, a few of which I was even sleeping.

With my Pints & Purls group meeting Monday night, I had to cast on something and I chose to start a new sweater design.

I’ve also been working through some swatches and ideas, so hopefully you’ll see those soon too!

Linking up with Tami, as always!  What are you working on this week?

Classes

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend, we did!  Ours was packed with productivity and it was so rewarding to get some projects done, but I’ll share more about those later.

I wanted to remind everyone about a few classes I’m teaching this week and next here in New Mexico.

• July 10th and 17th I’ll be teaching kids’ knitting – no tools, just hands and yarn!  Contact The Yarn Store at Nob Hill for more details
• July 13th and 20th I’ll be teaching the Sweet Summer Rays Shawl at Yarn & Coffee

There will be quite a few more classes coming next month, so keep an ear out for that!  What classes have you taken at your LYS that you’ve enjoyed?  What classes would you like to see offered?

WIP Wednesday: A Grey Spring Crinkle

Now that I’ve finally finished that design I showed you last week, I can get back to a not-so-secret project!

I started this grey version of my Spring Crinkle beanie for a friend of mine a while back and I’m sure he’d like to receive it sometime soon.

To be honest, I can’t remember what the yarn is, nothing super special – just something machine washable but soft and warm.  The lace chart is easy to memorize and the whole hat moves very quickly!

I’m linking up with Tami, as usual!  What do you have planned for the weekend?  Tomorrow is Independence Day here in the USA and although we had originally planned to go out of town and celebrate our first year of putting up with each other, with car AC problems and the fact that the both of us were out of town last weekend, we’ll probably just stay around here and be lazy and productive around the house.