WIP Wednesday: Another Hat

The orange cardi is still on hold this week, all I have left to do is the sleeves but instead I volunteered to test knit a hat pattern for Cheryl Chow!

I’ve mentioned before that I like to have smaller projects on-the-go with my larger projects, yes? This is one of those.

I love the delicate, lacy detail – it’s unique and interesting to knit.

I’m worried now that I’ll run out of yarn though before the finish line!  Fingers crossed that I squeak by with a yard or two left!

What are you working on this week?

Cute-ification

Thanks to April from Studio Strategos for the name of this post!  Before I moved all my things in, I wanted to paint over the dingy-looking walls and even had a little help from my Dad.

By now, most of the “important” unpacking has happened – the kitchen has food and utensils, the bathroom has things that smell good and keep me clean, there are a few places to sit, yada yada.  The most exciting part of unpacking in a new place is personalizing it and making it cute!

I’ve got a “few” things that I like to hang on the walls and I got most of them put up this week.  My new place actually comes with a little fireplace and mantel and so, naturally, that’s what got decorated first.

A few pieces of the art found in my home were made by my friend Monty, some I made myself (photographs, knitting, etc) and others were given to me by family and friends.

What’s your favorite part of moving into a new place?

WIP Wednesday: Snowbound in April

A few weeks ago I started working on a new project so that I would have something other than the lace cardi to work on.  The knitting is slow going around these parts right now because of all the moving hullabaloo but it’s still coming along. (sorry for the crappy phone pictures, I don’t have internet in my house just yet)

I picked up this yarn a while back but it didn’t have a label with it.  After showing it around the office, we’ve decided it’s most likely Madelinetosh Tosh dk.

So far the pattern (Snowbound by Justyna Lorkowska) has been interesting to work and the yarn is, of course, wonderful. I almost never use a cable needle to work cables and I think that if you’re thinking about making this hat, you should learn to cable without one as well – it’ll greatly speed up the intricate rounds!

What are you working on this week?

Recouperating

Sorry for taking last week off folks, I didn’t mean to!  I had a few posts written but was too busy to actually follow though.

The BIG News: I closed on my house last Wednesday!

That whole shebang was not without it’s own stresses and frustrations, but the thing is done and the house is mine (and Lisa’s…but technically the bank’s). My fabulous father came up over the weekend to help me move and paint and now it’s just the unpacking and the organizing and the making-cute of the place.

I promise to share more photos as the house comes together but here are some from the weekend. 

What did you do this weekend?  Big exciting things?  Small relaxing things?  Or big relaxing and small exciting?

WIP Wednesday: Tragedy Strikes. Again.

Ladies and gents, the universe is trying really hard to get this sweater to not be a sweater. what with the millions of stitches in rib at the bottom and the too-short body that I “finished,” ripped out and reknit not to mention the latest debacle.

Do you know what those are? Those little circles that you see in the fabric of my purse?  The purse that I carry my knitting in? Those, my friends, are ember burns.

I was hanging out around a campfire last weekend and saw a few little embers fly out of the fire and onto my bag so I quickly brushed them off and moved the bag farther away from the danger zone.  A few days after that, I was finishing up (for realsies this time) the back and “fronts” of my sweater.  When I was finished with the sweater I noticed a small piece of black lint on the side and tried to brush it off.

It did not brush off.

Those little embers burned a motha’f*@#$^% hole in my knitting. In my lace. In my lace that is knit with the prettiest laceweight yarn. It. Burned. A. Hole.

A small moment of panic was followed by a quick darning of the stitches around the hole and a soak in the sink to block out.  I’m not going to let those burning little buggers get the best of my knitting, no siree.

I don’t think it’ll be a noticeable thing when the cardigan is being worn but if anything else happens during this process I’m going to set out traps for the knitting gremlins who are stalking me and trying to ruin my really pretty sweater before it’s finished.

What are you working on this week?  Have flames ever found your projects?  Did you kick them in the face if they did?

Sh*t’s Gettin’ Real Folks

There’s something that’s been going on behind the scenes the past few weeks that I haven’t talked about on the blog because I didn’t want to get everyone excited and then have the thing fall through – extra disappointment, you know what I mean?

That “thing” is far enough along now that I don’t think I need to worry about it falling through anymore (no, it’s not a small person although that statement makes it sound like one).  So, without further ado:

I’m buying a house!

I close next week and do you know what that means?  A big sale.

A big sale for the sellers of said house, yes, but also a big sale for you! For the next TWO WEEKS I’m offering the following dealios:

• Use the code: firsthome20 for 20% off any of my self-published patterns on Ravelry and anything in my Etsy shop!
• So many new yarns have been added to the Destash Section of my Ravelry stash, go ahead and pad your stash a little more so I have less stash in my pad! (see what I did there? Very pun-y)

All coupons will be valid until the end of the day on Sunday, April 20th, 2014. And all proceeds will go towards all those expenses that buying a house comes with in addition to the house itself.

FO: More Lace on the Wall

This was a super quick and fun little project that I started and finished on a Saturday morning.

The frames for these guys were picked up in a massive yarn adoption from a thrift store years and years ago. I’m not really sure what they’re normally used for, but they’re about 15″ diameter metal rings and they are perfect as frames for these projects.

Pattern: Adaptation of Circular Tunic by Mari Chiba in knit.wear Spring/Summer 2014

Yarn: Malabrigo Rastita in Sabiduria

Needles: US 8 (5mm)

What have you knit up lately?

WIP Wednesday: Back on Track

After ripping out the back and “fronts” that I showed you last week, progress has been made on the sweater and I’m happy with it.

In that picture above you can kind of see the spot that I ripped back to and how much I’ve added – the blocking goes from neat and tidy to a little crunchy with the re-worked yarn haha! Soon (probably today) I’ll do the back and “fronts” again then we’ll really be on our way!

What are you working on this week?

FO’s: Cowl-centric

Because the cardigan is laceweight and requires my ability to focus, I’ve been throwing some easier projects in the mix for purse-knitting and social knitting.

These two cowls are examples of those projects.

Both are made from yarns that have been in my stash for years, one of kind handspun skeins made by KittyGrrlz and LMS Studio Arts. As with most handspun yarns, I wanted to show off the yarn’s natural beauty.

I like the way each cowl turned out, they’re very different and super cool!

Both cowls are now available in my Etsy shop.

What have you knit up lately?  Do you knit with novelty yarn very often?