Yarntini Halloween Mini Skeins

Hi!

It's Monday.

Did you have a nice weekend? I hope so!

I bound a quilt that Lindsay quilted for me with freaking OWLS on it.

I went through my Halloween fabric stash, cut 6.5 inch squares and sewed them into rows. I backed it with some dimple minky and it is sooooo soft. She used wool batting and some super pretty shiny purple thread. I washed it with some Soak Wash yesterday and it's cozy to the max. I sat under it for about 45 minutes yesterday playing New Leaf. Unfortunately it's also 80 degrees here so that sort of puts a damper on using it during Halloween but you know by now that I do Halloween pretty much year round. ;)

With the release of our two new Christmas patterns (tonight is the last night for promo code SNOWMAN) I've had very little knitting time but I'm daydreaming of a new project and I think I found the perfect combo!

This summer Jessie, from Yarntini asked me if I'd create a blogger bundle for her. Um. What! YES! OF COURSE!

Naturally I picked Halloween colors: orange zest, charcoal, smoky, purple haze and key lime. The base is her top shelf sock and it's sooooo soft and squishy! It's made from 80% merino, 10% cashmere & 10% nylon.

At first I thought STRIPED SOCKS but this yarn is soooo nice against skin. I sometimes just smoosh it against my face because it's so soft so I think I'm going to make a cowl. I've never had mini skeins before and I realllllly like them! It's so cool to get a little bundle of yarn in a bunch of different colors.

I *love* color work and I think I'm going to try Chevron Stripes by Jill Zielinski. It doesn't look too crazy hard and I can practice knitting with the yarn held in each hand. Plus Halloween chevrons?! Awesome! I've only done three colorwork projects so far, a pair of socks, a pair of fingerless gloves and a pair of mittens. I'm looking forward trying it again.

Next week is our wedding anniversary (yay! go team porkchop!) and this weekend we are going on a little adventure to celebrate. I'm going to bring this yarn & pattern with me and hopefully cast on. I know, I know, I have a million projects on the needles right now but I think I'm going to frog Brickless, I love the yarn but knitting it has become tedious.

I'm also SO excited, Ashleigh & I booked a class next week for learning intermediate cross stitching with an heirloom stitcher! While we both stitch a ton, we tend to use other peoples projects for our pattern covers because neither one of us loves our level of neatness, so we are going to learn how to get better! I can tell Ashleigh has gotten super neat compared to when we first started but somehow I've gotten worse! How does that even happen? Ha! So it's going to be a pumpkin road trip, I'll be sure to bring my camera and blog about it!

Remember, tonight at midnight the promo code expires for $2 off your Christmas sign ups!

I hope you have a good day, I'm going to be cross stitching a new project all week and tomorrow we have a business meeting. woo woo!!!!

Coastal Cranberry

Do you have someone in your life who is just incredibly full of life, absolutely hilarious and just a privilege to know just because you know that just having them in the world makes it *that* much better? Last Wednesday I said goodbye to my friend Judy and I sort of feel like the world is a little dimmer without her in it. My friend Brenda Lou blogged about her and it sums her up perfectly, the pictures she posted are so amazingly Judy. She also spoke at her service and I'm so glad she did. <3<3<3<3

Chop & I don't visit Eureka very often, it's a really emotional place for me. It's where I learned how to quilt and met amazing friends. It's where Chop & I decided to get married. It's where I went to college and then dropped out. It's where I learned I need the sunshine more than I ever realized. It's where I learned that there are some things I just can't see on a daily basis. Going there always sort of stirs up all these emotions in me.

Seeing my friends was absolutely fantastic, Judy *loved* tea parties so after her service the quilting ladies threw a tea party in her honor. They all wore pearls, long gloves, fancy dresses and prepared little sandwiches, it was incredible. I wore a cat dress. And a sweater. Because I forgot how dang cold it is on the coast!

After the tea party we walked around Old Town, my friend Katie suggested two shops: Yarn & North Coast Knittery. If there was ever a time for retail therapy, this was it. I got a skein of Madelinetosh Sock in Black Velvet and a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Cranberry Ice. As I was looking at them I realized I must have had cranberry sauce on the brain because both skeins are different, yet the same! Isn't it funny how our minds gravitate towards a color but in different variations?!

We had a great dinner out with my friends Liz & Larissa, followed by ice cream in Arcata. This trip was so much food! SO MUCH! But one place, omg. Larissa mentioned a new ice cream shop in Eureka called Living the Dream and holy smokes! The flavors! THE FLAVORS!!!!! Avocado gelato! Siracha! Miso!Tomato Basil Sorbet (I had this one! amazing!) Humboldt Smokehouse Bacon (Chop had that one!).

It was so, so, so nice to see my friends, I can't say that enough. Even though I "see" them daily on facebook, it's so different than when I'd sew with them twice a week. I miss having that sense of belonging for sure. They welcomed me into their group, taught me literally EVERYTHING about quilting, encouraged me and just are great people.

On our way home we took something Chop & I refer to as "the owl drive". Ironically here in Gridley we also have an "owl drive", the one here we see barn owls & great horned owls. The coastal version we'd see short eared owls. We used to drive out there and sit up high on this cliff over looking the ocean and just talk. I'd mostly cry (it was truly a rough time in my life) and he'd hold onto me. I tend to do my best thinking in the car, surrounded by nature. I think it makes me feel small and helps put things into perspective, does that make sense? This time the drive was quiet, I thought about how drastically my life had changed in four years, about my friend Judy, about my husband. It was a good drive. We went down on the beach and walked in the sand.

I worked a little bit on my Cameo, it's the perfect car knitting, very relaxing. I haven't worked on it since then because we are gearing up to launch our two new clubs: The 12 Days of Christmas & Christmas on Gingerbread Lane! It feels so good to just sit on the couch and stitch away. Also! New albums came out on Tuesday that I've been looking forward too! I can't stop listening to The Magpie and the Dandelion and Let's Be Still, I think I love Let's Be Still more right now but that could change. Also, last winter one of my friends burned me a mixed cd and it had a few Bon Iver songs on it, so I also got For Emma, Forever Ago. I think of the bunch, that's the best for cross stitching too. But it's been out for a million years ago clearly, I'm the last to know. ;) (also, these are amazon affiliate links! But remember, I only link to things I actually buy and like.)

I'm going to go back to stitching now, I'm in the process of finishing this project by Friday. I haven't decided what I'll do with it yet, I thought about having it framed but people in our Stitch-a-Long Group have been posting the cutest wall hangings and pillows from their projects so I might do that. :)

Morticia Shawl (Hey! I'm knitting lace!)

Last Sunday I started knitting a new shawl for a KAL I signed up for. Seriously. I'm casting on for ALL the things.

It's by BooKnits, called Morticia.

I'm using Madelinetosh Lace in The Brothers Grimm, it's a very, very, very dark green, almost black! I seriously love that name so much, especially for a Halloween Shawl! I'm kind of sad because all the online photos I found of the color is more dark green with a few bits of bright green so when I ordered beads I went with peridot and silver. Well the peridot beads really yellow and look not so cute, of course I only really noticed this part way in. The smart thing would have been to swatch but clearly someone wasn't thinking. I only placed 4 of them so I just left them and I'm using the silver ones instead. Rebel knitter!!!!! These are size 5/0 Miyuki triangles and they are so pretty!

For needles I'm using addi click lace, I'm sort of wishing they were pointier! But it's not bad and once I get in the rhythm of knitting they are fine, but every now and again I wish they were the HiYa Sharps!

I haven't decided which size to knit this,  I'm 1/2 way through the second lace repeat right now and I'm REALLY enjoying it, so most likely I'll do it as written rather than making it smaller. The chart is nice and clear. It's a lace where I can listen to music and sing-a-long but still knit ok. I had a few aha! moments where I figured out "hey! now you can add another stitch marker" and when the pattern started to click. I'm *not* the most intuitive knitter out there, you know how when some people cook they have to follow the recipe to the letter? That's me with knitting, I don't really "get" how fabric is formed, I just follow the pattern exactly to the best of my ability. I think that's why I kind of feel bad when people say "Oh you are such a good knitter" because I'm not, I'm just following a pattern blindly. Ha! I sort of psyched myself out at first thinking I couldn't do it, it's my first time using laceweight yarn and about 1/4 through the first chart I realized it's not that much different (to me!) than sock weight yarn! I think the only reason why I've not made more progress is just because I'm slow at purling, I'm hoping to get better as I go but I'm honestly ok with going slow because I love the process of knitting this.

When I work on it, I sit at the kitchen table, turn on some music and lay out the chart with notes, highlighter tape, crochet hook and beads. Usually the window is open and it's just NICE feeling. I like having a project that has me focus on something complicated and forget everything else for a little while. It feels like BIG PROJECT knitting vs laying under a quilt watching NCIS knitting vanilla socks.

Tomorrow I'm going out of town for two days and I can't decide what project to bring with me! Most likely Cameo or maybe a pair of socks. I have five hours in the car so whatever I pick I'm hoping I can get a fair amount done.

So tell me, which do you prefer? Projects that you have to focus on or mindless knits? Right now I have one of each, shawl wise and sock wise on the needles and I'm curious about you!

PS: Don't forget, tonight at midnight the sale ends for Autumn Sampler!

Cameo & Reading!

I am SO glad that it is Friday. Words can't express how glad I am. Seriously. If I could post a video of me dancing a muppet-like happy dance, I would, but you'd be terrified! I dance like Elaine. Yes. It's that bad.

So Tuesday I decided that I needed to start knitting something new. My criteria was:

• knit only
• cozy
• big
• not hard/mentally challenging
• super soft
• comforting
• from stash

Knitting can totally be therapy for me, I love getting lost in a good pair of socks on car rides or focusing 100% on some tricky lace, so much that the rest of the world sort of falls away. But right now, my brain just can't do socks or lace, I decided the endless rows of garter stitch in the Cameo pattern would be perfect. I fell in love with Andi's and felt like this is the right project for the next few weeks. I'm using two skeins of Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere: Torchwood & Cinnamon Girl. Torchwood is the color of a smoldering pile of firewood, Cinnamon Girl is like a rich rust. Both are tricky to photograph. The base yarn is incredibly soft and all the garter stitch is very smooshy. ;) It's already well loved, I've spilled coffee on it, made about a million mistakes while talking on the phone, brought it to a business meeting where I realized my picot wasn't even remotely right, it's not my finest knitting job but I love it. I'm using size 5 hiya sharps and I am in L O V E with them. They are so incredibly light and smooth and slick.

While I'm working on this shawl I've been looking through an issue of CottonTime that Pam very sweetly gave me. I'm absolutely obsessed with CottonTime, it's one of my all time favorite magazines and I savor each issue. It's filled with Japanese crafting goodness. I'm trying to only look at a few pages per day so I can make it last all month. I also got the newest issue of Kinfolk, it's all about weekends and filled with beautiful photos, I'm looking forward to a hot bath and reading this tonight. I wish I had some sort of fancy bath bomb or boozy drink but sadly, I have neither. I'll make do with a few drops of essential oil and a peppermint tea. ;)

I recently finished three books, I started 4 others and gave up reading them because they just can't compare to the first three!

I'm not a book reviewer but just an avid reader who has to tell you how much I loved these books k?

The Raven Boys series. Yes, that's an amazon affiliate link but I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't truly love it. I genuinely feel like the publishers synopsis doesn't do the book justice, it makes it seem like it's a silly YA romance but it's much more than that. It's very hauntingly pretty, it's more supernatural spookiness than romance. I love how the imagery is built. The lead character, Blue, omg FINALLY a female lead who is weird and likes being weird. She's told all her life that if she kisses her true love, he'll die but that's not even a huge part of the story. The story is more about Gansey and his quest for a ley line and Glendower, plus it talks about his friends and their POVs, it's a really layered and rich story. I read the book when it first came out last September and felt like it was the perfect time of year to read this story. So with the sequel finally out, I decided to re-read it before reading The Dream Thieves and I'm really glad I did, I felt like I gleaned more about each character and it made the sequel even more enjoyable, plus I'm the type of person who loves to read books back to back like that. In the sequel it's still about Blue and Gansey but it has a lot of Adam & Ronan. I realllllyyyy loved Ronan in this book, we learn about his family, his abilities (I don't want to spoil it but Chainsaw is one of my favorite characters!) and everything just sort of explodes. I can't believe that I have to wait like, a year for the next one. ugh. But after I finished reading it, I kept thinking about the characters, I have a few other books to read and I can't even get into them because they feel sort of flat after this.

And then!

Cuckoo's Calling. I didn't read this physical book, I listened to it while working last week and WOW.

Ok, first off: Yes. It's J.K. Rowling. No! It's not Harry Potter! There is only one HP and it drives me nuts to see how many people are bashing the book in reviews because it's not HP! No kidding! Of course it's not! Geez.

But it IS an excellent crime novel. Each character is rich in personality, the setting is phenom and I literally was like..WAIT THIS WAS THE KILLER? It should have been obvious but I totally didn't see it coming until the last 1/4th of the book. I loooooove crime and mystery novels but only if they are good. I hate when I can tell right away or the author gives it away in the first few pages. I like to be surprised. The narrator on this book is excellent, his voice was the best and I found myself repeatedly walking around the house saying "Kieran Kolovas-Jones!" because I loved how he said it, hahaha!

If you like crime/mysteries, try this book. But don't go into it thinking OMGZ JKROWLINGGGG and a Harry Potter mindset, think of it just as a superb crime/mystery and you'll love it. There are totally some JK things that make it completely her's, the way she describes locations, details, people's emotions and relationships, that's her writing through and through!

Have you read any good books lately? I have the new Endless Knight but I haven't read it yet, I'd also really like to read Through the Zombie Glass!

This project is quite possibly the most photogenic and addictive knit ever.

It's called Brickless by Martina Behm and I'm pretty smitten. It's keeping me company on Friday nights when I watch Haven. (Duke, you are so wonderful in your mustache. Nathan, scruff= best, I really wish someone would just kill Jordan. please! least favorite character ever! Audrey's nose ring is so silly sweet) I'm a really, really, really slow knitter so this is three weeks worth of progress. I'm using size 6 hiya sharps and I have to say...I love them. They are quite light and pointy which I'm pretty keen on. I've been getting a little tiny bit better at knitting Continental style, I struggle with k2tog for some reason, I'm not sure why but this pattern is full of them so it's good practice, just don't look too close at my uneven tension. ;)

Soooo YOWZA right? Can we talk about this yarn? Holy.smokes.

I knew 560 yards was a lot of yarn but I think because I'm so used to sock yarn that I didn't really think twice about how BIG of a skein it was. Well, it turns out in light worsted weight it's a HUGE SKEIN. And I flipping LOVE IT! I hugged it! Literally! I wanted to be it's BFF. It's HUGGABLE SIZE. I wish I'd taken a photo of it before I wound it because it's awesome!!!!

It's incredibly soft too. And squishy! This colorway is called Berlin, how on earth do they dye this yarn without it becoming a disaster? I have no clue but I am so into it. Look how many colors are in it, so neat right?

I like to pretend that at some point I'm going to knit a sweater but this yarn has me sort of thinking that a plain pullover would be amazing. Last Friday I sort of went "hmm, should I frog this and buy a second skein and knit a very loud sweater for myself instead?" I'm just not sure if it would be a little bit much. Plus, I'm sort of enjoying this shawl. But now that I'm looking at that sweater I think it might be fun.

Please file this blog post under: most indecisive girl ever x a million. ;)

I dyed a skein of yarn

Right before SewOn NorCal, I decided to dye a skein of yarn. I thought it would be fun, I pinned this blog post ages ago and I kept going back to look at it because it was so dang pretty.

I had a skein of blank (is that the right term for it?! natural? blank? plain? undyed? idk) MCN sock yarn and decided to give it a whirl with some acid dyes my friend Amy gave me. What a morning!

It was so much fun but also, every single dang time I had a spot of yarn that I LOVED, I'd accidentally move the water and it would blur. Worst! But it was a super fun morning for me, I sort of felt like a mad scientist. I wore goggles because it was windy outside (I used an outdoor stove for this) and I just sort of sprinkled dye all over the place. I think it also reminded me a bit of college, just mixing ink and having a ball, not quite knowing if it would turn out beautiful or into a hot mess!

It's kind of neat to see how it looks in the skein vs how it's knitting up! It looks completely different and I love that. I'm doing a plain pair of 3x1 ribbed socks, I like how squishy ribbed socks are!

I feel like I have a million things I want to share with you right now. Some photos from the retreat, some quilts that just came home from spa treatment at Lindsay's, my day out with Pam & Frankie, the final installment of Halloween Sampler + the beginning of Autumn Sampler, a brickless shawl I started knitting and a book series that made me incredibly happy! So be prepared for a lot of blog posts this week k? ;)

No, I'm not knitting a bikini.

This morning I wore a sweatshirt on my walk. IT'S GETTING COOLER OUTSIDE. Also, it has the word MEOW in glitter so really, it was an epic start to the day.

This also means two things:

Winter is Coming and OMG LET'S KNIT A MILLION THINGS BECAUSE WE CAN FINALLY WEAR THEM!

Yahoooooo!!!!

SO! Real talk time:

I used to beat myself up for working on more than one of socks at once. "Amanda, if you'd just knit one pair, you'll have a full pair to wear soon around the house and THEN you can start a new project". I'm pretty focused and goal oriented but you know what? LHDC, I am so over that. I want to have fun, I want a million projects and I know they'll get done because each one has a purpose. Or I'll just take it apart. I want to enjoy the process more. K? K!

And! I have a new goal. I currently have 21 pairs of socks. TWENTY ONE PAIRS! I'd *love* for thirty one. Because then I can wear a pair a day for a month. Or something like that. I don't have like, a specific date in mind but wouldn't having 31 pairs of socks be cool?

Those two things bring us to this little gem: I have THREE pairs on the needles and MAYBE a fourth. AHUH. That's a lot of socks! I dyed a skein of yarn this morning and it's a hot mess but I'm dyeing (dying! lololol I crack myself up) to see how it knits up.

SOCK PROJECTS!

Here we go!

• RAWR Purse Socks! What are RAWR purse socks? These are what you get when your husband finds your VERY, VERY, VERY first skein of sock yarn that he bought you seven years ago when you were in McCloud and the museum had yarn that would turn into tiger stripes! You immediately wanted to make Clapotis but at the time you couldn't figure out how. WELL NOW IT'S SOCKS. Well, just one sock and barely a toe. Purse socks are knit one a time and only while out and about. Waiting in line, in the car, at breakfast where the waitresses refer to you as "the sock knitting girl", out with friends, hunting, basically any time my purse is with me, there's a sock being knit. rawr. I think FROM NOW ON, I'm going to keep this little pouch with a single sock in it. I think I was surprised how much downtime I have. OH! This is Opal Tiger Stripe yarn, I'm not sure what it's real name is. 
• Alone Time Socks! No! Get your mind out of the gutter! Alone time socks are socks that you can only knit when you are alone because they take all your concentration. These are my Ginny Socks! I only have about 45 minutes to work on these per week (who needs a lunch break! let's skip lunch and make socks. JUST KIDDING! (I'm totally not kidding)) but I look forward to it because I love watching the owls progress and this yarn! this yarn! I know, knitting rule, variegated yarn = hard to see lace but I don't care. This is Cakewalk Sincerest!
• But I Want To Watch Stripes Happen Socks! Ok, seriously. Why did it take me so long to knit a pair of striped socks?Well, technically I only have one striped sock because I'm waiting for a replacement needle but STRIPED SOCKS! They are very interesting to knit because you just keeping saying..."wait, just one more stripe" and they fly off the needles. I'm knitting these two at a time and mismatching. I think if Mrs. Weasley knit striped socks, they'd be shifted one stripe up on each one. Actually, I'm pretty sure I channel Mrs. Weasley every time I knit a pair of socks. This yarn is called Desert Vista Dye Works Zombody Says Boo! I'm going to bring these with me to SewOnNorCal this weekend.

I basically can't stop reading this blog post where Susan mentions 8 pairs on the needles. UM YES PLEASE. And this post where Andi shares a beautiful shawl and her own personal yarn club! I want my own personal yarn club, I gather it's based around this but I need to research it more, hopefully I can join in! Doesn't that sound fun?

On that note, I admittedly only read (aka lurk like a creeper) 5 blogs right now, three are knitting (the above two plus this one) but I'm realizing that there are a lot of knitting podcasts going on that are awesome. How on earth do people watch them? I watch Must Stash Pod Cast and I download it on the iPad's podcast app but it takes about an hour to download each episode! Am I missing a hipper, more awesome way to watch video podcast things? I want to be able to keep up with them, Michelle and I want to try some others!

So, the moral of the story is! I'm going to knit socks this fall and I don't really care if I finish one pair or a million because I'm going to be slowly working on a bunch. And any I finish are going towards my long term goal of 31 pairs of socks.

How do you watch video podcasts? What knitting video podcasts should I watch? Can I jump in or do I have to start from the beginning. I'm very emotionally invest in the Must Stash Girls because I've watched them from the first episode (is that weird?).

the end!

Finished in 2013: Germinate Shawl

Germinate Shawl!

Let's talk about it!

• By far the most complex thing I've ever knit in my life.
• I dragged it around everywhere for a month. It saw mountains, water, desert. California, Nevada & Oregon.
• I have one tiny bit of knitting regret with it.
• I learned a *lot*!

So it was a hard knit for me. Like, don't come near me while I'm knitting and don't text me and just basically stick me in a sound proof room. I just struggled with the lace and even stripes, it didn't come naturally or intuitively to me. I triple counted everything as I went and I had a million stitch markers. But there isn't a single mistake in the shawl, so my craziness paid off. It wasn't until the very end that it clicked and I finally "saw" what was happening with the pattern.

My most favorite feeling in the world was sitting outside with this on my lap while working on it. Seriously. I don't knit big things so having the weight of the shawl on me while knitting was so different, very relaxing and calming. Also, if I'm being honest, totally distracting. I kept wanting to smooth it out and see how the yarn was looking!

Tiny knitting regret: I wish I didn't use the Sundara yarn for the lace section. I don't know a ton about yarn bases but here goes: it's very bumpy & nubbly, sort of like ToshSock whereas Plucky is very smooth. Does that make sense? It's just a completely different texture. And it's a beautiful yarn, don't get me wrong! But it sort of distracts from the lace. After finishing and weighing my yarn, I would have had just enough of a left over skein of Plucky to use it instead, so that kind of hurts.

The size of this shawl is so perfect. I'm a bigger girl and it wraps so comfortably around me. I have a bunch of shawlettes and I'm constantly adjusting them and trying to get them just right. This one just sits beautifully. And Chop got me my lusted after shawl pin as a birthday gift! I feel like my personal taste for shawls is now "go big or go home".  ;)

I'm so glad I finished this, I debated frogging it so many times because it was brutal on my hands but my IG buddies encouraged me and checked in and slightly nagged me (in a loving way of course!) and once I had it blocked, the sense of relief and pride was amazzzzingggggg.

The thing is, it's not a hard pattern. At all. And it's written perfectly. It's just me, I'm just bad at lace. But I'm so so so so so glad I tried it and did it. Seeing these photos makes me want to pull out my color affection and work on it so I can have two giant shawls this fall!

<3<3<3

PS: I wear this tshirt pretty much daily. I love a good cat tshirt always. rawr x a million!

Worsted Weight Socks

This weekend I finished my Worsted Weight Socks and omg. I'm already wanting to cast on a second pair. Seriously. These are so squishy and fun and cozy and amazing to knit up. You can find my ravelry notes here and I was inspired by Susan's blog post & Virgina's instagram photo.

While digging through my yarn basket this weekend I came across another skein of worsted weight yarn that Rose (Cakewalk Yarns on Etsy) dyed for me last winter. I'd planned on some sort of hat but now...SOCKS! It was funny, I flipped the yarn over and it's also a skein of Sudden Valley! That's what I absolutely *adore* about hand dyed yarn, the same colorway can be completely different. My socks have sort of a purple.gray base but my skein is more white! Her shop is closed but I'm crossing my fingers she'll go back to dyeing because her skeins are totally amazing.

I got my Dyak Craft Heavy Metal Needles last week, I'm so excited to cast on. The cord is so long and the join is dreamy feeling. I can't decide if I'll knit a pair of socks for Chop or if I'll cast on with a new skein of Numma Numma that's supposed to arrive today. Chop decided he wanted to enter a salsa contest at work...but he doesn't even cook! LOL! So I made a giant jar of salsa, sadly we didn't win but I think he felt bad so I "won" a skein of yarn & a little bottle of a new Soak Wash scent! haha! BEST! He's the most amazing guy.

Yesterday we went to Target and omg. Holy Halloween. It's amazing. It's not quite as good as the year they had Domo as the official mascot, but that year was epic and hard to beat. I wanted to buy the Pumpkin Spice & white chocolate candy corn M&Ms so bad but I decided on candy corn flavored coffee instead and WOWOWOWOWOW. My house this morning smells like a candy factory in the very best way ever.

I also made use of some JoAnn's coupons which is always fun. I have a few sewing goals this month:

• Esme top in flannel! I found a really pretty flannel there that is quite soft. I've already made an Esme dress and a top but they are too big now. I think I'm going to make a muslin of the size 14 and go from there! I just think a cozy flannel blouse with wooden buttons would be amazing this fall.
• I'd love to finish my little four block single girl quilt. I can't for the life of me find my copy of the pattern though. So this week I either need to find the pattern or get a new one. I found my quilt progress and fell back in love with it. Plus I'd love to quilt some circles. And be cozy hand sewing the binding on in the evenings.
• I want to make a Noodlehead Super Tote for knitting SO BAD. Ashleigh & I are obsessed with Teagan White,  like crazy fierce, so we are splitting a yard of a few of her new fabrics. I'm pretty sure the fabric I got for the lining won't match (Juliana Horner flowers!) but I'm not sure I care, I just like it! a LOT! This bag is so neat! The side pleats and elastic pockets are such pretty details.
• I'm going on a quilting retreat the end of this month and I couldn't for the life of me decide what to bring to work on...then I saw this pattern: Suburbs! So I'm going to make a Halloween Suburb quilt. Does that surprise you? It shouldn't. While at JoAnn's I saw all their fox themed Thanksgiving/Fall fabric and I almost died. I need a Thanksgiving quilt at some point in my life.

:):):)

Oak Leaf Mitts

These might be my new favorites.

I forgot how much I liked them until I pulled them out this evening to take some photographs!

The pattern is called Oak Grove and it's such a sweet little knit.

I think if I were to knit it again I'd make them a little smaller, they are a bit big in the wrist, nothing extreme though.

The yarn! Oh Plucky! Why are you so good?! Seriously this yarn glows and shines. Such beautiful depth in her solids. It's the perfect roasted pumpkin color, I bought it during one of her insane etsy updates, the color is called Latte Time!

Lovexamillion!

I'm sure my knitting could have been neater on these but you know, recovering from surgery + pain pills = slightly wonky knitting. I know for sure that YO 7 at the base of the leaf could have been neater but it's ok. My main goal was to keep my hands busy AND knit something cozy for fall AND just relax while enjoying the process.

I have this coat, I'm trying to figure out a way to maybe crochet a little chain so I can tie the mitts together and then maybe sew a little loop in the pockets to hook them onto? I'm afraid I'm going to lose one! Last fall I knit Squirrel Mittens, they've only been out of the house twice. I only wear them when I need something in the very bottom of our deep freezer, lol! Isn't that terrible? In my defense it's never really cold enough to wear full mittens here but fingerless gloves, YES! Especially out hunting.

Thank you for helping me find the cat in my previous blog post, wowzas! If you want to see some incredible eye candy, be sure to check out Fox in the Pine. Absolutely dreamy.

:):):)

PS: I get all gooey hearted when I see one of our patterns being stitched up by a blogger I admire. I don't like to seem too self promotional on my blog but it's so nice to see this!!!! I've been slowly catching up on  blogs and this made a grouchy day so much sweeter! I totally had a case of the Monday's today (I practically incinerated an eggplant!) I'm craving a giant Mexican hot cocoa and a good book!  Good night!<3

A stripe and a speckle

I've been spending time learning a new accounting program, Free Agent, and I'm absurdly in love with it. I'm always looking for ways to work smarter, especially with our finances. We have an accountant but this is so perfect for our day to day stuff, tracking our mileage, etc. He's going to *love* us in December and I'm going to love not paying him a ton extra because I organized everything to death. High 5! But omg. Spending so much time in front of the computer kills me. I have zero patience for that sort of stuff.

Ashleigh & I got together earlier this week for our official FRIENDSHIP DAY 2013! We get together a few times a month for work, schedule out new patterns, hire stitchers, design awesome things, go over new ideas, etc. This day was PURELY friendship based. No work chat, just knitting! buying bat tshirts & crazy printed leggings! eating strange raw snacks! drinking giant iced teas! having a grand old time! It was a well earned break for both of us.

She knit a toe of a sock while we had coffee, I seriously was freaking out. I want her to love knitting socks like I do, it's so selfish of me. ha! ;) I want a real life friend who will obsess over sock yarn and knit with me, I love my internet friends naturally but there is something so satisfying about curling up in a coffee shop & knitting with your BFF. While she was knitting her sock, I finished up my first striped sock. And! I knit it completely Continental!

I was two rows into an after thought heel when my Signature Needle snapped off from the cord, dropping all the stitches. O M G. I literally sat there stunned. I emailed customer service, stuck Ashleigh into my car and we went to our local yarn store right before they closed.

JoAnn who owns the shop is seriously one of my most favorite people ever. She's just super patient and knowledgeable. They were out of Addi's so she suggested HiYa (ninja!) Sharps, I tried them and HEY! Not bad! I only finished the socks heel so I don't have enough experience with them to review them but for $9 in a sock knitting emergency they made me happy! Signature is on backorder for size 1's and I got different gauge with the HiYa's so I'm going to wait to cast on for the second sock, which is kind of a bummer because I was very much enjoying the yarn AND the needles. I found Continental knitting was a BREEZE with those crazy sharp points, I did notice I knit a little tighter but nothing drastic.

In the meantime I did two things:

First, I'm trying these needles. They shipped yesterday. Handmade in the US, interchangeable tips and cords, sturdy! I only bought one pair rather than the set, it's sadly out of my budget and I'd hate to spend that much money if I didn't like the needles. I went with a 1.5 and a 39 inch cord. I *love* knitting on 1.5's. Its my favorite size needle for socks. I'm excited for them to arrive!

Second, I cast on for a new pair of socks! How could I not? I needed something to knit while playing Adventure Time monopoly with Chop. Also: CAKEWALK YARNNNNNNN. I seriously love Rose so much. So many speckles! I love how the yarn is knitting up and if you are a sock knitter, try a pair of worsted weight socks. COZY X A MILLION. I'm already thinking about a second pair. I keep finding excuses to try it on because I love how squishy it feels.

Here are a few things I can't stop thinking about:

This line of fabric.

This cat! It's a stupid tumblr link that leads to no where! I'd love to know what breed he is!

Such a pretty quilt!

I want to add him to my life list!

Sewing space! It reminds me how much I miss working on a long term patchwork project. seriously.

My goal this week is to clean my sewing space, aka our dining room. It's like a fabric explosion and it's driving me NUTS. I want to get it super clean and organized so I can sew a ton this fall without stressing that I'm going to be crushed to death under a precariously perched pile of scraps.

Who wants to come help me? I pay in wasabi peas and awkward 90's music sing-a-longs!

Oh knitting needles!

A little present arrived for me from Porkchop, a skein of yarn so randomly cool that I had to cast on right away!

This is called Lollipop Yarns, she sells on etsy & updates every other Sunday. And OMG it sells fast. Like 3 minutes and the shop is empty kind-of-fast. I love it, it's like piranha sock yarn buying. You have to chomp before anyone else does.

The colorway is called Life is Beautiful and it'll have 5 rows of 8 colors. That's so neat right?

Typically as soon as I decide on yarn for socks, I weigh it on my kitchen scale in grams. Then I ball it into one center pull ball (actually: I don't own a swift, so I hold it and Chop uses the ball winder). Next I divide the ball in half, one for each sock. I like to knit my socks two at a time for many reasons like:

• They come out identical.
• Once you finish, you are totally finished!
• It's just fun!

Here is what I don't like about two at a time socks:

• People ask if you are knitting a bikini. 
• Sometimes when you are knitting, you only have time to knit just one of the socks and not the other and your needles get tangled. I'm constantly knitting in waiting rooms or the car (I have "purse socks" that I carry in the car/my bag) and sometimes you just have to smash your knitting into your bag ASAP.

SO when I opened the box and saw this sweet little yarn, I about died.

How does she ball the yarn like that? IDK but it's gorgeous! I'd honestly feel so guilty re-skeining it. It's beautiful. And so I decided...one at a time sock knitting.

YAY! Except my sock rockets are currently being used on Ginny's Socks!

I thought I'd give my Signature Needles a second shot. I have mixed feelings on these and I want to love them. I don't consider myself a "Knitter", just someone who enjoys sock knitting so I feel like maybe I'm missing something, like I just am not hip enough? I'm not sure. But when I took them out of the pouch:

CRINKLED MESS! The cord was literally 3D, hopping off the table, being out of control! It was stiff and standing up on it's own. Can sock needles be possessed? Because these are. Night of the Living Dead Status!!! I assumed with knitting it would flex and work the crinkles out. WRONG! SO WRONG! I cast on and got a few rows in and couldn't take it anymore.

I remembered when I bought a pair of Denise Interchangeable Needles a hundred years ago, so many people said warm water made the cables smoother. I thought I'd give this a try!

I duck taped the needle tips to our kitchen counter. Yes, duck taped. These needles truly have a life of their own, both washi & packing tape just lifted up. Working from needle to the end of the cord, I smoothed the cords out and wrapped twist ties around them. I'm not going to lie, this took me 10 minutes because as soon as they'd behave and lay flat, one would move and stand back up. Zombies!!!!

Once the cords were twist tied all smooth, I pushed the knitting to the needles and stuck the cords into a mason jar of hot water. I let it sit for maybe 4 minutes?! I obviously didn't want to hurt them but I wanted them to get warm enough to actually change shape.

AND IT WORKED. The cords are still super stiff (obviously) but now they aren't stuck in the strange shape they previously had been! The above photo shows before and after, I didn't take a before photo with this particular pair because I honestly didn't think it would work. Plus, this isn't rocket science, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows how to do this. But you can see how the pair with the knitting on them lays flat, whereas the other pair is sticking up all over the place. It's hard to tell but they are literally standing 4 inches up the air. Crazy!

I forgot two things that I *love* about these needles:

• Sharp sharp sharp!!!!!! so stabby awesome!!!!
• They are LIGHT. I'm pretty sure I'm over compensating for how light they are by gripping tighter but omg. I love it.
• How smooth they are, from editing photos to writing this blog post I've almost finished the toe, I feel like with these needles and sock rockets, once you get going, it's such smooth sailing. I *am* tempted to try and knit these Continental just to practice my tension. Usually I knit a few rows this way on my color affection and wuss out because the tension is a little off but for some reason these needles are just asking me to try it that way!

Now this weekend I can mindlessly knit & read on the couch while Chop studies for an upcoming exam. It does feel funny knitting just one sock but I think watching the yarn come off the ball and change colors will keep me focused and wanting to make the second sock. I totally want mismatching socks because I think that's crazy cute and cozy looking. I am however, the WORST at after thought heels, no matter how many stitches I pick up the corners, I end up with little gaps. So my goal with these is to be NEATER. But in case your wondering, I've found the heel directions for Merripog are the easiest to understand.

Also, here is something inspiring I found last night via Brenda on pinterest!!! WORSTED WEIGHT SOCKS! I saw Virginia cast on for a pair on instagram and couldn't get it out of my head. I'd never seen Susan's blog before and holyyyy awesome! I love seeing her knit so many pairs of socks- totally inspiring!!! She has a video a few pages into her blog that is of her knitting and WOW. She is smooth! I want to try DPNs again. Also, I love how much she loves Cakewalk Yarn, because I love Rose SO much.

ANYWAYS! Now I need worsted weight yarn for socks!!! Anyone have a favorite?!

One more thing! Speaking of sock knitting, want to see something that will make your jaw drop? Jeannie won our Speedy Stitcher contest for Summer Sampler and I found her on instagram. Imagine my surprise when I saw just PART of her sock collection!  I fell over! For real though, I love love love love love looking at photos of hand knit socks so much. I created a pinterest board just so I can look at hand knit socks. I sometimes think it would be cool to do a blog post once a week of sock photos and sock yarns that I'm inspired by but I don't think I'm a knowledgeable enough knitter to do that. Maybe some day!

See you soon friends! <3

Hello, nice to see you!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged! Yikes! I hope you'll forgive me!

I'm recovering from surgery! I don't want to get too personal because that's not how I am but it's just going to make my life a lot more enjoyable. But the downside is I'm healing super slow and I've reached the point where I want to DO EVERYTHING but physically can DO NOTHING. So frustrating!

I spent an entire week on the couch, doing nothing but reading and knitting. I'm not going to lie, it was kind of amazing. I very rarely sit still that long and to just SIT with zero obligations felt incredible. I knit a pair of socks in 4 days! 4!!! That's amazing to type. I read soooo many books, they deserve a blog post of their own. The socks do too! And then I knit a pair of fingerless gloves. I also finished some Halloween socks but the yarn is disappointing so they don't deserve a blog post of their own. ;) But now I've reached the antsy stage, I wish I could have bottled the week of calm. I did nothing on the internet except goodreads and it felt kind of nice!

Before surgery I had a week to get things together & prepared. I finished my birthday quilt which you can see in these photos. I was SO hoping to have it completely done before surgery but I ran out of time. It worked out ok though because once I piece the back, Lindsay is going to quilt it for me! YIPPEEEE! There is something super magical about sending out a quilt top and having it come back super fancy!

Ashleigh & I have been working our butts off. We both are so crazy for Halloween & Fall, after a million hours, we decided to run TWO CLUBS. This is huge for us and it's awesome. Basically, we made a list of all of our favorite things and realized we had to go big or go home. And we went big. If you follow us on facebook you'll know that we've been sharing sneak peeks here and there, it is SO hard not to share the entire projects. Halloween Sampler is strictly Halloween and it's incredible. Skull & bat LACE BORDER. Hand dyed floss! Hand dyed fabric! It's very different than what we've done before & I love it. My floss arrived earlier this week and I can't wait to work on it.

And then! We are doing our very last season, AUTUMN! It matches the previous seasons, 25 squares of seasonal goodness but NOTHING Halloween. I love this one because Ashleigh literally crammed everything Autumn into this. Baking. Apple picking. Pumpkins galore. KNITTING (yes! That's a sock! On a blocker! With a yarn ball & a circular needle!) Woodland Creatures. Snacks. I would go as far as saying these are our two best charts to date. Seriously. I can't stop gushing about it & I'm pretty sure everyone on instagram is sick of seeing me work on it.

My birthday was last week, it was the first time I haven't made a giant event of it. I mostly slept and read. I ate 1/2 a kit kat. I watched some owls. Chop surprised me with balloons, yarn, flowers, a vacation in October...the whole shabang. He's totally a keeper, he's had the patience of a saint with me.

Here are a few things I *love* x a million:

• The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits 2013!!!! I cast on for a sweater and am currently stuck, until someone helps me I decided that this chart should be SOCKS TOO!!! Ginny's Socks!!! Chop calls them Lumpy Space Princess Socks and I'm totally into that.
• On the Adventure Time note: Ashleigh made me a MARCELINE MUG!!!! Best BFF ever!
• I bought myself this bag for my birthday. How could I not? Every October I watch the entire show, all the seasons, from start to finish.
• Also: $10 for this masterpiece? How could I not?
• I promised myself no more yarn for the rest of the year (I'm pretty pleased with how well rounded my stash is at the moment!) but after absolutely hating my Halloween striped socks, I decided I *need* high quality amazing Halloween striped socks. I've read amazing things about Desert Vista Dyeworks and ordered two skeins with my birthday money. Can you guess which ones?
• I like this guy, I think he's sort of eerie & spooky! He's not Matt Smith whom I adore and I hope he loves Clara as much as I do though.
• Have you guys seen this quilt? I know, I'm late to the party but I'm thinking about using my entire Halloween stash to make it. I can't stop thinking about it...
• New Civil Wars! What do you guys think? I love Joy, don't get me wrong but I miss John Paul's voice a lot on this album.
• I could look at this website all day long...and I often do.

Sheesh. That's a lot.

I'm going to go read & eat a pomegranate. <3

Oh hi Color Affection

I started my Color Affection this morning.

Do you know what that means?

That means I FINISHED MY MYSTERY SHAWL! It's taking all my will power not to drown the internet in photos of it.

Here's one of my favorites:

Those leaves! Please pretend there is a smiley face with heart eyeballs emoji right there k?

We are going to a wedding in Fall River Mills this weekend and I'm hoping it's chilly enough in the evening that I can wear it and have Chop take some photos of it.

I'm so glad I kept going even when I thought I hated it. It's so big- 63 inches long and 23 inches deep and COZY.

I want this shawl pin so bad. I asked Chop for it as a birthday gift, it's soooo pretty and I think it would look awesome on this! Hint hint nudge nudge Chopster! <3

Now I want to make a million giant shawls...but...I just bought a pair of shoes. First pair I've bought in seriously 2-3 years! I got these after seeing Diana's super cute post about her pink ones, mine are a different style because naturally I wanted Halloweenie ones. I bought them yesterday morning at 9:30am and it shows them already out for delivery today! Way to go Zappos! High5! Cross your fingers they fit.

BUT ANYWAYS. New shoes and I kind of want to make a bunch of pairs of ankle socks to wear with them! Preferably in this Robot Overlord yarn. Or Bertie Botts. Either way, I want new short socks and a new shawl k?

Anddddd I just sent two quilts to Lindsay and bought fabric for one more.

LET'S MAKE LOTS OF STUFF THIS SUMMER!

I need Hermoine's Time Turner so I can do it all! ;)

ok, just one more photo for good measure. ;)

<3

Welcome to the Frog Pond!

It was 109 degrees yesterday.

I was pretty sure I was melting all day. And I was also all hopped up on mango iced green tea.

All day I sorted. Cleaned. Organized. I love starting a new month with a completely clean slate!

I made piles of quilts that I want to finish and send to Lindsay. I seam ripped three quilts apart. I found a missing piece to a project that I'm going to wrap today hopefully.

And then I went through my knitting.

Oi!

How did I get so many projects going at once? Crazy! I should know better. I try so hard to knit a whole bunch of things but I'm much happier when I only knit two or three things at once. And if we are being *really* honest with ourselves, I'd be fine if I knit my entire sock stash into plain vanilla socks. I know, I'm boring!

I ended up frogging a pair of socks and a shawl! I liked the socks but wanted to go up a needle size because the fabric felt a little too stiff, plus I want to do a different pattern I think?! And then the shawl. Meh. You guys helped me pick Brooch and I love how it looks but I didn't enjoy knitting it. I sort of feel like since knitting is my favorite hobby, I want to keep it that way and only knit things that bring me 100% joy.

Now I feel SO much better. I'm working on a pair of plain socks, a sweater and my mystery shawl. Way more manageable! And my sweater is on hold for a little while until I can decide what size I should make, so really I only have two projects!

Can I share with you a silly photo? This is Chop & I from Friday night. It was 106 degrees and we were sitting outside in Redding and he was making me laugh about who knows what, this guy is TOO MUCH! So snarky! We saw Old Crow Medicine Show and it was truly one of the best shows I've been to in ages. Their energy was so infectious and their music is incredible. The amount of talent on that stage...wowza! We danced all night and were covered in sweat but smiling like crazy. Sadly my engagement ring broke for the 4th time (o m g) so today we are running to Chico to get it repaired. Oi! I'm thankful I noticed it, I would have been heartbroken if I lost it! <3

FO: Hermoine Everyday Ankle Socks & Shawl Progress

First up!

I finally finished something! It feels like I haven't finished anything in a million years!

I started these socks in February right before my hand started hurting. This yarn is one of the very first sock yarns I ever purchased, it's from Pigeonroof Studios and I *love* Krista's dyeing. I'm pretty sure this colorway is called Blossom but don't quote me on that!

For the Hermoine socks, I cast on for my normal favorite sock pattern, but just added the Hermoine stitch pattern to the top of the foot. I do this with pretty much every pair of socks I make, I just like how they fit, I have the increases and heel memorized and it just works nicely for me.

Normally I knit socks tall-ish. My very favorite feeling in the winter is hand knit socks in Ugg boots. I know, Uggs are hideous but they are so warm and soft. I try to knit my socks 7-9 inches above the last heel stitch so they go above my boots. But these socks were taking me FOREVER. AND EVER. AND EVER. I debated frogging them but I kept seeing my friend Amber's crazy cute short socks (seriously, look through her ravelry & instagram! sooo awesome!) and I thought, I'll try that!

And I *love* it! I've been sleeping with them on + chai scented lotion and it's amazing! Super soft feet AND fun socks.

Why did these take so long? Because somehow I was knitting 10 stitches to the inch on size 1 squares. Holy tiny. Typically I do 8-9 stitches per inch for socks. You'd think the extra stitch or two wouldn't matter but it totally did! So strange! They still fit perfectly!

This is what I've been working on mostly. OMG.

If it wasn't for my instagram friends cheering me on, I would have maybe pretended I never started this and hidden it in a drawer somewhere. Seriously. Every day my friend Michelle tags me in photos of her finished shawl and says "WHERE ARE YOU AT AMANDA!" haha! Motivation for sure! I'm trying so hard not to look at all the finished shawls on ravelry, it makes me feel bad for not keeping up!

The pattern is written perfectly and it's truly amazing watching it grow (this photo shows where I've left off at: the lace panel of clue three) but o m g. I basically have to sit in complete silence to knit this lace. I'm not the most intuitive knitter, you know how sometimes you can read your knitting and just know what comes next? Yeah. Not so much for me. And for some reason this is brutal on my hands. I think I'd be going a lot faster if I didn't have to take so many breaks. Chop brought me home some size 7 Square Needles and they've helped a little bit. Remember, with square needles you have to go up a size, originally I was knitting on size 6 addi turbo lace.

But when I sit with it in my lap and work on it...Oh you guys, I am truly in love. The yarns! The colors! Those stripes! That lace! I know it's going to be something I treasure and wear a ton!

JUST KEEP GOING! That's my motto k? One row at a time!!!!

And then there is this. Saying HEY AMANDA! DON'T YOU WANT TO KNIT ME UP?

YES! YARN! I DO!

I'm dying to make a color affection shawl. Like, it takes all my will power to work on my mystery shawl and not cast on IMMEDIATELY.

I picked colors this week and I seriously can't wait to start.

Main color: Plucky Feet in Bisque

Second color: Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in Torchwood

Third color: Pigeonroof Studios...I can't find the ball band! Shame on me! But its sooo soft and very autumn-y.

If I only make two big projects this summer, those two shawls will make me super happy.

And then there is this.

This skein is a BIG DEAL.

Why is it a big deal?

Because it's going to be socks.

FOR PORKCHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Imagine me shouting that at the top of my little lungs because I totally am!

Ever since I learned how to knit socks, I've wanted to knit him a pair. But he's hard on socks, like crazy hard on them. And even though I'm fine with mending them, he's doesn't want to ruin something I make him. He's absurdly cute like that.

Sooooo these are going to be wedding anniversary socks. It's not until October 30th so I have plenty of time and he knows he's getting them but I'm so excited to put all my love for him into a little pair of socks.

The best part? Chop has finally seen all but the last two Harry Potter movies and now makes hilariously dry Harry Potter jokes constantly. This color way from Sunshine Yarns is called...Hogwarts at Night! Perfect for the guy who is the hugest muggle out there! haha!

<3<3

Help me pick!

Eek! eek! EEEEEEEK!!! Just when you thought it was all Halloween all the time around here...NOPE! IT'S PINK AGAIN!

I finally finished binding my Bear Paw BFF quilt this week! I'm crazy obsessed with it. I need to take some proper photos of it, I found a random building in Gridley that has a PINK WALL. Unfortunately it's along the highway. And next to a Burger King drive thru. So I need to gather my courage to set up a photo shoot in such a public place. Although, there is a local photographer who I've noticed bringing a large ornate velvet couch to set up along side an abandoned tin building in town for photos, so maybe I wouldn't stick out so much!

This week a little order I placed in April from The Plucky Knitter arrived! I got two skeins of Plucky Feet: Berry Cordial and Brooch. And omg are they HARD to photograph. These photos are sort of close but not quite. Why is bright pink so hard to capture?

Here is Berry Cordial according to other ravelry photos! I'd describe this color as a true hot fuchsia. Very similar to Madelinetosh Pop Rocks but more amped up and with less tonal variation.

I couldn't find any ravelry photos of Brooch but my photo is pretty close. It's like a dusty mauve.

Both are beautiful but I need to pick one so I can finish my Life on Sunday's shawl! My main color is called Grady's Grouse which is a gray/oatmeal-y color that is cozy. I love Plucky's neutrals, they are always so unique.

I think the contrast between BC & GG is so unique and pretty! GG & B is more subtle and sweet. SO TORN!!!

So! Which do you like better? Berry Cordial or Brooch?

:):)

ps: thanks Chop for making my two photos squished into one. <3

Spoiler Alert!!! Through The Loops Mystery Shawl: Clue One!

 

Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!!!! Scroll no further if you don't want to be spoiled!!!!

EEK!

A fall shawl!!!!

I think I told you guys a few weeks ago about how I really wanted some new shawls since I gave almost all of mine away last winter? Well I joined Through the Loops Mystery Shawl on ravelry!

Last summer my instagram pals Kayanna, Dianne, Michelle, Colleen & I did a mystery shawl together with some mixed results. I think we all finished but I'm not sure if anyone truly loved theirs? I didn't love mine. Actually, scratch that out. I loved mine BUT it was incredibly small and not even remotely practical. I only recently (like last week) brought it to my local yarn store to see if I could do anything with it,. I don't think it was the designers fault, I think I probably didn't realize how the measurements worked out. I'm not very good at those sort of things.

So this summer! Mystery Shawl! Let's do this!!!! I was feeling a little nervous. But I wanted to try it. I'll be 100% honest with you guys, I joined because I loved the icon. Isn't that terrible? Judging a book by it's cover...joining a knit-a-long because of it's icon! ;) I mentioned that I loved it on Ravelry and the designer said she loved Edward Gorey. SOLD! COUNT ME IN! I'M SIGNING UP!

The intro pdf made me pretty confident I made the right choice, Kristen has you pick three colors and wrap them around a toilet paper roll to see how you'll like them together. Totally clever.

I'm using the following yarns on size 6 needles:

• Plucky Feet in Sticky Toffee. This yarn started life as a pair of socks but I didn't love how they fit so I frogged them. I might go as far as saying that if there was ever a color I felt was dyed for me, it would be sticky toffee. It truly glows.
• Plucky Feet in Lonesome Highway
• Sundara Petite Sock in Rhythm of the Saints. Ok, I *love* this yarn. It's stunning. Photos will never do it justice. Imagine the prettiest burgundy your brain can think of, then add a tiny dash of pink. That's this skein. The base of this yarn is different than the Plucky, it has more twist and I like the texture that it's giving the lace.

The colors are Halloween/Autumn inspired. It's my favorite time of year. I can't get enough of it. I think it's going to match my Halloween donut quilt. (side note: did you guys know there is a line of fabric called Nevermore? I want it ALL! )

On a scale of 1-5 of trickiness, I'd give this a solid 4. I sat through 5.5 episodes of NCIS, plus two hours of complete quiet for the lace section. That being said, I am *not* a very confident or intuitive lace knitter. HOWEVER! The pattern is written super well. It has both chart and written directions, plus row counts. Incredibly helpful. I was off once and was able to rip back and fix my mistake so that was cool! By the last section of repeats I finally figured out what I was doing. It only took me a full day of knitting to figure it out. ;)

It's going to be 106 degrees this weekend, that makes me wilt just thinking about it. The only good thing about summer heat?

Summer veggies!!! My garden is already giving us generous hand fulls of these little cute tomatoes. I can't for the life of me remember the variety but they come in yellow, orange and red. I tossed them with some spinach, pesto, eggs and homemade garlic sausage for a fast & easy frittata. YUM!

<3<3<3

(the well loved medium multibowl & tart dish courtesy of Le Creuset :))

I love Saturday's!

I  love Saturday mornings. Chop goes to work for a few hours at 6 am (did I tell you he got a new job? He's an Ag Biologist for our county now). The light was just too pretty this morning not to share. Bright mornings = best mornings!

Of course I treated myself to an iced chai, normally chai to me is a fall drink but cinnamon & cardamom just sounds great today. I went through the drive thru at 6 in my pjs, quite possibly one of my favorite Saturday activities. Who needs to be cute when you can wear leggings and a giant Domo tshirt. ;) Not this girl! I spent the morning alternating between knitting and answering emails. When you email The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, more often than not you are getting a response from me. Generally the first of the month is a busy day, lots of people wanting to change email addresses for their subscription or first time cross stitchers having questions. I try to answer all our emails within 30 minutes or so, I want people to be able to cross stitch all day happily! <3

As a random side note: it's getting hot here! Last night I decided to get some summer clothes. I'm looking for modest & cute summer dresses. I'm not a small girl but I'm not ashamed of my size, I simply don't think all of my curves need to be on display.  I found a *cute* maxi dress at Old Navy, it was black, sleeveless but had nice and thick straps (raise your hand if you hate visible bra straps but when it's 115 degrees you don't want to wrestle a strapless bra!) it fit great...but IT WAS SHEER. Completely sheer. Like, the-world-would-know-my-undies-had-flowers-on-them sheer. Total bummer. I looked at 5-6 different places and ended up with just a striped jersey skirt. I bought The Staple Dress, I need to just sit down and sew a bunch. But I'd really like some jersey dresses! I'm on the hunt!

Also: I really want pink flip flops but the practical side of me is like, just get black. I've literally been mulling over this decision since April. I know, ridiculous.

Random post? CHECK! ;) Have a good weekend friends!

Thank You!

Thank you guys so much for all your kind and encouraging comments on my last post! It was so nice to hear all your suggestions. Also, I can't believe people who knit sweaters are intimidated by socks, sweaters are huge! Literally! I just bought 3 additional skeins of yarn for this sweater. Socks are just one skein. Ha!

I ended up swatching all day yesterday in between emails and work, I was so excited to get up this morning and measure them! I did the whole wash and hang them, gold star right?!

I went with the Calligraphy cardigan. I love how squishy it's knitting up. It's totally going to be cozy central. I'm not quite sure if it's possible but I might not knit as much ribbing on the top, I have broad shoulders & a large bust. I fear the excess fabric will make me look like a football player. ;) Plus, to be realistic, I'll only be able to wear it maybe 3 months out of the year because it doesn't get crazy cold here.

Doesn't frogged yarn look like ramen noodles? I pulled apart one of the swatches and cast on, I'm sure there is a rule against that somewhere. My stitches are a little uneven because of it but I don't think anyone is going to be inspecting my neck up close. I don't know any vampires that I'm aware of.

I don't really have a set time for finishing this, although I will say there is something incredible about using size 6 needles and DK weight yarn. I'm so used to size 1 needles and fingering weight yarn! I felt like I was FLYING this afternoon! The must stash girls are having a sweater KAL that ends on June 30th which would be so cool to be able enter but I think that's totally not achievable. So I think maybe by my birthday??! (That's 8/8!)  We'll see. My goal is to blog about it once a week, just so that way I work on it and you guys can see it turn into something. And so I don't wuss out partly through. I haven't read any of the ravelry notes on the pattern, I'm afraid I'll start to psych myself out or tell myself it'll look like a bathrobe on me. True story!

In other exciting news, we've made 1/4 of our goal for Summer Sampler sales!!! If we make it to 100% of our goal in sales by week 5 (July 18th!), the subscribers ONLY will get a bonus pattern we designed. I really hope we get there! And then this Friday we are sending out June's Woodland Sampler pattern. This month is something I've never seen in real life but I *really* want too. I don't want to give away too much but you can buy fake ones in mason jars that are pretty dang cute.

Speaking of giveaways, do you know my friend Lindsay? She is so cute and has such a pretty blog, she also long arm quilts for me! Well, she's doing a giveaway right now that you totally want to enter, Dani generously gave her two bags that are seriously amazing. The glasses on the zippers! eep!!! I want the box bag so bad!

Anyways, thank you again for all your encouragement, I really appreciate it a ton! <3

ps: I totally just pulled my old Pfaff out of it's case- cross your fingers I can sneak in a little sewing time this week! I'm dying to work on that Halloween Donut Quilt!