WIP: Halloween Donut Quilt

Yahoo!!!!

Earlier this week I dug out Bee, my featherweight, cleaned off my table and got ready to sew.

Except the tension was off! This is apparently the story of my life lately.

But Chop came to the rescue! Last night he fixed it, this morning I adjusted the bobbin a smidge more and VOILA! Back in sewing action!

I'm working on my Halloween Donut Quilt, I'm using oranges/blacks/grays and one bright green fabric. The background is a really neat Lecien Inkwell fabric, it's like splotches of mold. I know, isn't that a terrible description? It's only mold-y in a Halloween quilt, everything else it's really pretty splotches of ink or watercolor.

This is my second Donut Quilt, if you want to see my first one and find links to the pattern, click here!

I'm crossing my fingers Lindsay can squeeze me in this summer to quilt it for me, she quilted another Halloween quilt for me, SWOON! And she did an amazinggggg job on it. It's so perfect. And that's the quilt that started our friendship! <3<3<3

While I was cleaning off my table, I came across an old Riley Blake Halloween panel that I bought a few years ago on clearance, I sort of want to beg Lindsay to quilt it to some minky, just as a simple whole cloth throw! I need to find minky on sale first, I looooove the Shannon Fabrics stuff best! I've made two throws with it, one for me and one for Chop. Mine is cream minky with AMH voile on top, his is kona crush and camo minky. I think I made them 2-3ish years ago and they wash beautifully, not like some minky which looks like a haggard muppet after a while!

I've barely been knitting lately! My hand has been driving me crazy, I think I over did it last week but I have about 5-6 inches of sweater knit?! My only goal is to just finish clue two of the mystery shawl and let everything else marinate. It's so frustrating because I have some great projects and not being able to work on them is killer! But it's given me a lot of time to read! So that's ok, although I haven't read anything that I've *LOVED* since maybe...February?! I did get Born of Illusion last night, I'm hoping it's awesome!

Also! Ashleigh & I made our 1/2 way goal of Summer Sampler sign ups! With that goal reached, we celebrated by giving back to our local community by joining this Kickstarter Project! It's helping a local farm buy a tractor! How awesome is that? If you live in Northern California (or really anywhere!) you should consider contributing! We all need to eat and I think it's pretty important we support farmers. If you live locally, you may have seen this farm, it's along the highway and they have these gorgeous horses and mules! Each morning I wake up and see if they've gotten further, these kickstarters get you emotionally hooked! You find yourself rooting along and getting really excited! I'm crossing my fingers they make it!

I hope your week is going good so far! :):)

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!

I bought sweater yarn.

Happy Memorial Day!

We visited Yosemite!

What an incredibly stunning place. It was my first time visiting and I have so many mixed feelings. I personally find my spirituality outdoors, Yosemite is truly awe inspiring. But so many of the things I saw broke my heart & we cut our trip short. If we go again, it'll be in the fall or winter for sure!

Yesterday we hopped back into the car and ran down to Roseville to run some errands. I look forward to visits to that area because I can stop at Babetta's! I finished the first part of Life on Sunday's, I still have no idea what color to do my stripes! My yarn is Plucky Feet in Grady's Grouse, I am so smitten with this color. It's like an oatmeal-y gray. Her colors are so inspired. I saw this skein of tosh sock in pop rocks and I had to buy it. I've used pop rocks before and it's one of my FAVORITES. The only thing is...as much as I *love* pink, I don't really wear it. I do love how they look together sooo much though! Also, how pretty is this one?

Hey! Socks! Oh this yarn, how I love thee! It's Lynai sparkle sock in Goblin. I am soooooo obsessed with this. Halloween! Sparkle! YES! I started a pair of Bavarian Cable Socks, I did one full chart repeat but I was struggling with the all the purling, I feel like I can never get it to look nice & neat. So I pulled them out but now I have 66 stitches and it feels a little tricky finding a pair of socks that works with 66 stitches, so I think I'll pull back to either 64 or 62. Plus 66 feels a teeny bit big on size 2 needles. I got another skein of Lynai in a color called Frankenstein and I saw this shawl and totally fell in love. It has to happen!

And then I did something crazy.

I bought enough yarn (sort of) for a sweater. Tosh DK in glazed pecan. I really want a cardigan but the more I look at ravelry, the more I realize it's a bit out of my reach. Seeing how many changes people make, how to edit patterns, gauge, math, omg. I love small projects and a cardigan isn't. I was having MAJOR buyers remorse last night but Chop was like "it's not like the yarn is going to expire, just hang onto it until you want to knit with it!" True, but I like to have a plan for everything and this was a lot of money for me! I'm a pretty monogamous knitter and I finish or frog everything I start, I sort of feel bad working on socks and a shawl at the same time, plus I want to do this knit-a-long in June. The thought of knitting a pair of socks, two shawls and a sweater at the same time feels...scary? overwhelming? overly indulgent?

Am I crazy for wanting to knit a cardigan for this fall? Plus knitting some socks and shawls?! Did you start any new projects this weekend?

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery Presents: 2013 Summer Sampler!

I'm kind of freaking out! In the very best way of course!

Ashleigh & I have been working on this chart since March and I honestly think it's our best yet.

If you've been reading or following along, we spent the winter taking intensive business classes and meeting with a marketing expert. We knew we loved our business but definitely could use a lot of help! Our biggest goal of 2013 is to make The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery our full time job.

And we both now can say designing cross stitch patterns is our full time job!!! YESSSS!!!! And we have teamed up with a great business to help you get supplies! Small businesses helping small businesses is incredible!

This sampler is the summer part of our series that we started last December with Kawaii Winter Sampler and again in April with Springtime Sampler! There will be a Autumn Sampler too! (how could we not- I *love* fall!)

All four samplers are cohesive:

• There are 25 little square frames.
• It's a mystery!
• Once a week for five weeks straight you fill in 5 frames at a time with kawaii goodness.
• At the end of the year you'll have 4 seasons, all 11x11 inch cross stitched squares to frame & hang or make into pillows or whatever. But they all match. I'm hoping to have a little gallery when we buy a house of all 4 hanging together or making them into pillows and putting them out during the appropriate season.
• A one time payment, not installments.

This is the pre-sale time which means when you sign up, get a list of supplies, a schedule, some notes with fun details of what to expect in June (contest, promo code, a goal!), a stitch guide and a cute little printable, PLUS  the chart for all 25 empty frames so you can get started stitching! And it's $12.95 until mid-June when we rise the price to $16.95.

Starting June 21st you'll receive a super cute email & pdf from us once a week and you'll start filling in the blocks! Awesome! This is my favorite part. I've learned how to set up the email list so it automatically sends at 12:15 am and waking up to see your excitement on facebook & instagram is the BEST! I also love posting sneak peeks and watching people guess, so much fun!

It's totally a surprise but I will say these blocks are filled to the BRIM with cuteness. Think of all the best things of summer- iced coffee *wink wink*, watermelon, camping- they'll alllllll be in this sampler!

The workroom carries floss bundles, fabric and beautiful notions! All for Summer Sampler as well as previous samplers which is awesome. So if you want to spend your summer vacation cross stitching, they've got you covered.

We hope you'll join us this summer and don't forget! We now offer gift subscriptions if you want to surprise someone special or stitch-a-long with a friend!

Tomorrow Chop & I are celebrating 7 years together! 7! incredible! I hope you guys have a nice weekend!

ps: If you signed up, check out the button in my sidebar! You can copy & paste the code into your blog to share that you are a Summer Pumpkin!

Finished: Harvest Dew Socks

I have no idea what is going on with our weather but I am so not complaining. Tonight seriously felt like Fall. I was totally in heaven!

I finished my Harvest Dew Socks last night & I'm smitten.

I made them toe up and was helped by these notes. They came together really fast, the pattern was easy to memorize. It certainly helped that Chop & I did nothing but hang out all weekend watching movies. (Side note: I struggled with the Hunger Games series- I read the first two but couldn't get into the third. Surprisingly I *loved* the movie!)

The yarn! Oh! The yarn! It really makes these socks. I used Miss Bab's Northumbria BFL fingering and I think it's one of my new favorites. I bought it originally thinking that it was the same base as Hedgehog Fibres sock yarn, wrong! I truly have no clue why I thought this! I loved how wool-y this yarn feels. My last pair of socks had cashmere and I think my hands got used to that. But please don't read this as the yarn was scratchy because it's not at all, it's just unique feeling to me. I loved how the yarn has soft fuzzy halo to it, truly beautiful. I really enjoyed taking these photos as the sun was setting, the last photo shows the yarn in all it's glory. My skein didn't have a bunch of darks in it and I'm totally a-ok with that. At the same time I bought this skein I got deep sea jelly fish and I can't wait to knit with it. I'd like to try the Tart base next! One more thing! Their customer service is *so* good. I had a silly question and emailed them late on a Thursday night, I had a reply Friday morning, I bought my yarn Friday at noon and by 2 pm it had shipped. <3!!!

Naturally I did what anyone does when they finish something...I started something new!

Ashleigh & I are gearing up to start pre-sale for Summer Sampler and this is a huge deal. Like crazy huge. We've been working like maniacs on it and I would go as far as saying that it is our best and most legit chart yet. I'm kind of freaking out about how neat it is. Our testers, our stitcher and our friends who've seen it think it's the bees knees!

So today we met in Chico, I twisted her arm into going to the yarn store with me before we got to work and I got this cute little Della Q bag. It says "Knit With Love", so sweet! The yarn I'm using is Plucky Feet in Grady's Grouse. I have no clue what I'll use for a second color yet. It was an impulse cast on, Ashleigh does a *ton* of computer work during our meetings and I sort of feel lame just sitting there, so I always bring a project that doesn't require focus.

I'm waiting for some very special sock yarn to arrive this week, once it does I might tuck this away. I realized I have just ONE shawl left out of all the ones I made last fall, I gave them all away! Whenever a good friend compliments me on something I've been known to just give it to them. I guess I sort of feel like I can always knit it again? But I never do! Do you do this too?

So my goal this summer is to boost my shawl collection but also knit more socks. And to knit from my stash. Which is so funny to type after I just said I was waiting for new sock yarn to arrive, lol!

I hope you are having a nice week so far, today we finally got to try The Hunter & The Farmer food truck. I had a donut. A paleo donut. The first time in years I ate a donut and didn't want to die afterwards. It was glorious. But I still haven't determined  when I'm going to get my sewing machine tuned up!

:):)

Works in Progress: May Edition

I thought I'd share with you all my current WIPs (works in progress). Some of these are long term, some are instant gratification, some are work related and some are just silly.

I took my photos this morning before the sun was fully risen in our bedroom so they are a little dark but that's ok right?! ;)

I'll start with my most recent sewing:

Amanda from Westwood Acres very sweetly sent me some Briar Rose scraps! I knew instantly that I wanted to make the same pouch that Amy did. I made it my goal to use JUST scraps and NOT cut them. Oh and improv piece it. Those are all things I'm quite terrible at but I wanted to branch out. I'm not sure I *love* it but that's ok! Unfortunately my sewing machine started to act funny during the quilting (ok-let's be honest, it's been cranky all winter). I did all the normal things: clean, oil, replace needles/bobbins/etc. Still no luck. By the time I attached the piping the machine wasn't holding it's tension at all anymore SO! To the dealer I will go and get a tune-up. And I think the timing is slightly off. No sewing for a little while!

Two weeks ago I got it into my head that I *needed* a new Halloween quilt. I decided to make a new Donut Quilt from my stash. I have the blocks partly done. It'll be a fast finish once I get my machine fixed. I haven't decided on a border fabric yet though. All I know is, that donut quilt gets SO much love around here, it's the perfect size for me to drag everywhere. I think this might be the first time I've ever made a pattern twice?!

Oh these blocks! They kill me! (in a very good way of course!) They are from the Forest QAL and quite possibly my favorite things ever. However, I need at least a full day of complete quiet for each block. Not because they are hard, they are really straight forward but because I am *really* slow at paper piecing and these blocks have a ton of pieces in them. I have the feather and the woodpecker done, I'm using just scraps which is fun. It's a little tricky to pick fabrics for them though. This is definitely my long term project- it's special and I'm not into rushing it. I'd love to finish it by July and enter it into the fair but that's probably wishful thinking. Also: They are crunchy & wrinkled looking because...I haven't removed the paper yet! LOL! ;)

I've needed to apply the binding to this quilt since March. Eep! Lindsay did an amazing quilting job on it! But literally that's the only corner bound. It doesn't stop me from using it all the time though.

It's not all sewing though...I cast on for a new pair of socks this week! I happily knit outside in Chico yesterday while Ashleigh worked on our shop! It got a facelift! And we re-released Fruit of the Month Club! Somehow in my excitement to be hanging out, I started doing the size large chart on my size medium sock! Doh! But I tried them on and somehow the pattern is still pretty centered. Maybe my feet are strange shaped? IDK! But I'm going to keep going. They also got the nickname "Cinnamon Toast Crunch Socks" from Chop?!

Speaking of work! Here is my Woodland Sampler! Even though we've had the full chart done & tested last year, I cross stitch along with everyone. It's just more fun that way. Plus I can share sneak peeks leading up to the first of each month!

That's everything! All my current WIPs! How about you? What are you working on?

FO: Zombie Girl Socks

Last week I found myself with a spare half hour while waiting for a file to download.

I did what any normal girl does...search for sock knitting blogs! ;) No but seriously, I don't have a lot of spare internet time and I was curious if there are a lot of sock blogs out there!

A google search for "sock knitting blog" turned up My Sister's Knitter which I happily spent my half hour reading more like 2 hours of reading but I don't want to be a creepy girl. The prettiest photos and yarns! And then she mentions Must Stash Podcast  and bam! I was hooked!

I spent each morning watching an episode and knitting while having breakfast. I love it, it's the cutest little pod cast, the girls are super sweet and...ok...this might be weird but I totally found myself cheering them on! Steph was making a sweater for her husband and I loved watching it grow each week, when it was done I was like YEAH GO STEPH. I know, that's sort of strange.

But then I realized I love when I scroll through someones instagram and see the beginning, the middle and the end of the project. I want to hug that person. I think right now there is so much technology surrounding us with very little time to create something with our own two hands so each finished good should totally be celebrated. It also made me more excited to share WIPs, for some reason I always think I bore everyone with..."welp this is my 9 millionth in progress photo". But now I don't really care. Hahaha. I think once a week I'm going to check in and share some WIPs.

So! Hey! I finished a pair of socks! Yeah! I put all the details on ravelry, I'm the worst ravelry user ever. I started using it in 2007 but I really only started using it FOR REAL this past year. I actually have projects and part of my yarn stash on there now. Gold star!

Next socks!

I was thinking about knitting a color affection, then I saw Andi's post about Cameo and I decided I want to knit that with my skein of Weenie! I did a little stash searching and found a skein of Plucky Hayride so I'm going to use those two together for a Halloween shawl. Soooo that meant my skein of Biker Chick was free to become socks! I think I want to make Harvest Dew because they are so pretty! The only thing is...it's charted for cuff down! I emailed this gal to ask if I had her notes correct, she knit her pair toe up and they are BEAUTIFUL. 

Ok! That's it! Tons of Pumpkin work to do. <3

VIDEO: Sock Knitting Needle Review!

Hi guys! Soooo I'm pretty sure this is the most silly video ever but I really wanted to share with you a few of my sock knitting needles and my thoughts on them!

http://vimeo.com/65681942

Here are some links to things I mention in the video:

• Karbonz Needles!
• Dreamz Needles!
• Addi Turbo Lace!
• Addi Sock Rockets!
• Kollage Squares!
• Signature Needle Arts!
• Ramona's Sock Sack Sewing Pattern!

I hope this helps and answers some questions :):)

Real Life Talk: What's Your Style?

I've been thinking a lot about personal style lately.

Chop & I have a huge goal to be homeowners next year and we started a pinterest board of things that we both like. It's been a lot of conversations such as:

"Can I put neon pom pom garland on your bear head?'

"Will you help me glue my mini figs onto magnets?"

"Wanna wrap some yarn around these antlers and spray paint them gold so we can put them on a coffee table we don't own yet?"

"I saw this on pinterest- let's build it" "Of course I know that aged wood that big is expensive"

"Our front door should be mustard colored!!!!"

"We need stars on our bedroom ceiling. No, not the glow in the dark sticker kind."

"Let's get a small marlin and hang it in the bathroom!"

"Basil Grimm Jennings is the best cat name ever right!? Can we afford adopt a grumpy little fatty within the first year? Wait...you want a dog? And ducks? Are we starting a farm?"

"I'm going to want to hang my pots & pans from the ceiling. Can you buy me a drill as a housewarming gift? Oh...I guess I'll need a stud finder then. BUT I ALREADY MARRIED YOUUUU so clearly....!!!"

How do you blend your love of ridiculously cute and your husbands love of hunting? With patience of course. And good sense of humor. And trying to figure out what your TRUE style is. Like the stuff you actually LOVE LOVE. Not like, only kinda sorta like on Tuesdays but LOVELOVE.

My TRUE style is a whole lot of:

• kawaii
• cat tshirts
• leggings
• pink fabric (but I won't ever wear pink. unless it's blush.)
• halloween! gimme the orange, the black and a million apple cider candles. and candy.
• fruity scented body wash in the summer only
• glitter EVERYWHERE.
• cozy

Sooooo these are things I love...WHY DO I HAVE THINGS THAT ARE THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE IN MY LIFE?! For example, I only wear gray tshirts and cat tshirts...why does my wardrobe consist of a million dresses? Dumb! I purged my closet and donated a ton. Then I started thinking about:

CRAFT STYLE!

Do you have one? You know you do! I know you do. When I look at instagram or pinterest, I can immediately pick out the majority of my friends without looking because their style is SO THEM.

Here's my craft style:

• I DON'T KNOW!

No. But seriously. I like to knit socks and make little patchwork. I've been sorting through fabric and yarn and I realized my taste is alllll over the place!

But now I'm trying to figure out what I actually like making and what I actually just like looking at. Do you do that? Have things you like to look at but when you think about actually creating them you kind of gag a little bit because the process is so uninspiring to you?

I want my crafting time to be super joyful and I want my future home to be filled with creations that are totally rad and us. For example: this week I cut out a Halloween Donut Quilt. That's both fun & glorious because it's Halloween AND donuts.

So yarn photos...I decided I obviously NEED a giant color affection shawl. I've given away almost all the shawls I knit last year and I want something halloween-y autumn-y squishy! But I can't decide on my third color. Last year my big birthday long term project was a pair of mittens that I only wear when I need to find something at the bottom of the freezer. SO! This year it has to be something I'll actually use a ton. Oh AND my next pair of socks will be these pirate ones. Because I've had the pattern for a while and I found a good gray for them in my stash. And because they look tricky awesome!

How's this for the most random blog post ever! What is your style? Does it transfer to your crafting? What color should I use to go with the orange and the gray?

ps: the winner of the embroidery book is Denica! Shoot me an email so I can forward your info to Lark Books! :):)

Sock Sack pattern winner and a little review of Doodle Stitching- Embroidery & Beyond!

(bottom photo from Beth Sweet)

I can't believe it's already May! When did that happen? I feel like this year is FLYING by!

Lately I've been doing a bunch of cross stitching. Like, more than normal. I think right now I'm averaging 5-8 hrs per day because we have a ton of new patterns coming out (don't forget that I co-own a cross stitch pattern company with my bff!). And then I sneak in a few hours of embroidery on the weekends.

I have this dream that when we buy a house next fall (yes! next fall is our goal! o m g!) my kitchen is going to be filled with hand embroidered linens. I want a ton of feed sack towels and then a bunch of indie silk screened ones too. It's kind of become an obsession. I feel like I'm squirreling away all these handmade treasures for the future in little boxes.

A few months ago Beth from Lark contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in a copy of Aimee Ray's new book, Doodle Stitching- Embroidery & Beyond. I said YES! Full disclosure: normally I don't say yes because I'm not really the advertising sort but I said yes because I really enjoyed Aimee's first book- Doodle Stitching! 

This book takes off where that one stops- it shows you different sorts of stitches from cross stitch to crewel, sashiko & cut work. It's pretty neat! My favorite project in the book is called Canvas Cuckoo Clock- it's literally a clock that you embroider! It's super cute, I already traced the design onto a tea towel.

I think it's a pretty cute book, I don't really love the look of cut work & stump work but she presents them in an easy to understand and fun way! This book is definitely geared towards someone who wants to broaden their handwork repertoire and I like that! But there are also clear and concise directions with illustrations on how to do basic stitches as well.

If you'd like to win a copy of the book and embroidery floss, just leave me a comment! This is the last giveaway for a while, I have some books I read in March/April, plus a quilt to share with you! I'll pick a winner on Sunday!!!

PS: The winner of the sock sack pattern is EMMA L! Emma, can you email me so I can forward your info along to Ramona?! thank you! I loved reading all your comments- I added so much stuff to my ravelry favorites which is great because I had to frog a pair of Hermoine socks...noooo! :( :)

Sock Sack Sewing Pattern Giveaway! CLOSED. THANK YOU!

It's Monday! It's the last week of my & Ashleigh's small business finance class-our brains are exploding from ratios, quickbooks and cost analysis. It's already over 90 degrees here-omg. I have a million hours of work to do this week (I'm looking at you mailchimp!) and it's a little overwhelming so let's do something fun k?

How about a pattern giveaway?

Last week I cast on for a new pair of socks (I went with a toe up version of these) and posted a little photo on instagram. Libby saw it and commented that I needed a sock sack. My first response was HEH? WHAT? But then I learned it's a pretty dang cute sewing pattern by Ramona, I bought it off Craftsy and a half hour later I had a new little bag. No joke. 30 minutes. Instant gratification which is totally right up my alley lately!

I've already made three (one was mailed as a secret present for a friend this morning) and I've cut out a Halloween and a Christmas one. Yeah. I *love* project bags. I have easily a dozen box bags, several drawstring bags, etc but this is just for two at a time sock knitting which is my favorite way to knit socks. It has little snaps so you can move your yarn and a neat little divider that helps give the bag structure.

These little bags are sort of like candy, once you make one suddenly you want a dozen. I already made one for a friend but I think I'm going to make a bunch for Christmas gifts and include a skein of yarn for my knitting friends. So act surprised if you get one in the mail from me k?! ;)

Leave me a comment telling me about either your very favorite skein of yarn or pair of socks by Wednesday and I'll randomly pick a person to win a copy of Ramona's pattern! On Thursday I'll announce the winner & post an embroidery book review! (but I pinkie promise that I won't do a million giveaways-that's not my style.)(pss: this quilt I'm taking photos on? Still not bound! I get an F ;))

FO: Tardis Dish Cloth, Lady Rainicorn Socks and WIPs

A little knitting has been happening lately! Woo hoo! Clearly...pink love is continuing!

I knit my first dish cloth! That's sort of exciting I think?! I used Cascade Pima cotton in a pretty hot pink, the pattern used to be available on Ravelry & I'd downloaded it ages ago but the designer took it down. It was a fast and fun knit! Tardis = LOVE!

This is the first pair of socks I've finished since my Pheasants! Sock knitting hasn't agreed with me lately which is a bummer because I made a grand goal of knitting 12 pairs of socks this year, I think it'll be more like...6 pairs. And that's fine! Even just ONE pair of hand knit socks is special and an accomplishment! There is no greater pleasure than a pair of cute socks!

Details:

• My favorite sock pattern- Wendy J's Gusset Sock
• New heel! Fleegle! Super fast, easy and I love the lack of holes! High 5!
• New needles! Karbonz which I ADORED! I used a size 1 with a 32 inch cord from Jimmy Beans Wool. They just worked great for me, incredibly light, pointy, smooth join and not hard on my hands!
• Yarn! Colinette Jitterbug in Paintbox, also from JBW! I call these socks my Lady Rainicorn Socks because they look like her! Mathmatical!

I cast on yesterday for some new socks. These are called...nothing yet! Haha! I can't decide on a pattern! I LOVE these ribbed ones, I haven't knit a pair of plain ribbed socks yet and they just look so squishy and soft!

• Yarn- Becoming Art Agave Fingering in Hummingbird...it reminds me of zombies & halloween! IDK why!
• Needles- Quite possibly my new favorites! The *new* Kollage Squares! They are pointy...like SHARP. And I looooove them. I'm using a size 1 with a 40 inch cord...two at a time. Dreamy!

Have you made a pair of ribbed socks? Which pattern did you use? I'm working with 64 stitches! :):)

Farmer's Wife Quilt: Just Some Pretty Photos

I've been hesitant to share this with you, dear readers, because the first photo I took of it on instagram three people kindly reminded me that technically I didn't finish the quilt because it's not *all* the blocks. Then someone sweetly informed me that it could have been balanced better. Oi. Everyone is a quilt critic! But guess what? It's done &....

I love this dang quilt. It's so special. I loved working on it with Angela and getting to know her. I love that literally every.single.one of my quilting friends shared fabric with me so I have little pieces of all of them in it. I placed the blocks around themes; when I made them, friends who gave me scraps, certain memories. There is a little cluster from my Toronto friends, a little Sewing Summit cluster, a whole block just made from Heather Ross Country Mouse/City Mouse, which is so appropriate for my life. The blocks aren't perfect, they are chaotic, silly, fussy cut, wonky and unique.

I don't cuddle or sleep with this quilt, which is strange for me because I *use* my quilts to death. But this one is different. It's sort of emotional. So it's hiding in my hope chest with plenty of memories keeping it company.

<3<3<3

Weekend Plans

Hey!

TGIF! TGIF! TGIF!!!!

I'm looking forward to this weekend. I don't have anything giant planned but there is something about a Friday that makes me super excited. My only plan so far is to visit Kittle's & look at shot guns. I heard a rumor of an early birthday gift. Not something that I normally do on a weekends but it'll be fun. My dream right now is to own this. ;)

I got something fun in the mail, new sock yarn and new knitting needles. I saw this review of carbon needles, I wanted to give them a try in the future. I ordered the needles and the yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool on Wednesday with my JBWBucks and I was super excited that they came this morning. That's speedy! The yarn is called Colinette Jitterbug in Paintbox, doesn't it remind you of one of those sprinkle birthday cakes with all the bits of colored sugar inside? I sort of want to make one now! (ps: this cookbook has my favorite sprinkle cake recipe: Milk)

Isn't that donkey knitting bag incredible? I received the most amazing pink themed package from the sweetest blog reader (Beth) who sent me things so perfect that I almost died. It was like she was in my brain. I only got a cell phone photo of the treats but I think I need to do a blog post of all the presents I've received lately because I have incredibly kind and generous friends. I need to figure out some things I can sew as thank you gifts. Any ideas?!

I've been cross stitching non stop but I'm still not any neater or faster, haha! I've been listening to The Discovery of Witches for the zillionth time and working on Woodland Sampler! That's a pretty big sneak peek for April. I've also been working on Springtime Sampler for a few hours each morning. I'm thankful for the library's selection of audiobooks for sure!

Actually, has anyone read Iced? I've recently been re-reading the Faefever series from start to finish and I'd purchased Iced when it first came out but I forgot how annoying I found Dani and only got a chapter in. Now I'm not sure if I should give it a second chance?! What did you think of it?

I found a new little storage bin at Target for my cross stitch supplies. Every Wednesday Ashleigh & I take a small business class, then afterwards sit at a local coffee shop & cross stitch. I'd been using a little gingerbread man tin I got from JoAnns but it kept exploding open in my bag. This plastic one has a lid that clamps in place. Not too shabby for $2.99! I right now carry floss for Springtime Sampler and Woodland Sampler, plus needles, scissors, highlighter tape, yada yada yada. It's thinner than my gingerbread man tin too! If you cross stitch or craft on the go, check out Target for these. They came in gray, aqua and green. But they aren't on Target.com :( I'd love to finish stitching week 2 of Springtime Sampler this weekend and April's Woodland sampler this weekend!

I sadly lost my Smashbook this fall. I have no idea where it went. In February I got a new one, I went with hot pink this time. I'm hoping to add some things I've been collecting to it soon. Agnes sent me some Studio Calico wood veneer stars that are quite possibly the cutest things ever. Also: I love glue.

Do you notice anything pretty in these photos? A new quilt! Now I have my finished Farmer's Wife, a scrap quilt (who's name I can't decide. Shoofly? Churn Dash? IDK) and now this quilt to show you! It's not bound yet and I probably won't bind it for a little bit, I managed to make the fun of binding a scrap quilt last over a week so I'm hoping to do the same with this one. Lindsay quilted for it and omggg. I took it out of the box and seriously almost died. I posted a photo on instagram but it doesn't do her quilting job justice. She basically took a boring quilt and made it SING. It has this shiny pink thread that I can't stop looking at. The wool batting is making it look extra sweet. I know, I know, all my quilts are starting to look the same. Lots of pink and neutrals. I don't even care. As soon as I pulled it out of the box my second thought was...I WANT ANOTHER PINK QUILT FOR HER TO QUILT FOR ME. It's an obsession.

Soooo what are you doing this weekend? Hanging out at home? Wearing leggings as pants? Eating candy? Cross stitching a new Ireland pattern? Drinking green beer? Reading a book? Gardening?!

My favorite snack ever. And my favorite pan ever. Le Creuset's Soup Pot.

Where do I begin today's blog post?

 If it was legal to marry a pan..

Snacking is why I'm chubby..

I love Friday's..

Ok let's start here:

In August Le Creuset sent me some amazing pans to try and review. Crazy right? I'm not a food blogger at all, I'm just a girl who loves to cook. A lot. And I like inspiring other people to cook, via instagram and by teaching them in classes.

I'm going to have a full week of pan/cookware reviews coming up soon but I can't stop obsessing over this pan so I'll share a smidge about it today. And popcorn. And dill.

One of my hugest pet peeves is when a company gives a person an item to review and then 24 hours later, they give this gushing, glowing review. What the what?! How can you form an opinion that quick?! I certainly can't. Which is why I rarely accept things from manufacturers and why my blog is ad free. But this pan? I've lived with it. I've dropped it. I've had cooking successes and failures in it. It's been abused. And hands down, without a doubt, if you asked me what my very favorite pan is, I'd say this one. If I was stuck on an island with one pan, this would be my choice. It's my soulmate in pan form!

It's real name is Le Creuset's 4 1/4 Qt Soup Pot. The color I have is called Ocean and it's quite possibly the most beautiful color. A few years ago Chop surprised me with the tea kettle in the same color and it's dreamy. A perfect slate gray. And it's DURABLE. I've brought it too and from cooking classes, friends houses, camping, etc. I had a rather memorable occasion  (read that as, I was horrified!) when I was juggling things out of our car and dropped it onto the pavement. No dings. No scratches. Relief for sure!

Our electric stove is quite possibly one of the worst. It's ancient (no really!) and it has two settings: barely on and flaming hot. This pan distributes heat wonderfully. I can simmer soups successfully, I can create amazing jams and it goes from stove top to oven perfectly- ala my favorite curry recipe. 

Ok, so later on I'll tell you more about this pan because I'm totally in fan girl mode right now and I'm rambling and I REALLY want to share with you my obsession with popcorn! And dill!

When I was little my mom, who's an amazing cook, would make things like chicken & dumplings and I'd throw a hissy fit because I hated the green floating things (dill). Thankfully I've grown out of my hatred of dill (like, 3 months ago).

So now I eat dill like, daily. On eggs, mixed in yogurt cheese, in soups, on baked yams. Basically, dill 24/7. And now..dill popcorn.

I saw on pinterest a link to Soule Mama's blog post about popcorn. And I thought it would be fun to take some photos of my favorite popcorn and share them with you!

I make my popcorn on the stove top using Simply Recipe's method, which is super easy and always works out perfectly. Even if you have a horrid stove. You just need a good pan. ;)

Here's what I do differently:

A heaping tablespoon of coconut oil instead of another neutral oil. I found this out accidentally, I don't keep many oils in the house except for olive oil, which you shouldn't use because it'll burn. I had a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil left in a jar and gave it a try...perfect!

I use 1/4 cup of dill, a hearty shake (or 5) of Bragg's Sprinkle, a melted tablespoon of butter, some smoked Alder salt (it sounds weird but it's heavenly), some garlic powder and a healthy grating of romano cheese. That's it. And it's perfect for Friday's! You can eat it out of the pan if you are lazy like me or share with your family.

You know what else is perfect for Friday's?! Springtime Sampler. YES. It's ready for pre-sale today and it has a chart to get you started! And theworkroom has floss bundles and fabric!

That's a lot of info for one blog post huh? I'll be back on Monday with some Springtime Sampler sneak peeks.

Have a good weekend!

Scarlet's Quilt

I have a very sweet friend named Tracey. She's the first person I ever knew, in real life, through a complete duration of a pregnancy with lots of hang out time during it. I'll never forget the anxiety I felt driving around Chico & Paradise with her when she was like, 3 months pregnant. I kept being terrified each bump would kill her. I have little (read that as zero) experience with pregnant women, babies, children, etc. If you look up "least maternal person" in an encyclopedia, you'll see my face. For example when she told me she was pregnant at Costco one weekend, I gave her a high 5 and told her that was rad. Walking away I asked Chop if that was the appropriate response...turns out she didn't mind and I'm thankful for that.

 Tracey was SO CUTE as a pregnant person (and obviously today she is just as cute!) she's short and was very tan and always looked so healthy and happy. She told me all about pregnancy, her hopes for Scarlet's birth & such. I'd touch her stomach when she'd kick and it was pretty neat. I got to hold Scarlet while she napped on me. She was very soft and incredibly warm. I was both incredibly excited to hang out with her but also terrified. I made sure Tracey tucked her into my arm and I didn't.move.a.single.inch.

I knew I wanted to make her a baby quilt. If you look up in the same encyclopedia "most selfish crafter ever", you'll also see my face. I'm bad at making gifts for others, I worry that the person won't like it or won't appreciate it. Very, very, very few people in my life have things I've actually made them. I'm mean, I know. But Tracey I knew would USE a quilt and I thought it would be neat giving a quilting friend a quilt! And I wanted something special for the only baby I met!!!

So I dug through my fabrics and picked the most girly things I could ever find and went to town...a week after she was born. And Lindsay did a BEAUTIFUL job quilting it for me!

And then...it just sat. Waiting for me to sew the binding on. Which I did!!! In January. And Scarlet is one. Dictionary:Worst.Friend.EVERRRRR.

But now the quilt is at it's new home, with an extremely adorable little girl, a cute older brother and Tracey & Jay! <3<3<3 Thanks for being patient with me!!!

Books I read in February + A new Kindle case

February was a good reading month. I'm taking a knitting break and I'm too blind to cross stitch in the evenings so I spent quite a few nights tucked into a quilt on the couch reading.

I made a new case earlier in February, I had a little pile of scraps just begging to be made into SOMETHING.

The block is a 4 inch Sister's Choice block. My previous case was super cute but too big for this kindle. The lining is a super pretty cursive fabric that Windham makes, I bought a half yard which is rare for me, I usually just buy fat quarters and I've used up every last bit of this print. I think when that happens I need to take note and buy a yard. The backing is this bizarre glitter wool that JoAnn's had in their red tag section. It's sturdy which I love. I had a few little bits of glitter floss laying around so I added a few french knots. I'm not sure why but lately I add a few hand stitches to everything I make, regardless if it needs it or not.

A few people asked which kindle I have and about the sticker. Chop got me a GelaSkin for it for Christmas, mine is called Enamored Owl! I really wanted a Lizzy House one because...um constellations on a kindle? YES PLEASE but they don't offer her. Lame. But the quality of the skin is nice and it wasn't hard to apply.

The kindle I have is called a Paperwhite. And it is the greatest thing on earth. This is the 4th kindle I've owned and I wholeheartedly love them. It drives me bonkers when people say "kindles are killing books"!!! No way! I have the bank statements to prove that I'm doing my part to keep the publishing industry in business. ;) I have the plain paperwhite, without 3G and with ads.  I actually like the ads, a lot of times I'll find a new book that way. They are only on the screen saver and the bottom of the home screen, nothing while you are reading. The paperwhite has a built in light that I adore and you can adjust the brightness. I've also found the touchscreen on this is more responsive than my previous one.

OK. Let's talk about books!

• Golden Lily & The Indigo Spell. Oh how I wanted to *love* these but I ended up hating them. I was a huge fan of Vampire Academy but these..oi. There can't possibly be a character I like less than Sydney. She's made out to be perfect but she just comes across as neurotic. And dull. And practically with an eating disorder. And a martyr. Did I mention dull? By the end of Indigo Spell I was just ready to be DONE with it. I'm not going to bother with the next one.
• The Covenant Series. I raced through these and enjoyed them. I know a lot of people call this a Vampire Academy rip off and I can partly understand, although it seems like it's becoming a sub genre now, teens in mystical schools. The first one took me a little bit to get into but by the last book I was in love. Alex is similar in personality to Rose so reading this after Bloodlines was refreshing, I like girls with personality. ;)
• House Rules. I love this series. I think of all vampire series, this is my very favorite. I find Merit to be awesome, I love the supporting characters and I find her relationship with Ethan to be pretty dang great. I do wish she'd held off on sharing something in this book a little longer. (I don't want to spoil it!)
• Sweet Evil. Not that great. I thought Anna was dull. I won't read the sequel.
• How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf & How to Seduce a Naked Werewolf. Molly Harper is one of my favorites because her books are hillllllarious. I read Naked Werewolf and I listened to How to Seduce. Both are funny and a little less dark and more sweet than her Jane Jameson series. I listened to Driving Mr. Dead last month too and enjoyed it. Amanda Ronconi is so perfect for narrating her books!  (also, I just saw Driving Mr. Dead is only $1.99 right now on kindle!) I like to listen to books while I cross stitch or sew, it's something different than music!
• Rapture. I'm glad I finished this series, it wasn't bad or amazing, just middle of the road!
• Cinder and Scarlet. I read Cinder on a whim. I noticed all my goodreads friends (the 6 of them I have, lol!) read this and enjoyed it so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Good characters, neat world building. I finished it and liked it. Then I started the sequel, Scarlet and I LOVED IT. I devoured it. It was like her writing and story telling got kicked up a notch. I loved the additions of the new characters, their stories and how they inter-played with Cinder's. I'm super excited for the 3rd in the series.
• Kiss of Steel. Meh. Entertaining enough but not one of my favorites.
• Fate Interrupted. Every once in a while I'll try something everyone seems to loooove. I got lucky with Cinder (yay!) but failed miserably with this one. The premise sounds cute, girl opens a cupcake bar and is interested in a player. It's sort of like a college girl wrote this for her creative writing class about her dream life gone wrong. Instalove (gag) but omg he's a player (ugh) and noooo his past is coming back to hunt him (oh noes!)! Her sister is vile, imagine a locker room of 16 year old boys who just had their first coors light and you'll get how the sister speaks. It's so raunchy it's completely unbelievable. And it's not even GOOD raunchy that makes you blush, it's the kind of raunchy that makes you feel gross and want a shower. I feel like this could have had potential but instead I felt like I wanted .99 back. Also: hugest pet peeve ever! Authors who turn novellas into two books. Don't be lured in by the potential of cupcakes. ;)

This month Chop & I are doing a spending fast, we are extremely frugal right now but are curious how a complete freeze on our spending can help us by the end of the month. So no new books in March! Clockwork Princess comes out on March 19th so I'm most likely going to re-read the series, I pre-ordered the book back in August and I can't WAITTTTT! I love this series a zillion times more than Mortal Instruments and I'm both excited and SAD that it's coming to an end.

Also, I started reading two Kindle Serials, which auto update with new chapters. Have you guys seen these? They are pretty neat, I got two of them last month: Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic & Falling for Fredrick. I'm enjoying both, since you can only read a little bit at a time it makes me want to take my time and read sloooow.

And I also requested some books from the library so I have something to look forward too!

What did you read in February?

PS: You can see what I read in January here.