Episode 23 - It Just Had to Come Home with Me!!!

This week's podcast was a little off the cuff, since I didn't have show notes with me. I was a little bleck all day today, not sure why, just the weather maybe? Because I didn't have show notes everything is out of order and all over the place, but I talk about it all, so it's all good. 

I finished my Sin City blanket, one of my oldest projects on Ravelry, can now be said to be completed! It was also on my WIPdown list, so one more checked off. I turned it into Project Linus- a charity that donates blankets to children that are in the hospital or have experienced some sort of trauma or illness. 

I also finished the green lace scarf that I was making, and my mom claimed that one. So that's two more WIPs off my list! I'm really buzzing through things!

For my WIPs this week, I worked just a little on the orange Tunisian crochet blanket that has been growing ever so slowly. Made with acrylic yarn, intended for Project Linus, I worked it in several directions and have been making rounds of single crochet around the outside to finish it off.

I also worked on my blanket for Project Linus that is a for the Nuts for Neon competition. My local chapter of Project Linus is having a volunteer appreciation day, and as part of that day there is a competition for the best blanket, that will be voted on during the volunteer day. I finished one panel of orange lace, that is the same lace pattern that I have been using for the Edison Bulb portion of my neon cowl, and then I did three mitered squares in the corners to complete the round.

I also almost finished the back of a sweater that I am making from mill ends that I got from JoAnn fabric and craft stores. I got this yarn in pound bags and don't know anything about it except for that it is acrylic. I got three pound bags and it's a bulky weight yarn, so I hope that that will be enough to complete my sweater. It's twelve balls in total, but I'm unsure of the yardage on any of them.

I also worked on the pair of stripey socks that I am making out of Berroco Sox, in two different colorways, but I have lost the ball bands at this point, so I can't tell you what those two are exactly. I am almost done with the cuff, then I will do ten rows of one by one ribbing in the green colorway.

I started on a Done Roving Frolicking Feet section of my neon cowl, and am on the last seed stitch section, so after this bit of color I will bind off and have another project off the needles!! The bright yellow is Edison Bulb by Madeline Tosh.

Last but not least I started a new project, a Tunisian crochet double ended hook project that I am making out of a book of 101 Double Ended Hook Stitches, released by Auntie Anne's Attic, which I'm pretty sure is a daughter company of Red Heart, but I'm not 100% sure on that. This is the project that I do a demonstration on during the podcast.

I'm sorry some of my pictures messed up this week, I had issues uploading to Flickr, so I switched and uploaded directly from my phone onto blogspot, but something clearly went a bit wonky in the process, and now there are pictures with stripes down the side, where there are no stripes in the pictures on my phone. I will try to figure something out better next week. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you all next week!

Episode 18 - You're on my Wavelength

This week we were joined once again by the marvelous madmadre a.k.a. my mother a.k.a. LoriAnn. We talked a lot about knitting and crochet, mostly crochet. She had several finished projects from the past year that she showed, and I had two finished projects from this past week. I hope you enjoy this episode, and sorry if it seems like we are mumbling sometimes.

This is my mom's Ravatar, so you can know what she looks like if you see her out in the wild! The two projects that I finished this week were my third pair of slipper socks for Christmas that I am going to give to some special people in my life. They are made out of Classic Heritage Tapestry, which is a Worsted self-striping yarn, but I forgot to keep track of the colorways. I think it might be discontinued, since it was on the clearance rack of my lys. I used US size 8 needles, and worked from the top down in just a simple sock, they may look kind of small, but the special people in my life have small feet, even though they are full grown. 

The second project that I finished this week was my Not Quite Vanilla Socks, that I am working on writing up the pattern for. I have it all formatted and figured out, I just need to work out a couple bugs on the heel, because it's not looking right on paper, and I don't want to send out a glitchy pattern! I will be posting it on Ravelry when I finish, but since it is my first pattern I am going to be sending it out for free. I worked them on US size 1 needles, and had 72 stitches around, so it was a pretty tight gauge, but I want them to last a long time. I used a mystery yarn that I don't know where I got it from or what kind it was, so I don't have any really clues for replicating it. 

I also finished the first sock of my Christmas socks for myself that I am working to get finished by Christmas. They are made out of Cascade Yarns Heritage Prints, which is a self-striping sock yarn. It is in Christmas colors and very festive. They are a plain vanilla sock worked on US size 1 needles, with 72 stitches around. I am working them from the toe up and only have the very base of the toe done on the second sock.

This week I also worked on two Project Linus blankets. I am working on a granny ripple that I got at the thrift store half started, and am finishing it with yarn that came in the same bag. I guess it's kind of like a kit, only there are no instructions, and who knows if there will be enough yarn? At any rate it's fun to do and I like working the granny ripple stitch. Madmadre has not made a granny ripple blanket yet and we were saying that she is missing out and really needs to try it. I am using worsted acrylic yarn, most of it came without labels, and I am using a US size H hook.

I am also working on a blanket that I feel like calling an Orange Monster or an Orange Monstrosity. The orange is such a terrible color to look at in big swaths at a time. I am going to add just one more skein to the border, but this picture was taken before I added the plum like I show it in the podcast. Then I just have one more skein of the orange and black striped and then I am going to say that it's big enough and cast off. I am using Red Heart Super Saver in orange, Red Heart Super Saver in orange and black, and Caron Simply Soft in plum for this blanket. This blanket is also going to Project Linus.

Finally I am working on a cowl for myself. It is made out of Madeline Tosh Sock in Edison Bulb, and Done Roving in a colorway that I have forgotten. I am doing seed stitch with Done Roving and then an eyelet pattern with the Madeline Tosh. It is very bright and I plan to wear it with a black shirt so that it will really pop.

The thought of the week is that it is important to give generously to those around you, whether it be by something that you are physically giving, or just a positive thought or deed. Have a nice week and see you next week!

Episode 16- Special Guest!

This week I had a very special guest. My mother! My mom is an avid quilter, and she mostly machine pieces and quilts. She is very creative in her designs, and innovates many of her creations. She doesn't often work from a pattern, and freehand quilts most of her projects. I hope you love her as much as I do, my mother.

Thanksgiving was this week, and I made stuffing and rolls for the dinner. I cooked at my grandma's house, and they both turned out really good. I'm not sure of the recipe for the stuffing because I made it up with my grandma's help as I went. The rolls I got the recipe out of a Better Homes and Garden cookbook. 

This week I focused mostly on Thanksgiving, because it was the main take-away of the week. Being thankful, focusing on family, all that cool jazz. But this week did not start out that great for me. I got so stressed out, just from working on an extra project at work that I came home early because I felt like I was going to throw up! It made me feel like a miserable employee, but now that I have had a couple days to rest without thinking or worrying about work I feel much better. I even had a dream about my work last night! I was working, and then got fired, but I appealed and they kept me on because I showed how much passion I had for what I do. I think that is a good sign, if even in my subconscious state I really want to work at my job.

I think the kids are really what does it for me. I worry about them, and want to help them to achieve the best that they can. It's a different world when you may not have a stable home, but still come to school everyday. I miss the kids when I am not there, and keep trying to work at making sure that they have a good experience when they come into the program.

This week I finished many things. I finished two pairs of slipper socks to give as Christmas gifts, and two washcloths that are also Christmas gifts.

I also finished a cowl that I will hopefully wear sometime this week. It's longer than other cowls that I have made, but it was flat instead of being a tube, so I think that's why the yarn went further. I made it out of Purl Bee Laceweight, which is the Hobby Lobby brand of yarn, in the Sun Valley colorway, and I held it double with cream sockweight yarn that is acrylic that is from Fabric Recycles which is a crafting consignment store, so I'm not really sure of the brand on it. I made up this design in my head, and completed it without looking at any pattern, but then I watched Amy Beth on the Fat Squirrel Speaks, and she showed her cowl that she made out of handspun using Foolproof by Louise Zass-Bangham. Seeing her explain the pattern I realized that I did almost exactly the same thing, but I didn't buy the pattern or even look at it, so I'm not sure if I really ripped off the pattern, or just had a weird synchronous moment in the universe or knitting patterns.

My mother showed her pumpkin that she made for a pumpkin contest at work, but they didn't really let her enter the competition because it wasn't a "real" pumpkin. So she set it on her desk, and then brought it home and set it up in the dining room. The picture I took is where it is sitting in the dining room, just to get at idea or what it looks like set up. She appliqued the pumpkin pieces onto the background, and then machine quilted it freehand. The pattern was 100% her own creation. 

I am currently working on two blankets for Project Linus, a charity that makes blankets for children that are sick in the hospital, or have endured another type of trauma. I am working on a Tunisian crochet blanket that is orange and black. I bought a Tunisian crochet hook that has a cord connecting two hooks, but I don't like doing that long of a row. My mother thinks that it is partly because of the color, and the yarn, and if I had different yarn I would like doing it better, which I think is mostly true. Working on a bright orange blanket is hard to stay focused very long, but the action of Tunisian crochet becomes very rhythmic and addicting. After I finish this panel of Tunisian crochet however, I am going to switch to regular crochet and just do borders until it is an appropriate size for Project Linus.

The second blanket that I am working on for Project Linus is the Nuts for Neon competition blanket, and it is coming along nicely. I am using different colors of Red Heart Super Saver and working different panel and sections to create a crazy quilt look with knitting. I like how it is coming along, and hope to win the prize this May.

My only other project is my Christmas socks that are just plain vanilla socks that I am making to wear on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I hope to make a second pair to wear on the other day, so my feet will be very festive.

My mother is working on finishing the binding on her fall quilt that is a couch size throw. She used a gradient and put the colors in an order, working out from the center, that represent that different colors that leaves change as they transition from Spring into Fall. I think it looks really cool. It is a French braid pattern, and it was machine pieced and quilted, and she is hand stitching the binding on.

I also showed my next Project Linus blanket that I am going to tackle, which is going to be to finish a blanket that I got in a bag from a thrift store. I am just going to keep adding crazy colors to the granny ripple pattern until it is big enough to be a blanket. The yarn will be all old acrylic from donations and other random places.

I also got some spinning done this week, both on my wheel and on my Turkish spindle. I finished a skein on the wheel, it was a 50/50 blend of alpaca and wool, in grey and white. Then I am spinning a 50/50 blend of mohair and wool on my Turkish spindle to be plied with another single of handspun that I spun on my wheel. 

Thanks for watching and I'll see you next week with more progress on more projects!

Episode 8: At the Lake

Hello, welcome to another week (this time very short) of the spinningknitting1 podcast. I hope that you enjoy this week, I kept it pretty short and sweet. My family and I went to the lake this long, Labor Day weekend, so I recorded and edited while we were still there, so the background is different yet again. I also didn't have all my projects to show, since I wasn't at my usual abode, so forgive the lack of projects (I still had three, just not seven like usual).

There were no FOs this week. Instead of doing a ton of knitting I spent my time going to a couple job interviews, and then accepting a new job! I'll be working at a before and after school program at an elementary school. I go to training this up coming week and I'm super excited!

Since I didn't bring all my projects to the lake, I spent a lot of time working on the Hippy-Hippy Shawl by Gabrielle Vezina. It's a free pattern on Ravelry, and I am making it out of fingering weight yarn, instead of the DK called for in the pattern. I think that I am going to do the lace edging in the brown that I have been striping throughout the shawl. I am using US Size 2 Karbonz needles, on a 40" circular. I am enjoying working on this shawl, even though there is a lot of plain stockinette, and it takes forever to get through a row by now, since the rows are so long. The long color repeats are Knitpicks Chroma, and the brown is a mystery acrylic that I found at a crafting consignment shop.

I put a little bit of work on my chevron cowl. This is a pattern that I am making up as I go along. I provisionally cast on 100 stitches, using a crochet cast-on. Then I have been working a chevron stitch in the round, and I have been holding two different skeins together. One is Mille Colori by Lang Yarn, and the other is Berroco Comfort sock weight. I am using a 16" US Size 4 needle for this. I will keep knitting until it is long enough to go around my neck, and then I will kitchener stitch the two ends together.

I also put just a little more work on my ballband dishcloth blanket for Project Linus. I am using a US Size 7 needle, and the green is Red Heart with Love in the Lettuce colorway, and the variegated is Red Heart Super Saver in the Primary colorway. I should be done with this blanket in time to donate it to Project Linus this month.

As a bonus project here on the blog, I thought I would include a recent picture of my Crackerjack scarf that I am making this season to record the Kansas City Royals' season. The royal blue is for wins at home, the powder blue is for wins on the road, the gold is for losses at home, and the white is for losses on the road. As you can see, there is quite a bit more blue than gold or white, so that's always a good sign. I'm working this on US Size 6 needles, with Plymouth Dreambaby DK.

In addition to knitting, and going to school and going to interviews, I also read this week, quite a bit. I talked about two books that I have been reading this week. The first one is by Debbie Macomber and is A Good Yarn. It's a pretty light story that is about three ladies that are taking a class on knitting socks in their local yarn store, and their background stories, and the shop owner's background story, and just a glimpse into the lives of other knitters, so that's kinda a fun read. The second one is Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado. It is just a series of character vignettes that expand on stories from the life of Jesus and different places in the Bible and just really brings them to life. I really like his writing style, and think that I will be reading more of his books.

Finally, the thought for this week was about how important it is to stay positive and flexible, and just trying to keep a good attitude. That's all for this week, I hope you'll join me next week for the weekly update on spinningknitting1's podcast.

Shop Update!

First off I finished a project that has been on the needles for about three months now, I have been working on it, instead of my hats, but have finally finished! It's a cowl that was done in fingering weight yarn, a JaWoll Color ball and then Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in a chocolate brown color. The two colors played really well together, and I'm very happy with the end result. After I did all that knitting I sat in the LYS and kitchener stitched the two ends together to end up with a nearly seamless finished object. So now I have a cowl to keep my neck warm in the winter, and it will be nice and toasty by the time fall arrives in a few months. And now I can work on hats again!

And then I have a shop update of nearly all the hats that I had been working on and finishing at lightning speed at the beginning of the year. They are all up and posted and are ready to be snatched up by anyone that can give them a loving home!

I'm really proudest of the monogrammed "A" hat and the four color work hats to the left, I think they all turned out the best. So now it is just a question of what else I will create to get up in my shop, and what other ideas are floating around in my head thus far!

Little Things

Well, it's been just over a week, and honestly, I don't have that much to show for it. I did finish Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans, and thought it was a very interesting book. My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough. I wish she could have gone into more detail in some of her interviews. Other than that I thought it was really interesting to read about someone attempting to live out the biblical decrees in a year.

I am still reading For Calvinism by Michael S. Horton, and I'm over halfway done with that book. It too is really interesting, but there seems to be some manipulation of words in order for them to make their points seem nice and logical, like they are stepping two steps out in front of you without letting you see how they go to their position, and then just saying "Trust me, look, I'm out here, it must be ok". Which I don't particularly like.

I've also started listening to the Daily Audio Bible in addition to the three pastors that I follow through their podcasts. I think that his voice is soothing and I find it interesting to discover all these stories that happened in the Bible that I wasn't really aware that they happened, or details that are left out when they teach you the stories as children. I don't really listen to the commentary or the community call-ins, but I think that it is nice to just listen to the Bible being read every day. I think it makes it easier for me to keep going, and I had to catch up quite a bit, since it is now February, but I am now caught up and intend to keep listening for the rest of the year.

I created a "new" bag design yesterday. I'm not the first person to ever invent a box bag, I know, but I did make them bigger than the normal box bag, and I made them in a way that they are lined and the zipper is in at first. I will be putting them up in my Etsy shop. I think the prints that I used are cute and that overall it is a nice little bag, big enough for a medium sized project. I have some more zippers, so I will be making some more of various sizes pretty soon as well.

I also finished a simple cowl that I made by modifying a stitch pattern so that the floats were on top of each other. It made a really squishy fabric, but because the three ply of the yarn is so busy you can't really see the patterning in the stitches, but that is ok, I still think it's cute.

I also finished a striped hat that worked up really fast, and I think turned out really cute. These I wouldn't mind doing on commission in a million different colors, and there's not too many patterns I can say that about, I just really like this hat blank pattern and all the different color work that I have been doing on it. I think that it is interesting and really fun to whip up a hat in just a few days.

In other news I was exploring in my stash area and got down a bag of what I thought was disasters from the past, and inside there were actually some nice and interesting creations that I think I'm going to put in my Etsy shop. And most of them were done with handspun, so that makes them extra special. I was really thrilled. I was expecting just disaster after disaster and instead was pleasantly surprised all around. I will be posting pictures of those finds next time I post.

Crochet, Bake, Knit

Hello everyone! It has been an exciting day of nothingness here at my house. Yesterday I spent the day chilling with my grandparents, and managed to get a scarf done and a hat started. This is the scarf, and I'll save the hat until it's finished.

The scarf was made using the honeycomb stitch of tunisian crochet on a size P hook. The yarn is Wool-Ease Chunky by Lion Brand Yarn Company. I like how it turned out, it's not really big enough to be much more than an accent piece thought, but it would add a pop to someone's wardrobe, and the grey makes it neutral enough to go with more than just a lime green coat or sweater or something. 

Then this morning I made (drumroll please), cinnamon rolls! They are gluten free and from a recipe found at the Recreating Happiness Gluten Free blog. My pictures are not as scrumptious as hers, but they taste delicious! This is the first time that I have been able to have gluten free dough that turned out yeast-y and gooey like a real cinnamon roll, so kudos to her! They were awesome! I think I would take the dough by itself and make dinner rolls (just cook balled up dough so that it's pull apart, but without the cinnamon filling, obviously), it was that good! So here's the picture of how mine turned out....

The link to this recipe is here (Recreating Happiness Gluten Free). It's really great, I encourage you to try it on a boring afternoon. I will warn you that the dough is very sticky and can be tricky to roll into the cinnamon rolls (hence some of mine are a little ugly, they tore when I was rolling them up). But the end product is well worth it. Also, this recipe is entirely from scratch! So you will need quite a few ingredients, but honestly, I had everything in my cupboards already and didn't have to go get anything, so based on my experience I would say that all the ingredients are fairly common, especially if you have been baking gluten free for any length of time. 

While I was waiting for my cinnamon rolls to bake I finished another cowl, made out of Mega Brushed by Premier Yarns, it's 100% acrylic, and I held it double and used a size 13 needle. I used the basket weave stitch, using a pattern that I improvised for my friend when she was making cowls for her family this past Christmas season. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, I think it will wear well and be very warm, it will be going up on my Etsy store in March along with everything else that I have been showing on here (except for the Project Linus blankets, of course). 

Other than that I have been listening to sermons by different people about the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism, and think I am leaning toward Arminianism, but am also torn about determinism, because it seems to make sense in a sort of way. I am still reading Against Calvinism by Roger E. Olson, and Mythologies by Roland Barthes. How I have been reading Mythologies is that I read through it and just underline any word that I may not know (which tends to be slang, it's a philosophical, yet contemporary book, it's hard to explain). Afterwards I go through with the translator on my phone and look up any words that I had underlined previously. I think that this will reinforce my vocabulary and also strengthen the vocabulary that I am able to recall and use, not just the vocabulary that I am able to recognize, because I find that those are two different things. I also found out just yesterday that the community college in my metropolitan area offers courses in Chinese, four separate semesters, and I am seriously considering enrolling in Chinese in the fall, it's too late of course for the spring semester, but that will be something to look forward to. 

So that's it!