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 19 - Merry Christmas!!

This is my Christmas special, only there is not really anything special about it. It is just me sitting and talking as usual, with a little thought of the week that is about Christmas. Otherwise, it's business as usual.

This week is just a quick hello, since today we are having our family Christmas open house. So, I didn't really have time for pictures, sorry. I did take one picture though, and that was of my five pairs of finished slipper socks that are going to my cousins this year for Christmas. I did them all in the same yarn, just different colorways, and I really like how they turned out. I am thinking of writing up this pattern, and publishing it the same time that I publish my Not Quite Vanilla Socks pattern, but we'll see how well that all turns out. I have the draft of the pattern worked up, there was just something weird going on with some of my numbers, so I am test knitting it myself to make sure that it all works up before I publish it, that is unless some of you out there would like to test knit it, I would be more than happy to send along a copy your way!

This week I ended up coloring a lot to help me deal with the blues. It worked. I even ended up coloring when I went to church on Wednesday morning with my grandma, the leader handed out coloring sheets for everyone to work on while she did her lesson. I found that coloring helped me destress and focus. My grandmother was saying that she has seen on TV that it is as good as meditating for your brain and emotions. This article from the Huffington Post backs up what she was saying. This is the coloring sheet that I worked on. It's from the post card coloring book Secret Garden Postcards by Johanna Basford. I really like her work and think that it is a very relaxing activity. 

I hope that you all have a Merry Christmas and that you can find joy and happiness in the holiday season, no matter what holidays that you are celebrating. Thank you for watching, and reading and I will see you next week where I will lay out my plans for the New Year!!

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 15: Going Rogue!!

Last week I went without show notes. So this is all off the cuff.

However, last week I didn't take pictures of my projects, so I documented all this week. First yesterday I finished a pair of socks. Granted they were slipper socks. I am planning on doing these for Christmas presents.

I also worked on a new blanket for Project Linus- working on it for the Nuts for Neon competition that will be due in April. It's going well. I had to undo the bind off and then re-do it with a larger size needle. 

I also worked just a little on a Tunisian crochet blanket.

I also started just the toe on a pair of Christmas socks for me so that I can have a special pair of socks for this holiday season.

Sorry this is such a brief post, I will post more next week. Thanks for stopping by, keep knitting!

Episode 13 - The Great Outdoors!

This is a week late, but I still wanted to give it it's own post. This is episode 13, and it was shot at the lake. The lighting is a little funny, but I still manage to talk about my different projects. There weren't any FO's, but I did manage to make some pretty good progress on some projects.

Before I get to the project photos, which are phenomenal, I have to give a shout out to my brother, the one I am making the epic cable sweater for, who caught a pretty good sized fish, and I snapped a quick photo of him. 

Another shout out has to go to my mother who was also crafting at the lake. She was making quilts for Project Linus, a charity that donates blankets to children that have experienced trauma, whether they are in the hospital, or are in other trauma. I just thought it was fun for how she could transform the kitchen table into a miniature crafting area. 

Then I went on a photo shoot, the next morning, it was pretty epic, all on the back deck of my parent's house down at the lake. I have first my not-quite vanilla socks that are almost ready to turn the heel on. 

Then I have the short row shawl that I am completely making up the pattern on, and it was almost ready for a lace border on it. 

Then I have my cowl that I started, that I am putting in different fair isle patterns on from a pattern book from the library. I am thinking that I will need to buy this book in order to complete the project. This is all being done in Knit picks Palette Fingering weight, on US size 2 needles, 16 inch circular Karbonz needles. 

Then there are the two Project Linus blankets that I am working on. There is the orange tiger striped blanket that is turning out more "Halloween" than I hoped for. It is tunisian crochet, and I am making up the pattern. 

Then lastly there is the mitered square blanket that I am making out of left over acrylic yarn and I am working it on US size 10 needles. I added 7 more squares this week. 

Thanks for coming on my adventure at the lake. I hope you enjoyed this little look into a different aspect of my life. Join me next week when I will be at home, and it will be my birthday. 

Episode 12- Cotton-Eye Joe Socks

Thanks for joining me this week. Lots happened this week, I was busy all the time, but I still managed to eek out a bit of crafting. I don't think it's too terrible, considering how really busy I was. My episode starts off kind of slow, but gets rolling pretty quickly, and then I really get in the groove.

Needlework is a big deal in my family. My mom knits, crochets, cross-stitches, sews and quilts. She mostly quilts. My grandmother used to crochet and has tried to knit, and embroiders and sews. My aunt crochets. My great grandmother crocheted, and knitted. Another cross-stitched, and another crocheted. So there is a lot of crafting mojo in my family, and I think that has inspired me and kept me going in my own crafting life. There is a cross-stitch piece that was done by my paternal great grandmother, and it hangs in my living room, and I look at it every day.

I went to Project Linus Make-A-Blanket Day, and it was a blast! I got to see some of my yarn-y friends that make blankets for Project Linus, and then I also worked on my blankets while I was there. I am really close to finishing my corner-to-corner throw. The pattern is available on the Red Heart website. I am not sure of all the yarn that I am using for this blanket, because most of it was donated to Project Linus and is just various acrylic.

I also worked on my mitered square blanket that I am using the same pattern that everyone is using for their sock yarn blankets, but I am doing it with worsted weight. In reality I was testing to see if I wanted to do a sock yarn blanket. The jury is back and it is a decided "no". I have no desire to make squares that small, even if I don't have to do any seaming. I also needed to use up a bunch of different scraps, so I thought that the mitered square blanket would be a good way to do that.

My third blanket that I'm making for Project Linus I didn't actually work on at the Make-A-Blanket Day, just because the long hook can get unwieldy. I am working it in orange and black. I was going for tiger stripes, but I think it is coming off more like Halloween. I like working on it, and hope to have all three blankets done for Project Linus next month.

The name of the podcast comes from my rambling about the mystery yarn that my socks are being made out of. I never figured out where the yarn came from or what kind it is. I made up the knit and purl pattern on the top of the socks, and it turned out pretty well, I think. It's interesting and keeps me engaged in them when I work on them, but they are really purse knitting.

As promised, here are the pictures of me dying self-striping sock yarn with koolaid. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the finished socks. It was before I was really podcasting and blogging on a regular basis, so they just kind of fell through the cracks. The first picture is the yarn in the dye pot.

This second picture is the dyed yarn out to dry, so hopefully that gives you some idea of what it was like to dye up the yarn, or at least a better idea of what I was trying to describe in the podcast.

My last knitting work in progress is a shawl that I am making up the pattern completely myself, using lots of short rows to try and make it really long and not very deep. I won't be sure how well it has turned out until I bind off, but so far I think it is going pretty well. i am using Boboli Lace Yarn and Deborah Norville Serenity Sock Weight. I kind of wish I had chosen another color beside grey for the contrasting color, but I think that it is turning out pretty well.

Last but not least I finished the singles of the Malabrigo Nube Solis that I will ply with itself, and have about a sport weight yarn. I really love the colors and the way that it spun up so thin. I am really enjoying this spin.

Thanks for watching and I hope that you enjoy your week! See you next week with new scenery since I'll be at the lake, and hopefully I will be outside, with a lovely view.

Episode 11 - Recovery

These past two weeks, because of my job being around kids, I got ill, and have spent most of my time recovering. However, I did manage to finish two projects and get a lot of crafting done. I also got a bit of yarn from my local Hobby Lobby. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy!

My two finished objects, are my "hippy hippy shawl" which, isn't really a hippy hippy shawl, because it doesn't follow the pattern at all. I did it all in fingering weight yarn with size US 2 needles, and then I did a simple lace border that was different from the old shale border that was on the original pattern. The finished shawl is wider than my wingspan, (which is about five and a half feet), and is about two and a half feet deep. It was worked in Knitpicks Chroma and a mystery acrylic in brown. It was a fun knit, but I think my next shawl is going to be on a little larger needles, to see if it goes faster.

The other finished object is a blanket that I turned into Project Linus, a charity that provides blankets to children that are either sick in the hospital, emergency room, or have experienced trauma. This one I made up the stitch pattern, based on the ball band dishcloth pattern, and then I did a garter border. I worked it on size US 7 needles, and it was worked in Red Heart Super Saver in the Primary colorway, and Red Heart with Love in the Lettuce colorway.

Then onto my works in progress. I started working on my brother's sweater again, after a long hiatus, and was pleased that I still remembered the rhythm of the cables. I worked on it during the knitting group on Saturday, and everyone was commenting on how interesting and intense the cabling was. Once you are knitting it, it is actually pretty intuitive, so I really like that about the pattern. I am working the Hedge Row Fence Pullover by Elinor Brown in Plymouth Encore Tweed Worsted, on size US 7 needles. Hopefully I finish it within the next year. My brother keeps joking that he needs to watch his weight so it will still fit him whenever I am done! 

I am also working on three blankets for Project Linus. The first one is a corner-to-corner throw. I think the fourth one that I've made. I'm working it with a size J hook, and holding just random worsted acrylic double, so it is a pretty thick blanket.

The second is a bright orange and black tunisian crochet blanket that I making up the pattern, and just playing with yarn as I go along. It is turning out more Halloween than I would like, I was really going for tiger stripes. I am working it on a double ended size I tunisian crochet hook.

Finally, I am working on a mitered square blanket, using the same pattern as the sock yarn scrap blankets that are all the rage, only using worsted weight acrylic scraps on US Size 10 needles instead. It is going pretty quick, and while I like working up the squares in this size, there is no way that I would enjoy working with little tiny needles and sock yarn to make an entire blanket this way, so I'm glad I did a test knit first, just to see if I would like it.

Another charity knitting project that I worked on a little is my Knit for Kids sweater. I am making it out of Caron One Pound yarn, in a bright red colorway. I finished the first sleeve, and put on the collar, so the only thing left is the second sleeve, and then it will be ready to mail. I am liking how this is coming along, and anticipate making more sweaters, and playing around with color and texture more to keep them interesting.

Finally, my last knitting project in progress is for me. It is a pair of socks that I started out of mystery yarn, that I cannot figure out where I bought it from, but I am really loving how it is knitting up. It is almost denim in texture, and has speckled, but is also distinctly striped. It is the best of three worlds! I made up a knit and purl texture on the top of the foot that I will continue on the leg. They are being worked on US Size 1 needles, two at a time, toe up. They are almost ready for the heels.

I also spun some this week, and am almost through my braid of Malabrigo Nube in the Solis colorway. It is really pretty, and is spinning up really thin. I can't wait to ply it!

Those are all my projects that I have been working on the last two weeks. Hopefully I get some of the blankets done before next Saturday, which is Make-A-Blanket Day, where the entire Kansas City Chapter of Project Linus will get together and work on making blankets. I am really looking forward to seeing everybody again. See you next week!

Episode 10: Painting Mud

It's been two weeks since the last podcast, and almost a month since the last blog post, but I'm not dead! I've just been super busy with my new job, which I love, it just takes a lot of time, and I'm not fully adjusted to a working woman's schedule yet. I hope you enjoy the podcast, it's a little shorter than usual, but still jam-packed with goofiness and awesome fun!

There were about five WIPs this week, and no FOs, because I didn't get anything done with my new work schedule. I think that I will eventually be able to craft more as well as work, but I'm just not organized enough to do that just yet. My first WIP is the bright orange Tunisian crochet blanket that I'm making for Project Linus, in two weeks it's almost doubled in size! It's still not very big though, so that may or may not be very impressive.

I also worked quite a bit on my "Hippy Hippy Shawl", but I don't even think that it can be called that pattern anymore, since I've modified it so much. The Hippy Hippy Shawl was basically my starting off point, and I've done it in a different weight yarn, and added a different lace border, so there's really no resemblance to the original pattern anymore. This tends to happen a lot when I try to follow patterns, it's just that, I try, but it usually doesn't end up looking anything like the hypothetical goal.

I also worked on my Chevron Cowl, which is just a tube of chevron that I made up the pattern to, and I'm going to kitchener stitch the ends together and make a cowl that will go well with different shirts that I wear to work on a regular basis.

Then, I got sad because I didn't have a pair of socks on the needles, so I cast on a pair of socks with yarn that I found while I was cleaning out my stash. I have no idea what yarn it is, or where I got it. It's pretty cool looking, and I like how it is knitting up, I just have no clue what yarn it is. I'm working two at a time, toe up on magic loop, US size 1 needles.

Then since I took the fun fur blanket off the needles, because I was worried that Project Linus wouldn't accept it, because it's kind of a nasty thing. I cast on a Corner-to-Corner throw, that's crocheted, and this will be my third blanket of this type that I've made. It goes really fast and is really addicting and fun. 

Finally, I got some spinning done with Malabrigo Nube in the Solis colorway. It's nice and soft and I think it is spinning up very nicely. My LYS just started carrying roving, and I am definitely going to support them!

So that was all my crafting for the past two weeks, and it has been jam packed full of adventure and intrigue. I'll be doing my podcast every two weeks for the foreseeable future, just until I get settled into my new schedule. Thanks for visiting!