Monday Knitting Update: April 29. 2013

This month has flown by! I can't believe May starts in just a couple days! This whole year is just zipping by, to tell you the truth.
I've been knitting this week, but neglected to take pictures of most of it. I made a few things for the RTS sales I will be taking part in, which I will be photographing tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on the weather.

I had quite a bit of yarn leftover after the grey and pink blanket, so I decided to do a stocking cap. I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, so I just winged it. It's done on US 10.5 (6.5mm) and I magic looped. I think it's absolutely adorable, and I'm making one in blue and grey as well. I hope to get that one done tonight so I can photograph the two of them together. I have a lot of ideas for the RTS items, it's just a matter of getting them knit. I still need to share all the RTS items I've already photographed on here for all of you to see! I'll be doing that soon!

The second project has been a striped Wool Ease Thick and Quick blanket. This one will be going to Trinkets and Treasures. I want to get a few more made and brought there. Mel has a few pastel blankets, and wants so variety. I think greys are a nice change from that. Once I get a few of them sold, I'll be picking up some more yarn so I can make more. I don't want to invest too much into this before I know if anything will actually sell!
This week, I finished off three skeins of yarn. Not a huge amount of progress, considering they were all pretty small to begin with, but I'll take what I can get. This brings me to -14. I'm starting to make progress again!
Now, it's time for me to get reading my book. I downloaded a bunch of books on my iPad and I'm loving reading on there.
I hope you all have a wonderful day!

My Week In Instagrams: April 26, 2013

This past week, I've been knitting. A lot. More than usual. I have a craft show next weekend, and I want to have a good stock of baby knits available. I'm considering only setting up the winter stuff that is on super sale, and then focusing on my baby knits and earrings. I'll have to see how large my space is, and if I'll have room to do that.
Anyway, this is what I've been up to this week!

Like I said, lots of knitting. I made this "baby" had in the same colours as the blanket I brought into Trinkets and Treasures (A photo of that later on in the post). It was supposed to be baby sized, but I think it's big enough for a 3 year old. Oh well, live and learn. I pretty much made up the pattern, with no idea how large a newborns head actually is, so I don't count it as a fail.
Second! Rick made some awesome chicken and rice soup this week. There are leeks and carrots in there, too, which makes it extra yummy. I think I'm going to have a bowl of that as soon as I'm done this post!
I've been eating a lot of A&W the past little while.  They recently changed their packaging, and there is this little blurb on the back of it. It's a great thought, but if the waste is just going in the garbage, which goes to the landfill, it's not going to decompose much faster than their old packaging. Great idea on paper, but in practice, it's really just greenwashing.
Last night at work, I had another Tim Hortons tea. This has started to become a regular thing for me. Which is good, I need to up my tea intake!
Here is the blanket I brought to Trinkets and Treasures. It's a pretty variegated green with a light tan. It's 20x30, so not huge, but big enough for a stroller or car seat. I have a couple more blankets in the same size that I will share with you guys on Monday.
I'm really hoping these baby knits go well. If they do, I will start making more, and then have something for spring/summer craft shows. I love knitting them, no matter if they sell or not. If I have them for an extended period of time, I will probably donate the hats to LeeLee Hats and figure out something to do with the blankets. I hope it doesn't come to that!
What are you fine ladies (and gents?) up to this week?

Wednesdays Are For Gratitude: April 24, 2013

Good morning, world! I'm sitting at my desk dancing in my seat to some excellent music. I'm still trying to wake up, and this is sort of helping. This past week has been fun. This is a short list of what I'm grateful for.

Richard and Winston  /  DAVIDsTEA  /  Road trips with Rick  /  My Twitter friends  /  Awesome mail  /  Weight loss  /  TV shows to watch while knitting  /  My tax return  /  Being able to order new earring supplies with said tax return  /  A new knitting book I got from Value Village 

What sorts of awesome things are going on in your lives?

If you're a long time blog follower, you might remember the baby booties I made eons ago. Well, some of them still exist, They're at Trinkets and Treasures, and I sold a pair recently. Not for an actual baby though. My friend Jennie makes stunning Waldorf style dolls under the name Babydoo Dolls. I first met her through Tracy of LeeLee Hats, and some craft shows we've done together. I've seen some of her dolls and they are beautiful! She recently contacted me on Facebook to let me know she got a pair of the cotton booties I knit to add to one of the outfits for a custom ordered doll.

Babydoo Kenna is a 15 inch Waldorf doll with gorgeous brown hair with red highlights, styled into pretty French braids. I think the little booties look adorable on her! I never would have thought to put little knitted booties on a doll, but it's a great idea!

Go check out her Facebook page and see some of the other pretty dolls and cute stuffed animals she's made.

Monday Knitting Update: April 22, 2013

These past few days have been super productive for me. I've been working a bit, but still getting lots of knitting done.

Last week, when Rick and I went to Trinkets and Treasures, we stopped at Michael's on the way back. I picked up two skeins of Luxury Wool to pair with two other skeins I have, as well as two skeins of Homespun. This adds 4 skeins to my stash down, bringing me to -10. I have a few projects in mind that will finish off some skeins, so more progress should be made soon!

Mel at Trinkets has asked some of the shop participants to make baby blankets in non traditional colours. I picked up some hot pink, and bright royal blue to stripe with charcoal for some more modern blankets. I finished the pink and grey, and I'm about 2/3 of the way through the blue now. I am loving the way they're turning out!

I've also been working on props this week! The middle photo on the right is of a Wool Ease Thick and Quick blanket I made. That little tail, all 8 or so inches of it, is what I had left after the bind off. I LOVE when this happens! I didn't waste a single inch of yarn! This finished off a nice big bulky skein of Wool Ease, which means this week I am actually -11 total! The nice thing about T&Q is that they're HUGE skeins, but not a whole lot of yardage, so they make a noticeable dent in the stash when they disappear. I have another blanket on the needles using two skeins of this awesome yarn, so that just about clears out half a drawer in my storage area!

Overall, this week has been a good one. I've been talking with a photographer about taking photos of some of my items, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how that works out.

How was your weekend?

My Week In Instagrams: April19, 2013

Happy Friday! This week has been a fun one. I haven't worked since Saturday, so I got a boat load of knitting done. More about the knitting on Monday!
This is what I've been otherwise up to this week.
When people bring back their bottle returns at work, some of them come in really strange boxes. Cat litter is a surprisingly common one. Any time this happens, I laugh, and refer to the customers as my special kitties. This week was the first time I thought to take a picture. Maybe this is only hilarious to me. Oh well, it makes time at work go by faster.
Since I had nearly a whole week off work, I decided to paint my nails. This happened Sunday, and it lasted a whole 10 hours before I mucked something up. I hit my one nail off something and there is a tiny, round dot in the middle of it that is lacking polish. Oh well, I'm not too worried. I think I'm going to continue doing my nails more often. I like the way they look.
Rick has been cooking again this week. This plate is steamed asparagus with lemon, roasted tomatoes, pan seared lamb chop, and a fried egg over potato and onion hash. So completely delicious. I'm so lucky having someone that enjoys cooking as much as he does. There are so many things I wouldn't have ever tried if it wasn't for him. Lamb being a major one. We have to go stock up on groceries before we have any crazy fun meals again. Our fridge is looking pretty barren.
We went to Trinkets and Treasures this week to drop off a couple things to Mel. On the way back, we came through Windsor so we could stop at Taco Bell. It's probably my favourite fast food restaurant. I used to eat it several times a week. I know it's not the healthiest of foods, no fast food really is, but it's something I treat myself to now and then.
There's a lot of food and drink going on this week! When we lived at the apartment in Windsor, and we both were working at home, we would have "grown up" drinks together. I'd be knitting and listening to podcasts, drinking vanilla vodka and 7up, and Rick would be coding websites and drinking gin and 7up. This is one of those strange things we do "together". We're doing the same thing, in the same place, but more or less completely ignoring each other in every other respect. I've been doing a lot of behind the scenes work on my various blogs and Etsy shop and what not, so a drink has been my reward for not pulling my hair out. Rick is building a website for his dad, and his gin has been a reward for not yelling at anyone.
On Wednesday, Rick and I went up to London to get his phone fixed at the Apple Store. He's been having problems with his power button for about a month and finally said enough's enough. We took the scenic drive up there, going through many, many little towns without so much as a Tim Hortons. I did a typical dirty mirror self portrait before going because I was excited, and thought I looked half decent. Sometimes, not often, I feel good about the way I look. This was one of those days. I'm working on that whole self confidence thing, and it's slowly working. There are more days that I feel good about myself than there used to be. This is one of my new years goals I set for this year.
Once we were done at the Apple Store, we walked around Masonville Mall for a little while, just to see what else there was. Lots of the same stuff that we have at home, so nothing too exciting. Then I happened to see inside DAVIDsTEA after almost walking right past it. I turned abruptly and I think my eyes got as big as dinner plates when I saw their tea wall. So many teas! I worked at Teaopia (which is now Teavana) for a couple holiday seasons, as you longtime blog followers know, so I have some knowledge about tea types. We smelled a few teas, and found a few that we liked. I got an iced Vanilla Orchid Oolong tea, which was absolutely phenomenal. Rick got a hot Rooibos de Provence. He loves lavender, and this one had some in it. Not as much as he'd hoped though. Teaopia had a blend that was just lavender buds and white tea. We're still on the hunt for something like that. Once I get more paid off on my credit card (another new years goal) I'll be ordering some tea from them online. I know Holly absolutely loves DAVIDsTEA, her blog is the first place I ever read anything about it, so I'm sure there are a lot of good blends to be had.
What have you folks been up to this week? Keep an eye out on Monday for some knitting content. I've been a busy little bee this week in the knitting department.

Hello Again, Knit, Nicole, Knit! Sponsors!

It's been a while since I last shared my sponsors with all of you! I have a couple new ones that I think you'll really enjoy.
First up is Anja's Arts! She has some b-e-a-utiful necklaces and earrings adde to her shop recently. You need need need to take a look! You can also use the code 15KnitNicole to save 15% on anything in the shop! The prices are amazing to begin with. An extra discount is definitely awesome.

Next up we have my friend Whimsical Warmth. She does absolutely gorgeous crocheted baby goodies. Most of what she does is hats and bonnets, but lately she's been doing some amazing rompers as well. She is the one that inspired me to start doing baby knits. I can only hope to be half as good and successful as she is. Go take a peek at her Facebook page, I promise you'll find something you love. If you don't, I'd be incredibly surprised. Keep an eye on her page, there are some new items coming out soon!

Finally, these amazing sponsors and swappers. I'm so happy to have a group of people who enjoy my blog and support it. It gives me the warm fuzzies.
Jo, My Gosh! talks about the tragedy in Boston, and being Mr. Rogers. A really touching blog post.
Over at Glued To My Crafts, there are some great Earth Day craft suggestions to do with your little ones. They look like so much fun!
CandyPow has a sneak peek into a beautiful Bettie Page inspired photo session. Such gorgeous pictures!
YarnYarnYarnYarn is its usual fun, inspiring self. I've been adding loads of pictures to the queue, I can't wait to share them with all of you! (In case you didn't know, this is a side project of mine)
Artwork by Jessica has been doing some beautiful trinket boxes lately. Follow her on Twitter!
SamiSpoon has a bunch of product reviews for some neat stuff. I got caught in the wormhole going through a zillion of her posts!
Trinkets & Treasures continues to be awesome. I brought new stock in on Tuesday. I'll tell you more about that next week.
CsqDesigns has a lot of projects on deck. We've been chatting on Twitter about some fun things she's got going on.
Petite Tuques has started on a journey into doing bookkeeping for independent crafty businesses. I'm so excited for her!
KoiStory recently had a gallery opening for some of her beautiful work. So much pretty stuff!

If you are interested in advertising on Knit, Nicole, Knit! check out my advertising page Here.

Wednesdays Are For Gratitude: April 17, 2013

I can't believe it's Wednesday already! I haven't worked since Saturday, and I don't go back till Friday, so this week is throwing my awareness of time way off. I've been so productive though, it's crazy! This is what I'm grateful for this week!
County drives with Rick and Winston  /  Mel at Trinkets and Treasures  /  New yarn  /  More new yarn /  Taco Bell  /  Home made waffles  /  High knitting productivity  /  Awesome TV shows  /  Twitter friends  /  Podcasts  /  The RTS group I'm in on Facebook
What are you grateful for this week?

Monday Knitting Update: April 15, 2013

Monday Monday Monday! It's the start of a week off work for me, I don't go in till Friday, so I'm going to be knitting up a storm! I've already started, knitting 2/3 of two different baby blankets. I thought I was being smart. Changing back and forth between them any time the colour started getting a little boring. It made the knitting just zip by. Then, I had to rip them both out after realizing I wouldn't have enough yarn to make either of them. A huge bummer, I'm not going to lie one little bit. It took me a little while between episodes of Doctor Who to wind them both back into balls. Oh well, on I went. I wasn't sure if I lied the two colours together at first, so I sent it to my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook followers. The colours are Rococo and Herb Garden, in Lion Brand Homespun. They're both pretty on their own, but I'm bad at putting colours together. The general consensus was that they look just dandy. So onto striping I went!
Rick and I started watching Doctor Who a few days ago. We started with the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston. I really liked him. "It's a banana grove now. I like bananas. Bananas are good."
Now, we're onto the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. I think I like him a wee bit more. I definitely see the massive appeal he has amongst the really big Who fans. I'm not a fanatic yet, but I really love watching it!
Back to knitting. I made it quite a bit past where this photo shows me to be. I have fifteen whole sets of stripes done, and the colour combination has definitely grown on me. I think it would make a great blanket for any baby, but especially a little boy. I don't really care for the traditional pastels most baby stuff is. The farther from them I can get, the better. This blanket will be going to Trinkets and Treasures as soon as I have it finished.

Last week, Rick and I went to Windsor for some all you can eat sushi. It's conveniently located right across the street from Michael's. I had a gift card burning a hole in my wallet, and I knew it was time to spend it. There were quite a few sales on yarn, but not much in the way of yarns I normally used. For almost exactly $20, the amount on the gift card, I ended up with the skein of Herb Garden Homespun, two Loops and Threads Luxury Wool, and two Bernat Mosaic. All this is for baby stuff, at least it probably is. I think I'm going to get a couple more skeins of the Luxury Wool in a neutral, and make some little hats. The Mosaic might be used for some cowls or scarves, I'm not 100% sure yet.
This adds 5 skeins to my total for the year. Which brings me to -14, which is about where I need to be. I'm going to crank out some yardage this week, so I should be able to get a couple more eliminated.
I have other knitting I've done this week, but nothing too exciting or actually completed to share. There's a nice little pile of baby knits on my desk that I'm just itching to share with you! I'll post about the RTS as soon as I have the photos ready to go.
What have you been knitting this week?

My Week In Instagrams: April 12, 2013

This past week has been a fun one. I mentioned yesterday that I was working on some awesome new knits. I've gotten a good response to them on the RTS page. Still no sales, but I'm staying optimistic.
Late last week, Rick and I went to Wendy's for dinner after I was done work. I had one of their new chicken flatbread sandwiches. I talk to them on Twitter, and they suggested I try it. I actually enjoyed it! Not sure if it's US and Canada, or just Canada, but if you go to Wendy's, and it's there, definitely give it a shot. I had the Asiago Ranch, and there is a Smoky Honey Mustard as well. I'll try that one next.
Since we got the SmartCar, we've been going on drives now and then. With the old car, taking a couple hours to just drive around would cost us $20 or more in gas. We filled the car with diesel, and it cost about $25. This makes me really happy. This picture of me knitting is the start of something baby related that I actually finished a couple days ago. I'll share that one on Monday.
I took another one of my usual windmill pictures. No matter how many times I see them, I am still in awe. There is so much negativity relating to them in Essex County, and I just don't get it. So many people are complaining about the negative environmental impact they have, and most of it confuses the heck out of me. Maybe I'm just blissfully ignorant, but I think they're pretty neat. Plus that whole green energy and job creation aspect is really nice, too.
I cooked quite a bit this last week. Portobello mushrooms came home from the grocery store with me, and I was really happy I got them. They were a component of several meals for myself, and Rick as well. Sliced up, cooked in a wee bit of butter, and put on a wrap with egg and cheese was my favourite method of consuming them.
I can't take credit for this next food photo. Rick went crazy and made an awesome meal. This shows almost all the food. We split everything on this plate, plus a little more. A bunch of asparagus with a little oil, salt and pepper was the base of the meal. Bacon wrapped filet mignon was the protein. Some onions, which I love. Not shown is the portobello we split, and a sunny side up egg for each of us. A really satisfying meal all around. We have another bunch of asparagus in the fridge waiting to be turned into something amazing. I can't wait to see what happens with those!
This last picture is from today, and it's something that makes me very, very happy. Yesterday, I tweeted "I wonder which breweries would give me free beer if I tweet about them enough?" and mentioned three of my favourite breweries. SteamWhistle responded, saying I should go to Toronto for a brewery tour and have a drink on them. Not bad, I think. But Hop City Brewing one upped them. Actually, more than one upped... More like six upped. We had a little back and forth via Twitter, and I mentioned I work at The Beer Store. They asked which, and I thought nothing of it. Turns out, someone from there went into my store with a glass and a six pack of Barking Squirrel Lager, literally with my name on it. There was a note attached to the glass that said For Nicole, Love Barking Squirrel. I had the biggest, goofiest grin on my face when I got it. I stuck a couple in the fridge, and I'll be having one tonight. I'm looking at their site right now, and I am going to have to try their Lawnchair Classic at some point.
Overall, this week was really enjoyable. I'm going to get knitting and watching some podcasts. I hope you have an awesome weekend!

Some Fun New Items

Recently, I've been pretty secretive about a lot of my knits. I didn't want to reveal anything, and then have it fall through. Well, all is going to be revealed today!
I started working on props for baby photography! I'm so excited for this new project. I have a ton of yarn that is ideal for these sorts of items and I can't wait to start making more stuff! I have a little stash of items I've made over the past couple weeks that I will share as I get them photographed. Here are the first few photo collages I've put together to participate in the RTS sale. (RTS stands for Ready To Ship)

I've made several of these pixie hats out of a few different yarns. They seem to be pretty popular, and are a really fun knit. I've added a few special details to some of them, that I will be sharing another time. For right now, just the simple ones. I think I have eight of these hats made so far! They're that much fun to make. I've picked out yarn for another half dozen of them already, too. If you'd like one of these in a particular colour, just let me know!

The second item available in today's RTS is a set. A pretty yellow and cream vintage cotton blanket, with a pretty tieback head band. I LOVE this set. It was one of the first things I made, and I can't get enough of it. I have quite a bit of this yarn left, so I'm hoping this sells so I can make another set.
If you would like to purchase one of these items, check out the RTS group, called PropInsanity on Facebook. I hope to sell in other groups in the future. For now, just one is enough.

Wednesdays are for Gratitude: April 10, 2013

Happy hump day! I don't usually work Wednesdays, but I'm covering a shift for a coworker this afternoon. This is kind of throwing my mojo off. I'm used to being productive in the knitting department all day. Oh well, it's an extra few bucks in my pocket, which I need right now.
This is what I am grateful for this week:
Richard  /  Our new car (which is finally fixed!)  /  Vintage yarn  /  Rented movies  /  Inexpensive groceries  /  My Twitter friends  /  New knitted projects  /  Facebook groups full of friendly people  /  My knitting needles  /  My job
What are you grateful for this week?
Also, keep an eye out on my Facebook page for some awesome new projects I've been working on.

Monday Update: April 8, 2013

It's Monday, and I'm a bit of a grump today. I don't really know why, all I know is that I didn't sleep well. Combine that with other silly things, like the internet not cooperating, and that means I'm in a bad mood. I'll make this a quick one, and hopefully go take a nap or something and get happier.

This week, I've been working on a whole lot of brand new things. The first two are part of a set. I'm still working on the smaller black thing. It's been set aside, because working with double points can frustrate me sometimes. Case in point, this particular item that I am knitting was ripped out because it was gigantic. I cast on a swatch of sorts, but knit flat on the same needles. When I did it in the round, I cast on less stitches than the swatch told me to do, and it still ended up huge. Frogged, cast on even less stitches, and it's a lot better. I can't wait to have it finished, photographed, and shared with all of you!
Like I said, this second photo goes with the first. It's out of completely different yarn, but they compliment each other pretty nicely. They're both vintage yarn I got from the woman last year.  I used three balls of yarn on the larger, multi coloured piece. I think the smaller one will use a whole ball, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm really bad a guessing yardage. I can see a small ball of yarn left, and think I can only do another row or two. Then, six rows later, I'm actually almost out. It's a little annoying to say the least.

This third photo is actually of a couple things. But, I'm keeping it all hush hush until I have it ready to sell. I don't want to ruin the surprise! It used three balls of yarn.
I knit another pair of things that used another ball of purple Homespun. That means six balls of yarn eliminated this week! This brings me to -19 for this year. That actually puts me ahead of schedule. I was figuring one ball eliminated per week, on average. We're less than 14 weeks into the new year, so I can breathe a little bit!
Anyway, I'm off to workout or otherwise get away from the computer. I don't know what is wrong, but it's more than frustrating right now. I hope your day is going better than mine!

My Week In Instagrams: April 5, 2013

This past week has been a busy one. I worked quite a bit, we had Easter Weekend, and other fun things have happened.

The first three photos are from Good Friday. Winston doesn't like other people, but likes to see what's going on, so we put him in the office with a glass door, just off of the kitchen area. He's pretty content in there, and it keeps him from getting too stressed out. I wish he was better around other people, but it's not entirely his fault. Some people do bother him, and that upsets him. 

Rick's mom goes all out for holiday dinners. We had king crab legs, calamari, a shrimp ring, and baked salmon, as well as a whole bunch of fantastic sides. The crab legs were my favourite, as usual. I had quite a few of them. After the meal, Cindy and I cracked the rest of them, pulled out the meat, and bagged it up for later. Yesterday, Rick made a delicious Asian-inspired crab meat, avocado and cucumber salad, with mayo and wasabi. It was absolutely wonderful. I'm so lucky that he creates such amazing food. 

With the meal, I decided to treat myself to a beer. I am trying to lose weight, so despite having a metric crap tonne of beer in my fridge, I don't have it very often. I looked through my collection of random beers, and the only one I knew would go well with fish was a Corona. I don't normally choose imports, but I knew this would be a good pairing. And I was right. I only have one bottle of the stuff left, and it will probably be sitting in my fridge for quite some time. Maybe I'll just have to give it to someone who would enjoy it more than I would. There's nothing wrong with drinking Corona, it just isn't really for me.

Saturday, I was back to work. I packed up some yummy fruit left over from the night before, and munched on that for lunch. I love pineapple and melon, and they were pretty darn good, considering they weren't in season. The watermelon that was in the fruit tray, was not so delicious. Which is why you don't see any in my little bowl. I'm trying to eat healthier, and this was a good start. It beats the heck out of a bagel or donut from Tim Hortons which is often a snack for me while I'm at work. I'm making little steps towards the weight loss/healthy eating thing. I know if I try to change too much all at once, it will backfire. 

Easter Sunday, Rick and I joined my moms side of the family at my Uncle's house not far from where we are. This is a get together that is repeated for more or less every holiday. We have a big family, so these events are usually pretty fun. My Uncle and Aunt from Ottawa come down with their three kids, and their hilariously awesome goldendoodle, Molly. That's the cartoon-looking pup in this photo. One of my littlest cousins, and my brothers girlfriend had to hold her steady so I could get a decent picture of her.

I've started drinking tea more regularly again. With there being a Tim Hortons right across the street from work, it's pretty easy to do so. I prefer Earl Grey, but I won't turn down just about any kind. We still have a pretty large loose leaf tea collection at home, but I'm lazy, and hate cleaning out the infuser after making it. I might just go out and buy a big ass box of green tea bags and do that every day. This is another small step towards healthy living. I need to get soda out of my diet and replace it with healthier alternatives.

I saved the best for last in this post. This is a picture of a car dashboard. A bad picture, but a picture nonetheless. This car dashboard is in our driveway. I was sitting in the passenger seat of this car. Rick was in the driver seat. It's a silver 2005 SmartCar. Diesel, 52 000kms, convertible, awesome. It's not ours though. But we will be using it regularly. We went to Windsor the night we got it, and drove all over the place. Then back and forth to work for me, and a few other trips in town, and we still have more than half a tank of gas left. With our old car, we would have had to put $30+ in the tank. I think I love this car.

I've been knitting quite a bit these last couple days. I'll update about that on Monday. I'm hoping to get some pictures taken with a real camera before then, but we'll see!

Wednesdays Are For Gratitude: April 3, 2013

We've reached the middle of the week, and I'm enjoying a day off. I got out of bed around 9:00 this morning, and I got right to knitting. I'm working on something totally new, that I've never done before, and I'm keeping it under wraps until I get a couple made and ready to sell. I can't wait to show all of you!
This is a short list of what I am thankful for this week:
Rick and Winston  /   Family that doesn't judge me  /  My yarn stash  /  Good food  /  Ravelry  /  Good friends  /  Having the time to try out new knitting projects  /  Getting a raise at work  /  My KnitPicks needles  /  Being happy
What are you grateful for?

Monday Update: April 1, 2013

No April Fool's joke here! But I did nearly forget to update today! I worked this morning, and that always throws me for a loop. I much prefer afternoon shifts, but I'm getting a mix of them lately. I'm taking what I can get, to be honest. My hours were nearly non existent for a while, so now that I'm getting over 20 a week, I can finally breathe again. My budget was so tight it squeaked for a while, and now I can finally afford everything I need.

Onto the knitting! I assembled a bunch of bow rings this past week. I've been cranking them out for a while, and I made quite a few. I listed a bunch in the shop, and I'm really happy with them. Go take a look! I have a few more that I didn't photograph for whatever reason, so I will hopefully be taking their glamour shots soon, and get them listed as well.
Are there any colours of bow rings you'd like to see? I have tons of yarn to choose from. I rearranged some of the stash so a lot of it is more easily accessible now.

I also got an order from my friend who got the pink headband with the white flower. Some of her coworkers wanted hair bows like hers, so I put those together. This is the whole order. Lots of reds and pinks. Super cute, I think! They're basically the same as the ring, but a bit larger.
In other exciting news, I'm trying something new to sell. I'm knitting it right now, and I'm hoping to have it done in the next couple days. I'll talk more about it another day.
In other, other exciting news, at some point this week, or early next week, I will have a super awesome thing to share with you. I'll be reviewing a product, and you'll have a pretty sweet coupon code.