Showing posts with label evermore studios. Show all posts
Showing posts with label evermore studios. Show all posts

Monday, March 18, 2013

Monday Update: March 18, 2013

Happy post St Patrick's Day! I hope you're not feeling too ill this morning, as I know some are. All that green beer and food is making some of my friends look a little green this morning. I didn't partake in any festivities this weekend, I didn't even drink a beer. That's a little out of character for me; I usually have at least one beer on the weekends. This whole weight loss thing is always at the back of my mind, so every time I think I'm going to eat/drink something that's not the healthiest, I ask myself what's more important: happiness right now, or long term happiness in the future? This isn't me saying I never allow myself to eat stuff that isn't good for me, in fact, we had McDonalds for dinner last night. But, I try to think about what I'm putting in my body. That being said, I will probably be having a beer after work tonight. It will likely be an apple cider beer, so I can pretend it's kind of healthy.
Anyway, onto what I've been knitting this week! I don't have pictures of everything, but I do have quite a few. I have been working on making loads of head bands so I can be well stocked for the fall shows. I have almost a dozen waiting to be sewn up in my WIP basket. There are a few other almost finished objects in there as well. Since I got this basket, I've been keeping all my stuff in there until the ends are woven in, and I tag them. Then they move to my craft show bin. It helps me keep track of where everything is, and I like to do things production line style, so this facilitates that. Sew everything. Trim all the ends. Tag everything. I feel more efficient that way.
Onto what I've been knitting!
This head band is a custom order for one of my friends. She asked for it a little while back, and I just hadn't gotten around to making it. The head band was easy, it just took some time to figure out how I was going to make the flower. Most of the flowers I see on this style of head band are crocheted, which is something I just can't do. Once I figured it out, it was super quick to make. I'll definitely be making more. Actually, I have another headband just like this ordered, so it will be sooner rather than later.
I got back on the hexipuff train last week. I knew I needed to crank out a bunch if I want to be finished this thing in any reasonable amount of time, so I was just going to make a couple and hopefully feel a little better about it. I ended up making eight of them in just a couple days. I'm nowhere near caught up, but I had a lot of fun making them. The first one that started me down the rabbit hole was the red and aqua striped one here. It looks awesome, this is a favourite colour combination of mine, but it was a pain in the ass to actually knit. Doing stripes in the round on DPNs is something I didn't really enjoy doing. I don't know if I'll be doing many striped ones, that aren't self striping.
These are the first five puffs I cranked out. The top grey one is actually sparkly, and I love it. It's KnitPicks Stroll Glimmer yarn in the Chrome colourway. I think I have two skeins of it. My parents got it for me in my Christmas yarn package. The two blue ones are yarn from Evermore Studios. The rainbow and blue is yarn I got from a destash on Etsy. I'm loving the way these puffs are working up!
I laid out all the puffs I had made, and I have 21 at last count. (This doesn't include the puffs later on in this post) Together, they're not even large enough for a seat cover, so I still have quite a ways to go. I am having fun knitting them, which is the most important part.
I tweeted that I wanted to make the hitchhiker shawl, but didn't have the money in my PayPal account to purchase the pattern. I wasn't looking for a handout, just lamenting my broke-ness. One of my knitting friends from a gazillion miles away gifted me the pattern on Ravelry, and it brought a tear to my eye. I feel so lucky when things like this happen to me. I will definitely pass on the gesture when I can afford to do so. I pulled a skein of Lanitium ex Machina's yarn out, and got to work.
The colours are working up beautifully, with no pooling in sight. I'm up to twelve points. I would be a little farther along if I didn't goof up in the middle of a row and have a really wonky stitch. I had to rip back about 3 points to fix it. Totally worth it, because I know that if I didn't, I would notice that mistake forever. I'm slowly but surely building my personal accessory collection. This is going to be shawl number four (I'm pretty sure anyway) that I've knit for myself. I can't wait to finish it, but in the mean time, I am enjoying the knitting process.
I finished up the last few rows on a loosely knit orange neck warmer. I've had this on the needles for a few weeks, but haven't really been actively knitting on it. I had only about 3 rows to go before it was done, so I cranked them out and bound off. It's a 5x5 rib with an unknown yarn on size 11 needles. The yarn is from a bag of mill ends at Zellers, so I have no idea what it actually is. That's one thing I'm really going to miss when Zellers is gone for good. Just a couple more weeks to go. With the yarn that is left in the skein from this, I am doing a summery scarf on the same size needles, and I'll also be making a head band or two later on.
I made a few more puffs with the Evermore Studios yarn. The blue one at the top finished off a mini skein which brings my number down one. But! I had to get a skein of black Red Heart Super Saver to knit up the head band I mentioned at the beginning of this post. So no change for the week. I will be going through some of my stash this week or next and getting more yarn ready to donate. I'm starting to realize how overwhelmingly huge my stash is, and I know I need to start paring it down, or there will be problems.
What have you fine folks been up to this week? Any fun knitting you're working on?

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wednesday's Are For Gratitude: February 27, 2013

Halfway through the week, and I can't wait for the weekend. I have a craft show Saturday and Sunday, and I am really excited for it.
Every week, I post about what I am grateful for. It's a nice way to look back, and see that my week wasn't all crappy, even if it may feel that way. (This week wasn't crappy, but some are)
Here goes!
Richard  / Winston  /  My family (which I will be spending the weekend with!!!)  /  My yarn stash  /  New yarn (more on this in a minute)  /  New blog followers (Welcome!)  /  My internet friends  /  My real life friends
Now, for the new yarn. I got two wonderful packages in the mail this week. I knew they were coming, and I was really antsy for them. Melina, of Midwest Yarn sent me two skeins of Homespun in a pretty lavender colour. They're not the same dyelot. I didn't think it would be that noticeable, but you can totally tell! Usually the yarn I get is the same dyelot, so I've never really noticed how different it could be. No worries though, because my projects use less than one skein each for the most part.




The second package is from Lori at Evermore Studios. You remember her from the giveaway I did recently. I got this gorgeous pack of mini skeins. I LOVE them! This adds ten skeins to my stash down. So with the Homespun, I'm up 12 skeins just this week. This brings me to +23 for this year. I'm determined to get down in the negatives soon! I have a problem where I get bored of the yarn before I'm done the project. So, as soon as the project is finished, I'm done with the yarn and I don't want to make something else out of it. I'm bringing a limited selection of yarn with me this weekend, so I'll be forced to use it all up. Crossing my fingers that I can make some progress!

I have to cut this one short, because Rick is taking me to Windsor today. I hope your week is going well!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Say Hello to the Knit, Nicole, Knit! Sponsors!

I recently decided to bring back sponsorship on my blog. To promote this, I gave away a whole bunch of ad space. If you are interested in getting a free space, I do offer swaps. Just shoot me an email, and I'll give you the information. If you'd like a larger space, you can check out my sponsorship page Here.
The first advertiser is Anja's Arts. She's been a long time sponsor. If you are interested in her gorgeous rings or other jewelry, you can use the code "15KnitNicole" to save 15%! I have two of her rings, and I absolutely love them.
The second sponsor for the month is Evermore Studios. You know all about her from the giveaway, but in case you don't I'll tell you what she's about. Her shop is filled with gorgeous hand dyed wool based sock yarns. She does full skeins, as well as mini skeins. I got a mini skein pack back in November, and fell in love. I've been making hexipuffs out of them, and you can see those here. Overall, I highly recommend this shop if you are looking for beautiful hand dyed sock yarn. You really can't go wrong!

Now, onto the swappers! Left to right, top to bottom:
YarnYarnYarnYarn: This is my other blog/tumblr. A lot of people interested in this blog have found that one interesting, so I wanted to make sure there was a link for it here.
Glued To My Crafts: Stacey is a wife, mom, and jack of all trades. Check out her Banana Bread Cookie recipe.
Jo, My Gosh!: Jo is a soon to be wife of a sailor deployed to Afghanistan. She sends him care packages, some with home made nut mixes.
Petite Tuques: Lisa is an awesome yarn crafter. She is knitting a gorgeous shawl that I am in love with.
Artwork by Jessica Beaudoin: Jessica is an artist who lives not far from where I am. She makes some beautiful paintings and jewelry.
Koi Story: Meanz is hosting a giveaway for free ad space. You can win two spaces from me, as well as one each from three other blogs!
Sami Spoon: Sami is from the UK. She just got some freaking awesome shoes that I am coveting.
LeeLee Hats: This is the group I knit baby hats with. We're over 12 000 hats donated to date, with more coming in all the time!
Trinkets & Treasures: This local store is amazing. They sell handmade goods from dozens of local crafters and artisans, including myself.
CsqDesigns: Casey Makes some gorgeous knit and crochet goodies, as well as cards and jewelry, and other fun stuff.

Go check out my wonderful sponsors, and you just might find something you like!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Fat Tuesday and Some Other Stuff

It's Tuesday, a day I don't normally post, but since we're at the Arby's office, I figured I should. I drew the winner of the giveaway yesterday, and she got in touch with me so her prize will be on its way very soon. ON that note, Lori of Evermore Studios is keeping the discount code active until this Saturday, February 16. The code is knkrocks and you will get 20% off your entire purchase, excluding shipping. You should definitely pick up some of her yarn, it's beautiful!

Now, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday and what have you. Rick's mom is making pancakes for dinner tonight, and I am so excited! I'm a big fan of pancakes and waffles and other breakfast pastry/bread type things.

In other fun and exciting news, I've been knitting up a storm. I've made a small dent in my recent stash enhancements. I finished three scarves in the past couple days, to knock out 3 whole skeins from the stash. Two of them were from the new Wool Ease Thick and Quick I got a little while ago, so that's really good.
These bring my total stash down count to +8. I've decided that I would be happy with a total of -50 at the end of the year. One skein a week is totally doable. I just have to counteract the skeins that will be coming in. I have some yarn coming to me in the near-ish future, NOT stuff that I bought so I'm not really breaking my New Year's goals, that means I will have to get more knit up asap.

How are all of you fine folks doing?

Monday, February 11, 2013

The Evermore Studios Giveaway Winner!

Monday is here! For me, this is a cause for celebration, as I now have three consecutive days off. Which is actually pretty nice. I have a lot of plans to get things done, starting with laundry. The first load is in the wash as I type this.
Anyway, onto the winner! I had to go through a couple people, because some didn't do what the entries required them to do. That's a bummer, but I want to be fair. If you didn't do the work (which isn't much at all) you shouldn't get rewarded.
The winner is
Lindsey

Lindsey hearted this gorgeous raspberry yarn. I love this colour, too. I think it would make a beautiful cowl or hat. Or really, anything, it's that pretty!
I've contacted her to let her know she won, and she will let me know which prize she wants.

Thank you everyone who entered! I'm hoping to do more giveaways, so if you would like me to host a giveaway for you, please let me know!

Monday, February 4, 2013

A Giveaway From Evermore Studios! CLOSED

I'm sure you've seen my hexipuffs. I posted them a little while back and I mentioned that I'd bought yarn from Evermore Studios to make some puffs. I contacted Lori to see if she'd be interested in me hosting a giveaway, and she said yes!
I ordered yarn from her shop in November, and received it not long after. I had some important projects to work on, so I put the Beekeepers Quilt on the back burner. Once I got the right sized needles, I went to town! I cranked out quite a few in a short period of time.
The yarn is absolutely beautiful. The colours were exactly as they were pictured in the Etsy listing, maybe even prettier. There were NO knots in any of my mini skeins, which is another plus. I also didn't experience any colour bleeding/rubbing off on my hands while knitting, even from the really saturated blues and pinks. This has happened to me on some of my other commercial yarns and it's a bummer when it happens. I get worried that the colour is going to fade, or change. I don't have that problem with this yarn!
I can't recommend this shop enough. Quick shipping, beautiful product, and a fantastic price point. You definitely need to check out Evermore Studios!

You can enter to win a skein of hand dyed yarn OR a pack of mini skeins. Either one would be a fantastic prize. There are lots of ways to enter, just check out the Rafflecopter below!
If you are impatient, or aren't feeling lucky, you can also use the code "knkrocks" to get 20% off your purchase!
You have until 12:00am on February 11, 2013 to enter. There are a bunch of ways, so make sure you check them all out!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I was not compensated in any way for hosting this giveaway.