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?

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: Friday March 1st, 2013

Everyone is probably saying it, but holy crap, when did March get here? This week has been a fun one. I have it off work, so I've been quite productive. You can see that from the picture overload. I'm going to try to keep this one from getting too long.

Rick reheated some of the lamb stew for us. He threw and egg and some tomatoes in there, as well. WE stirred a little sour cream in there, and it made it even better.
This is Rick's mom's cat, Jazz. He likes me a lot. I don't mind him. Winston loves playing with him, they're pretty funny together.
I knit a head band for myself out of some sparkly yarn. I also have boot cuffs to match. I'm going to wear those this weekend.
I made and packaged quite a few earrings this week. I haven't done any four packs, as far as I can remember, but I loved the colour gradient I got form these pinks.
I bought a pack of lamb shoulder chops when we got groceries recently. Rick cooked us up a couple. It's been pointed out that these look like two horse heads facing each other. Now that it's been said, I can't un-see them.
With the lamb, we also had potatoes, cabbage and onions. The chops are under all that good stuff.
I bought some fun socks a while back. I really liked these orange and pink ones. Nice and bright!
When Rick brought me into Windsor on Wednesday, we went for all you can eat sushi. We got hand rolls and they were pretty good. I had a hell of a time ripping through the nori at first, but after I got past that, I was golden.
After sushi and some other errands, we went to see Warm Bodies. I really enjoyed it. I didn't know it was an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, but now that I've read it in some articles online, it totally makes sense!
When I got to my parents, my dad gave me the rack he built for my earrings. The cord in the centre is in the process of being replaced with some thin wire. The clips I have to put the earrings on there are super tiny.
My parents have a panini press, and I made peanut butter and banana sandwiches for my Mom and I yesterday.
Mom took me to Wendy's after going shopping. After Wendy's, I visited my friend Lauren of Whimsical Warmth. We got crafty and played with her dogs. It was lots of fun.
When I got home from Lauren's, I watched The Knit Girllls and worked on head bands. I forgot to take photos of those, but I made two out of the mustard yarn. That eliminated one skein!
Dad and I went grocery shopping in Michigan today. One of the major perks of living in a border city. I ended up picking up a 6 pack of another flavour of Shocktop: Honey Crisp Apple. We went to a liquor and craft beer store, and I knew I'd find something I'd like. I can't wait to try it!

Now, onto the stash down! My mom bought me three skeins of sequin yarn from Zellers. The price was great, and I'd had my eye on them for a while. I got one in silver, and two in light blue. These will be turned into boot cuffs and a head band. Hopefully each skein is enough for a full set! I also bought two skeins of sparkle yarn when I went to Joanns today. These were a bit of an impulse purchase. When I got up to pay, I found out they were on a ridiculous sale. I paid about half of what I was expecting. If I wasn't on the "stash diet" I probably would have run back and picked up some more.
This puts me up five skeins. BUT! I knit one into the head bands. AND I gave two to my mom to make  into LeeLee Hats. AND I'm giving six more skeins, and fairly large ones at that, to Mel of Trinkets and Treasures for some of her crafty goodness. It's all yarn that, although I do like, I will likely never get around to using. This means I am at minus 4 for the week! This brings me to +19 overall. I hope to make some progress on this very soon. I'm knitting as fast as I can.

How are all of you fine folks doing? What's the weather like where you are?

Monday Update: February 4, 2013

This morning was one of the first Monday morning shifts I've had in a little while. It snowed quite a bit overnight, but this didn't stop our customers from coming in and complaining about it.
Last night before most of the snow fell, Rick and I went to my parents to pick up our mail we'd gotten shipped to our American friends. Dad had gone over to visit and pick up our stuff, and we were really excited to see everything. Rick got a couple books, some computer stuff, and I'd gotten him a stand for his new MacBook. I ordered some yarn from Craftsy, and Rick got me a skipping rope for working out. Rick has some reading to do, and I want to get to knitting!

Craftsy had a deal a little while ago for packs of 3 skeins of Wool Ease Thick and Quick for a really good price. I ordered a pack of each of the three colours (Cilantro, Fig and Oatmeal) and was eagerly awaiting them. They weren't quite the 70% off my new year's goal stated the yarn had to be, but it was pretty darn close. T&Q is one of my favourite yarns to work with, and a pretty popular yarn as far as my sales go. I'll probably do a cowl and a scarf from each colour, and I'm not sure what the third of each will become. We'll have to see!
These 9 skeins bring my total thus far to +4. Not bad, I'd say!

In the last couple weeks, I've been working on some new projects. The biggest one, that I've done a few times, is boot cuffs. I've seen these all over the place on Etsy, and I wanted to make a pair for myself. I used some mustard Homespun to match my neck warmer, and went to town. They were a pretty quick knit, despite being ribbing (which I kind of hate). I ended up making two Homespun pairs, and I really like them. I tested them out for a few days, and I don't really like how they wore. They did look great, I got quite a few compliments, but the fibre for stuck on the zippers on my boots and made them look really frayed and fuzzy. I'll have to try some other yarns, or just suggest that they are not worn with zippered boots. Overall, I'm fairly satisfied with them. I can't wait to make more!

New Yarn Day!

A little while back, I told myself that I wasn't going to buy any yarn until the new year, unless it was for a pre-paid custom order. I have so much yarn, it's ridiculous. I have a bunch of cardboard boxes full of yarn, and Rick asked me to try to get rid of those. He doesn't mind the yarn in the clear bins, but the cardboard has to go. I've been making progress, eliminating a couple skeins a week. That was halted when I bought a package of mill ends from Zellers last week. I bought a bag of a really nice steely grey a few months back, and I'd wished I would have bought more. Well, when I went there to kill some time after work, there was one lonely bag sitting on top of some uglier stuff. I knew I had to get it. It's either 6 or 8 skeins, and cost $7.99. I couldn't say no! I've been using that yarn to make some colour block neck warmers. There is only one using it in the shop right now (the aqua and grey) but there will be more in the future!

In other yarn news, I received a beautiful handspun merino/silk blend from Melina, at Midwest Yarn. She had some other mail to send me, and included a little something special. The colours are wonderful. I'm trying to figure out if I want to knit a little neck something, or a slouchy beret. I have no idea how much yarn there actually is there, so the latter might not work out. I'm going to try to figure out a way to calculate the yardage. It might involve some intense math (haha) but it will definitely be worth it in the end! You can see some of her yarns here.

Awesome Thursday: July 19, 2012

Happy Thursday everyone! It's a little later in the day than I usually post, but I've been out and about most of the day. These are the awesome things that have gone on over the past week.

• My cousin got married! It was quite lovely. I wore my shawl (for which I am still waiting for pictures to show you guys!) and I got quite a few compliments on it.
• I went yarn shopping today! I picked up three beautiful skeins as well as a shawl pin, all on sale. I used an Instagram filter, so the colours are off. The green is more turquoise; it's a cotton/linen blend. The grey and magenta are mulberry silk. I will be using the latter two to make a colourwork cowl for myself. I have an idea for a pattern of my own, it's just a matter of getting down to business.
• Rick and I went for all you can eat sushi after we went to the yarn store. We managed to not over eat this time around. Usually we get so excited that we order pretty much everything, and feel like crap after.
• Work has been awesome, despite being told we will have a new manager next week. I really liked working with our current manager.
• I restarted the cowl I was making out of the Eco-Fil yarn. It was a little too large in diameter, so I shrank it by 12 stitches. The yarn is so smooth and even, it's really nice to work with. I picked up quite a bit of it a few months back, and this is the first project I am making with it.

How are you doing this week? Is there anything exciting going on in your area?

Self Portrait Monday: June 6, 2011

Happy Monday evening! Sorry this has taken so long to get posted. I don't usually work Mondays, but today was an exception. We had a few food critics/journalists in from various publications sampling our food. I was on my best behaviour, and they all seemed to enjoy their food.
Immediately after getting home, Rick and I had to leave for our massage and chiropractor appointments. We have three chiropractor appointments a week, as well as either one or two massages.
I went for a quick swim at Rick's parents after I had dinner. I was out there for all of 20 minutes, and was bit twice by mosquitoes. Welcome to Summer, I guess, right?
In other news, I purchased some amazing hand spun merino on the weekend. The first weekend of June, every year, Art in the Park happens. Artisans from all over come and sell their products. For the most part, the art available is not my taste, out of my price range or otherwise unappealing to me. Not a fault of the artist in any way. At the event last year, I saw some beautiful hand spun wool being produced by a lovely woman. This type of yarn didn't appeal to me as much at this time last year, but this year was different. I purchased two skeins which I will photograph when I get back home later in the week.

Don't forget about the giveaway! Still a few days to enter.

Baby Blanket Progress, among other things

The blanket I posted about on Monday has grown quite large in the past few days. I knit a ton of it while at Rick's house the past few days. We went on vacation together, and I hardly did any knitting on the trip. Totally okay with that, though. This photo is another one from the market by Mark Bradley.
I picked up 6 skeins of Patons Soy Wool Solids in a really amazing burgundy/berry colour to make a shawl with. I haven't decided on the pattern yet, I'm between two right now. They're similar, but still entirely different. I also have the needles ready to go.
Later on in the trip, Rick bought me an amazing handwoven shawl from The Owen Sound Artists Co-Op. A gentleman by the name of Ken Welch made the shawl, and I am so happy with it. I think weaving is quite interesting. I'd love to try it out one day.
I also got a request for a pair of red baby booties. I picked up that yarn while on vacation, as well. Those will be made as soon as I'm done this blanket.

Overall, life is good.

More brown cowls and other news

Have you ever bought those bags of "mill end" yarn? It's often a bag of the same type, sometimes different, but usually under $5.

This is some of my favourite yarn. It's cheap, and if you look hard enough, you can find some really great yarns. I picked up a bag of what I am assuming is Bernat Roving in the Cork colourway. It's super soft, and really nice to work with. It does pill somewhat, but nothing a lint shaver or roller couldn't fix. I've made a cowl out of it already, and started on a second. I'm using the same pattern for both.

In other news, I am going to soon be selling my knitted items at rEvolution gallery+studio in Kingsville. I'm super excited to get stock made up to bring in there. I'm hoping to have everything made and brought in by the 20th; 2 weeks from now. Ten bows and ten phone cases is what I am shooting for, and possibly some of the dishcloths that I already have made.

I don't think I mentioned this before, but Made In Windsor is closing the store front at the end of the month. Super saddening, but they are going to stay open in a different way. There is going to be a weekly market downtown every Sunday at a cool new place opening up. It's going to be in the parking lot, and there will be around 30 vendors. Once it starts cooling down some, I am going to hopefully do it a couple times. Until then, I will probably be volunteering/working there. This weekend, I will be working at the Made In Windsor booth at Windsor Pride. I have quite a few things that will hopefully be sold there, and I'm excited. Some of my friends will be partying at Pride, and I can't wait to hang out with them.

All in all, life is good. No complaints here!

Much More Yarn

It's impossible for me to resist buying yarn at thrift shops, especially small-time independent ones.
Rick and I checked out a couple near his place, and I got a big bag of yarn for a really good price. Two skeins of burgundy, 8 or so of forest green, and one black, all 50g of Patons Beehive Shetland Chunky. I looked online, and it seems like the yarn is no longer called this. I have seen just Shetland Chunky, and for the current price of one skein, I got the whole lot of them.
I've made a burgundy scarf already, and I am starting on a forest green one. I am going to use most of it for scarves, and possibly make some phone cases.
Speaking of, I will be making more of those as soon as I get home. I have a few people in the Facebook group that want some.

Scarves, Bows, Cables and Business Cards

Michael's had a sale on a few types of yarn that I use, so I bought some the other day. A skein of Homespun and some Vanna's Choice to match, as well as a skein of Thick and Quick. I also got a pair of short needles (7 inch, if I remember correctly).
I started a neck warmer with the Thick and Quick. It's in seed stitch, and a little larger than I usually make them. I like the way it looks so far. Just a few more rows and I'll have it finished. I also started on a kerchief/scarf sort of thing with some of the yarn that was given to me by my friend's mom. It's a light, airy, almost lacy triangle of goodness. It's a dusty pink, very fine yarn, and I am pretty sure it is 100% acrylic. I'm not sure, and I don't want to burn any of it to check. The only downside to this yarn is that is tangles really easily. I have to stop quite often to get enough yarn out to knit the rest of the row and untangle it.
I have also ween working on the hair bows quite a bit. I got some good reviews from some friends, so I will keep plugging away at them.

I want to learn how to do cables. Yes, I know, ten or so years of knitting, and I've never done them. I've watched videos, and read tutorials, but I just can't quite grasp it. I think I need a one on one teacher.

I need to get more business cards made. I am very close to not having any of the ones I currently use, which are horribly outdated anyway. I have no idea where to order them from. I keep being told Vista Print, but I've had bad experiences with them, as have some of my friends. Any suggestions?

Not a whole lot to show

It's been two weeks since my last post. You'd think I would have a lot to show for it, but in reality, I didn't get much knitting done.
I did go to Niagara Falls and London with my boyfriend. We had a good time. I had the role of (bad) navigator. I got us all turned around on some back roads. We did eventually make it to the Falls. We left for London the following day.
I worked at Made In Windsor a whole lot. Sold a few of my things. I brought in some iPhone cases (finally) and sold one. It's quite simple, and I enjoy making them. Christine, the owner, told me the girl that bought it had been looking for one like it for some time. I am going to make another one in the same colour to replace it soon. This isn't the one that sold. It is the first one I made that I was completely happy with. I love that bright blue colour.
I made some of the hair bows that I was planning on making for a while. They're not all assembled, but there is a start to them. I need to find a hair clip to put them on that I really like.
I did a bit of experimenting with some knitted jewelry. I am unhappy with both versions that I have so far. I want to find a way to make them look nice, yet still remain simple enough where I will not get frustrated.
I went to Art In the Park and purchased a gift for my parents. I am going to give that to them sometime this week. It was unfortunately rained out on Sunday, so I'm not sure how well the vendors did.
Despite not having much to show for all of this, I did get some stuff done that I wanted to do. I am going to keep plugging away at all of them, and hopefully, by November, my art show at Phog will be a success!

A New Cowl, and New Yarn

I meant to post this yesterday, I really did. But my body had other suggestions. I was incredibly sick, and had no motivation to do anything but snuggle under blankets and sleep. And also whine to whoever was listening about how terrible I felt. I am feeling marginally better today. Enough to write a blog post and possibly even get changed out of my pyjamas before noon.

I bought a cone of yarn the other day at Value Village. It's a wonderful bright blue, textured, and quite thin. I plan on using it held double or triple. Which is what I am doing in my newest project.
Two strands of white worsted weight, and the fun blue yarn, on 8mm needles for a cowl. Fifty six stitches, k2p2 rib. The little red piece of yarn is my marker for the beginning of the round. I started this two days ago, and it's going quite well.
I have decided to continue knitting winter items throughout the warmer months, or for as long as I can stand them, to have stock ready for next year. I will, of course, knit other things, but I think one scarf every other week will be a good start for the winter craft shows, and Made In Windsor stock, next year. Sure, I'll probably look crazy knitting a scarf in July, but it will reduce my work load next year. And hopefully cause less stress, as well.
I now plan on laying down for a while. No need to over exert myself!

Knitting Machine Yarn

My mom was recently given a large bag of cones of knitting machine yarn. A woman who was friends with both of my maternal grandparents had it sitting in her basement for a while. She heard through the grapevine that I knit items for charity, and wanted to give me the yarn. (I haven't been doing as much charity knitting lately, but I have been trying to do some.)
I am trying to think of what I could make out of this yarn. So far, nothing has come to mind because it is so fine.
My other option is to donate the yarn to Blankets 4 Canada, to see if they can use it. I know that in the past, machine yarn has been used, held double, or even triple, to make some of the squares.
If you were given about 15 cones of knitting machine yarn, what would you make? (If you didn't have access to a knitting machine, of course.)

More cotton yarn

I bought more cotton yarn a couple days ago. Like I said a couple days ago, I knit dishcloths all the time. I got two 340 gram skeins of Bernat Handicrafter from Zellers. The first is Lazy Daisy, and the second is Summer Splash (Actually quite a bit lighter, and more yellow, in person)

I've already made a couple cloths out of the Summer Splash. I'm planning on having at least three done to bring into Made In Windsor, at some point this week.
Between working two jobs (I got a second job a couple weeks ago. I know I should have shared sooner!) a social life, boyfriend and taking care of my apartment, I don't have a ton of knitting time. I have been trying to knit more while on the internet, and on the bus, but sometimes, I just want to sit still for a while.
Do you ever get that? Where you just don't WANT to knit? (or crochet? or sew? or do any other craft?)

More Yarn

Yesterday, Rick and I went on a quest to find a white belt at Value Village. Not to be confused with Value City in the U.S., Value Village is a thrift store. We looked and looked, but couldn't find a suitable belt for the wedding we are attending on Friday. I will be checking at a couple vintage stores tomorrow.
The trip to VV was not entirely a bust. They often have yarn in bags for a couple dollars each. I always look through, hoping to find something useful. Until now, I have never found anything worth picking up.
I got three skeins of Astrakhan, by Berella, in the Ocean colourway. They are 90% superwash wool and 10% fine nylon. Three skeins, three bucks. Not a bad find, if I do say so myself. There is only a very very slight odor... It's not musty or anything, so I think a quick wash will solve it.
The one problem with the yarn is... stuff stuck in it. It looks like Easter basket stuffing, and wood shavings. I think that when I unwind the yarn to wash it, it should all fall out. If that fails, I will just have to pick through it and get it all out.
I'm planning on making a kids hat and an adult hat out of this. It's rare for me to have an exact plan for yarn when I buy it, but this yarn told me that's what it wanted to be.

New yarn!

I know I haven't been updating much lately, but fear not, I have not forgotten you!
The other day, I returned some yarn from the scarf I just finished for Rick. I know, returning yarn is sort of crazy, but I knew I could get other yarn with that money.
And more yarn is what I got.
I bought three skeins of Bernat Harmony, in different colours. One dark pink, a lavender colour, and black.
All I can say is this yarn is amazing. Super soft, has just the right amount of texture. If I double it, it's perfect for the Knifty Knitter.
And, best of all, it's affordable! Coming in at $3.99 a skein for 169 meters/184 yards, this will keep me going for a little while.

I have been working on a lot of craft show things lately. I have two in November that I at determined to do really well at. I am taking the day off work, risking losing a decent amount of pay. I'm trying to figure out a way to make deals on my product without losing a lot of money.
Have any of you ever done a raffle at a craft show? Give a ticket away with each purchase over $X and draw at the end of the show? The only problem with this is that I don't drive, and I wouldn't want to make the winner come pick up the prize.

I'm open to suggestions!

A plain knitted scarf

It has been quite some time since I have knit a plain, garter stitch scarf. Recently, my boyfriend asked me to knit him a plain grey scarf. We looked at yarn the other day, and settled on Alpaca Natrual Blends, by Bernat in the Ebony colourway.
I picked up 5 skeins from Zellers (a not on this later in the post) today, and the wrong size needles. I saw 10, and picked up 10mm and went home. The yarn calls for US 10s, which are 6mm. Luckily, I had the right size at home, and I'm starting to knit right now. It's 20 stitches across, but this might change, depending on how wide Rick decides he wants it.

On buying yarn at Zellers: I was shocked to find that identical yarn at Michael's was 60 cents more a skein than at Zellers. This isn't a huge difference, but if I was buying a lot of yarn (5 skeins isn't a LOT but is a significant amount) there would be. Just goes to show that you should shop around before buying yarn for future projects!

Yarn Shopping!

I went to Michael's yesterday armed with a 40% off coupon and a sales flier.
Wool Ease Thick & Quick was on for $5 a skein. I am used to paying about $8 each. I purchased 2 skeins of Black and one Fig. I am planning on trying the yarn out on the Knifty Knitters to see how they look as slouchy hats.
Speaking of slouchy hats, Christine from Made In Windsor informed me that I sold one on opening day! This means that I have covered my cost for the first month (I purchased a half space, which is $10 a month) as well as covered the cost of yarn for that project. Any sales after this one are money in my pocket! If I can sell one item a week, I would be incredibly happy. I am also trying to finish items around that rate to make sure I have enough stock to keep my space filled.

If any of you are Etsy sellers, you should leave me a link to your shop here so I can include one of your items on my I Love Etsy blog.

So sick!

I have been super sick for the past couple days, and my knitting time has suffered!
I picked up 4 skeins of super fuzzy yarn the other day from Zellers for some scarves for craft shows this winter. It's called Fashion Twenty-Three by Phentex. It's nothing fancy, but it does the job. I have already started a scarf on 8mm needles, and it seems perfect for a cold winter day.
In other knitting news, I am still working on making tags. My knitting has been slow lately, because I got a tattoo on my fingers the other day (first tattoo!!) and it is pretty much where I hold my needle at. Give it a couple more days, and everything will be back to normal!