FO Friday: Coeur de Lion

Guys. I finished my shawl!

Project: Ashiepoo22's Ultraviolet Heart

Pattern: Coeur de Lion

Yarn: Neighborhood Fiber Company Studio Sock

Colorway: Georgetown

Needles: Chiagoo Red in size 6

Unfortunately, I forgot my t-pins back home and didn't realize it until I had already soaked the shawl. Go figure. I laid it out anyway to let it dry and it grew a whole lot. I'll be taking it back home with me next week, so I can properly block it and get my mom to take some non-selfie photos for me. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I really am in love with this shawl, despite all the moaning I did about the edging. I split up the edging work over the course of two days (for my sanity), but I bet I could have gotten it done in one day if I had really wanted to. The yarn is absolutely beautiful and softened up after I soaked it. I was really concerned that it would be a bit too springy and wouldn't bloom, so I automatically went down a needle size when I cast on and I'm glad I did. I can't wait to *really* block this and let that lace edging shine! I'll be wearing this regardless because IT'S SO SQUISHY! I WANT TO DIE.

The color is very hard to capture, but I'd say this is a pretty fair representation. Sometimes it's royal blue! Sometimes it's purple! It's beautiful all of the time. I would highly recommend this yarn and someday (when I can justify buying yarn again) I will have a SQ of this stuff. I would love to try some of her Studio Worsted sometime because holy bananas is it lovely.

Finishing this shawl also means I let myself cast on for the wedding blanket I've been putting off. I'm confident I'll be able to finish it/wash it in time, but there is an i-cord edging that will probably take me a lifetime. If it looks like I'm going to run out of time I'm planning on just adding fringe instead. I cast on for the Hip to Be Square in Knit Picks Brava Bulky and I'm already halfway through the first ball. You have to love bulky knits! My knit time might be cut a bit short today, due to my ditziness, because I managed to pour boiling hot water on my hand this morning while I was making coffee and my fingers are still burning. It hurts to knit :( So I'm going to take a little gym break and then hit the ground running! Matt's sister and her boyfriend are visiting this weekend and I probably won't get too much knitting time in, so I'm hoping I can at least get through 2 balls between today and tomorrow morning.

Cross your fingers for me since I can't ;)

Wishing everyone a great weekend! Happy knitting!

FO Friday: V-Day Socks & Cross Stitch

Valentines socks to add to the pile!

I cast on for these socks the same time I cast on for my ridiculous Monkey socks. I tried sooooo hard to finish both for today, but I have 3 repeats to go on those Monkeys. With two pairs of socks finished in January and two pairs in February, I am well on my way to victory in my 14socksin2014 goal. Woohoo! 

Like the other socks I've finished this year, I dyed this yarn while I was home a few months back. This skein is pretty special because I dyed it in a different way than most of my other skeins. I love handpainting my skeins, but it's pretty time and space consuming. My kitchen back home is a decent size, but it's pretty cluttered, so surface space is always at a premium. I wanted to try my hand at immersion dyeing with different colors, so I gave this one 2-3 different color dips in Valentines appropriate colors. 

I'm really pleased with the results but there is definitely a learning curve to hand-dyeing in this way. The results can be very temperamental! I used pretty low water quantities when dyeing and made sure I exhausted each color before removing the yarn (carefully) from the dyepot/adding more dye. I had hoped to create a speckled look with the blue dye, but, like I said, this method can take on a mind of it's own and the color spread a bit more than I expected. Handpainting is still my favorite, but I'll be experimenting more with this method next time I buy yarn to dye.

I can't wait to share my Monkey socks with you all. Vanilla socks may be my favorite, but these are SUPER fun, in both pattern and colorway. I'm hoping to finish them up today, taking my WIP list from the other day down a few notches. Since I'm such a list nerd (Matt makes fun of me so much), I tried making myself a to-do list for the week on Sunday night and it's really been helping me keep on track. 

Being unemployed (whoopee! ...not) has given me so much free time and it's been SO easy to get sucked into the internet and waste my entire day, especially knowing that the next day will be exactly the same. But having actual goals written down on paper? It's inspired me to keep my computer shut, get my butt off the couch and get things done. Like socks and books, runs and long walks (18 miles & counting!), blog posts and checking in with e-people I've lost touch with. I think the Sunday night list will be something I keep up with, as long as it keeps working for me. 

Oh, and before I jet off I thought of another FO I haven't shared just yet. Valentine's Day is never a huge deal for us and, if I'm lucky, Matt will get me a card or a bottle of my favorite wine. This year I told him I wanted to go on a little adventure to Temecula, which is a Southern California wine region on the same-ish latitude as Rhone in France. I didn't realize this until after the fact, but it was a little treat since I love wines from that region. More on the trip later, but I knew that I still wanted to make Matt a little something for Valentines Day. I considered socks, but then I got an idea. The PERFECT idea for a Valentine.

We both agree that it's too cute to look at. I cobbled together a few patterns I already had (Matt is based on the 10th Doctor Who! Ha!!) and added a few modifications. I really love it and plan on framing it for our someday home. Matt wants me to add myself, but this is more special ;p Their love is ridiculous. 

Tuesday Photos: Weeks 2 & 3

Ok, so I dropped the ball last week on this whole "photo a day but only once a week" kind of thing I was doing. I've been stressed out about coming back to California and pushing to release another pattern to stick to my pattern a month release schedule. So I spent my last week at home torn between being excited about seeing Matt and being crushed about having to go back to California. It's gotten easier to be apart from him while he's living here and I hate that.

(8): Midwest is Best 2nd draft//(9): Ale House & 2nd book of the yr//(10): Favorite FO//(11): Thrift problems

(12): Clementine snuggles//(13): First Plucky SQ - Hotsy Totsy in Cozy//(14): New Penguin Classics

(15): Seasonally inappropriate apple cider donuts//(16): ...and Pumpkin Ale//17: Post-lunch cupcakes with Christie

(18): Back to California//(19): Visit to the Yarnover truck//(20): 7 mile walk & the beach//(21): New sweater 

So now here I am in California, recovering from the nonsense than was my (almost) 2 months at home. I knit a lot of things, ate a lot of food & brewed two batches of beer. I'm trying not to sink into the pit of despair that was my first 4 months here but it's hard. I walked 7 miles yesterday and man do my legs hurt! But I explored a new area, one that is lined with cute little shops and coffee shop chains alike, so I'm hoping that might be a potential spot to scope out jobs. I need a source of fulfillment and that, dear friends, is the key to my happiness.

A few friends around here wouldn't hurt either.

Tuesday Photos: Week 1

Having a phone with a good camera and apps like Instagram have really made it easier than ever to document daily goings on. I've tried in the past to complete photo a day challenges and Project 365, but sometimes it's hard to find inspiration in daily life. Back then it was even harder for me since it seemed all I did was go to school and work and I saw that as the worst thing ever. So I'm trying this again this year, but I'm going to do it differently. I'll be snapping photos everyday, but I'll only be blogging them here on Tuesdays. Bonus shot from this week because it was New Years :)

(31) Happy New Year!/(1) Sailor Moonathon/(2)Sharing beers at one of our faves/(3)All of the gold hats

(4) Frolicking in the snow/(5) Last morning with Matt/(6) Dyeing all of the yarn/ (7) Another FO in deep stash yarn

Pretty uneventful first week of the year, but I've managed to finish 3 projects and have about 10 rows to go in another. Said good-bye to Matt on the fifth and helped him navigate some horrible travel delays. I always get super sad when we part, but the more time we spend apart the easier it gets. In the meantime I'll focus on making things and snuggling my cat as much as I can. Oh and surviving this polar vortex. Did I mention that it snowed like 12 inches total? Or that yesterday was a -52 windchill? Yeah, that shit cray. California is looking pretty shiny and awesome right about now. 

Time to OD on Pretty Little Liars. I bought myself a beautiful bottle of Spanish wine to drink. Oh yeah, I'm cutting down the wine to a few nights a week instead of every single night. I haven't had any in 2 nights (ouch) and I really miss wine with my supper. I'm sure it will only last so long, but here's hoping I can make some other healthier choices.

Prelude (and a sale!)

I can't believe this year is almost over. It seems like I was just in Philly yesterday, but I moved away SIX months ago. How in the world did that happen? The second half of 2013 has paled in comparison to the first half, but I do believe that things get worse before they get better, so I'm optimistic that 2014 will be better. Hey, y'know what? It will be good.

I've been home for almost a month now (yikes!) and I'm hanging in there. No family members have been murdered and I've managed to reign in feelings of discontent and frustration. At least my klutz of a sister is there for comic relief. Last night I laughed harder than I think I've ever laughed. It's hard being back here, especially with Matt still being in California. He'll be back on Friday (3 weeks apart!) & I'm super anxious to see him again.

I've had a lot of free time the past 6 months (boo, unemployment!), which has been both maddening and freeing. I've sketched up and knit up quite a few original designs and realized that they're all apart of the journey I've been on over the past two years. These design ideas are either inspired by a place I've traveled to or by the yarn I've bought along the way. It will take a lot of time for me to finalize and type up these designs I've come up with, but that's something to focus on in 2014.

Today I'm releasing Prelude, the first pattern I've published in awhile. In releasing this pattern I'm committing myself to seeking inspiration everyday from the things around me. My life won't always be as simple as it is, so I should stop complaining and use this down time more effectively. Because who knows if I'll ever have this lull again?

(Please say no)

Also, as a gift to any blog readers, use code "sweaterweather" to receive 25% off any of my patterns from now until Christmas.

This is a Post About Knitting (mostly)

I wanted to leave for California with a "clean" slate, which had been easy enough in the beginning. Working at a knitting shop is both the best and worst thing a knitter can do. I've (mostly) loved working at the two LYSs I've worked at, but, at the same time, it has caused the textbook definitions of Knitting First World Problems.

1. I have WAY too much yarn.
2. I never get anything done because OMG! Did you see that sweater in the new Knitscene/Knitty/Jared Flood?

The first is only an issue when it comes to relocation (because oh. my. god. Last week. What a mess.), but the second makes me feel overwhelmed in a different way because I never seem to finish things.

I was home in Chicago for about two weeks and managed to finish three WIPs and two new projects.

Color Addiction
Pattern: Color Affection
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light
Colors: Nassau Blue, Ink, Grasshopper

The last class I taught at Rosie's was the Color Affection class and I had a great time. In hindsight, the class was a bit too spaced together (nobody finished it in the allotted 3 weeks), but everyone had a great attitude about it. I finally finished mine last week and I really like the results. When I started out,  I intended on using Vintage Sari as my third color, but when I started knitting with it, it looked like something (bad) out of the 80s. I hemed and hawed over possible skeins from my stash, but nothing looked right. I pulled out a skein of Pashmina in "Grasshopper" from my stash and set out to finish my shawl. I'm very pleased.

Iceland Shawl (my design)
Yarn: Manos Alegria
Color: Carnaval

I wanted to finish this shawl before my trip to Iceland, but I was so dead set on getting SO MANY THINGS done before then that I just couldn't do it. This serves as a first draft to something that I hope to reknit one of these days. I absolutely love this yarn (Alegria, the newest yarn from Manos del Uruguay) and this colorway didn't blow me away right off the bat, but after staring at it for weeks, as you do when you work at your LYS, I needed to have it. Right then and there. But I've already discussed those problems (1 & 2) above. This shawl would have been better if I had two skeins of yarn, but I will use the notes I took along the way to make the version 2 even better. 

Autumnal Habitat
Pattern: Habitat by Jared Flood
Yarn: Rittenhouse (RIP) in Cinnamon

Oh this hat. Oh this yarn. I have wanted my own Habitat since I knit one for Matt's brother two Christmases ago. I started it sometime back in 2012 and left it sitting in my yarn room with the ribbing & first chart completed. Why didn't I just finish it? I picked it up during my stop off at home and finished knitting it in an evening. Was that so hard? I guess not.

Brewery Tour Hat
Pattern: Rikke
Yarn: Madelinetosh tosh dk
Color: Firewood

Wanna know a secret? I love beer. Want to know another secret? I love Autumn. Ok, those aren't really secrets, but this hat is the perfect hat for beer touring in Autumn. Mmmhmm. Living in Philly was great, but when you earn your "beerlegs" in the Midwest, where you can buy beer almost anywhere and at a good price, it kind of sucks. So, when Matt & I would visit home, we would make sure to drink all of the beers we loved since we just didn't drink as much beer in Philly. 

Ok, that was kind of a boring story.

Anyway. Rikke has been on my list for awhile now. My friends Sara & Kristin have both knit beautiful versions, but I just never got around to it. Looking for a good one skein project, I cast on for this hat during my trip home and knit the first stitches at one of my favorite breweries: Solemn Oath. SO is located in a suburb of Chicago, maybe 20 or so minutes from where I grew up and 10 minutes away from my college. Matt and I agree that it's a great thing they didn't open until after we graduated because, let's be real, it would have been a hot mess.

Sadly, I am not drinking Dashing Moustache

But yes. If you are ever in Illinois and happen to see a Solemn Oath beer on the board of your selected watering hole be sure to order it. I haven't been disappointed and, for somebody just passing through, I've managed to try my fair share of their beers. Oh and knitters? They sometimes have a beer called Yarn Bomb. Get on that.

Black Tops & Moon Man

And I finished that hat on July 5th during a trip to New Glarus with Matt & his sister. New Glarus is only available in Wisconsin, so we must drink it up while we are there. And it doesn't hurt that the brewery is beautiful.

Departure
Pattern: Molly
Yarn: Madelinetosh tosh dk
Color: One of a Kind

My final project of the trip home was another one that lingered in my queue for quite some time. I cast on for this hat on the way to the airport (to drop Matt off) and finished it the very next morning. That's the great thing about hats. The yarn is a skein I picked up during my first second trip to NYC and it's a one of a kind colorway from The Yarn Company. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's a beautiful green/brown with flecks of purple. It looks almost like a misdyed and slightly lighter Kale/Lichen crossbreed.

I packed up for California with only 2 WIPs (My third Color Affection & a lovely test knit for Thao) and yarn for 5 new projects. My WIPs and next project are all either lace or fingering weight, so don't expect to see too many FOs from me. After I finish up my test knit & Katie's Wedding Shawl I plan on focusing on designing a few things. What's the saying? Creativity is born from boredom?

Let's hope. 

WIP Wrangling

I have a confession to make.

I'm a monster. And I getreallyreallyexcitedaboutthings and don't finish them.

Consider it my (d)evolution as a knitter. I used to be "a finisher" and would only have 1-2 projects going at a time. Then I started working in a yarn shop and fell victim to bad influences like Christie, whose tales of sweaters without sleeves I did not believe. How could you have SWEATERS just sitting there without sleeves? Huh? She was my first "bad" influence and it's hard to fess up that I have surpassed her. I am now the monster.

At the time of writing this I have about 4-5 sweaters without sleeves/collars: Featherweight, Pomme de Pin, Aereon, Tinder, etc. And three more in need of buttons. I get it now. After spending xxx amount of hours working on a sweater and thinking, "Hallelujah! I'm almost done and soon I'll have a wonderful new sweater to wear and ohmygod I'm SO awesome," you realize that all the fun is behind you. What lies ahead? Sleeves. And endless (my record is 42) ends to weave in. And where's the fun in that.

Most of my WIPs are bigger projects, so it's hard to really find that motivation to finish them, especially as the temperatures continue to climb. 81 tomorrow! Who wants to work on a big wooly sweater? I also have two blankets, 1 sample sweater (don't even get me started...) and endless designs that are somewhere between 25-45% done that seemed so much better on paper. All of those WIPS require so much extra energy that could be spent on starting something new. And that's when you realize that you haven't finished anything in over a month. *Gramps doesn't count because I need to redo the buttonband.

Earlier this week I made a pledge to myself that I won't start anything new until I finished two projects. I've been *itching* to cast on for Grace and try to race the other ladies to the Mad May finish line, but I can't. I just can't. See all those WIPs up there? There are 14 and that's not even all of the ones lurking around my weird hotel home. I found a few project bags lurking under yarn (...shame...) in my closet and felt so silly. These are hats! I could knock them out in a weekend if I wanted to.

Ravelry: Fisherman 2 (my design)

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Rittenhouse (discontinued)

Needles: Hiya Hiya Sharps

Started: October 7, 2012

Finished: May 12, 2013

And that's exactly what I did. This hat is the second of it's kind, a design I started last year inspired by some fisherman sweaters. The first hat was waaaaay too big and I feared the worst for this one when I found it squished in a project bag. But I pressed on and behold! It fits. I finished it in a night and I really do love it. The design still isn't perfect, so I won't be publishing it anytime soon, but it's one more WIP that's out of the way. I'm 1 for 2 this week!

I'll spend the rest of the week working on a Habitat I started last fall and my Madelinetosh Color Affection. I've knit both patterns before, but the Habitat was a gift that I almost stole. Seriously. Jared Flood knows his way around a cable let. me. tell. you. I started the third color on my color affection last night, but it kind of looked like the 1984 threw up on it, so, after stashdiving, I had to order another skein of TML in Grasshopper when nothing else would cut it. Thankfully it should be here on Friday. I'll use these next two nights to really put the pedal to the metal on my sweater sample for Fairmount Fibers. I've been trying really hard, but the motivation just isn't there. I've already knit the front and back once but had to frog it when they came out way too large. It will be a poppin' bubbly kind of night when that sweater is finally out of my life ;)

Here's to getting things done!