Twilight DVD Update

How could I resist creating more of my Camp Twilight colorways in celebration of the Twilight DVD release??  Find them in the shop!

Happy movie watching!  ;)

Love Bites, Love Bleeds…

There’s a new pattern up!  It’s a scarf pattern inspired by Fresh from the Cauldron’s True Blood Colorways.  If you’re a fan of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, or a fan of the HBO show True Blood based on them, you should check it out.  :)  And make sure you hop on over to SquibStitcher’s etsy shop and order your custom skein of Eric or Bill (or Sam or Sookie or Pam… you get the idea).  My scarf is made from the Silky Sock base and it’s lovely.  I can’t wait to wrap up in him, er, I mean it.  ;)

Mmmmm, tasty!

And see that adorable stitch marker?  You can get your own set here.

And to all of you who will now spend the rest of the day singing that Def Leppard song…you’re welcome.

My Highest Regards

My latest free pattern, Highly Regarded Mitts, is up on the Patterns page!  You can also find it on Ravelry.  Some quick and easy fingerless mitts which use just a small bit of bulky weight yarn – mine use handspun of course.  *wink*

Also, there’s been an update in the shop today, go check it out!

I happened to glance down the side yard this morning, and imagine my surprise when this met my gaze:

Well hello there beautiful!  How could I not run and grab my camera?  A couple more pics of this sunny beauty on my Flickr page.

Back and Updated!

So there’s been an update in the shop, click here to take a look-see.  :)

Our knitting retreat was WAY too short, but the weather just could not have been nicer.  We were even able to enjoy the little fireplace in the cabin!  There was a bit of rain, which only proved to draw out a big family of deer into the meadow we were lucky enough to have for a view (sorry, i have not ONE picture to show for the entire trip…but if you’re itching to see, maybe Wannabe will share some of the ones she snapped).

It’s back to the daily grind over here…*sigh*  Thankfully there’s already talk about where the next retreat will take place.  :)

June’s Socks

My socks for the final month of the SAM KAL 5 are done!

The pattern is Artichoke Socks, and they were made in The Plucky Knitter’s new/old BFL Fingering Weight yarn in the Kelly Bag colorway.  I used size 1 dpns, which made for a great fitting sock, BUT the all stockinette heel flap ended up being a little too loose for my liking.  Now I know that I should stick with the good ol’ Slipped Heel or my new fav, the Eye of Partridge Heel.  I have a rather thin heel and plain St St just isn’t snug enough.  All in all, I’m pretty proud of my first lace socks!

 In other news, we’ve been enjoying our pool to the extreme lately.  It’s been no cooler than 108 degrees outside, and the pool water has been about 90 degrees.  Maybe that sounds warm to you, but may I remind you that 90 is still at least 8 degrees lower than the average person’s resting (non-outside-in-the-blistering-desert-heat) body temperature.  It has been just DE-LIGHT-FUL.  I’m pretty sure my son will turn into a fish by the end of the summer – he swims at least twice a day!  Even last night at 9pm he convinced daddy to go for a little night swimming, although maybe it was a little “pity swimming” as he was recovering from his first bee sting.  At least I now know that he’s not allergic, thankfully.

 

May gets a two-fer!

Whew! Amazing that it’s barely the middle of May and yet I’ve completed TWO pairs of socks for my KAL. Here are the deets for those who’d like ‘em. :)

Wildflower Day Dreams
This pair is made from that colorful little ball of yarn that I showed you at the end of the last sock post. Came out pretty cute, no? The pattern is Wildflowers, and the yarn is BFL from The Plucky Knitter, in the colorway Day Dreamer. Knit on size 1 dpns (double-pointed needles, non-knitsters)

Wine Under the Tower
These were made for my BFF for her birthday, and thankfully our feet are similar enough in size that I can make socks that differ only slightly in size from mine and they come out just right for her! Everyone else, sorry, unless you’ve got size 7.5 feet, you won’t be getting socks from me. I refuse to make them for anyone that doesnt live in my household…I just need too much “try on” time. This pattern is one that I created myself after finding the Eiffel Tower stitch pattern. I used the stitch pattern over the instep of the sock and subbed in an appropriate cuff, heel, and toe, and voila! An anklet! The yarn is the ever-yummy Dream In Color Smooshy, and the colorway is In Vino Veritas. Knit on size 1 dpns.

If you’d like to look me or my stuff up on Ravelry, I’m Gherkin (of course!).

sock-a-month

over in ravelry-land, there are lots and lots of “knit-a-longs”. for just about every project you could want to knit, there is an “a-long” to join for it…and if there isn’t, you can start one! …and they will join.

due to my growing stash of sock yarns, i joined a knit-a-long (KAL) for socks…i’ve got the link down there on the right in my yarny section. it’s called the “SAM KAL 5″, which is geek for “Sock A Month Knit A Long 5″ (this is the fifth round that these group leaders have organized).

we started in january, and i’m proud to say that i have successfully made a pair of socks for each month so far. although somehow it seems my sock yarn stash hasn’t decreased any…in fact, it’s grown! this KAL has apparently only empowered me to buy more! oh well. ;-)

here are the socks i’ve done so far…

January:
simple eyelet socks, made from inexpensive Wool-ease. even though it isn’t considered the “cream of the crop” as far as yarn is concerned, i have to tell you, they softened up so much after they were washed and i really really love them. i am NOT opposed to using it again for sock yarn. at ALL.

February:
these were made with a wide ribbed pattern that i just made up (really, that’s a lot easier than it sounds, don’t be so impressed tom! *wink*). it was made from a “sub-par” yarn, one that is probably more regarded as a sock yarn than wool-ease, but i’d take wool-ease over this stuff any day…it was like knitting with a brillo pad, and while it softened a little with a wash, they are no where near as cozy as my wool-ease socks.

March:
now these…i’m pretty proud of. see that sock yarn there? i maaaaaaade that. these are my birthday socks. i spun the fiber into a two ply sock yarn and then made the Dublin Bay socks from it. i love how the shading of colors worked out. yay for handspun, handknit socks! (tom…you are allowed to be thoroughly impressed this time)

April:

this month’s sock is in the Charade pattern, and it was made in The Plucky Knitter’s new merino/cashmer/nylon sock yarn in the Ida Red colorway. it is so nice. it’s soft and fuzzy and cozy and smooshy.

May:
this ball of beauty is to become my may pair. i’m using the Wildflowers pattern, and again this is a Plucky creation. it is her old BFL (Blue Faced Leicester – it’s a type of sheep) base yarn in the Day Dreamer colorway.

there you go folks! a little catch-up post. :)

*cricket*

um, if you don’t see me here for a while, i’m on Ravelry….

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

The Deets

You may have seen the Grow With Me shirt that i made at my friend’s site, Making Food Eating Food, where it is being beautifully modeled. Here you’re not going to see it on anything cuter than a hanger, but hey, i can at least tell you a little more about it.

This is a different color variation on the Grow With Me pattern from Knitty (i love you, Knitty!); I used some good ol’ Sugar ‘n’ Cream yarn. The pattern had some MAJOR omissions, and since they have yet to correct that, i will post them for you here (they are from the actual designer, so don’t worry, i didn’t just make something up!). I personally thought this was more along the “tangy” rating than “mellow” due to the colorworking, but maybe it’s just because i was so thrown off by the pattern editing that everything about the bodice became extra difficult.

In order to complete the smocking on the shirt, you need two VITAL pieces of information, so just go ahead and save the pattern to a Word document and add this under the “Bodice” section:

Bodice Set-up Stitch Pattern – *CC – K1, MC – K2* across, CC – K1

Bodice Stitch Pattern – when on WS – *CC – P1, MC – K2* across, CC – P1

you’re welcome.

I **KNIT** Baking

alright, you’ve waited patiently… here they are, in all their knitty goodness, the cupcakes i made for a recent knit group dinner:

are you dying?? are these not the coolest freaking things ever?! i totally did not come up with them, that award goes to the gal over at vegan yum yum. But i did lovingly craft every single one.

Oh by the way, they were vegan, no less. you’re welcome amanda. *wink*

thanks goes to shelly for nudging me closer and closer to the brink of insanity.

how long did this take? that’s probably the number one question i got…followed closely by “do you do this professionally?” Well, i will tell you that this was a FIVE HOUR endeavor, and not for the faint of heart. whew. this was the first time i had ever worked with marzipan, and it definitely won’t be the last, as this has opened up a whole new world of insane decorating ideas, haha!

although right now i think i’m going to go lie down…