It's all about the ruffles

Hello there! I've got something lovely to share today. I finished the Saffron cardigan for my eldest. She was good enough to model it for me today, in the beautiful winter sunshine.

I love this cardigan, and I really enjoyed making it. How great are those ruffles? Super great! Here are the details:

Pattern: Saffron It is $5 which is a bargain. Really, 2 for 1 since I've got to start the second one now, for her sister.

Yarn: Universal Yarn, Double Twist in blush, bought from Webs. The girls picked the color, they love it.


In non-knitting news, the rain just ended after 2 weeks.  Yup, 2 weeks. Ok, maybe it was only 9 days. Anyway, we saw the most gorgeous rainbow ever. It actually ended up as a double rainbow, but I didn't get a chance to capture it as I was racing to work.

And because I couldn't resist this picture of my furry girl loving the sunshine:

 Happy crafting everyone, see you next week!

A bowl made of yarn

Hurray for the weekend!! I've become one of those people that starts counting down for the weekend on Monday. I'm not proud of the fact, but I might as well own it.

Last week I was off work for a few days with a terrible cold/sinus infection that wouldn't leave me alone. I wanted to do some fiber art, but I couldn't think clearly enough to work on any of my projects I have on the go. I decided that I would use up some stash yarn and attempt to crochet myself a yarn bowl.

The logic behind this is that I knit straight from the ball if it is a store bought mass manufactured skein like the one below. I don't bother to rewind them into a ball. I'm waaaaaaaay too lazy. And the oval shaped ball won't fit in my pottery yarn bowl. And it just wasn't working in the basket. So the yarn-yarn bowl was born.

It is a free pattern on Ravelry. The yarn is held double to make it more sturdy. The green yarn is very sturdy, the blue yarn is not. So there is a lot of give in the bowl, but it still works just fine. I hope you have a lovely weekend with lots of wonderful fiber-filled goodness!

Feed the compulsion

Hello!! I have been a bit MIA lately, and it isn't because I'm not knitting. I am, I swear it. I just don't have a lot to show for my efforts. I've completely lost my steam on my Baby Cables because now I'm on the sleeves. I hate sleeves. So slow and painful for me. So I focused on my girls cardigan instead. Only, I tried it on her once I had the sleeves on scrap yarn:

It was too small (too be honest it fit just perfectly, not what I'm going for though). I'm not sure if it was my gauge or my girl, but I decided to frog it and start over with a bigger size. Or, rather, two sizes bigger. I want her to be able to wear it for more than 6 months! Here is where I'm at now:

I've also cast on a hat-- a free pattern on Ravelry called Dizzy. I'm using some stash yarn that is 30% wool. The other day I was in a total knitting funk (it had to do with waiting on needles to arrive in the mail so I could do that runched part of the cardigan above) and they didn't arrive (I ended up making a special trip into town to buy a different set) and I wanted to work on SOMETHING. I got really stressed out and annoying about it, until Dave finally just looked at me and said, "knit some more hats for charity." He's brilliant sometimes. Not too far yet, but it is fun:

And that's me for WIP's this week. Take care, see you on Friday. I finally have a FO to share!

WIP

Straight after work today I got in the car and drove to the pharmacy to stock up on cold medicine.  You just know when a cold is hitting, and today is that day for me. So before I'm laid up and useless, here are my WIP's this week:

Almost done with the body of my Baby Cables top. Still love it. Can't wait for the sleeves.

And because I finished my crochet scrap blanket, I had to cast on another project. This is Saffron, by Elena Nodel. It is a lovely cardigan with a rippled edge. So this is 1 of 2 that I will need to complete so each of my daughters can have one. Yes, they picked the pink yarn, which is less salmon looking than in my late-at-night-picture shows it to be.

Now I'm going to lie down and contemplate the pain of swallowing. And perhaps think about knitting a quick hat for the school scarecrow, because apparently he needs a bit of spruce up. Take care everyone!!

Scrap Blanket

Ever work on a project you didn't expect to like and then didn't want it to end? That's my scrap blanket. It is wonky (I really don't get crochet apparently) and I love it still. It has made me so happy, this blanket, that I'm sad it is done. However I AM excited I can now use it, and so are the girls:

The pattern is free on Ravelry.

Sad girl because her sister is hogging the blanket. Shouldn't have made me smile, but it did.

Also, I wanted to share these fun stained glass cookies. Pretty much just sugar cookies with the centre cut out and boiled sweets melted inside them. A hit at the kids disco this week.

Working on a favorite

Well here we are at WIP Wednesday once again! I've been pretty faithful to my Baby Cables top, and I'm almost ready to divide the sleeves. Progress isn't fast, I'm still trying to adjust to my complete lack of knitting time now that I'm working full time again. I like working, but I still long for the days when I could knit to my hearts content. I do so love the weekend. 

When my brain is too tired to follow a pattern I work on my scrap blanket. I'm glad to be making progress on that too. As an added bonus, it keeps me warm as I work on it as the days grow colder. I love a multi-function project! How will I know when it is done? Well my scrap pile is rapidly dwindling!

It isn't the prettiest thing ever, and I think that makes me love it all the more. This one is already earmarked for the comfy chair in my craft room. Motivation to get it done!

I wish you happy crafting and pleasant weather! Thanks for stopping by.

Twisted

Hello! I can't believe it is May already. Time has been flying as a rapid rate. I've been having a great time working on my Baby Cables top, even though about 17 rows in this happened:

 

I know, you can't tell what the problem is, but there is a twist. How long have I been knitting? Years. I should certainly know better than to wait 17 rows to make sure I don't have a twist when I joined in the round. Ah well, live and learn. I was actually perfectly happy to start over, as now I know what I'm doing, and I got to fix the stitch that was bothering me way back in row one. In all honestly, row 1 and 2 of a project are my least favorite.

I've made some good progress since then, and I've moved past where I was when I ripped it out. Things are looking better.

Does anyone else sit in front of the computer and knit? I watch shows, chat to my family. It is where my favorite knitting chair lives, and the place I knit most often. 

This was us at the weekend. I was sewing the dog a new bed (the bluish-teal thing) and cleaning out the craft boxes. The girls were helping (ha!) by beading and knitting. 

That's all from me for now, Happy Crafting!