Shop Update

Just updated the shop with some new colorways, and fiber!

FO Friday: My first hand spun!

So I haven't finished anything in a while. Spending all of your free time in the dye studio doesn't really leave a lot of time or energy for knitting. This is a bit strange for me.  Add to that the fact that I have 6 projects currently on the needles, and none of them near completion, and I feel like I haven't accomplished anything at all over the past month. 

Then I realized that I did get something finished, it just didn't feel like it because it's yarn!

2 Dye 4 Tuesday: Introducing Adventures In Yarncraft on Fiber!

It's funny how things evolve isn't it?  As I mentioned before I took a spinning class and started spindling a couple of months ago. As a result of this I ended up joining the Central Ohio Weavers Guild. I know I know, I don't weave, but they also spin and knit, in fact I learned at one of the gatherings that they actually have more spinners than weavers in the guild.

Catching Up with Some Enabling

So it's been awhile since I had a decent post, so now I have some catching up to do.  I may have tripped a bit over wanting all of the things, but I'm really happy with all of my recent acquisitions.

Shop Update!

I just posted some new colorways in the shop!  Click on the photo to check them out!

Don't forget to use the coupon code HOLIDAY20 for 20% off your entire order now through 11/22/13!

Shop Update and Coupon Code!!!

The shop has just been updated with some Holiday inspired colorways.  Click on the photo below to check out the shop, and use the coupon code HOLIDAY20 for 20% off your entire purchase now through 11/22/13!

WIP Wednesday: Dragon Fire Pullover, More Stripey Socks, and Some ColorSamples

I know it's been a while, but I have made quite a bit of progress on my Dragon Fire Pullover. I am well into the lace dragon and have just divided for the sleeves and am currently am working back and forth on the back.

Autumn Fiber Festival: Stash Enhancement!

While the rest of the knitting world had their eyes on Rhinebeck, NY this weekend, I spent most of the day Saturday at the Autumn Fiber Festival in Ashland, OH. (That's about 1 hour away from where I live, Rhinebeck is more like 9 hours.).

Shop Update!

I officially have yarn in the shop!  Click on the picture above to check it out.  I hope you enjoy.

FO Friday: A Stripey Ball Sack

Yes you read that right, this cute little pattern is called the Ball Sack by Jennifer Sugarman. And, as the name implies it is a sack to hold your center pull yarn ball (cake).

WIP Wednesday: Dragon Fire Pullover

I have been chomping at the bit to start this sweater ever since I saw the pattern in my Ravelry Pattern Recommendations. It became even harder to resist after I picked out the perfect yarn in June.

FO Friday: Hallowig

All finished is the Hallowig by Megan Reardon.  I made this on US size 8/5 mm needles with some left over Red Heart With Love from a couple of previous projects. 

WIP Wednesday: Hallowig

For the past few weeks I've been pretty distracted from my knitting, now that I'm splitting time with the dye studio. I have however been working on the Hallowig pattern by Megan Reardon from the Fall 2004 issue of Knitty.

FO Friday: Stripey Socks and Some Yarny Goodness

I had every intention of having these socks done by Tuesday to be in time for some Knit-A-Long's that ended on Sept 30th. I sort of got sucked into the dye pot this weekend and didn't get to work on them mich at all. By Sunday night I was about three inches in on the second sock. So I decided to buckle down on Monday and get them finished by the Midnight deadline. I worked on them all day from the time I woke up with only a few short breaks, you know to eat and whatnot. I was so close but as I hit the point where I needed to start decreasing for the toe, I looked up at the clock and it was 11:55 pm. 

Fail.  I was so sore and tired I just dropped the sock and went to bed. It remained in timeout for a few days and yesterday I was finally motivated to finish them. You know, so I would have something to show today. I absolutely love them! Even though I've been wearing them all day, and they are now completely covered I white dog hair, I still can't stop looking at them.  

FO Friday: Entrelac Birthday Blanket

I didn't quite make it in time for her party on Saturday, as is evidenced by this photo (the main body was done, but I was still working on getting all of the ends woven in and the border done), but I promised my daughter that I would have it done in time for her actual birthday on Monday. I had it finished and waiting for her when she got off the bus from school. 

WIP Wednesday: Dark Chocolate Raspberry Latte Socks

I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am to be working on these socks. I feel like for the past two months I have worked on nothing but mass produced acrylic yarn. After returning from the Wool Gathering with some new lovely, smooshy, soft, natural and hand dyed yarns, and realizing how I didn't have anything that fell into this category on the needles I couldn't help but cast on. 

A Wool Gathering: Stash Enhancement

As I mentioned on Thursday, this weekend was the Wool Gathering at Young's Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs, OH.  Check out all the awesome stuff I got and feel free to be enabled yourself!

WIP Wednesday: Entrelac Blanket 2.0

My daughter's birthday party on Saturday so I have been pretty much exclusively working on this blanket for the last two weeks. It has probably doubled in size since the last time I showed it and I think I am only going to do one or two more color repeats. 

2Dye4 Tuesday: Sample Skeins with Acid Dyes

So it's been a week since I last posted. This is mainly due to the fact that starting Tuesday afternoon I had a three day migraine. Subsequently, there was very little to no knitting at all last week. Hence, the lack of posts. This weekend I was feeling better and earlier in the week I got my commercial acid dyes in the mail.

2Dye4 Tuesday: Food Coloring Hand Paint

I've been waiting on some commercial acid dyes to come in the mail and reading a bunch of books and websites on hand dyeing and decided to try out hand painting with food coloring. This is the result!    I mixed the colors myself with the little food coloring we had left in the house.

YIR: Swirl Hat and Chalice Baby Blanket

 And now for a little more year in review.

Up first is this lovely Swirl Hat by Mandie Harrington.

FO Friday: Redd Shawl, a Pumpkin Hat, and a Knitty Noddy

Well I got more accomplished this week than I thought I did. First up is the finished shawl for my husbands grandmother. He and the kids are off to Montana next week and now he's all prepared for her 95th birthday celebration. 

WIP Wednesday: Absolutely Adorable Pumpkin Hat

This week I have been working on this adorable pumpkin hat. It is based on the Punkin Head pattern by Tara Thomsen.

2Dye4 Tuesday: Immersion Dyeing with Kool-Aid and Food Coloring

So lately I've been itching to try my hand at dyeing my own yarn. I really want to try acid dyes, but I thought that before I spent a bunch of money on the dyes and pots to use since once you use acid dyes the pots should not be used for food again, I decided to start out with some stuff I had around the house just to make sure I liked it.  

FO Friday: Stripey Socks and a Little Bit of Swag

Yay! My socks are finished!  I finished kitchenering the toe and wove in the ends just before bed on Tuesday night. These were my first pair of top down socks and I really enjoyed them. This is the Harvest Dew pattern by Rosé Hiver in Premier Yarns Serenity Sock Weight in the Pink Sugar colorway. 

WIP Wednesday: The Red Redd Shawl

My husbands grandmother is turning 95 this year, and his grandfather is turning 98. They live in Montana and have yet to meet our son. So the dear hubby is taking the kids and flying out for a visit with them. Since they are going to be there right around his grandmothers birthday Dan asked me to make her something. As he likes to say he is the management, His mother is the investor since she graciously paid for the yarn and I'm the labor. 

YIR: Ruffle Skirt

After the hustle and bustle of Christmas was finally over, I was wandering through Big Lots one day and stumbled on some yarn. It's super cheap and completely unmarked as to what it is.

FO Friday: It's Finally Finished!!!

After, what felt like an eternity, and no less than three return trips to the store to buy more yarn, the Tunisian Entrelac Blanket is finally finished!

WIP Wednesday: Striped Socks and Another Entrelac Blanket?

First up on my needles this week is the Harvest Dew socks by Rose Hiver. After working on big projects almost exclusively for the last month I needed something small and portable so I dug some yarn out of my stash.

Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair: Stash Enhancement!

The Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair was this weekend and of course I couldn't resist. In fact I've been eagerly awaiting it and squirreling money away here and there to be able to do some shopping. This is my first fiber show and I hope it's the first of many to come. I got to meet a lot of great people and had a blast. Check out all the stuff I got!

WIP Wednesday: More Progress on the Blanket

Well, I'm still working on this mammoth. I have done approximately 5 rounds since last week. Only 2.5 and the border to go!  

YIR: Post-Christmas Knitting

As I mentioned in my last Year In Review post I was planning on taking a little break from knitting after frantically finishing my last gift at midnight on Christmas Eve. No such luck.

FO Friday: Spa Cloth Set and Seamless Salomas

I have finished the set of spa cloths. One in each color, one three color and a mini three color just because I had that much yarn left. They were a great exercise in the three different Tunisian crochet stitches that the pattern calls for. 

I know, I know, what in the world is this thing?  

YIR: Christmas Knitting 2012

It's time for some more year in review.  I have brought you up to Thanksgiving so far. About 2 days before thanksgiving I decided that it would be an awesome idea to knit all of my family a pair of mittens or gloves for Christmas. I had just enrolled in the Craftsy course Mittens and Gloves Galore with Marly Bird.  Just to be clear, that's 6 pairs of gloves in one month. I gathered up everyone's hand

WIP Wednesday: Tunisian Entrelac Blanket 2.0

Well of all the projects I'm currently working on, this is still the only one I can talk about here. I have made a bit more progress on this one (another round and a half). Yesterday I realized that I only have 2 weeks left until my son's birthday which means crunch time. I rounded up all of the yarn I am going to need from this point forward and as you can see from the photo, I still have a long way to go. Wsh me luck!

What are you working on this week?

Twinkies are Back!!!!!

OK, so this has absolutely nothing to do with yarn, but it is totally awesome!   I was just at the grocery store and turned into the snacks isle and there, gleaming like a beacon in front of me, we're the Twinkies, along with the chocolate cupcakes we all love. Needless to say, I bought some and as I write this am about to try my first one. Drumroll please..........

And they're just as awesome as I remember. I feel like Woody Harrelson at the end of Zombie Land when his continuous search for a Twinkie finally comes to an end. Bring on the Zombie apocalypse. Now I'm ready. 

Yarn Club and More Year in Review

I just signed up for my first yarn club!  What is a yarn club you ask?  

FO Friday: Spa Cloth

As far as finished objects go this has been kind of a sad week.  Since everything I am currently working on is rather large and I have been forced to take more breaks than usual due to an injured thumb, it became obvious that I would have nothing to talk about today. So, since my CotLin yarn arrived the other day I decided to start my spa cloth project,

Stash Enhancement and the Swag Bag: Knit Picks

Yay, my Knit Picks order has arrived!  It took a little longer to get here than expected considering I live about 10 minutes from their warehouse (they really need to look into offering a local pickup option), but it's here.

WIP Wednesday: Tunisian Entrelac Blanket

Here is one of my current WIPs. Unfortunately I can't show any of the others at this point as they are Christmas gifts for family. 

I know what you're going to say, this looks like knitting.  Actually it is Tunisian crochet, using the Tunisian knit stitch, which from the front looks exactly like knitting!  It uses quite a bit more yarn than knitting but the wrong side avoids the ridges created in traditional knitted entrelac on the wrong side of the fabric. This makes it particularly well suited for a blanket where the wrong side will be

Return of the Blogger

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole year since my last post. I started keeping my 2 year old son at home with me and he took pretty much all of my attention!  He's a little older now and is a bit more independent, so I'm back!

Since it's been a while and I can't talk about some of my current projects right now, I'm going to spend some time catching up on the last year. 

First up, I finished the Basket Weave Scarf for my husband.