Lazy Morning

Good morning! Is there anything nicer on a weekend morning than a nice tea latte and some quiet crochet time?

I'm almost finished this shawl for my cousin- on the last row. Then I have a wedding blanket to get to- the wedding is in two weeks, I need to start some serious hooking! Once those two projects are done... I'm down to 10 projects on the go! Holy cow.
It's amazing how much more productive I am now that I have a job- even though I spend so many hours at work, I come home focused and get stuff done.

Speaking of get stuff done- this weekend I got to two sewing projects! I finally made this bag for all my toiletries. I was using two small bags that never quite held enough. This one will hold everything from makeup to toothbrush to shampoo. And don't you love the fabric?
I also made another floofy frilly tulle skirt. I still need to add lining to the first one I made. It's a white skirt, and without a slip underneath it's rather revealing. This one is pink and fluffy and I love it. I still have one more to make- it will be a little less fluff and a lot more silky grey layered pretty.

Time for some Netflix and breakfast, and to finish the very last row of this shawl!

Confectionary

Happy Friday!

I had a lovely time after work meeting up with my best friend for dinner and a nice wander around downtown. She also brought the cardigan I made her and modeled it for a little photoshoot. Now I finally have some good pictures for my newest design, the Confectionary Cardigan

Isn't she a lovely model?

Little Things

Good morning!

I went to bed early last night and woke up with enough time to accomplish things, like emptying and loading the dishwasher. What an exciting life I live. I also realized I finally had a spare moment to update my blog. I've been off overtime for almost two weeks now and am finally starting to catch up on... everything outside of work. It was about time I came back here.

I've been working on a lot of little projects lately. Things that are perfect for working on while commuting, things I can pick up on my 10 minute breaks.

Like this series of headbands- simple, pretty things and also useful. They hold all my flyaway ends down and don't hurt my brain like a hard headband does.

I have finished some bigger projects too, like this cowl I made. It's just slightly too short, despite vigorous stretching while blocking- but I'll continue to stretch it and hope for the best. It's really soft and nice to wear, although thankfully it's finally too warm for it.

This spring hat is something I made to use the rainbow yarn I bought on my Lake Placid trip years ago- my coworker liked it so much I made her one. She knit me a cowl I've been wanting it return. Win-win!

This baby blanket was something I started awhile ago to use up scrap cotton. It was really a nice quick project, and I'm pleased with how it came out. I still need to block it, though.

I got into making widdle baby socks for a few days, and made these two pairs. The first was from a pattern that I converted to slip stitch, and I didn't really like that three row afterthought heel, so the second pair just got a simple heel worked in. I might write up a little pattern for them.
Also, I can't talk about dem wifout cawwing dem widdle baby socks...

This is a scrap shawl project I started to go through some of my fingering scraps, inspired by this Pin. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but I'm not very far.

And last but not least, the wedding blanket I'm making for an upcoming wedding.

The last several pictures were all quickly snapped with my new cell phone- I finally got a cool phone and I'm very excited about it. Hopefully it will keep me updating!

Finishing Objects

It's been a good year for me so far. I have a good satisfying job with long term potential, even if I did end up working yesterday (I'll get my Saturdays back some time!). I have a happy marriage. I'm finally beginning to tidy my cluttered little apartment a little bit. And I've stuck to all my hooky goals this year!

I've been finishing instead of starting to the extent that I've only started (and finished) two small projects since I made my finishing resolution. This hooker has also not purchased a single ball of yarn this year. I admit, I'll need to get a blanket quantity for a wedding present before the year is out, but that purchase was included in the goal. It means I haven't broken the yarn diet even a little bit. I'm proud!

I've been working on these socks this week, and it's been nice to have a project that goes by so quickly. I pulled out the heel on the first one because I realized that I was putting too many stitches from the foot and not adding enough chains at the back. It was causing the socks I make to pull across the top. Even with just that first row of heel, I can already tell it's going to be more comfy.

I should have these socks finished this week, and that knocks my current WIPs down from 17 to 16! That means I have only 9 left to go until I hit my goal of 7. Not too shabby for someone who started with 25 projects. This is the halfway point. Now, to be fair I have a lot of time consuming projects left. Not all of them are going to take that long, though. I think I can do it in the first half of the year.

This picture doesn't show all the WIPs or all the finished projects, but it's nice to see some of what I've finished already.

After the big long sweater project that I worked on very diligently, I needed something fast and simple to cleanse my crochet palette. I started this scarf a few years ago intending it to be a Christmas present for my brother. I then ran out of time and decided it was much too warm for someone who lives in a very warm climate. It sat half finished for a long time, so I pulled it from the WIP pile and  knocked it out. It was nice to work on something that went by so quickly!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make a cup of tea and get a bit of sock finished before I head out to my hockey game.

Good morning sunshine!

It has been an absolutely frigid winter. Two pairs of pants and four layers on top in the cold hallway where I work.

Thankfully I have lots of wooly things to keep me warm. How does everyone else do it?

These had been unfinished for ages, but I really needed something to keep my hands warm and couldn't find my other fingerless gloves that had partial fingers. It's also nice to finally have them done!

The big excitement for me was finishing this sweater over the weekend. I've been working on it since May on and off, and it's one of those projects that felt like it would never be done.
Above is before blocking.

This is after the first blocking- I decided it was too loose blocked like this, so I reblocked it and made it somewhere between the two. I might just lay it flat and let it sit like the unblocked sweater because I like the collar shape in the top photo, but for now it's a drapey collar and a snugger bodice.

I love this sweater! I had to pull the sleeves out so many times- I easily pulled out a whole sleeve and then some figuring the first one out. But now they're perfect- not too tight, not too loose. They fit with no sleeves underneath, or with a light layer. They also fit inside a heavier sweater.

It's almost time for me to leave for work, where I'm excited to show off the finished sweater to my knitting coworker, and to the people who watched me working on it over lunch the last few months. Now to add some layers on top.

A Lot Of Sunrises

It's hard to believe it's only been a month since my last post. A lot has happened to me. The big news is that I got a new job. It's been great so far- I like the work, and the people and company both seem pretty great. The downside is that until we move to our permanent home in March, I commute about 3-4 hours a day. I have to wake up very early, and I don't have a lot of time at home.

I do see a lot of gorgeous sunrises, now. So that's one thing.

I've actually been getting a lot of crocheting done on my commute, and at lunch breaks. My new work friend is a knitter, so we're starting up a yarn club at the studio. I don't have a lot of time to take pictures of anything, because I'm so rarely home when it's light out!

I made my friend a snuggly winter neckwarmer tube like mine. She hates the cold, so I thought something warm would make it better and be a reminder that I love her!

And this super sweet hat was a baby shower present for a friend who just had the most darling little girl. Hopefully it'll keep her head warm this winter :)

Stash Flash!

So I spent many hours today pulling out every single ball in my stash and sorting through it. It took a long time and was exhausting... but fun, too. I enjoyed going through it. Got rid of a bunch, got a bunch ready to give away. Found some with signs of moth issues, and some stuff that just got tossed. All of the yarn I've kept is stuff I'm pretty sure about wanting to use.

This is all of it dumped onto the couch.

This if all of my acrylic and man made yarns.

Here is all of my cottons.

This is my little fibre spinning stash. I intend to never let it get bigger than this- I'm a slow spinner. I only finish a few projects a year. 6 kinds of fibre waiting to be spun is as much as I ever want!

This is all of my animal fibres and blends. Yummy wools.

Here is all the animal fibre sorted by colour.

More views of the delicious yarn.

I love all of this yarn so much.

This is the frog pile- stuff on the right is wips I had forgotten about that I'm pretty sure I'm going to finish. I'll need to add them to the wip-down.

This is all my scraps and partial balls.

And then I had to take some silly pictures of lying on the yarn.

I love my yarn, but I am ready to stash down. I am very much glad that I have all of it, and I loved all the great sales I got when the store closed. But now my stash is bigger than I want and I'm ready to make it smaller.
So... this year, I'm going cold sheep. No buying new yarn this year, except anything that I need for gifts that are leaving the house. If I get through the year without buying yarn, I'll buy myself some of the seasilk I've been dying to get for years. Wish me luck!