Hexipuff #47-51 or Batts to Hats

Batts to hats was so much fun!  The weather was great under our tent and the best part of the day was to just be able to hang out with such awesome people.  The competition kicked off at 1:15pm and the spinners were off.  It took my partner about an hour to spin around two ounces into a thick single for me to crochet.  She stopped halfway through and wound the singles into a ball and then the baton was passed.  I had a pattern in mind when I started but then pressure set in and I lost count.  I feared that my original beanie idea had to go and it turned into a slouchy baby beret instead.

At about three o'clock, I finished my last round of single crochets and was declared the winner!  I was super psyched mostly because I was doing a lot of yarny trash talk before hand and didn't want to seem like I was all talk :-D.  The other three teams did an awesome job too.  They made the pointy elf hat from one of the last minute knitted gifts book.  Everyone's fiber looked great spun up and the color choices were beautiful.

I got to choose my prize and of course, like the addict that I am, I had to scoop up the rainbow pack of mini skeins to take the edge off my hexipuff addiction.  The mini skeins and the fiber that we used to spin and make the hat were from Holiday Yarns.

I also was able to finish up a yellow mini skein (from Holiday Yarns too) and have raised my hexipuff total to 51 puffs.  I am halfway to my goal of 100!

Now, what shall I do with the left over hand spun?  I'm thinking some short but hip wrist warmers or perhaps ear warmers?

Something to talk about..

 My due date is quickly approaching and I feel like my nesting is crossing over into my crafting now.  As I predicted, all those projects I started on a whim seem like they're hanging over my head like, hey, you know you wanna finish me before the baby is born, right?  Anywho, I'm almost done with spinning up my Sunflowers fiber from Clover Leaf Farms.  I have probably an ounce left to spin and then I will 2 ply that puppy... I hope.  Michael really likes how it's spinning up and wants a hat out of it.  I think he likes it because it looks so much like my hair color; he wants to join the redhead club and  I suppose wearing this hat will help him fit in.  Maybe he won't have to worry about possibly being out numbered.  We'll see if baby number two will be a redhead soon enough!

 I got this skein of Holiday Yarn Flock sock yarn at my local yarn store's destash sale.  It was such a brilliant idea.  What you did was bring in anything from your stash that you weren't crazy about anymore and price it to sell.  Whatever sold is kept as store credit to use on future purchases.  Lucky for me, I did pretty well and decided to purchase the skein below with some of my credit.  I'm not sure what to do with these pretty skeins but I'm in love with the base that Jennifer uses.

Currently, I'm working on a shawl for a KAL with my lys, the fiber above, and some fingerless mitts.  The shawl must've been ripped out at least thirty times because my baby brain has been a major road block in my crafting lately.  Last night at knit night, I finally got on track with the help of my wonderful friends and teeny stitch markers.  I'm about ten rows in using the yarn that I dyed at the retreat from March.  As soon as I post this entry, I will finish up the Sunflowers fiber and then wait a few days to ply it.  Lastly, the fingerless mitts were a slow start too but that's only because I had to learn how to do a provisional cast-on and how to pick up stitches oh, and how to use DPNs.  I know I use double pointed needles for my hexipuffs but you only really need two to make the puff magic happen.  I had all five needles out and ready for the mitts and I was impressed that making all those hexipuffs really helped me to be comfortable with the mitts project.  Two projects that are on the back burner are the puffs and an amigurumi project I started a few weeks ago.  I realized, as I was crocheting all the body parts, eww, I have to sew these together and immediately put the project back in its bag and far away from my living room.  I just don't care to assemble anything right now besides I have to make a few more pieces before I can even begin to finish it up.

This weekend, my last fiber hurrah will be taking place at the Yarn Cupboard (duh!).  Me and my partner, Angela, are on a team to make a hat from a batt of fiber.  One person spins fiber and the other knits/crochets up a hat.  The team that finishes or makes the most progress wins a prize.  The weather is supposed to be all right for tomorrow and I'm so excited to craft outside in this perfect temperature.  I'll post details sometime this week, unless baby has other plans.

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!  I hope you have some time to craft a little in the beautiful weather.

Rangling in the cowls

 Here it is!  The Gap-tastic Cowl that took my novice knitting self forever and a friggin' day to complete.  After ripping and restarting a multitude of times, I was into a groove.  I thought I'd get all fancy and go to a couple of knit nights with this project.  Unfortunately, while I was chatting away, I messed up the seed stitch pattern and the last few rows looked like crap.  Then when I was at the end of the third ball, I took another look at it and saw that my yarn joins also looked like crap.  That's when I decided to rip it all out again, and spent all of this past Saturday redoing it.  I promised my sister a cowl on Saturday and dang it, she was going to get it!

Judging by the awesome photo, I'm pretty sure my sister loves it!  I loved it too.  I used Rowan Big Wool that we picked out at the Yarn Cupboard with the help of the owner, Susan.  Three balls did the trick for the cowl even though the pattern calls for the cowl to be fifteen inches wide.  The finished width turned out to be around 10 inches or so.  

Now, I have another order for my darling cousin.  I just found out her birthday bash is this Friday so, I need to bust a move on the Martha Cowl Scarf I was planning on making for her.  Thankfully, it's crochet so I can really pick up the pace.

And yes, I found some time to do a little spinning today.  Very soothing and very satisfying.  Pictures to come.  I am nearly done with the rest of the 4 ounces!

Photos by Ammerican Photography

Photo Shoot

Some of my projects went on a photo shoot the other day....

Shawl from Hell turned Scarf from Hell

Pattern from Lion Brand - Afghan Squared

Pattern on the fly

I think I have a crush on Jill Draper...

Purchase #1 from Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC

Purchase #2 from Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC

Purchase #3 from Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC

 

 

 

Little luxuries...

Thank you to Ammerican Photography for capturing my yarny goodness.

BFL, WPI, LYS, and Hexipuffs..OMG!

Today, I picked up a few things from my favorite local yarn store, the Yarn Cupboard, with Hazel.  Thankfully,  Hazel seemed to be very into the button containers and I was able to pick out some rainbow-esque blue-faced leicester from the Great Adirondack trunk show.  I also picked up the Beekeeper's Quilt pattern by Tiny Owl Knits along with some double pointed needles and a WPI (wrap per inch) tool kit to measure up the yarn I spin!  Here are the goods:

Let my hexipuff craze BEGIN!

Some BFL from Great Adirondack

The BFL from another angle..

October for ME!

Something little for me and to quench my Owl Obsession.  This is from Ysolda Teague's hoot! pattern.  It took me the WHOLE month to do the cables.  Luckily, I have very nice friends at spin night at the Yarn Cupboard who have lots o' patience.  Thank you, Julie!

Had to edit to include my learned knitting task of the month and you guessed it; it's cables!

Top 10

Why I love the Yarn Cupboard ever so much:

1.  The owner.  She's awesome!!!

2.  The location.  10 minutes away from home!

3.  mmmm....fiber....

4.  SPIN NIGHT!

5.  Knit night...which I plan on going to one of these days!

6.  The people I've met during spin night

7.  The selection of local yarns

8.  I get to try out spinning wheels

9.  Once I make the final selection for a wheel, I get continued support.

10.  Did I mention I just love Susan, the owner?

Here's what I picked up the other day with a gift certificate from my darling sister:

Another Ashford spindle

Some sock yarn minis to join in the hexipuff craze!

In Stitches Trip

 I used my groupon to In Stitches last week!  I put it towards  purchasing some Noro yarn.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I LOVE IT!

These 3 skeins are going to eventually become a sweater pattern that I saw in one of those Noro books.  I wish I could get a better picture to show on here but it will be an awesome finished product.  I'm not a fan of the pattern name but it's referred to as YS506 and the designer is Junko Isaji.  I'm want to begin this sweater some time in the fall when I hope to be a bit more confident in making a garment. 

It also looks as if I'm shawl bound starting tomorrow.  Thanks to my most loyal peeps for voting!

2 reasons

Here are two reasons why my husband is the best:

1. He bought me a certificate for a manicure, pedicure or massage combo.
2. He bought me a certificate to get some yarn from In Stitches, a yarn shop in Manlius, New York

P.S.  God bless Living Social

10 days 'til Tivoli