Finishing some things up...

 Here is some more progress on the Colorblock Shawl.  I do enjoy working with this yarn but...

 ...even a change of scenery can't make me knit this fast enough!  It's a great pattern but I feel like I'm really slogging along on it.  Shame on me!

Shoulder Warmer sans cowl

 I seamed and finished crocheting my Rustically Elegant Shoulder Warmer in the crochet-a-long hosted by my buddy, Denise.  This pattern is so much fun!  I also went and got the perfect buttons for the neck.  Obviously photos of the final product all nicey nice are on the way!

Then I decided this lil' guy needed a crocheted beard.  I modified a fellow Raveler's idea for the beard to make it a little longer.  I am pretty pleased with how it came out!

Affection to the max!

 It's been a while but as you can see, I've been quite busy.  I'm still working on a Colorblock Shawl for fellow Ravelry/Instagram friend, Jennifer.  I love how it looks so far and I'm pleased with my color choices.

 This shawl is working up pretty quick with my Knit Picks Telemark yarn in the colorways of Caution and Heathered Cilantro.  It's a DK weight yarn which I rarely have in my stash but I scored quite a bit of this yarn at a destash sale from my LYS.

 The pattern is very easy and it's straight garter stitch all the way along with M1s two stitches before the end.  I am about 9 inches in and have already added my second color.  I'm excited to see how it looks on me when it's all set.

 Speaking of shawls, I have finished my first ever knitted shawl, in fingering weight AND in multiple colors!!  Voilà, my Color Affection!!!!  I love it so much I wear it all the time!

 In the car on the way to work and knit night....

 Walking on the way to the Yarn Cupboard retreat to look at the goodies at the market... You get the idea.  I absolutely loved this pattern and have already started plotting what color scheme to make next!  This was so much fun to make; it had all I wanted in a pattern, interest, short rows, and garter stitch!

 In other news, I got some goodies from my dealer, I mean, friend, Angela to help with my Hexipuff addiction which hasn't been quite as strong but I'm abouts to fall off the wagon again and get puffin'.

 She also gave me two sweaters that she made for her son but he's long since outgrown.  These will be put away for Angelo and maybe Haze could even rock them this winter too....

 Just when I thought I had enough of amigurumi, a cute pattern comes along and I must bust out the crochet hook.  This pattern is an elephant called Padma.  You can find the pattern right here in four parts.  This will probably be for my coworker's new baby, that is if I can wrestle it away from Hazel who has claimed it her own.  But so far it's been two days and she is guarding it like a hawk.  Damn.  

 Here is a shot of Padma all finished.  I really liked this pattern because there was minimal sewing of body parts.  I loved how she had you crochet the parts into the rounds making it virtually seamless and painless.  I didn't get the ears quite right but I'm keeping it as is. I used some Patons Wool for all the parts.

Lastly, I was on Instagram, and stumbled across Circle B Alpacas.  I went to their website and signed up for a free fiber sample.  The sent me two little puffs of fluff.  Check them out and get a sample while you're at it!

What the Easter Bunny made....

This is my little girl wearing her crocheted Deanna Jumper in Berroco Vintage DK.  This pattern is from the book Comfort Knitting & Crochet: Babies & Toddlers that the Berroco Design Team put out this past year.  I want to make everything in this book!  I love the mix of knit and crochet items too.

This is me and my little man.  He's wearing the toddler t-shirt vest by Sam Lamb.  It was a little big but I'm excited that he will be able to wear it again in the winter.  He doesn't look too thrilled about it in the photo but he did have a little cold coming on, poor baby. 

Now, I'm being totally monogamous and working on my Color Affection shawl:

I apologize for the poor lighting, so consider it a sneak peak.  I have one more repeat to go and the border and then I'll be rocking this like it's my job!

Voilà, my first knitted garment!

Whoohoo!  I made this little guy for my little guy!  The pattern is from fellow blogger Sam Lamb.  I used only one skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease in the colorway of wheat to whip up the Toddler T-Shirt Vest.  Yeah, Angelo is almost 10 months but I am pretty sure it's going to fit.  Sam has a ton of cute baby patterns on her blog and they are all free!  The only way I strayed from the pattern was that I used DPNs the whole time because I didn't have a small enough circular needle to make it happen.  I am very pleased with the final product and I can't wait to see Ang in it for Easter and Hazey rocking her crocheted frock.  Glamor shots to follow!

Change in plans

In my last post I was planning on doing another knit-a-long with some Lion Brand Angora Merino yarn in such a pretty pink and gray but unfortunately, I didn't have enough yarn in either color to do Jenn's pattern justice.  So I went stash diving again and found some Knit Picks Telemark that I forgot I had!

I do enjoy Knit Picks.  Yea for destash sales!

I have plenty of both colors so there will be no worrying when I finally sit down and start the Colorblock Shawl!  I also used the Caution colorway to knit some fingerless mitts for my buddy, René, who has 4 blogs now!  Holey Moley, where have I been?

Thank goodness this is worsted yarn or I may never finish before Easter!

Actually I know where I've been.  Piled under a ton of WIPs that are bringing me great pleasure.  I am trying to finish this little babeh sweater for Angelo before Easter so that he'll be rocking some handmade goodness with his sister.

Knit night last week - yarn, sticky notes, row counter

I'm also hanging in there on the Color Affection shawl knit-a-long.  I am on the third section where I add my last color (Badger Black) and, oh my goodness.  So pretty.  I highly recommend this pattern to anyone that knits!  So much fun!  (I think I may have mentioned this before!)

I'm still working on Denise's Rustically Elegant Shoulder Warmer.  I have to wind another skein of Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool so that I can keep going.   And lastly, I finished spinning up some fiber that I blogged about a few posts ago.  All I need to do is wind a center pull ball and ply that puppy up!  Pictures coming soon!  Gotta bug the hubby about that!

NatCroMo!

We are right in the middle of National Crochet Month and I have been working on some crochet projects in honor of the mighty hook.  Above is my gnome that I whipped up in a couple of days in an amigurumi crochet-a-long with some buddies who are obsessed with Instagram and Ravelry, like me.  I used Plymouth Dream Baby DK and some Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool (for the face).  I used clay to make the eyes and glued them on with some fabric glue.  I cut out some white felt for the beard and was seriously considering just crocheting a beard but decided not to.  I may do that in the future though because as I've been looking at him, I noticed his beard needs to be longer.

Secondly, this was my progress a couple of days ago in another CAL (crochet a-long for you fiber muggles out there!) with my friend Denise's Ravelry group.  The group voted on patterns designed by Denise and the Rustically Elegant Shoulder Warmer was the winner.  I must confess that I wasn't one of the members that voted for this pattern but I dug into my stash and found more Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool in the Oatmeal colorway and cast on.  

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  

I love this pattern so much!  It's a fun crochet and I love the unique design that will come from it.  I told Denise that this will be my go to wrap especially during the winter months in my classroom where they sometimes "forget" to keep the heat on.

Are there any hookers out there?  What are you making for NatCroMo?? :-)

WIPs Ahoy

I must not have gotten the memo about the clocks moving forward and the fact that I have a job and two kids because I just keep adding more projects to the WIP list.  This will either be really fun and I will have a ton of FOs or... let's not think of what comes after the or.

Here's what I am planning to work on:

 This is a mix of Plymouth Dream Baby DK and some Lion Brand Cotton-ease.  It will eventually become a gnome using a pattern by Else Tennessen.  This is one of two CAL in our Ravelry group, Instagramalongers.  The second project will be using the yarn below.  It's some Patons wool in the color gray.

The pattern is called Padma by Dawn Toussaint.  I think it will be a toy for Angelo or the Haze.  Not sure yet but it will be very soft, that's for sure.

 Then the third CAL I'll be involved in is with Denise, in her Ravelry group, Voie de Vie.  We will be making the Rustically Elegant Shoulder Warmer.  I'll be using a heavier weight yarn, Lion Brand's Fishermen's wool.  I have a ton of it in the oatmeal colorway.  I can't wait to get started!  I'm glad I am able to really crochet it up for National Crochet Month this year.  Last year, I barely made a scarf :-P.

Switching yarn crafting gears, my knitting plans for the moment are two shawls.  This is my progress on my Color Affection.  I am in love (have I mentioned this yet?)!  I love the striping and I can't wait to see it once I add the third color towards the end.  

Oh and before I end, these two balls will become another shawl called the Colorblock Shawl.  I decided to join in with my Instagram friends on this one starting March 18th.  This is Lion Brand Angora Merino in the colorways Blossom and Smoked Pearl.  Does anyone else have this much going on in their craft worlds?

FO, UFO, CA

 Last night, I finished the Cardiff Cowl for my Mom.  I gave it to her this morning and she was amazed at how quick I pumped it out for her.  Ahh, I love crochet and how quick it goes for me.  In case you guys didn't catch it the first time around, I used Berocco Vintage DK and the pattern is FREE on Lion Brand.  I love how you finish one half and then start back at the foundation chain and start the other half.  Kind of ingenious, in my opinion.

 Rockin' the DPNs on a project for Angelo (by the way he's 9 months old today!).  I am going to attempt to make the toddler t-shirt vest by Sam Lamb.  I am hoping to finish this up before Easter so that he and Hazel will be sporting some handmade goodness for the holiday.  And so I can get some compliments from the family, let's be honest here...

The other project that is keeping my attention is a shawl.  Yes, you heard me, a shawl.  After frogging the Simple Yet Effective shawl by Laura Chau, then trying the Terribly Simple shawl by Caitlin French and ripping that too, I think we may have a winner!  This will be Color Affection by Veera Välimäki and I am in love with this pattern.  This is the first project where I actually use more than one color.  The green yarn is the yarn I dyed from the Yarn Cupboard Winter Retreat from last year and the yellow and black (Apollo and Badger) are from Holiday Yarns.  I am on the second part of the pattern where I introduce the next color. In this case, it will be the Apollo yellow.  This pattern also has short rows, which I am obsessed with!  Holiday Yarns is also holding a knit-a-long with this pattern and Jennifer has kindly given us all a $10 voucher to use towards our next Holiday Yarns purchase.  Woot, woot!  I am already thinking about making another one in lace weight...yes, lace weight.  Crazier things have happened...

National Crochet Month

Representing a little crochet action for the month of March, it being National Crochet Month and all.  I started the Cardiff Cowl, a free pattern from Lion Brand and I'm using Berocco Vintage.  This will be for my Mom.  She loves my alpaca version but alpaca is itchy for her, thankfully I have the Berocco in a fiber that she can take.  Truth be told, I also find alpaca to be itchy but I'll suffer for handmade!  I am also trying to decide what yarn to use so I can join in the CAL that my buddy, Denise, is hosting over in Ravelry.  We all voted and will be making the Rustically Elegant Shoulder Warmer, one of Denise's patterns.  Head on over and join the fun!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

 I dipped into another brown bag project and it turned out to be about four ounces of fiber from High Bid Farms in Brockport, New York.  I'm slowly working on that.  The fiber was in the clearance bin and it's a little matted but the spin is decent so far. 

 I finished the jumper for Hazey J.  I am pleased with the result...

 ...and so is she!

Lastly, I finished some fiber from Great Adirondack Yarn Company in the Hyacinth color way..  details to follow with a few glamor shots as well!