Hats

I finally finished this blasted swirl hat. I was really enjoying it until I began to decrease and had to k3tog. Doing this with blunt needles is a nightmare and I don't think I will be making a hat like this for a while.

The Virtual Knit Retreat weekend starts today and this is what is in my small bag. I plan on making at least 3 baby hats and finishing this summer shawl. Hopefully this weekend will go well.

Spring

Spring is here and the caterpillar invasion is beginning. Every time I see one I am reminded of caterpillar hunting with my friends as a little girl. We each had a bug catcher box or a shoe box and would wander around the neighborhood searching for caterpillars. We would catch dozens. At the end of the day we would see who had the most and then pick only a few to keep and let the others go. We filled the boxes with leaves, watched them eat, and waited for them to make cocoons. It was great fun and I always smile whenever I see a caterpillar. Did anyone else go caterpillar hunting?

All this talk about yarn stash has had me thinking about stashes in general and today I found a stash that my younger Shih-tzu, Bear, started on the backdoor step to the patio. Chewy is the one looking out the door. Do you see the pinecone and twigs at the bottom of the picture?

That is Bear's stash and he is very protective of it as you can see. I guess dogs really do take after their owners. Lol!

Something to Aspire To

Today's assignment is to write about something you hope to learn by the end of the year.

1. Cables!

Cables are intimidating but there are sooo many beautiful patterns that use them. I really want to be able to make this hat for my sister by September. This goes along with my goal of having all my christmas gifts made by the middle of October so I can focus on baking yummy goodies!

2. Knitting socks 2 -at-a-time toe-up

When I first started knitting socks I said that I would always use double points and make them from the cuff down. Now, my grandmother and I will be knitting buddies this summer and I suggested we make socks. She was not thrilled with this idea. Apparently she hates double points. The solution = circular needles. Thus the upcoming adventure of knitting socks 2-at-a-time toe-up is born. Wish us luck.

P.S. These are pictures of the beautiful tulips that were a gift from my husband. :) Instead of having a picture-less post I thought a look at Spring would be nice.

2KCBWDAY5

Thank you everyone who has been reading my blog. I really appreciate it. Yesterday was not a very good day and I never made it around to posting but today is a new day and hopefully this pic will make you smile.

2 skeins Ester Bitran Canela and 1 skein Mountain Colors lace

Tidy Mind Tidy Stitches

Organizing is always a challenge for me. I have had some time off work though and the first place I went to organize was my stash so it is looking pretty good for now. It's a miracle you can see the floor! We have a three bedroom house and no kids yet so I get my own little craft room. This is just part of the room....I am afraid to show the rest. This is also not all of my stash although it is the majority of it. I have some hiding in little boxes or bags all over the house. As messy as this room gets it is still my favorite place in this house. Whenever I am stressed or worried I can sit in this room and almost instantly start to relax.

This is the basket that you can see the bottom of in the picture above. It was originally intended for sock yarn but was invaded by everything else.

Most of my straight needles are at least grouped together. These needles were passed down to me from my grandmother who used to knit. I am not a big fan of aluminum needles but these are special to me so I will always keep them and sometimes use them.

I would also like you to meet George, my quilted chicken pincushion, who introduced me to the world of quilting which I hope to be re-entering soon.

Recently I decided to catalogue all of my yarn in a spreadsheet to keep track of how much I buy and how much I really use. The buying far outweighs the using so for the month of April I will be on a yarn diet. I am hoping to reduce my yarn to just 4 cubbies by the end of the year. This will be an interesting challenge.

Yard Work

Today is our only break from the rain and I took advantage of it to do a little weeding. First up was finding my gardening gloves. They were hibernating in the corner of a closet and I cautiously put them on, hoping there weren't any spiders hiding in there.

Next was finding some pants to get down and dirty in. An old pair of my husband's uniform pants were perfect.

And finally....Ta-da! A plant that you can see and has room to grow. I planted several bulbs along our fence line last year and they are growing back! I found something I didn't kill with my black thumb of death. Now if only I could remember what they are...

Skill+ 1UP

It's day 2 of KCBW and today our topic is a new skill you have learned. This time last year I was just learning how to knit. I did not venture outside of knitting and purling until this year. I found a pretty lace pattern that used Slip Slip Knit (ssk). I did not know what this meant so I put the pattern away for a while until I finally got my courage up enough to try it. Thanks Youtube! There are some wonderful video tutorials of this stitch and I am so happy I learned it! This is my favorite stitch to do now. I have also learned to make socks and am really enjoying this pattern which uses ssk.

On another note....my husband and I made these Double Crumble Apple Pies last night and I just had to share them with you. Yum!

A Tale of Two Yarns

Todays post is supposed to be about two yarns and what you like or don't like about them. It is hard to choose just two when there is so much great yarn out there. The first yarn I picked is Universal Yarn Patchwork. Now this is a 100% Acrylic yarn but it is wonderful. It is super soft and self striping!

I love using this yarn for baby blankets. It only takes about three skeins too make a baby blanket and has a lot of color options. This yarn really makes you feel like you are knitting a cloud.

The second yarn I picked is Mirasol Tupa. I love love love this yarn. It is

50% Merino wool and 50% silk and has some of the most vibrant colors I have

seen. The three colors in this picture are Amber, Tigers Eye, and Jade. I made

a scarf using this yarn which you can see in progress here and absolutly loved

working on. The stitch definition is great and the yarn did not split. I have yet

to see how it blocks though. Looking through Ravelry last night I found several

beret patterns using this yarn that I am looking forward to making.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week

I will attempt to participate in this event. It seems like a lot of fun and a good jumpstart on blogging often which I am trying to get into the habit of doing. It starts tomorrow and if you are interested on joining check out Eskimimi Knits who I believe started this event.

Stash

The stash. We all know this creature that quietly grows, filling baskets and bags, sometimes taking over entire rooms! I was trying to catalogue all my yarn today and was amazed at how much I really have. It is time for a yarn diet. For the month of April I will only get new yarn from the club I subscribe too and knit as much as possible from my stash. This coming week I will try to focus on sorting and organizing said stash to prepare for stash busting April!

Firsts

This week has been very busy. Lots of laundry and prep work for hubby to leave for training. I have been able to work on a few projects though like these Crochet Baby Pom Pom Hats that need their ends woven in and pom poms. I have never made pom poms before so that will be an adventure.

I started my second sock at the LYS last night along with buying some more yarn. My bookshelves are about to overflow with yarn! I decided a few days ago to go on a yarn diet and use up my stash but that's not working very well so far. Hopefully I will get a lot done during the Virtual Knit Retreat - April 2011 on Ravelry.

As of yesterday I had my first comment and follower! Thank you wildtomato and knittenkitten! Ya'll have made my day! I thought no one even looked at my blog. Thank you very much!

Yarn and a Sock

My first Sundara yarn came in this morning and they are wonderful! They are 4 skeins of sock yarn, Water Studies #54 and Shadow Studies #17.

I have made my first sock (pic below) and am hooked! I used Trekking XXL and am not a big fan of this yarn. The colors are nice but the yarn is very scratchy. I still need to make a matching sock though so I am going to try to hurry up and use all of it and get to my nicer yarn. It is so hard not to start a new project when you get new yarn and like it so much better than what you are already using. I am already dreaming of what to make with the Sundara yarn.

Becoming Art Yarn

My first Becoming Art yarn came in yesterday and I love it! It is two skeins of Proteus in Vaquero fingering and is absolutely beautiful! This yarn is soft and squishy and would make some awesome socks. One of my goals for the next few months is to learn to make socks. I'm not sure if that is what I will use this for though. Does anyone have any suggestions?

New Bag!

My new bag came in today from Thirty-One! It is so pretty and perfect for small projects like hats and scarves! The sun was setting when I got home and this was the best pic I was able to get. They have really great bags and good prices too!

Beginnings

Pie Pops

For Valentines Day I had made these cute little Pie Pops from http://www.ourbestbites.com/. They have the best recipes and a cookbook coming out soon. I used their recipe for pie dough too and it really wasn't that hard to make. I definitely recommend using butter flavored shortening. These pops were fun to make and a bit messy but hey, that's half the fun. Don't they look yummy? I really want to try their Pie in a Jar next.

Correction: Their book is out now and you can get it here http://www.amazon.com/Our-Best-Bites-Mormon-Kitchen/dp/1606419315/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298913106&sr=8-1

Update

It has been a long time since I have posted anything. Work has been taking up most of my time. DH is getting ready to deploy again so I thought now would be a good time to get back into blogging. I have done a little bit of knitting but almost no quilting since I finished my dad's christmas present. My collection of yarn and fabric has expanded though. I would like to learn how to make socks so that is one of my goals for the next several months. I still need to paint the house too.

I have re-connected with my friend Meghan and am teaching her to knit. She is loving it and will soon be just as addicted as I am. I see some yarn shopping adventures in our future! Right now I am working on some baby hats for a photographer friends. Later, I will have to post pictures of the projects I have been working on.