Sky Scarf: End of the Year

As the year came to a close, so did the Sky Scarf 2012 project.  It came off the needles yesterday after a year of knitting.  The yarn is The Loopy Ewe's Solid Series in the colorways: White, Cerulean, Dove, Slate Blue, Cornflower, and Smoke and I ended up using 1,178 yards total. 

 

While the scarf was a fun knit, I am glad to have it off the needles.  In spots, it could have been neater carrying the yarns up the side, but it is hard with 4 colors being carried up instead of just one or two.  I rarely have more than one or two projects going and to have a WIP that last for a year - well, it was starting to get to me that it was sitting in the basket and I couldn't finish it up.  It's done now and I have a wonderful record of the year.

 

 

I used every last bit of the white and cerulean blue from the first skeins. I ordered extra of these two colors, so I think I need to make a hat to match...

Color Affection

Finished the Color Affection Shawl yesterday and gave it a good wash.  It's huge!  I made the fingering weight version and it measures 88" long by 18" deep.  It fits snugly around your shoulders and won't fall off.  Despite the large amounts of garter stitch, it was a delightful knit and one of those garments that I can easily see myself reaching for time and time again.

I used The Plucky Knitter's Primo Fingering is the colors: Hope is a Good Thing (blue), Shades of Pemberly (green), and Memories (purple/gray).  It counted as my November personal sock club project (finished late) and toward the Plucky Knitter's Moderator Madness KAL.

It's cold outside today; time to wrap up.  I might have to make another one...

Almost the end

Over the Christmas holiday, I had a five day break from work.  I packed 4 knitting projects to work on and I did not finish a single one.  I took the Color Affection shawl and made good progress.  I'm working on the border section right now and will have it off of the needles by the time the new year rolls in.

It's almost time to revisit my 2012 goals list and evaluate how the year went.  I should be in good shape.  Naturally, it begs the question: what should my 2013 goals be?  I have a few ideas floating around.  I'm thinking them over and will have them set to share with you next week.

Refill please, table 1!

Last year I gifted my mother with a box of handmade cards in different designs and occasions.  She loved it - practical, handmade, and useful in a pinch when you needed a last minute thanks or happy birthday card as you're running out the door.  Unsurprisingly, this fall she requested a refill for the holidays. 

Since I couldn't share photos before Christmas, I thought I'd share a few photos of some designs that were included in her refill this year.  She requested a little bit of everything, so enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I had the card making supplies out, I made a set of cards for my dad using the Lovely as a Tree set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Secret knitting

Since a few of my Christmas gift recipients read the blog, I had to keep a few knitted objects secret.  And since you know that I didn't start my holiday knitting early in July, I enlisted some help with socks this year:

Check those out!  Don't they look lovely?  Five pairs of socks out of Cascade Heritage sock for family and close friends.  These colorways were loving picked out by me, but knit on an antique sock machine of a friend.  Since they are handmade, I think they count.

A hat for my friend K's fiancee - he's knit worthy guy!

 

A woven dish towel experiment for my mom which turned out okay.  Next time, I might try experimenting with different cotton and possibly a different reed size.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas - from me to you!

 

Wishing you a wonderful holiday with family & friends and a Happy New Year!

One of my holiday card designs this year.  Stamps: Make a Mitten set and "Merry Christmas" from the Merry Messages set.  Northern Flakes embossing folder used for the top card.  Colors: Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade, and Marina Mist.  I found the blue and red twist twine on Etsy.

First snow

Yesterday we had blizzard warnings in west central Illinois and were allowed to leave work early to allow everyone to make it home safely. It was our first snow of the season, and boy, did mother nature let us know that it was her season.  After a day of rain, everything turned to sleet, and then snow.  I was very grateful to be home early!  It was a good day to be home, make a cup of tea, and craft for a while.

I got a few things done around the house and to put the finishing touches on a few Christmas presents.  I'll have pictures to share next week so I don't spoil any surprises!  Do any of you still have last minute projects to get to?  If so, good luck!  I'm off to wrap gifts...

Last Minute Weaving

I finished a few items on the loom this weekend.  Scarves for holiday gifts!

First up, the Vintage Icebox scarf in The Plucky Knitter's Traveller Sport.  For the warp and weft I used The Plucky Knitter - Traveller Sport in the Vintage Icebox colorway.  Since this is a sport weight yarn, it is also counting for my December personal sock club project. 

Stats: Start: 194 grams / Remaining: 33 grams / Used: 161 grams
161 grams = 585 yards
10 dent reed / 96 ends
8” x 85” with fringe
8” x 78” without fringe

Second, I finished the Pola scarf.  The warp and weft are both The Plucky Knitter Merino Lite in the Pretty Pretty Pola colorway. 

Stats: Start: 206 grams / Remaining: 35 grams / Used: 171 grams
171 grams = 425 yards
8 dent reed / 76 ends
7.25” x 88” with fringe
7.25” x 80” without fringe

These were my last Christmas presents to finish making (aside from a few dishcloths), so I am back to knitting on the color affection shawl.  With any luck, I will have it finished by the end of the week.  If not, that's fine too.  I have a lot of gift wrapping and chores around the house to tackle before the holidays!

Out of Storage

The loom is out of storage and back in action.  Working on some scarves!

Frango Mints

Time for the holidays when you see these Frango Mints appear.  I miss being able to pick them in Chicago at the Marshall Field's State Street store. 

Making Paper Mittens

I'm making mini paper mittens.  Lots of mini paper mittens.  The reason?  I'm putting the finishing elements on my holiday cards this year.  Last year, the majority of my cards featured miniature stockings (from the retired Stitched Stockings set) and when Stampin Up released the Make a Mitten set with coordinating punch this year, I didn't hesitate to keep with my 'knitted objects' theme.  Dozens of little mittens will soon be winging their way through the postal system to friends!

Snowy Days, Frosty Nights

 

A few weeks ago I borrowed the retired "Branch Out" set from a friend.  If I ever come across this set, I might have to pick it up - it is very versatile.  Again, I used the blue/red color combination (Bashful Blue, Rose Red) and added the embossed snowflake background. 

 

"Snowy days,

frosty nights,

warm hearts"

 

I'm working on my holiday cards and they'll be ready to go out in the mail very soon.

Sky Scarf - November

Through November knitting on the Sky Scarf.  I can't believe that I have just 29 more days of knitting to go!  As you can see, I should make it with one skein of each of the colors.  I have extra white and medium blue on standby though, in case I need them to finish the last week or so. 

Exhange Cards, Part 2

I'm back with the other three designs I used for our holiday card exchange.

I've had the lace ribbon punch for a while, but always forget to use it.  What better way to showcase it than repeating the ribbon?  I used Rose Red, Wild Wasabi, and Perfect Plum to create the ribbons and added them straight to a white card.  The decorative label punch cut out the phrase from the retired Smarty Pants set.

By far, this was the most labor intensive card, but the resulting Pinwheel is well worth it!  I used the DSP Everyday Enchantment paper and a circular punch to create the pinwheel.  Inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest, I used 8 circles, folded them in half and then used a large brad to secure them.  Getting them onto one brad was a bit of a challenge, and I ended up adding them to the brad different directions rather than just one and rotating them around.  Pool Party (card), Everyday Enchantment paper, and the decorative label punch rounded out the card.  Ribbon is Calypso Coral an Lucky Limeade from the Sale-A-Bration last spring.

PS - The pinwheel doesn't actually spin and is held in place with dimensionals.

My final card tried embossing with two separate embossing folders - polka dot and a handwritten script.  I framed some images from the Pocket Silhouettes set on the Rose Red background and added the other two embossed layers (Wild Wasabi and Pretty in Pink).  It's something I'd never tried before, but I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. I might have to try this again!

Holiday Card Exchange

Instead of giving gifts, a few friends and I participate in a Stampin' Up card exchange for the holidays.  This year our theme is friendship cards and I put together 6 designs to be shared.  Earlier this morning we swapped, so I can share what I've been working on behind the scenes for the past two weeks.

The first card featured the retired Merry Winter set.  I used Early Espresso for the base and folded it so that it would open in the center.  Bashful Blue background was embossed with the seasonal snowflake embossing folder from last year and topped with the stamped image.  If you look closely, you can see that I added glitter over the snow before I added the ribbon.  It sparkles more in person, I promise!

As I show you the rest of the cards, you'll notice that I was on a punch kick, so this card featured the large scallop and 1.5" circle punch.  Lot of colors here: Wild Wasabi (base), Almost Amethyst (top card, retired color), Early Espresso (center), and the flowers are Pink Pirouette, Perfect Plum, and Pretty in Pink.  The words are from the retired essentials set and I raised the flowers with dimensionals after I embossed the background.

Remember the punches?  Well, I went to town with this card!  I had small pieces of the DSP paper from last year's Sale-A-Bration in small pieces and wanted to figure out something to showcase the patterns and use of color.  I used Calypso Coral for the base and twine, and added big 'polka dots' of the different papers down the center panel.  I pulled another in color, Lucky Limeade, for the 'friend to friend' stamp from Pocket Silhouettes sets.  This one is one of my favorites and I wish I had made more to use myself!

I made three more designs for the swap and I'll share those tomorrow.

Three colors

Working on the color affection shawl and I've started the last section.  Third color of stripes was started over the weekend!

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you all have a chance to relax and think about what you are thankful for this season.  My Thanksgiving cards went out in the mail over the weekend.

I reused the Autumn Accents die to cut leaves out of paper and cork!  You can stamp straight on the cork.  The pumpkin was made with 3 oval punches and the green top is from the new Make a Mitten set turned upside down. 

Although pumpkin pie is traditional, we're also going to be enjoying Nantucket Pie this year.  I found the recipe a few years ago listening to an NPR story about why Americans enjoy cranberries.  Take a stab at the recipe, it's fabulous!

Comfort

In every crafter's repertoire, there exists a pattern or project that they can do without thinking and is immediate gratification when other projects seem unyielding, frustrating, or just plain disappointing.  This project is always in the back of your mind, you can produce it without thinking, and it is normally provides a level of reassurance when stressed, tired, or just plain bored.

I have several.  Top down vanilla socks, garter stitch scarves, and yarn winding, can all be yen activities that act as stress relief.  And dishcloths - cotton dishcloths.  Whether I have five minutes left in my lunch break or a lazy part of a Saturday afternoon, they are always instant gratification, require no thinking, and produce an amazingly useful result.

I'm working on several.

How about you?  What are some of your comfort projects?

Good Works & Daisies

Although this set it retired, I thought it was appropriate for the Ronald McDonald House cards.  The quote reads: 
                          "Good works are links that form a chain of love." ~Mother Teresa 

I used Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, and So Saffron to give it a soft, soothing feel.  Added it to the batch heading out the door soon!

Mid November Sky

I worked on the Sky Scarf earlier today and am currently caught up.  Looking at the scarf, it seems this year has flown by quickly - I only have about 6 weeks left to go.

 

More stripes!

Halfway through the second section of color affection.

Friendship Cards

Two more sets of cards headed to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.  While making these, I challenged myself to use some of my older Stampin Up paper.  No point in saving it for a rainy day- they should be shared!

First Stripes

I added the first stripes to the color affection shawl over the weekend.  It will be a lot of fun to see them develop!

Swallow - Thinking of You

B, my Stampin Up demonstrator, motivated several of her customers to join her in showering a local Ronald McDonald House with handmade cards for the families staying there.  During grade school, my closest childhood friend's family was a beneficiary of their services while her younger brother was staying at one of the Chicago land houses.  Needless to say, this was a cause I was happy to create for.

I made several different cards to be sent with our donation - mostly thinking of you and friendship cards.  The one above featured the Four Frames and Teeny Tiny Wishes sets and paper from Sale-a-bration 2012, which featured the In Colors.  The swallow die matched the swallows in the paper perfectly!

Shades of Pemberly

The Color Affection shawl is off and running.  I spent a few days on some secret knitting and then swatched the color affection shawl to see which order I knit the stripes.  I decided to start with Shades of Pemberly as color 1, Memories as color 2, and I'll finished with Hope is a Good Thing.  Rain is in the forecast this weekend - which will mean some good knitting time.

Fall Leaves Cards

The last of the fall leaves are on the trees and the rest are on their way into mailboxes of friends!.  This week's card used the new Autumn Accents die from the current mini catalog.  It was a great project to use up leftover paper pieces that were too big to throw away. 

If only I had fall themed postal stamps to go with them...

Sky Scarf - October Update

Sky scarf is up to date through today!  It seems like the year has really gone by quickly - just two more months to complete it.  I've already bought back up skeins of the white and medium blue and I anticipate breaking into them this month.  I hope that I have enough of the rest of the colors without having to purchase more skeins to complete it come December. 

Color Affection

I'm taking a break from socks.  It is much needed.  This year has not been very productive on the knitting front, and I need to shake things up a bit.  Re-energize the knitting batteries if you will.

For my November personal sock club project, I'm going to knit the Color Affection shawl - a large, lovely wrap that features three colors of sock yarn.  Digging through the stash, I found several skeins of The Plucky Knitter's Primo Fingering from the Plucky Classics Yarn Club that could easily go together. 

Several.  (Again note I need to knit more from stash.  Perhaps this could be one of my 2013 goals?  Only goal?  Being realistic, I would never achieve it.)

After debating between a subtles and a regals color option, I settled on these three.
Hope is a Good Thing (top, blue)
Memories (middle, gray/purple)
Shades of Pemberly (bottom, green)

Happy Halloween

My Halloween cards made it in the mail over the weekend.  I hope they arrive in time for the festivities.  I'm preparing a large bowl of candy for trick or treaters.  I'm always a sucker for home-made costumes and can normally be found to give a few extra pieces of chocolate to kids with them.  How about you?  Do you have a favorite costume you've seen over the years?

Stampin Up supplies
Cardstock: Black, So Saffron, Perfect Plum, Whisper White (for the inside)
Punches: Bat, Modern Label, and 1 3/8 Circle
Stamps: Tree from Branch Out, Happy Halloween from Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ahead of time

I'm finished!  The melted crayon socks came off of the needles last night during a viewing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow, Part 2.  I'm glad that I tried a new yarn company (Cakewalk Yarns) for our Etsy KAL.  I liked the way that the yarn worked up and being high twist, I imagine that the socks will be around for the long haul.  Standard 64 stitch cast on and I knit the ribbing the whole way down the sock in lieu of a more complicated pattern.

287 more yards completed towards my 12,000 yards in 2012 goal.  I will catch up on the last week of the sky scarf and probably select something new to knit this weekend.

...and these counted as my October Personal Sock Club socks.  They're done and ahead of time makes it even better.  I have 6 days ahead of unscheduled knitting time.  Perhaps a hat.

Bishop Hill Fiber Guild's Spin In

Last Saturday found me up and out the door early.  I managed to hit the road early enough to stop and grab coffee and a pastry at Innkeepers Coffee in Galesburg.  I was on my way to the Bishop Hill Fiber Guild's Annual Spin In which was being held for the first time in East Peoria, IL. 

Despite the fact that part of the building wasn't heated, we had a lovely day.  I met up with some knitting friends for some shopping, classes, and time to sit and knit.  When I first arrived, I dropped off my entries for the Viewer's Choice Awards, where attendees vote for their favorite fiber items.  I'm happy to report 2 ribbons!  The Shaelyn shawl took third in the Shawls Category and the Adeline Blanket took home First in the Blankets/Throws/Afghans (although to be fair, I think I was the only entrant in that one?).

I hope to have a finished pair of socks to share later this week.  Stay tuned!

Don't put crayons in a dryer...

...because if you did, they would look a lot like the yarn that I am using for my Etsy KAL with some friends.  A few of us decided to patronize small Etsy shops and knit projects using a yarn that we were previously unfamiliar with.

My yarn comes from Cakewalk Yarns over on Etsy.  I love the way that it is working up.  Reminds me of melted crayons...and paint splatters....perhaps I'm just being nostalgic for all of those childhood crafts...

Eye Candy: Field of Dreams

Field of Dreams, Dyersville, IA - I love baseball in October!

Eye Candy: Wooden Spools

Wall o' yarn

Classic Elite Yarns posted this video to YouTube of their staff assembling their Great Wall of Yarn at TNNA.  Doesn't it just offer inspiration?

Sky Scarf - September

Sky scarf is completed through the end of September!  Three months to go.  Three quarters of the way done and I'm sure the rest will fly by.

Barn Door Scarf

I finished the Barn Door scarf yesterday.  It came off of the Cricket Loom, got a wash, and then I pressed it this morning.  I used 150 grams = 483 yards of The Plucky Knitter's Traveler Sport in Barn Door.  I was worried about the strength of the yak content on the loom, but coupled with the merino and silk, it did just fine.  The scarf has a lovely sheen and great drape. 

7.5” x 70” without fringe
7.5” x 78” with fringe

Since it's the end of September, it's time to revisit the 12,000 yards in 2012 goal.  I'm not doing bad, but the last 3 months will have to be a bit of a push.  Totals so far stand at 8,133 yards completed and 3,867 yards remaining - which averages out to be 1,289 yards each month until the end of the year.  I'm estimating that the sky scarf will use around 1,000 yards and I can add that to December's totals.