Embers and Envelopes

This post actually has nothing to do with embers, just a song I like. I am feeling uncreative.

But this post has to do with an envelope. Specifically a 6x9 envelopes I receive in the mail.

Over at the My Other Hobby Swap group on Ravelry we are doing envelope swaps in rounds. First round I received a delightful package from Susan that I love and have been putting the pins to good use. And the pez are very nearly gone. And look at how cute my new pin cushion is!

This round I swapped with Kay who you may remember as the nice former owner of my new sewing machine.

And I LOVE it!

I got:

• A crab Beanie baby (I used to collect these!)
• A recipe for chocolate crack that sounds delicious
• Mints in a cute tin
• Clover tapestry needles (I am always loosing mine)
• A squished penny from stitch and pitch that we both attended
• Some yarny spiny buttons
• a row counter I've never had one like this before!
• a Pillsbury dough-boy key chain because I like to bake
• And the cutest ruffly fun wrist warmers. They are so soft and squish-y it makes me glad that I live in a cold weather state

My mom saw me wearing them the other day, even though it is around 75 degrees out at night. She called me silly and then in the same breath said that I should make four for Esme.

But she can't have mine. They're too big on her.

Besides. I like wearing them too much.

Two awesome envelopes. I can't wait for the third one!

Rockin' the Suburbs

I am spending this weekend in the suburbs with my roommates family. Because they are awesome and because of lack of air conditioning in my house.

Unfortunately because of that. And general (I get really bad second sock syndrome but hate knitting two socks at the same time) I really don't have a whole lot to report. I finished the cuff of my second tie-dye collision sock done with the flat portion and the rest of it is in the round so it should go much faster. I like knitting in the round much better than knitting flat. Being done with the cuff though also means that short rows are coming up. And we know how much I like those.

I really love this yarn though. So rainbowy and delightful. It really does look like a tie-dye something or another. I bet it'll look awesome as a square for my quilt.

To battle Second Sock Syndrome I have started another sock. It is still in it is begining stages. But it is Dream in Color Smooshy in Good Luck Jade and I am knitting the Escher socks pattern. I knit something similar a while back but while they look sort of similar (or rather this one looks like the inside out version of that one) the patterns are completely different. This one though is more of a traditional sock construction that I like.

Also, I can't leave without showing you all what I am taking pictures on. It is a swing bench that my roomie's family brought up from Oklahoma when they moved and I have never seen anything like it. It is beautiful and I would love to know more about it. Very very cool.

PS: I was totally listening to the Ben Folds song while I wrote this.

Big Plans and Earrings

At the Moda Bake shop they're doing a Christmas in July theme. Nothing that interests me too much but a quilt by Angela really caught my eye, especially when she went and posted it in this version.

It's RAINBOW! and the perfect way to use not-exactly-coordinating-but-not-mismatching fat quarters. Today I dragged my entire fat quarter stash went through it. And came up with this.

I think I like the color pallet I maybe have to switch it around some more still and figure it out. I think though the real make it or break it of this quilt will be the background color I pick. Anyone have any suggestions? Based on the pic in my back stairwell I don't think white is the right neutral to do it with. My first inclination is to use grey. But that is because I really like the color grey so I am biased.

The more I think about quilting the more I'm getting excited for it. I finally sent the check to my sewing machine repair guy so I can replace the part that broke!
Right now though it is too hot to think about ironing. (an important part of quilting) The heat index has consistently been over 100 degrees lately. Usually averaging about 105. My roommates new favorite website is The Fucking Weather which is kind of all sorts of awesome. The point is it is way too hot to play with a hot machine, especially one that spurts out steam.

My favorite part of quilting is the large amounts of fabric and color that can go in one quilt. If I put that much different yarn in a sock it would look a little silly. But for fabric I think this is the perfect amount.

Have you noticed my problem yet? Look closely... How about this side?
I only have two purples. I need three... Does someone have a purplely-lavender fat quarter they'd be so kind to pass along? I'll trade you? I'm also looking for another yellow and green because a few of them I would like to switch out.

Which brings us to the second part of this post. Over the winter I decided (or rather was just too lazy to keep studs in) to let the piercings in my ears close. I didn't get them pierced until I was 18 and found them to be a hassle more than anything else. So I've decided that I should pass my earrings on to someone that would actually use them. Or repurpose them. I'm not picky just so
long as they are put to good use. Here is the lot.

(Promised to someone)

(Promised to someone)

(promised to someone)

(promised to someone)

If you're interested leave a comment, contact me on ravelry or twitter, email. There are a lot of ways to get in contact with me!

These aren't all of them. I am a collector of stuff. So I will post more later. But if something catches your eye let me know! Surprised by the lack of rainbow earrings?

I so espoiled!

(That is what my mom says to my dog all the time she is so espoiled)

(puppy photo ganked from my sister's photoblog)

A few weeks ago I sent out a queen package to friend Contessa it included sock blockers, kit-kats, and some handspun (handcarded!) yarn that was fun to spin up even though I was allergic to it. And she so happy and in a good mood that she decided to return the favor as a little bit of a surprise. And what an awesome AWESOME package it was.

On my MOHS Wishlist (rav link) I put that I wanted to learn how to crochet. Every time I see things on Ravelry and go "Why don't I crochet again?" Well, it is because it was actually one of the first yarny crafts I tried to learn I was ten, I tried to learn from my mother and it ended up with a lot of yelling and tears.

But she provided me with a Klutz book (which I love) which teaches all the crocheting basics.

She made me RAINBOW stitch markers! (rainbow! that are super SUPER cute along with an entire gauntlet of other stitch markers at well. I absolutely love them and just love how talented she is!
Seriously do you all see how many pretty stitch markers are on there? Soo PRETTY! You all should be jealous of me. If you don't want to be jealous of me checkout Contessa's stuff.

A wonderful note

And some of the cutest rainbowy heart shaped buttons in the world. I wish I could have taken better pictures of them but I failed. I have to find the perfect PERFECT project for them. I'm thinking some sort of fingerless gloves or something else that I can show off.

Sorry I haven't made my Year of Projects update yet. I went camping on Sat/Sun with some friends (this is Oliver). Followed by Stitch n Pitch with some friends I met on Ravelry. Both were extremely hot but extremely fun!

And told Contessa I would make this post today. I'll try to get it done tomorrow. Better late than never right (although it very well might be never if I don't get on it).

Tour de Fleece ready to go!

I think it is so funny that on my Craft-a-long post the number one word used in the comments is "organized" because if you all saw my room and the fact that I've been meaning to do my laundry since Tuesday. Organized would be the last word on your mind.

Here is my "plan" for the tour de Fleece last year (for those of you who don't know the tour de fleece runs the same time as the tour de france. Everyday they spin, you spin. Simple right?)

Step 1: Look at spindles

Is there anything you want to spin?
If Yes: Then SPIN
If No: Go to Step 2

Step 2: Is there anything on the wheel?

If Yes: Then SPIN
If no Go to Step 3

Step 3: Go to Fiber closet


Does anything catch your eye?

If Yes: Then SPIN

If No: Go back to step one.

And that's it! hopefully I'll get a lot of spinning done this year. It is my first year with a wheel and I am sooo excited!

A Girl, a Book, a Year, and a Dream.

Every once in a while I get it in my head that I like to challenge myself (sometimes not true). And I see something on Ravelry and it's like WOW I want to do that! Sometimes it works really well. Last years Tour de Fleece made me a much better spinner. Sometimes I crash and burn. I once tried to talk part in the 52 pair plunge (knit a pair of socks a week for a year) got ALMOST 15 socks in and failed badly. So badly I gave up before the half way mark. Let hope that this is going to be one of those good ones.

I was poking around the forums, looking at peoples' profiles when I stumbled upon a group called Come Blog-a-Long (link on the side). And they had this interesting idea, pick a book (a pattern book) and see if you can knit through it in a year.

As luck would have it I was looking at the book "Knitting socks with Hand Painted Yarn" the day before wondering why I had yet to knit anything out of this wonderful book? There wasn't a single pattern in it I disliked. So this group, this book and this Annie just seemed like a good fit.
There are 21 patterns in the book, while not quite the 52 required of the plunge a daunting task. But I think I can do it!

That was too weeks ago since then I have been planning. Ball winding. Needle buying. Yarn sorting (and a little bit of yarn buying) in preparation for this. Here has what my preparation has yielded!

I had the stash for 19 of the projects (yikes that was an eyeopener!) I scared my roommates by taking my stash out of my room all at once, not going to do that again. I picked yarn, bagged them all individually along with a note.

The note is the pattern I plan on using, page number, toe up/ topdown, needle size, circ/DPN, yarn I plan on using and whether or not it is flat or in the round.

My goal is once I've made it through 10 socks and am on a good track my reward is buying myself the yarn for the remaining two socks (four balls in all). Most of my yarn is commercial a wide variety of brands, the only repeats are Dream in Color Smooshy and Malabrigo (not surprising two of my favorites). And two of my socks will be tackled in Hand Spun. One of which I'm not done spinning yet...

Enough Jabber here is the full list in order of appearance. (Note: These are all Ravelry links to projects that don't quite exist yet, but if you want to know what yarn/needle size I'm planning on using take a look!)

Longbourn Socks
Zigzag Socks
Punctuated Rib Socks
Staccato Socks
Copper Penny Socks
Color Collision Socks
Split-Toe Sweethearts
Whirlpool Socks
Herringbone Rib Socks
Schooner Socks
Corrugated Stripe Socks
Flame Thrower Socks
Chevvy Socks
Spot Check Socks
Potpourri Socks
Spread Spectrum Socks
Braided Gem Socks
Escher Socks
Goldengrove Socks
Rib Fantastic Socks
Switcheroo Socks

All of this. This entire exercise is in hopes of finally having enough scraps to finish my Barn Raising Quilt. I decided that I'm only going to knit squares from projects that I've already completed. It's more special that way.


I'm planning on doing this whole shebang by randomly grabbing a bag, seeing if I have the proper needles available and then CASTON! I will start tomorrow though right now it is late, and I am tired. I stayed up just to post this =D

Wish me Luck!