Yarn Crawl 2013

Welcome to Yarn Crawl 2013!

notice I am wearing my Gemini top. hee hee yarn dork!

I decided to hit one stop: knit culture studio.
i have been meaning to check out this LYS and it was AWESOME!
The yarn crawl included seven trunk shows including...

Jane Richmond...

It was so nice to see the patterns knit up in real life!

A few of the lovely Botanical Knits by Alana Dakos...

Squishy yarn!

ISLAND Knits...

A rack of gorgeous cardigans and cowls...I was bug-eyed and drooling...

Ellie sporting her Yarn Crawl button

I bought the Seedling Hat pattern and two skeins of Mad Tosh.

Tosh Sock in Stove Pipe and Tosh DK in opaline

my swag bag. hee hee. 

I had so much fun! 

Full of Grace

To knit a fingering weight cardigan 

(for all you non-knitters out there, really, really, thin yarn)

is a real commitment. 

But when you're in love, you're in love.

The object of my affection:

The Grace cardigan designed by Jane Richmond. 

This beauty has many knitters under her spell.

I can't quite rock the "deep olive" so I cast on using Cascade Heritage in this super bright teal. Definitely more "me".  

Here is my progress so far: 

This is an addictive, easy knit but requires attention that I can only responsibly give if the kids are asleep. This has been a rarer and rarer daytime occurrence and I'm trying to keep the long term picture in mind. I already want to wear it though! haha. 

In honor of spring I also cast on this fun shawl - Leafy Bias

One happy litttle leaf.

It's happy because it's knit out of Rastita. 

Speaking of Spring style, since when did my girls become teenagers! OMG!

Mwah!

Dreiecke and Friends

The only problem with knitting a fingering weight shawl is 

there is very little to show for it for a very long time...so I whipped this up:

The Dreicke Hat, pattern by Shannon Cook

This pattern bears is clearly written, keeps interest and yields great results. 

I used a skein of Cascade 220 from two Christmases ago.

The fit is a little slouchy, but I prefer my hat this way. 

Next time I will use a smaller needle for the ribbing. And there will be a next time! 

This hat would look great in so many yarns and on so many people!

Thank you Shannon, for another rockin' pattern. "luv" it.

Spring has also sprung in our house with a bunch of little cro-critters!

This is Snowball. Hihi!

She's a pear-shaped bunny with lots of love to give. 

Knit in soft (albeit very splitty) alpaca blend...

I used a this pattern as the basis, but made up the ears myself. 

'

and these little bunnies are named 

Rosa-Ellie and Lavenderra.  

I used the Ugly Bunny pattern and dishcloth cotton.

They have all settled in quite comfortably and are already bff's with my girls.

Happy Spring Everyone!

Regina

As a mom, there are definitely days where you feel a little "blah". We'll leave it at that.

Enter the Regina hat. 

Guaranteed to take away the blahs leaving you with a little "swoosh" in your step.

The perfect hat for pining away in a castle tower, waiting for Prince Charming. 

bahaha. 

There were so many awesome hats popping up in the Downton Abbey KAL thread and my shawlette is slow-going, so I cast on!

This was such a quick knit, but the clever construction and design details make this so fun to make and wear. I knit it using Vintage Chunky in charcoal and DK Merino Style by Knitpicks in teal. 

Both were in my stash...woot woot!

the fan detail is stitched on after blocking. I love the Art Deco feel of this element.

The pattern is a *free!* pattern by Carina Spencer and can be found here.

close-up of the fan.

The best thing about this pattern's construction is that you can truly use any yarn, which is awesome for stash-busting.  My head is swimming with all the possible combinations! 

Can't wait to knit another one!

Friday Finished Object - Boneyard Shawl

This is the Boneyard Shawl. 

Pattern by Stephen West, knit in Patons Classic Wool 

Colorway: grey marl

This pattern was written originally for DK weight yarn but can really be knit in any weight. I chose worsted wool because I wanted to to try making a more substantial feeling shawl. Knit on 10.5 needles, this shawl has plenty of drape but is super, super warm and perfect for this transitional weather.

The pattern is simple but has enough extras to hold a knitter's interest. 

The stockinette body is broken up by garter ridges, which are reminiscent of "ribs". How cool is that?

It is a classic triangular shawl shape, which is not my favorite. 

If I knit it again I think I will add increases on the WS as well to make it more scarf-like.

I thought moving to L.A. meant I had to give up my cozy knits, but I didn't realize it would be downright freezing at times! I love this scarf and I highly recommend knitting it. 

It's my favorite kind of pattern, one that is simple but makes an impact.
Happy Weekend Everyone! 

happy

Why am I super happy today? Oh, well it may be because I had this super cute hat pattern named after ME! How awesome is that? 

Head over to luvinthemommyhood for the deets!

I also finally decided on my project for the Downton Abbey KAL hosted by luvinthemommyhood.

Little Colonnade Shawl by Stephen West

Happy Monday everyone!

Finally, Aidez

I cast on this sweater as part of the Aidez KAL hosted by celticcaston, 

but I just got majorly distracted by, well, life I guess. 

I'm glad my mojo finally decided to grace me with its presence again because it's finally done.

i.love.this.sweater.

I knit mine in Malabrigo Worsted, colorway Vaa.

It's difficult to capture the color properly, but I like to think of it as a sea monster colorway. 

My seaming was quite wonkified, esp. in the neck area. 

But hey, no one is coming at me with a magnifying glass or anything.

Super helpful Helpful seaming tutorial by Kelly of celticcaston

Pretty front panel. 

I'm such a dork but i love how the ktbl (knit through the back loop) stitches really set off the cables.

The sweater was knit with zero ease for me and as you can see the sleeves are a bit long. However, this adds yet another cozy element to the sweater.

I never want to take it off.

If I had a fireplace, this would be the sweater to curl up in, read my book, and drink the mommy juice. ha.

Check out all the lovely Aidez that were knit up as part of the KAL here. And thank you Kelly for hosting, even though I'm months late in saying so!