V-Day

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day or at least a nice weekend! I was lucky enough to wake up to this surprise from my hubby:

It's a beautiful wool-bouquet!!! Way better than flowers I think! I found it to be a mix of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes solids, heathers, and tweeds. LOVE! I have already cast on for a hat (for MYSELF) with the green tweed and it's soooo pretty. Will get a pic soon!!! Love you hubby!

Lucky 7 (& YOTM recap!)

It's my 7 year blogiversary! Wow. I've been blathering on about my knitting for 7 years? And I still only have 3 readers? Hehe! Well to be fair I don't really promote my blog OR post very consistently. Thanks to anyone who has ever visited my site though!

A fitting tribute to 7 years of "knitblogging" is my final Yarn of the Month, which if you don't remember is a gift of yarn EVERY month (for a year) that my mother-in-law has been personally giving me (with thanks to my SIL for helping her pick out the yarn a lot of the time)! It has been an AMAZING year and I have gotten SO much beautiful yarn. I can't write a thank you note big enough for this gift!!!! (Did I win the in-law lottery or what???) I haven't even begun to knit all the yarn she's given me. Let's do a YOTM recap in honor of my year of yarn, shall we?

Christmas 2011: I opened a christmas gift from my MIL to find not only a gift certificate to a local yarn store (among some other things), but this gorgeous cream-colored skein of Cascade Eco Duo:

January 2012: The new year kicked off with a package in the mail containing my second YOTM treasure, a sage green Rowan Felted Tweed:

February 2012: I received two fun multicolor skeins of Adriafil Knitcol. This was eventually turned into a cute halter top for Norah, but I think I only put it on her once because for whatever reason it made her mad and she tried to rip it off :-(

March 2012: Again I got 2 skeins! Wow! This time it was Berroco Peruvia in pretty blue and soft brown shades. I still plan on using these together somehow... I need to think about that!

April 2012: Another skein of Rowan Felted Tweed, this time in an emeraldy green. I am thinking this would be fun with the lighter green skein I got in January... tone-on-tone stripes? Hm.

May 2012: Gorgeous and amazing Malabrigo... 2 SKEINS... in this sky blue. I can't even imagine what to make with this because it's so pretty I hate to touch it... LOL.

June 2012: Another fun and unique yarn I've never seen - Rowan "Amy Butler" Belle Organic DK! Love the pink!

July 2012: Oops I don't think I ever blogged about this one! A different kind of Malabrigo, "Finito". Love the gold and purple tones in this one! I think it needs to be some sort of lacy cowl perhaps?

August 2012: Oh man, yet another one I never blogged! JEEZ! This is Cascade 128 tweed. Very nice!

October 2012: My birthday month! As a fitting fall/halloween tribute I recieved this festive pumpkin orange skein of Cascade 220.

November 2012: Last but NOT least is another unique find, Punta Yarns Merisoft hand painted! Very fall-ish!

WHEW! Seriously... I do not know how I deserved all that amazing yarn or such a generous MIL, but I am a lucky lady. I hope I can continue to come up with fitting projects for all of those skeins!!!! If anyone has a brilliant idea (for any of them that I haven't knitted up yet), feel free to shout them out!

Thanks again to my MIL <3

P.S. Is it December already???? YIKES! MUST KNIT THINGS FOR CHRISTMAS!!! :-O

Wound up

I wound up a ball of the Purl Soho yarn, but haven't knit with it yet. It's ready and waiting for me though! :-)

In other news, I am blocking a wee cardi for my friend's little boy. This time (first one I made see here) I did the tapered sleeves instead of the straight ones, as I think it will be better to stay close to little newborn arms. I still need to get buttons but here is a progress pic from when I was still knitting it:

Pattern: Puerperium Cardigan
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist - Baby Twist

Currently on the needles is a pair of fingerless gloves for my friend Natalie. She sent an amazing package in the mail which contained not only YARN, but hot chocolate mixes AND homemade (yes!) marshmallows. YUM!!!! In exchange all I "have" to do is knit the yarn up into things. The yarn is super amazing, so it's really just like one big treat for me!!!!

Yarn: Shepherd's Wool (Stonehedge Fiber Mill) - worsted weight

It's super springy and cushy for 100% wool! Plus when I was winding it up it DIDN'T shed little bits of fuzz like a lot of wool has in the past. I'm a big fan of this stuff! :) As for the glove pattern, she had sent me a photo of some gloves she had seen in a store that she liked. Working roughly from that, I am really just winging it with my own pattern. (scary!) Here is what I came up with:

I borrowed the amazing stitch pattern from this hat: Claudia Hat

The rest is cobbled together and I am hoping they will suit her tastes!!!! I will keep you posted to see if I can make the 2nd glove the same size/pattern. LOL. (I took notes but it's still hard!) I might also have some ideas for the rest of the yarn (seeing as I am going to have plenty leftover!).

Last and also least, I finally gave it up and frogged that sweater I had started for Norah. It just wasn't what I wanted, and I'd much rather make something we will both enjoy wearing and using. Oh well!

Thank you Purl Soho!!!

Yes that's right folks - I am a WINNER! Specifically, I won an online giveaway! I occasionally comment on blogs and enter myself in various giveaways but have never won something. UNTIL NOW. The best part is that I won one of the best things in the world..... YARN!

I've been reading/following the Purl Bee blog (run by the Purl Soho company) for awhile now, mostly because they have GREAT free knitting patterns! Besides being free, the patterns are stylish and things I would actually want to knit. All-in-all it's a great site. Recently they decided to go into the yarn biz and introduced their first yarn, Super Soft Merino! It's a beautiful super bulky merino wool. (Click through that last link to see all their colors!)

Anyway, if you clicked the link you will see they had a giveaway on the blog of some free yarn in honor of their first production. Of course I entered! Lo and behold... I WON. I still can't believe it! They sent me the nicest email and asked what colors I wanted for my FREE 10 SKEINS OF YARN. 10!!!! ZOMG! It took me awhile to decide (and frantic emails to a few friends lol) but I finally emailed them back using 1 zillion exclamation points. Not even a week later this arrived on my doorstep:

_{(4 peacock blue, 4 oyster grey, and 2 yellow yellow)}

Is it not amazing??!?!!!? This is the best contest I could have ever won! :) I had my assistant helping me to open and asses the yarn:

...and she knew exactly what to do with it (rub it on your face to check the softness!):

Needless to say, the name of this yarn totally lives up to the hype. IT IS SUPER SOFT. Like butter. I am sooooo excited to get this on the needles and see how it knits up, but as it is in the skeins I am more than pleased! I promise I will share when I get something cast on. In preparation I have created a folder on my desktop in which I am saving knitting patterns that would suit this yarn. I hope to be able to get as much as I can out of this amazing free yarn!

THANK YOU AGAIN PURL SOHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I promise I will buy from you in the future! :)

More yarn!?

I guess I neglected to mention that 4 days before my little girl turned 2, a certain someone in our house turned 30. Aaaaand that would be me. Yikes! How did I get this old??? ;-)

I was super spoiled by family and friends (flowers, gifts, etc!), and at the end of it I came out with 2 wonderful yarn gifts! First up is this lovely green baby alpaca from my friend Shawn:

It's soooo soft... I might have to make something for my little man out of it??? Or maybe an adult. I don't think baby alpaca is washable??? :)

My 2nd addition to the yarn stash was three balls of the amazing Sublime yarn (merino) from my sweet hubby!

(Complete with PJ-clad toddler foot in the background - she is always "helping me"!)

I love the colors. I think they would look great all striped together in one project, don't you think? Anyway it has been a great october so far! Yay for birthday month!

YOTM: June

Squeaking it in on the last day of the month, my fabulous MIL gifted me this yarn for my June YOTM:

It's Rowan "Amy Butler" Belle Organic DK - really really pretty and organic! Fancy!!! It's so much fun when someone else picks out yarn... especially if that person consults your knitting SIL for ideas :-) Seriously I won't stop saying how lucky I am!!!!

Also, for your amusement, what happens when you try and photograph your yarn with your toddler around... :-)

YOTM catch-up

In case anyone forgot, I am the lucky recipient of new yarn EVERY MONTH of the year of 2012, as an amazing gift from my MIL. (She rocks!)

To catch up, here is my beautiful skein from April:

It's a lovely emerald shade of Rowan Felted Tweed, which I think will pair great with the lighter more sage-y green skein of the same yarn that I got in January!

For May I somehow was lucky enough to get 2 skeins, with the explanation that one was for the YOTM and one was for mother's day! How sweet :-)

That pile of blue is none other than MALABRIGO. YUM! I am pretty sure I've never knit with this before but I keep hearing how amazing it is. I cannot wait to find something to make with it!

One more shot of the fluffy soft heaven!

Yarn of the Month: January

The other day I got a package in the mail.... it was from my MIL and guess what it was? My yarn of the month!!! YAHOO! To officially kick off the year of yarn, I received:


Rowan Felted Tweed. YUMMY. How gorgeous is that green? I am such a lucky knitter!!!!

New yarn!

I got a wonderful gift from my MIL for christmas... a gift certificate to the yarn store, AND some super soft amazing yarn!!!! Cascade Eco Duo - I've never owned any before and it feels like butter!


On top of that, she said she is going to buy me another skein of yarn EVERY MONTH of 2012!!!! WHAT? It's like being in the yarn of the month club!!!!!! I mean how crazy is that. I think I won the Mother In Law Lottery!!!! (Well, and husband lottery... hehe)

Anyway today N and I hit the yarn store and I bought a sweater's worth of Encore worsted to make the owl sweater for one of my good friends. I am excited and I love the bluish grey color!


Getting excited about my 2012 projects!!!

Done but not done

Well that newborn sweater flew off the needles! I've even washed/blocked it twice, because the first time I didn't use wool wash and the yarn had a bit of a smell to it. The second time I used some lavender SOAK that I got from Cynthia. :-)


I still need to add the buttons, which is why this isn't "DONE" done.... and the reason that hasn't happened is because they sell buttons in packs of 5 (which I had one), and this sweater needs 7! Sheesh! I hope I can get to the store this weekend for some button shopping!

In other news, remember the cabled baby sweater I had started a couple weeks before Norah was born? (crazy me) Well I finally decided it wasn't worth the yarn to finish it (considering it would be too small for Norah) and also I just wasn't "feeling it" anymore. Soooo rip rip rip, and a soak:


And now I've cast on for a big girl sweater/dress for my big girl!

Pattern: Little sister's dress (rav link)

I'm knitting the 12 month size but using slightly larger yarn/needles... so we will see how this turns out!

Supa cute!

The other weekend my SIL gave me an adorable outfit for my babe, and ALSO this really cute knitted HAT!

AND we got the yarn that we're going to use to jointly knit my baby girl a blankie!!!!!

I need to cast on soon because I love those colors! :)

Hope everyone else is having a good week and as beautiful weather as we are right now!

Recycled sweater yarn

So I had this sweater I had bought from Old Navy quite awhile ago... It was kinda frumpy and too boxy on me (not flattering) so I never wore it... but I hung on to it through SEVERAL moves because I liked the color.... and now I finally have gotten around to salvaging the yarn from it to be knit into cooler things!!!!!! How did I do this you ask?

(Side note: the sweater yarn is worth recycling because it is 58% wool... thats enough wool for me!!!!)

1. I spent an evening picking out the seams and winding the yarn into skeins (wound it around my arm) and then tying the skeins with little pieces of red yarn to keep them neat and not tangled. Look how curly the yarn is after being in a "knitted" state for so long!


2. I soaked the skeins in some warm water for awhile, squeezed them in some towels to get the water out and then hung them from doorknobs/hooks with a can of beans or whatever as a "weight"... this helps get all those kinks out of the yarn!

3. Once they were completely dry, I used my awesome ball winder and swift to wind them into these pretty skeins! Look how much yarn I got from this sweater.... SWEET!