When I first saw this month's Knitty, I was a little disappointed. None of the patterns really grabbed me. It's not as if I didn't like some of the cute summer tops, like Coachella and Zin Zin; but I didn't know if anything would be worth making for myself. When I went back for a second look though, Wisp really caught my attention. Plus, I just happened to have the perfect yarn for it - Douceur et Soie mohair/silk in soft seafoam - it was meant to be!
Detail shot of the backwards loop cast on.
I used to be really intimidated of lace, thinking it was only done on teeny-tiny needles. Now I know better, and I'm really enjoying this project. It was pretty easy to memorize, after I got the hang of where the eyelets went; and it knit up very fast, too. I started last Thursday, and I'm nearly finished already! (I actually finished the knitting Wednesday night.) I even got the suggested shell buttons, in both sizes no less! LOL All I have left to do is sew the cast off edge. I like to match my cast on* & off edges, I find traditional bind-offs to be very noticable, and not very stretchy. I still use a regular bind of every now & again, but for anything lacey or stretchy I tend to use what works best for me.
It's funny when I think about how personal knitting really is. Even though it's a craft lots of others do, I think we all have to find our own personal style and decide what techniques we like or don't, for ourselves. I feel like I've really pushed my knitting to the next level this year, though. I've never finished a project so fast, or been so satisfied with how it finished. My Clapotis came close, but after wearing it out a few times I decided I really should have added a few more straight repeats, to make it just a bit longer. Oh well, I can always make another Clap! LOL I've tackled my first sweater, skirt, circular, and lace projects this year, and I've gained a ton of confidence in knitting from a pattern. Not all of those projects were sucessful, but I'm not nearly as intimidated by the patterns or techniques that seem complex to me anymore.
*Note - When I knit wraps, stoles or anything stretchy, I use a backwards loop cast on. It's tricky to knit evenly from, and I end up having to even things out a bit after the fact; but it's much stretchier than cable, knitted or long-tail cast on for me, and so I use what works.
It's been a while since I made any Tree Branch Jewelry. I wrote the tutorial out last year, and had great plans of adding jewelry to my Etsy store. Well, it's been a few months since then, and I've taken a step back from the store; but I'm super excited to get back to making these. I messaged Amy on Ravelry, about her Douceur et Soie yarn (Ravelry has this great feature where you can mark your yarn for sale or trade.) She didn't need any extra yarn, and honestly I don't have that much of anything great in my stash, at least that I'd be willing to part with. LOL She was interested in Tree Branch earrings though, and one of her favorite colors is Robin's egg blue. Ok, I'll confess… I have a few kinds of Robin's egg beads in my stash. LOL It's probably the color I have the most of, in different sizes & materials. I had the perfect little beads for her, although I'm not sure if they're glass or gemstone. They could be Swarovski, although I'm not that familiar with their color palette. I think they look quite nice with the sterling silver wire and findings, though. And they have me jazzed to add them to the store eventually, we'll just have to see how long it takes me to get my act together on that one! LOL These are not the actual earrings I sent to Amy, I'll confess I liked them so much when I was making the first pair, that I had to make a second for myself. What can I say? I'm a sucker for Tiffany blue! (Totally, utterly gullible that is! LOL) She shipped the yarn out so fast, I wanted to make sure she wasn't waiting too long for her earrings, and I knew I'd just have to make another pair for me! LOL
A while back, I asked Star if she'd be up for a personal trade with me. I'd never really done one before, although I have sent off surprise packages before (and I owe another to Shirley, sorry girl!) Anyway, she agreed and asked me for a patchwork purse in return. Little did I know though, just how much she was going to spoil me! (I haven't sent to her yet, because of my nasty cold the last few weeks. Didn't want to send a Pandora's box-o-cold germs! LOL)Not only did I get the handspun yarn of my dreams, but she included 2 beautiful knit sweaters for my Blythe dolls, along with 2 hats, a shoulder/headwrap, a really cute little dress made by Atsuko, roving, more roving and more roving! LOL I actually bought some of this from her Etsy store, but I'm glad I did, cuz I'm still really a beginner spinner. Please excuse the harsh shadows in these pics, I really wanted to capture the color. The aqua batts have holographic thread, and the pink is so soft & lovely with 15% mohair. She also sent some lovely brocade fabric, Kool-Aid in flavors I haven't tried before, and some really cute doll accessories. I doubt the sunglasses will fit, LOL! Blythe heads are huge!
Josie and her (unnamed still!) sister couldn't wait to try on their new stuff! Don't the knits go great with Josie's new Squeaky Monkey jeans? LOL Even her bra straps match, how cool is that?!?! Star even sent some Blythe-sized knitting! I wish their hands were a little more poseable, though. It can be tough to make them "hold" things for photos. Unnamed Violet went straight for the dress Atsuko made, I think it goes well with the Noro Silk Garden Lite hat.
Thank you SOOOO much for everything, Star! I promise I'll try to finish your purse up soon!!! I only have the handles to make, so it should be this week or next! (Thanks for being patient with me, while I was feeling so crummy!)
I first found Star's blog through her Fiber Friday posts on Craftster. When she posted her Tiffany handspun with pearls, I knew I had to get in contact with her! She also had some amazing yarn with sea shells spun into it! I knew they'd sell fast, (and they did!) so I wanted to see if she'd be interested in a personal trade with me. And she was! We're actually working on items for each other right now, but I knew I wanted to feature her blog her on mine! Her handspun is gorgeous, and she also has an awesome Etsy store. I'm in awe every Friday, and each Friday she has something new!
Consistency has been a real focus of mine over the last couple of months, and I really admire how consistent Star is with her craft. It's hard to do anything over and over again, consistently I think. You go girl! LOL I also really love how much she plays around with different things. Colors, textures, bits & bobs to add in, there's always something new on her blog! I love how much fun her yarns are, and I'm so glad we decided to swap with each other. I can only hope she likes what I'm making as much!
I've really enjoyed featuring different blogs every week, but I'm not sure if I've accomplished what I set out to, in that I wanted to share my favorite blogs, in the hope that you might too! But, I haven't gotten that many links to new blogs (or ones I already read,) so I'm not sure how long I will continue with it. Got an opinion? I'd LOVE to hear it! I wish I had more time to look for new blogs and bloggers, but starting a new store is very time consuming, and I just don't have the same amount of time to surf around that I used to. Pretty please leave a link to your favorite blog, or yours! Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top???
Woohoo! I've gotten some awesome gifts from family and friends, and thought I'd share. First up is the awesome felted bag my sister made me, isn't it gorgeous? She's so thoughtful, it's going to make a great project bag!!! The white handle twist is alpaca, so it's extra soft! Thanks Jenn, I LOVE it!!!
Yes, I know I'm totally spoiled - AND there's more! Mwahahahaha!!!
Next up is a beautiful bird's nest pendant, Shirley sent me (WEEKS ago! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to post pics!) It's copper wire, with blue pearl "eggs" and glass bead "leaves" - isn't it adorable?!!!?!!! She also sent some tasty candy (which was devoured within days!) - the almond crunch pocky and fruitips were soooooo good!She also included some goodies for my Mom & sister; spider web earrings for Mom, and a Hershey's bookmark for Jenn. A GREAT BIG Thank You!!! You're so sweet, it made my day!Now, somehow I just have to get Jenn to start a blog!!! LOL Jenn, I WILL get you, one of these days!!! :)(I feel I must also mention that she's working on a Lady Eleanor wrap/scarf, which I'm TOTALLY jealous of!!! I'm like a year behind everyone else, knitting-wise… Sewing wise I like to think I'm on the right track for me!)
My sister made the sweetest little bag for me! It's the Best Friend pattern from Knitty, I found it awhile ago and loved it, but had no clue she was making one for me! Thanks Jenn! She even added some lavender from her garden, and it smells so lovely! She did an amazing job on the seaming (which I haven't pictured here,) they're almost invisible!
Oh, and did I mention...? It's CASHMERE!
Shirley, from Warm Fuzzies, is such a sweetheart! (You SO are!) She sent an awesome apple cozy for my Mom, and a sock pup and Shiba Inu card for me! She left the pup's face for me, and I think he's probably going to be a sleepy guy! I LOVE lazy stuffies! LOL Here's the lovelies!
Thanks again Shirley! I'm a little late mailing your card, I hope you don't mind!
I received some awesome stuff in round 2 of Craftster's Sweat Shoppe Swap!
Unfortunately, there were a few flakers, but I think it turned out ok! From Bitibis there was 2 skeins of handspun, hand-dyed yarn in two gorgeous colorways! The one on top is soft blues and purples, the photo really doesn't do the colors justice, it reminds me of a Monet! The lower one is beautiful too! It has aqua, coral & pink, and it's amazing! She said it was a mystery skein, but I love it!
From Devilninny I received a set of wonderful cherry blossom cards. They're all different, and so pretty!I also received a set of amigurumi patterns from RubyTuesday, they're not pictured, but it was almost 20 pages worth!From Night_Owl there was a set of mini cards, and they're really mini! they're so much fun, and they're all different!
From Blueblyth I received a mini-shrine. It's small and so cute!
From Madchandler (who wasn't my partner, and just sent me extra incense - what a sweetie!), I received awesome incense in Bright Eyes, Lemon Pucker, and Banana Nut Bread! It was such a nice suprise - Thank you so much!
From Cinderly I received a wonderful gingko leaf coaster - sorry, no pics though - it's a suprise gift for a special person in my life! Can't say who quite yet, though!
I'm still waiting for a few items, but I'll update this post when they show up! I hope everybody liked they're kanzashi flower snap wristlets!
Here's a few sneak peeks of the items I'm making for the Sweat Shoppe Swap (rnd2) on Craftster! I'm so excited, it's basically a sampler swap - and I signed up to craft 10 items, which means I'll be recieving 10 packages back! If you happen to be one of my partners - please let me know if you really like anything pictured here, or have anything you wouldn't like; I'd REALLY appreciate it! And if you leave me a comment here, I'll LOVE you forever! I often feel like I'm the only one reading this silly little blog!Anyhoo here are the pics I mentioned earlier! Tsumami kanzashi flower wristlets. The flowers snap on & off, so you can change them whenever you want! I'm really happy with the way these have turned out, & I can't wait to get them up on Etsy!
Swap partners - the flowers pictured here don't have buttons or snaps yet (with two exceptions, the top 2 far left are sewn to snaps already), if anyone is allergic to nickel, or other base metals, PLEASE let me know so I can use plastic snaps for you! The colors are just a jumping off point, what I have the most of, white, fuschia & turquoise. For the wristlets I just picked up the cutest hip cat felt, as well as some solids, so let me know what you like, and I'll see what I can do!
