Malabrigo March Wrap Up

I didn't do a kick off post, which I'd wanted to but couldn't find the time for amongst all the knitting! But, I decided I still wanted to do a wrap up post anyway, so here it is!

I love Malabrigo yarn. My favorites are Silky Merino and their Lace yarns, although I also have some Worsted in my stash. I love how soft they are, and how vibrant the colors are. 

Finished projects include my Caribenos Clapotis, another Montego Bay Scarf and my Cliff Diving @ La Push Cowl (expect the FO post very soon!)

Not quite finished projects include my Lagoon Hemlock Ring Blanket, a surprise gift lace cowl I barely cast on for and my Purple Mystery Hanami Stole - that I didn't even get the time to add one stinking repeat to! Which is crappy, because I cast on for it way back in 08! Damn, time flies! Hehehe...

WIP Wed - Cliff Diving @ La Push Cowl

I've been kicking around the idea of designing a knit pattern for myself lately, and I knew it needed to be made with Malabrigo Lace yarn. I had a single skein of the most gorgeous yarn, in their Whale's Road colorway - a rich mix of blues, greens and indigo (all beautiful jewel tones.) It's enough for a small thing, but not a large garment...

So, I went to my stitch dictionaries and found this great Fishtail pattern that I loved. I swatched a few times, first on larger needles then smaller, to pull the stitches a bit closer together. The most fun part was when I started knitting, I realized I could do more with it - so I'm super excited about the next (secret!) part of this project. Yeay!

The white is a provisional cast-on; I'm planning on grafting it together at the end, to make it seamless. For a while there, I was totally feeling the 3-needle bind off; but now that I've learned Kitchener stitch*, it's really my favorite way to finish a knitted item. 

What's your favorite method of finishing off your knits/crochet?

*To find the video for Kitchener stitch, you'll need to scroll down to finishing tips, the first listed under seaming is Kitchener. (Also, sorry for the awful picture. Even though the light is great in Chicago today, I sadly don't have the window treatments to be able to control it properly.)

On the Road to Spring Quiltalong - Week 2

I wish I had more progress to show off this week (and pics!,) but I've only managed to finish piecing a few more strips (I only have 14 of 20 completed. Bummer!)

Next, I'm onto sewing them all up together to form the top; but, I'm starting to wonder just how long that will take me! Haha! It is a fun project, working with my own fabric though! Just not a quickie project, although what decent sized blanket (handmade, people!) wouldn't take some time and effort to complete.

WIP - Bauhaus Throw Blanket

When I caught the Ravelympic bug, I knew I wanted to pick a large project... and I'd been kicking around this idea for a beach-ey, by-the-sea version of this Bauhaus blanket for a couple of weeks. So, I decided I was going to knit a whole blanket, 4 pieces with seaming and all, in 16 days. 

I know, you're sitting there saying to yourself, "Kari, why on Earth would you think of such a thing?"

It's because I'm a masochist, or at least that's as close I've been able to come to an answer on that one! Theoretically speaking, it would have been accomplish-able... that is, until I decided to dye my yarn, and didn't bother getting around to it until halfway through the Games - whoops!

Ok, so now I'm going to try a new approach - I'm going to keep posting about this one until it's finished, and hopefully I'll want the damn thing done so bad that'll be enough! Haha! It is an easy enough project, I just need to keep at it, and I hope my fellow bloggers can help keep me motivated!

Right now, I'm a quarter done with it... only knit one square. I really hope I have more to show off next week! Cross your fingers for me!

Ravelympics 2010 - Wrap Up

To be blunt folks, I'm a great big loser. 

But, I'm alright with it this time... I knew the project I'd picked was a large one, and throwing the dyeing into the mix really messed my game up. This time, I'm just a participant, but I'm still determined to work on, and finish my Bauhaus Throw. (And hopefully, soon!)

So, to wrap it all up, I've knitted one square of four, and dyed 2/3 of my contrast yarn to the right color. I was really hoping I would get the dye part right on the first try, but alas, I must over-dye one skein to match the intensity of the other 2. 

Theoretically, the knitting part is easy-peasy - it's just a garter blanket, so I could get it done quickly; just not today. And, although I'm a little disappointed to not have met my goal this time; I'm really happy to have at least participated - we can't all win every time, right?

So, did you meet your own Ravelympics goals?

WIP Wednesday - Cashmere Ruffles Scarf

I just had to buy this cashmere yarn on sale from Elann. It's normally about 19$ a ball, and I got them all for less than 50$!!! Woohoo! The only questions were how much to buy, and what to make with it? I was leafing through Scarf Style by Pam Allen, and found this super cute scarf, that just happened to call for the same weight yarn (DK.)

Doing the math, the pattern called for 432 yds, which was dangerously close to the 440 I would get if I'd have bought 5 balls, so I added one more in (I call this my coverage ball, you know... just in case!) The cashmere only had 88 yds per ball, so I really can't fathom how people afforded this yarn not on sale! Hahaha!

I had a really tough time wrapping my brain around the construction of this one, so I just jumped in and started knitting. After I'd gotten about 4 repeats of the short rows done, I finally "got" how the ruffles are constructed, and where the center spine is, to measure for total length.

The first ball knit up fairly quickly after I taught myself to purl backwards, saving all those turns, from the "wrap & turn" direction of short rows. It's not hard, and my hands took to it much quicker than I'd expected. I only turn the work around once every fourth row! Yeay!

(Please forgive my total hack job in trying to photo-shop the over-exposed-ness on the second photo. It's bad, I know. I really wanted to post this one today, and couldn't do a second shoot to fix it! Whoops!)

Ruffles Scarf by Amanda Blair Brown, see mine on Ravelry!

Another day, another year gone by...

Wow, I've become one of those bloggers... you know, the ones that say they want to write and post more, but who never seem to get around to it??? Yep, that's me. Nail on the head, there. And really, I wish I had more to show for this year. I had such big plans, and I managed to screw up a major portion of the year, somehow.

I know that my late vacation this year had something to do with it, but it didn't even feel as relaxing as last year's (it had to be the food. Last year we had a kick-ass waitress and a semi-private table, this one we had a private table and the worst waiter on the ship. Seriously.) And in general, food has been my Achilles heel this year. I'm terrible at just getting enough food in me to not feel sick a lot of the time, and even though I know I'm a picky eater, I think there may be some underlying causes to this. I don't really want to go into them here, though.

Another component I think I may be missing out on is finding new blog-buddies, as it's been forever since I went out and commented on one that's new to me (or new in general!) So, that's definitely going to be a part of my new year strategy. I hate to be the "New Year's Resolution" kind of person, that only makes a goal because it's the new year; but the timing is actually good for this, and I really need some new friends! (Can you sense another contest coming soon?!?!?!)

Do you have plans for the new year? Are you trying to focus on one thing or another in your crafty/personal life? How do you balance the daily grind with your creative life?

Rip It... Rip It Good!

These days I find myself needing to rip back large portions of a knitting project, for one reason or another; and I thought I'd share what I've learned (so you don't have to spend hours untangling an unholy mess of one ply lace weight wool. ugh.)

I'm not even done ripping yet... I'm going all the way back to the armholes!

I use this technique when I'm mid-project, and don't want to rip the whole piece out, just a large enough section that would undoubtedly tangle, were I not to utilize this simple method. In fact, it's just a piece of card stock (letter sized, 8.5"x11"",) rolled into a tube and taped shut. I place a cut on one end to hold the end that's closest to the ball, that's not being ripped, to hold the yarn in place.

Then, I just rip back and wind the loose yarn onto the tube, being careful to pull tight enough to slightly pull the curl out, but not so tight that it actually constricts the tube. I try and start at the end of the tube closest to the ball. I work my way towards the other end of the tube as I go, so when I knit it back together, I can just pull a few loops off the tube at a time. Jeez, I hope that made sense! If you have any questions, or just want to call me wordy - feel free! And wish me luck while you're at it, I still have a ton left to rip out!

WIP Wednesday - Tiffany & Co. Empire

I must admit - I was so hurried to start this project, I actually bought the wrong yarn for it! Haha! For some strange reason (that still escapes me, because I questioned the needle size,) I thought this project called for Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted, instead of Shepard Sport - which is in fact, the real recommended yarn.

So, needless to say I was pretty upset with myself when I realized that even though the yarn had arrived, I couldn't cast on for this delicious little knit t-shirt. I spent a little while feeling sorry for myself, and then I wondered if I had anything on hand that would fit the bill. Surprise, surprise - I did!

I bought 8 balls of Sirdar Snuggly last summer, when the Stargazer Kimono pullover came out in MagKnits*. I knit both of the sleeves up fairly quickly, but then realized I didn't like the side-ways knit construction of the top. My sleeve edges were too tight to function as a bodice top, and so I let it all sit in a bin for over a year. When I realized that the Snuggly might work for this, I dug it out and swatched immediately. Another huge surprise - I actually got gauge with the reccommended needle sizes! I almost always have to go up, and so I was a little shocked when I checked it and then double checked. Hehehe.

I was a little worried that my cast on was a bit too tight, and it probably is. Next time, I'd go up a needle size for the long tail cast on, then go back down to continue knitting. I'm not sure if I'll add the ruffle at the neckline or not; but I am planning on lengthening the sleeves to just above elbow length. I may add the ruffles to the sleeve edges, too. We'll see...

Now I'm thinking it's too big, but the tricky bit is, there's no size in between small and medium, and I'm a 32" (under) bust. Ugh. It means I'll have to rip back to just below the armholes, and start decreasing. I should do some math so I know just how many stitches I'll have to get rid of. The I-cord empire waist should be 16" (for me,) and this one measures 19" laid flat right now. Oy.

*Yes, unfortunately they're closed now, and they didn't even keep an archive up. Ravelry is a good resource for finding old Magknits patterns, otherwise the best method for obtaining unavailable patterns is to contact the author (if you know their name.)

WIP Wednesday - Hanami Stole

Originally I thought I'd use a different yarn for this, Skacel Merino Lace, but my gauge was way off and I didn't like the way it was looking at all. So, I put it down for a while, and didn't think too much about it until recently. Then, I started my Lavanda Lace Ribbon Stole - my first wrap using 2 skeins of Malabrigo Lace. I didn't know how the colors would work up, or how carrying the yarn up the edge would look, so I'm happy to be past some of those first few hurdles.

I decided that I'd really like this wrap in dark purple, and I had just the right beads for it. (They don't look nearly as good in this picture than in real life!) I knit a gauge swatch and realized that I'd need to go way up to get the right number of stitches per inch. I probably could've used 6's instead of 7's, but the aforementioned Lavanda Stole was still on them (at least when I started writing this post! Hehehe!)

At first I was regretting my decision to go so far up in needle size, but now I'm liking it a lot more (this project sat in it's bin for a couple weeks while I finished up the first wrap.) The colors are so pretty, and the beads look great - I think!

Sorry for the not so great pic, I procrastinated this photo-shoot til the last minute today, and this was the best of what I got. Win some, lose some - I guess, eh? :)

WIP Wednesday - Plumeria Scarf

... and of course it's in Malabrigo lace! Haha!

I love this yarn, and all of the fun colors it's available in. I really like the fact that I can make a good sized scarf from one ball; that allows me to play with stitch patterns and how they look with the colors I've chosen. It's all very conducive to designing for myself - something which I've been wanting to do for some time now!

This is actually a snowflake pattern, from the Harmony Guides - Lace & Eyelets (snowflakes 1, for those who might be curious.) But I think with these colors you can tell I meant them to be flowers instead - at least I hope! Hehehe! Snowflakes in yellow, pink and orange, ha!

I wish I was feeling a little better about this one, but I'm just not sure... The cast on seems a tad bit tight, and the lace seems to need opening up to really resemble flowers, like I'd wanted. The colors, while juicy and delicious, are a little out of my comfort range, if you read my blog you'll know, I normally stick to cooler colors - aquamarine, turquoise, purple and lilac are my faves.

So, I'm just not sure... what do you guys think? Can you tell they're flowers, or do they really look like snowflakes? Does the cast on look too tight? Should I frog it and add a beaded cast on? I'm so tempted to, but I've knitted quite a bit already, and the wool doesn't like to be ripped out! I would like to make it more my own, than just a stitch pattern out of a book, but I'm not sure what to do.

Ravelympics - Dolphin Shorty Shrug

Another Ravelympic entry here, what can I say? (This was supposed to be WIP-Wed post, but oh, well...) I caught the fever! I know now, how Star feels when the Tour de Fleece rolls around. Maybe I'll even be spinning by next summer?!?!

Anyhoo, The Shetland Shorty is a cute little shrug/bolero. And, I'm shrug obsessed lately, so there you go. Plus, I love grey for my wardrobe as well, so really how could I resist?

After a false start on the medium size, I rethought and frogged back. Annoying, but hopefully it'll mean a finished object that isn't baggy or bunchy. Re-knitting the 264st ties was really annoying. And then, I screwed up the short row working! Ugh. So yeah, it's not Wednesday anymore... hehe.

Ravelympics - here I come!

If you haven't heard, there's quite the movement* over at Ravelry coinciding with the Beijing Summer Olympics. Knitters are excited, ready to challenge themselves - myself included!!!

This is Adonis Dionysus Bobicus Maximus, mascot of the Games.
Illustrated by Guin.
(Image used with her permission. Thanks again!)

Basically the challenge is this - cast on for a project during the opening ceremony (or later, it's about 7AM CST by me.) The goal is to have the object finished before the closing ceremonies, a mere 17 days later. This is quite fast knitting, if you ask me; because I'm used to taking my time, and even reworking portions to get them just right.

So, what have I challenged myself with, for this awesome gathering of knitters? A lot. To start, I'll be sprinting on my Glacier Diamonds scarf - it was already started, so it's considered WIP Wrestling. Hopefully, I can have that finished very quickly, so I can move on to my main event, the Sweater Sprint. I've picked the Shetland Shorty from this Summer's Knitty, a cute lace bolero. I didn't even realize until I started swatching, that the lace stitch is called "Bird's Eye" which reminds me of the "Bird's Nest" aquatic center! Haha! I picked a nice grey yarn - Knit Picks Gloss (sock weight,) in Dolphin. It's merino/silk so it's nice on my hands and has great stitch definition!

The final challenge, (I know, I know - I probably won't even get this far, but who knows?) is a biggie! I'm designing a lace-weight stole, knit horizontally with (maybe) beaded fringe. I know, I'm nuts. But, if I can make it scarf-width by the 25th, I think I'll have to consider myself a winner anyway. I'm so excited about writing my own knit patterns, I hope I can do well with them, even if it's not financially. I've been blue-grey for a few months, and it's really wearing on my soul.

I'm using 2 skeins of variegated blue Malabrigo Laceweight for the stole, and I have some lovely beads. But, I may save them for just the ends. I don't have that many, and I always worry about glass beads feeling cold on my shoulders in a wrap.

Wish me luck in my events! I'm in Designer's Discuss, Lace Weight Long Jump, Shawl Relay, Sweater Sprint and WIP Wrestling, and I've got my work cut out for me! (myself, me - which is the right one here? hehehe.)

*Link will only work for Ravelry members! Sorry to tease if you're not in yet!

WIP Wednesday - Glacier Diamonds Scarf

I was so surprised how fast I cast on for this after I finished my Smokey Pearl Scarf. Really, really fast! I liked the version I made with Handmaiden's Lady Godiva yarn, and coincidentally the Great Big Sea Silk I had in my stash had the same gauge and exactly the same yardage. (Both are 273yds, just in case you're curious.)

Glacier is one my favorite colorways in Handmaiden's lineup, although they make it very tough to decide - they're all so beautiful! I'm also fairly pleased with the semi-striped effect - enough to be interesting, but not so much that it's totally obvious. Just right!

The I can't believe it's another Lace Ribbon Scarf (but it's really a wrap!)

aka the longest post title ever! (I think it will actually be named the Lavanda Lace Ribbon Stole, because "the I can't believe it's another Lace Ribbon Scarf but it's really a wrap" is just too long.

It happened so fast. I had only cast off for my first Lace Ribbon Scarf (aka Smokey Pearl) days earlier, but I just could not get it out of my head. Like that friggen Kylie Minogue song... hehe. Then I got into a funky mood I just couldn't shake, and I decided that another lace ribbon project would be fun & enjoyable, knowing that I've worked the repeats a bazillion times already. I actually did lose a stitch on one of my k2tog's, but I dropped the row down and fixed it, then used a tiny crochet hook to work all the stitches back up to my working row. Normally I'd have ripped back to the mistake and fixed it, but it was 9 rows back, and it's 107 stitches wide. I'm proud I could manage it without ripping back, I'm so obsessive about mistakes sometimes.

On an entirely different note, where the hell did June go?!?!! This whole year has gone so fast, it seems. I just really wish I had more to show for it - lately it's like if I have the time & energy to craft, I don't get around to blogging about it. But, If I spend the time blogging, it's like I don't have the motivation to craft as well... kind of a weird feeling, especially since I wish I could do it all.

WIP Wed - Smokey Pearl Scarf

Not long after I started my Flutterby scarf, I found myself itching to cast on for something else. This seems to happen a lot when I'm working on one project at a time, so rather than fight it, I used it as an opportunity to de-stash and use yarn I'd already purchased.



Somehow or another, I ended up fixating on the Lace Ribbon Scarf from this spring's Knitty. The funny thing was, I decided it would be just perfect in Malabrigo lace. Haha! Yes, I decided to start another scarf from one skein of Malabrigo lace… so I have two going right now, one in a multi-colorway and one in a semi-solid. Grin. They're both for me. And I don't feel bad at all. I've had some issues as of late with family, inducing feelings of extreme exclusion; so I feel like it's time I stop pouting and start acting to change the way I feel. I can't change the people making me feel that way, after all… (even though I've tried. That's about as much as I feel comfortable sharing here.)

Anyhoo, if you can't tell yet (or are new here - Hello!) I LOVE MALABRIGO LACE*. It's just about the softest 100% wool I have ever laid hands on, (and I shop by sticking my hands on every sweater in a store,) it has great yardage per skein - 470yds! - and it's the perfect weight for a lace beginner. It's thin enough for lace projects, but it's thick enough that it's less frustrating for someone unfamiliar with really fine weight yarns. They dye it in so many colors, and you can also get un-dyed for those who dye their own (Kool-Aid is awesome for this, see my mini-skein experiment.)

Even though it's a 24 row repeat, I found this pattern very fast moving. (I have 13 repeats of the chart done!) I chose size 6 needles because I wanted 5's, but my other Malabrigo lace scarf is on them, so I went up one. I've always been on the tight side, tension wise, so I tend to go up in needle size regularly anyway. The repeat was also super easy to memorize. At first it looked like such a big chart, but it's really only 4 rows alternated in a certain sequence in those 24 rows.

I love the movement of this piece... normally I would've dismissed a zig-zag as "not my thing," but I'm so happy I didn't let that stop me. I seriously love this piece… the design is balanced but not boring, easy yet still somehow challenging and versatile. (Originally I wanted to add beads to this, but I wasn't sure I had enough, and wondered how well the thin one-ply of the lace would handle lots of beads sliding over it.)

*I've linked to Eat.Sleep.Knit for this yarn. There's plenty of places to buy it, but they ship fast (and they had the color I wanted - Molly. That's for another project! I'm currently crushing on Cuarenta. Hehehe.)

WIP Wednesday - Flutterby Scarf

I can't wait until I get to the end ruffles! So feminine and lovely, I think.

I'd been looking for a pattern to make a scarf out of one skein of Malabrigo lace for kind of a while, when I recently stumbled across Miriam L. Felton's Flutter Scarf. Easy, and yet still an interesting project, I'm really liking the way this is working up. I'm just over halfway on the first half, so about 25% done in total (less in the picture.) The colorway is Brisa, a playful mix of lilac, pink and grey in variegated shades. I couldn't help but immediately buy it, even though I had no idea what I'd make with it. (That's not entirely true, I had a hunch it'd be a scarf. At 470 yds per skein, Malabrigo Lace is enough for a 60" scarf (approximately!)

The cast on row is provisional, (a heavier weight bamboo) and will be removed later. I picked it because it wouldn't "grab" the wool stitches I'll be ripping it out of. We'll see how well that works... hehehe.

Belated Second Blogiversary!

I can't believe I missed it! As of March 3rd, I've been blogging for two years now. I can hardly believe it! Last year was a much slower year, blog-wise than I'd planned. But, I'm hoping to make up for it this year and I've got a few big things planned. Stay tuned for more sweets this week, more knitting soon and a big contest in a couple months! Don't miss it, there's going to be tons of prizes!

And, a great big shout of Good Luck! to a very good blog buddy of mine, she just quit her job and will be crafting full time very soon! I don't know if it's public yet or not, so I won't name her - but you know who you are, lady! You rock!

WIP - Vanilla Clementine Shawlette

When I saw that Octopus Knits had used just under 2 skeins of Bristol Yarn's Buckingham for her Clementine Shawlette, I knew immediately I wanted to make one for myself. Then I spent about 2 weeks trying to figure out what else I could make with my 2 skeins of Buckingham. Hehehe. Okaaaay, I'll admit it… I was scared about the graft at the end, to join 2 pieces at the center back. The pattern calls for Kitchener stitch, and I've never done it before. But with all this fearless knitting going around, I couldn't help but have the thought that if I never try it, I'll never learn how it's done (or maybe more specifically, not done. Ha! Plus, my good friend Karrie swapped me for some of her awesome Kitchener stitch markers!)

So, I set out to wind up my yarn into center pull balls so I could use one ball for each half, working them simultaneously. And then, my ball winder ate my yarn! It got caught in the gears, and I didn't realize it right away, winding more into the gears with each turn. Ugh. I managed to get it off of the gears by winding backwards, but it stained enough yarn black-ish, that I'll almost certainly cut it out and splice back together. Oy.

Considering I would've otherwise not have any splices, since it's knit in 2 pieces and then joined, I'm a little pissed. But, I guess that's what I get for not paying attention to a yarn I've not wound before (80% baby alpaca, 20% silk;) the one time I tried to wind 100% silk, it jumped off the winder like it was possessed!!! Hahaha! Paying more attention, i.e. my full attention, I was able to rewind the first ball and get through the second without any more mishaps - thank goodness!

I'm on row 37 of chart B here.

This is my first time knitting from a chart instead of written directions, and I'm pleased that it doesn't seem nearly as complicated as it looks. I guess it's easy to get intimidated when you're looking at the whole chart, but you don't work all of those stitches at once - just one little one at a time! I'm excited that it's not so difficult, because I've been trying to work up the nerve to start a purple Hanami stole. It's so delicate, and I really like the asymmetrical ends; it's a lovely wrap, and I really want to make one for myself.

And a teeny rant... what the frak happened to January? Hahaha! I bought Patricia's calender back at the end of December, and still haven't finished it yet! (That's not to say it's hard, I'm just super picky about my cuts not being clean enough, and I haven't yet decided if I want to use paper or fabric scraps for the empty spaces! Ack, the choices!

A new year, a new leaf... and chocolates, mmmm!

Last year, I spent a large amount of time making myself feel bad about all of the things I wasn't doing to improve my blog and store. I set super high expectations for myself, and I didn't reach them… no surprise, but still disheartening, nonetheless. I wanted to get so many things done, and then winter set in.

Chicago winter always gets me, because it goes from a regular amount of sunlight during a day, to practically none. Plus, there's always the grey to look forward to. The particular shade that settles around the suburbs where I live, is the most depressing thing I think I've ever laid eyes on. It permeates my brain, and inevitably ends up leaving me in a funk. Last year I tried to focus on tutorials to get past it, but I was always self conscious about the photos that went with them. Something about the lack of natural light during this time of year… it just drives me nuts.

And feeling nuts isn't very conducive to writing a blog. But the most interesting part is, that even though I wasn't writing for my blog for the last couple months, that's all I could think about. So it seems only right that I come back to it now, because I have a new strategy to go with my new outlook.

Last year was all about constraining myself. Setting goals, and then beating myself up for not reaching them, all the while setting myself back further on all of my other goals and aspirations. I've learned that even though I need to work on discipline, I also need to cut myself some slack. Even though I'm a perfectionist, I'm not perfect; and I need to just own that. Perfect is a goal I aspire to - with the knowledge that it's unobtainable. It should be fuel for motivation, not procrastination.

So I'm calling this one the year of water, because I want to go with the flow of things, and not take every last little thing so seriously. That's pretty much my new outlook and strategy, with a big emphasis on going with what works for me, and not obsessing over what doesn't.

It may seem simplistic, but I think it's easy to lose the most simple of things like perspective in this world we live in. It charges us to be consummate consumers, and I will never be one. I love to create, I love unique - I've always had the perspective that if we were all the same, what a boring world! Even if it were full of Brangelinas… if they were all that gorgeous, what would gorgeous mean then? If all the flowers were roses, what significance would a rose have then? What would colors be without the full spectrum to enjoy? How about chocolates?

Heehehehehe. These are amazing, I can barely believe I kept my greedy fingers off them long enough to snap this photo! They came from Candinas Chocolatier, google them, they're incredible!!!

In 2008, Crafty Ginger will be my take on crafting a personal and unique home and wardrobe (of course accessories, too!) with haute couture finishing. I'm not sure if I've ever admitted it here, (partly because I think it makes me sound vain,) but part of my loathing of mass-market items is how much they cost versus how cheaply they're made; and how inexpensively I can recreate something even while I'm being meticulous about the finishing and details. My version is better, in just about every way (see, I knew it made me sound vain!) But that's why I make things, because I can make them better for me; and I want to write more tutorials, and get better at sharing how you can make them better for you.

That's why I started blogging, to share crafts and inspiration; and I'm sad I lost touch with that for a time because I was so focused on my store. But I'm excited to regain focus and perspective, and I’m really hoping for a great 2008! A lot of other bloggers are excited for their next crafty adventures, and I'm super excited for them, too!