The Espen Headband

I think it was WAY back in December, Varian Brandon of Brandon Knitting Designs did a Knit-Along on Periscope with her Espen hat/headband pattern.

Mine is officially finished!  I added the buttons this morning.  This was my plan all along, which is why I chose white flowers on a green background, but...well...I got distracted.

 It's all blocked, and ready to go for spring time (I wear a full hat all winter).

 You can find her pattern over here, my ravelry notes here,

and tiny little buttons in my etsy shop over here

Joining my friends at:

Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft On

My very first adult sized sweater!

The Bloc Party by Kathleen Dames...

 This was my first attempt at a sweater for ME!

 The pattern has an integrated button band (which means the button holes are on both sides) and so the buttons I am using are interchangeable...kind of like cuff links.

 For now, they are matched to the stripe colours, but I also have a full set of plain white buttons that I can pop in when I'm looking for something a little more subdued.

I did some fun colourblocking...

...and most of the sweater is done in plain stockinette, which I love!

There will be another sweater in the future...in fact, I have already cast on!

What are you working on this week?

In which my local yarn store blows me away...

Yesterday, I was at my lys (local yarn store) looking for multiple colours of yarn for an upcoming project.

 I was looking for dk, and they suggested three different brands that each had their own colourways.

I chose 6 balls from one brand and had them laid out on the counter, but since I had initially walked in looking for "bright" colours, I moved over to another brand and started to try to put a set together.

The owner saw me struggling to make colour choices so she asked me if I have a favourite painting...

...and then proceeded to pull this painting up onto the monitor.

These are the yarns that were already on the counter at that point.

Clockwise from top left we have sky, clouds, grass/umbrella, shadows, flowers, and the darker portions of the sky.   Well will you just look at that!  Needless to say, I stopped looking and just bought these six.

The subconscious at work.  The funny thing is, I haven't seen the painting in months.

One finished object, one WIP

I've finished my first successful stranded knitting project and I couldn't be more thrilled.

 The pattern is Baby Snowflake by The Cozy Knitter and is absolutely lovely.

 I learned a couple new techniques...and now I want to put the delightful "latvian braid" on everything.

 And the back is just as lovely as the front.   

Note, the super bright colour!

In progress:

So many buttons.  My stockpile is quite low so I'm hustling to get a bunch finished in time for people to add to their Christmas gifts and other cold weather knits.  

Pictured, these are the same as this pendant, which I have had several requests to turn into buttons.

Won't it make an adorable large button?

Joining my friends today at:

Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams

What I've been working on - Shawl Pins

My new shawl pins are finished and I couldn't be happier with them.

I'm not sure if I shared the "work in progress" picture, but these were started months and months ago.

The flower is my favourite...

And the leaf is my favourite...

 ...and these clean and simple rings are my other favourites. :)

I made them in shawl size, and scarf size...mostly because my shawl is still (!) not finished and I wanted to wear one straight away.   

The wooden portion took us a really long time to get right.  

We had many (many!) failed attempts before I was happy with the results.

I have another batch ready to glaze...I'm just trying to decide if I want them in one solid colour like the first batch, or if I fancy them up a bit with some double dipping.  

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Joining my friends today at:

Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft On

Yarn Along

It's been a while since I joined yarn along...not because I'm not knitting, but because I'm knitting so slowly that I hardly have a new thing to show.

I did have time to whip up this little darling for my baby niece in time for her first birthday.

The pattern is by Linda of Mamma4earth on etsy and is amazing.

The book, obviously, is The Ugly Duckling (that's actually a swan) and is - and has always been- my favourite kids' story.  We had to go to 3 different stores to find it, which makes me very very sad.

It was lost in a sea of Trademarked character books which will remain nameless.  Such a shame.

Joining with Ginny at Small things, for Yarn Along.  Hop on over.

A knitting post...finally.

So I started a pair of socks way back in February that were supposed to be a pair of birthday socks for my son who ONLY wears ankle socks any more. I gave up on the idea of surprise socks because I just couldn't "sneak" the size of his foot.  So here is the first pair.  They fit.  He says they are comfortable (that says a lot coming from the pickiest person I know, clothes wise).

 I really wish I could share the pattern with you, but I printed it off in February and there is no title anywhere, and it's not saved to my Pinterest board, or my Ravelry favourites.  Go figure.  I know I first came across the idea for them here on the purl bee.

 Started on my first day of holidays, and finished two days after we got back....my new cowl.  In "not-grey"!

It's just a super simple garter stitch.  I think 30 stitches. Every sixth row is a pattern row, with Yarn ver, K2tog, knit 2 stitches, repeat.  I spaced them out so they alternate, but it looks equally pretty when they line up perfectly.  I used exactly one ball of yarn, and may end up ripping out the seam to add a couple extra inches if I can get another ball of the same colour.  It's a wee bit snug for my taste.

And what's a knitting post without a yarn bowl?  The mate to this one has already been delivered.  They were a prototype, and I love them, and I will be making many many more.  And that's my sock yarn in "acceptable boy colours" waiting to be turned in to more ankle socks.

Reading:  Edible Wild Plants, Build your Own Earth Oven, and going to the library tonight for some fiction.

Linking up with: Yarn along over at small things

Fiber Goodness

Progress has been very slow on the fiber front, but here's what I've been up to.

 The secret knitting: a pair of ankle socks.  It's proving difficult to find secret time to work on these.  Plus I have hit a stand still until I can somehow measure someone's foot without raising suspicions.

Inspired by these socks over at The Purl Bee

 The shawl:  The lace I finished and shared a few weeks back...it's really a pillowcase edging but done in worsted cotton.  The part I'm on now is just a simple crochet back and forth (the only crochet I have learned thus far).  Progress is slow on this one because I have to really watch what I'm doing (#newbie) so I don't dare pull it out in my usual knitting time ---Downton Abbey and such, but it is coming along.  I need it for late April and I think I can do it.  I *know* I can do it.

On the spinning wheel:  Some very minor progress on the spinning.  I purchased an Alpaca, Merino, Bamboo blend from Alpaca Avenue the last time I was in Toronto and progress was slow because I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it.  Now that I have a project picked out, I think I'll get to it more often.

On the bookshelf:  I'm reading Charles Dickens' ThePickwick Papers.  I'm pretty sure it is the only Dickens I haven't read yet.  I usually love his books, but I can't seem to really get into this one.  Granted I'm only on page 40 or so, and I'm only reading 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there, so it's not really getting a fair chance.

In the shop:  If you haven't seen it yet, I'm one of the March sponsors at Frontier Dreams.  

Hop on over to this blog post to find the code for 15% off anything in my etsy shop during the entire month of March.

Linking up with friends at:
Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft on
Fiber Arts Friday over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Fiber Arts Roundup

I've been so busy making things I haven't had time to share pictures in a little while, so here's a bit of a roundup of some projects I've been working on.

A friend of mine is having a sock monkey themed baby shower for her daughter, so a sock monkey was in order.  I used this tutorial over here since I've never made one before.   Note:  if you are going to try this, get a decently thick pair of socks.  I bought these because they were long and stripey, but they were really quite thin to work with.

She also sent me a picture of some really cute sock monkey slippers that she wanted me to make, but they were crocheted.  I kind of cobbled together a pair of knit slippers using the seamless baby booties pattern as a base and then just added the mouth, eyes and ears.  If I remember correctly, I added extra length to the leg portion of the slippers so I could roll it over like in the picture.

I also finished Diana's hat from Green Gables Knits by Joanna Johnson (of Phoebe's sweater).  I was definitely going to run out of the dark blue so I started adding in stripes of light blue in the decrease section to finish it off.  I love this view of it.

This is how it is meant to be worn...high up on the forehead and all slouchy,

but in all honesty, this is probably how I will wear it...

(very difficult to take a picture of oneself, no?).

When I was blocking it, according to the directions, I noticed a very obvious mistake I made in about the 9th row from the beginning.  I think I will cover it up with one of my big buttons.  I might just knit up another one with a pink (gasp) ball of yarn I bought for another project that won't be happening now.

I also finished up the striped scarf for N, which was supposed to be stashed away for his stocking next year, but it has been so bitter cold that I already gave it to him.  How could I not, when he was tearing the place apart looking for a scarf he could use?

I am much happier with it now that the edging has been added.  It is super thick, and super warm, and he has been wearing it to school and back (but not AT school, since scarves are banned).

Linking up with some friends today:

Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams

Yarn along over at small things - although I'm not reading an actual book right now...just blogs.

Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Knitting in Progress...

I have a couple of projects on the needles right now.  I'm promising myself to finish these two before I cast on anything new.

 Over Christmas holidays, I was working on this lace edging for a shawl I want to make.  I thought it was done, but then when I went to pick up the stitches to work on the shawl, I realized it was too short (and that it wouldn't work the way I hoped).  I have "unbound-off" the last row and am adding a handful more repeats of the lace pattern.

 It's actually a pillowcase lace edging, but I'm doing it in a worsted weight cotton instead.

The whole project fits in my new yarn bowl (with a bulk size ball of grey yarn underneath, no less).  I worked on this last night with the yarn bowl on the floor and the cat ignored the whole thing completely.  Success!

 And this.  This one has be a little disheartened.  I'm not liking the  colour scheme nearly as much as when I started...

 ...but I keep plugging away at it.  I'm hoping the black binding that will go around the edges will tie the whole thing together nicely.  And it's such slow going since it is "secret" knitting that can only be worked on at night...after a certain someone goes to bed...which is not nearly as early as it used to be a few years ago.

I do quite like it like this, so there is still hope.

I have finished reading Rainbow Valley by L. M. Montgomery and am currently reading Rilla of Ingleside, books 7 and 8 of the Anne of Green Gables Series.  For all these years, I never even knew there was a book 7 and 8.  Book 8 is set at the beginning of World War I, so it's not quite as light a read as the others.  I'm just at the beginning so I'm interested to see how it goes.

Linking up with some friends at:

small things for Yarn Along

Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Knitting, Buttons, and Yarn Bowls

I've been making and making in the studio, but I have nothing finished to share yet.  Here are some of my works in progress...

 I am IN LOVE with these new buttons I'm working on.  I have cedar, juniper, and boxwood in the works.  They are underglazed and waxed and ready to glaze and fire.  Hopefully late this week or early next week.  My favourites are the tiny little juniper ones, or maybe the rectangular ones... I can't really decide.

Also waiting to be glazed are the "wood slice" buttons.  I'm looking forward to seeing these finished.  I have a few with great big holes for a big bulky yarn, too!

 Still plugging away at my striped scarf.  It's pretty hard to sneak in some good secret knitting time.

 And the yarn bowl of the day...

I'm currently working on another batch of yarn bowls.  Stay tuned!

Joining  few friends over at:
Keep Calm Craft On at Frontier Dreams
Yarn Along at small things  I'm still reading Wuthering Heights as I was asked to pause that to read both Scorch Trials and Kill Zone, part of the Maze Runner series.
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
Fiber Arts Friday over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder