Yarn Along

Two stashbuster projects this week! =]



This is going to be an afghan to hang over the back of our loveseat.  I've sort of followed the Traveler's Life Afghan, but I haven't actually looked at the pattern.  Haha.  It's just garter stitch with long tails left on every row for fringe.  I cast on 200 stitches and change color every 2 rows so the front has one garter ridge per color.  It's strangely addicting.  And totally mindless so it's really nice.  Obviously this is going to take forever, so I won't update you on my progress every week. =P



I used up almost all of the leftovers from my mittens this year on this cute little soaker.  I just love it.  It doesn't have an owner yet, but it's very gender neutral, so that's good. =]  As always, I love me some baby knitting (instant gratification!).

What's on your needles?

WIP Wednesday

On my needles is a sweet blue Pebble for my girl.  (Yes, it's called a 'manly' pebble vest - but that's okay!)  This pattern is simple and I love the garter stitch detail that runs up the side.  The pattern only comes in one size (baby) so in order to size it up I swatched (5 sts per inch with worsted on size 8's), measured (20" chest) and cast on 100 rather than 80.  I'm using Manos del Uruguay Maxima and it's lovely.

I've just been knitting the torso region until I think it looks like it will fit well and I'm up to 6 button holes.  I almost skipped the button holes and knit it in the round because I kind of hate purling, but I decided I really like the whimsy of the buttons going up the side.  We'll see if I still like this when it's easier for her to take it off and I want her to keep it on.



I'll be starting the chest portion today (but I need to hold it up to her first and she's still sleeping!) so I'll be posting pics soon!

Oh yeah and about that yarn...



My sweet husband came home from work one night with a surprise idea.  <3  Ziva and I just finished up a 27 month long nursing relationship.  She was down to nursing once a day (right before bed - but if I wasn't home she was fine) and it was a short session at that.  I think she would've kept going with that one short session, but I decided that it would be okay if we were done.  It was easy and painless.  I was able to talk to her about why we were stopping and she only asked to nurse a couple times after that.  Sometimes she still asks, with a joking tone, and giggles.  She's the sweetest.

Anyway - Ben wanted to celebrate my efforts and thank me for sticking it out and providing nourishment for 27 months.  So he took me out Saturday for a yummy lunch, thrift shopping (which ended up being a flop), yarn shopping (where he said, "Don't you want more than that?" <3<3) and new bras. =]  And Ziva wore undies the entire time.  It was a very lovely afternoon, but I did feel quite strange spending all this money on myself.  My sweet hubs does a good job at pampering me.

And the Quince & Co yarn is going to be an immie tee for Ziva.  I'm so excited to knit this for her! 

WIP Wednesday

Oh, wool.  I just love it.  I love how it feels in my hands as I knit with it, how it feels to wear and even how it smells.  Yeah, like sheep.

On the needles currently are a second striped sock for the little miss.  I have this thing for making her mini versions of my knit clothes with the leftovers.  =]  And also I just adore seeing her in anything handmade.  It gives me this joy and warms my heart to see her in her mama made sweater over a dress with handmade pants and wool socks and felted slippers... =]  I'm really itching to make her one of those cutie pie Pebble vests.  I keep seeing them everywhere!  I can't wait to get my hands on some yummy yarn to knit one up.  Anyway.  Hehe.

I'm in between books right now.  In the picture is a Nancy Drew I picked up from the library.  I haven't started it yet, but I felt like reliving my childhood a little.  =]  Last weekend I read through Heaven is for Real.  I think I started it Friday and finished it Saturday.  I just really enjoyed reading it. 

What's on your needles this week?  Please share a link in the comments!

Yarn Along

It's been awhile since I've participated!  It's been awhile since I've even blogged.  So here's my yarn along for this week.  I'm working on a pair of Love Socks for myself.  =] You might remember these from here. I ended up starting over on these after Christmas, because I used a needle that was too small and I got confused and I just needed to start fresh! They are gray and white in real life so I decided to simplify the pic with b&w.  On the kindle (I got it for the hubs for Christmas) is Pride & Prejudice.  The yarn bowl, a gift from my sister, is from AquaMoose.

I have a couple more post ideas in the works, so stay tuned.  Oh yeah and happy 2012!

Purl Diva

Just recently I had expressed an interest in knitting myself a nice fall sweater. I usually knit for Ziva, not myself, so I was hesitant at first to spend the money, because well, I'm quite a bit bigger than she is... I've knit myself exactly one sweater and I cheaped out and bought some acrylic yarn at A.C. Moore to make it. So this time around I decided I would treat myself to nice yarn too. I gave myself a $50 budget and the hubs drove me down to Purl Diva.

I had never been to Purl Diva before, I just googled 'yarn shops in maine' and I found it. OH MY GOODNESS. I adore this shop. Upon opening the door we were greeted by the owner (correct me if I'm wrong, k?) and while I began to browse, Ben and Ziva found a basket of toys stashed in a corner. =]

Ellen carries so much yarn in her shop and I was in no way dissapointed. I could've stayed there for hours and just hung out (however I don't think my husband or toddler would want to do that). She does host social knitting groups on Wednesdays and Sundays, though!

{So so so helpful is the fact that she has several popular ravelry patterns knit up and there for you to touch, look at and experience. I was super excited when I saw the sweater on the bottom left, because it's Shalom - the one I'm planning on making!}

{Quince&Co!}

I think I circled the store 3 times and touched everything before I went to Ellen and asked for help. =] What I'm hoping to achieve is a super comfy, favorite sweater that I grab often. I thought about knitting it out of Malabrigo because it's amazingly soft, but after talking it over with her, we decided it would pill too easily. Perhaps I'll knit myself some mittens or gloves with Malabrigo to replace the ones my mama made me when I was a teen that I set them too close to the wood stove to dry. ='[

I had seen some Shalom's on Ravelry that had a yoke knit with Noro. I thought this looked super cool so I told her about it and she looked it up and helped me to determine how many skeins I'd need. In the end I decided that I would knit the yoke with Noro and the body with Cascade Ecological Wool.


All in all it was a great trip. I started to get all giggly with my bag of yarn on the ride home - it was like Christmas to me! ;] (Ps - my birthday is next month, people, need an idea? Purl Diva gift certificate?) If you're near Brunswick, you need to check her out! If you're looking for a shop that sells quality yarns, has amazing customer service, probably knows everything there is to know about yarn and knitting and keeps a cute doggy behind their counter than Purl Diva is for you! Happy weekend my friends!

**Disclaimer: I didn't get paid to write this review, it's just that yarn gets my all warm and fuzzy inside.**

**Also, today is Unplugged Saturday isn't it? My loves are still in bed so it's okay, right?? Riiiight...**

Kool Aid Dyeing

Just wanted to share some pictures of the fun! We basically used this tutorial, and partially wung(is that a word?) it. Try it! It's super fun!

Wool Dryer Balls

When I found out about wool dryer balls, I thought they were a fabulous idea! You use them instead of dryer sheets or fabric softener, which can leech chemicals. I was excited to buy some to save money and be more green! Then I thought to myself, "I bet I can make these, and it would save even more money!" So I googled. =]http://goodmama.typepad.com/goodmama/2008/05/make-your-own-wool-dryer-balls.html I found a tutorial that seemed super easy and set to work.

First I had to find some scraps of wool in my yarn stash. I didn't have much trouble in that department! =] The picture below are the cores. They are about 6 inches in circumference.

Next I put the cores into a dress sock, with acrylic yarn tied between each core. (You don't want to use wool to tie, because it will felt, then you'll have trouble getting your cores out of the sock!) Once you have them all tied in, just throw them in with a load of laundry. I put mine in with my towels, because they are the only laundry I wash on hot, and that will help the felting process. I learned that you need to tie the yarn in a couple knots or it will come off. I had some twist ties in my laundry room so I replaced the yarn that came untied with those and then threw my core-filled sock into the dryer with my towels.

Here they are after felting. I feel like they could use a bit more felting, because they really didn't shrink up much, but the next felting should help to firm them up. The turtorial says you can skip the first felting if you want, but recommends that you don't if you want a firmer dryer ball. Otherwise the core would still be kind of squishy.

After this I wrapped them with more wool yarn and they're ready for their second felting. As the turtorial states, commercial dryer balls are about 9 inches in circumference, so to account for felting, you probabaly want to wrap them until they are about 10-10.5 inches. I only had enough yarn (I snagged some scraps from my sister too!) to wrap them until they were about 7.5, so they'll be a bit smaller. But that's okay, because you can really make them any size you want!

Here they are after the second wrapping... (The purple one looks alot bigger than the pink/yellow one in this picture, but it was just closer to the camera.)

And then back into the sock they went, and in with another load of towels! Here they are after the second felting! They shrunk down to about 7 inches in circumference, but I think it's a nice size. =]

I just love this kind of stuff so much!! I feel so accomplished when I can make something at home to save us money and help the planet! Now I'll just have to report back on how they're doing in the dryer!!

Alpacas!!! =] =] =] And yarrrn!!

Today my hubby and I went to Nezinscot Farm for the first time! This farm store is about 10 - 15 minutes away from our apartment, and I'd driven by it a couple of times and thought, hey, that looks neat, but hadn't stopped. But today I just really wanted to see some alpacas. So we drove there, and stopped at the store.

We had to just park on the side of the road to see the alpacas. I really wanted to get close!! Look at the little cutie baby one!! Aww.

I was soooooooooo happy that inside the store they sell yarn! Made from their alpacas' wool! They also sell a ton of organic products, I was surprised at how big it is inside!

Here's the skein I chose to make a pair of longies for my new neice, due October 2nd! (I decided the ones I'm working on now will be like a practice pair, mostly because they're not extremely soft, so I'll give them to our 5 year old neice for one of her dolls.)

I love the fact that the yarn is made right here in Maine, just minutes from where I live! It's hand painted, and 100% wool! They sell other yarns there too, but I thought it was so awesome that I could purchase this, then go outside and see the animals that it came from. So neat!! I have an idea that this will be my primary yarn shop from now on! =] I can't wait to get my hands on this yarn! =]