Goodbye February

This month goes by so quickly each year. I typically treat myself a bunch during January and February and then I try to be good the rest of the year and limit indulgences. I did my last fun shopping last week on Zulily. We're getting some things to help me pack lunches for the little guy (We're planning to transition him to a new preschool in which he'll have to bring his own lunch). In addition, I ordered some skin care products and a few pieces of casual clothing. The packages are spread out over time, so it feels like little presents.

I was thinking about signing up for a clothing rental program. It would be nice to have fresh things to wear to work that I can send back for other things. With a big transition happening in my office, I feel like I'm interviewing for a possible promotion everyday. I guess that should be my mindset in general. Should I try a Le Tote plan for a month? There are some good promo codes out there. Let me know if you're aware of any good deals :).

Onto crafting...I finished my one Ravellenics event and for it, I received a free shawl pattern. I love this hat!!! Check it out:  Easy Escher Effect. The hat looks even cuter on my kids. I could make a second one and reverse the colors, then they'd each have one. Of course, they don't really like wearing hats.

I'm still working on the Lilla Bjorn Sweater, but I'm onto my second hexagon. I'm trying to be good and not start a ton of projects all at the same time. My treat this week was to swatch for a couple of sweater that I'd like to start when I'm done with my current sweater.

I swatched for the Carbeth Cardigan and the Alyeska Sweater. What do you think?

Here is Kate Davies Carbeth Cardigan. It's quirky and lovely. It's very chunky so my two strands of DK are not wool.

Alyeska Swatch

Here is Caitlin Hunter's Alyeska

I swatched the middle section of the sweater. I might change the lightest color to a pail pink with tonal variations. I'm debating on the accent color...blue, neon pink...so many ideas.

So...the main event this week is the Rose City Yarn Crawl. In a little over three days, the festivities begin. I have friends planning to get to every shop and I can't wait to see the photos of all the festivities on Facebook. I've chosen not to participate. Work is busy and I have lots of yarn. Maybe next year :). I encourage everyone to check out a shop and support your LYS.

Happy crafting!!!

Taking a break from testing patterns...or so I thought

After finishing the wrap last week I said that I needed a break from testing. Well, on Monday I received an "earburn" that a designer I follow was having a test knit. A pair of fingerless mitts that would take 6 - 8 hours to make seemed realistic with a month to complete them. So...

They are done! I  was good and didn't work on anything else until I was finished hiding all of the ends. The Estonian Inlay technique was fun. I hadn't tried it before and the results are lovely. I feel like that would be a lovely front panel to a sweater.

For those in the Portland area you might be enjoy the off and on snow showers today. It's been a pretty mild winter so the snow has been a bit of a surprise. Even when I see it in the forecast I don't expect actual snow.

The Winter Olympics are another reminder of snow :). There are the 2018 Ravellenic games that are ongoing as well. I always forget to join in on the fun (Ravellenic Games).

I'm hoping to complete a hat before the games are over next weekend. The Olympics always remind me of a few years ago that the powers that be of the Olympics said very rude things about knitters who wanted to use the term Olympics for the knitting games. Here's an article from about six years ago (Knitters Outraged). Knitting/Crocheting can be athletic!

While working on a hat this week, I'm hoping to make more progress on my Lilla Bjorn sweater and a few other ongoing projects (just a quick post this week). Have a great week.

Happy birthday...to my knit/crochet group!

It's a couple days early, but it's the 7th anniversary of the first Meetup, which was scheduled for February 13, 2011. Thank you to those who've been part of the group. Whether you've only made it to one Meetup, moved away, been a member for as short time or since the beginning, your involvement means the world to me. Here are a few pictures from today's meeting/celebration. It's been several years since I've celebrated the anniversary, but it seemed like the right time.

I wanted to give a special shout out to Margaret, Shar, and Cathie for helping with lots of the organizing and hosting while I've largely stepped out that role.

While at the group I was working on a hexagon for Lilla Bjorn's crochet along. I love the idea of the top. Now that the second step is out...I'm still not done with the first. I need to get this one to 22 or 24 rows and then create the second. Then I can do step 2. This is an entirely free pattern and there are some great instructions on YouTube. I'm thinking of working on a corner to corner join as you go pillow to learn a neat way to incorporate so color and triangles.

My test knit is complete. So...so...so happy to be done. I'm also finishing three days late, which is was a big bummer. It turned out beautifully :).

A lovely little surprise was in my mailbox yesterday. Quick shipping is always nice, but it was entirely unexpected. There was also some tea, which I gladly enjoyed today. This yarn is from Six and Seven Fiber. I looked up the shop because it was supposed to have kits for a mystery knit along and I was curious what colors they were putting together. I didn't see any kits, so I'm assuming they sold out. After poking around I saw a colorway named "Luna's shoes" and I thought it sounded lovely. I'm not a big Harry Potter buff, but I always appreciated Luna and the colors are lovely. After deciding to treat myself to a skein, I wanted to enjoy a few other colorways, so I purchased three mini skeins. This minimizes the guilt factor for me and I have more colors to enjoy :).

I had discussed a mood blanket that I wanted to start today. I believe I've found a nice lacy square that will be easy to join as you go:  Square Upon a Square. This link is straight to the Red Heart website, so you can see it without being a Ravelry user. I also love the granny square so much that I started to modify one to make the edging comparable to the more lacy one. I think I've done it. I'll start my tracking spreadsheet tonight and then try to work in the squares periodically. They are about 2.5 inches wide so if I made the table cloth or runner 18 by 20 squares, it would be 45 inches by 50 inches. That wouldn't quite be a table cloth without a significant edging for out modest dining room table, but maybe that could be the center.

The cotton really shines in with the flash :).

One last note, my family has had several unfortunate events over the last week or so. If you could send them some good thoughts or prayers, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Have a nice week and happy crafting.

The Long Weekend

I took a day off to try to kick the potty training into gear. It's been a long weekend and progress hasn't been great. We tried the three day approach and besides special night time pull up style pants, he has had no pull ups on. The question as to what we do tomorrow is still unclear when he heads to daycare. We'll see what happens next.

My older son's book report is done...thank goodness. Now what's the genre for the next book report?...so many things :).

So...the kids are driving me crazy...ahhh! It's all normal.

I found out some great news this week that my uncle's cancer is still in remission.

On the crafting front, I'm contemplating a modular table runner/cloth based on my mood that day. I'm going to look at my crochet cotton and come up with a color scheme.  Here are my initial ideas.

I looked through all of my size 10 cotton thread. I have plenty of colors. Trying to make a mood table cloth with so many colors might be a bit tedious.

I shrunk down the contenders to eleven colors or Knitpicks Curio and basic white Aunt Lydia cotton. I'm thinking of starting it on my birthday and then making 360 squares and some kind of crochet edging. Even if I get behind or don't have my cotton with me, I'm hoping to make a chart. I need to identify what kind of square or modular piece I'll make. I'd like it to be something that you attach as you go. Maybe the white can be used to put the pieces together. Once I come up with the square, I'll measure how large it will be and consider different layouts. One thought is 18 by 20 squares or 15 by 24.

Now if you're concerned about moods, I'm hoping to use this as a reflective means of thinking about the good things during the day.

Here is a quick list of ideas by color for various feeling (I don't remember the names of all of them)

Grey: Accomplished
Blue:  Calm
Purple: Hopeful
Red:  Loved
Green:  Took the opportunity to help someone else
Darker pink: I'm a good mom
Lighter pink: I'm a good kid
Light blue:  I made a new or better connection
Brown: I'm a good employee
Yellow: Happy
Light green:  Grateful

As simple granny square of a few rows might be a good way to go...then a picot edge in white to pull it all together. Part of me thinks that maybe the natural color instead of what would look better with the color scheme. Not sure just yet. I might make a few then put them together over the weekend. However, it's probably better to put them together each day so I can see how things change throughout out the year.

I'm frantically working on my test knit due this Thursday. I ran out of yarn until last night so I'm behind and work is busy. It will be the first time I'm late to complete a test. I'm hoping to wrap it up by the end of the week and have all of the finishing done over the weekend. Wish me luck.

My birthday is looming (cringe...cringe). Hopefully, since it's the start of a luck number year, it will be a start to a good year. I picked out a couple new sweater patterns that I'm super excited to get to...in a few months ;).

From Caitlin Hunter and this is her pic of Alyeska.

Courtney Spainhower's pattern via Knit Picks and this is their picture:  Bistort Pullover.

Lastly, I've been putting together little yarny prizes for my Meetup next Sunday. I'm trying to have a prize for everyone and the plan would be to do a drawing for people to have first dibs. The prizes are modest, but I think it will be fun for those who show up. There will be some Holst Garn yarn (arg, that seems redundant :)), Knitpicks yarn, an indie dyed  skein, Cascade yarn, and a few small gift certificates to Twisted (a little help with the future yarn crawl). The last of the prizes should arrive on Friday.

I hope you all have a treat week :). Happy crafting.