Big Weekend and #Stashdown2020

It was a big weekend last week. My almost 5 year old had his birthday party, I geared up for a short work trip, and began planning for #Stashdown2020 kicked off by @browngyrlknits.

The birthday party was a hit and the kids had a blast. I'm so thankful that we decided to hire a magician to keep the kids entertained. We used Philip & Henry to help find us a local magician. The show was curtailed to 4 & 5 year old kids. They had so much fun.

We brought a couple of kitties into our home the next day. Tetra and Akari are a bonded pair of five month old kittens we adopted last weekend. They our sweet. Our lovely Molly, our 8 year old cat, is not too pleased. We're working on easing the transition. My older son is so appreciative with his early Christmas present. He named one and my husband named the other kitty.

I headed to Salt Lake City for a work thing. As always, I was both excited and nervous about the trip. Wanting to make a great impression on my bosses/new colleagues and to learn... I was happy to have some crafting time on the plane and I knitted during the meetings. It's a great group of professionals.I had to share a picture of the beautiful lights and the large LDS temple.

Onto #Stashdown2020. Here is the list crafted by @browngyrlknits:

1. Inventory your yarn before Jan. 1
2. Pick patterns to go with your yarn and make a list
3. Knit from that list all year
4. You get $30/ month for new yarn. Use it all at one time or break it up.
5. You get 2 "deal breakers" for the year just in case your will-power gives out

I'm working on Step 1!!! I went through about 3 large bins. I won't get through all of them, but there is wiggle room to simply work on the yarn you plan to use. With the large scrap projects I plan to do, I'm hoping this is a super productive year and to make it through a couple of bins of yarn.

Lastly, I've been enjoying my yarn advent calendar from Yarn Over New York. I really want larger batches of many of these colors. So much fun!

Wishing you happy holidays and happy crafting.

Hello December 2019!

After taking a month off from the blog I wanted to jump back in with a post. The holiday season is in full swing and we put up our Christmas tree. This will be our first Christmas in our first house. I want to make a tree skirt, lots of decorations, and gifts. As I explained in an earlier post, I'm not intending to make many presents this year. It's a bummer, but totally reasonable.

I'm starting a test crochet for a blanket. It's secret, so no photos or clues. The sampling of stitches is fun.

The Thanksgiving holiday is mired in tough truths about american history. It is a poignant time to be grateful and generous. We spent time with family and shared a lovely meal. I'm thankful for our family and thankful for the hope of another day. Our kitty has been such a wonderful addition to our family too. We're gearing up to share our second round of holidays with her.

My younger son is about to turn 5 years old. I know it's cliche, but it's flown by. Everyday with my kiddos has been such a blessing. Before my husband and I married, we were told that we could have some difficulty conceiving and then somehow by magic we had two kids. I'm hopeful that more bundles will join our family, just not from me :).

I finished some lovely pieces for a friend who is expecting the arrival of her first baby next month. It meant the world to me to be able to give her something to celebrate the arrival. The adventure will begins soon.

Lots of crafting so little time. Happy crafting.

Happy Halloween 2019!

I'm posting early this week because tomorrow kicks of NanoWriMo. With the new job starting as well, I want to put any availabl time into writing more with the focus on the 50,000 word goal. I made it to over 25,000 words last year and was keeping to a consistent schedule before giving up. Wish me luck!

Did you craft anything for Halloween? This year we purchased some decorations so no crafts this go round. Here is a picture of the doilies I made for my mother-in-law last year. Aren't they lovely!?!!

We also celebrated our Molly's (our cat's) adoption day and national cat day this week. One year with our furry baby has been fantastic. We couldn't ask for a better kitty.

We've had some drama on the home front, but the good news is that I have a kitchen and a brand new hot water heater. Please don't let anything else break soon...pretty please... Our house is over 40 years old and could use some updates.

On the crafting front, I can feature the cool items I've test knitted for the last few months. So many have been in "Secret" mode. I had the pleasure of knitting four different designs from Nomadic Knits Issue 5:  Vermont. All the patterns I tested in the group were designed by Melissa Kemmerer.

First, I completed Circus Lights, a pick your own adventure scarf. I love the Gingerbread main color yarn. This sweet brown along with the cream and teal are from Yarn Over New York. The bright colorful yarn is from Potion Yarns (one of her special club colorways). for the pompoms I used a jumbo clover pompom maker (I think 3 3/8 inch).

Next was the completion of the cocoon shrug Zanie. I used Mighty Stitch from KnitPicks. I love that canary yellow so much! This has been a great layer to throw on when I need to run into the garage or head out of the house.

Then, I began a couple of sweaters at once. The first is the fun tunic named Sideshow. This has been a go to layer at home now that the weather has shifted. I love how the raglan shaping looks and the fun color and hem shape are nice unique details. The yarn is Cascade Heritage 150 and the main color is Pagoda Blue.

Lastly, I wrapped up the cropped V-neck sweater Aerialist this week.  Photographing black is tricky, and knitting with it isn't much easier. I love how this turned out, and the stripes in the sleeves are so fun. The main color and teal are from Yarn Over New York. Four of the contrasting stripes are from the Sophisticated Mini Skein set from Enchanted Forest Fibers and there is on stripe in Cascade Heritage. I might go back and add some length for my own personal enjoyment. I have about a half a skein left of the main color...and maybe striping a row or two with the contrasting colors would look nice...so much fun!

Now I have to be good an finish my Halloween Mystery KAL sock today and then work on my Rozeta...start a baby sweater....on and on...

I'll have lots to share later in November or in early December. Have a happy and safe Halloween.

Happy crafting!

Second Sleeve Syndrome (more famously known as second sock syndrome)

Do you ever struggle to complete that second sleeve, second sock, second glove, second mitten, etc.? I'm working on my last test knit prior to taking a significant break from testing. Knowing that this will be the last test makes it only more difficult to get through the second sleeve on this cute cropped sweater. I don't like to focus on only one project at a time...It's not something I'm proud of.

The CALs and KALs are calling me. The last clue is out for the WestKnits' MKAL and I haven't even completed more than a few rows, it's so beautiful!!! I've been following instagram so no worries about spoilers. We're five clues into Yarn Over New York's sock MKAL and I've barely started the third clue for one sock. Lastly, the Rozeta CAL is three sections in, and I still need to get started. All that whining is my motivation to get through this last sleeve. I'm enjoying the fit of the cropped sweater, yet there are so many lovely distractions. Just inches to go, a decrease section, and a cuff!

Here are my five tips to getting past this:

1. Remind yourself that focusing your time solely the second item will be much quicker than starting that new project.

2. Remind yourself how unlikely it will be that you or the recipient would use that one item without its pair.

3. Utilize shows, continuing education, or other events to help get through the time needed to work on the second item (jury duty helped me recently).

4. Keep the first item around with you as a reminder of your ultimate goal (It's also handy to have the item to make sure that your second one matches the first).

5. Remember how quickly you made the first item and that the second one should only take that much time or less (since you're familiar with the pattern).

Of course, you could work on pairs two at a time, but I'm assuming that you've already completed the first item. Ok, enough advice :).

A couple of weeks ago I said I'd feature my recent test completions. Now that I'm so close to finishing the last one, I want to wait another week. In the meantime, check out Nomadic Knits Issue: Vermont. I'm working on my fourth of the designs in the publication, and I've enjoyed them all :).

Happy crafting and have a great week!

Tough Weeks and Growth

It's been a crazy week of mixed emotions and stress at my job. My colleagues now know that I'm closing one chapter and starting another professionally. With the news spreading and a deadline this coming week I felt so overwhelmed. The good news is that everyone has been so kind, and I'm thankful that I've had such a great team.

I have less than two weeks to go before I'm done with my current job. I've never been so sad to leave a job, which tells you I've been very lucky for the last almost nine years.

Ok, back to crafting. Let's start with what felt like a fail...I tried to teach my son to crochet again. He can definitely chain, but that's it. We argued about how he's supposed to hold his hands and the yarn and then he claimed he wanted his loom. He hadn't touched his loom for months. My older son is 10 years old, and I've tried to teach him both knit and crochet a few times. He actually picked up knitting for a brief time, but has to be reminded how to do everything each time we come back to it. Even the loom is problematic. Anyway, I'm hoping we can sneak one more hour in tomorrow and something will stick.

I'm still frantically test knitting. I'll post about the four projects I've worked on for one book next weekend. I have lots of knitting left on the last sweater and I have until Halloween to get it done. I really want it done a week early and there are other project that I want on my needles.

WestKnits MKAL had it's second clue released and I've barely started the first. I knew this would be tricky. I think sharing an image wouldn't need a spoiler alert at this point. Seeing others make progress and watching the videos for the third section are so tempting to steer me away from the test knitting.

Soon, Jessie of Yarn Over New York will have her mystery sock KAL and I hope to keep up with that on time (at least for one sock). I'm planning to use scraps. It was so tempting to get one of the mini skein sets to go with the pattern, but I need to stop buying yarn for atleast a year. The Christmas Advent set will be a nice way to quell my appetite. I often get yarn form Christmas too.

Then, there is Rozeta, the Scheepjes KAL that started and I'll be a month behind on it for sure, but it should still be fun. The yarn for that project is set to arrive on Tuesday (my work deadline day).

I don't have any images or any links in the post, but you can definitely find the all the crafty things I referenced pretty easily.

I'm hopeful next weekend will be more restful and I'll have lots more to share.

Happy crafting!

Cozy Up and Crafting

It's the second (was the first when I started drafting this) chilly weekend of the season here in Portland and I'm ready to cozy up with my knitting and crochet.

Last week, I enjoyed knitting at jury duty and making progress on the test knitting. This week I was frantically trying to finish the same project and it is thankfully drying.

I have a confession to make. I ordered yarn today. I vow that it's my last purchase for an entire 12 months. No more yarn! There are too many things and I want to make from all the supplies and I need to refocus.

Back to my confession, I ordered a yarn pack for the upcoming Scheejes blanket KAL. It's crochet and it's such a fabulous design. I had want to buy a kit when I first saw the pictures of the design, but they weren't available yet. Thanks to Instagram, I was reminded of my hope for a kit and was excited to find the color scheme that I wanted was still available. It might seem like the least exciting, but Midnight is so gorgeous.

The color change that is part of the yarn is truly beautiful, but having some basic contrast and neutrals really speaks to me. I'll start this a few weeks late and it will largely be a winter project instead of fall as the intent of this project. If you're interested in the project (it is a free pattern!), check out the designer, Tatsiana's blog post at LillaBjornCrochet for the pattern description and inspiration.

If you're working on the WestKnit's MKAL. I hope you're having a blast.

Happy crafting. Have a great week.

Not buying yarn...not buying yarn...wait, did I buy yarn???

I'm one of those crafty folks that collects yarn and my insatiable appetite for it can complicate things. To help, I purchased a mystery subscription from Hedgehog Fibers for June - August to receive two mystery skeins each.

Then, I purchased a 20g Christmas Advent Adventure Mystery Package from Yarn Over New York on Pre-order. I'm so excited to see the variety of mystery skeins. I'm hoping to make a blanket out of all the mini skeins. Now that it's already the second half to September, there isn't long to wait.

With the 10th Anniversary MKAL from Stephen West, I purchased the two fabulously curated kits from Undercover Otter. I plan to use some of the yarn, but the other vivid colors should go in a cropped sweater...at least that's what's on my mind. This is the duo that I pan to use later:

Oh, what to do with these lovelies? The MKAL starts on October 4th, I believe...so excited!!!

Another MKAL starts on October 16th. The YONY Halloween in Space Mystery Sock pattern should be a blast and a great stash buster unless you want to buy one of Jessie's lovely curated mini skein kits. Here is one of my favorites and this is Jessie's image (Martians and Astronauts in Space):

I can't wait to see socks knitted up in these fab colorways.

After this MKAL fun and the test knitting there won't be enough time to get much holiday crafting done. The items higher on my queue below are planned to be the last minute things to make. Take the time to check these out.  Sadly the list doesn't show the designer's name. Feel free to find me on Ravelry:  LizzieHutch and check out my queue.

Happy crafting and have a great week.

1	Puppy Hand Puppet
2	Sugar Skull Amigurumi
3	Death Star
4	Ragdoll Unicorn
5	Land and Air Pattern Set 1: Biplane and Police Car
6	Hubble the Squid
7	Dissent Cowl
8	My Inner Wanderlust
9	Easy Puzzle Blanket
10	Halloween in Space Mystery Sock
11	Crochet Northeasterly
12	Christmas Stockings
13	Trevi Top
14	Taroko Sweater
15	Sprouting Brioche Baby Blanket
16	Shawl Shirt
17	Chevron Shrug