Inspirations Abound

In March where I live, Spring is defintely apparent all over.  From everyone's complaints about their sinuses and the tell-tale yellow dusting on everything to the buds and flowers on trees and shrubs, you can't get away from it.  Spring is like nature's caffeine spurt.

 

The past couple of weeks have been the opposite for myself!  Other than occasionally making jewelry for my Etsy store, I haven't done a thing.  It's definitely not for lack of inspiration, because I have a head full of ideas!  Therein lies the problem - I need to get organized to decide what to do first.

In the warm months I am an avid gardener - and I can't wait to fill up my landscaping with tons of new (and unfortunately expensive) annuals and perrineals.  If I haven't been going to the nurseries, I've been wanting to go and load up on plants.  Two summers ago I was so proud of my garden and my goal this year is to do it again.  There's something therapeutic about pulling up the driveway and seeing tons of color and life.

I've also had my brain wrapped around some new jewelry ideas.  I've been asked to provide several pieces to my kids' school for their annual silent auction.  It's always a huge success for them - a ton of people come everything gets sold!  It's very important because as a private school, they rely on donations and fundraisers for a lot of their capital.  I'm really excited about the prospect of having my name and my designs spread here locally.  Word of mouth is crucial for artists and let's face it - there are millions of items of jewelry on Etsy.  It's difficult to get discovered. 

This auction has me really re-thinking one of my personal preferences about jewelry.  I am not the type of person to buy or wear or even make a set of earrings/necklace or necklace/bracelet that matches.  I like to make pieces that will coordinate well together, but not necessarily look like they were made to go together.  That's part of my creativity.  That's my taste.  However, I know many people prefer sets.  I'm debating on putting together a couple of sets of necklaces and earrings just for the auction and seeing what kind of feedback I get.  I will update on how that goes!

Any knitting news? None at the moment.  I did make a pair of fingerless gloves a few weeks ago.  They got snapped up by a friend (I was happy to give them to someone who would wear them and not just photograph them!!).  I casted on for my own set and you'll never believe what happened to them -- my dog ate them.  I'm serious!  He is three months old and he loves to chew on yarn.  Obviously I was livid - but I was only halfway through with the first one.  I haven't been inclined to restart because it is getting too warm here to wear them. 

I have been thinking about this cardigan lately

It's Berroco's Rill.  These flowy cardigans are so popular right now and I can actually see myself knitting and wearing this in the summer over a tank.  Of course, it would cost me around $85 to knit it in the recommended Seduce yarn.  I'll wait and see if it goes on sale or if I can find a good sub. 

Till next time!

My Needles Are On Fire!

Guess what??! I started a new project - another of my hairbrained on-the-fly designs. I knew I'd get bitten by the bug again, and since it's August - it's about damn time! I've been scanning my favorite sites for inspiration, patiently waiting for the fall sweaters to appear. Last week in Fossil's website I stumbled upon this:

It's Fossil's Tobie . I figured a lacy sweater in a cotton blend would be a nice easy start to my knitting season. After searching high and low for a durable cotton-blend that wasnt skimpy in the yardage department and didn't contain any wool, alpaca, or silk, I settled on the Lion Brand Cotton Ease. I decided on "stone", a light silvery gray hue. To be honest, using this yarn was my first choice and then I drove myself crazy browsing for better quality (sometimes just means more expensive) yarn. I spent about an entire week debating my yarn order, and then I simply drove to Michael's and bought something off the shelf. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I used Cotton Ease on the Spring Beret that I was knitting (finished now - need to photograph). Anyway, I'm happy with the choice and I'll be the first to raise my hand for the affordability - not to mention convenience - of craft store findings.

What drew me to this sweater was the casual look of the eyelets and rolled collar. I don't plan on making my version quite as long as its inspiration since I'm lacking in the height department. Remember my September Sweater? This will be a lacy, buttonless version. The unique construction is so much fun for me to knit!

So far I am just about finished with a sleeve and because of the sideways design of this sweater, I'll be casing on for the yoke. Maybe I'll have the top half completed over the weekend. Here's a peek of the lace pattern and color:

Anyway, that's it for now. More progress to follow soon :)

Uncharted Territory

The past few weeks have proven unproductive in my knitting world. I have had a few ideas but no new projects have materialized. I think it may be time for me to dust off the cobwebs and just come up with something.

Turning to yarn for some inspiration, I have discovered how amazing hand-dyed and hand-painted yarns are. Besides, maybe a small project will lead me into something larger. Last weekend, I bought a skein of Stefanie Japel's newest batch of bamboo, the Hope colorway (she came up with it while watching the inauguration). It hasn't arrived yet, but I am so excited to crank out a little spring scarf as soon as it gets here. But I joked to my husband that it may be too pretty to knit!

Looking through all of her photos of the colorways she has made got me thinking that I'd like to experiment. So I did a little research and got some ideas of different methods and tools. Not to my surprise, my town's selection of products for such an experiment wasn't great. But since this was just a practice trial, I made use of what I could find.

I looked through many hand dyed yarns on Ravelry and came up with some colors I'd like to try. Here's my first attempt, before & after:

I'm pretty happy with my first hand-dyed hank! I used some inexpensive 100% mercerized cotton, which took the dye almost too good. I was hoping for more muted colors, not pastel, just not so bright. The real test will be how a knitted item turns out. I'm looking through cowl patterns, and I think I've decided to try the Darkside Cowl first. I may wait for my second hank to dry and use it first, since I think it turned out better.

Here's number two, in the same colors, at a different concentration:

I like the way the brown came out better with this one. I've washed it again since this picture was taken, in the hopes that I could fade the colors slightly. I'll have to wait to see if it worked until it finishes drying.

Here are a couple of pics of the process:

I'm already thinking of new colors to use next time!

Getting Back Into the Swing.....

Even though I have not been feeling well, I can't manage to find the time to rest. This time of year my knit creativity meter won't simmer down! I stayed home yesterday and between taking care of my one year old, who has an ear infection, and getting him to the doctor, I almost finished the sleeves for the Old Penny Cardigan. I'm planning on blocking tonight, and depending on how long it takes to dry, I may be seaming this weekend. In my past experiences, the pieces don't take very long to dry. I am excited to finish it up, because I just found what I want to try to knit next:

This sweater is from Fossil (I had no idea they made clothing!). It's called Lucy and I think it's adorable! I have some Plymouth Tweed in this color:

I bought the yarn hoping to knit the Central Park Hoodie. Even though so many people have knit it, I think the basic hoodie sweater is simply a good item to have in the cold-weather wardrobe. I have been hesitant, so maybe this sweater will be a good alternative??

But first I must finish a baby blanket that I am running out of time on. The baby is due in four weeks and I know that if I don't want to be totally stressed out, I should pick it back up.

Next time, hopefully I'll have an FO to share!

Before I Learned to Knit

I have always loved making things. Ever since I can remember I have been called "crafty". My husband, bless his heart, has dealt quite nicely with having a house full of everything from paint and fabric to yarn and beads. Before I learned to knit (also before I became a mother of three) I was obsessed with jewelrymaking. One summer I even earned a pretty good bit of money making custom jewelry.


To be honest, I have been so into knitting lately that I had forgotten how much I loved my beads. They got relegated to the top of my closet (right beside a plethera of faux florals). Knitting became an easier, less cumbersome hobby for me and I just rolled with it.


I don't exactly recall why, but at some point in the last few days, I started jonesing for some new necklaces. So, tonight I decided to pull down those boxes and look through my stuff. Isn't it the greatest feeling to rediscover your treasures after long forgetting exactly what they are?!?! The hubby and two oldest kids went to Mardi Gras tonight so I had some peace and quiet around the house. Here's what I came up with:






That's the pendant anyway. The goal was to be able to match pretty much any color. Honestly, it had been so long since I'd looked at any of it that I wanted to use a little of everything. It's so hard to find good lighting in my house at night. So I whipped out the old "flip the book open" backdrop. It's a Webster's dictionary opened to a random page.


Here is the necklace on:

I wish I could've gotten a better shot. Maybe I will try during daylight to get the detail of it. I love it!

Okay, now I have to get dressed and go somewhere tomorrow so I can wear it!

Here's one more look:

Yay for rekindling an old relationship, and a little change of scenery!