What's the Word?

Well, 2018 is here and it seems like everyone has the resolution mindset right now.  I know I don't really set resolutions, but I always try and look ahead to think about what I want to achieve.  And while some years I don't decide until mid-February, other years I break it mid- February, it's always nice to feel like I'm setting a goal.

I'm a member of the MySister'sKnitter group on Ravelry, and while I am not a frequent poster, I love the community of that group.  It's funny though, because the theme for the upcoming KAL actually fits perfectly with my knitting goals for 2018.

"What's the Word?" - choose a word that defines your goals for 2018. 

Even before Christmas, I had decided I wanted to cut back on the selfish knitting and knit more for others this year.  So many people have been good friends, mentors and role models in my life, and I need to repay them in some way, so why not knit?  At the same time, my life is beginning to get chaotic as I enter the territory of full time teaching.  So the moments I do have to create should be savored.

And thus, my word for 2018 is: Appreciate. 

Appreciate those who have helped me get where I am and appreciate the time I have to make things. 

The first on my list is someone who has known me my whole life, and honestly deserves so much more: My mom.

When I was home over the holiday we visited the shop there, Yarns: Sold and Told, and she picked out a skein of Mountain Colors Twizzle that she wants me to make into a pair of gloves.  I already found the pattern - Offhand Gloves - I am just waiting for the KAL to start so I may begin.  Hopefully the fingers will not mess me up, as they so often do.

Another person I need to knit for is someone I became friends with less than a year ago, but have found myself very attached too.  Jayde, an artist who moved here to participate in the residency I once did, has been an amazing influence in my art and friend in my life.  While I will not finish in time for when she moves, she has requested a pair of socks in a nice shade of purple.  I'm thinking this may work? But if not, I can always hit up my LYS. :)

Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Socka Mexiko Color

And on the subject of appreciation, I wanted to take a moment and appreciate this lovely gift I received from my Knitting Guild Secret Santa.  While we all always out do ourselves, this is over the top.  Hedgehog Fibres bought IN IRELAND with a bag designed to emulate the landscapes there, a unique book that is filled with murals in Houston, plus tapes, teas and sugar! What else can a girl want?  I truly appreciate when people take the time to think of me during the holidays.

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Do you have a plan for the new year? Are you defining it in a single word or with a goal? Any resolutions or do you usually break them? I'd love to hear more!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and let's make 2018 the best yet!

~Lisa

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We all know what time it is? Christmas....BREAK! Ok maybe I'm a little excited, but the knowledge of having the next two weeks off from school is a pretty nice feeling.  Even though I will be traveling home for part of it, it's still nice to have a little bit of time for myself before I go.

I have had a good amount of time lately to tackle some projects, and I wanted to do a quick post about all of them.  Many of them were started yesterday, my official day off for the holidays, but some have been ongoing.

The December socks are on the needles and taking their sweet time.  The pattern is Lowry Crossing by one of my LYS owners, Petra, and the yarn is from Kimerie's Knit Knacks that I purchased last month.  I love the way these look, but the cables are really tedious and thus slowing me down.  

This will be pair 12 for me and I gotta say, it's been a trip.  I'll do a recap at the end of this pair of each one I've done this year.  Safe to say, I'm worn out and definitely need a sock sabbatical. 

Handmade gifts are also happening again this year, in the form of these cute woven coasters.  I have been spinning mini-skeins on my drop spindle from a grab bag of fiber and then weaving those minis on my small wood loom to make the awesome coasters.  It's been really fun seeing the random stripes and designs my handspun is making!

With my day off yesterday I was able to start on a bunch of things, including a new colorway in my yarn.  Based off the painting "Early Snow Flowers", the colors on this are very warm, considering the name.  Why did I name that painting the way I did? Lol.  But seriously, this is a nice change for me, although the red dye is a little potent. 

On the subject of starts, I also managed to begin the 3rd painting in my triptych.  While I can't get all three in a row on my easel, I am able to at least get the two.  The one on the right - the new one - will be very pink.  I like that I could hang them all separate if I wanted, but that they are also a continuous work. Merging from red to pink, this has been a fun challenge. 

Playing with pink, I also have this "spa cloth" started yesterday that I am going to gift to my future sister-in-law for Christmas.  I'm planning to make two of these, each with Cascade Ultra Pima. I've had a couple of cloths made in pima cotton for a few years now and they hold up so well.  I highly recommend it!  For this gift I am planning to also gift her a bar of soap from my favorite soap maker - RAH soap. She does some amazing scents and varieties and I always have a very positive experience buying from here. 

And finally I decided to do some playing with my dyes.  I had a bunch of end pieces from winding skeins to sell and made some 10g minis.  I laid them all out, grabbed the squirt bottles that already had dye in them and just went to town.  While I'm not selling these (they're for something else), I am thinking of doing this again with larger skeins and calling it "paint water" - as in whatever dye is left in my bottles after a dye session.  Always changing and always fun.

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I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday.  Whether traveling or staying home, make sure you give yourself time for yourself and your craft, as well as family.  Self care in today's world is really important, and sometimes we miss out on that during the holidays.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

~Lisa

In a Flash

This past month seems to have been a blur for me.  Here it is, January 9th already, and yet it seems like we just had Thanksgiving.  Am I the only one thinking this right now?

Maybe it's because of my two trips home for the holidays, barely a month apart.  Driving 12+ hours one way is no fun trip, and for some crazy reason I decided to do it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.  Yes I am insane.

But if anything came from having the holidays, it was some much needed knitting and relaxation time.  Being able to see my family and friends and not stress out about work or life or art was really helpful.  And having some extra time to get some knitting done didn't hurt either, especially over Christmas.

My first holiday finished object was this beautiful bag for my secret santa in our local knitting guild. She really likes the color red, so I knitted her a Sock Baggie with some fluffy red wool.  The bag itself got loaded with lots of goodies.

The next item on my list was this beanie for a friend, Jordan, who just went abroad to the UK.  She commented that she wanted more beanies before she left and this seemed appropriate.  I even managed to find the time to publish the design on Ravelry (it's FREE!)

Third was my secret santa at work - one of our science teachers.  He said he liked tea, so I knitted him this cozy - Tea-N-A - and gave him some tea and goodies to go with it. Safe to say he loved the gifts!

Knitted while I was home over the Christmas, this cloud cowl is a design from my local yarn shop using a single skein of Bamboo Bloom to create a light and airy piece.  I made this for my boss at my second job because she tends to wear simple yet artsy things.  Despite the simple design, she was very impressed.

My last project at home was this messy bun hat for another one of my co-workers who usually has her hair up.  While I don't personally see the point of this craze, it seemed fitting.  And the trend continued when she loved it.

It's always such a thrill to knit for others, especially this time of the year! The happiness and joy that a handmade item can bring is something I truly cherish.  Did you make any gifts this year?

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One last thing in terms of the title for this post.  While I was home over the Christmas holiday my younger sister cued me into a tv show - The Flash - based off of the DC comics.  While I have always been a Marvel fan, this show quickly became an addiction.  So much that I was able to whip out a whole project during my week and a half binging spree.

The rainbow yarn is a gift from my brother's fiance - she got bored one day and decided to try dying - and the white is from my stash.  I decided to do a diagonal slip-stitch stripe design, and the result is a nice heavy wool cowl.  I playfully am calling this "Unicorn Farts" simply because of the color.  Like I mentioned above, I started this right around episode 10 of Season 1 and finished it during the last half of season 2. What can I say, it's a good show.

 Thank you to all the people who may see this and take the time to read and review.  Starting next week I'll have more professional photos - I finally found the memory card for my good camera - as well as an update on my art show that opens Saturday.

Love Always <3 br="">~Lisa

(because I couldn't find any good flash themed Cat memes)

The Generosity of Knitters

It's Friday! I have some pretty awesome plans for the weekend, including an excuse to hang out with this guy I like :) But that is a whole other story! Today I want to take the chance to share with you the amazing knitting and spinning gifts I have been receiving lately from some very amazing people!

I am pretty sure I have mentioned her on here before, but I have this amazing aunt who is a knitter and a weaver and loves to buy me new yarns and fibers to play with.  Well her and my uncle took a road trip to New Mexico last week and when they got back she had a surprise for me.

She might as well have just gotten me the sheep, because that's about how much Navajo-Churro Sheep wool I have now! For those interested, I did a bit of research (via wikipedia!) and the Churro sheep is bread primarily for it's wool, which consists of a dual coat (80% inner, 20% outer) and the people who use it tend to keep it in it's natural state, or overdye it with natural dyes.  My aunt says this is enough to spin to make a sweater, but it's a bit scratchy and fuzzy, so who knows what it will become. Ask me in a year when I finally get done spinning it!

Now, if you thought that was amazing (which it is!) then you will LOVE this too!

One of the ladies at knit night is about to move to Chicago and was clearing out her stash. Guess who got to pick through what she didn't want?!?! Me and a fellow college knitter, for she felt we were the ones in need the most.  So true! I am not really sure what I am going to make with most of this yarn (a lot of it is 'fun' yarn) but I see a couple tops and few scarves in the future! This is going to be so much fun to photograph and stash! I think my favorite is the fuzzy blue/pink/green mix at the top middle. It will definitely make a fun scarf!

Leave it to me to  post a Facebook status about my boring week! The knit shop owner, Kennita, saw my post and decided to gift me with a small vial of some dual-purpose paint she has been using in some of her knits.  She knows all about my art projects and thought it would be fun for me to experiment with. This could get fun!

On the knitting front, the hat is done, and waiting for photos (Next week!) and the bag is done too! It's pattern is almost done, there are just a few things I need to finish. I think I may pick up my Berry-boned wrists again, and keep trucking on the world's slowest socks. 

Edited to add: Bag pattern is now available for free on Ravelry! Click here!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

~Lisa

Check out the baby Colobus Monkey I saw at the zoo yesterday!

With Friends Like These

Hi everyone. Today's post is dedicated to you, my readers! I love each and every one of you in a special way, because you are willing to take the time out of your busy schedule to read and comment on my blog.

I want to share a few things with you all today that I have received from the amazing people I have met on here and Ravelry.

I'll start with my BEYOND AMAZING penpal, Ivy, of whom I have been sending letters back and forth to for a little over a year. We met through the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry, which is by far the best group ever. I have been gifted so many patterns and such from some very amazing people on there!! Anyways, we hit it off right away and every time I receive a letter or package I cannot wait to rip open the envelope. I wanted to share with you all just how amazing she is!

First we have the world of spinning. Without her guidance I probably never would have picked it up. She has also sent me some pretty amazing fibers, including these:

Left - Camel Down, spun but yet to be soaked. Right - Knitpicks Bare Stroll, dyed myself

And lets not forget the amazing Christmas gift of Manos de Uruguay silk blend, which made the amazing sweater that I discussed last time.

Today I received a package in the mail in the form of a skein of Manos de Uruguay Maxima, a giveaway prize from Evelyn at Project Stash. It's such a beautiful color, definitely destined to be a warm winter cowl!

Next up on my list is the beautiful stitch markers I got from a trade back in January. The creator is from near by Topeka and does some amazing things with Crystal beads. I absolutely love having an excuse to use these!

And finally, who doesn't love their LYS? I know I love mine (Wildflower yarns and knitwear of Manhattan KS)! The owner is so helpful and she carries such a great variety of yarns. She had a holiday open house back in December and I won this as a door prize. I cannot wait until I have an excuse to use it. Dying consumes so much time though, and I want to have a pattern in mind before I do so. 

This leads me to introduce something new to my blog;  A GIVEAWAY!

That's right folks, I want to thanks the amazing cyber world of knitting and spinning by offering a giveaway to a lucky reader.  All you have to do is tell me one thing you really like about my blog, or why your read/follow as well as something you think I could improve on. The last few months I have really gotten my blog together and started developing a new style, mostly with the help of all my faithful readers, which is why I trust you guys to give me the best pointers.

And the winner gets their choice of one of the following 3 yarns as well as a couple little surprises from me:

Top Left: Surino, 70% Suri Alpaca, 30% Merino, 100 yards, 1.7 oz. Unknown brand, but I think it may be handspun. Won at a fiber convention last year, just not sure what I'd ever make with it. Has some nice flecks of green and orange also.

Top Right: Nasua Handknits Granite, 70% wool, 30% acrylic. 50g, 82 yards. Forgive the acrylic content, I love everything Nashua makes. This color way is really pretty too, a nice balance of thick and thin weights.

Bottom: Louet Bonnie, 94% wool, 6% silk. 50 g, 88 yards. Such a lovely colorway, I couldn't pass it up when I saw it at the store. 

Any of these 3 yarns would be so much fun to work with!

Contest ends at the end of the month, at which time I will draw a random name from the list of those who commented. Good luck everyone and I hope you all have a great week!

~Lisa