A little something for me

With all the Christmas knitting and crocheting done, I decided to crochet something for myself. I had a pattern for fingerless gloves for sometime. It was a free pattern I found online. The yarn is Patton's Kroy sock yarn in a brown/gray marble. As you can see, I was not concerned with the stripes matching!

At Thanksgiving, my Sister-in-law Beth showed my an afghan she was making for her sister Audra. It is a copy of the granny square afghan on the TV show Parks and Recreation. I will admit, I had never heard of the show. She showed me the yarn she was using and asked for help understanding how to start a granny square. The yarn was Bravo from Knit Picks. She told me some of the colors were on sale. Of course, that night I ordered a couple skeins of some of the sale colors. I had no idea what I wanted to do with this yarn. I was researching different granny squares after my conversation with Beth. I realized I had a number of 6" square patterns. Perfect to play with this yarn. The resulting project is an infinity scarf of these granny squares. What a fun project!

The last "little something for me" is an addition to our "zoo". Yep, another Bengal cat. Here is Azure Ice or Z as we call him. He is a Solid Snow Seal Bengal. Welcome Z!

 

 

Finally! My blog posts are up-to-date! I'll see you in 2014!

2013 Christmas Knitting

December was a very busy month! I spent it knitting and crocheting as fast as I could to get all the presents done. Mission accomplished!

On December 19 the Heartfelt Knitters had the annual Christmas Party. What a great group of ladies! We draw names in September for our gift exchange. I had a wonderful lady named Stephanie. She had mentioned how she loved shawls. So, hint received, I knitted Summer Flies (pattern available on Ravelry) in Kudo (cotton/silk) striping yarn. The shawl is beautiful (if I do say so myself). It is a little heavier, which is great for the winter.

 

 

Knitted and crocheted gifts were the theme for 2013. My mother-in-law Ann also received the Summer Flies Shawl. This one I used Blue Heron's metallic Rayon. It is light weight and has a lovely drape.

 

 

 

For my mother, Janice and my friend Jo the Holden shawl was my choice. My mother's was knitted with Plymouth Yarn Alpaca Prima in Burgundy. Jo's was knitted with Kraemer's Saucon Sock (cotton) yarn in green.

 

 

I absolutely love both of these shawl patterns. They are easy and a quick knit.

Two hats were made as gifts this year. I knitted a snowman hat (purchased as a kit at The Knitter's Edge) for my grandmother. A minion (Despicable Me) hat was crocheted for Spence ( my sister-in-law Beth's fiancé). The minion hat was a combination of a couple of patterns.

And last but not least, my sister-in-law Audra. She lives in LA and always asks for winter gear! :) So she got a scarf and headband. The Scarf was made using Marble Chunky. It is a simple triple crochet. The headband is out of Just Fur Kicks and Plymouth Encore. Both were fun quick projects.

 

 

PHEW!!! Glad all this is done! I need to start these projects a bit earlier next year! Though it was a lot of work and stress, I am so glad I was able to make so many gifts. Everyone was very pleased with their presents!

 

As you can see, even Santa (though he didn't have to do all this crafting) is tired!

 

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Christmas! Merry Christmas!!

Saturday Morning Adventure

My darling little Bengal cat, Myka Rae, is very inquisitive and energetic.  Needles to say, she is a handful! I kept my current knitting project in a jar with a lid. This morning she popped the lid off, breaking it. Myka took the knitting out of the jar and ran around the living room with it unraveling the skein! My husband got the knitting back and put it back in the jar. He went to glue the lid together. When he came back into the room, she had the knitting again, running around the room!

Thankfully the project I unharmed! I removed the wood pieces. They are from my Macaw, Merlin, shredding her wood toys and playground! 

It is my mother's Christmas gift, the Holden Shawlette from Ravelry. The yarn is a beautiful alpaca fingering yarn. There was a little pull, but I smoothed it out and all is well. 

Earlier in the week, Myka got a hold of the yarn and bit it in two! I thought she was sleeping so I was not paying close attention to the yarn. I had to piece it together. She loves yarn!! I need to pay closer attention to what she is doing and where I store my knitting! 

Now she is sleeping peacefully! Wore herself out this morning! LOL! She is adorable!

Arrowhead Scarf

While on vacation, I purchased the yarn, Feza Alp Light in Gold, at A Little Bit Sheepish in Berlin, MD. The pattern is Arrowhead Scarf, free from Feza. I started knitting the scarf that day and finished shortly after returning home.  This is a "quick" knit and enjoyable. The yarn is mixed media. Some of the sections are more challenging than others.

As you can see, the scarf is trimmed with shells, glass pearls, and Swarvoski crystals. Since the yarn was purchased and most of the scarf was knitted while on vacation, I wanted to add the shell fringe.  I had my husband take me to the Sea Shell Shop and bought a big bag of shells. I drilled the shells. The fringe is attached with fishing line. It took a while to figure out how to attach the fringe. But did not take long to do once I figured it out.

I love this scarf, the materials are soft. I have to be careful when I where it at home. Our Bengal cat, Myka, has a sea shell fetish! Her eyes glaze over when she sees the fringe!