"Turn the Beat Around"

I feel like my life is turning around for the good.

 I just opened my Etsy shop. I am doing a test listing first to see how everything works. I wanted to use something small that people might actually want. My first posting is lot of 25 Bach postage stamps. I really hope that it actually works out. Noah is going to be my searcher of all things and my shipping man, since he had done the whole Ebay thing.

I did finish knitting a new (to me) pattern. It is for a circle dish cloth. It really did not take that much time to complete. I think this will be my new "standard" pattern. On the copy that I have it says that it looks daisy like. I agree. The pattern is also a good stash buster, which is good since I have so many odd skiens left from other dish cloths that I had created.

I finally got the brick trim done in the backyard. Now I need to get a bunch of landscaping fabric and wood chips. This morning I added a few more plants into the arch. I planted seven clusters of Lilly of the Valley. I hope that they can help push out the Creeping Charlie that is in there. I want to plant a Blueberry bush or two back here. Does anyone know if I put some plastic trim around where I want to put the bushes will that keep the Lilly of the Valley out?

Feet!

Sorry about the time laps between posts. I have been having issues with my internet at home. During that time I did get some projects completed and sent on to their new home.


I did finish these guys. I still have the pink version of them to finish before I can give a pair away. I believe I will be keeping this pair and gifting the pink ones. They really were not to hard to knit. The hardest part was sewing the cuff to the top of the leg. I am sure that the pink ones will be much easier after these ones.

I knitted up this pair as an add on that my hairdresser wanted me to make for her brother. These are just a simple baby sock that is knitted on straight needles with baby yarn. I am very happy with the ease and improving quality of these puppies.

This is my first felting project that I have ever done. I learned so much from this project. Do not use white yarn. It does not felt up as well as other colored yarns.  Felting by hand during Wisconsin's Summer is not a good idea unless you have air conditioning, save hand felting projects for when it is cooler. Felting is a nice way to make some real sturdy garments. I might be making a few more felted items, maybe even for myself?


Right now what is on the needles are dish cloths. I am learning different patterns other then my same old basic that I use. My mother just gave me a bag of cotton yarn to make some for her to give to her co-workers.  I am still working on my "adult size" baby blanket. I was really hoping to have it completed by Christmas. Now I am not sure it will happen. Maybe it will be done by Spring for his birthday.

My first felting project part one and project updates

Last month I was asked to knit up some baby booties for my hairdresser to give to her brother and his wife. I told her about this pattern that I found at www.garnstudio.com. It was easy to knit up and they turned out looking something like this.  I still need to wash them to turn them into felt. I just hope that they turn out similar to what the photo in the pattern looks like. I have been told that felting projects is the best because it hides the knitters mistakes. I sure hope it does. I hope to get these felted while I am in Chippewa for my vacation. 

I now have about 12 more squares to knit for my adult baby blanket. I have run out of the base yellow yarn. I have switched to a cream yarn to fill in where the yellow stopped. I need to get some more different colors to do the other rows. The different colors are for the different people in the family of the soon to be owner of this blanket.  My game plan with this blanket is to have it completed by Christmas. I am 100% positive that it will be done before then. 

My mother has asked me to crochet as many dish cloths as I can by the end of May for her. I think that she is going to be putting them in a craft fair up in Chippewa for her work. I am not quite sure. But if they do not sell then my family will have a few new crocheted dish cloths. I now have two complete and I am thinking about different stitches I can use to make them go by faster. Projects like this are good stash busters. I have all this cotton yarn sitting around waiting to be used.
Dish cloths are one of my least favorite projects to do. I would rather try my luck in making sweaters or finishing blankets.

blankets and future projects

I now have many pictures of the chevron blanket. I was happy that I finally finished crocheting it. I was very pleased with how it turned out. I am now thinking about crocheting an afghan for Noah and I in this pattern, only with thicker yarn and a larger hook.  Maybe it will be bed sized? That project will be way at the bottom of my project list. I think I want to make blankets for all of my family members first, and before that I am currently working on blankets for Noah's family. I already crocheted a red tone one for his mother and a purple and brown one for his sister and her husband. I am currently knitting a bunch of squares for a patchwork blanket of sorts. I knitted a blanket for Noah's nephew. I just need to think of one more for his other sister. Then I can start on my own family.

Here are some pictures of the chevron blanket in its completed state with me holding it up. There is a blue trim all around the blanket to give it more of a boyish look to it. My cousin announced what her and her husband were having after I had put a month of work into it and I refused to start over. This way if they have more kids the blanket can be used if they have a girl.

I am currently working on knitting some slipper socks for my sister and I. We are going to have matching slipper socks. I have decided that I need to have them done by the end of this next month. So far I have one slipper done and three more to go. I also want to make a third pair for my other sister. I just want her to pick the color of yarn for hers. The yarn that I am using is from Drops. And the pattern is from them as well, it is called Moon Socks. They are made in two pieces, one being the sock and the other being the cuff.

I finished it!

I finally finished my chevron baby blanket. I did not have my camera with me when I finished it. I am waiting on the pictures being sent to me. I believe it ended up being a little over a yard long  and maybe a foot and a half wide. I did a blue trim around it, since the blanket was for a little boy and there was a bit of pink in it. I wanted it to look more boyish, but at the same time gender neutral.

Now I am working on knitting some slipper socks for my sister and I. I almost have one foot completed. This picture is from last Sunday. Right now I am working on the cuff that is sewn on to the foot. The pattern for the slippers can be found here.  They are called Moon Socks. The foot knitted up pretty fast. The part that is taking the longest for me is the cuff. That part I feel should be the easiest to knit.  I am going to make a grey pair and a pink pair. I hope to have them done by the end of next month when I am on vacation and at my sisters apartment for her to pick what pair she wants.

finished!

I completed the cowl that I was knitting. I think it only took me a few days to complete. The main issue that I had with the pattern was that I would lose myself in it. I would forget where I was in it. I used yarn from Yarn Pirate the color is Killer Bees. I really like how the yarn knit up. I got the yarn from Noah a few years ago and he kept bugging me to make something with it. I just did not have a pattern that I was sure that I would like to use such nice yarn on. 

 Now that I have completed an item for myself I can get back to working on my blankets. I really have not gotten any farther since I last posted. I have been sick for the past few days with a gross cold. I have been trying to not do too much knitting or crocheting, because my mind wanders and I would get lost in the patterns.

 For Noah's father's blanket I have maybe ten squares completed. I think I need at least double that to have a dent in what I will need. This is what I have so far. I am not quite sure how much wider I want this to go, maybe five or six squares wide. I really need to get cracking on this blanket. I have until April 11th to have it finished.

The last week of April my younger sister wants me to teach her how to crochet a blanket that she found online. She does not remember how to crochet, so I need to put her through crochet boot camp. I do not think it will be to hard to re-teach her. I will have to make sure to bring the camera along for that week.

This past week I have been going through all my yarn and trying to get it all in one room. So far I have gotten it out of my bedroom and in the living room. The only yarn that I am going to be keeping in the living room is stuff that I am using for a project. From the living room I am going to get the yarn into the spare bedroom. I did throw away a few projects that I have no idea what I was doing. I was able to save some of the yarn from the projects.

conflicted

I am currently conflicted on whether  or not to close this chapter of my life and stop my blog Things of Yarn. The more I think about it the more I can't do it yet. I know that if I do continue blogging I will need to be a little better about putting new entries on here.

I am currently working on an afghan for myself. This is just on square of it. I want to make this blanket large enough for a twin size bed. The square that I am working on now is all reds and pinks. The small individual squares are all granny squares that are crocheted with a size H hook. This afghan is staying with me. It is pretty much my back burner project that I have.

I also have another blanket going. It is a baby blanket that I hope to give to my second cousin's little boy. I am halfway done with it as of now. When I started it they did not know if they were having a boy or a girl, so I have both pink and blue represented in the blanket evenly. This blanket is also crocheted I think it is with a size G hook. I have to finish this beauty by March.

I do have a third blanket that I am working on. It is knit using the pattern that I use for my dish cloths, starting in the corner working your way out and back in again. with this blanket I am using different colors to represent different people in the life of the person that I intend to give it to. When I sew the squares together I am going to have them turned on the diagonal and maybe make some tassels for the corners. I still have many of these squares to knit.  I have to have this one done by April. I really need to get cracking on some knitting.

A few years ago Noah bought me a skein of fancy merino wool for Christmas. I put it away because I did not have the right project for the yarn. A few days go I found the pattern. I am knitting a cowl. The pattern is called chestnut Cowl I found it on Raverly. I am excited to finish the cowl and have a nice well worked piece of wool to keep me warm.