Leg Warmer Progress

So here is the start of my leg warmers, I love the way they are coming out. I realized that because I did the pattern lighter than the base color it may be a little difficult to see, but I still like it. But I have hit a snag, well, I foresee the snag coming - I don't have enough brown yarn.

I spun the brown from a mix of CMV and alpaca wool - a total of about three ounces. So I may need to journey out to the fiber farm to buy some more, but keep in mind my goal is to have these done by February 25 at the absolute latest!

My current plan is to knit until I am out of yarn, and just pray I don't run out of the blue and white - think of it like the flour pot in Gospels, I'll just keep makin' cakes. Once these leg warmers are completed they will be my second (French Press Cozy is the first) project done from spinning to knitting - how rewarding! I am very much looking forward to wearing them too, even though it has been warmer lately (in the 30's).

If you have any roving lying around in these colors feel free to make me an offer!

Don't forget to respond to the shopping poll! Have a great day!

Etsy Front Page

I can't believe it, my gloves graced the front page of Etsy - hooray! I didn't actually get to see it, but I saw the views, hearts, and sales as a result. This is the first time I have been on the front page, I hope that maybe it introduced some new folks to my shop. I just had to share my joy!

I keep trying to remember to take pictures of my leg warmers so keep watch they will be here soon! Don't forget this weeks poll!

Sharing My Shop

As I was considering what to write about today I landed upon the idea of sharing a few details about a couple items in my shop, I hope you enjoy it.

First I would like to share about quilted bookmarks. All the quilted items I make come from a quilt that was gifted to me and has a nice history. What I am most excited about is a custom order I recently received from an old friend. My friend supports a child internationally and through their letters she found out the young girls favorite bird is a dove because it means peace. Because both my friend and this girl share a love for reading she has asked me to make one of these quilted bookmarks with a dove on it. My friend said she looks forward to explaining to the girl about it being handmade, just for her, and how it can represent the peace between them and the peace they pray for. This is project I hope to tackle over the weekend.



Next I wanted to share a bit about my recycled silk scarflette. I know most of you are probably tired of hearing me talk about Recycled Silk and how much I love it. But, for those of you haven't heard - this yarn is made from the cut remnants in sari manufacturing and coops of women throughout the Himalayas spin those bits into yarn. Sometimes as I knit with it I spend time thinking about the hands that made it, where they are and what their life must be like and I am amazed. So if you own a piece made with recycled silk take a moment to value it and the beautiful history it has.

Hope you enjoyed reading a bit about some special pieces in my shop. As always, hope you stop by again soon, and please take this week's poll!

Tri-color scheme

This hat is my latest thrill. It turned out so fun and snuggly I just can't say enough about it. As I may have mentioned before, I'm on a kick to use up all my yarn. I realize this seems silly cause I'll just need to buy more, but well, that is what us junkies do. So once I completed this hat that purple was finished leaving a bit of gray and yellow with some purple I borrowed in case I didn't have enough for the hat. From those bits came this crocheted pocket. I must say I have been crocheting since I was about 7, but this is the FIRST time I have crochets something other than a straight line (ie: blankets and chains). I was pretty excited.

A bit about the hat... I'm really happy with this design. As I was knitting I decided I didn't want just plain ol' stripes. I began with some seed stitching and then did some purling for unique stripes. What do you think? I'd love to hear. Watch for these two pieces to be entering my shop.

As always please take the poll and hope you come back soon!

Tah-dah

Believe it or not I got a few thing accomplished this weekend! Truthfully I knit the French Press cozy on Thursday, but much of the spinning happened this weekend. I even got a few things knit and photographed for the shop - a recycled silk scarflette, a funky wool hat, and a crocheted pocket. You'll have to be watching the shop for these things to appear this week.

Now let me share the creations. The large picture above is some blue and cream yarn that I spun and have begun to ply together. I plan to use that yarn for the pattern part of the leg warmers I have chosen from Knitty. I have about 2 ounces of brown wool which won't be enough for the main color so I plan to buy some from the alpaca farm this weekend - hope they have brown.



And here is my cute cozy. This red yarn is the first yarn that I spun - ever. I knit it in a diagonal pattern and used coconut shell buttons. It will, of course, hold a special place in my array of knit items since it is the first spun and knit project, what do you think?

Well, back to knitting, I'm working on another recycled silk hat. But as always don't forget to take the poll!

Thinking About Me, and I need YOUR help

It's true, I have actually been thinking of projects to do for myself! Crazy, I know. Since I started knitting hard-core in August or so I have been cranking out gifts for Christmas and products for Etsy - both things that I love to do. Don't get me wrong I have made myself a pair of fingerless gloves and a hat (that I plan to take apart and redo), but really that is about it. So here are my thoughts...

I recently spun my first ever bit of yarn, and I think it is actually good enough to knit with, surprisingly. With that I plan to make myself an adorable French Press cozy to keep my coffee steamy.

Also, the other day as I was cruising the internet I found this amazing blog, The Shetland Trader. She has designed some fabulous produce bags that I plan to make for myself. The only snag I am running into with that is I don't have the opportunity to get nice hemp yarn unless I order it online - so that is going to take a bit more effort.

Lastly, I want to make myself some leg warmers. Not to wear with tights and a long bright pink sweater, but to wear on a daily basis as I freeze here in the valley. Tonight they are calling for -29 so you can understand why I might find leg warmers to be useful. My high hope is to spin the yarn for these leg warmers, but here is my request from you... cool leg warmer patterns, preferably free and online. So share with me what you find and I'll keep you all posted with my pattern choice and progress. Thanks for your help (in advance)!

CRAFTY beautiful recycled yarns

That's right folks the picture on the right is the original sweater and the left is the beautiful yarn that you have the opportunity purchase! How many unwanted and ugly sweaters have you seen in the thrift store? Well, craftyyarn takes those high quality sweaters, unravels them, washes them up, and offers them to you and your creativeness in her shop CRAFTY - beautiful recycled yarns.

Here is a little bit about craftyyarn from her bio: "I live in Leucadia, California and am an architect by day. I'm a knitter and am fascinated with anything recycled, reclaimed, salvaged or found. To me, being crafty means taking second-hand stuff and making something out of it that only a small-scale, low-tech crafter could. When I finish recycling a sweater, I've had fun creating something and have made something that another crafter can enjoy working with too."

Enjoy shopping AND recycling!

Oh for the love of Recycled Silk

This is my most recently posted recycled silk item. The silk comes from the manufacturing of saris as the ends are cut. Those end are then spun into yarn by woman throughout the Himalayan mountains. What an amazing thing! The yarn itself already has a history when it arrives.

I'm excited about this particular hat because it is a thicker and fuzzier silk than I have worked with before. Also the colors are deep and rich. I look forward to it finding a great home. On to my knitting, have a fabulous day, and don't forget to take my poll!

Accidental Post

So today I was preparing some listings for the week because I FINALLY got my photos taken. Well, I accidentally posted this lovely keyhole scarf. My hope was to get it all ready and post it later since I had just posted the hat - darn it.

Anyhow, I have been meaning to give you a sneak peak at those butternut fingerless gloves, the suspense is over - tah dah! I really like how they turned out - fabulouly chunky. Also here is a peak at a great wool child's hat that I'll be posting later this week. It is done in a box pattern and made from undyed hand-spun wool. So much to come!

**** notice my new poll feature! please vote!****

Fiber Floozies

This Wednesday my friend and I went to our first Fiber Floozies group in Alamosa. Of course we were a little nervous about showing up to a group where we knew no one, but we braved it. Upon our arrival my friend recognized a couple familiar faces. We helped get the tables set up and found a spot. No one was knitting yet, I wasn't quite sure what to do. Some more folks arrived and then a gentleman pulled out a large mohair shawl that he had just completed weaving. It was beautiful colors of pink, green, and orange. We passed it around and tried it on and then the fun began. Everyone got out their projects and began knitting away.

My project was a recycled silk hat a bit darker than the one I pictured here. Every one was so sweet. We also found out there is a fiber guild that meets once a month on a local alpaca farm. I am awaiting the arrival of the spindle and roving pictured at the top so hopefully I get a lot of help!

It was great to take the leap and get involved with this group. I want to encourage you to see if there are any local groups you can get involved in or start one up! Happy creating!

The Newest

These photos are the two newest items in my shop... what do you think? The white scarflette is an upcycled sweater that I unraveled, washed, and crocheted. The Citrus blast washcloths are from 100% cotton, and fabulous for so many things (as listed in their description). I have five more knit items to be listed, but since I am never home when it is light you will have to wait till next week. This Saturday is sure to busy with photographing, photo-shopping, and preparing listings. I also need to take a picture of my new recycled silk - so fabulous. It is possible that I stared at it for at least 20 minutes when it arrived just imagining all that can be made.

Things to come: butternut fingerless gloves, gray fingerless gloves, berries and cream medium scarf, all natural long scarf, and recycled silk goodness.

VerreEncore

Good day everyone, tomorrow I shall share with you the arm warmers (which have sorta changed), but today I want to share with you VerreEncore. This fabulous shop is the home of one-of-a-kind enamel jewelery. Lynsey's pendant's will make you drool. The colors are brilliant and the designs are beautiful and modern.

I asked Lynsey how she got into this this art form and this is what she shared... "I've been enameling for a little under a year now. I took classes in metal smithing and enameling, and was hooked. The colors and designs I was able to create were so unique, and there's a lot of history behind the medium, which are my main attractions to enamels."

Currently you can find VerreEncore enamel jewelry on Etsy and beginning today it will be available at Impulse, a boutique in Chillicothe, Illinois. Lynsey will be posting new pendants frequently in the coming weeks so keep checking in! Have fun shopping!

Cold, no - not cold, RIDICULOUS!

Todays motivation to knit - 25 below temperatures. Yes, you did read that right. Currently in my neck of the San Luis Valley the days highs are in the 20's and the evening lows are in the negative 20's. I am currently sitting at work with a scarf around my neck - there is no thermostat in this section, bah.

What am I knitting you ask? Well, I just began a pair of arm warmers/fingerless gloves in one. They are beautiful butternut color and the yarn is fabulously chunky. I plan to add a little pizazz to them by stitching in some cornflower colored yarn. I would post a photo of them, but since I am just starting them they aren't interesting. Instead, here is a photo of my husband and I being terribly cold last weekend.

Happy knitting to all!

I have returned!

Hi all! I hope your holidays were amazing! My two week jaunt to see family and friends was great, but as always it is great to return home too. All handmade gifts were a hit! And I even have requests for knit items next year, yay! These area couple photos of a few of gifts I made - I can hardly believe I got them all done!

Also while I was gone there was a lot of knitting going on, as you might imagine. With a 17 hour train ride both ways and one 5 and half hour delay I was able to complete a long natural wool scarf, gray fingerless gloves, 2 sets of wash cloths, and begin a hat to match the gloves - so be watching the shop for new arrivals over the next week.

And today I posted a new scarflette that I love! Check it out.