Optimism

So I got my box of yarn from WEBS yesterday. It was stuffed full of yarny goodness, and I enjoyed stroking and sniffing (wool smells GOOD!) each skein as I pulled it from its wedged spot in the box. Classic Elite "Renaissance" yarn was on a super good blowout, so I bought enough yarn to make my mom, my sister, and myself a pair of Bella's Mittens, essential accessories for all true Twilight fans who also happen to knit...

Anyway, my whole point for ordering the yarn was to get 2 skeins of Malabrigo in Vaa that they finally got in stock so I could finish my Ene shawl. I was scared to pull the skeins out, afraid that they would be too green. However, they match better than I thought they would, so it will work. One skein is really really close, and the other, not as much, so I think when I double-strand them it will mask the mismatch. I hope. And if the color difference is noticeable, then it will just make this shawl even that much more charming. Right?

Optimisim can be such a drag sometimes.

Back to knitting!

Black Sheep Friday

Since I'm so happy that I don't have to work on Black Friday this year, I decided to offer a special in my shop: ALL PATTERNS REDUCED TO $2.50 FOR BLACK (SHEEP) FRIDAY WEEKEND ONLY!
Starting RIGHT NOW, all the patterns in my shop will be on sale for $2.50 until Sunday, November 29th. If you're like me and not stepping a foot in a store tomorrow, only doing online shopping, stop by The Sheep Shop to check out this great deal and more! Happy Thanksgiving!

Back to knitting!

Giving

A friend of mine moved away a couple of weeks ago. I decided a blanket would be a good going away gift, especially since she moved to Colorado where blankets come in handy! I only had two weeks to whip up something, so it was the trusty old standby of granny squares. I can make them in my sleep (and in the dark!). After I made all the squares, I decided to crochet them together to make it go faster, and also because it's just more convenient. The main thing I love about crocheting blocks together instead of sewing them, though, is that the back has very straight-edged tidy seams. Look:
To make the grannies more modern, I made them big, did two different patterns of grannies, and also added one odd square that didn't perfectly match any of the others.
The other reason I had an odd square in the blanket was because, well, I used only all stash yarn, and I ran out of purple, so I decided to make due. Shh, don't tell anyone...

Sometimes imperfections add the perfect touch to a project!

Back to knitting!

Oh No, Oh NO!

Sadness. I have run out of my beautiful Malabrigo Lace Yarn in Vaa! And I'm only a little over halfway done.

Double sadness. Neither yarn shop in my area have any more Malabrigo in this color. And I can find only one store online that has one skein but I need two (might be able to make it with 1, but I'd rather be safe than sorry).

Now what?

If anyone has any of this yarn (Color 51 Vaa, deep bluish green, more blue than green) in their stash, please leave me a comment and let me know!

Back to knitting (something else. even more sadnesss!).

A Do-Over

This:
is eventually supposed to be this:
Granted, it's already been that once, but it needs to be a bigger that. I love the two yarns I'm using. One is Noro Silk Garden (45% wool, 45% mohair, 5% silk), which was a gift from a secret pal exchange, and it's my first encounter with this yarn. It's a bit crunchy right now, but after having been knit (several times, I might add) and I know after being washed, it will soften up beautifully. The Noro yarn is different shades of pink, a bit of purple and a touch of red, with a hint of gray and a stripe of navy blue. This yarn will be the bottom/outer diamond edge.

The stripe of blue is what inspired the second yarn to compliment it--Malabrigo Lace yarn (100% baby merino) in a color called "Vaa" but is a deep green-blue that looks like navy blue, but has that hint of green as a surprise. Not only does it win the award for most interesting color name, but Malabrigo is the softest yarn I have ever used. No joke! I've used the worsted weight version one time to make a scarf and it has to be the softest thing I have ever made. If I could afford it all the time (it's rather spendy...let's just say this one skein of lace yarn is the most I've ever paid for a single skein...but totally worth every penny!), I would make everything with this yarn. This particular skein will make up the center/body of the shawl.

Luckily I already know the yarns look beautiful together in this pattern, so I can't wait til I finish this shawl. For the second time.

Back to knitting!

PS> Don't forget my sale going on this month in The Sheep Shop!

Such is Life

You know what is even worse than trying to finish a lace project with a bad migraine?

Finishing the lace project (without cutting the yarn after cast-off just in case) only to find out that it's too small and no amount of blocking will fix the fact that it's just. too. small.

So two week's worth of work came out in about thirty minutes. Not fun. At least I was smart enough to not cut the yarn when finished so I wouldn't have to deal with that. But I still hate having to take out a whole completed project, especially one I've already had to start over three times!

Back to knitting...

A Plug

My friend Amy, who sells baby flower headbands, asked if I would post on my blog a plug for an event she will be participating in on November 8th in Phoenix called Hissyfits. This store will be hosting over 50 crafty vendors, all selling handmade items geared towards children. You can read her post here for more details about the event.
Support local crafters by going to events like these and support handmade by shopping on etsy! (Don't forget my sale going on this month!)

Back to knitting!