Flickr Favorites (week 8)

1. Vintage Yellow Czech Glass Button Ring, 2. Koigu Mori Yarn, 3. orange and acid yellow, 4. I Love Patchwork Preview - Calendar

Until someone tells me I CAN'T use orange, green, and yellow in my flickr favorites I'm going to keep on using them! Want to play along? Head on over to Mitsy's blog!

ps. I looooove that orange necklace! 

     

pss. Yes..I used the 3 skeins of yarn picture in last week's flickr favorites. That would be because I am feeling the need to drive down to Loop and get those three skeins of yarn this instant. 

I can't believe it but. . .

. . .since I've opened my Etsy Shop! Now, in all actuality I had a shop before this shop which carried the same prints, but my store name and user name didn't match up so I had to make the switch! So while I actually became an Etsy seller on October 27, 2007 I will still celebrate my switch to a permanent Etsy store today! Happy June 29th to the rest of you!

Completed Projects (with a knitting pattern!)

(close ups of the bramble tote, and cotton tote)

In my last flick favorites I told you all about the many projects I have on the the needles. Well I am happy to report that 5 of them are complete. No, I did not knit from dawn until dusk yesterday (I wish. . .but then again I did spend the entire day shopping!). Four of the projects have been complete, but I was without my camera and couldn't take any pictures of the completed projects! Well the camera is back in my hands, and I've got lots of pictures to show for it! 

(Brighton Tote)

(granny square pillows. my first real crochet project)

(granny pillows in the newly finished 3rd bedroom)

(full length view of the cotton tote)

I've included links for the patterns to every project except the cotton tote. This is because I made the pattern up myself. If you like it and want to make one for yourself here is what you need to do:

Yarn:  Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton  1 skein of Almond, and 1 skein of Strawberry

         Worsted Weight Handspun from Sunrise Lodge Fiber Studio on Etsy (mine was Monet)

Sz 9 Circular Needles

A pair of purse handles (mine came from JoAnn's)

CO 72 sts, place marker and join to work in the round

(This gave me a bag width of 10.5", but you can cast on any number you'd like)

Starting with the strawberry lion brand yarn, work each skein of yarn for two rows (knit all rows) to achieve the stripes. Work until the bag measures 12" or desired length. Seam the bag shut at the CO edge, and attach the lining to the BO edge (unless you have a preferred method of lining bags).

To line the bag I machine sewed a rectangle out of the amy butler fabric and then hand stitched it to the bo edge of the bag. Before sewing it in place I attached the handles to the bag by whip stitching them in place by the rings. That is it!

And last, but certainly not least, if you like the yarn I used in my granny square pillows you can get it at The Natural Dye Studio. I highly recommend you try this yarn if you haven't before. It is my favorite yarn. ever. In fact I need to end this post so I can find the perfect lace weight yarn to start my Swallow Tail Shawl!

Flickr Favorites (week 7)

This week Mitsy asked us to put together a mosaic of a project we are working on. Well, I wish I had A (as in one) project I was working on, but I'm more of a 5 or 6 project at a time kind of gal. So I present you with a mosaic of my projects:

1. Koigu PPM: Sock Yarntasting at Article Pract, 2. Kathy's Baby Hats, 3. a shortcoming of koigu, 4. Koigu Mori Yarn

What exactly am I working on you ask? Well I am finishing up my second granny square pillow (pictures to come at the end of this week, as my camera was accidently left at my parents house! AHH!) 

I am in the middle of my second Leyburn Sock, and mine are purple and green not orange and green as my mosaic would suggest! (As if you didn't already know, I'm obsessed with yellow orange and green)

I am not working on any baby hats as the mosaic would suggest, BUT I am in the process of knitting up a couple tams mostly in greens and creams. They are always such an enjoyable knit for me!

Not listed in this mosaic but on the needles/hooks? A hexagon dish towel, two knit bags, a pair of ruffled knit mittens, and two fingerless gloves each with only one completed. Yeah, I am that crazy.

Want to show off what you are working on? Head on over to Mitsy's blog and play along!

Feature

The super nice Bonnie of Going Home to Roost has featured my Under the Sea -Whale  print on her blog. (along side a bunch of other adorable whales I might add). Hop on over to check it out! Thanks again Bonnie (and visit Alaska, it's fantastic!)

And do be sure to go to her Etsy shop as well.  (I am in love with ALL of the pillows)

In other oceanic news my Under the Sea series is complete. You can find all 12 prints in my shop. You can also find this sweet poster showcasing all 12 prints in miniature:

Flickr Favorites (week 6)

I designed this entire mosaic around the very first picture in the upper left hand corner. The minute I saw that adorable little monster I felt compelled to just make four blocks of them! And that is all I have to say about that. If you want to play along you know what to do!

1. Untitled, 2. Anthropologie Inspired Sweater, 3. easter birds, 4. Bathtime Blossoms

Squirrels

In my family there is a big fascination with squirrels. I have a younger cousin who believed he was a squirrel as a small child, and I live with a man who may very well believe he should be a squirrel (he would probably deny this if asked though). 

My mom has given my brother

 and I a handmade doll since we were born (a raggedy-ann for me and a pig for my brother). So naturally after I married, and even when we were just dating, my mom began to make Squirrels for Lee so that he felt like one of the family.

We all thought the squirrels were fantastic (though raggedy will always be my favorite) and I kept bugging her to consider selling some of her plushie goodness online. So you know what? She finally listened, and did! Pine Hill Forest is her brand new shop, and you all must check it out! I'm not saying this because she's my mom, but because she makes really fantastic plushies. (My favorite is Roger) 

It's just squirrels for now, but I wouldn't be surprised if you saw 

a kangaroo or two down the road :)  Stay tuned as she is creating new guys and gals all the time!

Flickr Favorites (week 5)

This week Mitsy asked us to make a mosaic showcasing something we need everyday (a daily 'fix').  I didn't have to think too hard about this one, however, there are two things I need a 'fix' of every single day of my life. 1) My dogs. Can't live withou squeezing them at least 300 times a day  2) My knitting (and now crocheting!). I'm sure you guessed that I might include some yarn, but it is true I do not go a day without picking up something. 

My daily fix (dogs are not as colorful in real life):

1. Magneetjes, 2. Oneye :: Peewee dog'eye (front), 3. Malabrigo Dream II, 4. Untitled

Want to play along? Head on over to Mitsy's blog for the details!

Pillow Talk

Do remember a long time ago when I asked Mitsy to crochet me a Queen Ann's Lace Scarf because I was incapable of crocheting anything? Well with lots of help and a lot patience on my part (I don't know how many times I wanted to give up and just go knit something!) I finally managed to learn to crochet! And since I'm sure you're all wondering what the first project is going to be. . .yep, you guessed it! A Granny Squares Pillow! 

The credit for coming up with this lovely pillow belongs to someone other than myself. A wonderful Raveler named Alison made it first, (check it out on her blog) and I shamelessly begged her to tell me what she did to achieve such a beautiful pillow. (Which she happily did!)

6 Squares down and 12 more to go! I'll post pictures when it is done of course :) If you can crochet I highly recommend making one. The Granny Square pattern can be found here. 

Now get out your hooks and get to work already! (preferably outside, which is where I am headed to work on a few more of these beautiful squares!)

Blue Swap

So as I have said a million times before, I love Ravelry.  Because of Ravelry I've discovered amazing yarns, people, and patterns, and yes, even learned to crochet! One thing I had never done on Ravelry before though was a swap. I had looked through swaps many times (swap hats! or swap blanket squares! -you get the idea) but I had never found one that I truly wanted to do. Until I saw the Blue Swap.  

The rules were simple: swap 100g of blue yarn and whatever other blue items you wanted that totaled a set sum of money. Mail your package out and wait to receive one in return. I had most of my blue package ready before the swap officially began, and began to think about what goodies would lie in my package. Little did I know it was going to be the most awesome box of blueness I had ever seen! My package came from a wonderful woman named Evey. Evey YOU ROCK! Now for a picture montage and list of beautiful blue things I received: 

(what I saw when I opened the box!)

(everything in the box after unwrapping)

(close up of tea: licorice, blueberry, and peppermint, a red lollipop, some Eucalan wash in Eucalyptus (yay, love this stuff!), a beautiful purse holder named stephanie (awesome!), a pair of beautiful blue earrings, some blue gum, and last but not least a blue tube of mascara)

(The Yarn: 1 skein of WONDERFUL Malabrigo sock yarn (caribeno) and 2 skeins of amazing Estelle Twelve- I've never seen this yarn before and it is SO neat. . .12 different yarns in every ball! And it came with a pattern which I will be trying out when this post is over)

 (A wonderful smelling candle- coastline, wonderful smelling lotion -Ocean Breeze (I am the worlds biggest fan of the ocean so this is RIGHT up my alley) and Yan Yan's! I looove Yan Yan's but have only ever had them in chocolate. The Vanilla Cream Yan Yan's are Waaaay better!)

(Last but not least a beautiful blue scarf, a beautiful shawl pin and a book of shawl patterns! Evey must be a mind reader because I've been looking at shawl patterns for a while as it is something I've never knit before!)

You can go ahead and be all kinds of jealous now! Thank you SOOOO much Evey! This was my first swap and I don't think I could have been paired up with a better swap partner! Now I'm off to knit a scarf! :)

Under the Sea

I have been on a creative roll recently with the completion of my Barnyard Animals. After they were done I was kind of sad as I really wanted to make more animals.. so what did I do? Started a new series of course! Here are the first six of animals in a set of creatures who make their home Under the Sea. You can expect 12-16 of these animals as well. I hope you like them!

Flickr Favorites (week 5)

This week's flickr favorites is inspired by a color combintaion I've always adored; aqua and red. It is not something I would ever have imagined liking, but I absolutely love it! I've also decided that every single flickr favorites will have at least one block dedicated to knitting/crochet/yarn. I can't resist including it every time. Hop over to Mitsy's blog and play along!!!

1. POD necklace - red and aqua., 2. Kersti Stripes 2, 3. Aqua & Red MAILBOX?!!, 4. Untitled

Finished

Alright Folks, the Barnyard Animals series is complete:

You can find all 16 prints in the barnyard animals section of my shop.  Not only that but if you love them so much that you couldn't choose just one, you have the option to purchase the entire set (for a sweet discount I might add). I hope you love these as much as I do!

ps. expect another set of animals from 'under the sea' sometime in the near future!