By the time you read this, Steve will be off to his work weekend extravaganza and I will be ensconced on the sofa attacking Day 4 of the Beekeeper Cardigan Knit Along. I have roughly 5 inches to go and then the ribbing of the body as per the pattern…BUT!!! I have seen some really awesome cropped models of the Beekeeper (especially like this one) and I am contemplating doing something similar. I love the idea of making my new tunics multi-seasonal by adding a layer. Although, I think I’d like the sleeves a little bit longer. What are your thoughts?
We had a Thursday night happy hour to make up for Steve missing tonight and I made a cocktail that was really incredibly delicious! It is from Ming Tsai’s Simply Ming Show. I made the cocktail exactly as written with Thai Basil from my garden and with Bombay Sapphire East Gin. Oh.my.gosh… it was so good! If you are looking for something different to sip, I highly recommend it!
If you are knitting KK’s MKAL, clue 4 is out today! I managed to get through clue 2 and started on clue 3 last night, but I was having trouble remembering the k3tog and the sk2p, so after tinking back a row, I set it aside last night. Apparently, I need to either mark the pattern to remember or get more sleep than I have this week.
The links were slim this week, but I did manage to find some things of controversy (of course) and interest to add in to the knitting links!
Yesterday, I saw this post from Gale which then took me to IG where I happily fell down a bit of a rabbit hole looking at #makenine2018 collages.
But, Gale was the starter of all this craziness and thanks to her I have also become a Ravelry Stalker of Kirsten Kapur’s pattern page watching for the release of not one, but two patterns: The September House Sweater and of course, her Mystery Socks which I hope will both be out soon.
I was going to “cheat” a bit and add my Treysta, but since I have less than 20 rows to go, I feel like it is already done (or it will be today!)
I have a little bit of sewing here, and lots of knitting.
Autumn Forest, again from Laine Magazine: This is the only project that I have already in progress, however I have a good bit to still knit with 15 pattern repeats to go!
In addition to this, I would like to find some kind of sock mojo this year and maybe knit a couple of pairs of socks in addition to this list. I am amazed by those who somehow manage to knit a pair of socks a month… I have plenty of single socks that are sadly waiting for a mate. Either I find some sock mojo, or perhaps I start a trend of wearing mismatched socks!
What about you? Are you joining the #makenine2018 challenge?
December 31st, I completed my last stitching, in the last month of my year long project. I have to confess, it was most bittersweet. I felt both an incredible sense of accomplishment coupled with an intense melancholy at the ending of this epic project.
Yesterday morning I began the process of steaming each sampler, readying them for assembly in their final destination of 3 separate wall-hangings.
I apologize in advance for this photo heavy post, but here is my Year of Stitching in review:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Which brings me to this year’s project… I began this on the first day of winter, December 21, and my idea was to do a square each day. But, it was lacking… so much. In my review of last years pieces, I was reminded how much I like the puzzle-like quality of some of the pieces best of all. BUT, rather than take out the stitching I had started, my idea will be to work this in by stitching around it. The past two days have seen this addition, and what better than two days of crazy clear blue skies and sunshine! After yesterday’s running stitches, I felt a sense of ease and rightness come over me and I knew I was on the right path. The other thing I am going to give myself some leeway on this year will be the option to stitch for longer than 15-20 minutes. This also feels very good and really just makes sense to me. After all, I am much more comfortable with the stitching process than I was at this time last year. So, less fussing and more stitching.
As always, if you want to start your own year long stitching project, I would be happy to help you get started! Just leave a comment and I will help you begin!
I am not sure I am liking the grey linen for this quarter. It is a little darker than I thought it would be, but I am forging ahead with it.
However, in September, I learned some new-to-me techniques of applique. Wool felt is truly a thing of beauty. I had no idea at all, but wow – I really loved working with it!
I also loved using darker color threads as my world changed dramatically this month. The trees are changing, plants are dying, and things are settling in for a new season.
One thing is certain, each day’s stitching was a high point of my day. And, learning new things is always good!
May stitching brings the completion of five months of my daily stitching routine and to say that this has changed my life is an understatement! It has become the best part of my day, the thing I look most forward to, and I am still amazed at how this has sparked my creativity.
And, I really love that I can look at each day’s stitching and remember the inspiration.
The collage:
And, May complete – pale, lighter, awakening. All the good things that May brings!
June is off to an interesting start as well. I felt I was getting too comfortable in working circularly from the center out, so I am changing things up to a more linear approach this month. I love how uncomfortable it feels right now. That is a sure sign of good things!
In March, I was asked to review one of Javori Designs beaded knitting kits. I selected the Chelsea Necklace Kit as I have not knit much jewelry – and in fact, the only knitted jewelry I had made thus far was with wire.
The kit comes with everything you need – sparkly yarn, beads, bead threader, a ring (on which you cast on) and the clasp.
You thread on the prescribed number of beads before you begin and then you cast on. Can I just say BRAVO for this bead threader? It is really a wonder – sort of like a big-eyed needle! I loved how easy it made threading the beads on the yarn!
The cast on felt a bit fiddly and awkward, but you only cast on four stitches. The most difficult part of the knitting was counting rows – really. Casting on side two was much easier, and I had this cute necklace knit in about 3 hours – that includes the tassel and adding the beads to the tassel. So, this is a very quick project!
I am not sure I am supposed to tell you these parts, but obviously, the yarn is not my usual wooly want to stick to itself yarn and weaving in the ends worried me. I did not think they would stay – so I did the same wraps that I did to attach the tassel at the base of the ring. I simply wrapped the yarn tail around my knitting just below where I attached the clasps. I then used a crochet hook to pull the tail through and pull it tight. I made sure the yarn came through the back of the knitting so it is hidden in the necklace.
I did surgeons knots with the cast on tails on the wrong side and snipped them off. As you can see, I even had left-over yarn and beads – so I probably could have made it a little bit longer and there are enough beads that I could have added a row of beads to each beaded section.
I really like how it turned out! (And, I hope my sister will too – because it is heading off to her for her birthday!)
She has a wide variety of kits available on her website and she is graciously offering my readers a free pattern as well as a 15% discount on your entire online purchase from her website. Please use the code: KATKNITS before April 30, 2017.
If you decide to knit a Chelsea Necklace, please let me know! I would love to hear your thoughts and see your finished project!
