Finally Listed! and a walk down by the river

The scarf that I mentioned back here is finally up in my Etsy shop!  It took me longer than anticipated, but its there now and available to be drooled over ;)

In other news, I took a walk the other day with a friend down by the river (there is some water in New Mexico, but not too much, so "river" is loosely defined, some months its there, others its just a giant mud pit). 

Here are some of the views from that trip.

And looky what we found!  A catfish skeleton!  No idea how it got where it was...but its been there a while.

Have you gone on any adventures recently?

Coming Soon

I knit a very similar scarf recently and couldn't bring myself to part with it, and I knew that since I loved it so much, perhaps my wonderful customers would love it too so I made another!

Isn't it perfect?  The colors go perfectly together, and the yarns are all so soft!

I used a few different fibers, wools, merinos, *cashmeres*, all very soft, all very luxurious and all very warm.

What's not to love?  This scarf will be in my shop just as soon as I get model shots with it, which will hopefully happen today...so keep your eyes peeled!



**And to the individual who left a comment on my Happy Thanksgiving post asking about the Mohawk Beanie I made last year, if you could email me, that'd be great! :D **

Coming to the Shop

I've got some new items coming to the shop this week!

Today, this deep sapphire lacy slouch will be added:

It's made out of a washable wool blend and is so soft and light without jeopardizing your warmth and comfort :)  And, as always, I can make this slouch out of any color you'd like, just send me a convo!

Later this week I'll be adding this super scrumptious scarf to the mix:

Merino, wool, and *cashmere* make up the fibers in this luxurious, long, skinny scarf.  Long enough to wrapped around you neck over and over with just the right amount of lengthy fringe at the end, what's not to love?

Free Circle Scarf/Cowl Pattern

 *I am traveling today, I'll be in Paris tonight!

Its about time for a free pattern wouldn't you say? I wrote up this one with the coming fall season in mind, large cocooning knits are in style and the cowl neck is always chic and cozy.  The stitch pattern provides a bit of texture and interest and the size gives ample room to double it around your neck.

The pattern can be made with a wide variety of yarns and gauges, so make something special for you!

Materials:
Worsted Weight Yarn (1 skein of Berroco Vintage was used in this example)
Size 11 circular needles
Stitch marker

CO 152
Knit in seed st pattern for 9 rows
*Knit for 7 rows
Purl 1 row
[YO P2tog] across row
Purl 1 row
Repeat from * 3 times more
Knit for 7 rows
Knit in seed st pattern for 9 rows
BO loosely

Finishing:
Weave in ends
Wear fashionably

Ravelry Details Here.

Citron

I used Southwest Trading Company's Bamboo for this project and have had the yarn in my stash for a long long time.  It was given to me (taken from?) my mother a long time ago and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it but when Citron came out, I knew. 

The project took my a little less than a week to complete, working on it in my off time (not plentiful during finals week) and I blocked it for a day before taking these pictures. 

Sorry no WIP photos, I'm very bad at taking those, but I think that since it was such a quick project, it can be forgiven this time.

It was nice to work on and complete a project that was just for me :)  Ravelry details here.

Projects

This 7 Foot Tie Scarf was listed in my shop the other day, its the second Tie Scarf I've made and I'm quite fond of it :D

I am also working on listing a chunky grey slouch hat with a bright turquoise band around the brim.

On the needles right now is a bright blue mohair sweater with a hood and I'm so excited to show you when its done!

Tuesday Learn to Knit Day 6 - A Simple Lace Pattern

For this week I am teaching you a simple lacy looking pattern that is great for scarves :)

I hope you found some gorgeous, soft yarn that you are looking forward to using because this is our first apparel project!

Ok, here we go. Cast on an odd number of stitches in the width that you want your scarf to be (usually somewhere around 21 stitches if you're still using the needles we used for the washcloths). Cast on more for a thicker scarf and less for a thinner scarf.

Knit the first row as I taught you in this post.

The first stitch of the next row: Insert your right hand needle through the stitch as if to knit but don't wrap and simply slip off the left hand needle onto the rhn (right hand needle) leaving the yarn behind the work. This is called Slipping the Stitch Knitwise or sl or sl st.

Before the next stitch, wrap the yarn around the rhn from back to the left around the front and to the back again as if you are wrapping it around the needle on a knit stitch. This is called a Yarn Over or YO.

Now, insert your rhn into the next TWO stitches on the lhn knitwise. As in, take the right hand needle and insert it through the second stitch as if to knit and then through the first st as if to knit so that you have both sts. Wrap the yarn around the rhn and remove the sts as if you were simply knitting one. this is called Knitting Two Together or K2tog.

For the remainder of the sts on the lhn, continue to YO then K2tog across.

At the beginning for each row, sl the first st knitwise and YO, K2tog to the end :)

When the scarf is the desired length, knit one more row then bind off as shown in this post.

I can't wait to see what you all make!

Tuesday Learn to Knit Day 5 - On Wednesday...

First of all, I sincerely apologize for not posting this yesterday! This week has been and will continue to be, crazy because it is Alpha Sigma Kappa - Women in Technical Studies' recruiting week here at NMT, and I am the recruiting officer so I have been incredibly busy!

This week I'd like to share one of my reader's projects with you, her name is Karin and instead of making dishcloths, she decided to be a little more creative, check out what she made:

Isn't that just adorable? I thought so :) Click on over to her blog to read more about it. (and don't forget to visit her adorable Etsy shop!)

Next week I will be showing you all two more stitches and we will be using these stitches to create a scarf! The scarf should knit up quick and easy and the finished result will have a lacy appearance, aren't you excited? So as far as yarns go, I suggest you simply find a yarn that you love, make sure it is soft enough to around your neck, on your face, etc. You don't *have* to get new needles, but you are more than welcome to (although if you do get new needles for this project, I suggest going up sizes instead of down sizes) if you decide not to get new needles, try to make sure that the yarn you get isn't too large for the needles you already have. Most yarn companies and sellers on Etsy suggest a needle gauge for the yarn, its on the label. So, double check that before you purchase!

Please feel free to send in pictures of your own finished projects (I don't care if you're a little behind, just starting, or keeping up with all of these posts, you can share whenever!) or your questions or comments :D

I'll see you back here next week to learn more knitting techniques!

Recent Knitting

I know I have been so bad about posting lately, especially last week! The semester is winding up and with that a lot of time is sucked out my life into some academic-wall-papered black hole. I have had some time to knit (I have to keep whats left of my sanity somehow right?) and here is one of the projects I am working on:

Its a menswear-inspired scarf for my friend who's birthday is next week. Its her gift to herself, isn't that awesome? Do you get yourself stuff for your birthday? You should.

anyways, I've done a TON more since this picture was taken and I promise to show you pictures of the completed piece :D

Oh! And I got the final package for the Ravelry Swap I've been doing the other day, I PROMISE pictures will come tomorrow.

Custom Scarves

Yesterday I finished up two custom scarves by finally attaching the fringe and labels :) For some strange reason it always takes me a little longer than it should to finish up with the fringe on things and I'm not quite sure why? Regardless, I love both of these scarves and am excited to see them off to their new homes!

The first is a simple lace scarf in a hand-dyed merino. It is very soft, very cozy and very long:

Second is this gorgeous leaf lace scarf out of a wonderful alpaca and silk blend called Miracle. so soft and wonderful to work with! I used up two skeins completely, nothing left :)

Must. Have.

This. Scarf. I must have it. It must be mine. That is all. From Mireloom

The Epic Dr. Who Scarf

Ok ok, I know I've been talking about this for a while now, but its finally finished! Its done! Completed! Finito!

More than 61,200 stitches went in to this scarf. Its more than ten feet long (which is why I have Matt modeling it, it was dragging on the ground when I put it on!) without the fringe, and the fringe adds at least 6 inches to each side. Its also over a foot wide and when wrapped around my neck as much as it could, easily served as a neck-brace.

It was knit with seven skeins of different colors, all 100% merino wool. This scarf will definitely keep its wearer warm for YEARS to come.

It wasn't the most complicated knitting but it was a lot of knitting regardless and I am actually very proud of the way it turned out :D What do you think?

Dr. Who Scarf Update

Remember back in this post where I introduced you to the yarn I would be using to knit the Dr. Who scarf for a custom order? I have been working diligently on the scarf but it needs to be longer yet. Granted, it does take a hiatus while I am working on other orders with sooner deadlines, but progress is being made, see for yourself!

Monday Color - Goldenrod

As many of you know, yellow is my favorite color. It didn’t come to me naturally that this was my favorite; I had to figure it out. Everyone is always (ok, maybe not "always" but often enough) asking what your favorite color is and while I would usually answer “Anything but pink” I just didn’t know for sure what my one favorite actually was. I realized one day, looking around my small abode at my things I noticed that many of my belongings that saw the most use were yellow and it kind of dawned on me.

Anyways, enough with the random color explanation, here are some neato things I found browsing Etsy by searching the term “Goldenrod”

Indoor Outdoor goldenrod cushion pillow from mustlovehomedecor

Black and Goldenrod Triple Floral Pendant from TheReFORMatory

Magnolia Pleated Bag – Golden from SweetgumHandbags

Solid Yellow Gold Handknit Sunshine Scarf from CricketsCreations

Goldenrod Merino Yarn from Shamdoogle

Making The New Place Into My Place

A while back my uncle sent my mom and I two peshmina shawls. He is an artist currently working with the military in Iraq, you can read his blog to learn more about his many adventures. These shawls were made in Iraq and are very very beautiful and massively huge! I wasn't quite sure what to do with it as it doesn't get cold enough here to wear them and I don't have a table worthy of a runner but since I've moved into my own apartment, I needed some decorations to cover up the plain white walls.

The shawl almost covers the entire length of the wall I hung it on! I know what you are thinking, either that wall is tiny or the shawl is huge, and to be honest, its actually a combination of both.

There are so many wonderful colors, and the detail in the piece is amazing! What do you think?

Oh, and I have been slowly but surely working on a new scarf for my shop, between classes, work, homework, and moving its been slow going, but here is a preview of whats to come! So keep your eyes on the shop so you can snatch up this trophy before someone else does ;)

Across the Big Colorful Universe

Two new scarves have been listed in my shop! This super long, wide colorful one:

And this one which would be absolutely perfect to wrap around your shoulders on a chilly night where you just wanted to wear your most favorite LBD!

Soft Lacey Orange Scarf

Recently finished and just listed, this super soft orange scarf brings with it the bright colors and interesting patterns that you all know I love.

Knit in a very cool diamond lace pattern, this extra long scarf has just a bit of a sheen to it. It is long enough to wrap around your neck numerous times or just let the ends hang free, either way, this scarf is just about perfect! The details in the scarf aren't too overpowering as to take over an outfit, but they add a little something extra.

Crazy Purples, Helmets and Babies

So I finally have added a new item to my shop! It's been over a month since anything new has made its way to my shop, I've been super busy with custom orders, hats, knucks, scarves, slippers, etc. Its nice to finally have new things on Etsy too!

So here it is, the coolest, most neato torpedo purple scarf you've ever seen!

Also, coming soon to my shop (hopefully tomorrow or later this evening) I will be adding the finished set of these booties I talked about way back in this post and the matching beanie!

And here is one of the custom orders I recently finished, a helmet-style hat. The wearer is a bicyclist and wanted something that would keep his ears warm but not cover his eyes (he has a rather large dome-piece). So here is the finished creation, being modeled by my very super handsome boyfriend :)

Super Crazy Soft Purple and Black Scarf

A friend of mine approached me about making a custom scarf as a Christmas gift for one of her friends. She said "something purple-y and black" and here was the result:

It is SO soft and luxurious I almost don't want to give it to her, I just want to keep it for myself and use it as a pillow all day every day.

I've been working on some new things for my shop as well, so keep your eyes open for new arrivals :)