A Decent Pair of Socks

This is the first decent pair of socks I have made....ever!  I've tried so many patterns, I can't tell you.  Maybe it's me....maybe I'm reading the pattern wrong....maybe I've picked the wrong yarn...maybe I ate something  bad!  Ok, maybe not that last one.  I finally found a great pattern!  Whipped up in Knit Picks Wild West yarn and size 2 needles produced this lovely pair.  However, the yarn is not very cushy, so, if you're like me and don't like to wear shoes around the house, these are not practical.

 Fiesta Baby Boom in Coyote delivered some cushy goodness and in colors I like....grey, black, cream and brown.

 The above and below are Fiesta Baby Boom in Harlequin.  You might remember my post using this yarn for Karen's Carnival Baktus Scarf, below.  Look how different the colors look depending on knitting in stockinette or garter stitch and dye lots.

 Knit Circus' Pixie Dust Fingering in Robin's Egg have a bit of twinkling goodness in them.  Gorgeous color and squishy soft!

Knit Picks Stroll Fingering in Frosting are a gift for one of my besties.  Her signature color is pink and she will love these.

Now, about the pattern.  Don't ask me why it took so long to get it out as I've had it for quite sometime!  It belongs to Susan B. Anderson.  I adore her and have all her books.  She has this easy way about her.  You'd want her as a sister, neighbor or best friend.  If you watch her teaching, she is relaxing and mesmerizing at the same time.  Patient and thoughtful in her delivery.  Her patterns are the same way.  Technically, beautifully written, but with that element that she is speaking to you from the page.  In this pattern, she makes it so easy to understand the dreaded turning of the heel!

The pattern is free.  Just pop over to her Rav page or blog.  

I'm working on her mitten pattern and will have a future post about that.  Another great and easy pattern.

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:  

If you have trouble getting started knitting socks in the round on those small needles, here's what I do.....work the 2 x 2 ribbed cuff back and forth on 2 of the double point needles leaving a tail long enough to sew it up when the sock is finished.  After you complete the cuff, start knitting in the round with the remaining needles.

DIY Shawl Closures With Buttons

 The winds howl this time of year in the midwest!  In an effort to keep my shawls and scarves from blowing down the street, I made these from my button stash with a bit of elastic threaded through the button holes and tied in a knot.

 So very simple and extremely effective.  I love giganto buttons!  Big, colorful and easy to store if you are a collector like me.  Easy and affordable to purchase from local yarn shops I visit on my travels.  Above is a Lacy Baktus from Ravelry.  You can find the pattern link on my Karen's Carnival Rav page.  

 I found this button in a local yarn shop in St. Louis, Missouri.  The Freesia shawl pattern is from Jumpers Cable Knitting.  Very easy and quick to knit up with worsted weight yarn.  Find the pattern link on my Rav page.    

 I love the color combination and can use this one on so many shawls.  That's the beauty of these closures.  You can use them on all your scarves.

 I often wear my Crocodile Stitch shawls around my shoulders and this button adds a bit of color and interest.  Find the Crocodile Stitch pattern via my Rav page.

So, there you go!  Get out those gorgeous buttons, tie a bit of elastic through the holes and knot.

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Can't find the right button?  Use leftover yarn to make i-cord buttons or frog closures instead.

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My First Knitting/Crochet Book...well sort of!

 I've just self published my first book...so to speak!  I have a new sponsor on my blog, Blurb, and was given a free book.  Not having used this site before, I decided to just create one with photos of my most popular patterns to see how it looked.  I must say that I love it!  Hard cover, great paper quality and wonderful resolution in the photos.

 It was very easy to use, but it's not a quick job to complete.  It took about 4 hours.  I'm hoping the next one will be a bit easier.

 The photos came out lovely and it's a great keepsake for all my yarny goodness!

 You can choose paper color, border style for the photos and there is also a nice range of page layouts.

 I was a bit disappointed that there is no spell check, so you have to be careful there.

 I really love how it turned out and will be writing one to publish with my patterns.  You can also publish an ebook.

 This book is about 20 pages, which is the least number of pages you can create.

You can even have a photo on the back, which makes it very professional indeed!  You can find the link on the right hand side of my blog page....."Blurb Make Your Own Book".

These would be great for all your Christmas photos every year.  Family reunion pics.  New baby.  Wedding book.  Even one filled with cherished family recipes.  I'd like to have one filled with my daughters artwork that she has done since she was little.  She is now in college majoring in costume design.

So here's my quandary....what would you like to see in a book from me?  I have had a number of  customers, as well as people I meet in person, ask me if I have a book they could purchase.  Enough requests that make me think I should.  I'd appreciate your thoughts  on this very much.

A book with all my knitted scarf patterns?

One with knitted AND crocheted scarf patterns?

One with the blankets...knitted only or knitted and crocheted patterns?

What about an ebook?  It would be more affordable than a hard cover and no shipping charges!

Myself, I am very much old school.  I adore my books.  The weight, the real life pictures and the opportunity to write on the pages.  You don't get that with an ebook.  Plus, if you save it on your computer, there is that outside chance of crashing!

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Sheila

Yarn tip:

If your favorite pair of socks develops a hole in the toe, cut the toe piece off and kit a new one.  Pull off the cut yarn until you get a complete round, put your needles through the stitches, join the yarn and knit up the toe.  You can also use duplicate stitch to darn holes in other parts of the sock.

Top Yarny Goodness for 2013

Happy New Year!  Thank you so very much for all your kind words and comments over the last year.  I so appreciate it as I know you have many blogs to visit.  

I hope you have enjoyed my little blog journey as much as I have and I look forward to another year of knitting, hooking and sharing more yarny goodness with all of you.

My best to you and yours for a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

Sheila

A Downton Abbey Christmas!

 Just LOOK at all this Downton Abbey goodness!  The full dvd set, 2 Downton books and a tote!  Can't wait for the new season to start!  Whoo hoo!

 A new yarn bowl from my bestie and a headband from my daughter!

The back of the headband.  I think I might have to try and recreate this!

An Addi starter kit from Fiber Wild for $50.00!  AND a $25 gift cert for an Addi Click It set!

What were some of your favorite prezzies?

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Freeze your garment overnight before ripping out mohair or other fuzzy yarns.  You'll have an easier time getting the stitches undone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank you , my lovely followers, for making my year so memorable!  My best wishes to you and yours this holiday season and I hope the New Year is healthy, happy and full of squishy, yarny goodness!

sheila

xo

p.s. photo courtesy of Knit Picks

Yarny Goodness and a Kitchen Makeover

I just LOVE this needlepoint stained glass poppy!  It looks even more gorgeous in person.  It's been in the closet for years, just waiting to be framed or upholstered on to something.  Cover a pillow?  Maybe a little footstool.  What about a pad for a dining room chair?  Framed on the wall?

 I have been a crafter all my life.  Everything from glue to paint.   Cross stitch to knitting.  Fabric to pottery.  Needlepoint was my craft of choice in the 80's. I have tons of framed pieces all over the house.  I burned out right after that, but when I saw this in a craft store about 5 years ago, I just had to have it! This really needs out and seen everyday.  It's far to glorious to be put back in the cupboard.

                                      

Color in a little more subdued form.  My living room couch is in a soft turquoise, perfectly matching the color in the 5th row from the center.  I know many of you follow Attic24, as I do.  Don't you just adore her?  All that color, baking, shopping trips and English wit all from one attic!  I have made a few of her Blooming Flower Pillows for gifts.  One for a wedding shower gift in their wedding colors, one in matching nursery colors for the rocking chair.  

Lucy has the best photo tutorials for her yarny goodness.  This is a simple pattern with spectacular results!  If you use variegated yarn, as I did, there is no adding a new color for far less weaving in at the end.  The back is in a solid cream, worsted weight.  

Affordable fingerling from Knit Picks does all the work here.  Two skeins of Chroma in Soft Rock and a D (3.25) hook is what I used.

Christmas is around the corner.  We are having 8 around the table this year.  Prime rib, spanakopita, Mykonos cheese dip, roasted veggies, kalamata olives with feta cheese and baklava!  Did I mention that we are big foodies over here?  We had our dream kitchen put in a couple years ago....  

 before...

 .....after!  

Someone was remodeling their kitchen, so we bought the whole thing!  Everything from the light fixtures to the floor!  Can you believe they were getting rid of all this?  (If you look close, you can see little white bits on the floor.  We had the contractor put in some stones we collected from our trip to Greece a few years ago.)

 Maple cabinets and pulls, all the appliances, granite counter top, stone floor....we bought the WHOLE kitchen!  That pantry cupboard on the left was made over the chimney stack bump out (look at the 2nd picture above to see the before)

A working hood that vents to the outside.....awesome!  I don't have a pic of the backsplash that was installed.  Cream subway tiles with some green glass tiles here and there. 

Well, thanks for reading my ramblings!  

Merry Christmas to you all and a safe, healthy and Happy New Year!

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Ribbing (k3 or more) will sit better and pull in tighter if you work the first knit stitch by knitting in the back of the stitch!

Missoni Inspired Chevron Blankets

I love orders I get for baby blankets!  Small, squishy and unique.  This one is for a little girls black stroller.  I adore the pom poms and they really take the blanket from ordinary to something special!

True black and ivory go great together.  It looks like crisp white in the photo, but ivory is a much better contrast.  White yarn would be a bit too harsh, so the ivory softens it up.  

 I used my Pink Champagne Baby Blanlet pattern and substituted the colors with black and ivory.

 I made the poms from with a pom maker from Clover.  Definitely worth the small investment as they come out so perfect.  Ivory poms would have been just as cute.

 This photo is a little like a zebra print, which would also be as cute as can be!  I used machine wash acrylic I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby.  Black and a shocking pink would be great for the mom that likes color!

My buttons are custom made from this Etsy shop.   I love them so much!  Made of wood and the name of my Etsy shop is applied with a lazar.  If you don't have an shop, they would be cute with "made for you with love".  They are very affordable and the shop owners are very easy to work with.

 Here is another order, same pattern,  in white and 2 shades of grey.  Poms need to be made...I'm thinking the lightest shade of grey. 

 Did I already say...I love my custom buttons? 

If you look close, you can see the middle of the blanket is solid white for a number of rows.  Not the greatest photos....darn those clouds outside! 

I finished up a Blooming Flower cushion, from Attic24, with some Knit Picks yarn.  As soon as the sun comes out, I can get some photos taken!

Have a great week,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

When seaming something made with bulky or super bulky yarn, use a thinner yarn in the same color to join the pieces together.

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