Tuesday, May 31, 2011

There are days... and then there are DAYS.

Sometimes, you feel like nothing is going right.  You wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you stub your toe on the way to the shower, maybe nothing goes horrendously wrong but the sum of the parts doesn't exactly make a beautiful, sunshiney day.

Then, there are the days where everything goes right.  You make new friends, you nap in the sun, you play in the pool.  You spend most of your day knitting a sock.

And then, just as you're about to start the ribbing for the top of the leg, you go to try it on to show your grandmother how good it looks on your foot.

And it just doesn't fit.

And that is the moment, at a memorial day picnic, as you struggle to get the skinny sock leg over your bony little heel, when you realize that that whole good day was fate/God/someone upstairs softening the blow that this sock is not working for you. 

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And later, when the party is over, you frog back the sock all the way (even though you could have stopped at the toe, you just weren't paying attention.)

And the next morning, you cast on for it again, because it's only the right thing to do.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Free Pattern - The Pinwheel Square

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I'm in a group on Ravelry called KAL weekly square, and I'm the designer for the second square!  Whoo hoo! After some trial and error, I made this baby! I'm pretty proud of it :)  The goal of the group is to have a finished blanket by the end of the summer by making a different square each week.  Designers can make an original square, or squares can be nominated that are already around.  Anyway, this square can also be used as a dishcloth, potholder, plant coaster, etc.  It's very fun and calming to make, and it's reversible - a must for my blanket!

It measures 10''x10'', and full instructions are after the jump.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Storm-zilla

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Yesterday afternoon, a huge hailstorm flew through the neighborhood.  It destroyed most of my seedlings and cut off the phone, Internet, and cable! The yard was littered with hailstones, almost as if someone had decided to dump a metric ton of ice across it.

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I'm pretty young, and I've only seen hail once - that's right, once.  That hail was about the size of small peas.  This was MUCH bigger.  It was pretty cool to see the wet growth and dry growth of the hailstones - it was like seeing sixth grade weather science in action!

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Then, power got cut off after a massive storm that lasted from 8 PM until around 9:30.  The lightning was beautiful, branching across the sky, and it was very eerie watching the clouds roll in. My parents are blessed that they chose to live in a naturally disaster-free area - the rolling hills prevent tornadoes from forming, there are measures in place to prevent flooding, and there are naturally no earthquakes or hurricanes, so we may not see a storm like this for another ten years.

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It's too bad about my seedlings, though! I managed to save my big tray of veggies, but my cosmos took a beating an my alyssum plants are nothing but a puddle - hopefully some the seeds survived to grow where they washed away too!

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I also started a new sock - back to toe-up, of course.  This pattern is my own design :) It's just an alternating row of mock-cables, and it's really easy to memorize and knit up.  When I put the socks on, the cables remind me of little pink lemons!

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Like the mug? It was under the sink when my mom moved in - I may have to steal it!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Socks Afire!


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I finally had a spare moment to dig out my yarn needle and finish up these socks! I was ready to stitch the toes shut after riding shotgun to NH and back this weekend to look at apartments.

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Jazz!

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Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A.
Yarn: On Your Toes Sock Yarn
Pattern Modifications: Did only two pattern repeats before the heel flap to make the leg shorter - I think they make my feet seem kinda stubby, but they are SOO comfy!

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I love these socks so much more than the Jaywalker socks I finished before.  I may be converted to the top-down sock camp - I didn't have to worry about a too-tight cuff cutting off the circulation to a perfectly good sock.  While I still wear the Jaywalkers once and awhile, I will wear these WAY more! And, I love the pattern.  I want to make a sweater for myself in this pattern! :B  Of maybe a stole? So many possibilities.

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Monday, May 23, 2011

Mood Boards for the First Round of DAL

 
Click on each photo for a larger image!

Thanks so everyone who participated and gave a photo to add! For those of you who are new to this thing I've been posting about, the idea is that you design an item based on this mood board.   If you post up your sketch on your blog (and email me that you do) or on the Ravelry Group AND have a completely finished design for sale or free by August 25th, 2011.  Each design will be entered into a drawing, and there will be prizes - I should have that all figured out by August 1st.  

Thanks again to everyone that put up a picture! (In no particular order):
Rebecca from The Sculpted Stitch
Linda from Tiny Knit
Rachael from Rachael's Knits
Annette from Knotrune
Jordan from In It To Knit It
Toby from Gizmometer
Sherry from A Written Life

And everyone else who I couldn't stalk find the blog address of!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

DAL Mood Board submissions are done tomorrow!

Hey guys! Just a head's up if you want to contribute to Design Along, the mood board submissions are due tomorrow.  You can submit a photo on the thread in the Rav group or by emailing me.  I'm going to post the mood boards up late tonight/early Monday morning, and then the floor is open to submit designs! The design can be for free, for sale, or for submission - the only requirements are that you post up a photo/scan of the sketch, a photo of the FO, and a link to the pattern on Ravelry.  Once you do, you're entered into a prize and I'll put a roundup of all the designs and posts up here :)

To entice you, here are some pictures that have gone up on the group that I find inspiring! 




P.S. - If you post up your design ideas in your blog, leave a comment saying so here and I'll follow you - just make sure to tag your posts "DAL" - in case I get behind :P

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The World Needs More Knitted Hedghogs

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This post is brought to you by the Hampton Inn, where I'm staying while traveling for work.  I'm really tired but I thought I'd finally blog about this, because I've been keeping him in my bag to give me a smile every now and then!

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I took these pictures last week, when it was sunny and nice out - can you tell?  Can we get back to that, please! It seems like the whole Northeast is covered with a cloud.

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Anyway, I was thinking of making a few of these in different colors and selling them on Artfire.  Or just keeping them as my hoarde of hedgehogs! (I'm just kidding - a group of hedgehogs is called an array.)

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I have the notes for him written up, but I'm thinking of having it tested and selling the pattern - but there are so many free hedgehog patterns out there that do really well, so there's a lot of competition! Maybe free for now?

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