Missing Knitcrate Video

Super slow week!

So, as my previous post said, my grandmother's passing really took up a lot of the last week.  I have been working on things, but at a much slower rate than usual.  After last Friday, I really only worked on the blue blanket I showed in Vlog #5.  

So, one with the show!  First off, I did finish my varigated, knit Christmas stocking.  I used Bernat Happy Holidays in Merrier.  I really enjoyed the pattern with the exception of how the heel turned out.  I use the pattern, Waiting Up for Santa Stocking by Sour Krot Designs.  I think it must have been me that messed up, not the pattern, but my heel is so pointy.  I just don't like the way that it looks.  I love the way it was constructed, but I just don't like how it turned out for me.

I do however really love the toe decreases that she chose.  This is done round like a hat vs being done like the toe of a real sock.  For some reason that rounded toe looks so much nicer hanging down.  Many moons ago I knit a stocking that used a standard toe decrease and it looked nice laying flat but kind of looked funny while hanging on the mantle.

The next stocking I worked on was Christmas Stocking by Sonya.  This one turned out very lovely!  I really like the finished style.  I don't think it would be as good as my knit one for using as a stocking, but it looks so great hanging up.  My picture doesn't really do it justice.

This pattern was a bit wonky to understand.  Well, it was wonky at the heel and restarting for the leg.  If you have knit or crocheted socks before, you will perfectly understand what is going on in the pattern.  If you haven't ever made socks before, be very careful at reading and working this pattern.  It isn't intuitive.

The last finished object of the week is another donation hat.  This one just uses a basic recipe idea of the crown measures x, the total length is y.   There are many people out there who have created graphic charts to show you the recipe.  I don't want to get dinged for copy write, so I will just tell you to Google that one.

This hat is made from Lion Brand Wool Ease and Caron One Pound scraps that were in my scrap box after finishing the rainbow blankets.  I really like the texture these worked up together.  The Wool Ease is so light compared to the Caron it made a really nice fabric together.

I wanted to share with you all this label I found on one of the balls of yarn from the rainbow blankets.  Not a color that you would see much of anymore.  I am not sure when Caron Sayelle was discontinued, but this ball is at least 20 years old.  I love finds like that!

Here is this week's Vlog Show and Tell.  I hope that you guys enjoy.  I did forget to mention in the Vlog that my yarn weight usage is up to 63.65 ounces out of 400.  So, we keep creeping up there!

Take care everyone and I will see you all next week.  XOXO

Wow, I really dropped that ball!

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in getting any kind of update up for you guys.  It has been a long week!  My grandmother sadly passed away and I was going back and forth with my family getting updates and traveling to North Carolina for the funeral.  Her passing was very sudden.  Taking care of that took up most of my time.

Sorry, but for last week's update, we will just have to go with my Vlog post.  I wish that I had time to write everything up, but I don't want to miss a chance to get this up before this week's video goes live and the new post gets put up.

As to the "pattern" for the cowl:
CO 66
Work in the same moss stitch for 8 rows
Knit for 25 rows
Moss stitch for 8 rows

Remember to bind off in a very stretchy bind off.

I do have this up on Ravelry not as a pattern, but the pattern is written in my description box.  Cowl to Match Lomond Hat.

I should have more up either later today or first thing tomorrow! 

Hats, Hats, Hats-- and a Scarf...

So, this last week or so with the knitting and the crochet have been a bit different than my "normal" flow.  I am running through a lot of the small knitting projects that I had wanted to make to enter into the SC State Fair, I am working on some hats for donation, getting ready to redecorate and waiting to see what Hurricane Florence does....

So...  I will start with the scarf.  I made the scarf that matches the hat from last week.  It is the Dublin Duo Scarf by Bonnie Barker.  It is in the Celtic Cable Crochet book.  I have 2 crochet cable books by her, this is the first one I am working from.  I plan on doing a review after I finish two more patterns from the book.  This scarf actually worked up super fast compared to the hat.  I had originally planned on an extra row of single crochet around the perimeter in the cream I used for the ribbing, but decided against it.  I really like the width of the written boarder.  Just like the hat, I really like the pattern and found it to be very well written.

Next, I worked on a slew of hats.  Seriously...  all of my FOs and WIPs are hats...  I didn't work at all on my August Knitcrate or September Knitcrate projects...  All has been for the fair or donations this week....  LOL!

Fair hats, K&K by Nathania Apple, I have made this hat before and I love this brim!  I come to this hat when ever I want a super basic hat pattern that doesn't have ribbing.  I am not one of those people who doesn't like purling, I just want a different shape.  I went a head an made it in the "Toddler" size and the Adult size.  I put toddler in quotes because I would say that this is more young child in a lot of yarns.  Make sure of your size gauge before you start for a toddler or a child. 

For donation hats, I wanted to use up my orange scraps, it isn't a color that I really use much of, so one ball is more than enough for my stash.  I started with one of Margaret Olander's favorite donation hats, the Better Late than Never Hat by Kathy North.  I really love this hat's construction!  It isn't something super spectacular if you have made a lot of hats unless you are like me and just love clever changes to the basics.  I also am so tickled at how well I am getting my rows to stack when I am smart about working.  So, I got two Better Late than Nevers done, then I decided to go a little off script with another hat.

I took the brown and orange one and used it as a size guide to make my own double crochet-double strander hat.  I know there are 500 patterns for this out there, I think Margaret Olander has a "recipe" for this kind of hat.  I just wanted to finish off that brown and suck up as much orange as I could...  I did finish the brown ball, but I had just enough orange left over for....

A cream and orange (creamsicle) Better Late than Never Hat.  I actually started this one last night when I was chilling with a mask on my face waiting to go to bed.  Trying to de-stress from "What if...Planning".  So, next week this one should be done and I will hopefully not have only 5 hats to share with you guys as FOs and WIPs.


So, I have some fun additional information on my Youtube channel (that just sounds so bloody funny!) video from today that is in conjunction with my "Show and Tell" here.  Please stop over there and take a listen to the fun shares.  I have some fun acquisitions and "reviews" to share with you guys!  Including Halloween finds, my disappointing Mary Maxim purchase, and books!

I want to take a moment and thank all of the people who have supported me this year in my getting out there again.  It has been a long time since I shared in the open like this and I have really missed being able to share with my friends and make new friends.  I know I don't see very many comments on my blog, but I do see my "lurkers" and I am very grateful for you all! 

Hugs and Kisses until next week hopefully!

Crafting Makes the World Go Around...

At least it makes my world go around!  Sorry, I haven't had time to get back over here to share with you the updates on my WIP and FOs.  I thought I was going to have more time on Saturday before the football games started...  I was WRONG!

So, lets get this ball rolling!

I did finally finish my C2C Rainbow Blanket.  I might still put a boarder on here, I haven't decided yet what that should be if I do.  Maybe one of the random purples I have up in the craftroom...  I don't know yet, but I will figure it out.







I finished two hats. One is this pink and cream one.  I used Vanna's Choice yarn and the pattern is the hat from Dublin Duo by Bonnie Baker.  I got her book, Celtic Cable Crochet and am just smitten with the aesthetic of all of the patterns.  I think I might go ahead and make this the next book that I work my way through the whole thing.  I can't think of one that doesn't just look like fun to make.

The next hat is Crochet Ribbed Hat by RecycleCindy.  I liked this hat as a starting place, I have a whole basket of neutral scraps still, so I think that I might work through a lot of those using patterns like this that are just simple and basic.  I already have another brown and cream one going upstairs.

I have been working on my two Knitcrate projects.  I finished the one from the Primary box.  I had some extra yarn from knitting the cowl I decided to knit an ear-warmer.  The cowl pattern is The Beach Ball Cowl by Virginia Sattler-Reimer.  I liked it, but I will have more to say about the combo when I do my final review of the first Knitcrate and the unboxing for months number two.  


No one part of this was wrong, I am just not 100% sure I like them together.   That might change after some wet blocking too.  The fabric is fun to touch through and I am looking forward to wearing this when it a touch cooler.




The ear-warmer is my own pattern (if you can call it a pattern) CO 100,  in the round- 5 rows of K2P2 rib, 15 rows knitted and 5 rows of K2P2 rib, extra stretchy bind off in pattern.  I love the feel of the yarn around my face.  I ended up with only a small amount left over.  I don't even know if I have enough to add into a junk pompom...


I have been working on Caribbean Escape by Jennifer Dickerson.  I am once again loving the yarn, but... I will say that over all but not super excited with the pattern.  I will get more into that when the next box gets here and I give my final review of the yarn and box as a whole.  Don't let me sound too negative, it isn't bad, I am just little meh on both combos though.




The last thing I have been working on is Cakes Two to Tango by Gwen Kok.  Now this is a super simple pattern once you have both balls established, but those first few rows you need silence and patience with yourself.  The pattern is very well written, you just need to pay attention.  HOW PRETTY!  I am using Lion Brand Mandala Baby in Unicorn Cloud. 

I am already planning my next round with this pattern.  I have the yarn, it will be the Warlock color way for the fall!  I love how it looks using the same colorway, but the pattern is written to use different colorways.

I do have my next Vlog up, please, go and take a peek.  This one is a Show and Tell video mostly but I also introduced my next challenge for 2018!

Take care and I look forward to hearing from you all! 

 Please, if you want to follow more closely with the 25 pound challenge, let me know and maybe we can start a group on Ravelry or Facebook.

There are no dorks here!

Like I said in my last post, I am working on cleaning my craft room.  I would love to be able to really move around in there and have my desk space back!  I am almost done.  I got the desk wiped down at least now....  It is really sad, there are some basics that I really miss about having a normal room.  Don't get me wrong, I love my craft room, it is just that it is hard to work around not having vertical space to use for my storage solutions.

I have an idea of where I want to go with my space once I have worked my stash down.  I just will have to go through some growing pains until I get my stash worked that far down...  I am just glad to be able to work in there again right now!  I am taking the victory!

While I was organizing the top of my "personal use" yarn space, I found three random balls of bulky yarn.  I have no idea where the blue one came from.  The pink was actually a ball I had gotten my grandmother when she said she wanted to try and crochet again.  The purple has been hanging around for about 10 years now.  I had some turquoise that I bought at the same time but that has all been used for different projects.

Of course, I am a dork...I couldn't just have random balls hanging around... So I brought them down to the study and found patterns for them!  I am sure that is what any rational adult would do...  Right?  No, just me then...

First I found, Rainbow Twist by Thao Nguyen.  This was an interesting scarf to knit.  It went super fast, but the addition of the large scale cable was a lot of fun!  The first twist gave me fits because I was so sleepy- I was knitting to stay awake at that point Monday night- I wasn't paying attention to where my working yarn was laying.  Once I got a good night sleep though, the next two cable pattern rows were a breeze.  If you are looking for a simple gift, accessory or have a random ball of super bulk yarn...  Make this scarf!  I used Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in Blossom.

Second I found She's a Betty Bonnet by Gretchen Tracy.  Holy Mackerel!  I am in love with this pattern!  I love the texture of this pattern.  I really wish that the pictures of my hat showed off the texture or the yarn showed off the texture.  When I started, it didn't look that bad, but by the time I was decreasing the crown, I realized that the texture popped on the back but not the front.  That is okay, I will remake the hat I am sure!  This hat was knit in Premier Serenity Chunky in Stormy.  I got Nilla Wafer to stop for 5 seconds to show off the split neck detail.

I know many of you guys don't know me at all, I also haven't been blogging for years, so you would have never had a chance to learn this Carrie fact...  I adore split neck hats!  I really wish there were more designs out there for these!  The bun hats took over the last two winters, but I will be honest, the split neck is better!  You can wear a low pony tail, scarf and collar at the same time you head stays warm and dry!  There isn't bulk on this style of hat, no fixing your hair to wear this style hat and it stays put on your head!  I know, I am still a dork...  This isn't helping my bid out of dorkdom...  I have made a few over the years, but She's a Betty and Lomond Hat by Littletheorem may be my favorites!  Go get some bulky yarn and needles!  RUN!  KNIT!

So for the third yarn I went with Zombie Killer Slouch by Luciana Young.  The name was eye catching enough!  I couldn't resist this hat after that!  My biggest issue with this hat is that this style doesn't look great on me.  I think I have made one that looked okay on me...years ago...super thin yarn... extra long slouch...AKA, too much work!  This hat however was simple, fun and easy.  It was great for a lone ball and not wanting to over think while working!  This took no time to work up!  I am sure I can find it a good home!


I then took the pink left overs and made a heart applique...  I have no idea what I am going to do with that!  It will hang out until I have a use for it.  <shrug>  Who knows, I might just throw it on a blanket or hat down the road.  I don't make a whole lot of yarn embellishments normally, but I like having them to use when I want one.  It is one of those odd things, you just don't think to make them until you need them normally-well, me at least...

I still had some scraps of all three left over.  Guess who has two thumbs and started another scrapghan!?  Yep, this time a C2C blanket.  It will take me years to finish this blanket!  I haven't worked that much with bulky yarns for the last year or two or 5...  But, I have no random bits going back into the craftroom! I actually pulled 4 random bits balls and added them to this blanket!

One of the things I have been working on is using my scraps as I go.  I know you have seen my hexies and the gray/blue blocks, but it has gone deeper than that.  The Dr. Who Scarf was mostly made from the Harry Potter scraps.  A lot of the donation hats from Lent were made with scraps that were going to just clutter up or were already cluttering up my craft space.  It is perfectly good yarn that I love to work with, but because it isn't a whole ball, I don't think to go and work with it!  Until I have my yarn stash more under control, I won't see these balls in my room.  So, I am trying to work through them now while I see them!

I had this post mostly ready to go up Friday, but I couldn't find time to finish...  In my pictures of my mostly sorted craftroom, you will notice a blue bin on the top of the big yarn wall.  The one on the left hand side...  Yeah, so I didn't go through it while cleaning.  I thought it just had my leftover cakes from a crocheted cocoon sweater, some old straight knitting needles, bits and bobs that were yarn related but not sorted...  NAH!  I found a whole group of Vanna's Choice (stray balls are in the blue bin on the right) including GRAY, 1.5 balls of GRAY!  I was over the moon!  I can go back to my 12 inch granny square blanket!

I also found 2 more balls of Bernat Softee Chunky (vintage) that will become a crochet cable "book bag", another ancient WIP- lace fingerless gloves and some bits that have homes!  So even as I am posting this post, my craftroom is already changing for the cleaner!

I have some plans for the extra large One Pound skeins, so as those get used, I will pull another extra large bin in and sort my large group things into that on top and use my cubbies for smaller quantities and some of my paper supplies that need help in staying organized (boxes only go so far...).

On to paper crafting.  I had to move my paper crafting back upstairs (that is what is on my desk under the window) because Nilla Wafer is older and wants to play with Grandma's stuff A LOT more!  Tater Tot likes to watch, Nilla Wafer wants to take supplies and do her own thing...  So, not a lot got done aside from moving things up to my craftroom.

I did get my second page mostly done for my first scrapbook ever...  I am having a problem making the second page's pictures pop and lift off the page more.  I wish the picture did them more justice, but I haven't stuck them down yet.  I have embellishments planned, but I need to get the pictures fixed.  I am in search through my stash of a navy blue floral...  That should get finished tonight though.  Then onto scrapping our morning at the Jean-Talon Market.  I already have produce papers pulled for those!

Last week was super productive and some how I did manage to actually make things to show you!  This week is packed full already.  I don't know how much time I will end up having, but I am excited to see!

Take care you guys!

Took me two weeks again!

I know, this is pretty common...  The thing is, as I said with "Getting it all done", sometimes, nothing gets done.  Last week was nonstop.  Thursday and Friday were taking care of a sick husband and when Tater Tot wasn't here, I was trying to get caught up on what I have missed the last few weeks.  I really didn't have time to craft at all until Friday at the doctor's office.  I got about half and hour of knitting done on my car project.  Even this past weekend was pretty busy!

Almost everything in our house is built in and original to the house back in 1977-1979.  Lucky us, our microwave went out finally.  Look at this beauty!  It was on sale in 1979 for something like $450!  Mr. Penny found the ad for it, so I don't have it at hand to share as well.  Saturday was spent going out shopping for something that would fit into the built in area.  Guess what...  We found two. One isn't made anymore and we couldn't find it in black anywhere that delivered.  Number two was on Amazon...  Just continues to show, when it doubt Amazon will save you!

Sunday I did manage to spend some time just resting, getting caught up on personal stuff and crafting!  My chevron blanket got finished!  I used up 1.5 balls of the Red Heart Jumbo and 7 balls of the Wintuk (.5 ball went to granny blanket project basket).  This got super heavy towards the end especially since I have been working at the computer not on the sofa.

I forgot to get a final picture of it before I took it up to await its blocking.

<Man!  My blocking pile is really getting stacked up.  Harry Potter baby blanket is in that pile too!>

As I told you when I pulled the yarn for the chevron blanket.  I have an empty spot on one of my shelves!  LOOK!  LOOK!  I will pull down the bin of Sweet Rolls and then my craftroom will look 1/500 neater!  I still have so much yarn just in my "Donation" shelf!   I am starting to think that "The Great Craftdown of 2018" might become "The Great Craftdown of 2019" too!

Yes, I said "Donation" shelf.  Everything, aside from the Craftsy boxes, are yarns I have set aside/bought for prayer shawls, donation baby blankets, lapghans...  I have actually donated a few softies in the past.  This is the yarn I know is the right amount for these projects.  I have had some friends that have given me yarn for that purpose as well.

I have a book case in my workout room that has the yarn for two projects sitting on it.  I can't remember why I left them in there.  It might have been the idea I would do those projects in bed...  I don't know...  But I pulled the yarn for this shawl from there.  I used 6 balls of Lion Brand Hometown USA in Napa Valley Pinot.  The pattern is a basic triangular shawl pattern.  All four increases are done in one row and the next row is knitting across.  I normally use an M1 down the center, but this time I used a YO.  I did decide to do that after coming across Dovetail Wrap by Purl Soho.

The other yarn that is on that shelf was bought to make Tater Tot a blanket, but it has been re-purposed to another project.  I haven't started it yet, but half of it will be a bed "I am doing a facial" project and half will be done down stairs like most my other projects.  The final blanket may still go to Tater Tot since I still haven't given him his own blanket from me after 3.5 years...  His sister Cookie got hers for her first birthday.

I want to take a minute right now to share this with you guys.  So, I am a very manual person.  I write better when I put pen to paper, not just typing (yeah, sorry, that is why my blog is kinda like how I talk to a friend when I am super excited) and that has found its way into my crafting as well.  This is how I keep track of my rows.  I have tried abacus bracelets, push button row counters, old school row counters, digital row counters...  Pen and paper work best for me.  This time I changed my pen color as I changed yarn balls.  I was just curious as to what percent of the rows each ball made in this style.  I wanted to just take a second to share with you guys how I work and what my process is.

Monday I finished my garnet shawl, so I wanted to prep what to start next...  Well... This got kinda funny because I am a little snot...

I have a lot of Paton's Venus yarn.  It was discontinued and I paid about $.50 a ball through a discount site.  I wanted to make a sweater with one color I got and I got enough for a few shawls for Summer in two more.  I wanted to go ahead and make a Summer stole so I went to Ravelry to find a super basic framework pattern.  Kind of how Dovetail is a shawl that I use all the time, but never had a pattern for (well until recently).  I wanted to just find maybe a basic stitch pattern to use or maybe an interesting increase....  Well, I came across Step it Up Knit Shawl by Caron Design Team while looking.

If you look at the time on the website it says that this pattern takes "More than an Hour".  Well, duh!  But I got curious as to how much longer than an hour it would take.  I had a left over ball of Caron Cake from a stole I crocheted last year.  Why not!  So yesterday I started this shawl.  I am back to the first color of green.  So far it has been about 6 hours long...  I think Michael's needs to extend their time of project to maybe "Over an Hour" and "Over a Day".  I only have two other colors left in my cake.  I should finish this up today.  If you are looking for an interesting simple pattern, this one is great!  I love the drape of it with the Caron Cake as well!

I did go ahead and bring down my Venus yarn.  I am still not sure what kind of shape I want with it.  The yarn is so open when worked, the sweater pattern from Paton's that inspired me to buy it when I found it is just so light and I want that kind of texture but the shape is still a mystery.  It will come to me though.  I also want to say that this color is so beautiful it doesn't need a special pattern stitch.  If you guys have a suggestion, I will be casting something on tomorrow most likely!  I would love to hear what you guys think!

I am also thinking about making a Step it Up Shawl with any left overs should I have enough...  What else I am I realistically going to do with left overs of this kind of yarn.

Anywho!  For everything I lost last week, I do seem to be getting it back this week so far.  I haven't gotten behind on chores nor have I run out of time to craft.  Oh and the last two days I got some cardio in!

I hope that you guys are having a wonderful week so far!  I look forward to hearing from anyone who is following along for "The Great Craftdown of 2018"!  I am going to dive back into my Step it Up Shawl!

Take care and blessings to you all!