Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strain)

HELLO!

So I have been having a whirlwind of changes happen in my life over the last couple of months! You can always tell when life is overwhelming me, as my Blog becomes neglected! So here is the quick and dirty version of what has happened over the last few months.

I don't think I have mentioned much about this in my Blog, but I was laid off from my job this summer. I won't go into a ton of detail, but I had been in my last company for over 12 years, and it was quite a surprise. They gave us about two months notice at the job and then I was out of work about two months before I started my new job. So that was all very stressful on about 14 levels. My new job is fabulous and I am REALLY happy there, but it's a huge change for me. I went from retail to a hardcore business environment. Change to how I dress (no more jeans!), and my commute (half the distance!) and my parking (what do you mean I have to PAY to park?!?!), and I could go on and on here. But now here I am, in my new job, in a company that I REALLY love, with wonderful wonderful people. Very happy on that front and so pleased to be finishing out 2014 in a job that I  love and with potential for me to grow in.

I also decided to take a break from school. I was actually in classes up until a couple weeks ago, and I finally decided I was just to overwhelmed and I wanted to take a break, focus on getting up to speed in my new job, and then reevaluate what I want to do with my education. So I withdrew from my HTML class a couple of weeks back, and am just focusing on my job at this time. It is strange to not be focused on my studies! I had been in some form of school for the last 2 years - so it's just like hearing the silence after a storm. Strange!

So! In terms of crafty stuff, I have been getting some knitting done. Most of what I have completed since I last wrote has been for Pine Ridge. I found a group on Ravelry called "For the Children of Pine Ridge" and I have been working on hats, scarves and mittens for a school on the reservation.

Here is what I sent over the last month or so:

My First box included 7 knit hats and 4 crocheted scarves.I am not overly skilled at the crochet yet, so this was a good way to practice and do some good as well. The hats I made using 3 different patterns I found on Ravelry.

1. Erich's A&F Knockoff Hat by Eboni A. Johnson

These knit quick on size 15 needles and the yarn was Lion Brand Hometown USA that I had floating around. My notes on these can be found HERE if you want more detail. They were fast and fun - and this pattern is a staple for me. Works on almost everyone and it's fast and easy.

2. Basic Hat / Radiant Hat by Lion Brand Yarn

 An easy pattern and free from Lion Brand. Used Hometown USA again and size 15 needles again. My notes on this hat can be found HERE if you want more detail.

3.The Vermonter by Abi Gregorio

Same yarn as the other hats, but we switched it up and went with size 11 needles on these babies and I opted to skip the pompom's. My more detailed notes can once again be found HERE if you need more info.

The next box I sent out had three scarves, a pair of mittens, and a bunch of stuff my mom contributed.

The scarves I made were crochet stash busting once again:

 And the mittens were made following one of my favorite patterns:

Warmest Mittens by Kris Percival.  

 

 

These were knit with Farmhouse Yarns Andy's Merino that I had had in my stash for years. If you want more details on how I made these, head HERE once again. (I always try and take good notes for my Ravelry Project pages!)

So that is what I have been getting done on the knitting front. I am going to work on getting blogging back into my life as I really missed it! Hope this finds any and all readers out there in good health. 

 

Happy crafting people!

IEEE 802.15.1 Bluetooth Cap

 

Project Name: IEEE 802.15.1 Bluetooth Cap

Pattern Name: Snow Day Cap (Free Pattern on LionBrand.com)
Yarn: Lion Brand Hometown USA. 44 yards of Main Color - MPLS Purple & 11 yards of Seattle Sea Mist for the Snowflakes
Needle: US 13
Size: Small Woman's or Large Childs
Love: ♥♥♥♥ Well written free pattern. Uses a minimum of yarn and the end result is quite nice!

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

 

I really had to stretch this to fit on my mannequin head to take pictures - and you can tell the snowflakes are distorted when I place it on the head.  Laying flat you can see the snow flake pattern more clearly - and I have to think some young gal (Pre-tween I think) would rock this out wonderfully.

I knit this exactly as the pattern stated. I found the chart was too much for me when I was tired and didn't want to think too much - so I saved it for more alert and less distracted knitting times. I really like how it looks from the top. A pretty decrease sequence. 

A welcome addition to my Knit Hat Donation pile.

Lovely (?) Lavender Hat

Project Name: Lovely Lavender Hat
Pattern Name: Big Chunky Comfy Hat by Erica Kempf on Ravelry (Free Pattern)
Yarn: Hometown USA in Seattle Sea Mist (66.4 Yards used)
Needle: 11
Size: adult-ish (may fit a child better)
Love: ♥♥♥ Only 3 out of 5 loves on this.

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

I thought it would be fun to try a different pattern so I gave this one a go. It turned out a little awkward in length for me. It's a little too long all the way down unless I have a ponytail on under the hat. Then it's perfect. It's too short if I roll the brim up. So yeah.  A little off.

The other thing I am not in love with is the decrease section. I thought the ribs would just thin out - but it ended up looking really sloppy. Not sure if that was my execution or the pattern. I followed the pattern exactly so I could see how it turned out, and I would make this again but modified. I would add length to the body and rim area so you could get a nice flip over, and I would change the decrease section so it looked smoother.

I think this is hat three for the charity box I am making. A LOOOOOONG way to go to get it filled up - but it's fun to do!

♦ That's my cat Izzi that made it into most of the photo's this time.♦

Azalea Hat

Project Name: Azalea Hat
Pattern Name: Erich's A&F Knockoff Hat

Yarn: 50 yards of Lion Brand Hometown USA Tweeds in Phoenix Azalea
Needle: US 15 (16" circ) for the body and US 13 Double Points for the last bit
Size: Adult
Love: ♥♥♥♥♥ Hard to donate this one - TOO Cute!

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

 

I know my blog is turning into a hat parade! But this pattern is really easy to knit in bed at night and since I am donating most of them to the Pine Ridge Reservation I feel like it's ok to hog up my blog with the same hat over and over. Also - It's about all I am knitting these days. All my other time is spent studying for the A+ certification and trying to figure out Ohm's Law and fun stuff like that. **Yawn**

This hat is so cute I had a hard time putting it in the donation box. It really tried to make it's way into my hat drawer! But I was firm and told it NO. I can't tell you how warm and wonderful this pattern is. Easy as pie, cheap yarn, and machine washable and dry-able. Love it!

What are you making there?

Project Name: What are you making there?
Pattern Name: Erich's A&F Knockoff Hat
Yarn: 50 yards of assorted scraps - mostly Hometown USA by Lion Brand - but some Thick &Quick from Lion Brand might also be in there.
Needle: US 15 for everything but the last two rows where I needed Double Points - US 13 there.
Size: Adult
Love: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts = Full of Love!

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

This is the first in what I hope will be a respectable sized pile of knit goods that I intend to mail to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation this winter.

I am really happy with how it turned out. While I was knitting it, my hubby leaned over and asked me "What are you making there?" in a manner that made me think he might be interested in having this hat. When it was finished he was excited - but after trying it on declared he "must just not be a hat person." LOL! So I can donate it knowing my hubby had his chance!

And yes - I have my new camera! So I can make with the clicking! YAY!

Can you handle the lockdown? HAT

 

Project Name: Can you handle the lockdown?

Pattern Name: Erich's A&F Knockoff Hat

Yarn: Lion Brand Hometown USA in Dallas Gray 50.2 yards (45.9m)
Needle: 15 & 13
Size: Fit's me head
Love: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts! Simple pattern and it looks good!

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.
 

A simple hat pattern out of some stash I had laying around. I saw Sassypants Knitter was collecting hats in honor of her Grandma who wants to collect 100 hats it give to the Homeless this winter. Wendy (Sassypants herself) is so awesome, and it seemed like the perfect thing that I knit this thinking I wanted it to be a charity hat, and then I saw on Ravelry that she is taking hats for donation.

This pattern is a breeze to work up and looks pretty fab if I do say so myself. I went through my leftovers last night and pulled out a bunch of left overs of this weight of yarn and think I will work up a bunch more charity hats. It's good to do a little charity knitting!

Oh - And the name comes from me knitting this up while watching Ghost Adventures on The Travel Channel.

BROaden

 

I recently finished a quick crochet scarf. I was working on it the night before my Birthday, and my brother called me to wish me a Happy B-day. The rest of the time I was working on it I thought of him, so it was only natural that I mail it off to him as a surprise hug from his little sister. 

(FYI - That is my cat in the lower corner of the photo by my hand. Can't take a picture without a critter getting into it one way or another!)

YARN: Lion Brand Hometown USA Tweeds - 2 Skeins.

HOOK: 10.00mm Size N hook

PATTERN: Improvised. I chained 13 and then did Extended Single Crochet until I used up both skeins. 

SIZE: 7" x 44"

LOVE: ♥♥♥♥ Pretty High. This is like wearing a teddy bear around your neck! 

Check out my snazzy new boots in the background. Love wearing boots! Especially when the snow isn't flying yet. I am pretty sure they are more about cute than warmth or keeping the feet dry. Had to have them though!

Charity knitting and hooking

This past winter I mailed off a box of hats and scarves I knit over the year to a charity in Wisconsin/Illinois (USA) area and I was pretty happy about doing it. I liked knitting up a bunch of items to go to people who needed them.

So now that I am getting hook happy I thought it might be good to practice my hooking and find another Charity than can use my handmade goods. I was really happy when I came across the little blip in Your Knitting Life Magazine (page 11) about the Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation. The web site for the Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation have a large list of knit/crochet/sew items they need and would really appreciate.

To that end I whipped out a quick scarf this morning when I couldn't sleep. (Just think how many scarves I could make with the amount of Insomnia I have!)

As usual I have no idea what stitch this is. It's the same one I am making my Fugly Blanket out of so it was easy to do. I used a massive crochet hook (11.50mm P) and used up two skeins of Hometown USA yarn. And yes - it's the same yarn as Emma's blanket. I bought extra thinking I would need it for my shawl. (insert snorts of laughter here.)

This scarf ended up being 68" x 5" before the fringe was added. (I miss putting fringe on a scarf! I never do it for my personal stuff anymore! It was fun!)

I really need to learn to speak and read crochet. I am just being lazy! I look at this and think Is that double crochet? That is DC right? Huh. When I google Double Crochet it looks a little like this, although it sounds like there is Double crochet through the front loop, double crochet through the back loop and double crochet through both loops - so are those all double crochet? How do you know what to do? And then I run screaming back to my knitting needles.

SO anyway, aside from my neurotic inner dialogs about the nature of crochet, I am pretty happy to have a Charity scarf knit up and am looking forward to making more!

Cedar and Spice and Everything Nice for Emma

I finished my Cedar and Spice and Everything Nice Shawl finally. As you can guess from the title of this entry and the pictures that follow, this turned into a dog blanket for my girl Emma.

Emma sleeps on a little sleigh bed that my hubby made, and it's right next to my side of the bed in the corner of the room. Every night she curls up under various little blankets and looks super cute. So I am actually happy to give her a hand knit blanket. Bonus that it matches the curtains and rugs. Double bonus that it's machine washable and dryable.

When I finished knitting it I tried it on and it just looked weird. And it's because the ends are not symmetrical. As you can see on the picture below, the edge on the left is really skinny and pointed - where as the edge on the other side is more of a gentle slope over a larger surface. I wanted to wear this with a shawl pin and thought I could hide this better with a pin and overlapping the fabric rather than the button method the author intended. (The button method would be too much for me. It would have been too tight on my neck and just felt icky.) So after trying several things and talking to the hubby about it we decided it would be better suited for the dog bed.

I really like the look of this as a blanket - and I think it you tripled the amount of stitches and knit it about twice as long you would have a really warm blanket that you could snuggle into on the couch. I am quite happy with this as an Emma Blanket. I think it classes up her little bed and I like the thought of her having a hand knit blanket to curl up in. The one I made I ended up using 4 skeins of Hometown USA in Tampa Spice.

If anyone wants to look at the pattern on Ravelry it is a free pattern by the wonderful Susan B. Anderson. She looks really cute in the one she made! The pattern is called Cedar Wrap and it can also be found on the Spud and Chloe Blog if you aren't on Ravelry.