I've Moved!

I've taken the leap and moved my little blog over to nutmegknitter.wordpress.com.
If you're still reading blogs, I'd love for you to see what I've been up to!

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week IV - 2013!

I am very excited that eskimimi is leading the charge on this again. I am planning on participating this week and I hope you do the same! I enjoy discovering new blogs & crafty friends!

Are you ready?

Yarn Along / WIP Wednesday - For the kids edition

Truth: It's been a decent week for starting projects. I am super pleased at how a few of them are progressing, so that's good. I am not so pleased with how a finger on my hook holding hand tends to cramp up / lock straight when I crochet an awful lot. Has this happened to you? I hold my hook in my left hand, not always like a knife and not always like a pencil, but frequently my ring finger will be bothered.  Obviously it is not keeping me from the craft!

Two books arrived last week: Topsy Turvy: Inside-Out Knit Toys by Susan B. Anderson and Amigurumi Two by Ana Paula Rimoli.  They are adorable and I have already queued up several patterns; I even have perfect yarns to use right away! We've been reading Little House in the Big Woods with Lorelai at night, which I am really excited about. We were using my copy from when I was a kid, the one that came in the yellow box set - did you have that? Well, it is a well-loved, well-read copy, with many yellowed pages and a broken spine.  Last night the book split in several parts and I need to tape it back together. We have ordered her her own copy! It is so different to read that book now as a grown up and just think about all the work that went into just staying alive out in the Big Woods. Pa caught a bear, YAY - food! But then, woah - all the prep! Spend all day making butter? Amazing.

I have slowed down on my Morning Coffee, due only to my own distractions.  I am on the cable detail at the cuff of the first sleeve.  I've crocheted half a pair of baby sandals for a gift, started a cactus for a swap, gotten the body of the second slug ready for the eyeballs to be attached, and I've been tackling the Springtime Sampler. I'm only showing the sampler here with the books because it's just a bit too much to gather everything up right now!


It's April vacation this week, so in addition to my usual struggles with distractions, both kiddos are running wild.  Yesterday, L came over to me and said "Mom, I think there's a beaver in our yard."  Ummmm, I don't think so kiddo.  "But Moooom, it's still there!".  What do you know? She was right - almost! Apparently a groundhog has moved in under a gazebo in our backyard!  He's probably the size of Jackson, and Jackson wanted to go after him!

 

Make More Light.

My heart goes out to Boston. New England may be 6 states big, but it all feels like a small town. What do we do while our hearts are heavy? Make an appointment to give blood.  Look to the helpers. And this:

So yesterday, we started our seeds. There's hope there.

FO Friday - a peek

Oh the cuteness, I can barely stand it! Last night at SnB I practiced my crochet skills on this wee little baby toy.  It's adorable, and was quick and easy to make, but I'm not 100% happy with it - maybe only 98%! I will be adjusting a few things when I make it again - hook size & stuffing most notably. Working on this and the arrival of two books, that I'll share next Yarn Along, has given me such a boost that I want to start All. The. Things. And you already know about my issues with startitis.  For now, I am letting ideas simmer as I carefully consider the yarn choices and get those other projects done! I am ready to work the cuff on first sleeve of my sweater, so yay! Here's to a crafty weekend!

WIP Wednesday - a bit of everything

Instagram has captured what I have worked on this week.  I finally cleared out my garden beds. After a not-so-successful garden last year (the weeds won), I left everything there over the winter. I figure it gives a little bit back to the soil. This year, with the sole exception of green beans, we're going to try and have a flower garden. This will give the soil a break from our usual attempts of general vegetables. Our house came landscaped, which is great and all, but I miss seeing the blooms.  Hopefully this will also attract butterflies!


The body of my Morning Coffee sweater is done and I love it! I have started a sleeve and it is slowly but surely moving along.  Speaking of coffee, I tried a coffee "recipe" I saw online - this particular blogger raved about coffee + coconut milk + cocoa powder, so I gave it a try. And I will not be doing that again - ugh! I will stick with my cream and sugar.



The weather has taken such a nice turn over the last week or so, we've been getting outside just about every day! Yesterday I was so tired at the end I didn't even want to pick up my knitting, or crochet! Shocking! Thankfully I have another craft in the works. I think I mentioned being bit by the cross stitch bug - I have the Woodland Sampler and the Springtime Sampler, both from the Frosted Pumpkin. I am behind on both, and I am not fast at it, but I really enjoy it. One little stitch at a time.

I haven't been reading much, a few fluff magazines is about it, but I am expecting a few books to arrive soon to help with my toy box project! I also really need to get moving on a few custom-request items, so hopefully I will have some fun to show on Friday!

Quarter 1 - Review

At work we do a quarterly review of statistics for our clients and I thought maybe it seemed like a good idea to check in on my self-imposed Resolutions & Intentions.

1. Knit / Crochet at least 13 skeins that have been stashed before 1/1/12 (inspired by the Use It or Lose It thread in the Stash & Burn podcast group) : I've used many partials thanks to fingerless mitts and amigurumis; at this point I've used up 2 skeins: Princess Slug used 1, Sweet Fern Mitts used 1.

2. Knit / Crochet at least 13 items queued before 1/1/12: I have learned that when I start a project, I need to make a note about when I queued it! I am positive that the Sweet Fern Mitts and the Nathair Mitts were queued before 2012, so that's 2.

3. Knit / Crochet at least 13 items as samples / knit-for-hire: 1 for Plymouth, 1 Miss Adler crochet cowl, 2 slugs have been requested by a friend, 3 tiny owls have been requested by another, so that's 7 things.

4. Knit / Crochet at least 13 hats for PatPatsHats: I have 1 done. 

5. Pie in the sky - can I knit / crochet at least 13 new-to-me techniques? (Socks) Sweet Tomato Heel, unusual construction, stripes, 2-at-a-time / Colorwork / Adding shaping / my own design of something? I've started the second Carousel sock, so that's 1 for unique construction.  I'm not modifying the pattern of my Morning Coffee, but I have taken the "Knit to Flatter" class on Craftsy and am considering how to do shaping on my "next favorite sweater", as Amy Herzog would say!

I think I'm doing ok. There's still work to be done and much of the year to go!

WIP Wednesday - Ombre Coffee

I've been really pushing myself on my Morning Coffee sweater. I would like to be able to wear it a few times before fall! The body needs one more inch or so and then several inches of ribbing. I should be able to start the sleeves next week! Except for the first skein which was used to knit most of the yoke, I have been alternating skeins. You can see there is a slight ombre effect going on here, but I'm ok with it. I have added what feels like 2398754 more things to my mental queue - the beginning of the month is always like that, but this month we have the added excitement of my baby (19 months now!) being awake a lot more when I need to get work done! Also, I am going to be an aunt this summer! My niece is due to arrive in August sometime! I am very excited and I've coordinated with my SIL (who is not just a knitter but the daughter of a knitter too) with special-request items.  Lucky for my blog readers, I am sure to have multiple projects going so I won't have to just show teaser pictures between now and then!

Too much stuff - Yarn Along & WIP Wednesday

Let's just sum up by saying I have a lot of stuff. I have a lot of projects going on, I have to keep track of a lot of details for my work, my home & family. I may be reaching a tipping point.  Today I started the washing machine and left the top open; luckily once it's filled and bubbly it doesn't continue on with the cycle unless the top is down! Later, when I went back to move things along I opened the machine to find it completely empty.  I didn't bother to actually put the clothes into the machine! This week I've worked on 2 cross stitch projects, my Morning Coffee Sweater, my Carousel sock, a slug and a secret project. I have a really hard time doing one thing at a time. I feel bored and antsy if I do not have a choice of projects. Some nights I need plain stockinette or garter stitch, other times when I have a moment to work stitches I want to tackle a cable or two.  I started reading "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" by Agatha Christie.  I've been a long time fan of her mysteries and this one, somehow, I had not read before. I thought it was going to take me longer as the typeface on each page is tiny, but I am already a third of the way through the book.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to try and salvage what's left of this afternoon and my to-do list, with two little ones adding to the chaos!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! It has been a very low key weekend here in this nutmeg.  My husband and daughter went to visit some friends and their kids, then stayed overnight, so it's just been Nate & I.  Mostly peaceful, more quiet than usual, it's nice.  I had big dreams of getting so much done (start spring cleaning, weed out the clutter, maybe get a head on my work, back stuff up, figure out my email issue, etc etc, the usual). It's only for 24 hours, but I have big dreams and when I read the Yarn Harlot's post, I just sat here and nodded! Anyway, I stitched a bit on the Woodland Sampler (I'm behind) and on the Spring Sampler (almost have one frame done) and knit on my Morning Coffee. I enjoyed a Guinness & corned beef sandwich from the local food center for dinner and decided to try to make my mom's Irish Bread.  I am very pleased with the result, even Nate seemed to really like it.  It's not the same, but it'll do.
   

FO Friday - Mitts & a Monster

I am in love with these mitts! This was my first Malabrigo March project, the Nathair Mitts, in Malabrigo Rios, the Solis colorway.  The cable was fun to work and though it did require my attention, I was able to work on these while watching TV and at knitting night without any mistakes! The yarn is butter soft and squishy and I will be on the hunt for more.  I only used 40grams to make the pair, so I have a decent amount leftover. Maybe I'll make a cowl and finally have a matching set of accessories!

This is overdue. This is a Mixtro monster (yes, another FreshStitches design!) that I made with stash-busting acrylic for the 600 Monsters group.  I finally got the right size eyes and stitched him up, and have sent him on his way. He probably won't end up with the original 600 in Newtown, but that's ok - the group promised to find homes for the additional monsters with kids have been through a tragedy or trauma and need a helpful monster to hug. 

Here's to a great weekend - it's been a bit of "one of those" weeks!

WIP Wednesday (Post #1001!)

I noticed when I logged in this morning that this is post #1001! Keeping things moving, here is what I have been working on this week. I started a pair of Carousel socks. They have been on my mind for a while and they qualify for a Ravelry sock group's March challenge of "Unusual Construction".  So far, I am really enjoying working on this. The small section of stockinette seems to move along quickly. On a few rows I have tried knitting backwards and it worked, but I don't know that doing that saves me any time (and I don't mind purling). A good friend has commissioned two large slugs for her friend's children after seeing the "Princess Slug" I made for Lorelai, so you can see the eyeballs and antennae of the first one in the middle. I am just about halfway through the second Malabrigo mitt and I am still loving it.  As much as I am looking forward to spring I am glad that I will be able to have these done and put them to good use sooner rather than later.  

I've been reading a bit here and there. Still working through "Case Histories" and I've been reviewing the material from the latest Craftsy class I've enrolled in, Knit to Flatter. As with my StitchFix experiment, I really want to make sweaters for me that fit and look right. I'm expecting to cast on a new sweater tomorrow, Morning Coffee, as part of a KAL - I think I might be making a few modifications given what I have learned in the craftsy class.  Or, maybe not just yet as I'm still processing all the information. What are you reading and working on?

StitchFix Experiment

(this post has nothing to do with knitting!)
I have been thinking about my wardrobe quite a bit lately.  I am getting annoyed with much of it. I am tired of everything in my closet.  There is a lot that doesn't fit, since I have had my kids and as I work from home, I haven't needed to update much of it.  I have picked up a few things here and there, but I know I am not always the most fashionable and, honestly, I don't really like clothes shopping. It takes more time and effort than I am willing to put in and in the end usually costs more than I want.  When I heard about StitchFix, I had to give it a shot.


StitchFix is an online service where you answer several style preference and sizing questions. There is a $20 service fee for StitchFix to gather a box of 5 options for you of a variety of pieces. Once you receive the box you have 3 days to try on the items and decide if you want to keep them or send them back (and the $20 is credited toward your purchase).  My first box arrived today (a day earlier than expected) and it proved to be quite interesting.  What did I get? 2 shirts, 2 tanks and a pair of earrings.  What's going back? Everything except one of the tanks. 

These were items I would never pick out on my own. Each of the clothing items comes with a little "How to style this" card - suggestions to pair it with a skirt or jeans or whatever.  That's really helpful! The earrings are very cute but between my hair and little grabby kids, I avoid the dangles.  The green tank I thought did nothing for me - this one I was least impressed with.  The longer sleeved shirt had a cute print on it (cars, nuts and bolts) but I wasn't crazy about the material.  I felt like those first two and the green chiffony shirt were more maternity style! So yeah, I am passing on those. I like comfort, but not the billowy-loose stuff. It has taken me years to get comfortable with clothing that fits!  The grey tank with the leaves down the front I liked right away - comfortable fabric, I thought it looked ok when it was on as well.  The price was not outrageous - maybe a bit more than I would usually spend, but not out of range of say, the Gap or J.Crew. 

Will I request another StitchFix? Yes - I liked the element of surprise in having someone else select items for me. I did fill out their survey to provide my feedback on each of the pieces, so I hope that future boxes would have more items I love.  You can sign up for a monthly box or as you need "a fix".  If you think you might give it a try, here's a link (and yes, if you sign up and get a box, I'll get a credit.)

A cowl, an owl and cables! FO Friday!

It's been a good week! This cowl was my first crochet test project! Crystal wore hers a few weeks back to our knitting group and I was absolutely taken with it. I was rather forward in telling her that I was very interested in the pattern - I am feeling a lot more comfortable with a crochet hook and really enjoy the process. Crocheting makes me feel like I am using my brain in a different way, if that makes sense, probably because I still need to stop and think frequently, unlike knitting (usually!). Anyway, the Miss Adler pattern is wonderful for a beginner like me. Once I got through the first set of rows I was flying. Crystal has a great knack for explaining the details and her style is very clear. I can also vouch for her dedication to a pattern - I have seen her work through designs to be published at our knitting group and she doesn't do anything half-way. She is having a trunk show this weekend and I am really looking forward to checking it out! I used Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend for my version in the Wildflowers colorway. So many lovely colors poking through, very appropriate for spring. I did dip into a second skein, and as my gauge is different, my cowl is bigger, so I will probably wear it folded over as you can see in my Ravelry notebook.

Continuing with the crochet theme, this is Nel, the tiny owl, that I made for a swap on Ravelry.  He is another Fresh Stitches design and a lot of fun to make. I used Cotton Classic from the stash, and he turned out to be around 5 inches tall.  I hope he is loved when he gets to his destination!

And finally, the Sweet Fern Mitts, from The Knitter's Book of Wool.  These are also for a swap and I am very sad to see them go, but I will certainly make myself a pair.  They are just snug enough, and I made them with less than one skein of Berroco's Blackstone Tweed. I struggled for a while with that yarn, trying to decide what to make with the lonely skein, but I would seek it out again - I loved working with it.

Have a great weekend!

WIP Wednesday

I have had a lengthy love affair with Malabrigo. I think it was one of the first "nice" yarns I bought myself in my early knitting days. Over the years I have stashed it, admired it, coveted it, and yes, knit with it. Lately though I have just let it simmer in my stash. I decided to join in a few Malabrigo March KALs and doing so has truly rekindled my affection for this yarn. Here I am using Malabrigo Rios to make a pair of Nathair Mitts in the Solis colorway. These are for me and I can't wait to finish them. The first mitt is done and ready for a thumb! This week I have finished a cowl that I hope to share with you tomorrow, and two items for swaps have gone out in the mail, so I'll share those on Friday.  Mentally I'm queuing myself up for a few more KALs which I hope is not jinxing it for me. I am hoping to follow through and participate in the March sock knitter's anonymous challenge by making Carousel socks, the Flame KAL in the Crafty Diversions group, and the Morning Coffee KAL starts next week. I have swatched for that one and am itching to get started! How about you?

Happy Feet - a FO post

One of the items I finished last week was a pair of Yoga Socks for me! At last year's Rhinebeck, I found a great little kit at Solitude Wool. I really enjoyed their booth for the options of breed-specific yarns and the range of colors. The Yoga Socks kit contained two coordinating yarns for the cuff and body using Suffolk/Dorset boot sock yarn. I cast on and worked on these while at a Christine Lavin concert in December and finally finished them up!

Did you know Christine is a crocheter? Pretty cool! She was certainly taken with my magic looping when I asked to take a photo with her. (Apologies to Christine, not the best shot of you!) I am really glad to have these, especially with the tease of spring around the corner - I'm looking forward to wearing my slipper flip-flops and painting my toes. These will allow my feet to stay warm but not overheat! I've also learned I am not a foot model and feet already bother me enough - they are so tricky to photograph!

Stacked. Yarn Along - Feb. 27

This week I worked on five different projects! Two are finished - one of which will have a post of its own and the other was the green sample sweater that was mailed home.  On top of the books I have a cabled figerless mitt, a blanket and a crochet cowl (I'm trying out the Miss Adler design). And as you can see, I have yarn wound and ready to start several new projects as well.  In the stack of yarn cakes there is a skein of Malabrigo Rios ready for a Malabrigo March project, a skein of Good Karma Farm yarn ready for swatching for the Morning Joe KAL, and a skein of yarn my parents bought for me in Chile when they were visiting my brother & his girlfriend.  The Chile yarn does not have a project yet, but it's been at my desk waiting for inspiration to strike.  I believe it is 100% wool, fingering weight (though I'm not sure), and I have ~90g.  In my search for a project, I've also been accumulating other patterns that I am just itching to start - for me, for others, for babies due this year!


Reading wise, I'm halfway through Case Histories and still enjoying it! I have also been reading a chapter of Nancy Clancy: Super Sleuth with the Lorax each night.  We are big Fancy Nancy fans and I thought that this might be a good next step for us, but I think it might be a little too "old" for my girl.  I think a lot of it goes over her head - and there's not much of the "that's a fancy word for..." like in the Fancy Nancy books.  A book is a book.  I have a stack of crochet books from the library as well as Knit Local and I am enjoying them enough to consider buying them at some point in the future. 

And how about you? 

FO Friday

Last weekend I finished knitting my Fumior arm-warmers and I seamed them up while waiting on my computer to resolve some issues.  I love this yarn, Manos Maxima; the colorway Prince, and the pattern. For my actual FO there is a little love lost.  I blocked them to make the seaming easier and it grew more than I expected (my own fault, I didn't bother to swatch first!). I also managed to misread the directions, so one arm-warmer has ribbing at the finger side and the other does not.  I am a better knitter than that! I'm choosing to keep that design element as a reminder to read the directions!The Lorax helped to take these photos - it is quite tricky to take a self portrait of arm-warmers.The color is more accurate in the second photo, and you can see they are true arm-warmers. 

I also worked up another amigurumi friend for a swap package. This little guy is on his way to my downstream swap pal, I hope she likes him.  He is another Fresh Stitches pattern, Nasser the Baby Penguin. I have plans to do finish up another Fresh Stitches pattern over the weekend, for another swap; this has been a great way to really push me to try a few new techniques.  The whole reason I wanted to learn how to crochet was to make the amigurumi creatures! I'm looking at my stash with fresh eyes now. Much of my leftovers and acrylic is great for these fun friends!

 Linking up to fo fridays!

Yarn Along - February 20

I finished reading "The Kitchen Help" over the weekend. I decided to pick up Case Histories for my next read. So far I am finding it interesting and am curious to see where it goes. Right now a lot of my knitting is not for show. The green stripey blob in the picture is a sample knit that just needs one more piece to be complete. The white garter stitch blob is a new project in progress that I can't share much about right now. I finished two projects recently, but I am going to save those for a post on Friday.

Blah blah blah. What a boring blog post; that's the state of things right now. Between the snow storm last week, school vacation this week, little projects not getting done, mistakes being made on others, I feel like I can't win. Do you have those weeks?

Still digging out, now with more amigurumis!

On Monday, I looked out the window to see this. A pay loader on our street to clear a path down the street.  It then got stuck at the top of our street and had to be rescued by a plow. Crazy. My husband and I worked in shifts and made steady progress to clear our driveway. Yesterday, his brother came over to help with the rest. It's clear enough to get one car in / out, but it's tight. I'm hoping that our usual plow guy can come by and help widen things a bit. And maybe clear whatever we're forecast to get tonight.


Good thing we cleared it, as our mailbox is still inaccessible. The mail-person had some guts and drove their truck down our driveway to deliver the mail. There was not much considering we haven't gotten mail since Friday! There was a swap box for me - I received an adorable baby unicorn & an "OctoPaul" & "OctoPolly" for my little ones! As soon as I started to open the box, Lorelai piped up, "Can I have that?".  They are adorable! Thank you very much to Cindy, my swap pal!

After I finished my slug, Lorelai requested a princess one.  A bit of stash diving and voila! Princess, the tiara-less, slug! I used one skein of bulky for the body and double up on other stash yarn for the eyes, foot & antennae.  It's maybe 6 inches tall and 10 inches long! I left it outside her bedroom door last night to surprise her.  Success! 

Bug Eyed & Sluggish

The Blizzard of 2013 has come and gone but we're going to be dealing with this mess for a while. We measured 26" outside our front door, and CT effectively shut down this weekend. My husband and I worked shoveling our driveway yesterday and today and we're maybe 1/3 of the way done. We haven't seen a plow truck since 4pm Saturday and that was on the next road over - our road has not been touched. It's going to be several days until we can get out of here. I've never seen this much snow come from one event  and there's no place to put it! It is very pretty and very striking. These once in a lifetime events seem to be happening more often!  On the plus side we have power and we are ok with food and stuff. I've been working on my sample sweater for Plymouth, have started my second Fumior, and have wound yarn for swatching.

I've also tried to give my wrists a break by crocheting - they are sore from shoveling and crochet doesn't seem to add to the ache. I worked up this chill slug, fulfilling my participation in the Fresh Stitches Slug-A-long. He was very quick and fun to make - the Fresh Stitches patterns are very well written, and the blog posts were really helpful - I found the post about crocheting antennae particularly helpful! I'm naming him Nemo in honor of the storm.  I've had a request to make a princess one next. When asked for more details that means a tiara & ribbons. I'm hoping a pink and purple version will satisfy.