last call

good grief, how is it that a month can pass so quickly?!

 i am knitting. and crocheting. regardless of the craft, i am still "making".  sometimes, i cannot post my progress online.

 but, since i don't want to "not share", i'll just send a text to mom and say, "don't open until EASTER".

 i am horrible at keeping secrets !!!

easter is upon us. and, i love holidays. i like all things we can look forward to ...

 

 including, ... bunnies.

these little guys are all crocheted. i thank my lucky stars that i knit AND crochet. i have so many options/choices.  some people have half as many choices as i.



this is not all of them. this is just a sampling. all those bunnies are crocheted from stash ... but then, i went to wally world one day, and found some other colorways i didn't have. those bunnies are currently "in transit".

i think my favorite bunnies are the ones made from the multi-colored yarns. they come out all nice & splotchy.


i just think they're "extra cute"....

oh, and lastly, before anyone asks ... yes, you can make these marshmallow peeps just before easter ... here is the link! 

all things green

... all things green, happy st. patrick's day!!!

ponies!

for christmas, stuart received a pony. a beautiful blue pony ... and lucy wanted one too. because, that's how sock monsters are ... they're just like kids. whatever the one has, the other wants. big time. WANTS. cries. pouts.

 this is lucy.

she ended up in stuart's stocking several years ago. she's sweet, and a constant companion, but still, she's a wee sock creature, with wee "feelings". including, "why does HE have a pony and i DON'T ?!" LOL!

so, grandma got busy crocheting pony #2.

 
both ponies are crocheted with this pattern. of course, the wee pony on the left (in red) had a crocheted flower around her neck. that's an "extra".

ps. she still knits socks !

are these NOT super cool ?!

these were actually quite a quick knit ... because i was so captured by the pattern unfolding.

it's called "rainbow socks". and it's knitted with short rows. i was so enthralled how a simple self striping yarn became so dynamic with short rows!

the yarn is kroy jacquard, in the colorway "meadow jaquard".

the short row method i used was a yarn over. no wrap & turn. also, i slipped the first stitch after the yarn over.

i love these. i love the pattern. i will knit it again.

lucky you!

 a good friend recently asked me, "where ARE you?!"

i'm here ... i've just been working on some "secret" projects for a swap i participated in. my swap partner was my mom. and she blog-stalks me!

so, i wasn't posting all these projects that were consuming so much of my knitting time.

but, i was home this past weekend, and we did our exchange. now, i can reveal.






this was inspired by my monster knitting group. the group is quite large, and sometimes, too big for my comfort when it comes to committing to a project, and mailing it, and most importantly, receiving it.

 mom and i talked about it, and she spontaneously said, "i'll be your partner!"

 LOL! she doesn't knit ! but, she does crochet, and that will be another post. so, i got busy.

the first guy i made was the little blue guy on the right side ... he's a rebecca danger pattern from her book. his name is "harold the house plant monster". i've made him before, and gave him away. but, this time, i made him with a hand dyed sock yarn (dyed by me, with wilton icing dye). the yarn is a super-wash fingering weight yarn. i've tried at least twice to knit this yarn into socks, but FAILED. failed. failed because the yarn and pattern combination was a poor choice, or failed because the pattern sucked.

the very lucky guy on the left is also from the same book, and is called "irving the icebox monster".

he's knitted with some vanna's choice yarns. he did not come from stash. i know, GASP! i spent some $ on some acrylic stuff. but, the colors were so perfect! in the book, he has a little round eye patch. for his "lucky" theme, i crocheted a little shamrock, and tacked down the edges with sewing thread.









so, these two little guys were the focus of our swap, but of course, i didn't stop there. i knitted a little owl puff, and crocheted a little nemo fish, stuffed a sewn bag with trail mix and candies, plus some pandora jewelry.

 i couldn't help it. it's mom. i'll post the "extra's" later.

where has the time gone?

i have been MOST unproductive. i've been working on all my little projects, some of which i can share, and some i won't until the recipient receives it/them.

i haven't finished too much either, since it's way more fun to start new things!

but, this is what i have finished ...



 1 christmas sock. yes, one sock. one very long sock, which uses up every bit of that ball of yarn, but still ...

i will cast on the mate at some point when i'm feeling the need for some mindless knitting. the parts between the toe and gusset are mindless, and then after joining back in the round, there's miles of leg to knit in twisted 1x1 ribbing!

the other sock on the right side of the screen is part of a pair.


 these are my "totem pole" socks. it is a published pattern, and the idea was to use leftovers, and change stitch patterns every time i changed yarns. i first thought these would be a piece of cake, ... oh, was i wrong!

 i decided to change the pattern. it's written for 66 stitches, but i decided i wanted to knit it with 64 stitches. so, that also changes which stitch patterns i can use, as they have to be a multiple of 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 32. and it's not that 66 has more factors, it just seems my stitch dictionaries had more choices (or better choices) for stitch patterns with the numbers of 2, 3, 6, and 11. go figure!

the other part that proved tricky, was finding compatible leftovers, and figuring out a color sequence. i didn't really want to have any repeats, but alas i did. i ended up using some of the colors more than once, but i did not repeat any of the stitch patterns. it was fun to try lots of different stitch patterns too ... i found some i'd like to probably use all over for an entire pair of socks.

knitting with leftovers is a trip down memory lane!

new year, new projects!

after stuart got his pony, and i got my pillows, and everyone got everything else (hello holidays!), i finally had some time to cast on a couple of things for myself ...

each new month of SKA means a new cast on, for a new challenge.

this month, i am seriously taking on the challenge. yes, i can knit socks, heck, i could probably knit a pair blindfolded. really.

but, that doesn't mean i've mastered all the techniques.




this sock is called "bulgarian blooms" ... it's from the book _sock knitting master class_. the sock is knitted toe up (eeks!) (lol!), and then when the flower portion is introduced, the flowers are knitted as intarsia-in-the-round. the technique is completely explained by the designer, priscilla gibson-roberts.

i'm anxious to start this part, and as you can see, i've chosen my colors. BUT, i'm going to probably wait 'til the weekend to introduce the colors. i just think i need some solid "me time" to try this thing out.

the black is the only "new" yarn (ie: from stash, but never knitted), and the other colors are leftovers. so, if you have a main color, this project will make a good stash buster.

the other pair i'm working on ...





is called linaria bipartita. this pattern is by hunter. oh, so beautiful! the yarn is dream in color "smooshy".

i haven't knitted so much on this, because i've been distracted with other socks ... but, it's such a keeper.

happy new year!