Pumpkin Spice and Rustling Leaves...

It's that time again: a time for cooler weather, burning wood, rustling leaves of every color, pumpkin spice latte, muffins, pies and even pumpkin cream cheese (Einstein Bagels). And more pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins. Once again, it's time for my annual "ode to the soothing season" kick-off of Fall.

Went to Michael's and couldn't help myself. I HAD to get my hands dirty with a hot glue gun and a wreath. Do you ever get those feelings? This was my first actual wreath (and I say that because the last one was a Christmas wreath that had knitted glitter balls, so it doesn't really count). Not too shabby, huh? Of course my eyes catch ways to improve, but I'm pretty proud of my little creation. So much that I went back to Micheal's to get materials for the Halloween one.

Yesterday, the boys and I had an amazing stroller ride. Picture this: Cool Fall-like breezes, turned leaves rustling, yellow ones falling all around you, light and dark stormy clouds and thunder in the distance. Ah...for the soul! Fortunately, we made it inside in time. It rained less than 2 minutes later.

I've been extremely busy lately resurrecting some Fall-like patterns of mine to sell this week (hopefully). I'm done with two of the three, and I only have one little section left to edit. These patterns were tweaked a little bit to be clearer and to have the same "KUAS Pattern" feel. I've also been busy getting my KUAS shop ready for a Craft Fair at my church in November. It seems like a long time away, but I don't want to be ripping my hair out 1 or 2 weeks before to knit up some booties, make more stitch markers and slap on price tags and labels onto everything. I plan on selling some items from this blog, like the "Modular Vest," the "Princess Shawl," "double looped scarves," "Sweet As Candy" baby sweater, etc, that I don't think I'll be depressed to part with. I'd be happy freeing up some room and making some money in the process. A girl's gotta feed her addiction to craft some how. I'm even selling yarn from my Etsy shop (back in the day) and yarn never released, like Twilight themed yarn.

Come back soon to see the re-release of three patterns: "August Rush Cap & Gloves," "Coiled Cables & Ribs Socks," "Creature From the Black Lagoon Socks!" The first couple of days will have a sale on them. 

Quick Fix: fanlight cord

I don't know about you, but if you're like us, you might have a high ceiling fan with an itsy bitsy cord and haven't done anything beyond pulling up a chair every time you want to change a light or fan setting. Well, today was the day I remedied that, crafter style. And it couldn't have been more "instant gratification" or easier...it's just a crochet chain! 

This project is so quick, you can whip one (or two) up in under 5 minutes and change it out as many times as you'd like. The silver wire is so light that you can barely see the chain at all, so choose your beads wisely. I like mine, even though this was the beta version, but I really just grabbed the first beads I found in my craft closet because one of the twins runs to climb in the sink or on top of the oven as soon as I am out of sight. And lo and behold, he was about to turn the faucet on as I was coming down. (But hey, maybe I'll just keep them. They've got some spunk.)

If you are wondering if it's durable enough to pull on from that height, it is surprisingly durable with a 28 gauge for being so "airy" or delicate looking. The crocheted chain should not break. At least not for a good long while. You also need to make sure you secure the tail well enough around the original ball-chain the light came with. However, if you still have concerns, you can always up the gauge to the next size, and maybe that's a good idea for anyone starting this project, but be forewarned that it will be a little harder to chain stitch.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
-10 yards or less of silver beading wire, 28 or 30 gauge.
-Crochet hook, size US I9 (5.50mm). 
-Decorative beads for the bottom of the chain. Amount, size, color depends on your taste. I find it handy to choose two different colors or styles to differentiate easily between the "light" and "fan" cords.

 

Click on "menu" to download the pattern via Acrobat.com

PATTERN DIRECTIONS:
String on your bead(s)onto your wire. About 3 inches from the end of the wire, create a loop by folding the wire and twisting it tight a couple of times (it should resemble a slip-knot). Begin chaining, sliding your bead(s) down by your hook and locking it into place with a chain stitch, and continue chaining your fanlight cord very uniformly (so it falls as straight as possible) until the desired length, when your hand can just reach up and pull on the bead to turn the light/fan on comfortably. Cut the wire, leaving a tail of 2-3 inches, secure a knot in the end of your crocheted wire chain and then secure that same end to the last, or second to last ball on the ceiling fanlight's original metal ball-cord. After wrapping your tail around the original cord several times, snip off the remaining tail. As for the tail by the bead(s), wrap it around the bead and cut the remains off. Straighten out the cord as best as you can, and test it out!

I've added this project to Ravelry, so add it to your queue or WIP if you are in the same situation as I was about that darn short ball-chain. The pattern can be downloaded from there as well. Let me know how it worked for you! This leaves a lot of room for your own embellishments and ideas. You can even create one for your shorter pull-string table lights. :)

The Last Remnants of Summer

This is an ode to the final days of summer. Although there are plenty of things to do when the heat hits, it was much too hot this year to enjoy. I am embracing this Fall much more than usual (which is normally a lot anyways).


These are pictures of late Spring, when things were in first bloom. Little did they know that they would endure such heat, and that the only water they would receive until these past couple of weeks were from my water hose.

My cherry tomatoes are still producing, but my beefier tomatoes have been ugly, insect infested, and I really have only eaten a couple of its fruit this whole summer.

My "Lazy Susan's" are pretty much dead now, and the leaves are turning spotty brown.

 I'm going to research how to dry and store some of my herbs, and see what I can do about bringing them indoors during the cold season. It's going to be a bit of a challenge with little curious hands around me.

 So let's fast-forward to this past week. My husband and I went to Apple Holler, an apple orchard, for breakfast (not successful for eating, thanks to Jake's temper). The boys enjoyed running around and seeing the goats.

It took me many minutes to capture this little guy on camera. He refused to stop running around the bridge.

We also went to the Renaissance Faire on Labor Day with their grandma & grandpa. It was the last day that they were open and so it was crowded and hard to navigate around with an XL stroller. I don't regret the choice though, what with the gravel and exposed tree roots; this stroller can take a beating of a dirt bike. It was hot and miserable until the very end of our visit when it finally started to cloud over. Any guesses on who threw a fit because he was sitting "too long?"

Lady Jester.

Grandpa and Jake

Jake, Sam

Grandma & Sam

Jake and Daddy. Jake, I'm not going to give you the camera...

Finally, here is what's on the needles besides the "Sashay Shawl" from the last post. It's not much, but I have been trying to work at it little by little so that I don't have to whip up two Halloween BSJ's in one month. It's about halfway done.

Happy Fall knitting,
Anna

Sashay Shawl

Startitis.
Oh my weakness, oh my joy.

I feel like they should write poems of such a sweet torment.

In my town, our Michael's is next to Home Depot. I was thinking about building a 25 dollar greenhouse from a tutorial online, only to find that they don't sell ANY seeds after the beginning of Summer. You have to plan that far in advance for a fall/winter garden. Bummer. I was hoping to grow lettuce and such this year. After my disappointment, I headed next door to browse the latest fibers, when I came across Red Heart's Sashay novelty yarn. I couldn't resist the charms of an idiot's shawl, or also known as a "let's see how quick we can whip up a project" type of shawl. What can I say...I saw promise from inches of manufactured lace.

The yarn came with a free pattern for a ruffled scarf. I'm not one for ruffles and fru-fru around my neck, so I was determined to make be more innovative with this yarn. I played around with it at first, and couldn't thinking of anything that would not make the yarn ruffle. I searched Ravelry to see if anyone came up with a unique project using this yarn, and lo-and-behold, I found a spiral shawl, "The Kelp Forest Shawlette."

I attempted this pattern several times in vain, until I realized that she used yarn very similar, but was from a different company. That meant that the lacy holes were probably spread wider, thus throwing my shawl more into a tube than necessary. Sorry, but I don't really need a 150 year-old-like-droopy-nipple thing hanging down the middle of my back. During my attempts, I figured that EZ knew what she was doing when she did round increases in the "Pi Shawl," and I attempted to deruffle as best as I could by skipping more "wide band" holes after every so many stitches bound off (ei. after 26 sts done, then 52 sts done, etc). You'll have to read into the pattern to know exactly what I'm talking about. The designer only tells you to bind off in the same "wide band" hole for the whole spiral.

It still needs to be worked on and blocked before looking in tip-top shape. You can look up my WIP project notes on Ravelry (I'm "knittyknitter." Friend-Me if you haven't already) in the meantime if for some reason you're smitten or intrigued and just HAVE to knit this up like I did. Otherwise, tune in later to my "FO" post of this on my blog to get my complete handy notes of the shawl (if you're using Sashay yarn rather than the recommended yarn).

Peace,
Mrs. Hopelessly Non-Monogamous.

Traded.

Ok, you'll have to kick me. I didn't end up finishing the skein I was spinning. I got real close. Just yards away from the plying phase. But a tempting set of books caught my attention:

The latest in the Maggie Sefton knitting mystery series. It sucked like the others...fluff atack! Like I've said before, the first two were great, and then that's were the charm ended. 

 

 I've found a series that I absolutely love, and I can't get enough on my Kindle Fire-the Jolie Wilkins series that's all about paranormal romance! It has the perfect blend of paranormal, romance, charm, wit and humor! If you're into that sort of thing, you must try the first one..you'll be hooked. And if you have a kindle, this series will cost you only a few bucks each! The first one is FREE! (You can buy a set of 3 for half the price too.)

 This author has only been writing seriously for 2 years and is pumping out books like water. Maybe even faster. She has two series out that already have 4 or more books! Wow!

The first book in the Jolie Wilkins series by H.P Mallory--awesome!

Just as great as the first!

(Surgery) Foot update: I'm on brace #2.  Eugh. At least this one is easier to put on and can be crammed easier into my shoe. My ankle has been giving me some trouble lately too, so this will be good for me. We are working on reducing the swelling around my incision so I can finish up healing. I'm already on a strong anti-inflammatory medication. So, that makes the phases: splint--surgical boot--brace #1--brace #2... Hopefully we will be done with these phases with my next visit in a week and a half.

Spin-capades

Ms. Elizabeth II,
         It's been too long since we've seen eachother. And not just several months long, but about a year. I've missed your touch, your soft purr as I push your "treadle." This was more than just a dry spell between us, it was a complete separation of affection...until this weekend. Somehow, after months of watching you from afar, I had that inkling to reconnect with you. Maybe it was me passing by a few too many [expensive] hand-spun booths at Stitches Midwest Saturday, or maybe you bat your shiny gleaming wood in the sunlight a few too many times for me to resist, or maybe even I have finally uncovered that new-found "drive" to make colorful wooly offsprings with you. You really were one for a good "spin."
       Either way, I'm so glad that we have "hooked" up again. I really have missed you. I'm going to keep reading up on how to keep our relationship close-knit. I haven't completely understood your anatomy, how to build-up or release your "tension" like a pro, but I will. Oh I will.

P.S, Let's sign a contract to make it official. I want to know your limits.
P.P.S, How do you like my "Yellow Room?"

Yours truly,
Mr. 50 Shades of Wooly Grey
CEO founder of "stay away from me if you know what's good for you" company.

 
Alright, alright. You caught me. This was getting a little too weird anyways. Maybe us knitters should have our own hybrid genre going here.  After reading 50 Shades of Messed Up Awful, I'm back to reading the newest release from my Knitting Mystery Series while also spinning. And not reading an over-rated bestseller (with horrific writing) about weirdos with mess-up "hobbies."

But really though, I did miss spinning, especially after going to Stitches Midwest. I couldn't believe how the prices of roving has gone up. I was looking at my stash, and it seemed that I was paying around 10 dollars or so per 4 oz., and it seemed like everything was 25 dollars Saturday for 4-8 oz.

The fact is that I do have woolies to spin. Lots of it. Merino, alpaca, bamboo...
But I needed some sort of colorway to be plied with that nice pink fiber that I finished spinning this weekend. (The fiber that has been sitting on my bobbin for like a year. Shhhh....)

I didn't end up finding that perfect colorway. However, I did have a screaming toddler (just one of the two, the other was finishing his nap in the car with the hubby) that made me almost run through the aisles while browsing, and I wasn't willing to fork up half a gold-piece, so I let it be. I'll be a good girl and spin up that wooly mass underneath the black/blue roving in the photo. Who am I kidding, it should work out perfectly.

Must. Stop. Spending. Unnecessarily.






 Now I don't feel bad about purchasing those two pretty skeins of "Three Irish Girls" yarn and WIP tubes. OK, I have plenty of sock yarn, but the tubes were a must!

I've also been working on the ply-mate for my blue yarn that I started spinning before the pink fiber. The mate has been sitting patiently on the lazy-kate. That was before I lived in this house (2 years), before the kids, before our apartment that we lived in for a year...um. Sick. (Call the Wheel Police.) That was before I got married almost 3 years ago! Eeek. The one you see is a whole new bobbin that I started two days ago. It seems to be the same size (fingering weight). I look forward to finishing it up so I can have something tangible to hold in my hands! Kick me if I don't finish it this week. Really, I mean it.

Walter

We met under unfortunate circumstances, my uncle-in-law's funeral (this little boy's grandpa), but I got to take a quick snap of 2 week old Walter in his "Puerperium Cardigan" at a pizza joint the night before. I'm glad the cutie has a bit of filling out to do, which means that it should fit perfectly this Fall.

What's even better was that I was told that he HATES to be cold. Even in the summer. A knitter's delight to hear after knitting him up a sweater...

Writing.

This afternoon, I've taken every spare second that I could get my hands on while my parents and husband were playing with the boys to write three full pages to the "Hooded Honeycomb Jacket." Although I only have size 12 month down to the part where I haven't finished completing (the actual sleeves), the bones are there and I am joyous at the fact that my notes, that were spread about the house like the seven wonders of the world, were each located and reassembled so I could write this pattern up. I'm going in overly ambitious with the intention to write 5 sizes: 3mo., 6mo., 12mo., 24mo.(2T), and 3T.

I am going by the standard waist/hip fitting measurements for babies & toddlers, which tell me that my  20 month old boys, who are preemie, are really around a size 12 month body. The thought that my kids are that behind in bulk is kind of scary. They are healthy though. Skinny, but healthy.

It's going to be a slow, but exciting process for this whole ebook thing. I'm still in brain-storming & designing mode for other tid-bits for babies & toddlers that are quickie knits, like: mittens, socks, hats, etc. I'll let you know when I figure out what exactly will be in this book.

Lost & Found WIP

I've been using a different camera out of convenience for so long that I didn't realize, until I uploaded a few recent photos, that this cardigan was still on the camera's memory disk. These were edited already and destroyed along with everything on my laptop before I could post them. So here is the (WIP) hooded "Honeycomb Cardigan" for a toddler that I designed a while back (and hibernated) after working half of the hood. {"Startitis" at it's finest.} Well, I shouldn't say that. The reason why I stopped working with a vigor is because I started catching on that the colorway was too feminine for my two boys. There goes my whole anti-procrastination thing for this Fall. I thought it would be more "Rainbow-y." You know how those hidden colors in the ball have a way of luring & playing you for a fool. I had no idea it would stripe evenly, and my lack-there-of instincts thought that the purple and pink would be more minute and scarce. Maybe it's the hidden woe in me that I probably will never mother a daughter. :((  Oh well. It's still good for design.

Even though there are cables everywhere, the technique is cable-less. I was going to do a tutorial on that to compliment the pattern. I guess If I ever want to compile this theoretical "baby & toddler" ebook one day, I'll finish her up.

In the meantime, I do have an actual sweater clicking about the needles right now that does have purple in it, but you'll see why it's "okay." 

The photos are actually a little more "earthy" in real life, and not quite as vibrant.

FO: Ribbed Toddler Socks

The ribbed toddler socks have been completed. The second pair was sitting in a basket for a while, knit up to the gusset before I stopped.

This was intended to be the first a few sets of "toddler socks" that I hoped would one day be an e-book of toddler knits. This was going to be the easiest (well, besides pure stockinette stitch). 

Pattern: Toddler Knits: 2 year old Socks (KUAS)
Yarn: fingering weight yarn from an unknown brand of hand-dyed yarn.
Needles: size US2 dpns, set of 5.

Hey, Mom! Look at my neat kicks.

 My little models remind me of the Olsen twins when they were young toddler actresses. Except, mine are fraternal. While one was camera-shy or misbehaved, the other got the spot in the camera light.

Hey, you're taking photos of me!! let me take these off for 'ya so you can get a good shot! 

 Don't you wish you were that flexible still?














Because my twins are a few months away from being two, I made sure the socks are a bit larger, so they don't outgrow them for a while. By the time they need them, they should fit perfectly.

 

Free-form pattern: Elaine

Pattern: "Elaine" (the Stitch Novice original)
Start date: 7/9/12
Completion: 7/9/12
Yardage: 3/4 yd

Read more of my adventures of this quickie tank at the Stitch Novice blog!

Happy Independence Day!

A Happy Fourth of July to you all! Wishing us all the joys of freedom in this great country!


This is an oldie, but in the spirit of the day, here is the "Let Freedom Ring Hanging Towel" pattern from 2009. Happy knitting & celebrating.

DIY: Bead & Wire Toy Tutorial

Hey knitters,
Here's a fun & quick DIY product for those of you who are more adventurous when it comes to knitting baby/toddler toys. If you're sick of knitting clothing and stuffies, try this out.

Bead & Wire Toy Tutorial:

Note: this project isn't rocket science...the wire gauge, wood size, beads, etc. are all relative to what yarn thickness you use, and how durable you want to make this toy. Mine isn't too extremely durable, it was more a trial version, so keep that in mind when picking out your materials...you'll probably want thicker wire, bigger beads, etc.

Materials:

 -leftover sock yarn (fingering weight), 20 yds or less for each wire puzzle. The more colors, the more stimulating.
-Wire: the thicker, the better. Just make sure you can bend it. You can find it in the beading section of a craft store.
- Beads. Make sure it is a lot bigger than the wire. It should slide easily around the i-cord that you knit around the wire. (The bigger the better.) The amount is based on how many puzzles you do, and how many you want per puzzle. I did about 4 each.
-Wood base: this depends on how big you want your toy. Just make sure it's not too flimbsy. You'll want the base to be at least 1 inch thick.
-Power drill: I used a 1/4'' drill-bit for my medium-thick wire. The bit you need depends on the size of the wire.
-Ducktape
-2 Dpns: size 4's seems to work out well.
-Darning needle.

Directions:

1. Cut the wire the size you would like the "puzzle" (each i-cord activity) size to be, adding about 6-8 inches extra for "binding off and threading through the wood holes" allowance. If you want, you don't really have to cut the wire yet, but it makes for a more difficult knitting experience.

2. Cast on 3-4 stitches (depending on how thick your wire is. I casted on 3, but my wire wasn't too incredibly thick) and knit an i-cord around the wire for your desired length. Make sure you leave a tail of a few inches on each end of the wire. If you've never done this, you can watch THIS tutorial on knitted earphones (essentially the same thing as wire), or google tutorials on i-cords if you haven't done that either!

3. Once you're done, BO and secure the wire in the bind-off edge. i just wrapped the wire through that last stitch a couple of times. Weave your dangling threads through the i-cord.

-OPTIONAL: you can stain the wood something darker if you want...but I didn't because who knows if my toddlers find that wood tasty!

4. Figure out what shape you want your puzzles to be, and draw dots on your wooden board to mark where you will drill.

5. Drill holes. 

6. Thread your beads onto the i-cords.

7. Do the bulk of your puzzle-shaping now, or forever hold your peace.

8. Thread the wire through the holes, and bend the wire so it's laying flush against the base of the wood.

9. Duck tape the entire bottom of the toy a few times so that everything is secure. Smooth it out so that the little ones don't pick at it.

10. Finish shaping the puzzles if they were bend out of shape in the process of doing #9.

Enjoy! Let me know if you end of making it. I'd love to see photos.

 P.S- I finished another dress! Check out my latest Dress on my sewing blog. Another success!