Of the Knitting Persuasion

So this is a bit sad, but proves how crazy my life is right now.  This post is the one I wrote last week.  Just never got the pictures up.  2 Weeks ago, my husband got the official paper copy of his orders, so last week our move date was scheduled.  Guess when that day is?  Next week!  Official chaos time.  So much to do.  Not only to prepare for movers, but to prepare for the 2 weeks my kiddo and I will be spending in the house without any "stuff".  And then there is close to a week of traveling.  Then you know, there is that small thing to do about when we get there....making sure we have a place to live!  So yeah, I've been busy.  Luckily I think the "place to live" is all taken care of.  Oh yeah....and 2 visitors in the next week.  So, this is Army life for you.  You don't always get 4 or 5 months to prepare for PCS.


So long since I've shared for an FO Friday post - at least that of the knitting persuasion.  A few things to share.  #1 - I'm done with the Armchair Travel KAL.  But there is still time!  The KAL goes till Sept 2, so please pop over and join us!!  Maria is giving away some great prizes for it!  I started out knitting a hat but low and behold not enough yardage (even though I should have.  hmph!) so I started and finished the Clara Cowl.  I was a bit confused with this one at the beginning, but kept on working along and boy is it a clever knit!  The way the cabling turns it into a reversible braid is so adorable.  Turned out cute as a button.  It's such a nice quick knit I think I could knit more.

#2 - Finished my Follow Your Arrow shawl a few weeks back, and blocked it.  But put it into my closet without weaving in the ends.  So today's task - weave in ends and take picture!

New Endeavor

It all started when the girl next door came to babysit.  She asked if my daughter had Barbies they could play with.  Well, honestly I had never even thought to buy her a Barbie.  And I think she's at the right age to start.  Not everyone is a "Barbie person" but she was one of the only dolls I played with growing up and definitely the one who's memories are still picture perfect in my head.  I loved playing with them.

So of course the next time I went out, I bought her a Barbie.  Just a cheap "swimsuit" one to see how well Miss A played with her, or even if she showed any interest.  Well that Barbie rarely leaves her side.  She went in the bath, pool and bed with her.  But I felt like her "clothes" really should cover a bit more and decided I needed to make some Barbie clothes.  Found some patterns on Pinterest and it all started from there.

I am obsessed with making Barbie clothes now.  They are so cute.  So simple.  So fast.  And, they take up all my scraps!!  And really, don't they make her look a lot more classy?  I've decided to continue making them.  Again and again.  And sell them.  I'm finally at the point, after years of people telling me to, that I'm making an Etsy shop. I plan to sell Barbie clothes, but also other small accessories.  Maybe handspun yarn, maybe some dyed yarn.  And definitely some shawls.  I have a problem knitting shawls I never want to wear.

Then the hard part came.  Coming up with a name.  Something not too specific as far as craft.  So ideas are Annabug Alley, Annabug Lane or Sew Lovely.  Please share any suggestions, or opinions!!  I would appreciate any feedback!

An FO Friday Post.

A Bit of Instant Gratification

I actually have a few projects I've finished this week.  In fact if I shared everything with you I'd have 7 things to show you!  But that would consist of way too much typing.  So for now, sewing.  I really do love it and now I'm trying to work on quick things and not get involved in any big projects.  This is because the Craftsy Sew-Along for October is a wonderful dress I have purchased the material for and it starts Oct 15th. I don't want to have to finish something before I can start the dress!  I can't wait!  It's jersey though and I've never made a dress so I hope it's not too difficult.  Let me know if you are participating too!

For this week I have two blankets to share!  I talked about the binding last week for my daughter's and I just went with splitting the difference and using each color for half the blanket.  Her's is now in the closet ready to be a Christmas gift.  And the kitty one is in a box packed and addressed ready to go.  It's for my best friend's daughter for when the new baby comes home.  These blankets are seriously super simple.  I had 1.5 yards cut, and just sewed on a matching blacket binding all along the edges.  If you want to do this make sure you buy two packs of blanket binding!

Also finally finished the pajama pants I started for myself!  I absolutely loved this fabric with garden tools and birds on it!  And they are just my colors!  I used a pattern for it, but I seriously had to cut 3 inches off the top.  They were WAY too big.  Still a bit big, but that makes a comfy pant so I'm not complaining much.

Linking up to Tami's Amis a little late.  It was supposed to publish yesterday but didn't for some reason.

FO Friday - The "Minnie" Skirt

See what I did there?  I made a pun.  That's right.  I hope you laughed, even if it was at just at me.  I actually have a finished object on Friday, that I showed you on Wednesday of the same week.  Let's just say that doesn't happen often.  I bought the pink polka dotted material from my local Jo Ann's for Miss A's Halloween costume.  I found the tutorial for the skirt on Pinterest of course. The original source is Makeitloveit.com.  I can't wait to see the whole costume together.  I just hope she loves wearing it as much as I love it.

Linking up to Tamis Amis FO Friday.

FO Friday - A quickie

Probably the only thing I've finished in my absence has been the Low Tide I made for my daughter.  I have to tell you I am so proud of this knit and it might be one of my absolute favorites.  I made it out of Candy Skein yarn which was oh so yummy to work with!  It has wonderful color to it.  But you will notice.....there are no pictures of it on Miss A.  She refuses to wear it.  Absolutely with all of her energy, refuses.  She's never refused to wear anything in her entire wardrobe till this sweater.  It hurts.  It seriously hurts.  I know it's not like she understands that I put a lot of time and energy into it.  But that doesn't change how much I want to see her wear it with pride.  I guess it means I'll just have to make one for myself. Linking up with FO Friday before I head out the door to drop Miss A at daycare!  

FO Friday

I actually have something to share for FO Friday!  Yay!  And truthfully these socks have been on the darn needles long enough so I sure am glad to be done with them.  And boy am I happy.  Laura Linneman did an amazing job designing this pattern - Socks on a Plane.  I get so bored with vanilla socks and this is just the perfect amount of detail to add to the self-striping yarns.  The fit was also perfect.  I was put off by toe-up for a while, but still typically just go with the way the pattern I want to make was written.  After the fit of this sock and how many issues I've had trying to get the fit of toe down socks right, I think I will look for toe-down patterns more often now.  I used Knit Picks Felici in the Tiki colorway and I love the yarn.  The socks are super-soft.  All over comfy and cozy.

Sew Not What You Were Expecting

I finished a project!  And it wasn't knit.  I sewed a dress for my daughter.  Last week Jo Anns and Hobby Lobby both had the big $0.99 sale for Simplicity patterns.  I decided it was a good time to stock up and boy did it also give me the right motivation.  I found the perfect sundress pattern and some mighty adorable material (it came from Hobby Lobby) and got started.  My goal was to have it finished before we leave for our Green Bay vacation on Monday.  I really thought that was an unreachable goal to tell you the truth though.

A little background?  My Mom is a seamstress.  She's amazing.  I never will sew like her.  I made a skirt for myself when I was 13 and my sewing career pretty much came to a halt there.  Until I was a housewife.  I didn't have my Mom to hand things off to anymore so I bought a decent machine.  I knew a cheap "beginning sewer" machine wouldn't do it for me.  Especially when it comes to making sure his uniform is precise.  If I have a decent sewing machine I should make good use of it right?  So I made an apron, and packed it away for moving. Once I moved into this house I got a good little area in my room set up.  I wanted the satisfaction of sewing for my daughter.  After I failed Easter dress I was determined to succeed this time!  I'd say I satisfied that.  Don't you?

Front- I'll share a picture on my little girl once we have buttons.

Back - Simplicity 1673


Linking up to Tami's Ami's FO Friday!

Finally an FO

I finished this but didn't post last week.  It was a simple knit I know, but oh so darn cute.  Modified the hat pattern to make my daughter a matching hat/cowl set.  She looks pretty darn grown up in it.  I might decide she needs to wait 10 more years to wear it again.

Projects Page: Aston Cowl

Pattern: Aston

Yarn: Organic Worsted Heathers by Marr Haven Wool

Linking up with FO Friday

A Mood

I haven't been in the greatest mood today.  I wasn't thrilled to get up and go to a mandatory (for the hubs) company picnic at 9 am!  Let's just say it was cold this morning and that is with a high of 80 F today.  Imagine if it was tomorrow - high of 49.  Who's idea was this?! 80 degrees in March is a FLUKE and no one knew it would be like this when it was scheduled. Oh, and it was wet.  Did I mention that?  They make the guys play a kickball tournament, which with grown men can never end well.  Am I right?  Well, 5 minutes in the first man on base runs when the next ball is kicked and naturally tries to get to second base.  As all men do...  Only these guys, all in aviation and not exactly ones to play organized sports don't really understand the concept of not standing in the base line.  Huh, imagine that.  I'm sure you can picture what happened next.  The guy running is watching the ball, the guy standing there is....well, watching the ball.  And they collide.  And we have blood shed.  Alot of it. This guy running just happened to be my husband.  A trip to the hospital and a diagnosis of broken nose and possible concussion preceded.  So you can imagine my mood when I was at a function I obviously had a bad feeling about.

On a much better note, I thought tonight might be a good night to update my blog.  I had the intentions of updating the links in my Sunday Gratitude post and connecting it to the Mr. Linky on Sunday.   Didn't happened.  I logged in though and found a bunch of comments on my last two posts!  I was very excited because you see, I love comments.  Who doesn't?  And I haven't been getting quite as many as of late.  So a very happy baby tonight, and a bunch of comments has put me in a bit of a better mood.  Thank you readers!  I owe that to you.  Well, the comments part.  If you put my daughter in a good mood you'll have to share the secret!

Here's the link I failed to add in later on Sunday. The book my swap partner gifted me was Sock Yarn Studio by Carol J. Sulcoski.  Any book with Zauberball on the front has to be good.  There are a few patterns I love including the Poppy Beret and Cushington Square Pillow.  The beret, which is really a beanie as far as I can tell, I know I will make for myself.  The pillow would be quite a challenge for me yet.  Maybe in a few years.  

I also wanted to take this opportunity to share the finished - finished object from two weeks ago. It's the Yoked Cardigan by Hannah Fettig and I know I showed you already but the buttons I just so darn cute you have to see them on!  They are from Joyafibers on Etsy.  The picture of Annabelle wearing the gorgeous sweater is more true to color.  Check out my posts like mine at Tami's Amis FO Friday.

FO Friday - One Down

Finally got my replacement needle tips from Knit Picks. I say finally because I feel like its been in its last leg forever, not because Knit Picks took a long time to get it here by any means. I love how this turned out, and I'm even making an Easter dress for my daughter to coordinate with the sweater! Can't wait to get the buttons on it and have her wear it. Just wait till you see the buttons!

Ravelry Project Page: Purple Yoked Cardigan
Pattern: Yoked Cardigan by Hannah Fettig
Yarn: JoJoland Baritone
Linking Up with FO Friday

Hand Me Down

Short and sweet today.  My FO Friday is the final product of my Reader's Choice Project, which was a pretty fun experiment (a carry over from the old blog).  I've decided I'm going to keep it and if I have an occasion to wear it, great!  If not, no big deal.  Either way it will become my daughter's when she gets a fancy dress that matches and she's old enough to understand how much it means.  I hope the wait will be worth the "hand-me-down" of sorts.

Ravelry Project Page

Pattern: Age of Brass And Steam

Yarn:  Cake Walk Yarns in the Jam Colorway

Don't Laugh

My only contribution to FO Friday this week is a Ball Sack. That is all.

Yarn: Scrap Zauberball Crazy
Pattern: Ball Sack by Jennifer Sugarman

You know you laughed......you have a dirty mind.

FO Friday #1 - Presents Galore

I missed last week.  I don't have anything new this week, but since I missed last weeks FO Friday I will share with you now!  Lots of presents!  The nice thing about waiting is I have pictures of recipients!

First and foremost is some dyed yarn.  I dyed it for the Pay It Forward Handmade I'm doing so if you are one of those three people it just might be for you!!  I think it would make some lovely socks!  It was also a bit of an experiment.  I used a very different dyeing method this go round, so I will be sure to post about my process later this week because I remembered to take pictures!

We had a bit of a treat last week.  A dear friend of my husband's (and mine!) visited all the way from South Carolina.  And he drove!  He's on the left, my hubs is on the right. Well, my husband sure was thrilled to have him here.  Of course I was reminded of the hat I was going to make him, a matching hat to my husband's Turn A Square Hat.  So I was guilted into knitting the hat for him in two days before he left.  I finished it in one!  Yay! Go me!  I just happened to look at the date I posted about my husband's and it was almost exactly a year ago - give or take a few days - from when I finished this one.  I guess it goes to show, as soon as fall comes around I really do start knitting hats!  They enjoyed being twins, as you can tell!



In May I started knitting The Boneyard Shawl.  I didn't talk about it much, except to mention I was knitting a Grad Gift.  I sent it off this week and of course forgot to take pictures.  But now I have better pictures to show anyway!  I picture of it on the recipient!  This is a dear friend Teresa, whom I've known since I was in High School.  I dated her brother, I've lived in her parents house, and our parents are still best friends.  So of course so are we!  I needed to do something special for her when she graduated from college, so I asked her what her favorite colors were.  One of them was pink.  I found this color of Lang Yarns Tosca Light in my stash (a Germany purchase) and it was just begging to be hers.  I also believe it whispered to me that it must become a Boneyard Shawl, nothing else would have been good enough.  Now, look at that smile on Teresa's face.  Do you think she liked it?!

Just a side note....please leave comments so I know you've found me after I've moved!  Thanks!!