fiber
The Spinning Mojo
Since I have finished most of my current knitting projects now and didn’t quite feel like starting another big one, I decided last weekend to dust my poor little spinning wheel and give it some love. I have had the same project on it since March, and it wasn’t even because it was a LONG project (just a 4 oz merino roving) but truth is, I just didn’t feel like it (maybe I lost my spinning mojo?). Either way, I wanted to get my rusty articulations back into shape because the Tour de Fleece is coming very quicky (start off is on july 4th) and I signed up to participate with the girls of Papote et Placote.
So I decided it was time to finish that project and take it off the wheel, so I took my little kiwi for a spin. The yarn I got out of it is a very fine fractal, 2 ply, lace to light fingering weight yarn with a generous 575 yards for 104 grams. I used the left over singles to spin a 3 ply navajo fingering weight yarn, it is 61 yards (14 grams) of pure cuteness. Yummy!
The fiber I used was Malabrigo Nube in the color Zarzamora, it’s a beautiful mix of purple and green and blue.
Any of you guys participating in the upcoming Tour de Fleece?
Oh, Lacy Sweetness
Last week I finished a sweet little lace shawl that I have been dying to show you all, and I decided that today is the day. You might remember a progress shot I shared with you a couple months ago of this shawl in the making, as it was my “airplane knit” that I started while going to Nevada and Arizona for a short vacation earlier this year, in April.
What do you guys think? Isn’t this shawl pure lacy love? This pattern is called Estuary, from tincanknits, and it was knit using Confetti Superwash yarn by DGB. The pattern is entirely charted, very easy to understand and very easy to follow, the only change I made was to work the edge stitches in stockinette st instead of garter st. I simply LOVE the finished project!
The yarn was something I found on sale at a local yarn store about a year ago, it was a yarn I had never heard of or worked with it before but I sort of liked the color, and since it was cheap I decided to try it. Although I didn’t hate this yarn, far from it actually, I don’t think I will use it again once I have used the remaining skein I have. Don’t get me wrong, this yarn was nice to work with, it has a nice soft feel and it definitely blocks very well, but it simply wasn’t a love story between it and me. I guess what it comes down to is that it’s a good yarn, but just not a “wow” yarn to me. Know what I mean?
Anyways, I also got a pretty nice surprise a few weeks ago that I want to share with you – a new yarn store has just recently opened in my area, and I LOVE it! Yay for more yarn! This little store is cute and quaint, it’s friendly and cozy and it’s called Pompon Laine Café – if you’re in the Trois-Rivières area, you should definitely go check it out, it’s located at the intersection of Bonaventure and Saint-Denis. I went to the store opening a few weeks ago and got a membership card, and -oh, suprise!- I won a basket full of goodies including stitch markers, natural hand cream and (plenty) of yarn. Look at all these beautifuls! Am I not the most lucky knitter ever?
April novelties!
In the last couple weeks, I got to finish two projects that have been on the needles for a while. The first one is the manly socks, and the second one is the Seesaw Tee I test knitted for Nell Knits.
The socks were made without a pattern using some Patons Kroy Socks FX and I quite like the result, although I realized afterwards the two skein were not exactly the same color. Oopsy!
The Seesaw Tee was a pleasure to knit, really. The pattern was beautifully written, simple and very easy to understand. The sweater is worked in the round from the bottom up, with only a couple little seams to close up the armpits. It was an unexpectedly fast knit as I was expecting to complete this project towards the end of April and ended up finishing it in only a couple weeks. The yarn I used is Knit-Picks Diadem yarn in color Garnet; which has been discontinued I believe. It’s a 50/50 alpaca/silk yarn, soft as a cloud, it has a really nice drape and halo and it blocks like a charm, making it perfect for any lace projects. It is marked as a fingering weight yarn, but I would say it’s much more of a sport or DK weight, as I used 3.5mm needles and got a blocked gauge of 5 sts to an inch. I used only 2 skeins for a size medium sweater, how great is that? Two down sides though :
1) it’s a loosely spun single, so you have to expect this yarn to be (significantly) splitty
2) it tends to shed, and I experienced a little bleeding on the first wash – nothing major though!
Other than that, I am very satisfied by both, the pattern and the yarn, and I happily wore my new sweater all day 🙂
Mock Cable Sweetness!
There’s nothing that can quite compare to the feeling of accomplishment you get when finishing a big project, is there? There is a project I have been working on since early January that just recently came to an end; what was before a shapeless UFO suddenly became a beautiful garment, right before my very eyes.
What I mean is that I just finished the Evelyn Cardigan I was test-knitting for the lovely Paula Ladd, and I simply love it!
This mock cable design is very delicate and elegant, and it was a pleasure to knit. This cardigan is worked seamlessly from the bottom up, and stitches are picked up and knit at the end for both button bands. The only three mods I made were to add waist shaping, add length and I did not knit the last neck decrease, or else the neck would have been too tight. It was a challenge for me because I generally have trouble keeping myself motivated until the end when knitting bottom up sweaters, but I am so glad I pulled it through because the finished piece is just so beautiful!
I also recently made a set of placemats I gave to a friend as a housewarming gift, and I simply LOVE the color scheme! I think I might use the idea for a few more, and maybe a bag or two 🙂
And finally, I have been missing my wheel so I worked up a little spin this week. Here’s what I came up with:
That’s it for me! What have you guys been up to, lately? What are your current projects?
Crafty Effie on Etsy!
So… I decided to open an Etsy Shop. I know, as if I didn’t have enough projects going on already, but hear me out! I have very good reasons to explain it (or so I think)!
You guys know I’ve been complaining about how I have too much fabric remnants cluttering my apartment and too many started-but-never-finished sewing projects piling up in boxes. Well, I recently decided the best way to solve this issue was to do a little stash busting and make many, many bags, placemats and zipper pouches to try to clear out some space in my sewing room. And even though project or notions bag always come in handy for a knitter, I think there’s a limit to how many bags a single person can use – so I decided to offer my creations to other people who might enjoy them 🙂
So here’s the beast, there’s not a lot of items for now but I will keep adding more as I make them. Please help me out by visiting/sharing/pinning or whatever else, it would mean a lot to me! 🙂
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyEffieCreations
Thank you all!!! 🙂
One year already!
Today, precisely a year ago, I was posting my very first blog post on Crafty Effie, yay!
Yes, I have been chewing your ears off for a year now! But you’re still here, so I guess it’s not so bad 🙂 It’s been an amazing journey so far, and it’s all because of the readers, and the crafting community. This blogiversary puts me in a very good mood today, and I want to share the love! So as a token of my gratitude, I want to make one of you my blog Valentine and send you a little special gift! To participate, just leave a comment below before 11:59 PM this Saturday, February 14th. In your comment, please make sure you leave your email address and choose ONE WORD that describes what “Crafty Effie” is to you. International entries are welcome.
On Sunday, I’ll randomly pick one entry and contact you. Good luck all 🙂
WIP tour 2015 departing, all aboard!
I have been pretty busy craft-wise in the last few weeks going from knitting and crocheting to sewing and weaving, and that translates as quite a few WIPs in the works right now. Since I haven’t blogged about any of my current projects so far, I thought it would be interesting to share with you what I’ve been up to lately.
The first WIP I want to share with you is a cute pair of lace socks I’m making using some Cascade Heritage yarn I had on hand. I improvised this design using a basic feather and fan pattern for the cuff and a simple eyelet pattern for the foot. It’s a very simple and fun pattern to knit, so when I’m done with the second sock I think I’ll publish the pattern on Ravelry for others to enjoy too 🙂 Let’s share the love! 
Last month I also started a test-knit for Paula Ladd, a very nice button up cardigan with a mock cable pattern called “Evelyn“. It is a bottom up cardigan, which I don’t knit very often because experience has taught me that I generally run out of steam before reaching the the yoke. I pulled this one through though, and I finished the body today. Now I can move onto the sleeves, Yay! Although it has been slow progress, I’m still pretty pumped about it and cannot wait to see it come to life in the next few weeks!
I also took some time in the last month to make a few sets of placemats for friends and family using some fabric I had in stash. It turned out pretty good, and something is telling me I might make some more this month! 
Last but not least, I have 3 friends of mine who are pregnant or recently gave birth, so I have been a little baby-crazy in the last few weeks. Lots of things to share in the picture below! The gray rectangle on the bottom is a baby blanket in the making, using some Bernat Baby Coordinates yarn I had in stash. This pattern looks so cute! On the right is the fabric I’ll be using for a special home/dec project for a little girl’s nursery. On the top left is a few 2/8 cotton bobbins for a couple baby wraps I’ll be weaving in the next few weeks and on the top right corner is the cutest book I found for crochet toys… I think I’ll try my hand at it in a couple weeks time. hehehe 🙂
That’s it for me, what have you guys been up to lately?
FO Friday!
Heyho crafties!
Just a short post to share with you guys my latest FO, a cutesy easy shawl started on September 27th, 2014 and finished on January 14th, 2015. It is my second FO of the year, W00T!! The pattern is called “Bamboo wedding shawl“, from Purl Soho, and the yarn I used is Cascade Heritage in the color Como Blue. I used a size 4mm needle instead of the 3.25mm needle the pattern called for because I have knitted with Cascade Heritage on 3.25mm needles before, and I just knew I wanted this shawl to be more airy and supple than that.
It is the second time I have knitted this pattern, the first time was a little over a year ago as a Christmas present for my mom. It was before I started blogging so there is no photo of it anywhere here, but here’s one just for the heck of it 🙂
As you can see it’s very thick, very wide, full of mistakes and not very long to boot. It was also my very first lace project, and I must say I made a lot of progress since then. The pattern that seemed so complicated to me at first now feels so easy and relaxing to knit now, and the result looks so much better too. Ah, the miracles of time!
2014 wrap up
2014 is coming to an end, and as it is I am reflecting on my 2014 projects and I feel very satisfied by the progress I made and the things I learnt. I am just sitting here, on the couch, relaxing while sipping on some tea, and I reflect on my 2014 crafting year. It’s a thing I really like to do, mostly because every day life just goes by so fast that it’s nice to take some time at the end of the year to slow down, relax and look over what you have accomplished in the past 12 months. It’s especially nice this year because I just recently discovered on Ravelry that you can search through your projects using tags (like for example “2013” or “2014”) to know exactly how many projects you made or how much yarn you used during a certain year. Here’s the break down of my 2014 progress compared to the year before:
2013 : 4 385 yards in 7 projects (mostly shawls and scarves)
2014 : 10 250 yards in 16 projects (sweaters, scarves, shawls, socks, hats and a bag)
In total, I used over twice the yardage and finished twice as many projects in 2014 than I did in 2013, and it feels good. To those 16 knitting/crochet/weaving projects, I also have to add 2 464 yards of handspun yarn, 4 sets of placemats, and my first handmade quilt.
Oh, you haven’t seen it? True… It was one of my secret Christmas projects. Well, talking about my secret Christmas projects… Here’s a couple of them. First is the quilt I made for my dad. It is my very first quilt, so it’s very wrinkly, uneven and full of mistakes, but I’m still very proud nonetheless. I worked on it for 2 years, and finally finished it a couple weeks ago, just in time for Christmas.
The second thing I want to share is a pair of socks I made for Emily. These Lemon & Lime socks were made using the Studioloo Bootsie-loo sock yarn I bought at the Twist Festival this fall, in the color “Linden Tree”. The pattern I used is called Seed Stitch socks, from Vogue.
Well, that’s my 2014 wrap up… I hope you guys all had a good time over Christmas, and I wish you all the best for the upcoming year. Take time to enjoy the simple things in life, and to focus more on the things and people you love, and what really matters. Life is short and precious, take advantage of every moment 🙂
Happy new year all!
A little guessing game – Christmas Giveaway!
I have been working a lot in the past couple weeks on handmade Christmas presents for friends and family, and fortunately for me things have been cruising along at a very nice pace. I started my Christmas preparation a little late this year so things really could have gotten ugly – I am so very glad it didn’t, and I’m crossing my fingers that things will keep cruising until the very end!
Since most of those projects have not yet been gifted (heck most of them aren’t even finished!) I can’t really show you guys real progress pictures, but I guess we probably CAN play a little guessing game. Here’s a close up of 3 projects I’m currently working on for Christmas. If you think you can guess what one (or more!) of these items are, like or share this post and leave a comment below telling me what your guess (or guesses) are. Out of all the entries received by December 25th, I’ll give away a little surprise to one lucky winner.
Good luck all! 🙂
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