knitting
A little taste of summer!
I just got back from a very warm, sunny, crazy week of vacation in Nevada and Arizona with my brother and his girlfriend. It was so much fun, I feel totally recharged! After so much snow, and rain, and cold weather here up north, a little sunshine was definitely more than welcomed. We first visited Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam, then saw the Grand Canyon and Sunset Crater Volcano, we drove through Sedona and the Tonto National Forest, hiked the Hayden Butte, and so much more! I definitely kept myself really busy, but it it was all worth it. All in all, I had an incredible vacation, and I really want to share a little bit of it with you guys, so here’s a few pictures I took – hope you like them!
And of course, since I was going to spend a lot of time on a plane or at the airport on the way there and back, I had to start a little project to keep me busy, right? RIGHT? So I started the Estuary shawl, using some Confetti Superwash yarn from DGB I had in stash. Lucky me, a little bit of knitting here and there during the trip and some knitting time at the airport allowed me to reach the halfway mark in only a week. Yes! It’s a very easy pattern so far, very well explained with easy to follow charts and instructions.
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 🙂
FO Friday – Obsidian Shawl
I’m very happy today to show you the Obsidian Shawl I just finished last week-end! It’s a cute, simple lace scarf using FibraNatura Flax yarn in black, the pattern is called Lace Scarves – Challenging by OzYarn.
I cannot express to you how excited I am that this shawl turned out the way it did, because I had been trying to find something to do with this yarn for such a long time that I was starting to get pretty desperate. There is quite a story to this yarn, and if you’ll allow me, I’d like to share my little experience with you.
I bought this yarn about 2 years ago and I was very excited to work with linen for the very first time in my life. Little did I know though that linen is very rough on the hands and tends to break and split a lot – I probably should have done some research before I made the purchase, but oh well! Either way, after ponding over it for some time, I decided to use it to knit the Jackson Square shawl since I had just bought the pattern and thought it was such a lovely design. It took me quite some time to get used to the pattern and the yarn, but I was able to pull it through in a couple months – and that’s where things went wrong. As I was weaving in the ends and tugging on the project gently to even out the stitches, I involuntarily got the yarn stuck on a piece of jewelry I was wearing and ripped up a big gaping hole through the top border, on the back of the neck – which turns out to be the very start of the project. I was completely horrified and did not know what to do with it or how to fix it so for the longest time, the damaged project just sat there, at the bottom of a bag in my living room.
A few months later, I finally picked it back up and resigned myself to frog the project, as I really couldn’t figure out how I could ever repair such a big gaping hole with so many broken threads. I said my goodbyes to the beautiful, delicate shawl design and decided to use the yarn to make a basic racer back tank top instead… That never saw the light of day either. Somehow, although I was very determined to get something done with this yarn, I just couldn’t find a tank top pattern that fit what I had in mind and when I tried to make one up myself it just didn’t turn out the way I hoped it would. So after much thought, I decided to frog again. A second time.
Well, as they say though, third time’s the charm and on my third try I decided to go for a pattern I have tried before (see my English Mesh Lace Scarf) and liked very, very much – and it turned out great. No ripping the yarn, no weird fitting issues and no pattern issues. Such a relief!
Have you guys ever had such experiences with a yarn frogged one too many times or a project that doesn’t turn out the way you hoped? What was your solution? Let me know in the comments down below.
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!!! 🙂
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!
Start it off with a bang!
2015 only just started, and with it comes a a few resolutions, projects and ideas to start off the new year afresh. This year, I made a few promises to myself. Nothing big or fancy, just a few things that I think are going to make things better.
- I want to learn how to relax more.
I like to keep myself busy and I always have a lot of projects and ideas all lined up – not that it’s going to change, but I think I need to make more time amongst all those crazy projects to just take time for me. Enjoy some company, play with my cats, savor a good cup of coffee – that kind of thing. - I want to start less, and finish more.
I think it’s a crafter’s plague to have too many projects on the needles, and to really finish only a few of those. I broke my personal record for frogged projects in 2014, and it made me reflect on why those projects were frogged in the first place. Some of those were just failures that never saw the light of day, but I noticed that most of them simply happened to be projects I started but wasn’t inspired enough to work on them, let alone finish them! So this year, I want to work on fewer projects that I feel more inspired by, and take them to the finish line. - I want to knit from stash. No, really.
I love to shop for yarn. Who doesn’t, really? But I recently came to the conclusion that bigger isn’t necessary better. What I mean by that is that even if you have the nicest yarns in the world, they won’t mean a thing unless you use them. This year, I will not buy yarn “just because”, or “because it’s on sale”, or “because it’s pretty”, or any combination of those reasons. This year, I’ll only buy yarn if I have a specific projects in mind, that I do not have appropriate stash yarn for. No exceptions. We’ll see if I can downsize my yarn stash this way 🙂 - I want to weave more.
I have a nice floor loom, and I love it, but I feel like I’m not using it enough. Part of the reason is that I do not own a lot of weaving thread, so my options are a little limited when starting a project. In 2015, I want to acquire a wider variety of weaving thread (How perfect, I can use the money I save from not buying yarn, eh?) and create more handwoven projects. - I want to keep this blog going.
I have never had a blog before, and as a kid, I was never able to constantly keep a journal either. It is a big challenge for me to get into a habit of updating my blog regularly, but 2014 really showed my how fun it is to share my stories with like-minded people, and how enjoyable the process of writing it can be. So this year, I’ll do my very best to keep my blog updated and fun 🙂 - I want to publish more designs.
In 2014, I published my very first knitting pattern, my Sunny Summer Stripes sweater. Although it hasn’t really been a success so far, I want to keep trying. So in 2015, I want to create more, design more, and publish more. In the making, I currently have 2 sweater patterns and a sock pattern that should be published some time this spring. Once those are done, I’ll move onto something else, and I hope I’ll be able to write many, many more patterns this year.
That is it for New Year resolutions! Enough, isn’t?
In other news, I want to share with you my very first 2015 FO, my snowflake sweater, started on December 4th, 2014 and finished on January 1st, 2015 🙂
Happy new year guys!
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Crafty-Effie/snowflakeA 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! 🙂
December rush
Hey-ho Crafties! As December rolls around, bringing its share of freezy-rosy cheeks and joyful moments, I want to share with you my thoughts as I am slowly getting started on my Holidays preparation. There’s a lot of mysteries and secrets around this month as most of my quick projects will be offered as Christmas presents, but I’m sure I’ll find a way to show you a glimpse of what I’m working on throughout the month without spoiling too much of the surprise 🙂
First off, I finished the Woodsmoke Sweater I was test-knitting for the lovely Megh Testerman, from Studio North. I am completely in love with the finished garment, and I can tell you that I will wear the heck out in the next few months as the temperature drops to inhuman levels (ok, I might be exaggerating a little bit). And I found the cutest owl buttons to go with it, isn’t cool?
The cardigan is complete, at 36 355 stitches. Needless to say that I did not qualify for the the NaKniSweMo this year, since the sweater was under the required 50 000 mark. I must say though, even though I didn’t make it, I’m still very happy about the sweater I completed, and I at least know I reached the goal in my own way – especially knowing that I finished my Frosted Rose cardigan during the challenge, which puts me at way more than 50 000 stitches combined.
Since I finished the 2 sweaters I have been working on in the last couple months, I (obviously) decided to start a new one, and I’m really excited about the project. I just cast on a couple days ago, the pattern is called Snowflake from Tincanknits and I’m using a lucky destash find of Plucky Primo Sport in the color Cryin’ Icicles.
In other news, I have been spending my time cleaning and decorating the house, and I slowly started cooking and baking for the Holidays – hmmmmmm, sugar pie!! (if you don’t know what this Quebec specialty is, you oughta look it up. Seriously. There, just click here).
So how’s your Holiday preparation going, fellow Crafties? 🙂
Crafty Effie 