October 29, 2013

The Latest News

Simply Notable is a website that has a lot of free patterns for crafters.  The patterns are well written and look pretty quick, so if you're in need of a cute last minute gift you should have a peek.  I am making the Gift Cardi-gans which take about 30 minutes each to make.  These are only missing the buttons, and I'm saving that for last because no project that requires buttons goes without button drama:


I'm using my best scrap acrylic because I'm sure the folks that get them won't keep them - why should they?  If anything, they will probably be passed along to the next gift card recipient or toss them.  When Mary Jo said she needed them, I thought 10, maybe a dozen.  Turns out she needs 25.  I like a cute project just like the next person, but 25 is a bit more tedium than I like.  So I make two or three a day and I've made 14 so far.

I'm also working on a pair of socks called Pinstriped Socks out of Lollipop Yarns in the Life is Beautiful colorway:


This is my first time doing an after-thought heel, so my adventure is just begun because I have no idea how much room to leave for the heel.  These socks are supposed to go to a friend of my son, but if I get the math wrong then they'll go to me.  I should have made them two at a time so I could guess how much yarn would be left for the foot on each, but I'm going to believe I have enough yarn.  Time will tell.

I made a few purchases this past week and, honestly, I don't know what I was thinking of since my list of craft needs is few, but my list of craft wants is never ending.  It is my dream to do all the craft things that pop in to my head, but it's not possible because I'm already knee deep with what I have.

In case you haven't heard, I have lots of white fiber, but I don't make lots of white things:


And I especially bought this Turkish spindle from Threads Through Time (Etsy) so that I can attempt to spin sock weight yarn:


And working with self-striping yarn made me have the dream of spinning my own sock yarn, and dyeing it myself.  To that end, I purchased this book for almost free from SloCrafty (Etsy):


Oy!  Maybe I've mentioned this before, maybe not, but you should never, ever, ever shop after midnight!  Stuff that looks good at night when you're tired doesn't always look the same as it does during the day when your sense of reason has some bearing.

That said, I found someone's destash on Ravelry (I won't tell you who because I want more of her stuff before you get it), and found some Duet Dee-Kay:


These socks don't have colorways, but the Neopolitan on the bottom I've been wanting for years!  I'm going to make some socks for me with it.  The one on the top is for my aunt who asked for warm socks knee socks.  With this yarn, I'm sure the socks will be warm, and it'll also get extra points for being pretty.  It comes from a yarn shop (A Swell Yarn Shop) that is now closed (I heard the owner shut down because she's having a baby).

Last, but not least, in an effort to support Dawn and James from the Wolfe Farms Podcast, I purchased some yarn from Fishknits (Etsy) and another upside down picture.  A portion of the proceeds goes to Dawn and James to offset the cost of their dog Fuji's chemotherapy.


She sent it with a button and some candy which I ate immediately after the photo!

Well, this post is on overload with the pictures - so I'm going to knit or wash dishes ...

1 comment:

  1. Those Gift Cardi-Gans are cute (I wouldn't want to make 20-some of them, though)!

    Love the striped socks - so colorful!

    I also love the Duet Dee-Kay yarn - very pretty!

    It looks like you'll be busy with all of your recent purchases. I can't wait to see what you do with everything. Have you dyed yarn before?

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