The Afghan Itch

Today’s post brought to you by… nap time and two cups of coffee!

Though it has been absolutely scorching this week (over 90 every day), it was pleasantly cool just over a week ago. During that week, I started to get pretty excited about fall and the impending colder weather. Fall is my favorite time of year, hands down. I love the cool air, the leaves changing color and the fun stuff we do around Halloween (which is my favorite holiday. Though many people tell me if you don’t get the day off from work, it’s not a holiday. But I say, you decorate for it…(or at least I do)…so it’s a holiday!).

The other thing fall makes me excited about is bigger crafting projects – particularly afghans – that you can cuddle up under while you’re working on it. Which leads me to the start of my first charity afghan for 2014! I say 2014, because I’m not crazy enough to believe this will be done by early November (the deadline for submissions) and because I’ve already made 3 for this year.

Now, as you know, I only crochet one blanket pattern over and over. I do mix up the colors and the placement of the stripes, but that’s it. So it’s Blue Afghan again! However, since it’s still very warm and still technically summer, I am going with a Sand and Sea theme for colors. Baby Knitsnips and I took an unexpected trip with my mom back to my hometown last night. My other current project (a Godric’s Hollow hat in the scrummy yarn I showed you a while ago) is hurting my hand a little with all the k3tog, so I needed an easy, mindless project to occupy me during the hour drive. I selected a few colors out of my mom’s charity yarn stash and started when we hopped in the car. I selected Caron One Pound’s Lace as the main color and Seafoam as the main accent. The blue, which I would describe as a denim blue, didn’t have a ball band any more as there was very little left from a blanket my mom made a while ago. I think I have enough to do two one-row stripes in the blue, and that’s it! I’ve already made some good progress, and I’m pleased with the color combination so far.

It was nice, if not a little strange, to go back to where I grew up after I haven’t been in two years. We ran into a few people I knew when I was younger, and they all reintroduced themselves to me, and my mom reminded them of my name, and that was all very strange since I knew who they were! The little main street looked just the same, though. We stopped at a little independently owned BBQ and ice cream shop on the way home. I love their ice cream and the topping they put on it, which is a mixture of sprinkles and nuts. I haven’t had their BBQ since I quit eating meat (maybe nearly 20 years ago now?!), but I go back every time I’m in town for the ice cream.  It was BK’s first trip to the town and the ice cream shop, though I know she will never remember that. I was a little sad to see that a restaurant my grandpa always wanted to go when he visited us had shut down and is now a pizza place. Regardless, it was worth the trip to see a dear old friend and to show our support one of my mom’s old friends. And of course, the crochet car time was a nice benefit as well.

So I’m off to take advantage of the last little bit of BK’s nap. So far, I’ve managed to write this entry and block two newly finished projects! I hope to be able to share these with you soon. Have a fabulous holiday weekend!

 

This Summer

Well, this summer has certainly been different than any other I’ve had. This, of course, is my first summer as a mom.

This summer has been so nice in so many ways. Baby Knitsnips and I have spent many days with my mom and dad at their house, which is only about 10 minutes away (great, huh?). They have a beautiful little sunroom that has two sides of floor-to-ceiling glass. We open the sliding glass doors to let a cross-breeze through the room. It’s been a great spot for me and BK, as we can enjoy the sunshine and the wonderful mild summer temperatures we’ve been having, but we are safely behind screens that keep the bugs away and under a roof that keeps her out of direct sunlight. We create a little makeshift bed for BK out there sometimes, and as she naps, I knit or peruse the internet on my new iPad mini. There has been a shocking amount of searching for sweet baby clothes and toys on the internet. I have only made it to the purchase page a few times, much to the relief of my pocketbook. 🙂

BK is changing every day. I love her sweet little babbling of baby sounds, particularly as she has a serious chat with her toys on her activity mat. She is trying hard to sit up. She has a smile that just lights up the room.

I’m getting used to a slower pace. I’m learning to let go of the pile of laundry waiting to be done and the kitchen that needs tidying. At first, I felt on edge when these kinds of things weren’t getting done as quickly as they used to, but I’m getting better at coping with it. It will all get done eventually, and tending to BK and appreciating every moment with her is more important.

This same patience is being applied to my hobbies. I have big plans, but it’s all moving a bit slower than usual. It does make me appreciate stolen knitting or reading moments while BK naps during the day, or after we put her down for the night.

After a few week hiatus at knit night, I’ve returned. It’s been wonderful catching up with my friends, as well as having a little dedicated knitting time. This evening’s session let me finally finish up my Business Casual socks! I’ll try to get them blocked this weekend so I can share it on the blog soon.

I’ve been meaning to do a photo shoot with my completed Halloween socks for weeks now, so hopefully we can work that into our weekend schedule as well.

I’m looking forward to enjoying these last few days/weeks (depends on how the weather feels!) of summer and hope you are, too!

New yarn, big plans

I’ve been very slowly plugging along on some current projects – primarily Baby Knitsnips’ Christmas stocking and the Business Casual socks – but I have also been plotting some great upcoming projects.

I have attended two fiber events since BK was born and picked up some great yarn.

First off was the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival. I attended that about a week after BK was born, which was crazy!! BK stayed home with daddy, as my mom and I made a very short appearance at the festival. My knitting friends are very involved in organizing it, and several of them had booths there. I buy from them at the LYS, so I looked for other must-haves. Last year, there was a woman who had beautiful sock yarn and had made it up into an adorable baby dress from Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders. I thought about her yarn and that pattern for a whole year! I had to have some of it – the yarn looked like yummy candy. This year, I selected a skein and asked if the dress came in a larger size in the pattern, as it was a 0-3 months, and I knew I could not finish it for BK in time for her to wear it. She said oh yes. So I bought this lovely purple-pink skein, wound it up on the swift when I got home and dug out the book to look at the pattern. And discovered it only comes in the one teeny size. I was very irritated. So now I am on the hunt for a larger dress I can make with one skein of sock yarn. I’m open to suggestions!!

Next, I attended the Knit and Crochet Show. I was overwhelmed by choice there and hemmed and hawed for ages on what to buy. I drug my mom and BK up and down the aisles several times before settling on this gorgeous yarn made of milk and soy (Milky Whey in Pearl). It feels like heaven! I am more than a little obsessed. I’d never felt milk yarn before. I am planning on making the world’s yummiest cowl for me with it for the fall. Yum yum yum. I want to eat it up! I just have to decide what pattern is fabulous enough to show off this gorgeous yarn.

I also scored this fabulous yarn (Scrumptious DK/Worsted) during a sale at an LYS. I had been on the hunt for a while for the perfect yarn to make Hermione’s Deathly Hallows hat, and here it is! And it was on sale! Sounds like destiny to me…

And lastly, I finally bought this yarn at my LYS where I attend knit night. I have been visiting this yarn for more than three months. I was holding out because I absolutely, positively do not need any more sock yarn. Last Friday, I finally caved and bought it. It is Lorna’s Laces Solemate and I love the very soft, feminine color of it (though this picture doesn’t do it justice). I believe it will end up being socks, but I’m not sure yet. I’m certainly open to pattern suggestions for this one, too!

So these projects will hit the needles in an as-yet-undetermined order very soon!