Knitting Hats

This was the original inspiration of the Imperial Stout Cap. I really liked how the cables just went into the hat, but a co-worker suggested the 1x1 rib would be better for a men's hat. I thought I'd knit up my original design though as a hat for me.

I love this Magenta/Raspberry Pink color. I have another hat in a similar but darker color. I seem to wear a lot of it, whether it is a blouse or as accent colors.

In other news, Kim leaves for Europe in 4 days. I'm doing ok until I start to think about it too much. Then my heart starts racing and I have a hard time taking a deep breath. I know she is going to have to time of her life, but I'm worried too.

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it many more times, but I keep thinking I'm going to keep up on the blog and it doesn't happen. I'm sorry for that.

I do have some exciting news though! At the lys I work at we have a Top 10 Quick Holiday Knits that we have done for at least the last two years. This year we decided Top 12. One of my patterns was released yesterday and it has been in the What's Hot section on Ravelry. Today it actually made it to #4! I'm pretty pleased with that. It's free until Sunday night, so get it while you can.

 Imperial Stout Cap.

And I'll leave it at that. See you next time. 

A Little Behind

Today is the first day in a few weeks where I can just breath. I did have two appts this morning, but now I'm home doing nothing and going nowhere! One  appt was with an Occupational Therapist about the tendonitis in my elbow. I think it will be very helpful to see him and get this taken care of. Right now he has me icing the elbow, heating the muscle below in my arm and massaging it, with a couple of stretches after the massage. It's not easy to do on my own so I will probably have Robert or Kim help me with the massage part. I haven't knit, except a tiny bit in about 5 weeks! I'm starting to go crazy, though I have been doing a little bit of cross-stitch. I have been testy this week and I think it might be from the lack of knitting and maybe even from being around people a lot over the past few weeks with almost no breaks. Today though after that appt and dropping the van at the shop for an overnight tuneup, I don't have to be anywhere or do anything and can just do my own thing. 

I've been thinking about crochet a lot! Last week it was flowers, this week it's how did I learn to crochet. I bought a little notebook today, with flowers on it and I started printing out some flowery patterns. I want to make a bright flower garland though I'm not sure where I'll put it. Back to the notebook. I plan to use it to jot down any ideas I have for crochet and putting some printed patterns and pictures in it. I think it will keep me more on track when I have some cool ideas.

A couple of years ago I took at class at The Knitting Bee to learn to crochet a cute little pouch/bag. Darla is a fantastic teacher and continues to teach classes there. I took another class from her last year on reading crochet charts, which is the method that I prefer! She now has a circle time where you can go in and get help on any project you are working on. I plan to go in this week and get some help on the shawlette from the Rose City Yarn Crawl. I'm a little stuck on it. 

I got my Stitch Fix shipment this last Friday and finally opened it today. I'll try on the clothes tomorrow. There are some interesting things in there this time. Skinny jeans??? I'll update you on what's in there and what I plan to keep, probably tomorrow. 

March is National Crochet Month

I've never really liked the look of crocheted projects, but lately I've seen some cute patterns.

I've blogged about most of this on Monday, but felt like I need to do an official post about it.

March is National Crochet month. I came across a group on Ravelry that is doing a 52 week challenge, starting this week.  I will be posting each week about a different thing, trying to follow their prompts. This week the question is, "How do you celebrate National Crochet month?" I've actually been trying to up my knowledge about crochet. We occasionally have customers come into the shop asking for help with their projects. I would like to help them and by learning more crochet terms and stitches I feel like I can actually help them. I guess I do have goals, like finishing several crochet projects that I've started, and trying to design a cute cowl that I've seen online.

Drive by pictures!

New Stitch Fix Clothes 

Cute dress, but it's a bit gappy in the bust and underarms. 

Cute knit top, will keep for work and every day.

I love this style and it fits nicely, but the zigs are too much. I know with my migraines if I was looking at it, I'd be cross-eyed before too long.

\

The sweater fits nice, but the cables and marled look together are too much. You can't see it in the picture very well, we were in a hurry, but the marled makes it look very messy.

This little sweater I will keep as well. The shirt I paired it with is too bulky, so tees or cami's will work well for it.

Tell me what you think? 

Trying to keep up

At least it was just a month since my last posting. :) There is a 52 week challenge that I saw on Ravelry.  52 Week Crochet Challenge. Some of it is just thinking/writing about crochet, others are actually doing swatches or little projects. I've been dabbling in crochet over the last 6 months. I've completed two projects, one scarf and one little trivet. I'm working on the crochet Mystery Shawl for the Rose City Yarn Crawl as well. That is a big project for me and taking a lot longer! I hope these prompts will be beneficial for me as well as the Ravelry group that was started for it.

I got my Stitch Fix package on Saturday but haven't had time to open it. I've worked every day since Wednesday. The Rose City Yarn Crawl was this last weekend and it was a lot of fun to work. Crazy at times, but having a busy shop is very good for us!!

I will take some photos of the goodies in the new Stitch Fix and post them this week as well as some finished projects.

Back Again!

I was going to try to keep up on my blogging but life got in the way again. We realized that my parent's needed more help than they were getting, so we started looking for a second house for us to buy as an investment and also a home for them to be in, closer to us. We finally found the perfect house in July/August and they moved in the second week of September. 

Nice big yard.

Living room with doors to the deck.

It is really nice having them closer to us, but I don't know that we are actually helping them more. We do go over at least once a week and clean the floors and bathroom. We also make sure the yard is kept up during the Spring, Summer and Fall months. 

In September, John started at Oregon State University in their Pharmacy School. Robert and I went down for his White Coat Ceremony. I was a great experience to see and hear the speakers and what is to come over the next 4 years for John. 

We also added a family member. John and his girlfriend Amanda eloped on the weekend after he drove my parent's up from California. We had a small reception for them during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. 

I clicked on a link a month or so ago and found Stitch-Fix. You answer their clothing and style questions and they send you a package once a month. You keep/buy what you want and send the rest back within 3 days. I've also been shopping to try to find a nice evening/cocktail/formal dress for the cruise that Robert and I will take for our 25th anniversary to Alaska. 

These first 5 photos are the items that I am keeping from Stitch Fix.  The blue dress and earrings I am not keeping. I liked the fit on everything though. The dresses are both a knit of some kind so they have some give to them. The blue one has that exposed zipper on the back which I can not stand at all!! I saw it on Project Runway a few years ago and just did not like it at all. It also has a funny pucker at the hip side seams.

This one is cream with the black lace on the top of it. The black is kind of a velveteen fabric. Fully lined!

The vest is just a light one, not down, but very comfortable. And the cowl has just enough weight to be warm in the coolness of Spring. The red is a nice cool, not warm color and the hearts are really cute on it. I can see myself wearing it quite a bit. 

The fit is a little funny just at the hips. It's like they didn't do a nice curve when they were cutting out the pattern or sewing it. It is fully lined which is not common unless you are buying at Macy's or Nordstrom. 

The earrings are just too big for me to feel comfortable in. 

 These next three dresses I actually found at Kohl's. I must have deleted the fuller length of this first one. The fit was perfect according to Robert, Kim and myself. The dots were just too much though, in a headachy kind of way. If I could find something similar in a solid color, I'd definitely wear it for summer. 

This one fit nicely as well, but none of us like the gathering on the left side. 

This one we all really liked and I will keep it. The length on most of the dresses is just above the kneecap, which I am very comfortable with.

Keeping this one.