novamade

happy squares, or babette 1.0

 
I usually have a modicum of modest pride when I finish any crafty venture with a certain degree of success.

 
But I am not going to lie, I am really proud of this.  I think this might be one of the most beautiful things I have ever made.

 
And I say that knowing there is as much pink as there is in it.  I purposefully used all that pink in the blanket to make it easier for me to give away.  Y'all know how I feel about pink (the pictures are not there--I don't know why, I need to work on that, but the text is still there).

 
However, in the process of making this, I may have come around on the whole "pink makes me want to vomit" perspective I originally had.  Because sometimes, pink just works.

 
I had a lot of fun making this blanket, I had more fun taking the pictures after it was done.  Why yes, I did move a white couch into my yard to take these pictures.  And yes, my neighbors do, indeed, think I am cracked.

 
Babette is not a difficult pattern to crochet, it's just a tad time consuming ( I finished it in a little over a month--it was the only thing I worked on in the evenings).  I would say that it is actually a good pattern for a beginner because the block that you are crocheting is pretty basic and you are just adding rounds for larger squares (seaming all the squares may make you want to cry; but, the crocheting, that part is easy).  The pattern is well written and easy to understand, and there are gobs of people who have made this, and crafters are pretty generous about sharing information and helping out if you have questions--at least, that has been my experience.

 
I could see making this again, which is for the best since Little Sir decided that he needs one for himself at some point..."when [I] have time."  Sigh.

 
I will put my notes and modifications in the gallery and on ravelry, in case you are interested.

what's on my plate

 
Were you aware that November has been renamed Vestvember?  If you weren't, please now consider yourself duly informed.   While some may argue that the vest is experiencing something of a resurgence, I don't think they ever really went anywhere.  My mother has always worn vests, more as a matter of practicality than style (if we are being honest here).  Her arms always get hot in sweaters (I don't understand it; but, there you are).   I have never really thought about it, perse, but I guess a vest is a good venture to undertake as a knitter for no other reason than the lack of sleeves. 

Given my enthusiasm for the vest knitting (as surely that is what I am expressing), one would think I could manage to finish a vest in a reasonable amount of time; but, no, one would be wrong.

 
So I am using Vestvember as an opportunity to finish up Special K's specially requested vest that I have been working on since March (MARCH!).  It's not difficult, I just find the knitting uninspiring.  But he requested it, and it's almost done, so I just need to make the effort.  I have four hours of train travel tomorrow for a one day conference in Boston, I think that will probably help.

 
Most of my crafting hours, of late, have been taken up with crochet.  I am putting the edging on the Babette blanket.  It'll be done this weekend, because it has to be, my friend Lori is going to Costa Rica next week and plans on taking the blanket with her, so, yeah.  Gotta love a real deadline.

 
Other things that have been occupying my time...baking.  I know some of you miss the pies, quite frankly, so do I.  But the best pie (real pie) has butter in the pie crust (especially if it's a shortbread crust...) and I can not imagine eating fake pie crust, which is what I would have to do with my new dairy-free lifestyle. 

I will be honest.  I have missed bake goods.  A lot.  So I finally decided to read up on dairy-free baking, which basically amounts to vegan baking (which I used think was an oxymoron...oh the hubris). 

But thanks to Vegan Cupcakes Takeover the World, there are now baked goods on my menu again.  And they are, delicious.  Who knew?  I just made the "sexy lowfat vanilla cupcakes with fresh berries" last night, and I am not ashamed to admit that I ate one for breakfast this morning.  I guess I might be willing to rethink my stance on the real versus fake pie crust thing...eventually, but I will just stick with the cupcakes for now.  Happiness is a cupcake!

 

sometimes i scare myself, too

 

This picture totally cracks me up.  It really does.

After the success of last year's Travelocity Gnome venture, I knew that anything I put out this year would pale in comparison.  I was never intending to put Little Sir into a commercially produced costume for the Day of Ghoulish Delights; but, when you walk out of the Pirate's Carribean ride at the Magic Kingdom (did I mention that I went to Disney World for a conference earlier this month, well, I did.  I learned about records and then rode rides at Disney amusement parks...look at that, a whole blog post in one sentence) and the costume you were planning to make is staring you in the face (albeit in lower quality fabric), sometimes you just have to go with it.  I am ambitious, not stupid.

 
I had to take up the sleeves and modify the shirt (and by modify I mean reverse and cut off the silly Captain Hook ascot which was ridiculous) and the costume was definitely large on him, but whatever.  It was there, it was what he wanted, he was happy, and I didn't spend countless hours working on a costume that would see two outings.  While some people would suggest I could use this outfit again in the future, let me assure you, that that will never happen, I have plans, y'all.  I mean have you seem my children?  I have my own little theatrical troupe to dress.  Awesome.  I wanted to costume them as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern this year; but, Special K put the kabosh on that as too obscure..."people won't get that."  I suggested that the people who matter would, but then he told me he didn't get it.  So then I suggested the Blues Brothers, there's a skinny one and a fat one--  honestly, I almost wanted to change their names on this blog to Jake and Elwood.  Special K nixed that with, "not too appropriate."  He has a point, it's not like they would ask to be the Blues Brothers (or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for that matter, but how cool would it be if they did, right?).  Oh, well.

After Little Sir kept asking me what my costume was, so I figured I should come up with something.

 
Run children, it's Zombie Mommy.

She'll only eat you if she's hungry though.  Oh, wait, she's always hungry.

 

I hope you had a Happy Halloween (if that's your thing).

what'cha doin'?

 
There's really not a whole lot to see here; but, I was finding my blog silence a little sad, so I thought I'd drop in.  I am in the midst of various and sundry projects in progress and have nothing in the way of finished articles of brilliance to share.  And since there was a time when people who read knitting and craft blogs liked to read about what other knitters (and crafters) were working or how knits were holding up, I thought, "I could do that."

A long time ago, when he was wee, I knit Little Sir a hat to warm his noggin. 

 
This picture is 2.5 years old!!

It was a little big; but, it did its job.  When we got the first big chill in Connecticut earlier this week, we were scrambling around to find things to stay warm and we found his old hat again.  My first thought was to use it on Little Mister's head; but, Sir was having none of it.  It was his and he was going to wear it.  Surprisingly, it fits.  Actually, it fits much better now and he is super excited about it.

He is convinced that his yellow mittens work with the hat as a natty ensemble.  I don't like to argue with him, so I just agreed.

Of course, this means that Little mister is a bit on the hatless side right now.  This makes him sad. I need to do something about his hat situation; but, it would mean covering up his curls, which I am loathe to do.

 
Aside from digging through winter wear to find knits that don't exist (since it takes me forever to finish anything these days), I have been slogging away on my Babette Blanket which got stalled due to yarn shortages. 

 
I grossly underestimated the amount of yarn a crocheted blanket would require.  I think I read somewhere that a crocheted blanket takes 30% more yarn than one that is knit.  I can see why some many crocheters love acrylic, because seriously, I have had to put in two more orders for wool and you know, the natural fibers, they are not inexpensive.

 
I am a little obsessed with crochet right now.  Aside from the amount of yarn required, it's so efficient.  If you are measuring efficiency by time and not resources, I suppose.  The economy of movement required is pretty thrilling too.

 
I am still knitting too, of course.  I started a pair of socks for charity. 

 
It's a plain old stockinette sock.  I am not in love with the way it's turning out, which is probably for the best.  If I liked it too much there would be danger in not wanting to offer it up for charitable purposes.

And then I am still knitting the vest I have spent an inordinate amount of time working on.  You'd think I was knitting a man's sweater for Pete's sake.  Thank goodness for two-hour line waits for flu shots, I guess.

 
So that's what I am about right now, what about you? What'cha doin'?

red silk scrumptious

 

I am not sure if your buying patterns are anything like mine, but I tend to shop in color phases.  There was a two year period where I had a love affair with the color Red.  I threw caution to the wind and bought red yarn, fiber and fabric like it was going out of style, and maybe red was, indeed, going out of style (last year, I heard purple was the new black and I am surely in a Purple phase right now).  In any case, I have a ridiculous amount of red in my fiber and textile stashes.  It's time I used some of it, don't you think?

 

I started this handwoven scarf last October while pregnant with Little Mister.  It sat unfinished for a while because I just couldn't muster the energy to work on it (which is sad, I was so excited to work with a silk warp and silk weft --it's all silk, people).  When getting my craft room in order this summer, I found my Kromski Rigid Heddle with the scarf in progress and finished it in no time at all (I have said it before, weaving goes pretty quickly once the warp has been prepped and installed on the loom).

 

This scarf has been done for a while now.  The truth is, I couldn't figure out what to do with it.  I like it; but, I have a lot of red.  The shawl in my avatar is the same red, and I wear that all the time.  And then I have some really pretty Sundara Sock in Sangria over Garnet (which is, again, the same red for the most part) that wants to be a little shawlette (or something).  And since I am not in a red phase any more, there is such a thing as too much red.

  

So I decided that this would go in my little shoppe.  I guess if it doesn't sell, that might be some sort of cosmic sign that I should keep it for myself (or give it to my mom for Christmas, because you know, red is her color after all).

 

I am going to put the details up for this scarf up in the gallery and ravelry.  I think it's fairly uncommon for many weavers to give this much information for the items that they sell; but, I am not your typical weaver.  I think it fair to offer you the advice in case you want to try it for yourself, that's how we learn, after all.   And if you don't weave or just don't want to weave one for yourself and love this one...well, it's in my shop!  Have a great carfty weekend, everyone!

it's fall y'all

When I was growing up in a part of Florida that is included in the charmingly referred to"Redneck Riviera" (though I prefer the Emerald Coast, myself), people would often joke around about the passing of seasons.  Usually, we had to remind each other that fall was supposedly in the air because the seasons could basically be descibed as, "kinda cold" and "really hot."  I don't remember there being a lot of in-betweens, weather-wise. 

But now that I am a Yankee (that's what my friend Alanna calls me now, it's kind of funny), I have the opportunity to experience the passage of seasons and all the trappings that go with the seasonal changes as they happen in New England.

Aside from being the most colorful and, and in my opinion, the prettiest season, fall is also transitional.  You may not need a huge bulky scarf; but a lacey shawl or scarf made with a touch of wool is nice. 

That's why I like knitting shawls in the summer, I can be wardrobe ready in the fall.  The newest addition to my shawl collection is Percy.  The pattern is a freebie on ravely as well as on the author's blog.   I have no idea why she might it available for free other than kindness, because I would (and I am sure others) would gladly pay for a pattern that produces something so pretty.

I won't say the pattern was easy.  There are people on ravely who have said this, I think they are lying.  The pattern isn't overtly difficult; but, it is not what I would call a piece of cake.  I would not reccomend this to a new lace knitter (if I had chosen this as my first lace projects, I can say with a great degree of certainty that I would have never picked up a lace pattern ever again), there are way easier patterns out there to cut your lace teeth on (Lace Leaf Shawl, Flower Basket Shawl, and of course Ishbel, to name just a few).  The intricate pattern detail requires you to pay attention on the right and the wrong side of the shawl.  Both sides are charted for most of the shawl.  There are a great many nupps to contend with.  You could, I am sure, knit the shawl without the nupps, but I think the nupps really add a lot to this shawl (there was a time I thought nupps were kind of frivolous, but now, I sort of like them).

This shawl is something of a show stopper.  Every time I wear it (and I wear it quite a bit), I am asked (if the person is a knitter) where the pattern can be acquired or (if the person is not a knitter) where I bought the shawl/scarf.  Just this morning someone asked if I would make one for her, because she loved it so much.  And you guys know how I am about good friends asking me to make them things. Sigh. Clearly, I need to start walking around with my fall crafting list upon my person (just as soon as I finish the leftover crafts from the summer, of course).

Specifics on the rav and in the gallery.  Happy fall!

how to win friends and influence people

I suspect that, if Bertha and I were not already friends, she would be very friendly with me after getting this handspun I spun for her.

It took me longer than I would have liked to spin (even longer for the twist to set); but, it's pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself; and, obviously I do.

But wait, there's more!  I spun some of the wool from my friend, Kathy. 

When she gets her own blog, I will link to her.  But for now, I will have to refer back to the post where I dyed 2 pounds of New Zealand perrendale wool at my friend's house.  I wasn't sure that my rudimentary dye job on the roving would look all that great when spun up.  Sometimes it's good to be wrong.  I think this is really pretty.  I am going to add it to my fall knitting pile, I don't know what I am going to do with it yet. I am, of course, open to suggestions.

And I have finished some other projects, here's a sneek peek....

autumn on the horizon

Summer, auf wiedersehen. Bonjour, Autumn.

If there is one thing a contest or giveaway is good for, it's learning that you are not alone in your insanity.  Some of you have some crazy long lists; and, I totally respect that.  My plans for fall seemed ready, and then a friend gave me a request that might push a ton of my fall projects into winter (as opposed to the few projects I was previously expecting).

So I think this is all of the fall knitting that I have planned.  The grey (back left) is some Beaverslide Dy Goods McTaggert Tweed destined to be a sweater.  I have no idea which one since I have changed my mind about the pattern no less than 6 times between taking it out of the cabinet and winding the cakes.  The orange yarn next to the grey is going to be a shawl, very fall, no?  The taupe/brown yarn next to the orange is going to be a Wallaby,  I think it's time that Little Sir had one that was easy care and cotton.  Below that is some dyed Perrendale wool that is going to be spun up and knit into a sweater for Little Mister.  Next to the blue roving and underneath the orange yarn is a sweater that has been in progress since last fall--it needs sleeves, that's doable.  A skein of Cherry Tree Supersock in birches for socks.  Some Louet sport...maybe another sweater for Little Mister, clearly one who gets so happy about fall needs fall sweaters?  And then the single sock with the remainder of sock yarn for a sock that has been mateless for two years.  So sad.

I was all set with the knitting plans; and, then a friend who bought a house in Costa Rica last year asked if I would make two afghans for her new piece of paradise to brighten things up.  Um, how could I say no?  I could not.  So I am going to be crocheting two afghan throws; but, I need to finish them so she can take them along to her new place in November.  So that is likely going to be where my efforts get concentrated first.  I haven't gotten the yarn yet (and can I just freely admit how giddy I am to be ordering new yarn?  It's so exciting to looks at the colors and imagine what the yarn can be turned into!  I wish I could be a personal shopper for yarn types, I would be so good at that.  Really.).

And then there are the quilts.  I wants to make tons, but I have to finish the log cabin quilt. Little Sir is very interested in helping me.  I think the hold up for this quilt is the fact that I decided to quilt it myself, when the sensible solution would be to send it out to a professional quilter with a longarm machine.  But deep down, there is some part of me that wants to be able to say, "oh, quilt a queen-sized quilt, I've done that, it's not so bad."  That is also the part me that I refer to as my naive and stupid side, so there you are.)

And then there is this autumnal stack for a kid's quilt.

And don't even get me started on my weaving plans.  I don't know what they are, but I know I have plans to weave...

In case you were wondering, I wasn't as successful on the summer finishing front, the red scarf is done (needs wet blocking); and, I am super close to finishing the lacey shawl...I should be able to get things from the summer list done this week though (with the exception of the sweater vest, never have I felt so plagued by such a simple project).  I don't feel so bad about it, I had a nice and restful weekend with my boys, and that was where my priorities were for the holiday.

And as for the contest/giveaway, I used a random number generator to "pick" a winner, and that would be Ali who blogs at Skeins Her Way.  Thanks for playing everyone, good luck with finishing your summer projects and getting through your fall knitting list!

and we're off!

                                            above: summer spinning

I know that, technically, there are 17 or 18 days left of summer (for those of us north of the equator); but, I think that I am not alone in thinking that fall pretty much starts afterLabor Day (next Monday, the 7th).  For me, a deadline serves as a strong motivating force to get things done.  I do not quake about deadlines, I welcome them (I hope for them, actually).  So with a minute past midnight, the 8th (day after Labor Day) as my deadline, I have a couple of days to finish a couple of things.  Because, quite frankly, I am way more excited about my fall projects than I am about my summer ones that are sort of languishing.

I have been working on a vest all summer, I already know it's not getting done by Monday, so the vest will be my carry over project to the next season (I only work on it during my lunch hour at work, so it's slow going, but I know it'll get done).  It's the one fall project that I am not particularly excited about.

I have had a red silk scarf on my Kromski rigid heddle loom since last October.  The loom got buried underneath some fabric and batting at some point and it was out of my sight, so it went out of my mind.  I am finishing this scarf if I finish nothing else this weekend.

Actually, I am going to spin this roving for Bertha, even if I finish nothing else this weekend.  Sorry, Bertha, when I said I would post this Friday, I really meant that I would post it to you on Tuesday.

I have two quilts that I would like to finish up, one needs binding and the other needs quilting and binding. 

 

Finish two quilts in a weekend? Totally doable.

 

I have been working on a shawl all summer that needs to be finished, because I am sick of working on it.  I don't really like knitting shawls in laceweight yarn, so I am not really sure why I started this.  It's almost done...32 rows, that's nothing.

Of course, I am going to try to finish this stuff while taking the boys to the beach or some other such nonsense (that is what one does over Labor Day weekend, apparently, that and grill things), and generally having long holiday weekend family fun.  And when I am done with all of that, I am going to read some books.

Yes.  I know.

For those in the US, Happy Labor Day!  May your laboring be fruitful.

And you still have time to enter the contest (it's not really a contest, but, there you are)/givewaway if you haven't already done so.

it's my party and i'll gift if i want to

So yesterday was my third blog birthday (I know I am a day late, I think no one is surpised by this).  It's been a fun three years*, thanks for reading!

To celebrate my blog birthday (or, anniversary, if you'd really rather) I thought it would be a good idea to open a shop.  I did mention that I had a lot of dye, right?  But you are likely see all sorts of crazy things in my shop...sort of like my blog, I suppose.

 

Clearly, this falls under the heading of "things that seemed like a good idea at the time." You guys know that I work full time, so this is definitely a side-venture sort of thing.  I enjoy dyeing wool, spinning it and making various and sundry things with fiber, so this gives me another outlet.  Yay!  I know, the irony of my opening a shop after a series of posts on economy does not escape me either.

In any case, I wanted to let Bertha and Kat know that they will be receiving some "blog birthday" gifts from me.  I really enjoyed finding out what readers most enjoy about my blog, thanks guys!  I will be in touch later today to find out your addresses and to discuss color selection for the handspun with Bertha.  Seriously, no spinners reading last week?!

Since I like celebrating a birthday heartily (I do celebrate for 8 days, afterall) and I still have a third gift to give, I figured that I would still like to gift a reader out there with some fiber, because that's pretty much what I have in my shop right now.  So let's try this again.  I have fiber...free...for a reader, anyone interested?  If you don't spin, I will offer the option of getting handspun instead...see how accomodating I am?

Just leave a comment on THIS post telling me what your fall project list looks like and what your favorite project on that list is.  I am honestly curious.  I have a pretty big list (I know, shocking, right?).  I will share mine if you share yours.  Please leave your comment (let's give you guys more time this time around) by next Monday, September 7th by noon (12:00 pm) EST.  That's a week!  I will randomly select a commenter to receive a braid of roving (colorway your choice) from my shop OR a hank of my handspun (colorway my choice, but something appropriately autumnal).  Sound good?

* And how serendipitous is this: this is my 200th post!