December…

I guess at this point I should put down in writing some goals for the rest of the month. It is almost half over at this point after all. My holiday knitting plans have changed quite a bit over the last couple weeks, so that’s why I’ve been dilly dallying around with putting down some concrete goals. I’ll consider this an “unfinished” list…as I am hoping to have more yarn time in the later part of the month to hopefully get more things done. (HAHA)

• Dish cloths to round out the rest of Dad and April’s Christmas box
• A cowl for Lisa…I think it will be this one but with some modifications
• This adorable little hat for Lisa’s little girl
• I’m going to try to pull off a 2-4 year size of the Flax sweater for Lisa’s son…but I might be a tad over ambitious here
• Progress on my Addition by Subtraction (Ideally I’d like to get it finished…but I’m not counting my chickens)

One of the things I need to focus on after I get these gifts done is to go through and start finishing the various WIPs I have that were started many moons ago, and I haven’t yet frogged because I do still want them. There are only 4 projects which meet this description, but two of them are at stages where they are just boring to work on, so there they sit, as though they were the forgotten step-child.

I also want to go through my yarn and queue/wish list to determine what exactly I want to make in 2019. I’d like to come up with a “Make 9” or a short list if you will as a way to focus my attention for the larger items I want to pull off in the new year. (I had considered coming up with 12 things, one per month, but I quickly reminded myself that at least some of the things…if not most…I want to make are sweaters, and I need to account for those taking longer than just a month.)

In other news, while I was at Serendipity Fibers this past Saturday, the shop owner and I got to talking about how we have all of these random, lonely, single skeins that I am not sure what to do with. I know I want to try to pull of a Find Your Fade next year, so I’ll use some for that, assuming I can get them to transition well. She said that she and another gal that comes into the shop were talking about the same thing recently and were thinking about bringing their single skeins in and doing a swap. She said I should join them, and I jumped on that idea! So, I need to go through my stash and find all of them…some I wont want to swap, but they can help me put together a fade while we’re swapping skeins around. We’re planning on doing that in January, so I have some time…I want to make sure I tag all of the yarn I end up taking with me on Ravelry with a specific tag so that way when I get home from swapping I can easily mark them as traded and add the new babies into my stash.

November Recap

Oh boy, I’ve been slacking off again haven’t I? Well, I guess I’ll catch you up on what I did in November before I start talking about December.

My goals for November were:

1. Finish Uncle Paul’s hat
2. Finish Natalie’s gift
3. Hat for Jay
4. Hat for Roberto
5. Hats for the kids?
6. Comfort Fade Cardi – at least the main body
7. Addition by Subtraction shawl…each row is getting smaller after all

Well, I…um…did some of it?

Natalie’s gift is DONE, I will unfortunately have to wait to talk about that more after she has been given the gift. This probably wont be until January…it will take all of my strength to not cave and give it to her sooner. (It’s that AWESOME!)

I did get Uncle Paul’s hat finished…on December 2nd, but close enough right???

I have not made any of the other hats…and I’ve actually decided to nix 3 of them…just going to do one for Roberto (maybe?) and call the hats good for now.

My Comfort Fade has seen some action, but not much…I separated the sleeves and have managed a couple inches of the body, but other things have gotten in the way. It has become my take along knit for when I go to stitch at Serendipity Fibers on Saturdays.

And the Addition by Subtraction shawl…I don’t believe I touched it AT ALL in November…if I did it wasn’t much.

November Yarn Goals

Okay, first I should say, I did end up setting my October goals to high, but I did get a lot done at the same time. I had originally thoight my Q4 would be separate from my Christmas gifts, but I realized mid-month that I can make the shawl I had planned another time and could actually use Q4 to cover a few gifts instead. So, let’s see, my October goals were:

• Finish the border on the Hue Shift – this is done…wrote another post about it here
• Comfort Fade Cardi – KAL with Serendipity Fibers – started, but not even to where you separate the sleeves
• Put together the 44 pieces of a Christmas present – 28 pieces connected (if I counted correctly)
• Mom’s second part of her Christmas gift – done
• Uncle Paul’s Hat – cast on…but not a lot further

I also made my Halloween costume during October, so yeah, I did get a lot done at least.

November is going to be a busy month for me; I’m going home for Thanksgiving, and it’s my birthday at the end of the month. So, what do I want to focus on… I know I need to work on Christmas gifts, I want to finish my sweater, and maybe even get a wip off my needles. I think I’ll make this list in priority order.

1. Finish Uncle Paul’s hat
2. Finish Natalie’s gift
3. Hat for Jay
4. Hat for Roberto
5. Hats for the kids?
6. Comfort Fade Cardi – at least the main body
7. Addition by Subtraction shawl…each row is getting smaller after all

That seems like a good list, most of those things are small, or mostly done already…I may even get to other less time sensitive Christmas gifts. (Or just stuff for me.)

What are your November yarn goals?

Until next time, happy stitching!

Halloween Costume

So, in the spirit of the holiday tomorrow I thought I would do a quick post about my handmade Halloween Costume. A few weeks ago, while scrolling through Pinterest looking for Halloween Costume ideas I came across this post from Repeat Crafter Me. She had made a cupcake costume originally intended for her daughter to wear, but it ended up being her size.

Picture credit: This is directly from the Repeat Crafter Me blog

I sent this picture to my friends originally as a joke, “what do you think?” And, I was surprised when they all said I should totally make one for myself. That made me get to scheming…I read through the instructions Repeat Crafter Me posted on her blog, and decided I could handle it, and it should be a pretty quick project since it uses super bulky yarn.

The smallest hula hoop I could find was bigger than what she used, but I was on a time crunch. The owner of Serendipity Fibers (in Huntingburg, IN) had some super bulky grey yarn that she was given and would not be able to use or sell and she offered to let me have it. So the grey became my base part of the cupcake, or the paper liner around the bottom as I came to calling it. The grey yarn was bigger/thicker than the called for yarn in the pattern, so it actually worked out since the hula hoop was also bigger. I ended up buying another hank of the grey yarn to get a bit more length but at $5 a pop from Walmart it was definitely not breaking the bank to do that. Looking back I wish I had gotten 2 or 3 more of the grey instead of just 1, but I can always go back and add it on later for next year if I wish.

I really wanted to use the same pink color that Repeat Crafter Me used, but my local craft stores were out of that color, so I opted to go with a nice purple color and used a cream for my sprinkles.

I did change the pattern up a little bit, as I ended up doing the first round of SC for the purple directly onto the “legs” of the grey stitches. Because the grey was twice as thick as the purple I did have as many stitches around the hula hoop, and that left the correct amount of “legs” to SC into for the icing part of the cupcake. I then continued to work in the round, doing about 10 rows of straight SC, then I started decrease rounds, I did two decrease rounds and then one straight round. I decreased 8 stitches on each decrease round. To further avoid seaming, when I was down to I think 48 or 56 stitches (I cannot remember), it was a straight row of SC, that much I do remember. Anyways, on that row I did math to determine what half of the stitches were and then subtracted 8, I SC’d the first half (minus the 8) then chained 8 and skipped 8 stitches, and then did that again. The following round was another round of just SC, and I did 3 more rounds. The CH stitches/skipped stitches left arm holes so I could just pop the costume over my head and be done.

My final step was to add my sprinkles, for some reason it took me a week to find time to add these, and once I sat down to do them it took all of 10 minutes. I think if I do end up adding more length to this I will also pick up another color for sprinkles just to add to the fun.

Now for the reveal of my finished cupcake costume…

I think it turned out pretty cool. It got a debut at a near by campground for their Halloweekends, which I’ve gone to every year for about 9 years now with my friend and her family.

Speaking of her familiy…remember that adorable mermaid tail? Well here’s me and the Little Mermaid from the same day.

I hope you all enjoyed this fun little post.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Hue Shift – The Crocheted Version

I wanted to just take a moment to discuss the Crocheted Version of the Hue Shift Afghan, that is rather popular on Ravelry, and was a Knit-A-Long for the Eat.Sleep.Knit. Yarnathon this year.

I began collecting Mini Skeins of Madelinetosh Vintage through the Eat.Sleep.Knit. Ravelry forum, as myself and fellow customers chose to each buy a skein (or two) and divide it into 10 mini skeins to then be traded amongst each other. Over the span of about a year and a half I was a participant in 10 of these swaps, which meant I had 100 mini skeins, and each and every mini skein was a different colorway. Some of the colors were retired, some are exclusive colors to the Eat.Sleep.Knit. store, and some were newly released colors at the time of their purchase.

As I participated in more of the swaps I had told myself (justified my spending) that I would use these minis to make a “scrap”/colorful blanket. So, when Eat.Sleep.Knit. announced the Hue Shift as their year long knit-a-long I decided that this would be the perfect use for my mini skeins.

I opted to use the crocheted version instead of the knit version as I knew I would have a better chance at actually finishing the blanket before the end of the year since I am a much faster crocheter than I am a knitter.

So, I had all of the colors, but then I had to decide what to use to stripe them, and how I wanted to handle the border. I knew I wanted to stick to Madelinetosh Vintage, so the base was consistent, and I also knew I wanted to make sure that the colors were NOT a duplicate of the 100 mini skeins I’d be using. So I opted for Anter as my cream/white to stripe with the colors, and Tern (a nice medium grey) for the border.

So, once I had all the yarn, (and some to spare), I got down to organizing the colors in the order I wanted them laid out in the blanket, and I wanted to try and keep it as “shifty” as possible. The above picture is how I ended up laying out the colors, with only a couple last minute swaps that happened while I was crocheting the squares. I took the time to write down the order of each row, so I wouldn’t have to worry about keeping them organized.

I went back and forth on how I wanted to go about constructing the blanket. The pattern has you make 4 squares of 25 and then seam them together and add the border. I ended up deciding to start at one corner and just make it as one giant square….based mainly on the fact I had 100 individual colors to work with and not the standard 10 that the pattern is written for.

These pictures show the blanket at various stages of it’s construction….I started the squares on Feburary 21st of this year, and finished my last square on September 25, 2018.

Even though the squares were done; I still had to do the border. When the main part of the blanket was finished the only thing I knew for sure that I wanted to do for the border was to go around the outside edge with the Antler, then figure it out from there.

So, I swatched around a corner of the blanket. Sent the picture above to some friends, and posted it on the Ravelry forum for the KAL and ended up going with the border on the right, but with an extra row of Tern above and below the Antler.

So, final reveal time…

I had wanted to get some pretty outdoor pictures with it, but the weather and my schedule have not been cooperating, so maybe some day.

Since that final picture I have washed the blanket and it has grown a bit…so comfy to snuggle up with!

October 2018 Bullet Journal Set Up

It’s been a while since I’ve shared how I set up my bullet journal, so here goes.

My introduction page. I kept it simple because I’m not much of an artist and I also belive less is more. So, a quick pumpkin doodle and a couple stitckers and it’s good to go.

My calendar for the month. Fairly simple again, just a couple doodles and some more stickers. I added some washi tape along the bottom to fill the white space a bit. I saw another person post their bullet journal with the grey numbers and had to copy it for myself this month. I’ve since filled in my activities for the month and they are easy to read over the numbers.

I got a little bit more creative with my weekly this time. Some arrow doodles, more stickers and it was good to go. While I do like this lay out for to-do lists and activites on a more detailed level, but I think I’ll try something different next week.

I do also plan to actually journal each day between the weekly spreads, and within the journaling I’m going to do a daily doodle and/or calligraphy word.

All stickers pictured are from Happy Cutie Studio, they have so many cute stickers and the shop owner was kind enough to add the little “HOA” stickers to her shop for me. Go check out her stuff, fall down the sticker rabbit hole with me. Hehe

Why hello there October, where have you been hiding?

So, I must admit, fall is my FAVORITE time of year. I am THAT girl, who loves everything pumpkin spice, and wants to wear all of the sweaters and boots I own. I enjoy the crisp air in the mornings (well all day), and I am so ready for that to hit my area in Indiana. SO READY!

In honor of Fall, I am going to gear my plans around the comforts of the season. So that means, sweaters, scarves, hats, ear-warmers, maybe even a finger-less mitt set or two…we’ll see.

Before I move onto October, I want to do a progress update on my September Goals now that the month is coming to a close.

• 25 squares on the Hue Shift Blanket – done!
• Start on the border of the Hue Shift Blanket – first round done!
• Finish all 44 pieces of the Christmas Present for Natalie – done!
• Progress on Addition by Subtraction – still plugging along on part 3, but it’s getting there.

Here’s the current status of my Hue Shift:

All 100 squares, isn’t it glorious!?

Even the kitten approves of the blanket

As a reminder about this blanket. I am using Madelinetosh Vintage in 102 colors. Yes, you read that right 102. Each square is a different color of the Vintage base. No, I did not buy 102 different skeins to make this; as a member of the Ravelry group for Eat.Sleep.Knit. Myself and other patrons of the shop did mini-swaps of the Vintage base. Some of the participants were located outside of the US so that is why I have named my blanket “Around the World in 102 Colors.” So, while each square has a different color, they are all striped with the colorway Antler – a nice neutral cream color. The border will have the colorway Tern (the 102nd color) incorporated; but I haven’t completely decided how yet, so stay tuned for a final reveal post when this blanket is complete. For now I did go all the way around the blanket with one row of the Antler, just to further tie it all together.

Natalie’s Christmas present is coming along nicely. I finished all 44 pieces, whoo hoo! While making the pieces I realized that because of a modification I made to the project (worsted weight instead of fingering weight), there were holes in the motifs that were going to be problematic. So after finishing the 44th piece, I went back and closed up the biggest holes in the 3rd round on each, and every, one of the 44 pieces. While closing the holes does change the look of the motifs a bit, it’s better for the longevity of the finished product once it is handed over to it’s recipient. To see a sneak peak click here.

That’s it really to share with you about September; so onto the October plans.

October Yarn Goals:

• Finish the border on the Hue Shift
• Comfort Fade Cardi – a KAL with Serendipity Fibers (a local yarn store)
• Put together the 44 pieces
  • stuff the creation
  • add the extras
• Eat.Sleep.Knit. 4th Quarter KAL (at least start, but ideally get 50% of the way)
• Uncle Paul’s Christmas Hat
• Mom’s 2nd part of her Christmas Gift
• 3-4 more Christmas gifts

 

I may have set my sights for October a little high, but I have a lot to get accomplished before the Holidays.

What do you have planned for October?

-XOXO, till next time, HandcraftedbyKandi

Experience the Joy of Hand-Dyed Yarn

OMG You guys, I got mentioned in Eat Sleep Knit’s blog post with my So Faded Sweater!!!! I can’t tell you how beyond excited I am, I’m so flattered to have been selected for their post, and among such other wonderful people and projects!

eatsleepknitblog

Our motto has always been Experience the Joy of Hand-Dyed Yarn. Our main goal every day is to do everything we can to bring that joy to you! It’s the reason Lindsay comes in at the crack of dawn and why Jess stares at her computer until her eyes cross. It’s the reason Emily posts too many cats and Kinsey will never forget that an anchor sinks and a buoy floats. And, most importantly, a desire to bring the joy of hand-dyed yarn to you is what made Erin grow a business that started out of her closet into what it is today!

So, while we were recently scrolling through Instagram, we saw some amazingly joyful faces in #eatsleepknit that we would love to share. It’s these awesome photos that make ESK special so keep on sharing, y’all!

We can’t even with these two Aussie BFFs ❤

Can’t every day be…

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Just Keep Stitching…

So, I’ve been a busy little bee this month, but I’ve still managed to get some crafting in.

I’ve been making pieces of the Christmas present for Natalie, I’m up to 12 now, of the 44. It will get more attention this weekend. I have finished the 2nd part of the Addition by Subtraction Shawl and am into the 3rd part, it has been my in public knitting project lately so it’s moving along nicely. I did finish the Crown Wools MKAL shawl…but alas, I have no good pictures of it 😦 I’ll work on that.

I’ve been focusing on my Hue Shift Blanket, as I have realized that I am starting a KAL next month, and will be on vacation for a week in November visiting family for Thanksgiving…so my time for this blanket, which is no longer very portable, is dwindling.

As of last night I have finished 90 squares, and I do think I can finish the last 10 before the end of the month. I’m hoping to even get around to starting the border, but I’m realistic to the fact that probably wont happen.

 

This yarn is a new acquisition from Serendipity Fibers, a kind of local yarn store (it’s only an hour away from me). The shop owner, Melissa, is the sweetest person ever; she helped me figure out the colors and order (and the yarn to use), for the second edition of The Colorblock Scarf. I’m going to swap out one of the stitch patterns (because the Trinity stitch is the DEVIL) and add a couple more to replace the stockinette portions. The yarn in the picture is good for ewe Claddagh, which is from a dyer up in Indianapolis who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting twice now, once at Stitches South when it was in Nashville, TN a couple years ago, and again at Serendipity Fibers a couple months ago. (Seriously the owner/dyer, Paige, is quite the awesome person, buy her yarn…she has good stuff!)

I don’t expect to get started on the scarf until after the holidays, but I’m going to take more detailed notes than I did last time and try to actually get this pattern written up and maybe even publish it?! The thought terrifies me a little, but I figure why not, I’ve done all the hard work of math and stitch patterns, why not share it…eek! So maybe after sample number two is done I will try seeking out test knitters, to catch my mistakes in the pattern, or get feedback on clarity and layout. I’ll have to work up the courage to do that though.

In my last post I made goals for September…I’m going to tweak them now…

September Yarn Goals:

• 15  25 squares on the Hue Shift Blanket – 15 are done!
• Start on the border of the Hue Shift Blanket
• Finish all 44 pieces of the Christmas Present for Natalie – 12 are done 
• Progress on Addition by Subtraction – this has been my in public project this month, part two is finished and I’m a chunk of the way into part three
• Clues 13 and 14 of the Crown Wools MKAL – some day, but not a priority

 

And now one final little note before I leave you to the rest of your day…

This little tiny munchkin is my adorable “niece” (her mommy and I are like sisters, just from different parents). She’s wearing the mermaid tail and clam shell bra I made last month for her hospital picture, this image is just a preview (taken with snapchat) but OMG look at the CUTENESS!

 

– until next time, XOXO, HandcraftedbyKandi

It’s Been A Productive Month

So, it’s not quite yet the end of August, but I am quite pleased with the amount of things I have completed/made progress on during the month. My goals that I set at the beginning of the month were pretty much met, there’s only one that I’m still working on at this point.

The List of August Goals

1. Catch up and stay caught up on the Crown Wools MKAL. – DONE
2. Make baby photo prop. – DONE
3. At least 10 squares on my Hue Shift. – DONE – I actually did 15!
4. Progress on my Addition by Subtraction – DONE, this is the one I’m still working on. I have picked it back up and am still working on it…the section I’m on is just slow going.
5. Start on Natalie’s Christmas Present. – Swatched only. Decided this will be an O.W.L. for the Harry Potter Group on Ravelry.
6. (this was an addition) Make a leaf garland for my cubicle at work. – DONE

I unfortunately don’t have many pictures of my accomplishments. But here’s what I have photographed.

 

So, I’ve been thinking about what I want to get accomplished in September. My ESK projects that I still want to make for the year are mainly hats and the Q4 KAL which will be a shawl. The shawl I cannot start till October 1st to get credit for the KAL, so I may squeeze in a hat or two since they’re quick, but I wont make them part of my goals.

I’m also going to be participating in a KAL for the Comfort Fade Cardi through/with one of the local yarn stores by me, Serendipity Fibers, and that will start in October too, so I want to try to keep my September projects to finishing existing WIPS, as much as I can.

I have completed the shawl part of the Crown Wools MKAL, but when the designer released the clues last week there was a fun surprise twist…2 more clues. It said that the shawl is finished and the other clues are to “complete the ensemble” so I’m anxious to see what that will be, hat? fingerless gloves? I’ll add this to my goals for September, but I’m not going to make it a priority since it would be a new cast on.

What I need to figure out is the breakdown for Natalie’s Christmas present. It has 44 pieces, that will then be assembled together to make the final product. So I think for my sanity’s sake I need to get a majority of the pieces made in September. But how many? I’ll ponder that for now, but the project will definitely be on my September Goal List.

 

So, here’s my list of September goals:

• 15 Squares on the Hue Shift Blanket
• Progress on my Addition by Subtraction Shawl
• XX pieces completed of Natalie’s Christmas Present
• Clues 13 & 14 of the Crown Wools MKAL

I’m leaving the goals somewhat vague, because I’m just not sure how busy September will be, if I get more squares done on the Hue Shift that will only help me in the coming months.

I didn’t specify how much progress on the Addition by Subtraction Shawl, because it’s only going to get faster as I go, the rows are constantly getting shorter. I would love to finish the 2nd part, but any progress is better than none.

The XX for the pieces of the Christmas present is due to my inability to decide how many I need to get done. The rules for the Harry Potter group on O.W.L.s is that you make your proposal in the first month (September), hit 50% by the second month (October) and finish it in the third month (November). If I get my proposal done and approved early on, I can get my 50% turned in early on in October – freeing up the rest of October for the other two big projects I know will need my attention.