The original post is here and as always, details on Ravelry.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Photos of Stockinette Stitch Shawl
There was too much giggling and general merriment during the shenanigans that better photos were not taken as planned. You'll just have to deal with these that don't do the finished project justice at all.
The original post is here and as always, details on Ravelry.
The original post is here and as always, details on Ravelry.
Successful Shenanigans
Where to begin...and what to post... about the epic events of Sheep and Shenanigans Weekend 2011...
Too much fun was had by all, the details of which would take up tens of thousands of words here on the blog. Instead, just a few photos from the sheep dog demonstration to share...
No yarn purchases for me again this year, though I couldn't resist a purple lamb stuffed with lavender...
...and two more mead kits from The Bee Folks.
And I received a wonderful gift from the Queen - titled, "Moonstruck".
There was also plenty of food and drink and fun with mustaches...
There was also lots of creativity that didn't involve yarn...
At the end of the fabulous weekend together, everyone was as tired and happy as this little guy...
Who knows what next year will be like - or even where next year will be. There's been talk of moving the shenanigans to another location or another time of year. Regardless of when it is or where it is, I have no doubt it will be EPIC!
Too much fun was had by all, the details of which would take up tens of thousands of words here on the blog. Instead, just a few photos from the sheep dog demonstration to share...
No yarn purchases for me again this year, though I couldn't resist a purple lamb stuffed with lavender...
...and two more mead kits from The Bee Folks.
And I received a wonderful gift from the Queen - titled, "Moonstruck".
There was also plenty of food and drink and fun with mustaches...
There was also lots of creativity that didn't involve yarn...
At the end of the fabulous weekend together, everyone was as tired and happy as this little guy...
Who knows what next year will be like - or even where next year will be. There's been talk of moving the shenanigans to another location or another time of year. Regardless of when it is or where it is, I have no doubt it will be EPIC!
Monday, June 20, 2011
In Memoriam
The crochet and knitting world lost a legend last week. I feel fortunate to have met Jean at last year's CGOA conference. She will be dearly missed by me and so many, many others.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
I Blinked...
...and the month of May was here and gone.
When I last left the blogosphere, it was the eve of Sheep and Shenanigans 2011. The weekend was epic and I had such keen ideas on blogging about it. But the week and weekend following were busy. And busy turned into busier and the number of posts I wanted to post grew and grew through the month.
And now it's June.
So - I'll try to catch up with a few posts about May happenings and not leave June adventures in the dark. Better late than never, right?
Stay tuned...
When I last left the blogosphere, it was the eve of Sheep and Shenanigans 2011. The weekend was epic and I had such keen ideas on blogging about it. But the week and weekend following were busy. And busy turned into busier and the number of posts I wanted to post grew and grew through the month.
And now it's June.
So - I'll try to catch up with a few posts about May happenings and not leave June adventures in the dark. Better late than never, right?
Stay tuned...
Thursday, May 5, 2011
SHENANIGANS!!!
The shenanigans begin today when my girls arrive this evening. The house is cleaned, the shopping done, and now just food prep and trying to keep my excitement at bay are all that's left to do.
While the blog will be quiet this weekend, I will try to have some fun mobile updates on my Twitter account. Check it out here. I make no promises to the quality or quantity of posts but I will try my best.
Until next week - CHERRS!
While the blog will be quiet this weekend, I will try to have some fun mobile updates on my Twitter account. Check it out here. I make no promises to the quality or quantity of posts but I will try my best.
Until next week - CHERRS!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Completed Project: Blanket for the Mistress
During this welcome lull in making baby blankets, I've been able to stitch like crazy to complete some grown-up blankets. Here is the second one for another chosen sister, Beth-la.
It's nine skeins of Lion Brand Homespun in beautiful blues. As always, details on Ravelry.
She'll be picking this up in person in a week. A WEEK!!! Yes, Sheep and Shenanigans is only a week away!!! So many preparations to be made! But I also must finish the final blanket of the trio, the one belonging to the Queen.
I can't wait to see my girls!
It's nine skeins of Lion Brand Homespun in beautiful blues. As always, details on Ravelry.
She'll be picking this up in person in a week. A WEEK!!! Yes, Sheep and Shenanigans is only a week away!!! So many preparations to be made! But I also must finish the final blanket of the trio, the one belonging to the Queen.
I can't wait to see my girls!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Completed Project - Stockinette Stitch Shawl
It's finally done! And I love it!
Not only did this take me over a year to finish, the yarn itself is some beautiful boucle I bought at my very first trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in 2006 - yes, FIVE years ago! But I now have a wonderful wrap in beautiful shades of reds and oranges.
So where are the pictures, you ask?
Well, I haven't been able to take a decent photo of the shawl. The angles were wrong, the placement was wrong, the lighting was wrong. A handful of photos taken and nothing worth saving or posting. So I'm going to publicly ask my dear friend Perches to assist me in a couple of weeks. Her photography is beautiful as you can see on her blog.
What do you say, lady? I'll barter with you - some photos in exchange for an extra helping of pierogies? :)
I learned three important lessons from making this shawl -
1) Working on a big monotonous project goes much better and faster if you just work on a little bit every day or every once in a while. I was able to get this shawl finished over the last month by working on it during lunch each day. It was amazing how much progress I made without focusing on the daunting challenge of finishing it.
2) I have really got to get knitting terms straight in my head. I thought it was garter stitch but it was actually stockinette stitch. D'oh!
The last one may be more of reinforcing behavior rather than a lesson...
3) It's okay to buy yarn you absolutely love even if you have no idea how the heck you're going to use it. You will find the right pattern someday.
Not only did this take me over a year to finish, the yarn itself is some beautiful boucle I bought at my very first trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in 2006 - yes, FIVE years ago! But I now have a wonderful wrap in beautiful shades of reds and oranges.
So where are the pictures, you ask?
Well, I haven't been able to take a decent photo of the shawl. The angles were wrong, the placement was wrong, the lighting was wrong. A handful of photos taken and nothing worth saving or posting. So I'm going to publicly ask my dear friend Perches to assist me in a couple of weeks. Her photography is beautiful as you can see on her blog.
What do you say, lady? I'll barter with you - some photos in exchange for an extra helping of pierogies? :)
I learned three important lessons from making this shawl -
1) Working on a big monotonous project goes much better and faster if you just work on a little bit every day or every once in a while. I was able to get this shawl finished over the last month by working on it during lunch each day. It was amazing how much progress I made without focusing on the daunting challenge of finishing it.
2) I have really got to get knitting terms straight in my head. I thought it was garter stitch but it was actually stockinette stitch. D'oh!
The last one may be more of reinforcing behavior rather than a lesson...
3) It's okay to buy yarn you absolutely love even if you have no idea how the heck you're going to use it. You will find the right pattern someday.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
A Weekend of Lovely Things
This weekend included such lovely things, including a few that I can cross off my list.
On Friday, Sean and I attended a concert by one of Sean's most favorite artists, Orla Fallon from Celtic Woman fame. The seats we had were amazing and the meet and greet afterwards was wonderful. She's one of the nicest celebrities I've ever met in person.
An added bonus to the evening was discovering a new band, Tin Cup Gypsy. They were the opening act as well as the backup musicians for Orla. I had never found an opening act to be very good - HAD being the important word here. They started their first song and I was immediately smitten. Beautiful harmonization, thoughtful lyrics, amazing vocals, and gorgeous melodies. I've been listening to their CD non-stop, I love it so. (Yes, I am the crazy girl rocking out in her car while stuck in traffic on the beltway.) They were also super nice when we met them at the end of the performance. Cassandra in the band makes her own jewelry so there's a crafty side to the band, too. Seriously - go check out some music samples.
On Saturday, a visit with my chosen sister and little nephew brightened the day. We invited over some other friends to join us for dinner so there were five adults, two toddlers, a baby and one very excited dog in the house. It was deliriously fun chaos from which Seamus is still recuperating. There was also CAKE!
Perches' birthday would not go uncelebrated during her visit so a new recipe was tried. This is Stout Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream frosting from Bon Appetit's Dessert cookbook. The name of the recipe comes from the fun ingredient - BEER! Instead of Guinness, I opted for Rogue Brewery's Chocolate Stout as a way to include more chocolate in the recipe. I modified the frosting a little to make it fluffier and a tad bit sweeter. It still needs work as I didn't love the consistency or the flavor. Maybe using milk chocolate instead of bittersweet chocolate next time? And I highly suggest making this cake in square pans. It was too difficult to cut a small piece from the round cake. Smaller square slices would be much better considering how ridiculously rich the cake was.
And when will this be made again? In just a few short weeks for Sheep and Shenanigans 2011!!!!
But back to this past weekend...
On Sunday, there was bacon, eggs and french toast for breakfast. There was also a quick crochet lesson about crocheting in the round. In the afternoon, there was nap time, more chocolate cake, and a lesson on crocheting a puff stitch. Such a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.
It turns out it was a wonderful weekend for two good friends. One welcomed a baby boy into the world and another got engaged!
How wonderful was your weekend?
On Friday, Sean and I attended a concert by one of Sean's most favorite artists, Orla Fallon from Celtic Woman fame. The seats we had were amazing and the meet and greet afterwards was wonderful. She's one of the nicest celebrities I've ever met in person.
An added bonus to the evening was discovering a new band, Tin Cup Gypsy. They were the opening act as well as the backup musicians for Orla. I had never found an opening act to be very good - HAD being the important word here. They started their first song and I was immediately smitten. Beautiful harmonization, thoughtful lyrics, amazing vocals, and gorgeous melodies. I've been listening to their CD non-stop, I love it so. (Yes, I am the crazy girl rocking out in her car while stuck in traffic on the beltway.) They were also super nice when we met them at the end of the performance. Cassandra in the band makes her own jewelry so there's a crafty side to the band, too. Seriously - go check out some music samples.
On Saturday, a visit with my chosen sister and little nephew brightened the day. We invited over some other friends to join us for dinner so there were five adults, two toddlers, a baby and one very excited dog in the house. It was deliriously fun chaos from which Seamus is still recuperating. There was also CAKE!
Perches' birthday would not go uncelebrated during her visit so a new recipe was tried. This is Stout Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream frosting from Bon Appetit's Dessert cookbook. The name of the recipe comes from the fun ingredient - BEER! Instead of Guinness, I opted for Rogue Brewery's Chocolate Stout as a way to include more chocolate in the recipe. I modified the frosting a little to make it fluffier and a tad bit sweeter. It still needs work as I didn't love the consistency or the flavor. Maybe using milk chocolate instead of bittersweet chocolate next time? And I highly suggest making this cake in square pans. It was too difficult to cut a small piece from the round cake. Smaller square slices would be much better considering how ridiculously rich the cake was.
And when will this be made again? In just a few short weeks for Sheep and Shenanigans 2011!!!!
But back to this past weekend...
On Sunday, there was bacon, eggs and french toast for breakfast. There was also a quick crochet lesson about crocheting in the round. In the afternoon, there was nap time, more chocolate cake, and a lesson on crocheting a puff stitch. Such a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.
It turns out it was a wonderful weekend for two good friends. One welcomed a baby boy into the world and another got engaged!
How wonderful was your weekend?
Monday, April 4, 2011
Remembered
Turns out the mystery plant isn't lambs ear...it's the forgotten forget-me-nots.
Beautiful blue surprises for a Monday!
Beautiful blue surprises for a Monday!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Completed Project: Perches' Socks
Ten months in the making - and finally, one of the three blankets is done!
As always, details on Ravelry.
So why the title? Because Perches requested a pair of socks instead of a blanket, thinking the blanket would be too much work. I'll make her socks someday, but this year it was to be blankets for my girls. I've got two more blankets to finish - 3 skeins a piece to crochet. There's a comfy chair in the craft room with my name on it.
As always, details on Ravelry.
So why the title? Because Perches requested a pair of socks instead of a blanket, thinking the blanket would be too much work. I'll make her socks someday, but this year it was to be blankets for my girls. I've got two more blankets to finish - 3 skeins a piece to crochet. There's a comfy chair in the craft room with my name on it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)