Inside Out Cowl

Even though its the  middle of summer and over 90 almost everyday here in Chicago I know that in no time at all it will be crisp and cool. I've kind of become obsessed with the cowl in the past year so this pattern has been on my list for a few months now. The original is knit in a soft baby alpaca yarn and it has a wonderful drape and hang to it. When I was in Joanns a few days ago I stumbled upon a wonderful shade of blue in an eco wool (made partly out of post consumer recycle materials). When I came home I decided to get cracking on this:

The pattern calls for you to purl for ten rows and then knit two but I'm too lazy to purl for that many so I knit it inside out. As I was working on it I realized, hey I could wear this either way.

Inside!

or out!

and in the case of windy weather, it will make a great hood. 

serious business. seriously. 

I have a sneaking suspicion that as cute as this is it may make its way onto someones holiday gift list. That decision might also be influenced by two skeins of a beautiful light blue I also bought and really, I could use an even longer hood, this is Chicago after all.

That Girl Knit Along

I was in knitting class the other night when one of my compatriots had a copy of this pattern from Craftzine. Once I saw the cuteness of That Girl Jacket I knew I was hooked, the fact that it was knit with knit picks CotLin just sweetened the deal. When I saw they were doing it as a knit along I knew I was IN.  I picked up a lovely dark blue color, planetarium to be exact and got started.

 It looks like its going to be a quick knit and I can't wait to be wearing this sweet puppy around town.

I heart packages

With the arrival of my knit picks package last week I now have quite a few projects ready to get started on. Let's take a look!

I picked this sassy teal:

For the Traverse City Tube Top by The Sweat Shop of Love

I can see myself lounging pool side in this beautiful pattern in no time at all.

I also picked up some adorable pink yarn for these ruffled knit toe up socks.

Twin Cities Socks

Also an original Sweat Shop of Love design. I just can't stand the cuteness of these. They are going to look so great peaking out of my shoes in the fall. The deal is just sweetened that they are named after the twin cities. One of my true loves, Minneapolis.

Both of these come from the Sweat Shop of Loves Summer Tour Ebook. It's a steel at $18 for 10 patterns each one more adorable than the last. I'm really looking forward to sporting all my sweet designs.

I've love the way that both of the teal and the pink compliment each other.

I realized that I've made a very similar purchase reccently.

Such cute colors! Such cute glasses!

I also got some great sock yarn for a Christmas present.

I'm starting to check things off my list already! It feels great to be so productive.

Blankets Galore!

Continuing with my blanket trend I've been working on my husbands blanket as well. I originally started it as a blanket for my mom but when he gave me the pouty face and told me I never make him anything it quickly morphed into a blanket for our house.

Originally I just started with the teal and green squares

my mamas power colors.

but when I realized it would reside in our house I knew it needed a little something more so I added the red and yellow squares to alternate with.

much more exciting.

I decided to add the white borders to allow the colors to really pop out more and I'll use the white to connect them all together as well. I'm very excitted with how its looking so far and I only have a two or three more rows to go before I start putting it all together. 

Again, I know I'm going to feel like killing myself when I have to weave in all those ends but I'm always in such a rush to start the next one. Not too shabby for learning to crochet a month ago.

Nautical Nights

I just couldn't help myself and started on a new project already. My sweater is still sitting snugly in the corner just waiting for me to pick up and start it again. Unfortunately I think I've knit the sleeves too long. So I'm getting a second opinion tonight and we'll see if I have to frog a few inches. Either way I've got a great new project taking up some space in my mind.

My mother in law is a huge fan of light houses. So much so that when she took a trip to main with my husband when he was 14 they took a light house tour of the state. This lead my husband to hate lighthouses- even the mention of them and continued to fuel my mother in laws love of their nautical presence. Combining her love of the nautical with her love of home furnishings I've decided to make her a crocheted blanket for Christmas.

I have to admit I gave myself a little pat on the back for starting my Christmas list so early this year. Hopefully there will be very little last minuet frantic knitting on my behalf. A stark contrast to last year as I knit 4 hats in the airport during our 6 hour delay on Christmas Eve. But, this year- it's a whole new ball game. I've got lists and charts and all kinds of motivation. It is going to be spectacular.

I know that I'm going to hate myself for not weaving in all those ends as I go but for now I'm riding the wave of my out of school, sunshine, summer motivation. Here's hoping that I can translate that to my dollar and a half cardigan and finish it by next week.

 

Sweater Progress

It is amazing to me that I have managed to turn this

into this

I only have about 5 more inches to knit on the body. At the recommendation of Allyson I cast on the back and the two sides together. It eliminates the need to seem the body together (I hate seeming) and also ensures that my patterns are continuous (as I am also very bad at counting rows). I love the ease of just knitting one big piece and think I will use this method quite a bit in the future.

The sleeves I am knitting simultaneously again at Allyson's recommendation, shes full of such useful tips and tricks!

I have about 5 more inches to knit on these and then the shaping for the tops takes place.

After the few inches I have left for the body and the selves I just have to go through and knit the front panel with button holes and attach my fabric covered buttons. I've already found the cutest material for my buttons.

It has little squirrels and foxes on it. Adorable detail and I love the way it looks with my creme brulee color. It's going to be hard not to make more projects out of this color I just love it!

I had my last day of summer school classes yesterday and I only have two more weeks of online classes so I should be able to find lots of time to finish this baby up quickly. I can't wait to wear it around! I have a feeling it is going to be a staple in my wardrobe this fall.

Ikea

Taking advantage of a borrowed car the husband and I decided to take a little trek out to Ikea this evening.

Our trip allowed me to turn my yarn/craft corner from this:

Into this:

It was great, I got to pull out and look at all the yarn I've been stashing recently. I was surprised at how little I had once I put it all away and it wasn't overflowing all over the place. Now the hard part will be resiting more yarn shopping now that I know I have the room. Luckily I have an order coming in from Knit Picks any day now.

Another really great feature of my new shelves is that I can sort not only my yarns out but I have space for finishing projects and in progress projects. I have a set of granny squares that I'm making up for a blanket for the husband and they haven't been so cute stuffed into my shopping totes.

Much cuter option.

I'm so excited to be organizing and sorting, its going to make starting and finishing projects so much easier!

baby patch

Throughout this last week the weather in Chicago has been steamy and beautiful. I have to admit that I have been spending most of the time stuck inside in air conditioning but I did manage to pull together a little picnic with my friend Madelyn on Friday morning.

It was great to get together and chat and knit. I'm still slogging away on my sweater, updates to follow soon.  I did manage to take a little break to make this adorable baby hat for one on my co-workers.

She saw an eggplant hat on a baby last winter and couldn't get it out of her head. She found this pattern and asked if I could knit it up for her. It was a quick project and so cute when it was finished. I just hope that it fits the cute little baby head it was meant for. I don't see a lot of infant heads in my daily life so I kind of had to guesstimate the size a little bit. I hope it all works out, I can just imagine how cute its going to be on a bald little baby head.

The last month and half of summer will hopefully be a little less crazy then the beginning and I'm hoping that there will be more time for backyard picnics, relaxing and of course knitting. Every day would be a great day if I could just sit down and relax with one of these: