Happy Fall Days

The leaves are falling and Flagstaff is a burst of oranges, yellows and reds! Beautiful!

I finished my Shaelyn Shawl! I am very pleased with it. It needs to be blocked of course (what else is new?) but I really liked how it turned out. It was fun to watch it grow to its full size as I bound off. I used the sewn bind off which takes absolutely forever but is very very pretty and allowed the shawl to  stretch and keep the waves that were designed into it. Now all I need is blocking. Ugh I have so so many things to block but no place to block them and not the right kind of ventilation to do it. So everything is remaining unblocked. So lets add Shaelyn to the TBB list (To Be Blocked).

The yarn for Mike's sweater came!!! Yay! I had to buy a whole bag since it was a special order, which was a hit to my wallet and my heart but I am excited that I will be able to make this great sweater for my wonderful man. I keep dreaming about our semester abroad next semester and in particular I want to visit Ireland and have Mike wear this sweater in Ireland. Why? I don't really know. The tweed and the garter accents on the sweater (see my last post for what it looks like) remind me of what I have seen of pictures of Ireland. So I casted on and am working on the body now!

Yesterday was the two color knitting class, I really enjoyed it and the technique was very interesting to learn. I finished the project which reinforced the technique, a snowflake hat! I have always wanted to make a snowflake hat so now I finally have one! Now I am going to make mittens to match. Never made mittens before but I have heard they are easy to do. Great snowflake hat and best of all, no floaties on the inside from excess yarn!

So I currently have one project actually on the needles and one project to be cast on imminently. The next project I have in mind is a blanket! Something to work on since it is starting to get cold here. After spending only about a minute looking I found the perfect pattern!

This blanket pattern is called Umaro by Jared Flood.

This is a very pretty pattern. Simple and classy but interesting enough to keep me busy and not bored. It is worked up in Super Bulky yarn and big needles so it will go semi quickly. In order to save money because blankets require a lot of yarn I am going to use Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in the color Fisherman, which is a light cream color. I am planning on buying the yarn soon and starting!

Fall is continuing here in Flagstaff and I am getting excited for snow and cuddle weather with the love of my life. Recently we just hit a year and 4 months. I feel like I have been with him forever but at the same time the time we have been together has flown by. We had a great weekend at NAU homecoming game and we are getting excited for Halloween this weekend! There is nothing like a college Halloween and Mike and I have great costumes ready to go! I will tell all about it with pictures next post!

Thanks for reading,
Laura

"Winter is Coming" and the Ridiculous Sweater Curse

We have been getting a little taste of the weather that Flagstaff is known for. We have had some rain and some crazy thunderstorms. To quote Game of Thrones... "Winter is coming". Winter in Flagstaff is idillic, unless you are trying to get to class in a snowstorm. Which happens a lot... BUT it is so beautiful every time you look out your window it takes your breath away. We have had some wonderful sunny and mild weather lately, very unlike the endless monsoons we experienced last year.

Another thing we have been tasting is our own cooking! This year we have kitchens and no meal plans, which means that we have been trying tons of different recipes! Cooks Illustrated "The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook". They have tons of great recipes in perfect quantities for two people.

Knitting. Since getting to Flagstaff I have been knitting up a storm!! With a lot of inspiration and support from our great Friday knitting group I have been going strong.

After 2 years of having my Hermione Hearts Ron Scarf in a drawer, I finally finished it! It was so satisfying to finish this scarf. I have always loved the pattern and the yarn but have just had everything else take more of a priority. So excited to have this project finished and ready to be blocked.

For the first time maybe ever, I only have one project going. ONE. My beautiful Shaelyn shawl which is growing bigger and bigger is my only project right now. The shawl is as beautiful as it is frustrating. A couple times now I have been happily knitting away counting my 11 stitches of lace repeat over and over again only to reach the end of the row and not have the right number of stitches or no stitches. Which means there was a mistake made... somewhere. SO I have to rip out back to the lifeline I (hopefully) put in. Ugh. But the great thing is that the product is pretty wonderful. This shawl is both feminine and classic.

As usual I am on the prowl for a new pattern to make, because obviously just having one won't do! This brings us to the portion of this post about "The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater". 

For those of you who do not know, there is a supposed "curse" that if you make a boyfriend a sweater, you will break up soon after. Well... I am going to make Mike a sweater for Christmas/whenever I finish it. I know that there are many horror stories about the boyfriend sweater, but I am going to defy it. Mike is a knitter so he knows how much time and love goes into a sweater so I know he will really appreciate it. We looked at patterns together and decided on Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood. This is a really popular men's sweater that is manly and attractive. 

brooklyntweed's Cobblestone

He is in love with tweed yarn right now and I have to say I have never made anything bigger than a hat for a man before and I am loving tweed too! He wants something in between white and brown, so I am basically going to call what he wants Oatmeal colored. And it must be tweed.

Toquesaround's Cobblestone Pullover Redux

The sweater made by a fellow knitter on Ravelry is pretty much exactly what he wants. He wants this sweater in this color. It helps that Toquesaround did such a great job! So I have been looking on Ravelry to find the perfect tweed in the perfect color. Which is way harder than it sounds. Every time I found the perfect yarn, it has been discontinued. I am going to make it out of Plymouth Encore Tweed in the color way Granola (which is really an dark oatmeal color as shown in the picture below). People say that you "knit your love into every stitch". That is completely true for me, and I know that Mike will see my love in every stitch, "curse" be damned. 

Guess what? I am going to learn something new! I have been knitting for 7 years now and done a lot of various types of projects. One thing I have always wanted to learn is how to Fair Isle. Fair Isle is scary. It looks great but there are a bunch of little strings that feet all caught up, the fabric it knits up is very stiff and mostly it is just plain scary. Today at work I was looking at the calendar with all of the classes and knit alongs that Purl in the Pines offers and I saw a class for two color knitting. One of the lovely instructors at Purl in the Pines is teaching a class on how to do two color knitting (fair isle) way more easily. We will be holding the yarn in both hands and weaving in as we go along. I have always wanted to make a snowflake hat and that is the project for this class! Yay! So that is on October 25th and I am very excited to be a part of it.

It's my birthday next weekend! I am going to be 19 years old! Lucky for me I am going home for the weekend next weekend to go on a scrapbook retreat in the mountains with my mom, aunt and our two good family friends. So that is going to be very very fun and it is next weekend! I can't wait to see my mom and be back in California, even for just the weekend.

The iPhone 6 has come out and it is mine! I just switched to Verizon from Virgin Mobile and with that I upgraded my phone from a iPhone 4S to an iPhone 6! I feel so spoiled and happy! Hehe new things are always very fun. :)

As for another update lets talk about socks. My last socks post was about me trying to figure out what sock pattern to make. That was exactly what I was going to do, until the 2-at-a-time socks by Melissa Morgan-Oaks came in the mail. I am going to use this book to learn the technique for two at a time socks. Included are some free patterns that correspond to the technique. I really like the idea of using the book and the pattern in it to learn the technique before moving on to using the technique to make a different pattern. So I have decided to make the Spice socks but without the fair isle on top and without the contrasting color on the toe and heel. I really do want to make these socks again in a different yarn with the original decorative designs but I do not think these decorative designs would lend themselves well to the mini mochi yarn due to its highly variegated nature. I am also going to add a picot stitch top to make them a little more feminine.

ikumi's Melissa's Fairisle Socks

klouhi's Rosymantic

It should be interesting to see how the process of learning the two at a time socks will be! I am planning on buying the needle for this sock project on Wednesday and hopefully ordering the yarn for Mike's sweater!

Exciting new warm fuzzy projects for what is on the way.

"Winter is coming"

Living in a Yarn World

What is the best job for a knitter? Working at a yarn shop duh.

Yay! I got a job! A little job for a 8 hours a week organizing yarn. Basically it is perfect. I get to play with yarn and get paid for it! Yay! I am a happy happy girl with my new job and guess what... new projects!

I finished my Greyhaven Cowl that I made out of Madelinetosh Baltic. You can see the project on Ravelry here.

I loved making this cowl. It went quickly and the pattern is easy to read and understand. If you are thinking about using the Madelinetosh for any project, I say go for it! It is not as soft as I thought it would be but the color way more than makes up for that. The rich colors are interesting and vibrant. Greyhaven was a great project and the yarn was a dream.

Every Friday Mike and I go to Purl in the Pines (Flagstaff's amazing yarn shop and location of my new job) and attend a stitch n sit. It is a great time to get things done, chat with fellow knitters and be inspired to do new things. Every lady in my group has talked about the greatness of shawls. Having never made one, I went to look at Ravelry patterns and fell in love!

I fell in love with a lace shawl named Shaelyn. Having only one project going that is almost done (my Hermione Hearts Ron Scarf) and being still too nervous to start my two at a time socks, I decided to make this beautiful shawl!

wolletron's A mutant in May

bethanyh's Shaelyn

Yay! I am making it in Frog Tree Alpaca Sport in a dark grey color. 

This shawl will be great for California summer nights when all you need is a light shawl to pull over your shoulders.

I have made a step toward my new socks! I bought the two at a time socks book used from amazon, so it should be here within a few weeks! After I get the book, then most likely I will start the socks. 

CHRISTMAS IS IN 3 MONTHS. 

Most people don't think about Christmas presents in September... well knitters have to. I have done a fair amount of Ravelry stalking trying to find gifts for my family and Mike's family. I finally have them all figured out. So as I am working on big projects (shawl & socks) I am also knitting little things like coasters, dishcloths, headbands and bookmarks. Sadly I still haven't figured out Mike's gift... isn't that always how it is! Everyone else is easy to figure out but first of all, men are hard to shop for and second of all, the people closest to you are hard to shop for. So I still have not figured it out. Ugh. Well I still have 3 months but I have to get going on that. 

Well well I should go stop blogging and do some studying. Can I change my major to knitting? Sadly I don't think I can do that. Darn. 

Jumping for Joy

Hey there everyone!

In the past week or so since I have posted the pattern for the Hermione Hearts Ron Inspired Scarf, the views of my blog (and the pattern) have gone up a ton! Yay! It means so much to me as a designer when people like my patterns and I can't wait to see where the good people of Ravelry's creativity takes them.

As for me, I have been working on my own Hermione Hearts Ron Scarf, determined to finish the skein of yarn I am working with, therefore completing the scarf.

Life hasn't been too terribly exciting! Just the usual of school, relaxing and enjoying college life!

I just wanted to express my gratitude for those who are interested in my designs, thank you and I hope you enjoy the pattern!

Hermione Hearts Ron Inspired Scarf

If you loved the Hermione Hearts Ron hat pattern by Christy Aylesworth and were looking for a pretty scarf pattern to match, here it is! After making the hat I kept thinking how nice it would be to have a scarf to match, since the pattern Christy created with the cables and lace look was so beautiful. I added a garter stitch border to prevent curling with ribbing on the ends to compliment the ribbing on the hat. I hope you enjoy my scarf pattern inspired by the Hermione Hearts Ron Hat pattern by Christy Aylesworth, found here.

Materials:
The Fibre Company Road to China Light (color way shown is Lapis)
Size 5 Needles
Your own amazing talent!

Abbreviations:
P2tog = Purl 2 together
YO = Yarn Over
C3F = Slip 3 onto cable, hold in front, K3, K3 from needle

CO 36 stitches

Work 10 rows of K1, P1 ribbing

Row 1: K4, *K6, P5 repeat from * until last 4 sts, K4
Row 2: Knit like stitches
Row 3: K4, *K6, P1, YO, P2tog, P2 repeat from * until last 4sts, K4
Row 4: Knit like stitches
Row 5: K4, *K6, P2, YO, P2tog, P1, repeat from * until last 4 sts, K4
Row 6: Knit like stitches
Row 7: K4, *K6, P3, YO, P2tog, repeat from * until last 4 sts, K4
Row 8: Knit like stitches
Row 9: K4, *C3F, P5, C3F, P5, C3F repeat from * until last 4 sts, K4
Row 10: Knit like stitches

Repeat these rows until desired length is achieved, ending on Row 10.

Work 10 rows of K1, P1 ribbing

BO loosely in rib

Notes: I LOVE The Fibre Company Road to China Light. It is soft and the color variations are beautiful. Also, if you follow my blog you will know that I have fallen in love with the cabeling without a cable needle technique. For this pattern it speeds it up so much more than when using a cable needle. It really is not that scary or difficult of a technique and it pays off time wise! The best tutorial I have found is here. If you are interested in this technique I highly recommend it, I actually wish someone had enlightened me long ago! If not, this pattern lends itself really well to practicing simple cables and simple lace yarn overs. This pattern is a good one for beginners who want to try lace and cables for the first time. For those seasoned knitters who just want a beautiful scarf pattern, this is a great way to learn a cool new cable trick! I hope you enjoy this pattern that compliments Hermione Hearts Ron hat pattern.

Alicante, Spain

Hello loyal readers, I have some exciting news! Mike and I are going to be spending this upcoming semester in Alicante, Spain!

Alicante is a beautiful city settled on the Mediterranean Sea in the South-East of Spain.

Mike and I will be leaving this January and returning this June for our semester abroad. We will be living with host families and studying at the University of Alicante. I am so excited for this journey, and even though it is still a few months away, I wanted to let all of you know this exciting news!

We are currently in the process of applying for visas (which is actually very complicated and scary) and waiting to hear about our housing placements.

We are very excited and can't wait for this upcoming semester.

Out with the Old, in with the New!

Now this is something that may not happen again... TWO projects finished in ONE week!

Yes you read that right, I finished both my Rocky Coast Cardigan AND my Hourglass Rib socks!

Thanks to my new favorite activity Sit and Stitch at Purl in the Pines in Flagstaff every Friday, I have become even more motivated in my knitting! All that is left for me to do is block both my socks and my sweater! It is hard to block in a college apartment though... there is very little space, and also I do not have the resources (pins and such). 

Here are a few pictures of the finished projects, although not many. I have been sick this week (hence all the knitting took place in bed while sick) so sometime soon after blocking everything I will go and take a lot of pictures to show you how they turned out!

At this week's stitch and sit, I casted on to the Greyhaven Cowl, which has been in my favorites forever, with my dream yarn Madelinetosh Baltic. 

This yarn EXCEEDED my expectations, the color way is amazing. It looks like a jewel. So sooooo gorgeous. 

I think this cowl will go quickly and after the many time intensive projects I have been doing, I am excited for an instant gratification knit. This cowl is going to be so beautiful with the great jewel tone colors. 

I am so excited for my new project and I will keep you updated as usual!