Shawl Haul

When I'm knitting, I get into these kicks. I will knit similar items for months.  One year EVERYBODY I knew got socks for Christmas.  Couldn't knit enough socks.  Right now it's shawls.  I love shawls.  Big, small, chunky, lace weight, triangular, rectangular, half circle.  Stripes, solids, variegated, beaded.  There is a shawl out there for every type of knitter.  My favorite kind to wear are shawls bordering on scarves- shawlettes or scarflettes.

After I updated my Ravelry project page, I noticed that I had cranked out 4 shawls in 35 days.  Whoa!

Name: I've Got Nothing Else to Knit!

Pattern: Hitchhiker by Martina Behm

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight.

Colorway: Bag Lady

Yardage: 380 yards

Days it took to knit: 11

View more photos and my modifications
on my Ravelry page.

Name: Green Thing

Pattern: Charlize by Vanessa Smith

Yarn: Pagewood Farm Chugiak Hand Dyed Sock Yarn

Colorway: Maple Leaf

Yardage: 450 yards

Days it took to knit: 7

View more photos and my modifications
on my Ravelry page.

Name: Candy Striper

Pattern: Betiko by Lee Meredith

Yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball

Colorway: Cranberry 

Yardage: 459 yards

Yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball

Colorway: Schatten

Yardage: 184 yards

Days it took to knit: 15 

View more photos and my modifications
on my Ravelry page.

Name: Slugasana Scarf

Pattern: Effin Scarf by Loretta McCollough

Yarn: Feza Yarns Alp Natural

Colorway: 714

Yardage: 231 yards

Days it took to knit: 2

View more photos and my modifications
on my Ravelry page.

Halloween 2011

 Another Halloween!  Most people think of their year in terms of January through December.  I measure mine from Halloween to Halloween.  You can see last years post here.

 This year I had two costumes.  My sister in law, Shelsea had her birthday earlier this week so we went out dancing.  I went as Pippi Longstocking and she was Batgirl!

For trick or treating, I went as Raggedy Anne, my husband went as Waldo's doppelganger, Bailey wanted to be "a vampire so scary it scares me" (his words, not mine) and Silas was Yoda.

I got my Raggedy Anne costume from Nobody's Baby (Facebook link).  They're a local vintage shop that also rents costumes.  They're amazing.  I found the Waldo shirt at Old Navy on clearance.  Since it's grey and red we thought he would be one of the many Waldo doppelgangers that you find in the book.  Close, but no cigar sort of thing.  I knit his hat with some worsted wool yarn I had in just a couple of hours. Glasses and cane came from Nobody's Baby.

Bailey's vampire costume was easy.  We had the suit and he borrowed the cape from a friend.  We gave him some scary make-up.

Silas' Yoda costume was a lot of fun.  I used the Felted Baby Yoda Hat by Sunshyne Leland.  I made his robe out of fleece just sort of making it up as I went along.

Our pumpkins.

Happy Halloween!  See you next year!

Bailey turns 5!

My oldest son Bailey turned 5 years old!  I've compiled my favorite photos of him from the past year- one from every month going back to his birthday last year. 

Bailey on his fifth birthday.

Bailey on his fourth birthday.

Inspired by Katie Aaberg.

Holo Glitter Frankenpolish

Did you know you can make your own nail polish color?  Take an empty bottle, mix colors together and there you go!  There's a huge community of nail enthusiasts who make their own polish.  It's called frankenpolish or frankening.  Today I made a holographic glitter nail polish.

I bought this holo glitter for $2.99.  Called Glitz by Fantasy Makers owned by Wet N Wild.  The best time to find this stuff is during Halloween so get yours now!  I also bought Sinful Colors Wet Glaze for $1.99.  It's just a clear top coat.

I made a funnel with some paper and poured about a third of the holo glitter into the clear polish.  A quarter of the bottle would have been sufficient but when it comes to glitter I go balls out.

Mix it up really well and viola!  The glitter will settle to the bottom during storage so just make sure to shake it up before you use it.

Nails taken in shade.  Pointer finger has one coat.  Middle finger has two coats.  Ring finger has one coat over Wet N Wild Wild Shine Black Creme.  Pinky finger has two coats of glitter over black.

Nails taken in direct sunlight.  Now I've got an amazing glitter top coat for less than $5 and I have a bunch of glitter left to make more.  Maybe I'll add glitter to a creme polish next.

Thai Laab Dinner

Summer is coming to an end and this is one of my favorite summer meals.  Quick and easy too!  My neighbor is from Thailand and she makes this dish quite a lot.  Laab or larb.  She shared it with me a few years ago and we make it nearly as often as she does.  Sweet, tangy and refreshing.  I love this meal.

-1 lb. ground pork or turkey
-1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
-juice from one lime
-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
-3 tablespoons chopped mint
-1 large shallot, sliced
-1 teaspoon chili oil
-1 tablespoon roasted chili paste

-cooked rice
-a couple heads of romaine hearts, washed

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat chili oil and add shallots.  Cook for a few minutes until soft.

Add ground pork or turkey, cook until browned.  Drain grease, stir in chili paste.  Remove from heat.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix fish sauce, lime juice, cilantro and mint together.

Stir in cooked meat.

Peel a few leaves off the the romaine hearts.  Add some rice and top with laab.  Fold up and eat like a taco.

 Serve with thai ice tea!

Eugene Celebration Parade 2011

This past weekend was the Eugene Celebration and my yarn bombing group decided to march in the parade on Saturday!

We created an Octoscarf using donated sweaters and we all knit while we marched.  Sandra and Lillian held up our banner that we also created using scraps from the sweaters.  And Kacy with Rowan and David (our two yarn bombers in training) helped pull our big "yarn bomb" along with extra supplies.

photos by Melissa Mankins.

I had so much fun and even did an interview for KMTR while I was marching (and knitting.)

Later that evening we got called down to accept our award for runner up for Judge's Knows Best.  That's awesome!

Please visit  The Knotty Knitters blog
to read more about it.

Mayhem Giveaway

It's my first freebie giveaway! Today this blog has reached over 10,000 hits. In the grand scheme of thing, that's nothing. But for me, it's huge! Since a lot of the hits came from my tutorial on Kool Aid ice cube yarn I thought I would give away that same yarn!

How do you enter?

1- Follow this blog if you haven't already.

2- Leave a comment on this post.

If you do those two things, I'll enter your name for a chance to win my Summer Popsicle yarn. For greater odds, post this competition on your blog or tumblr (just let me know where and follow me on tumblr). I'll enter your name twice.

Sorry!  This contest has now been closed and the yarn has been gifted.  Thanks to everyone who entered.  Continue to follow me for a chance to win more prizes in the future!

Yarn details:

Name: Summer Popsicle

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian Highland Wool

Weight: Bulky

Yards: 137 yards

Pick Your Own Swap

My favorite group on Ravelry, Knit Knack often holds knitting swaps or exchanges. Usually there's a theme and a designated dollar amount and you're given a partner. You knit and find goodies for them based on their preferences and within the theme.

The most recent swap I hosted called Pick Your Own Swap swap. This time, each person got to pick their own individual swap theme and not explain or define it in anyway. That way whoever was their partner had to interpret the theme however they wished.

The theme that I chose was Recycled/Upcycled/Secondhand. I was lucky enough to get Kim aka Chickenlady. She wrote in the note that everything but the yarn and the pattern had come from her- wasn't bought. That's exactly what I wanted! She gifted me a book on knitting and felting, beautiful yarn and a pattern to knit a cowl with them (can't wait!), little owl note cards (the Knit Knackers logo is an owl), pumpkin decorations and a haunted house with candles. My family is a little bit obsessed with Halloween. I love these goodies!

The main project is a fabric scrap crocheted rug! It's amazing. The colors are perfect and the construction is great! I've always wanted a rug like this but never got around to making one. Thanks Kim!

In this same swap, the person who I had to knit for was Mary aka SeaHagMary. The theme she picked was Twin Peaks. I embroidered a wall hanging dedicated to that Twin Peaks cherry pie. I gifted her some amazing local coffee from Wandering Goat and some good Oregon chocolate as well. I sent her an owl pin and my husband helped me make her buttons out of a log (branch) from a tree in our backyard.

Lastly, I knitted her fingerless mitts based on the design of the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks. I'll have the pattern for the mitts up shortly. Edit: Mitt pattern now available here.

This was such a fun swap! Can't wait for the next one!

Stitch N Pitch

...beer, balls and babes.

Last Friday night our local yarn shop, Soft Horizon Fibres hosted their annual Stitch N Pitch. A bunch of knitters get together at a baseball game and knit. Most cities hold one, look for one in your area! This game the Eugene Emeralds played against the Tri-City Devils and we won! It was also Star Wars night!

Kelsey and I got our photo with Chewbacca!

The Knotty Knitters enjoying the game.

We, The Rebels were winning right from the get go!

Prince Puckler ice cream in a baseball hat cup.

Fireworks were displayed after the game.