Mossy Scarf

I have been keeping plenty busy since the craft fair, which was mildly successful for me. I certainly did better than I did the last time I participated (by a long shot!), but for the amount of time and effort that I put in preparing for it all, it didn't really balance out.

However, because I posted on Facebook for every hat/cowl/scarf I knitted for the craft fair, I stirred up a lot of interest, starting with my friends, in the selling of what I create. I have been in the process of conferring with the legal office on base to get my etsy shop running while we still live in Germany, but it has been slow moving and frustrating.

In the meantime, though, I have had quite a few people contact me for commissioned projects. One of those commission customers prefers scarves to cowls, and she loved the Mossy Slouch set that I had written up, so I now have a third pattern of the same look to share with you!

Mossy Scarf

Materials Needed:

 

Size US 15/10mm needles to knit in the round

150 yards of bulky yarn

 

Tapestry needle to weave in ends

Cast on 15 stitches

Row 1: Sl st purlwise, *k1tbl, p1tbl,* 6 times; k1tbl, k1

Row 2: Sl st purlwise, *p1tbl, k1tbl,* 6 times; p1tbl, k1

Row 3: Sl st purlwise, *k1tbl, p1tbl,* 6 times; k1tbl, k1

Row 4: Sl st purlwise, *p1, k1* across

Repeat Row 4 until 50"/127cm from cast on edge (or until desired length, which will require more yarn)

Repeat Rows 1 and 2, casting off in pattern with Row 3.

Weave in ends and block as desired.  

The selling of projects resulting in use of this pattern is permitted, but please don't sell the pattern itself, and always provide the link/URL to the pattern where you sell it so others can enjoy crafting as well!  

And now there is third piece in the set to match with the Slouchy Moss Hat and Mossy Cowl! :D 

Happy knitting!

Mossy Cowl

Since the last time I blogged, I have continued preparing for the upcoming craft fair...which is in 3 days!!! I'm quickly running short on time! I'm in the process of staining a couple of boxes I found at Toom (a German hardware store) that I will be setting up for a jewelry display. I found the inspiration from Pinterest in which a pinner used wine boxes/crates. I'm excited to see how it turns out!

I've also managed to knit up a couple garter stitch scarves with some ribbon-like yarn and large needles and a heart tam.

On top of that, I've come up with a pattern to make a cowl that matches my Slouchy Moss Hat! I love that it looks good both with matching the same color and mixing and matching the colors. :)

 So for the second time in a week, I present you with a new pattern. :D

The Mossy Cowl

Materials Needed:

Size US 15/10mm needles to knit in the round
80-100 yards of bulky-super bulky yarn

Tapestry needle to weave in ends

Stitchmarker to mark the beginning of the round

CO 52 with long tail cast on

Rows 1-4: *k1tbl, p1* repeat from * to * around

Row 5: *p1, k1* repeat from * to * around

Row 6: *k1, p1* repeat from * to * around

Repeat rows 5-6 eleven times, for a total of 24 rows. Repeat row 5 once more.

Repeat rows 1-4, then bind off.Use a tapestry needle to weave in ends

Block as desired.

And now you have a matching set to keep you warm through the rest of the winter! :D Happy knitting!

The selling of projects resulting in use of this pattern is permitted, but please don't sell the pattern itself, and always provide the link/URL to the pattern where you sell it so others can enjoy crafting as well!  

Slouchy Moss

I have been knitting up a storm over here in Germany! I had a job for a while there (which is part of my reason for my extended blogging lull this time around) that began in October and ended January 18th. I was actually pretty disappointed to be leaving. I really liked the people I worked with, had a good time, and felt great doing something outside of housework that I got constant recognition for what I did. (Not to mention my own paycheck to have some spending money of my own...which pretty much all went to Christmas presents...) But more about that later! For now, I am focusing on gearing up for the upcoming Spangdahlem Air Base Craft Fair!!!

The plan at this point is to share a table with my friend, Jessica of The MOMster Shop, and hopefully sell a lot of stuff! :D I have been knitting hats nearly nonstop since I signed up last week, and I think I may actually be pretty prepared.

I bought some yarn when I was down at Ramstein this past weekend for my girl's weekend with Elphie, but was unaware that what I purchased was not the chunky I had thought it was (I had been using bulky mostly), but super bulky. So instead of using those to make more of the hats that I have been cranking out, I decided to throw together something of my own. (Disclaimer: As this is made from a very common and basic stitch, I'm pretty sure there is a hat similar to this out there somewhere, but this one I wrote out and knit myself.) So without further ado, I give you....

The Slouchy Moss Hat

Materials Needed:

Size US 13/9mm needles to knit in the round

Size US 17/12mm needles to knit in the round

80-100 yards of bulky-super bulky yarn
Tapestry needle to weave in ends

Stitchmarker to mark the beginning of the round

With size US 13/9mm needles, CO 48 with long tail cast on

Rows 1-5: *k1tbl, p1* repeat from * to * around
Change to size US 17/12mm needles

Row 6: *p1, k1* repeat from * to * around

Row 7: *k1, p1* repeat from * to * around

Repeat rows 6-7 until the moss stitch section of the hat measures 7"

Decreases:

Row 1: *p1, k1, p1, k1, p2tog* repeat * to * around

Row 2: *k1, p1, k1, p2tog* repeat * to * around

Row 3: *p1, k1, p2tog* repeat * to * around

Row 4: *k1, p2tog* repeat * to * around

Row 5: k2tog around       

Cut long tail and use tapestry needle to sew remaining 8 stitches closed and weave in ends

Block as desired.

And you get a slouch hat! :D Pretty simple, right? I like the way it looks!

The selling of projects resulting in use of this pattern is permitted, but please don't sell the pattern itself, and always provide the link/URL to the pattern where you sell it so others can enjoy crafting as well!  

Summer time!

Wow! I have been incredibly busy! Ever since the field trip I chaperoned for Batman's class to the Butterfly Gardens in Luxembourg, I have been hopping!

On Memorial Day, we had the Songes up and had a cookout and I got to spend time with Kristin, hanging out in my craft room and dyeing yarn, along with just playing with yarn in general. :)

The following Monday, I got to join a bunch of the other Kindergarten parents and help with cutting out cardboard wings for the "Fly Away" ceremony we had for Batman's Kindergarten class. (The school doesn't do an actual Kindergarten graduation.) It was nice to chat with them and talk about travel and my love of Paris with them. :)

That Wednesday I went in and helped out Batman's teacher with the kids decorating their wings for said ceremony. They were so creative and fun!
That Friday was Field Day for the boys. Batman had a blast and participated in all the events with extra enthusiasm. Superman, however, was a different story. He was in a rotten mood and only would play in about half the events.

Superman bouncing on a ball

Batman under the parachute!

The Monday after that, I was supposed to be chaperoning Superman's class's nature walk, but due to rain, it was postponed a day.

He did well overall...especially considering how long the walk was! (He should not have worn a long-sleeved shirt! LOL) That afternoon, I took cupcakes in to Batman's class, since he has a summer birthday. That Wednesday was Batman's "Fly Away" from Kindergarten, and it was awesome to get to see all the kids and their parents getting together to celebrate all the kids had accomplished. I also had Batman give his teacher and teacher's aide their gifts, which I handmade for them.

The next day was the boys' last day of school. Between Wednesday and Thursday, Superman was able to give the gifts I hand knit for his teacher, in class aide, the counselor that has been working with him, and the Occupational Therapist he was seeing on a weekly basis.

That Saturday, Elphie came up with her boys and they stayed overnight. The following Tuesday, the boys and I came down to her house so that we could sign Batman and her two sons up for swim lessons! The boys and I ended up staying through Sunday and I had a few girls nights with Elphie and Kristin. :)

We went home for a couple days, but then came back down on Tuesday, as that was when the swim lessons began. And that brings us to today! Swim lessons got cancelled tonight due to lightening, but it should be back to swimming as normal tomorrow. :)

Blogging Lull

I'm not sure why, but it hasn't really seemed like I have much to blog about lately...or rather, nothing more than a couple lines and a photo...so I've skipped over blogging it altogether! Maybe if I start blogging about something, the rest will fall into place...

I still haven't finished blogging about Paris, and haven't posted a single thing about Torie's wedding in September (maybe I can get to it this next week?), but I think I kept up pretty well with blogging over the holidays and the trips we took while my mom was here. (Speaking of, here is a photo of the thimbles I got while doing said traveling; there's one from Trier and one from Frankfurt.)

Oh! And I also haven't yet shared the newest addition to our household! No, it's not a baby (though a close friend of mine just had one on Tuesday!), and no, it's not an animal (in the same house as my boys?! HA!). It's a "roommate" of my craft room! (No spiders this time, I promise!) Her name is Charlotte!

Charlotte wearing my hat from Paris, Ravenclaw earrings (made by me), and the purple Luna scarf (made by me)

I bought her to model the neck wear, head wear, and earrings I make. Sadly, though, there are a few things I made recently I could have used her to model, but forgot about using her until I'd already given them away! LOL

And in that vein, here are some of the things I've recently finished, project-wise!

Triangular Scarflette I made as a last-minute decision for a friend's birthday

*PHOTOS TAKEN BY MISHA* A Hat for Emily for Elphie's husband; I made adjustments to accommodate a size larger than youth, and also made it reversible by picking up the stitches along the edge of the hat and knitting the lining

The fingerless mitts I made for The Instigator as a gift for our anniversary, complete with the logo from Zelda

And for those that pay attention to my Ravelry projects in the sidebar of my blog...you wouldn't have even known what I was knitting for these entries! These were super secret projects that I made as gifts for Kristin and Elphaba for Christmas! :D

The capelet I made for Kristin

*PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA* The sleeved mantelet I made for Elphie

And I love my gifts from them (which I will post photos of next time)! :D :D :D They were very fitting!

In other non-knitting, non-holiday related news, Superman (who is showing signs of being Bizarro today!) lost his two front teeth almost 2 weeks ago!

And now I cannot really think of anything else to say...it seems as though my blogging steam didn't pick up today after all. (Of course, that's likely due to the fact that I'm being distracted by the boys being home from school today, doing laundry, and watching Big Bang Theory...) So I think I'll leave it here for now. :)

Productive Day!

Whew! I was on a roll today! Whatever was bogging me down the past few weeks seems to have finally lifted, and after sleeping pretty much all day yesterday, I had a lot to make up for today! Then again, it could also be that it was kick started by The Instigator buying me this:

It's a wireless adapter for my desktop computer, as my PC doesn't have a wireless card in it. Which means....I was able to move my computer and desk into my craft room!!!!! I made the move just last night, and I am already ecstatic about it all! I also moved some more things from the old craft room downstairs to the new/current one on the main level of the house (the one that used to be the boys' toy room...until I booted them out of it and moved their toys upstairs to take over the space!). So today I was pretty busy setting up some of the stuff and organizing a bit...plus doing the everyday things like laundry and dishes and vacuuming and sweeping...

While on my little breaks from the cleaning, I worked on knitting on a Super Secret Christmas present (which I finished, and it is now blocking!), and browsed the Web. Shocker, right? Well, on Pinterest, I came across this nifty little tutorial on turning cereal boxes into magazine holders! So I gave it a go and did decoupage for the first time ever and came out with a perfect storing place for my recent comic book collection.

I'm pretty excited about it, and can't wait for the boys to finish off more cereal so I can make more for my knitting magazines! LOL

I also made a couple buttons for said Secret Knitting Project, which means playing with Sculpey for the first time since I moved from Italy (over a year ago)! That being said...I definitely am still not used to my non-gas oven! LOL (Though I definitely prefer it not gas!) Here are the buttons as they're baking:

All in all...a very productive day! I only have a couple more days to get ready for my mom's visit!!!

Gettin' My Craft On!

So I have been home from the States for over a month, and I still haven't blogged about my BFF's wedding, nor have I finished blogging about my trip to Paris with Elphie, not to say mentioning my amazing birthday weekend! But I will get there, I promise. And those are not just empty words. I just have...issues...with finding a balance. There tends to be a lot of extreme behaviors one way, and then the complete opposite (and many times back and forth a time or two more!) before I get back into my "groove." And the past few months have been anything but regular!

And in the "extreme behavior" toward the negative, for a week or two, I was completely ensconced in the silly Facebook games. Frontierville/Pioneer Trail, Mafia Wars 2, Cafe World...all that crap. It was like a trance I couldn't be pulled out of. But Monday, I finally reached a decision that I had been mulling over. I decided to stop playing them. All of them. (Well, okay, I still have Words with Friends and Scrabble, but those only take, like, 2 minutes to make your move and then you wait on your opponent to go. No big.) And in the time that I have not been playing those time-sucking games, I have done the following:

Completed the WestKnits Mystery KAL:

Started and completed a stitchmarker Lariat:

Started and completed a pair of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Wristers:

 

Started and completed a hat for The Instigator's aunt:

Made my own mitten blockers:

Blocked the Bella mittens for Tara:

 Baked a batch of zucchini muffins and 2 loaves of zucchini bread (this is all that was left of the muffins after 24 hours...they were completely gone in less than 48! LOL):

Started and completed a cowl (for trading for an apron from a fellow crafter!):

Finally finished a blanket to donate to a patient of Nephrotic Syndrome 

that has been a long time in coming!:

And have done some super-top-secret HSKS swappy items. Plus,that's to say nothing of finally getting my crafting supplies slowly migrating upstairs to my new craft room (used to be the boys' toy room, but we moved those upstairs to the large closet and their bedroom), catching up on housework, participating in running a knitting swap, and actually cooking meals! I have really been on fire! LOL I'm really hoping that this is less of a swing of the pendulum in the productive segment of my balance and more of a trend leading to habit. :) I guess only time will tell, but all in all, not bad for a week's worth of effort. :)

The Last Spangdahlem Craft Fair

So before we were given our date to leave Italy, I was supposed to participate in a fair/bazaar that the base craft store put on. I worked on things to sell at my booth for some time. At least a month, maybe two. Unfortunately, it got rained out, and when they re-scheduled it, it was set for shortly after we left. I was a bit disappointed, to say the least.

Not long after getting to Germany, though, I heard that the craft store on our itty-bitty base was going to have a craft fair. We hadn't really settled in yet, but I went as a customer, and found some super cute stuff! And when one of the people that runs the craft shop mentioned that there was going to be another one in a couple of months, I knew that it was my shot to participate in one after all. I was excited! It took a little bit longer than I expected to fall into place, but in reality, had it happened before it did, I would not have been prepared. (I'd been too busy planning and going on trips! LOL) And this was only going to be the first of many...there was talk of it becoming a regular thing.

But that got shot down really fast.

I won't go into all the details (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to or not...), but suffice it to say that the agreement between the U.S. military and Germany forbid us to have small businesses unless we adhere to their stipulations. And these stipulations not only make it difficult to run any sort of small business, but make it hardly worth the effort to try and be an entrepreneur. As a result, the first craft fair I was able to participate in will also be the last, at least for the time that we're living here. I'm also not allowed to run an online Etsy or Artfire shop.

On the plus side, I did get to have my booth out front where it was cooler (we had the air circulation from the front doors while the vendors further in did not) and where the people that came by had to walk by us as they were both entering and leaving the fair. And on top of that, the ladies who had the booths in the same area as me were quite pleasant! It was nice to get to sit and chat about crafting (the ladies that were beside me and across from me both had sewing goods, and the lady that was caddy-corner from me was mainly advertising the beading class she is offering on base in the fall and had some of her bead work out on display and she also knits and crochets...same as me!) and military life. It's nice to get to connect with other military spouses and other crafters all at once! :D

Another bonus was that Misha and her husband and their boys drove all the way up to see and support me! :D It was so awesome of them! They were then able to meet up with The Instigator and my boys and go bowling.

While it was my first time participating in any sort of bazaar (and will be the last for some time), I did also learn a few tips about presentation that will come in handy for the time when I can participate in another one!

Playing catch up!

Goodness me! I think I'm done with traveling...just for a little bit! Between London, soon followed by Brussels and a great Memorial Day weekend, I am beat! And I don't have the time to be lackadaisical, either!

I've got my first craft fair/bazaar coming up this Saturday that I still need to organize myself for. Evidently, this will be the last one they hold (at least for this base) because of political, fine print mumbo jumbo that irritates me to no end.


I've also managed to complete the soaker skirty!!! :D HOORAY!!!!!!!!

It only took me a month and a half (when it should have taken me less than a week!), but I finially completed it! And it will likely be the first of many. I purchased the seller's version of the pattern (which means it came with a cottage license) so that I can make these to sell online! Hooray! The rest of them will definitely go a LOT smoother and faster, now that I understand the construction of the pattern and such. :)

After I finish with the craft fair, I'll need to work hard on the onesie/romper for little Anja (who will be arriving before I know it!), followed by a birthday gift for Misha (which has already been dubbed "The Elphaba Sweater") and a gift for the mother of the bride for my BFF's wedding day in September!!!

I guess that means I'd better get cracking! I promise that a post about Brussels and this past weekend is in the works, but it will have to wait for now...

Back to the world of yarn...

I have been neglecting my crafting sorely as of late! Between travel and meetings at A's school and reading and keeping house, the needles and hooks have been too far distant from my fingers. I didn't even finish the third Ravenclaw hat in time for the visit to Platform 9 3/4 like I had planned to, months in advance! As it was, Kristin had to borrow Misha's for this photo:

(PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA)

KRISTIN AT PLATFORM 9 3/4

You can tell that it doesn't fit her head as it should, seeing as how I knit different sizes for Kristin and Misha. The group picture of us was supposed to have all 3 of us wearing the hats, but alas, only two had been completed. So that was the number 1 priority on my Knit List upon returning from England. I am happy to say that as of last night (since I've done next to no crafting at all since getting back before yesterday!), it is complete!

THE COMPLETED HAT TRIO!

Next up is finishing this soaker/skirty that I've been commissioned to make that stalled out with the rest of the crafting freeze...

Also, while I am going to be out again this weekend (Belgium on Saturday and down at Ramstein on Sunday!), I still have a craft fair on base to prepare for! It's less than a week and a half away, and fast approaching!

Baby-palooza!

Wow! I recently finished a Tiramisu Baby Blanket (complete with matching booties, mitts and a hat) for my sister-in-law to give as a gift to one of her pregnant professors. (She really only asked me to make a blanket, but I got a little carried away...LOL) And now a good friend from high school is now pregnant! I am so very excited! I've had an itch to make baby items (beyond what I'm donating to Stitches from the Heart...I like the personal feel of giving it to someone I actually know, every now and again), and she's giving me the perfect opportunity! I already went to Knit Picks and ordered yarn for Baby Cissell's things (even though she's not even due until November! LOL), but am a bit on-the-fence about what pattern to go with...I guess it's a good thing I've got some time! I was so excited, however, that I had to make something right off, and what better to make than a hat? It's super quick and easy and is very instant gratification! :) I got to try out a pattern from a friend (CelticMommy's Rib-Wrapped Baby Hat) while I was at it, and use some of the leftover yarn from the previous baby set I so recently finished!

Maybe it was just the fiber content, or maybe the hook size and yarn weight combination, but I wasn't all to pleased with the gaping holes or how little the fpdc's stood out from the rest of the hat. So I tried again with heavier yarn (that was 100% acrylic, as opposed to the 75% cotton/25% acrylic blend in the first hat), and played around a little with some color variation.

Yep, this pattern is good stuff. :) I'll definitely be making more of them!!!