Knitting Frenzy

Completed

1. A new drink cozy for the shop.

2. Part 1 of the knit-a-long is finished. The big reveal is coming soon!

Working On

1. January cowl

2. Dog sweater

3. Infinity necklace

Starting Soon

1. Temperature journal.

2. Wonder Woman fingerless gloves and golden lasso necklace.

3. A new cowl for the shop.

What's in my bag?

Yesterday I went out walking to run all my errands so I could get some great analog time in. I packed up my bag with all the necessities, hung my camera round my neck and went on my way.

1. One of my 'working on' projects: a never ending i-cord necklace / scarf.
2. My sheep wallet full of the basic errand-running necessities.
3. An extra roll of film for the lubitel.
4. January's planner: in case I'm struck with inspiration at some point (though I did forget a pen so I'm not sure how much the planner would have helped)
5. A good audiobook playing in my ear to keep me company while I walked around.

And there's Buffy!

Recipe: Banana Monkey Bread

Banana Monkey Bread for Two

1-3 bananas (depending on how much you love bananas - I used 2, but kind of wish I'd used 3)

1 pack of biscuits (10-pack)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix cinnamon and sugar.

Cut biscuits into quarters and slice bananas. Coat biscuit pieces and bananas with cinnamon sugar.

Grease small oven-safe serving dishes. Arrange biscuits and bananas in dishes.

Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Pour over biscuits.

Bake monkey bread in oven preheated to 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Pattern: Camera Strap

There's Buffy!

Camera Strap

{Materials}

2 skeins of worsted weight acrylic - I chose a light blue and a variegated dark blue yarn

US 5 straight needles

yarn needle

{Gauge}

4 sts x 7 rows = 1" in moss stitch

{Dictionary}

CO - cast on

St st - stockinette stitch - knit right side rows, purl wrong side rows

K - knit

M1 - make 1 stitch

mss st - moss stitch - K1, P1 across every row

SSK - slip, slip, knit - slip next 2 stitches knitwise separately, knit stitches together through back of loop

K2tog - knit next 2 stitches together

BO - bind off

sts - stitches

{Directions}

CO 3 sts

Starting with right side row, St st 8 rows

Next row: K1, M1, K to last st, M1, K1

St st 3 rows

Next row: K1, M1, K to last st, M1, K1

St st 3 rows

Next row: K1, M1, K to last st, M1, K1

St st 6 rows

Mss st until piece measures 30" from beginning of moss stitch

St st 6 rows

Next row: SSK, K to last 2 sts, K2tog

St st 3 rows

Next row: SSK, K to last 2 sts, K2tog

St st 3 rows

Next row: SSK K to last 2 sts, K2tog

St st 8 rows

BO

Attach camera strap to camera using the tails and a yarn needle and weave in ends.

Saturday's Simple: Sketchbook Love

I love packages from online friends.

I received this sketchbook a few years ago. It's filled with beautiful sketches by the very talented Candace Breakell. These are some of my favorites.

Hoot List: The Geek in Me.

Knitting // This wonderful knitted frog dissection is stunning.

Etsy // The colors of this solar system print are just perfect.

Art // The Adipose have got to be the cutest Dr. Who villains to date.

Style // I want to tote my new camera around in the field bag.

Food // Mmmmmm... spice of the month club.

Owl // I want to send out notes of love with these precious Harry Potter origami cards.

Weekend Plans

1. Celebrate geekdom. This weekend I'm setting aside 11 hours to watch Dr. Who in the order of River Song's timeline. I'm so excited, even though I'll have to redo this when the new season releases on Netflix.

2. Organize more yarn. I'm going to tackle one more basket of yarn this weekend. I'll maybe have two more baskets after this one. But it looks like some of it is quite a tangled mess.

3. Make candy. I've tried it once, but to no avail. It's time to sit down and tackle this project.

4. Set up February journal. It's time to plan out my blog posts schedule for February. I can't believe I've almost finished one whole month!

5. Do some much needed painting. I have some old mushroom tiles that need a good coating of varnish to protect them and a poor looking table top that needs a fresh coat of paint to spice it up.

Knitting Frenzy

Completed

1. Camera strap
2. Bookmark

3. Bookmark

Working On

1. Part 1 of mystery knit-a-long

2. Dog sweater

3. Felix the Cat slippers

Starting Soon

1. Temperature journal

2. Drink cozy

3. January cowl

Life Lately

Watching // A lot of British TV shows. Lately, I just can't help myself. It started with Dr. Who, then on to Torchwood, now it's Being Human. Admittedly, I'm not as interested in Being Human as the others, but it fills the void for British TV. Does anyone have any other recommendations for brilliant British TV shows?

Listening to // The Thrilling Adventure Hour! If you haven't heard America's favorite new-time podcast in the style of old-time radio, you need to go look it up right now and give it a listen. It's so fantastic, that Martin and I have agreed to go see it live if we're ever in Hollywood.

Excited about // Being done with training and getting to work. After a full week of training (sitting in a back room watching videos for hours on end), I finally get to be behind the counter of the front desk!

Baking // A tasty treat for you. I made a great batch of special monkey bread the other day. It came out so utterly delicious and perfect that I have to share with all of you! And I'm working on making candy as well - this of course will be the second go around at it.

The Collector: The Journals

Over the years I have collected quite a large number of journals / activity books. I'm not sure why I'm so drawn to all sorts of journals, but every time I enter a book shop (or peruse Amazon) my first stop is always the journals.

Some have been left untouched - like my museum journal to record the various museums I planned to visit when I lived in Dallas, but a move back home got in the way. Now I'm in a tiny, tiny town with only one measly town history museum. I suppose I should go have a look at this museum sometime if for no other reason than to start weighing the pages of my museum journal down with some ink!

Pattern: Cabled Cowl

Cabled Cowl

{Materials}

1 skein biggo yarn from knitpicks

US13 circular needles

yarn needle

cable needle

{Dictionary}

CO - cast on

K - knit

P - purl

C6F - slip next 3 sts on cable needle and hold to front of work, knit 3 sts, then knit 3 sts off the cable needle

C6B - slip next 3 sts on cable needle and hold to back of work, knit 3 sts, then knit 3 sts off the cable needle

sts - stitches

BO - bind off

{Directions}

CO 50 sts

Rounds 1 and 3: (K2, P2) to last 2 sts, K2

Rounds 2 and 4: (P2, K2) to last 2 sts, P2

Round 5: Knit around

Round 6: (K4, C6F) around

Rounds 7 - 8: Knit around

Round 9: (K2, C6B, K2) around
Round 10: Knit around

Rounds 11 and 13: (P2, K2) to last 2 sts, P2

Rounds 12 and 14: (K2, P2) to last 2 sts, K2

BO. Knot and weave in ends.

Organizing Life: The Yarn Stash

One basket down, quite a bit more to go.

Hoot List: Rhapsody in Blue

via :: Lady Danio

Knitting // These needle buddies are just the cutest. I could really use about... 50 or so of these.

via :: bathtub gin online

Etsy // I'm always a fan of great packaging, and this one is absolutely stunning.

via :: cakeasaurus

Art // Isn't this wood block print just lovely?

via :: shari rose shop

Style // This lacy pre-tied head scarf is just gorgeous.

via :: food52

Food // Mmmm... blueberry ice cream.

via :: candy stripe cloud

Owl // This precious owl shelf would look great on my wall!

Shop Updates

owl wristees

mossy ear warmer

cabled cowl

soda can cozy

Knitting Frenzy: all the blues

Completed Projects

1. Mossy headband

2. Cabled Cowl

3. Foxy Hat

4. Owl Wristees

Working On

1. The Camera strap is turning out so pretty. I can't wait to attach it to my camera!

2. Part 1 of the mystery knit-a-long is officially under way.

3. The collar of the dog sweater is just too adorable so far. And the premium acrylic yarn is so soft and comfy.

4. The Felix the Cat slippers don't look like they've come very far, but they really have. I've frogged and restarted so many times now, but I do believe this will be the final go around.

Starting Soon

1. My year in temperatures journal. The original concept by Kristen Cooper was for a temperatures scarf, but I didn't have enough colors of yarn in my stash for that so I decided on a cross stitch version. Next obstacle? I don't have any cross stitch fabric. So after some brainstorming, I came up with cross stitching the entire year of temperatures into a little moleskin sketch journal.

2. 12 cowls in 2013 is one of the great stash-busting projects I'm taking on this year, and January's cowl will soon be casted on.

3. Another dots drink cozy with this pretty self-striping yarn for the shop.

January's Goals

1. Stick to budget. Taking a new job means major adjustments to my budgeting, and sticking to it will be a very rewarding goal to reach. And I'll have the help of all my lovely piggy banks.

2. Stay hydrated. I'm very bad at getting enough water throughout the day, especially since I drink caffeinated tea every morning.

3. Make love (not war). It's so easy to let your temper flare at the people you love the most. I'm no stranger to it, but I want to show those I love how much they mean to me.

4. Excel at job. My new job comes with some new perks. For starters, I finally get to dye my hair whatever crazy color I feel like. And I don't have to keep my tattoos covered at all times! That means no more long sleeves during those hot summer months. Yay for the perks of working in a salon.

5. Go analog. It's been so long since I've done any analog shooting. I just got so caught up in digital when I got my SLR that I left my analog cameras to collect dust.

Recipe: McAlister's Deli Chili Cheese Dip

While reheating leftovers of nachos the other day, I hurriedly mixed together the beans, meat and cheese. It turned out to be a perfect replicate of McAlister's chili cheese dip.

Don't you love those happy little accidents?

McAlister's Deli Chili Cheese Dip

{Ingredients}

1 can refried beans

1 lb ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning

1 jar of queso con salsa

{Directions}

Brown ground beef

Drain fat

Stir in seasoning packet plus 1/4 cup of water

Stir in refried beans and queso

Bring mixture to boil and remove from heat

Serve in a bowl surrounded by tortilla chips. Yum!

Pattern: Dots Drink Cozy

Dots Drink Cozy

{Materials}

One skein fingering weight yarn

US2 dpns

Yarn needle

{Dictionary}

K - knit

P - purl

K2tog - knit 2 together

Bobble - (K1, P1, K1, P1, K1) into next st, turn, P5, turn, K5, turn, P5, turn, K5, then successively slip the 1st 4 sts over the 5th st, starting with the nearest

St / Sts - stitch / stitches

CO - cast on

{Directions}

{Ribbing}

CO 50 sts using long tail cast on method and join in round being careful not to twist sts.

Rounds 1 - 10: (K1, P1) around

{Decrease}

Round 1: (K23, K2tog) x2 [48 sts]

{Dots}

Rounds 1 - 6: K around

Round 7: (K5, Bobble, K6) around

Rounds 8 - 18: K around

Round 19: (K11, Bobble) to last 11 sts, K11

Rounds 20 - 30: K around

Round 31: (K5, Bobble, K6) around

Rounds 32 - 36: K around

Round 37: P around

{Bottom}

Rounds 1, 3, 5, and 7: K around

Round 2: (K14, K2tog) around [45 sts]

Round 4: (K7, K2tog) around [40 sts]

Round 6: (K6, K2tog) around [35 sts]

Round 8: (K5, K2tog) around [30 sts]

Round 9: (K4, K2tog) around [25 sts]

Round 10: (K3, K2tog) around [20 sts]

Round 11: (K2, K2tog) around [15 sts]

Cut tail and sew through remaining stitches using yarn needle. Knot and weave in ends.

Saturday's Simple: Sweater Alteration

Remember that adorable tea-cup pocket? This is my take on the handcrafted travellers original.

Teacup Pocket Sweater Alteration

{Before}

{After}

{Closet Ups}

{Pattern}

Using your choice of yarn weight and needle size, CO 20 stitches.

Work 10 rows in garter stitch (knit every row).

Individually slip next two stitches knit wise, then knit through front of stitches together, Knit to last 2 stitches, then Knit last 2 stitches together.

Knit across.

Repeat these 2 decrease rows 5x. (10 stitches remain)

Bind off.

Knit i-cord handle. (I just kept holding mine up to the cup until it looked like the right size)

Attach teacup to sweater, then attach i-cord.

I made my teacup with some bulky weight yarn so it came out large enough to fit my little moleskin planners.