Today I received my Dragonfly in Amber swap package, hooray! Inside were:
- a skein of LoneSome Stone Mountain Feat in colorway Shimmering Desert, super squishy soft
- drawstring project bag made with a thistle print, perfect for sock knitting–this is my first bag of this kind and I love it!
- dragonfly stitch marker, also my first!
- stitch markers that spell out all the titles in the Outlander series, so clever!
- Scotch shortbread with recipe, yum
- two bars of chocolate
- two boxes of tea
- handmade card with lovely mountains, Scottish highlands mayhap?

Swaps are so much fun–I tend to receive things that I wouldn’t normally buy for myself, but things that are really lovely! Now off to Ravelry to find a pattern for my new yarn… Thank you so much, Leslie!

I haven’t updated in weeks, eek! Bad blogger. Most of what I have to say lately gets posted to my Twitter, and work has been…um…different, so I can’t really post about that, either. I’m still working on 52 in 52, but my progress has slowed, as I am currently slogging through still reading Goblet of Fire, which has become interesting now that they’re back at Hogwarts. Also, my reading time has diminished somewhat because I’ve been crocheting and knitting like a machine! The crochet, I cannot show you yet because, while the project is finished, it’s for someone who I want to be surprised when she receives it in the mail! But here’s the knitting (with bonus plant!):

@ Ravelry

Look, I made socks! I just checked my Ravelry FOs, and it looks like I hadn’t finished a pair of socks since February 2008?! Is that right? It must be…anyway, leave it to Cookie A to get me out of my non-sock knitting rut. The pattern is Wanida from her book Sock Innovation, which is awesome and full of cabley goodness. I think my next socks will be one of her more complicated patterns–I’m up to the challenge! I think.

I’ve also jumped on the Ishbel bandwagon. I haven’t taken a pic yet, but I’m doing mine in Malabrigo Sock in Stonechat. It’s sooo soft and the colors are knitting up really pretty. I love it so far! And of course the weather is really nice and warm today–around 74 F, I think–so when I’m going to wear my Ishbel once I finish it, I have no idea, but it will be really pretty either way.

I realized that the majority of my posts have been about reading, so here’s a knitting and crochet update. I recently finished Bella’s Mittens:

@ Ravelry

Of course I didn’t plan my timing of this project very well, and spring quickly arrived not long after I finished these. But at least I got to wear them a couple times when it was still cold out. Yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Pewter, knit on size US 8 dpns.

I only used about 1.5 skeins of yarn, so after I finished these, I made a Bella’s Hat to match:

@ Ravelry

It fits pretty snugly–not too tight but tighter than I normally make my hats. The cables pull in quite a bit. Also I have a rather large head. These are pretty cool because I now have a matching hat/gloves set.

I also started crocheting again after kc sent me a link to Attic24, which has some really fantastic crochet/granny square/hexagon tutorials. I started a granny square blanket using the Summer Garden Granny Square pattern:

I’m using Plymouth Encore worsted in red, green, blue, and light purple. I also have a skein of black, which I might use at the end as a border around the whole thing.

Proving that sewing hasn’t completely trumped knitting for me: I’ve been working on a neckwarmer/cowl thingy, the Razor Shell Neckwarmer, to be specific. I started it last week, got quite a bit done at SnB on Thursday, and it’s close to being done.

Then today, I decided that what I really want to work on is a sweater, so I finally bought the Lucy in the Sky pattern. I have some brownish-goldish Cascade 220 in my stash, so no yarn diets were harmed in the planning of this project. Also, this is one of my Crafty 2009 goals, so I figured it’s a good time to get started!

I guess it’s easier for me to knit during the week since I can do other things simultaneously–like have the TV on in the background, or music or whatever. When I sew, I have to focus intently since I’m still a beginner, and I can’t really concentrate on sewing during the week…so unfortunately, sewing for now is a weekend activity. But I guess that’s a good way to make time for knitting (during the week) anyway, as well as reading.

In my search for my US 6 Knit Picks circs, I found some stashed fabric left over from when I made my fabric tiles–there’s quite a bit left, enough to make some pouches and other smallish things. I had forgotten about those scraps, so finding them was like Christmas all over again, lol.

As if the 52 in 52 challenge wasn’t enough…now I’ve set out to be super crafty in 2009.

Happy new year!

Christmas at my parents’ house went ok. I gave my sister and mom the gifts I made–sister got a Double Cable Scarf, since I promised her a cabley scarf about a year and a half ago…I sewed my mom a table runner:

She likes it a lot, and so did my sister–I might make her one next. I gave my other sister a gift card because she didn’t really ask for a specific gift; also, she is moving to Florida this weekend, so I didn’t think she would have much need for a knit hat or scarf.

Earlier this week, I sewed some curtains for my office/yarn room:

They look much better than the curtains that were originally in there (left by the previous homeowners), and they also match my fabric tiles on the opposite wall. The fabric is by Joel Dewberry and the print is Tossed Flowers.

I did a bit more sewing today–made a checkbook cover, which overall I’m happy with, but in which I see all the flaws and mistakes. It kind of drives me crazy. Being crafty and a perfectionist is not a good combination–I obsess over the slightest things! Anyway, pic of the cover coming soon. I also want to sew a cover for my Moleskine journal…I am pretty intrigued with sewing right now!

Behold, it is Clapotis the Fifth! @ Ravelry

Final thoughts: Not sure if I’ll make another Clapotis or if this will be my last. I’m sure if I say it’s my last, I’ll end up finding some yarn later on that calls out to be made into a Clap…so we’ll see! Loved working with this yarn so so so much, wish I could get more!

More adventures in knitting:

Old Shale Cowl @ Ravelry

I had a bit of yarn left over from making Clapotis the Fifth, so I decided to make a cowl. It still needs to be blocked but I love it!

But wait! There’s more:

Hats for TAPS @ Ravelry

A couple of hats I made for the Ghost Hunters Gift-a-Long on Ravelry. Whipped these up in a day, just need to pop them in the mail.

Lastly, a couple of WIPs:

Yeah, I’ve got a lot of time (and yarn) on my hands.