The Give-Away...Revisited.

Unfortunately, the previously chosen winner of my give-away didn't include any contact info as I stipulated in the entry instructions and she didn't get in touch with me by the Feb. 14, 2012 deadline after I announced the winner to let me know how to send her the prize.  I truly wish I had heard from craftycrafter so that I could have sent her the prize. 

So, I shall now draw another winner from the previous entrants.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that I have some way to contact the new winner.  Here we go....the original entrants are:

1. Cheryl
2.  rancidgirl3875
3.  craftycrafter
4.  serenova
5.  Theresa
6. eboni j.
7. Karin
8. Bev Love
9. stacie
10. Leslie
11. Mary
12. LaBean
13. Anonymous: bgudroe@yahoo.com
14. rectangularnomore
15. Carmen

 YES!  There is an e-mail addy!  Congratulations to Anonymous!  I will send an e-mail out to you today asking for the mailing address to send the give-away prize to.  Thank you to all who participated and who support my exploration of all things yarn. 

Happy Creativity to you all!

Tuesday's Temptation

Lady Danio's shop is full of fun, imaginative and useful stitch markers.  Can we ever get enough of this little gems to designate and decorate our WIPs?  I love her creations and her prices are nice too.  Just take a look at a few of her items here or better yet, head on over to her shop and browse.

Happy Creativity to you all!!!

Busy Needles and Hooks

I know I haven't been posting everyday, but I assure you that I have been very busy with my yarn projects.  Here are some of what has been completed in the past week.

The first project that I completed this week is the Cotton Candy Haze Scarf/Wrap is knit with Berroco Mohair Classic.  I started this a couple years ago and it has been just sitting in a project bag.


It isn't from a pattern.  I just cast on 40 stitches on size 9 needle.  Knit 4 rows of garter stitch. Row 1: Slip 1st stitch purl wise, *yo, k2tog, k1, repeat from * to end of row. Repeat that row 1 until the scarf is as long as you desire. End with 4 rows of garter stitch and bind off loosely.


I like it worn as a wrap or folded in half lengthwise and worn as a scarf.  The mohair and wool makes it super warm.

The next photo is of a Spiral Scrubbie, crocheted in Peaches & Creme stripes Sail Away colorway, and pattern written by Judith Prindle.  It is a very quick crochet and works like a charm and I see many of these in my future :)

Next I made dishcloths from the pattern Dish Cloth on the Edge, written by Rita Maria.  I did change many things in the pattern, so I guess it is more inspired by the pattern.  Essentially, it is a mitered square that is crocheted in the back loop.  I have made several already and love them.  This one was made with the same skein that the Spiral Scrubbie, pictured above, used.







Finally, Ihave been crocheting some little pals!   This guy is so cute and fun to make (Pattern by Kj Hay).  I found him because I decided to start using more of the pattern resources that I already have on hand, so I did a pattern search of my library on Ravelry and he was in one of my Crochet! magazines.  You only need to know how to ch, sc, sl st, and work a magic ring, in order to be able to make one of these cute creatures.  


In the photo I don't have the ends of his hands finished off because it calls for a magnet to be placed inside so he can clasp the hands in a hug and I don't have the magnets at the moment.  I have decided to use hook & loop instead so that he will be more baby friendly.  I like him so much that I am already working on a buddy for him!  


I do have a few more finished objects to share, but they will be saved for another post.  Happy Creativity to you all!  

Tuesday's Temptation!

I love, love, love this shop:  KNITTING ACCESSORIES FROM SCARY TO MERRY by scarymerry.  She has the most adorable stitch markers and knitting needles that I have ever seen.  They just make me smile :)

Take a spin around her etsy shop and you will smile too.  Happy Creativity to you all!!!

Part 2 of the Afterthough Heel Adventure

For the past 2 weeks I have been spending a lot of time in a VKH.  A VKH is a Virtual Knitting Hangout.  We meet in a hangout on google+ every day and I love it!  They inspire me, motivate me and cheer me and I hope I do the same for them.

In the VKH this past week we have had a Week of WIPs, to inspire us to clean up some of the WIPs that have been sitting around for way too long in our project bags, baskets and closets.  I completed FIVE!!!  It was such a great way for us to clean up WIPs that we decided to have a WIP weekend in our VKH on the first weekend of every month.

One of my WIPs that was completed this past week in my Nanner Socks.  This pattern is by Wendy Johnson and was inspired by the dancing bananas on Plurk.  The yarn is Ripe Nanners by thechickswithsticks.  Unfortunately her shop is inactive at the moment.  I started these socks back in 2008, but only got the toe on one sock done before I set them aside and ignored them.


When I picked them up this week, I had just completed the socks from the last post with the afterthought heel.  I decided that I would do a "true" afterthought heel on this pair.  The difference being that with the previous pair of socks, I inserted a waste yarn as I knit the sock so I could go back to remove the waste yarn, pick up the stitches and knit the heel very easily.  This time, I didn't use a waste yarn.  I just knit a tube and then went back to snip the yarn (yes, I cut my knitting!!!), pick up the stitches and knit the afterthought heel.  It was liberating and the resulting heel is wonderful.  I am so happy that I tried this and I need to give props to my VKH ladies who advised me, and insisted that I could do it!  Thank you so much!

Are you challenging yourself with your knitting?  Do you take any challenges with your crafts?  I am determined that this year I will challenge myself to knit, crochet, spin or whatever, outside my comfort zone.  It is so rewarding when it works and educational when I fail.  I promise that I will let you know about my failures too.  My next challenge is to knit a shawl.  I have crocheted shawls, but never knit one.  Check back to see how it goes.

Happy Creativity to you all!!!

I Love Afterthought Heels!

I don't know where my head has been in the sock knitting universe, but until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of an afterthought heel.  When someone told me that I would have to cut the yarn in the sock, I decided I would never be making one! 

Then I recalled my resolutions for the year, one of which was to learn to steek, and I decided that this would be a small first step in cutting my knitting.  Be brave Beverly.  Take a deep breath.  Watch some youtube tutorials.

My first attempt at an afterthought heel wasn't a "true" afterthought heel.  I used the Knit Girlls tutorial  for  adding a waste yarn where I wanted the heel to be as I knit the sock, and then going back to insert the heel afterward.  I know what you are thinking... I didn't cut the yarn.  Hey, I'm taking baby steps.

This sock was knit from the top down, 2-at-a-time, on US size 1 circs.  I just cast on 80 stitches and worked a k2, p2 rib for about 6 inches, switched to half of the stitches ribbed and half stockinette stitch.  Added the waste yarn where I wanted the heel and knit on.  Super fast and super easy.  (The yarn is Regia Galaxy Saturn.)

Going back to work the afterthought heel was super easy and stressless.  I love this technique!  I don't ever want do work another short row heel in my life.

Ok, I had some success, but I didn't really cut my knitting, did I?  Time to be brave, take the next step, yada yada yada.   Tune in tomorrow for more adventures with afterthought heels.

Happy Creativity to you all!

And The Winner Is...

Fifteen people commented on the Give-Away post and I am very excited to see who will be the winner.  Since blogger doesn't number the comments, I have copied them in order and numbered them for the random number generator. 

1. Cheryl
2.  rancidgirl3875
3.  craftycrafter
4.  serenova
5.  Theresa
6. eboni j.
7. Karin
8. Bev Love
9. stacie
10. Leslie
11. Mary
12. LaBean
13. Anonymous: bgudroe@yahoo.com
14. rectangularnomore
15. Carmen

The winner is number 3, craftycrafter!!!  Congratulations!  Unfortunately, you did not leave your email for me to contact you so I will leave a message on your blog.  If I do not hear from you by February 14th , 2012 (2 weeks), I will let the random generator select a new winner. 

Thank you all for your wonderful comments and as always:  Happy Creativity to you all!