Socks. They are on my brain.

I've been wanting to knit socks recently. Not just socks, but stockings. TIGHTS. Only, I've never knit socks. I don't even have yarn that's really suited for socks. Too thick, too stiff, too fragile and whatever else. Bah.

So instead, I read about knitting socks.

Finished! -Pretty Primrose Shawlette

I have long been admiring those colorful silk scarves and lacy shawlettes that're going around right now. Gorgeous stuff, but EXPENSIVE! I mean, if I'm going to spend that much, I might as well make it myself and learn lace while I'm at it : D So here it is!

I used Julia Carlis' pattern on Ravelry and LOVED it : D It was a great introductory lace pattern for me, and I'm still squeeing about the yarn I picked. It was Rowan Purelife Revive in the colorway 'Grit'--odd name for such a blueish green if you ask me. The stuff's made from recycled cotton, silk, and viscose, but that's not why I picked it. It was the colors! Not only is the the fiber a nice seafoam color, but there are specks of deep magenta and lime. It's not as common or noticeable as tweed, but pretty nonetheless : )

"Sister Snowdrop died Before we were born."

"She came like a bride In a snowy morn."

"What's a bride?"

             "What is snow?"

"Never tried."

             "Do not know."

"Who told you about her?"

"Little Primrose there Cannot do without her."

"Oh, so sweetly fair!"

"Never fear, She will come, Primrose dear."

"Is she dumb?"

-from Phantastes by George MacDonald

Finished! -Arden Mitts

Why yes, that is the Chronicles of Narnia Omnibus.

I started these lovelies way back in November for a knit-a-long, finished one, started making [ninja bike masks] for my then-fiance and brother for Christmas, aaand...never started the second. At least, not 'til last month, after the wedding and school and moving had all settled down. But look! They're done!

There were a lot of firsts to this project. First cables, first knit-in-the-round (with double-pointed needles--yikes!), first project where the measurements counted somewhat...it was a little daunting. But! By the end I found I actually quite like dpns, apart from their being less portable than circular needles, and cables are a breeze. I even ended up teaching myself how to do the little ones without a cable needle.

The yarn itself is quite lovely, but sadly discontinued: Plymouth Galway Highland Heather. I happened to find them on clearance at my local yarn store and loved the deep green fibers mixed with royal blues and some hairs (literally, hairs) of red. It reminds me of my grandparents and our Scottish heritage <3

They're a little warm for the summers here though, being made from 100% wool, but I still can't wait to wear them. Perhaps we'll have a lot of summer storms? Please?

I think I knit funny..

My Oma taught me how to knit when I was eight, but it wasn't until last year sometime that I really fell in love with it. Other interests, you know? That, and the annoying way my stockinette would curl. How could I ever knit anything cool like a sweater if my scarves wouldn't even sit flat?? Yes, laugh. It's funny : ) (Not to mention completely normal for stockinette to do that if you didn't know. You have to block, or pin the fabric out and get it wet, to get rid of it.)

Anyway, I knit these arm-warmers in October because it's cold here and I was having a hard time finding a coat with long enough sleeves that wasn't also a tent in the torso region. Not very far into the project though, I finally got frustrated by the weird bumpiness that my knitting always seemed to have. Obviously, I was doing something wrong. For reals. Help me, Youtube!

And it did! It did, it did! I found this video on combined knitting pretty early on in my search and everything was solved! I was able to actually finish the project and haven't looked back. I found I could even hold the yarn instead of throwing it with this method : D Something about winding it around like you do in continental just never stuck with me all the times I'd tried to do it.

In any case, it was a Happy Day.

Look at all my pretty yarns : D

So...my husband is pretty much the bomb. The other week I finished off everything left on my needles from the winter, and was really itching to do something for summer. Particularly, this.

Problem #1: I only have wool. Big, chunky wool at that. It simply won't do.

So, I go to my lovely local yarn shop down the street to pick up some cotton. No biggie.

Problem #2: The LYS doesn't stock much cotton. At all. In fact, that are closing out a lot of it too.

I could cave and get a color other than the one I'm looking for, or I could go online and find what I do want. Yes. Online. Yes.

Problem #3: Shipping for just a couple skeins of yarn costs as much as a whole new ball!

This is where my husband's awesomeness comes in. After watching me squirm over it for a couple days, ogling some pretty Rowan Revive yarn that's just perfect but not being able to justify the shipping costs he says to me:

"Why don't you just plan out your next few projects and order enough yarn to get the free shipping?" (That's $60 of yarn, and we just got married a month ago, so money is tight.)

My eyes lit up. "Can we??"

"Yeah, we can make it work."

And lest you think this is just fiscal irresponsibility, my hubby doesn't like to roll that way ; ) We had to move some funds around but we did it and look! The yarn came! It came it came it came! : D

So, whoosh and away I go to knit ^^

Who are you, what are you, and why do you have a lion?

All very good questions, to be sure. We'll start with the first.

I am a multi-crafting college undergrad studying Art Education at BYU. I knit, I draw ('art' might be a more accurate verb, considering how just drawing isn't really the half of it), I write fantasy, and now I want to add beading, metalworking and sewing to that already rather time-consuming list. I kinda grew up on HGTV...

And as for the lion, it is a sort of personal symbol for me. When I first got to college, I started carrying around an old lion-shaped backpack my grandfather had given me for Christmas when I was six. I named him Leo, but never really used him much before then. As I walked around campus however, people started recognizing me for having him and it struck up a lot of conversations that I otherwise would never have initiated. I'm kind of shy like that..

But! I've gotten a lot better thanks thanks to him <3