knit.where outfit #3

Summer Crush shawl/scarf, Target shirt, Express jeans, ll bean boots

A bright and colorful scarf is the best antidote for a rainy Monday. Maryland Sheep & Wool is this weekend and according to the forecast, it is looking to be perfect sweater wearing weather. Yay! I am already making up a shopping wish list. No impulsive purchases this year....unless the fried twinkies get to me again!

Day Seven: Looking Forward

Today's topic was a bit of a challenge to write about. I am essentially a lazy crafter who likes to set lofty goals but have no expectations of meeting them. Knit exclusively from the stash, learn something new with every new project, design a sweater pattern or two, crochet one project a month. Yup, all of these were past crafty resolutions that fell by the wayside. But that never stops me from looking forward to looking ahead. At the beginning of this year, I resolved to fill the blank slate of days with fun projects. So far, I am happy to report that this resolution is being met :)

I also recently bought a whole bunch of Lopi yarn and The Top Down Icelandic Sweater class on Craftsy. Looking forward to learning more about this iconic sweater style and yikes! steeks!

Also looking forward to exploring some unusual knitting concepts with the help of these two books.

It's past time to jumpstart my inner Monkey!


(To search for more blogs participating in today's topic, please type 4KCBWDAY7 into your search engine of choice. Thanks once again to Eskimimi for all her efforts in organizing this annual event. I have so thoroughly enjoyed reading about knitting & crochet from the many different perspectives out there)

Day Six: A Tool to Covet

What my treasured sets of Addi Click knitting needles mean to me:

♡ The ability to cast-on an almost limitless number of projects without having to

    -- endlessly search for the correct needles called for in a particular project
    -- cope with delayed gratification when said needles cannot be found

    -- clean up the resulting mess made from the fruitless frantic searching of said needles

♡ Being able to try on a top-down sweater without having to
    -- transfer a gazillion number of stitches to scrap yarn

    -- come up with excuses for not trying on the sweater

♡ Not having to deal with The Black Hole

   -- otherwise known as my needle storage bag

I have tried many sets of interchangeable needles in the past (knitpicks & hiyahiya among them) and the Addi Clicks are by far my favorites. Well worth the hefty price tag for their convenience and quality.


(To search for more blogs participating in today's topic, please type 4KCBWDAY6 into your search engine of choice)

Day Five: Something a Bit Different

beaded butterfly? dragonfly? hexipuff

The ability to embellish any swatch of stockinette that dares cross your path is a necessary skill for any aspiring Peacock. Here is a video of a quick hexipuff transformation which illustrates how easy this is.

(Song: Butterflies by Minipop. To search for more blogs participating in today's topic, please type 4KCBWDAY5 into your search engine of choice)

Day Four: Color Review

Today's topic deals with a subject that is close to my heart: Color! When asked what is your favorite color? I would probably immediately answer with autumn hues like orange, brown and burgundy.

But when shopping for yarn, it is the blues, greens and pinks that usually capture my attention and wallet. I tend to favor knitting with bright color combinations in the spring/summer months and more muted ones in the colder months. Confused you yet? In looking at the previous year's projects, you can see that I am all over the spectrum when it comes to my color choices. One dominating theme, however, is combining a bright color with a neutral one.

I also love it when unexpected colors are used together, such as the acid yellow with purple in this sweater.

My inner peacock loves Noro! And Noro wanna-be's!

(To search for more blogs participating in today's topic, please type 4KCBWDAY4 into your search engine of choice)

Day Three: Infographic - Lost in Translation

I thought that it would be fun to see how my ravelry favorited patterns correlated with the actual projects that I finished. To my surprise, at the top of my FO list were hats! Of which I own zero. Hmmm...very interesting. Also of surprise were the higher than expected number of FO's listed under toys, home decor and ornaments. I have always thought of myself as a sweater knitter, but it seems that I am gravitating more to smaller projects. This is most likely due to a lack of time and a shorter attention span. Although from the high number of cardigans & pullovers that are in my rav faves, I still mainly dream about sweaters. And you? Do your rav faves match up to what you actually knit/crochet?

 

(Knitting paper can be found here. To search for more blogs participating in today's topic, please type 4KCBWDAY3 into your search engine of choice)

Day Two: A Mascot Project for the House of Peacock

My mascot project is an idea that I have been thinking about for some time. First, I would knit a blank canvas in the form of a simple, classic raglan sweater. It would be in a neutral, un-peacock-like color such as a heather brown or tan or grey. Then I would whip out the yarn needle in order to add all sorts of embellishments using embroidery and crewelwork to the front of the sweater. I would love to do something nature-inspired like in these lovely fingerless mitts. As an added nod to the House of Peacock, this sweater pattern would make a wonderful use of some colorful wooden buttons in my stash.



(To search for more blogs participating in today's topic, please type 4KCBWDAY2 into your search engine of choice) 

Day One: The House Cup

Welcome to the first day of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week! I am so excited to be joining in on the fun for the third year in a row. To kickoff the week, we were asked to describe our crafting style by choosing from among four Houses.

 

I bet it isn't hard to guess which House I picked :) Yes, I am most certainly proud to be a Peacock! Colorful yarn, pretty embellishments and cute buttons are my passion and joy. Even when I try to exercise restraint and knit a classic grey something or other, my natural peacock tendencies always win in the end.

 

I am happiest when knitting with colors that stand out from the crowd.

And buttons! Don't get me started on those!

(To search for more blogs participating in today's topic, please type 4KCBWDAY1 into your search engine of choice)

knit.where outfit #2

Felt like being loud today, so I paired a purple top with one of my brightest sweaters. I continue to love wearing Heidi's designs. So fun and easy to wear. This one has a stubborn crease in the upper sleeves from being in storage. In fact, most of my handknits have wrinkles & creases in them. Any suggestions for quickly dealing with them? I might try to run a steam iron over them.

nanook cardigan, ann taylor loft shirt, american eagle jeans, gap shoes

springtime color inspiration

It has been a couple of crazy beautiful days here in Maryland! Sunny and warm, with Springtime colors everywhere you look.

The cherry blossoms are on the verge of blooming.

Even the weeds are pretty.

Now you would think that with all the gorgeous colors of nature surrounding me, some of it would find its way into my knitting. But no, color inspiration has no rationale or predictability.

Above is the start of my Aranami shawl, inspired by my pajamas :)

Hope that Springtime has sprung in your neck of the woods, too. And that you are enjoying knitting or crocheting in whatever colors inspire you.


(linking up with WIP Wednesday)

knit.where?

Why do I find myself always reaching for these...
 

...when I have several piles of these?

Fitting knitting into my daily life has never been a problem. I love the process of creating handknitted garments and accessories. But ironically, wearing or using the finished products of that process has been an on-going struggle. I have a tendency to save my handknits for "special occasions" or for when I am attending social functions that involve other knitters. Of course, there are a couple of exceptions, like this cowl which I often wear in order to add subtle color to a neutral outfit. I also love throwing my Vitamin D cardigan on over a simple tank top. But the rest of the pile hardly ever sees the light of day. So in order to address this dilemna and give my handknits a place in my daily life, I am going to assign Mondays as my knit.where day. It is also my errand running day, so wearing some handknits might make doing the grocery shopping, etc more fun. And as an added incentive, I will also try to post a picture of the outfit every week on Mondays. Some words of warning: fashion blogger I'm not, so some outfits might require a visit from the Fashion Police. Also, unless I miraculously knit a whole bunch of lightweight garments between now and July, knit.where Mondays might be in temporary hiatus when the humid Maryland summer weather hits. But until then, I am going to try to rock those knits :) 

vitamin D cardigan, muckle mitts inspired cowl, banana republic tank, rerock jeans, gap shoes

colorplay

♥ Drawing flower doodles in the sketchbook

♥ Knitting some springtime hexipuffs 

cherry blossoms

♥ Having fun with color this week

slipped stitch shawl (halfway done)

(linking up with WIP Wednesday)