Welcome Fall & Weekend Shenanigans

For those that don't know me, I am OBSESSED with Halloween.  It's my favorite time of year.  Sweater weather is coming up.  Pumpkin Spice Latte's are available and this is when I pull out my Halloween decorations.  I usually take the week of Labor Day off from work.  This year, I started it a day early and took Friday off, too.  Thursday  night, I brought up my totes and on Friday morning I started decorating.  It's going to be a gradual process, but here are some of the things I have so far.

Halloween Spooky Sampler (pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery)

Tony the Toybox monster knit for me by NoKnitSherlock ♥

I scored this Halloween set at a flea market a couple of years ago :D

Felt owl made by Crinoline -- Zombie Cat knit for me by baconfairy

There is so much more to do, but I want to wait until it gets a little closer to Halloween.  In the meantime, I will start watching my favorite horror movies, eat/drink as much pumpkin as I can and enjoy my favorite season.

Yesterday, I went to the annual Redneck Festival in Weissport, Pennsylvania with a good friend of mine and her 4 year old son.  I had never been there before, but our boss was telling us how much fun she had there last year and how it's a great place for people watching.  We got there around the time it opened and stayed for a couple of hours.  It was very kid-friendly.  They had a few rides, some games and a bunch of food stands.  There were different events going on all day.  We got to see part of "Rednecks Got Talent" and later on there was going to be toilet wheelbarrow racing.  We really enjoyed ourselves and decided to make it a yearly thing for us.  I don't get to hang out with work Jenn outside of work that often, so it was nice to get outside of the office and have fun.

Duck facing it up 

Toilet seat wheelbarrows

Caiden dunked the guy in the tank!

I only managed to sneak in half a round on my sock while waiting for her son to finish playing in the bounce house.

FO Friday 8/29

Sorry I have been so silent lately.  I've been feeling a bit off for awhile and haven't felt motivated enough to do anything.  I did get caught up with the Halloween Town cross stitch and started the most recent clue.  

I also spun my first skein of wheel spun yarn.  My friend, Kit, let me try out her Ashford Kiwi and I love it!  It is so much faster than the drop spindle!  I chose my Woolgatherings Mixed BFL that I purchased at MDSW in 2013.  I need to work on my drafting since some spots are a little over spun, but I am pleased with my first attempt.  I managed to spin 236 yards of worsted (mostly) weight.

Woolgatherings Mixed BFL

I also finished a test knit for Susan Claudino, but I have to wait to share the photos since the pattern hasn't been released yet ;)  

Based on the teaser pictures that Susan has posted on Instagram, I cannot wait to see your finished test knit!  I finally finished my Jeck socks that I am making as a Christmas gift for my grandma this year!  

They are knit with Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet. I think this yarn is great for socks, it is super durable and comes in great colors.  I think my grandma is really going to love the color, since they have some spots that are very Dodger blue.  Another present off the needles and it is only August! Hopefully this year will be much less stressful. 

FO Friday 8/22

Hi everyone, I swear moving has taken me completely out of my zone. I was used to keeping up with my blogging each week, and since we have moved it seems hard to get back in the groove.  I also have not really been knitting this month. It is strange, normally knitting is my  relaxation. After we got settled for a few days I did work on my sock yarn blanket, and it is now basically a lapghan.  For non-knitters, this is a blanket that goes across your lap.  I am excited so see it coming along.  The other thing I have been working on is my autumn sampler from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. I bought it last year after making the Halloween sampler. I did not even finish the border before it was set aside for other projects.  As the temperature starts to drop I found myself thinking of fall and pulled out my sampler.  I have 5/25 squares done, and am hopeful to finish it this year.  I am all caught up on my Once Upon a Time sampler too.  I have the same pair of socks on my needles that I had the last time though.  I did want to finish them, but needed a gift for a birthday party. A friend of ours has a baby who just turned 1! That is such a fun age.  So I looked at my list of monsters that I have not made, that I want to make and decided to make a Presley Cash. He is a very friendly monster for babies and toddlers since he has no safety eyes, and his mouth is knit on rather than glued.  The family loves Penn State, so I made him in blue and white.  

Presley Cash the Monster by Rebecca Danger

 The other part of Presely that is so fun, is his arm is all one piece! That way he can hang, or can be easily carried.

FO Friday 8/8/14

I haven't been knitting much this week.  I finished the Trekking socks on Tuesday and after they were off the needles, I wanted to cross-stitch instead of knitting more ornaments or working on my never ending Adrift cardigan.  

I knit basic ribbed socks and did my first ever Fish Lips Kiss heel.  I've had this heel pattern for a long time, but have always been too intimidated to try it.  Now that I have successfully knit it, I can't see myself knitting any other type of heel again.  This pair of socks fit so perfectly!  

Basic Ribbed Socks-Trekking 550

I mentioned that I spent the week stitching.  You would assume that it's the Gingerbread Lane that I shared in our last post, right?  If you know me, you know that when I say I am not going to start another project, that urge to start something new will take over.  I have been trying to resist the Mysterious Halloween Town pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.  I told myself over and over again that I just finished a Halloween cross stitch.  I have a Christmas one to finish and the Autumn sampler to do, I don't need this.  I have 4 binders FILLED with cross stitch patterns from a co-worker.  The last thing I need is a new pattern.  Then, they came out with a birthday sale.  26% off all patterns.  I held out for a few days, staying strong.  Then I bought the pattern thinking I could stitch it next year.  That lasted for a couple of days.  On Saturday, Jen & I went to Joann's so I could get the aida and floss and I immediately started stitching when I got home.

Now that I have been working on it all week, I am really in the Halloween mood.  I have been burning pumpkin candles, watching The Witches of East End on Netflix.  Tonight I plan to relax, make some chili and watch scary movies all night long.  

With unpacking, cleaning, shopping and organizing I have had very little time to work on my crafts. I did manage to get my August square done on my sampler, but I have yet to take any photos of it.  After I did all that stitching I want to work on another stitching project. Just have to figure out which box those are still in..... Hopefully we can get my shelves for my craft room built this week and I can start to unpack it all. 

I do have one EPIC FO to share, if I do say so myself.  Thanks to Jess I was able to block my Dr. Who scarf after I finished knitting it up.  Then I just had to trim ALL THE ENDS that I had previously woven in, add the 24 tassles and I was done!

Here it is hanging off the banister at my new house:

Another Christmas present off the needles!
I have one more braid that I finished during Tour de Fleece that never got shared as well.  This is Into the Whirled 100% Merino in "Smaller on the Outside."  I did another 3 ply (it is getting easier) and ended up with 200 yards of usable squishy yarn.