WIPs Wednesday 10/8 plus a little more fall fun

So last weekend Jess and I went to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.  I had never been to this faire, and have not been to any faire since about 2002.  I did not go dressed in period clothing, and I am glad because I was cold enough in jeans and a sweater heh. It started as a super rainy morning and it was one of the colder days we have even had recently.  Anyway, I ended up having a great time! I got to see falcons, men in kilts, and a few sips of mulled wine before some yellow jackets claimed it for themselves.  I dipped my own candles too. Here are a few photos from the day!

Notice I remembered to bring knitting with me too

Didn't try one, but maybe I should have....

Much harder than it looks. I ended up with two candles, one I like more than the other, but still a fun activity!

We also ran into many fabulous knitters. In fact, I can safely say I have never run into this many knitters outside of a fiber festival! Jess and I also managed to not get any pictures together (I swear we will never break that habit), well except for one when we had an impromptu dance party on the way.

It's all about the bass, about the bass.....

So back to the WIPs, I started a project that will remain secret until after Christmas. I am not sure if the hubby reads the blog, but if he does I do not want to spoil his surprise.  I have been working on my Jane Eyre shawl (I do know my sis in law reads this, but I am warning her now if you do not want to be spoiled, walk away from the blog).  The shawl is getting huge, so huge I added a connector and another cable to see if I could stretch out the stitches more.  It still gets bunched up heh

I really wish you could see how pretty this is turning out

Close up of the flame lace panel down the center

I am almost to the last repeat where the flame lace is the majority of the stitches instead of the center.  It will be slow going for those last 24 rows I am sure, but I am getting there. I plan to work on this as much as I can over the next few days.

I started spinning up the alpaca batt that I got at the alpaca fest a few weeks ago.  I have been remembering to add more twist to the ply and it still has a nice fluffy halo.  It is going to be so soft and squishy when I finish. This is the first ply all finished

I have also started my next stitching project. This is another one from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. It is the 12 days of Christmas.  Maybe I will finish it in time this year!!

I've also been busy the past few weeks.  As Jen mentioned, we went to the Renaissance Faire with a new group of friends.  I had so much fun and I hope to go again next year!

Jess and her new boy toy

Two weekends ago I went apple picking with my mom after church.  We went to Grim's Orchard.  We picked about 13 pounds of jonagold apples and I picked a couple of a darker type of apple (I forget the name).  The orchard is really cute.  They have a corn maze, hayrides and a play area for kids.  They also sell apple cider donuts and apple cider slushies.  (SO GOOD!!!)  When I came home, I found a bag of cider donuts from Jen hanging on my door.  <3  I was going to freeze some, but I ended up devouring them instead.  With the apples I picked, so far I baked a diabetic friendly apple crisp  and want to make some battered apple rings and a pie. 

My beautiful mama

Pumpkin head Jess

So many apples!

I have a few FO's to share on Friday and a couple of WIP's I have been working on. 

Jen and I are both knitting with our Miss Babs MDSW exclusive yarn.  I am knitting a pair of Jaywalkers.  The pattern is crazy easy, I am just hoping they aren't too snug.  I decided to do an afterthought heel, mainly because I was at work and couldn't concentrate on the pattern heel.  

Jaywalkers in Miss Babs Cosmic-Inspired by Tulips

Jen here, just wanted to put socks up here so you can see how the same yarn in a different dyelot, with a different pattern knits up. I am making Charade socks. I love the herringbone pattern and the bright spring colors are fun, even if it feels weird to be knitting these in the fall.

 I have also been working on some cross stitching.  Since I already finished my Halloween Sampler, I felt that finishing my Gingerbread Lane was more crucial than finishing Halloween Town.  I am almost done with the 2nd house.  I decided that I am just doing the houses, not the scene underneath or the countdown.  I am hoping to be done before Thanksgiving.

Gingerbread Lane pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

FO Friday 9/19/2014

Happy Fall y'all!  I finished it! I finished my fall sampler with 2 days to spare before fall officially starts! I am so excited to share it with you guys.  Now I just need to find a good frame for it and I am ready to go!

Now I can start on my Twelve Days of Christmas... maybe I will get that done in time this year too!

WIP Wednesday 9/17/14

I have been happily stitching away on my Autumn Sampler, and I have just two squares left!!!  I may even finish it before the first official day of Fall too.

The last two squares are really cute too.  One is a finished sock (the one that is started in square 11), and the other is a cup of tea.  I think my favorite squares are the ones with the socks, but I also love square 14 with the pumpkin cupcake, and square 13 where the girl is playing in the leaves.  Raking leaves up is no fun, but crunching them under your boots, and kicking them around is actually a ton of fun.  

I haven't really worked on my shawl, so I don't really have anything to share there.  I did cast on sock pair # 9/12 for the year though. I bought the book Sock Innovation by Cookie A after seeing so many FOs on Ravelry.  I picked one of the patterns out to make my mom for Christmas this year (Erin keep this one a secret from my mom!).  When Jess and I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool this year we went to an open house at Cephalopod Yarns on Friday night and it was so much fun! If I had known then they would close their doors within a few months I would have bought a lot more yarn.  I bought this yummy skein of Skinny Bugga in the colorway Charaxes Tiridate.  I thought it looked like Dodger blue so I knew it would be perfect for my mom.  Skinny Bugga is 80% merino, 10% nylon, and 10% cashmere (so soft!).  I think these are going to be the softest socks ever.  

This pattern is the Angee sock.  It is much longer sock, but I know my mom prefers shorter socks so I took out one pattern repeat in the leg.  I love how the rows look like cables, when in reality it is just increases and decreases that make that pattern.  

FO Friday 9/12/14

Boy have I been busy!  I felt a push to get a few items off my to knit list, and I was successful.  I also ended up making a small unexpected project for Quidditch that the kitties like.  Let me start by sharing my Halloween Spooky sampler from last year! I stitched this up during the actual stitch along and managed to keep up. I then said I was going to frame it, or make a pillow out of it, and did neither.  It has just sat since last year.  When I saw that Jess had her Halloween sampler was all framed, I knew I needed to get mine done.  We finally have some room to decorate at the new house too, so I think it will look great. I actually want to have a small table by the entry where I can have seasonal decor.  I haven't found a table I like so for now the sampler will sit on the stone in front of the fireplace.

Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - Halloween Spooky Sampler

I LOVE Peeps, so this little witch Peep had to come home with me from Cracker Barrel a few weeks ago .

For Quidditch, we needed to make an item to butter up Dolores Umbridge.  I picked this little item from her "favorites" and added a bit of catnip for Phoebe and Athena. It was a super fast knit, and I may make a whole jar full of them in the future heh

Gruesome Knitted Eyeball by Mary Jane Mucklestone

For the year long swap I needed to make toys for my partner. I made a minion already and for the second toy I decided to make a dinosaur. I used scrap sock yarn for this little guy. He is actually a pretty fast knit too. I was worried that his spines would be a pain to add, but it was actually really easy to sew them on as it is all one big strip.  

Grumpasaurus by Kat Lewinski

The hardest part was actually getting a grump enough face. The first time I embroidered it on, I tilted the eyes the other way and he looked so happy. I had to look at the pattern again to realize my mistake.

I am one grumpy dinosaur!

My last FO of the week is a pair of baby booties. A Rav friend of mine and I were chatting in the beginning of the year about babies and said that we would knit for each other when we each got pregnant. She is expecting a baby girl in October so I whipped up some Monster Booties for her.

Monster Booties by Rebecca Danger

She and I met in a Monster making group on Ravelry, so I know she will just love them!  I knit these in a size 6-9 months which should work out perfectly as the baby will be born in Australia and they are just starting to have their Spring. By the time she can fit these booties it should be starting to get cool there.  I knit them up in Cascade 220 superwash so they can be thrown in the washer and dryer as needed.  

My vacation ended and I am back to work.  I managed to finish 2 FO's this week though :)  The first is the Pedestrian Crossing Cowl that I knit for a friend.  I am excited to give it to her and hope that she loves it.  It's knit in Malabrigo Worsted in the Plena colorway.

Pedestrian Crossing Cowl-pattern by Melissa Sibley

Next, I finished my This Isn't a Man socks.  I just did basic, toe-up socks with a fish lips kiss heel.  The weather today is supposed to be chilly and rainy so I might be wearing them today.

The Cyborg's Craft Room This Isn't a Man self striping

WIP Wednesday 9/3/14

I have been getting so much done while being home this week! After I finished decorating for fall, I was in the mood for some pumpkin.  I remembered seeing on Pinterest a recipe for a copycat version of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Syrup.  I am so addicted to their Pumpkin Spice Latte's, but they are a bit pricey. I decided that I would test it out on Monday.  I don't have a fancy coffee maker, just a Mr. Coffee type Keurig machine.  I don't know how to make a latte so I knew that it wouldn't taste the same as Starbucks.  

The recipe was really easy.  There were only a few ingredients and it took me about 20 minutes to make.  I put some in my coffee and you can definitely taste the pumpkin spice!  I'm so glad I can make my own pumpkin coffee beverage every day without spending a small fortune!

After I made the syrup, I decided to fall even further into the pumpkin patch and baked a pumpkin pie.  Nothing fancy, just used the Libby's recipe on the back of the can.

Along with making all things pumpkin, I worked on some knitting and stitching.  I started my Halloween socks a couple of weeks ago.  I'm using The Cyborg's Craft Room Assockilate in This Isn't a Man self-striping.  The original Halloween is my all time favorite horror movie.  I knit a pair using the variegated version of this colorway last year and when I saw it was available as self-striping, I needed it.  I finished the first sock last week and started the second.  

The Cyborg's Craft Room Assockilate-This Isn't a Man self-striping; bag by Bird Leg Bags on Etsy

I also cast on the Pedestrian Crossing cowl by Melissa Sibley.  This will be a gift so I am using some wonderfully soft Malabrigo Worsted to knit it up.  The colorway is Plena and it reminds me of crisp fall evenings.  I need to go pick out the perfect buttons for this today while hanging out with Jen.

Pedestrian Crossing in Malabrigo Worsted-Plena 616; bag by Bird Leg Bags on Etsy

The last knitting project I started is a bunny.  Every year our church has a basket social.  People donate gift baskets and you purchase tickets to try to win baskets you like.  This year, one of the girls donated an antique cradle and my mom knit this beautiful baby blanket for the cradle.  She asked if I would make a bunny to place inside.  I am using the Nummy Bunny pattern.  The only mods I plan on doing are keeping it a solid color instead of striping and not stuffing the arms and legs.  

Nummy Bunny using Knit Picks Brava Worsted; bag by MostlyMunchies

I have also been working on clue 3 of The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Halloween Town club.  This pattern is so cute and each clue has me falling even more in love with it.

That's about all I have been up to this week.  How about you, Jen?  

Wow! You have been super productive on your week off! Much more than me heh. I just started a part time job working for a friend so my time for crafting has gone down heh.  The new term started in the HPKCHC so I eagerly cast on my OWL project when it was approved within hours of me submitting my proposal! So my OWL last term was the Dr. Who scarf for my brother.  My OWL for the fall term is a project that was requested by my sister-in-law (my brother's wife). They are quite knit worthy and appreciate handmade gifts so I was happy to say yes.  She loves to read, and even has her master's in library sciences.  She picked out the Jane Eyre Shawl from the Literary Knits book. She requested a pretty gray color, and I think this yarn is perfect.  It is Cascade 220 in Charcoal Gray.   I have finished the shoulder shaping and can now start the Flame Lace section. This shawl is different from others I have made before because it has shoulder shaping, and the lace pattern is active on both sides. It is a huge shawl, and I think it will be a cozy wrap for my SIL. 

The next project that I have been working on is my sock yarn blanket. I cast this blanket on September 5, 2013. So I thought I would see how far that I had gotten in one year. I have 178 squares.  I cannot believe how far I have gotten on this project.  When I started I thought it would end like my failed attempt at hexipuffs. That I would make a few squares, get bored and set it aside.  This blanket is addictive. Whenever I pick it up I find it hard to make just one square. As soon as I weave in the ends in I am picking up the next mini-skein.  The blanket is so large is actually makes me warm to work on it, so this should see a lot of knitting time in the upcoming fall and winter.  

I spent the last few weeks stitching as well. I picked up my long forgotten Autumn Sampler.  I started the border last year, and did not even finish that!  As the weather got cooler it made me think of all things Fall! So I picked it back up in hopes of finishing it this year in time to frame and hang it. Just 10 more squares to go.

Oh I needed another needle minder since my cute Matroyshka one from Jess was is on my other sampler. So I found this cute one from Pinoy Stitch on Etsy.

I also have been working on my Once Upon a Time Sampler and have made good progress on the September square, Rapunzel.  

We're Back! WIPs Wednesday 7/30/14

With Jen going through a move and Tour de Fleece taking up most of our free time, we decided to take a week off from blogging so we could get stuff done.  

Sadly, I didn't finish spinning my braid that I was working on for TdF, but it will eventually get done.  Right now I have been working on cranking out ornaments and casting on a pair of socks.

Awhile back, Vickie of Bird Leg Bags was knitting up a gorgeous pair of socks in Trekking XXL and I fell in love with the jewel tones.  They reminded me of both a sunset and autumn so I knew I needed a pair of socks in this yarn.  After Tour de Fleece ended, I knit a couple more ornaments (Right now I have 7 out of 8 completed) and wanted a longer mindless project.  I didn't knit a pair of socks in July (gasp!) so I was starting to go through severe sock knitting withdrawal.  This week has been cooler, making me feel like it's early autumn, so what better time to cast on these socks?  

Trekking XXL, colorway 550

While setting up the craft room (finally!), I came across my Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery Gingerbread Lane cross stitch that I set aside.  I really want to knit their Autumn Sampler, but before I start I want to try to get this done so I can have it ready for Christmas.  I'm less than a third through the pattern, but with a few months to go, I should be able to get it done in time.

Gingerbread Lane
Pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

My week has been spent packing, cleaning, unpacking, moving, cleaning, painting and even more cleaning! I feel like I haven't knit in forever. I didn't even spin the last days of the Tour de Fleece I was so busy! I only have one WIP to share this week my Jeck socks.  I am about halfway through the leg of the second sock.  I am sure that I will not finish these by the end of the month, but that is ok. I am just glad that the move is mostly over. Just need to finish unpacking and get settled in to the new house.
Here is a sneak peek of the house

Here are my socks in progress as well. 

Sharing FO's Saturday 7/12/14

So we have missed Friday, but we still had a few FOs to share.  I have been busy spinning for the Tour de Fleece, but I did manage to finish my mitts!

Winter Twilight Mitts - Cascade Heritage and Crystal Palace Mini-Mochi

They do not match, but they certainly go together.  I love how they turned out.  I can slip them on my hands (although my first mitt is a little tighter than the second). They are super warm and I need to cast on a pair of colorwork mitts for myself for this winter.

I also made sure to get my Once Upon a Time July square done before my mom comes for a visit, and we move. 

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - Once Upon a Time sampler

The theme for this month is Thumbelina and she is floating in a walnut shell! So cute!
I've been busy working on my shawl and spinning so this week I just have 2 teeny gnome ornaments to share.  I will probably wait to share the rest of the ornaments I make until the end of the month, but here is a little preview:

Gnome is Where the <3 Is by Susan Claudino

FO Friday 6/27/14

I mentioned in our last post how I got 2 larger projects done this past week.  These looming deadlines kicked my butt into gear!  After 8 months of on again, off again stitching, I FINALLY got my Spooky Sampler done!  Now I can frame it and be ready for Halloween!  

Halloween Spooky Sampler pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Not only did I finish my sampler, but I also finished my June socks and I am so glad they are off the needles and safely tucked away in my sock drawer.  
The pattern is easy to follow, the yarn was lovely to knit.  About halfway through the leg on the first sock I was ready for it to be over.  I think I had so much going on  in my world that following a detailed pattern was too much for my brain to handle.  On Sunday, I went to see the Iron Pigs play (That's our local minor league baseball team).  I had just started the second sock and managed to knit 2 pattern repeats during the game.  After that, I went into beast mode to get them done.  By the time I got to binding off the cuff, my brain was dead.  I stupidly cut the yarn to pull it through the last stitch when I realized that I wasn't done with my bind off.  I still had another needle to go.  D'oh!  So, I joined the yarn and continued binding off.  I moved on to my afterthought heel.  No big deal.  I've done this like twenty times before, right?  Yeah...about that.  While I was kitchenering the heel, I was singing along to music playing on Spotify.  Somehow, I got so into it that I forgot that I was even working on my sock.  I looked down and the stitch count on the two needles weren't the same.  So, at this point I fudged it and went on my merry way to the finish line.

Rainbow Explosion pattern by Lauren McMordie  Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Slushie Facial

I have a few knit FOs this week and a sewn one as well.  The first I have to share is another Voodoo You Love me  by Susan Claudino.  There are two Puffs who are expecting their second child, so I am sending a softie for each of the older brothers.  That way when mom gets a big box for baby there is something for the big brothers too.  

Voodoo you love me - Susan Claudino - Dancing Dog Dyeworks - "Jenna"

I brought this little guy up to Glen Onoko so he could bask on the rocks there.  I love how bright and colorful he is.  I have made two of these toys so far, but think I need one to hang out in my craft room in the new house.  I am so excited that I will have a room where my sewing machine can be set up all the time.  I can also have my spinning wheel there instead of hanging out in my living room.  
The other FO is a shawl knit in some gorgeous yarn dyed up by the Three Irish Girls.  This colorway is called "You are my Sunshine" and they donated part of the proceeds to a group called SHARE that supports people who lose pregnancies and babies.  I loved the colorway when I saw it and love donating to a worthy cause. This was a limited colorway so I have been holding on to it trying to find the perfect pattern. I decided to knit up the Holden shawl by Mindy Wilkes. I knit the smallest size and left off the picot hem and I really like it.  It is an easy knit and I finished it up in a little over a week. 

This week I also sewed up a little pouch with a zipper. This is the first time that I have put a zipper in all by myself! I think that it turned out pretty well. I can see a few things that I can improve the next time that I sew one up. I am just glad that I am not as scared of zippers anymore.  My projects survive better from the chomping kitty in house in zippered bags, and if I can make my own, I will have one for every project on my needles!

I followed the tutorial found here. It was really easy to follow. The only thing I would make sure to add is before you top stitch on your zipper you should iron the fabric back away from the zipper.  That way you wont get the fabric caught up in your zipper when you use it later.