FO: Lelah

June 24, 2009 in knitting | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

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Pattern: Lelah from the Knitting for Booze Hags blog.
Yarn: Cascade Sierra, color 66 (they really ought to name them), about a skein and a half. Oh, and a little Lily Sugar and Cream, for the tie.
Needles: US 10.5/6.5 mm and US 9/5.5 mm Knit Picks Options circular
Modifications: Nine repeats of the lace pattern instead of 7, decreased rapidly over three rows so it would actually fit my bust, added ribbing to the top and left out the elastic.

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I really love how this came out. It is actually a little bit long, but the fit is great and I think it’s really cute. I definitely think I will get a lot of wear out of it, and I think you should know by now my love and adoration of Cascade Sierra. It’s amazing yarn and I’ll probably make at least one more garment out of it by the end of the summer. Maybe another tank top.

Speaking of tank tops, I started another one, this time out of Caron Spa, an acrylic/bamboo blend that is really quite lovely. It’s a sport weight though, so the knitting is fairly slow going, plus I haven’t had nearly as much time to knit as I normally have.

Speaking of garments: For those of you playing along at home, here is where I am in my sweater-a-month challenge:

January: Corona/Talia (I did them both in January)
February: Burgandy (Cable Cardi from Knit Simple)
March: Spring Cardi (Hey Teach)/Lime
April: Lime/Superman
May: Climbing Vines
June: Lelah/Tank top yet to be finished

Which MEANS if I was aiming to complete 12 adult-sized garments in one calendar year, as is the goal of this Ravelry group, I would currently be good for 8/12 with number nine about two-thirds of the way there. Why yes, I do knit like a fiend. AND I have a fairly good idea of what I’m going to do for both ten and eleven AND I have the yarn already. One of them is completely weather inappropriate and the other will only sometimes be. And I haven’t decided which to do first.

Coming up soon: stuff from the Ongoing Wish Swap (my package), a cold weather thing, and that tank top. OH, and a shawl which I need to block when I get home. That’s coming up too. Stay tuned!

Ongoing Wish Swap (it goes on)

June 22, 2009 in knitting, sewing, swap | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hi guys! This post is a little late in coming because I’m away, but here’s a little something regardless. : )

I claimed Craftster user Rangerbeth for fruit cozies and an eye pillow. Here’s what I came up with:

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Pattern: This one from I think I’m gonna purl.
Yarn: Lily Sugar and Cream cotton
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm dpns
Mods: I made the blue one smaller to fit smaller applies, peaches, and plums.

They’re cute! If I ate apples with any regularity, I might make some for myself.

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(Note: This picture is courtesy of Rangerbeth because I brilliantly forgot to photograph these.)

I also whipped up some eye/neck/back pillows. They’re filled with rice and a little bit of lavender soap and you can put them in the microwave or the freezer to heat or cool your aches and pains. I might make some for myself cause they were so easy and they’re perfect for using up small scraps of fabric (you could quilt them too). The rice is contained in a smaller bag inside the pretty fabric. I used t-shirt scraps because I didn’t want the rice to leak out all over.

I really LOVE how these came out and I think they’d also make great gifts, so I’ll definitely be making more. Plus, they’re top-stitched. Everything looks better with top stitching. ALSO, I bothered the iron the fabric, which was basically amazing. I love the iron.

I also got my package from the person that claimed me, but as it is at home and I am not, pictures of that will have to wait. I may have other FO’s coming up though, including a tank top.

Radio Silence

June 17, 2009 in blog, life, other people's crafts/cool things | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Sorry for the silence here, guys! I left for two weeks out of town on Sunday, and I haven’t really had any computering time. Just wanted to let you guys know I’m still here and ALSO, to point my fellow yarnies to this lovely contest over on the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm blog:

Click me to win yarn!

To enter, you have to add ShepardSusie to your Twitter feed and tweet a link to the contest. While you’re over in Twitter, feel free to add me too: bsveum. Though be warned: I often swear like a drunken sailor and my tweets are mostly about my life (though occasionally there’s a bit of crafty goodness, like when I ramble about my love for Cascade Sierra and my dislike of nupps).

As far as crafting: I shall be back soon (ish) with pictures of a tank top (Lelah), a pair of gloves, and a swap package I sent out but forgot to snap pictures of. Stay tuned!

Ongoing Wish Swap (Part Three)

June 12, 2009 in other people's crafts/cool things, swap | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

I finally got my second OWS package in the mail. Craftster user Lunanne claimed me for wool roving, a needlebook, and needle felting stuff:

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I’m pretty thrilled to try needle felting and also to play with the wool. The shiny ones are wool and silk, which is doubly awesome and special. I think I’ll try spinning those. There’s not a lot, so I’m not sure what I could make with the yarn and I’m definitely not going to try it until I get better at spinning (which I haven’t done in a while). The other stuff (just wool) I’ll probably needle felt onto something. I don’t know yet. We’ll see. : )

FO: Climbing Vines Pullover

June 10, 2009 in knitting | Tags: , , , , , | 1 comment

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Pattern: Climbing Vines Pullover from the winter 2008 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Lake Ice Heather
Needles: US 6/4 mm and US 7/4.5 mm Knit Picks Options 24″ circular, also US 7 dpn’s.
Modifications: Knit in the round to the sleeves, sleeves done in the round, lead motif added to wrist of one of the sleeves, length probably added somewhere; I fiddled with the numbers a little.

I really like how this sweater came out. It fits me better than Elizabeth (much closer fit), and the leaves are really distinct and pretty. The sleeves are a little snug but not unwearable. I like it, and come winter I think I’ll wear it a lot.

About the yarn: I like it a lot. It’s quite soft and I am totally in love with this color. I love the subtle blue sections blending with the grey base… It’s lovely. And I love it. I think the yarn is a bit thin for a worsted weight, but it knit up well on the 7’s, so I’m not really complaining. My spit splice (well, I used water) resulted in a weird texture (kind of scraggly) so I’m not sure what the felted fabric would like, but with this sweater, I’m not really itching to find out.

Tomorrow: A swap package. Later: Another knitting FO, the tank top I referred to before. Stay tuned!

Because I Needed ANOTHER Craft Obsession

June 8, 2009 in paper craft | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I did, you know. That’s the only explanation for why I’ve taken up card making in earnest. It all started with these books I got out of the library. Cardmaking books. About card making.

And it was all downhill from there. I gathered as many supplies as I could find in my house: Construction paper, elmer’s glue, ribbon, a magazine, scissors, fabric glue, buttons, and water colors. Plus these books I got at a sale at the Fredericksburg library, one in German and on in French. At the time, I figured they’d be useful in some sort of papercraft. Anyway, I spend several hours with the supplies and the books, and this is what I came up with:

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My favorite is definitely the one with the pink bow and the panties (or I guess it could be bathing suit bottoms), but I am really quite fond of the wine glasses too. They’re not perfect by any means, and I am definitely more crafty than artsy, but I rather like them. I would prefer to use cardstock and I would eventually like to get better supplies/better quality so I can sell them in my artfire shop (in the sidebar). At the moment, I’ll work on my technique and use them for friends and for swap packages. These are definitely a lot prettier than a sheet of notebook paper. : ) Also, I’ll include a note that they can just glue a sheet of white paper over my note to reuse the card. Eco-friendly! I mean, they are already because of the books and the magazines, but still.

In knitting news: Climbing Vines is DONE and all sewn together. Pictures soon. I also just finished a tank top out of Cascade Sierra, so that’s coming also.

All You Need is Love (and a Zipper Pouch)

June 7, 2009 in sewing | Tags: , , , , | 2 comments

With the extra fabric I got in my epically awesome rainbow swap package, I made a zipper pouch:

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I left the image large so you can see the awesome fabric. : )

It’s a pretty simple design, the pouch, used a zipper I had in the stash that I bought in a bunch from an Etsy seller several months ago and for the lining, I used some of the flowered sheet I still have TONS of. The pouch currently holds all of the stuff that had been floating around the bottom of my purse: Chapstick, lotion, hair ties, band-aids, and that sort of thing. It’s just the right size and I got to use every inch of the fabric so I get to admire it every time I pull the bag out of my purse. : )

In other (knitting news), I’ve finished the knitting on Climbing Vines and now I’m just waiting for the pieces to dry so I can sew it all together. I currently have a tank top on the needles (more about that later) and I’ll have pictures of something I knit for a friend’s birthday as soon as she takes them (I forgot). Tomorrow I’ll have a post about a totally unrelated craft.

Rainbow Swap, part 2

June 5, 2009 in other people's crafts/cool things, swap | 2 comments

So as you know, I was flaked on for the Rainbow Swap. : ( Fortunately, hippiejo74 volunteered to angel for me, making me an amazing package of rainbow goodness:

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A rainbow stamp, some perler coaster things, an AWESOME perler tree (that glows in the dark!), a trivet/potholder, two handkerchiefs, a lunchbag (made of totally sweet rainbow colored fabric that says “All you need is love”), the extra fabric, and an AMAZING messenger bag, into which I JUST transfered all the stuff in my purse cause this one is so much more awesome (and also more summery than my previous dark brown one).

And I’m NOT EVEN DONE YET. It wouldn’t all fit in one photo.

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Rainbow arrow crayons, a cute little box, and YARN! I love yarn. She said she thinks it’s a cotton/silk blend and I’m still not sure how much there is, but I’ll figure out something to do with it.

Anyway, yes, hippiejo TOTALLY SPOILED ME, and this package was TOTALLY AWESOME and as soon as I get a spare moment, I’m definitely sending some awesome rainbow stuff her way.

Ongoing Wish Swap

June 4, 2009 in crochet, sewing, swap | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

More on the Ongoing Wish Swap: I had two claims in a short-ish period of time, and since they both received, here is what I made:

For Leighi123, a crochet sandwich:

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I used random scraps of acrylic yarn I had lying around and made up some patterns. There’s lettuce, cheese, hard boiled eggs, onion rings, and pickles. I really like how everything came out. : ) Also, I got to use up some scrap yarn.

and a tote bag for her son to use for the library:

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I used the legs from some old jeans to make the bag and strap and some other fabric for the shark, which I glued on cause I hate sewing appliques. I love how this thing came out. I didn’t bother to line it since it’s just going to hold books, but like I said, I love it. I’d have wanted to keep it if I needed another tote bag.

And for AbbyRose, a paintbrush roll

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Used some Houndstooth and some orange fabric I’ve had forever. The construction was pretty easy since I’ve made a bunch of this type of thing. There’s some interfacing in it like she requested so the bristles of her paintbrushes wouldn’t bend. I also included some felt and some kool-aid for dyeing, but I don’t think you guys really need pictures of those things. : )

I’m still waiting on another OWS package and also a rainbow swap package, so that’s coming soon. Also, I’m still plugging away on the Climbing Vines sweater (it’s taking FOREVER and I’m not sure why), but the last sleeve is ALMOST done. Then it just needs blocking and sewing and it will be ready to show.

Ongoing Wish Swap

June 2, 2009 in other people's crafts/cool things, swap | Leave a comment

So I joined a new kind of swap called the Ongoing Wish Swap on Craftster. It’s like a chain: person A posts a list, person B claims to make something from A’s list and proceeds to post their own list; person C comes along and claims something from B’s list. I claimed a couple of people, but they haven’t gotten their packages yet, so I’ll post what I made for them when they get there. It might be a while cause I had to send one to Canada.

But I did receive one of my packages, from Craftster user mcook72677. She claimed me for soaps and scrubs, and this is what I got:

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Two tulip-scented soaps, a lavender soap, a sweet grass soap (not pictured), and pikake salt scrub. The scrub smells AMAZING. So does the sweet grass soap. : )

The sweet grass soap isn’t in the picture because I got the package while I was at work. I needed my sister to bring me something, and she asked if I wanted my package too (of course), and I used the soap when I got out of the pool and took my shower. : ) It smells amazing, and I love it.