The Last of The Wool: A Year of Stash Busting, Part 1

      As mentioned in an earlier post, I have made it a goal of mine to use up the remaining wool in my stash and replace it with high quality non animal fiber yarns #thelastofthewool. I made the decision to do so last year after seeing just how much of my crafting space the wool was taking up. This year was pretty successful for me as far as knitting goals go. My goals were to have more finished objects than the year before, To finish the projects that I start in a reasonable amount of time (rather than creating hoards of WIPs only to sit untouched for years then be frogged), and to make a dent in my vast and previously ignored wool yarn stash. I'm proud to say that this year I have finished more projects than any of the previous years, that most of them have been finished within a week or less, with the exception of a Lavender Kimono which took an ungodly amount of time to finish and literally led me to believe that the entire universe was against me finishing it (I'll have a post on that hopefully in the near future), and that I was able to put a large dent in my remaining wool stash.

  How did I make my goals this year with even less time to knit than I had before? All I can say is

DIY Baby Sock Blockers + Hiatus

    Hello again! It's been over a month since I've posted here. Did you miss me? During my time away I traveled, spent quality time with my family, got back into my exercise routine, and I came to a major realization. I could have easily lugged my laptop around with me, blogged about my experiences, and shared my adventures in car knitting, but I didn't. I was purposely avoiding the blog. My reason for doing so seems completely absurd to me now but at the time I needed to distance myself. 

The "Perfect" Baby Sock Pattern

      As some of you may know many of my closest friends and family seem to have caught the baby bug which means that as a knitter I'm left with no choice but to pick up my handy dandy needles and cast on. My favorite baby knits to give as gifts are baby socks, not only because they are quick and useful, but because they are mindless. They don't require much thought or attention which means that you can get through a pair or four while binge watching your favorite shows on Netflix... Or sitting at the park breathing in fresh air and enjoying the beauty of nature the way God intended. Your choice.

My Marvelous Project Bag

          So far this year has been the year that I follow through with my promises to myself. I have been wanting to sew project bags to keep all of my WIP's and their notions neat and together but up until now I've either "Never had enough time" or "I just never felt like it". Well one morning I woke up (earlier than usual) and decided that I needed to just get up and do it, so I did.

DIY Sock Blockers

         Hey Guys! Today I am going to be teaching you how to DIY your own sock shapers or sock blockers.  Blocking or Shaping in knitting is often crucial for giving your items a finished look, a proper fit and a decent shape. Socks, even thought they typically fit whether or not they have been blocked, are no exception. Blocking your socks can add more definition to their design, allow the knit fabric itself to stretch out to its full potential for a nice smooth sock, and can give the sock a natural foot shape which allows for a better fit.

Epic Vegan Sausage and Egg Burritos

      Story time! I have very fond memories of me as a child going with my Dad to one of our local gas stations/get 'n go's and picking up these huge super delicious and filling sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast burritos. They were melty, oozy, and greasy, but they were delicious. Today I am going to be sharing my vegan version of the breakfast burrito I ate growing up. By no means is this a health food but if you have a major appetite and the need for a protein fix then you've come to the right place.

The First Boy In Ages

        This weekend my Mom, sister and I were invited to a baby shower. If you've been following me for the past year then you know that knitting for babies is my all time favorite, As a matter of fact a majority of my completed projects on Ravelry are baby items. This particular baby had me very knit happy because he will be the first boy to be born into my immediate friends or family in quite some time. Don't get me wrong,  I am fully aware that there are just as many options if not more when it comes to knitting for baby girls but what I'm the most excited about is working with a whole new color pallete. Blues, greens, greys, deep browns; colors that most of the babies in my family do not wear.

We received the invitation a bit short notice so I wasn't able to give as much as I'd liked to but I'm planning on making more and either sending the rest in the mail or dropping it off the next time we visit.

My Everyday Chocolate Antioxidant Protein Smoothie

                    I have been very busy these days, so busy in fact that I just don't have time to sit down and eat breakfast. I am also out and about for most of the day so each morning I make sure to feed my body decent amounts of vitamins, protein, and carbohydrates to keep me going. The time I spend preparing food each morning has to be divided between making my breakfast and preparing nutritious lunches that can sit outside of the fridge for 3-5 hours which has definitely been a challenge for me, but I can go on and on about that so for now we'll focus on the breakfast. My breakfasts as of late have been a cup of coffee or tea, a bowl of oatmeal, and my go to chocolate antioxidant smoothie.

How to Make Waffles Without a Waffle Iron

Pretty much everyone in the world loves waffles and I am no exception. My problem with them however lies in the fact that it can be difficult to find waffles that don't contain milk or eggs and the frozen ones just aren't that great. Yes waffle irons exist but I have a hard time wanting to bring cooking appliances into my home that can't be taken apart and washed. I'm sure there are waffle irons that can be disassembled (there are), but I also have a hard time wanting to occupy my limited cabinet space with single use items and the list literally goes on and on. For these reasons I was forced to figure out a way to make waffles without the hassle.

Pattern Book Review + Ramblings: Folk Socks

              So if you follow me on Instagram then you know that I've been on a bit of a "sock kick" lately. Because of this I figured now would be a good time to review a sock knitting pattern book that I received as a gift from my Mom a few years ago. The book is called "Folk Socks, the History & Techniques of Handknitted Footwear (Updated Edition)" by Nancy Bush. This book is full of beautiful and amazingly detailed sock knitting patterns from all over the world.

Saying Goodbye To Second Sock Aversion and Self Guilt

        As part of my New Years Resolution I have begun to not only knit more often but to complete the projects that I start. Now I know that I am not the only knitter who starts projects and keeps them on the needles for a bit longer than they planned but I honestly have so many WIP's that I can no longer keep track of them and that is a problem for me. I have made myself promise that from this point on I will keep my projects down to a more manageable number and I will either work on them until they are finished or I will frog them and move on to something else.

DIY Valentine's Day Gift Pouch + Gift Card Holder

Hey Guys! In honor of Valentine's Day I thought I'd come up with a quick and simple pattern to help spread some love. The Sweetheart Pouch is a cute little pouch which can hold a small Valentine's Day card and a gift card, candy, or whatever else you think would make your sweetheart beam with joy. The design of the pattern is cute with some detail but also very simple which is great for those of us with children, nieces or nephews, close friends and colleges, or even students that we care for.

This pattern is beginner level but I used a few slightly challenging techniques to knit this up and I figured that some of you may want a more detailed explanation of them so here we go!

Interchangeable Needle Set Review and Comparison + Ramblings

      Today I'm going to be reviewing the "Knitters Pride "Trendz" Interchangeable-Deluxe Set". I bought this set not too long ago from Hobby Lobby and let me tell you it was far from what I expected it to be!

  First of all let me just say that I am so excited about finally having a set of interchangeable needles with flexible cords! Believe it or not I was completely unaware that this style of flexi-cables not only exist but are readily available and fairly inexpensive.

Pattern Book Review + Ramblings: Knitting Nostalgia

Today I'm going to be reviewing a pattern book that I bought from Powell's during my trip to Portland. The book is called "Knitting Nostalgia" and is by far the most unique pattern book in my collection. This book is full of patterns from the 1920's to the 1950's that were refashioned to have that 1980's flair.

Baby Pattern Review + New Years Resolutions

      It's 2017! Isn't it crazy to think that we've made it this far? 2017 sounds like a year in some futuristic robo-tron movie, but it is no longer the future. It is the present. It is now time to implement all of the resolutions and plans that we promised ourselves we would stick with when the New Year came just a few days ago. One of my New Years resolutions is to finish what I start. At this point in my knitting career of only 6 years I have a "to pick up and continue later" bin that is embarrassing for me acknowledge. So I don't, It sits in the corner of my room collecting dust. I can't stand to look at it. That bin is my garage stacked to the ceiling with the junk I've collected over the years. That bin is the closet full of clothing I never wear yet can't bear to get rid of. That bin is the embodiment of my fear of putting time and effort into something only to find that it wasn't what I wanted or needed. This year is the year that I empty out that bin and decide what will be frogged and what will be completed.

A Hat For Miss A

   Over the course of the 2016 holiday season I was lucky enough to be able to spend a good amount of time with my 4 and 7 year old nieces. My eldest niece loves crafting and I can not tell you how happy it makes me to know that she is interested in knitting and sewing. Not only that but she wants me, her Auntie Neen, to teach her how.