Peanut & Purls and new knits

Do you remember at the end of December when I blogged about Brooklyn Tweed's Winter Look Book? There was that one resplendent sweater called Alloy. I caved and bought some knitpicks yarn. I really wanted to get Brooklyn Tweed yarn (remember Truffle Hunt?), but it would be a $150 sweater, and I want to make sure I love the pattern first.

Brooklyn Tweed has their new 2014 Winter Look Book out. I've blogged about how swoon-worthy BT is and especially Jared Flood, their mastermind (read about that here, here, and here).

Peanut & Purls & Herringbone Knits!

I've been a knitter for a number of years now, however, I've never attempted the herringbone stitch. Not because it seemed too daunting or anything, but I never really thought about there being a herringbone stitch. I mean really, who knew!?!

Made & Found: Woodsy Knitting

I finally finished my Brooklyn Tweed Guernsey Wrap. I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of this wrap. The yarn is called meteorite (swoon). All of Brooklyn Tweed's yarn is magical, I've blogged about them before. I think what makes it so special is all the little color flecks that come together to create such dynamic color blends--they definitely add dimension. Five skeins of meteorite later, and my snazzy Guernsey Wrap is complete. Also just typing Guernsey makes me want to live on a farm. Who doesn't want to become friends with a Guernsey cow?

Peanut & purls and more cowls...

I know what you're thinking. Um...didn't you just post this exact same cowl? Psssshaawww! As if. I posted a totally different cowl. I recently finished knitting (and blogging) about a new seed stitch cowl. This, however, is a moss stitch cowl. Totes different. Don't believe me? I have evidence...

Peanut & Purls and head colds...

I have a raging head cold. The kind of head cold that prohibits you from feeling like a normal person of completing everyday tasks like walking, moving, and breathing. I tried to get some knitting done while I lounged, but even that proved too much at times. These pictures were taken this weekend before I felt really gross.

Peanut and Purls and Jared Flood

I've blogged about it once (read: three times) and I'll blog about it again. I freaking love Jared Flood and thereby I love Brooklyn Tweed (and vice versa).

Made and Found

It happened. I found more yarn. I took a day off work and went up to Port Townsend with Christine and my mom. We had a splendid little day that consisted of beer, pizza, walking around, water, Fort Worden, air plants, and yarn! Not just boring blah yarn...ALPACA!

Peanut & Purls: Hearts on hearts on Peanut

Love is in the air. Well, not always with Peanut. Sometimes Peanut isn't all about love, but when she's cold or tired and wants cuds, she loves you (read: your heat) to death! I decided to show some love back by knitting her a little heart cat toy that she can rub on, get a little loopy, and then go to sleep (probably on me...but who doesn't love a cat on their lap?!?)...

Peanut & Purls: New yarn

I know I've talked about how much I love Jared Flood and Brooklyn Tweed before, but it's because I really, really do! I just got my very first shipment of yarn from Brooklyn Tweed. I'm smitten beyond belief...

Make: Cotton Necklaces

 

For a long time my favorite yarn has been Sugar n' Cream, I just love the bright fun color combinations of the 100% cotton yarn... that's under $2. So it should be no surprise that I used it for my cotton necklaces. One day I looked at my size 1 double pointed needles and some pretty color variations and lo and behold, the cotton necklace...

Secret knits...ssshhh

Since I finished my Vogue wrap a couple of weeks ago, I decided to start a new project. It's a bit of a secret right now, so you'll just have to wait for the big unveiling...

(Bad) Peanut and Purls!

I devoted lots of time to my current knitting project in the last week, which is a good thing since I needed something to distract me from the worst cat in Olympia...

$1 Wreath

I've been meaning to get some kind of festive spring/summer wreath on the front door since the day I took down my Christmas wreath (mind you that wasn't in December, I took it down February-ish--stop judging). I had an extra wreath form leftover from Christmas. I bought mine at the Dollar Tree. They're wrapped straw, and they worked well for covering in tree branches at Christmas and covering in yarn for summer!

Step one: acquire a wreath.

I'm a knitter, so I always have leftover yarn sitting around. Most of this is acrylic yarn that I don't really use for many knitting projects. I grabbed a bunch of colors to pick from

The bad cat was sleeping, so I wasn't disturbed. The next part took about an hour to do.

All you have to do is start wrapping the wreath form with whatever color you want. I started with gray and wrapped until I was satisfied and then switched colors.

When you want to switch colors just cut the yarn and start wrapping the next color. I always overlapped by just a couple strands to secure the previous color and anchor down the new color. I didn't use any glue in the entire wreath.

I picked the colors as I went, and at the end, I tucked the final piece of yarn under a couple of wraps. 

It's a really easy wreath that could be customized for any holiday or birthday. Someone will probably do a red, white, and blue wreath, but I'm just not that festive. Another bonus is that the wreath is super light weight, so you don't have to worry about hanging it on any wall. This wreath would also look cute in a bedroom or living room.

 This wreath certainly livens up my front door and it only cost me $1. 

It also looks nice from the back which is perfect since my front door is a bunch of glass panes.

Head over the dollar tree and while you're there, grab some tissue paper which your cats will love. Throw some in a box and call it good.

They also have a really good deal on some seashells. I bought 4 or 5 containers of them, but I haven't figured out what to do with them yet.

Presenting another knit lace thing.

You may remember (let's be honest, I'm sure you don't) that I have been working away at a lace scarf pattern from Vogue knits. This project took a long time and made me very bored. I really like lace, but I think I'm over the whole leaf-lace pattern. I find myself getting really annoyed with it.

Mom was pleased though, so that's good. It's a nice enough drop-stitch scarf. I think it would look pretty in white. 

Are you a knitter and want to check out the Ravelry project? Of course you are/do. Here's the link.
Let's be Ravlery friends!

Sunday Scents.

I am crazy for this Sugar 'n Cream scents yarn!

This soft peachy pink 100% cotton yarn smells sweet like something from childhood.
Not quite My Little Pony scented, but along the same lines.

If you're interested, some things that do smell like My Little Ponies are:

L'oreal Colour Rich leGloss

and my all time fav conditioner, abba in the Color Protect formula

If you know any other products out there that smell of that sweet plastic goodness of our youth (My Little Ponies for us sisters; Ben says they smell like He-Man), please comment and let us know. The sisters love this scent!

It's raining, it's pouring, and the old man is snoring.

The weather in Olympia today is rather dismal.

Proof of dismal weather real time! (.5 blocks away). 

Don't get me wrong, I love dismal weather, especially when I have the day off. Dreary weather gives me the perfect
excuse to devote some serious time to knitting. I'm currently working on a pair of socks and a new scarf. When I
was in Tucson last week, I was gifted a glorious skein of Mushishi yarn. It's a luxurious blend of wool and silk.
The color reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream and ocean beaches (basically the same thing).

It's a mighty big skein too--491 yards!

I searched for the perfect pattern to dedicate this yarn to. I'm fairly confident that I found it. I chose Jared Flood's pattern from his superb knitting blog Brooklyn Tweed. Through some minor yarn blog stalking, I have learned that Jared has roots in Tacoma, WA, which makes him all the more awesome. More specifically, I chose to knit this cabled scarf named Dryad. The cables are really fun and look so impressive. If you've never tried cables before, do it now! They're not as hard as they look and they never fail to impress. It's a really awesome pattern. I've knit one other pattern from Brooklyn Tweed, and I have to say that the patterns have been easy to understand and really well written. 

I'm hoping to finish this scarf up in the next week so that I can get some serious winter usage out of it.

The dismal weather is no match for the Dryad scarf! Rain on (kind of like game on).

Pom-pom mania!

I had a craving for some pom-poms today, so I went ahead and fixed myself a whole heap load of poms.

This is the container I used to collect all the scraps, but it kind of looks like a delicious yarn drink.

Peanut was helping me take inventory.

If you don't know how to make pom-poms, don't fret, I'll show you!

First you get out your yarn, scissors, and some thread.

Next you wrap the yarn around your fingers a bunch of times.

(Note the nail polish has lasted exactly one week from when my nails were originally painted.)

Then you take off the wrapped yarn and tie some thread around the middle real tight. 

You can also use the same yarn to tie around the middle. Depending on the yarn's strength, it might break.

Next, you use your scissors and cut through the ends on both sides.

Almost done.

Now you just need to trim up the ends so that it's extra fluffy.

Congrats, you've finished one pom!

Now all you have to do is make a gazillion more and you can do something awesome with them.

I decided I would string all my poms together. I went with a St. Valentine's Day color scheme so they could be left up for a few months.

After they were all strung together, this is what I had to work with.

I decided to drape it over a picture frame and call it good.

Good.

Or if you're really feeling festive, you could always decorate your wrought-iron gate with some poms.

Happy pom making.

yarn bombs

I am sick again. Again! But being sick did allow for a couple days of lying in bed (and on the couch), situations which, for me, often lead to crafting. So on the plus side, I got a little glass ornamenting accomplished. And really, what could be simpler? Vibrant-hued yarn (a little too scratchy for a scarf), shoved right inside an empty glass ball. Fun and festive.

A little yarn explosion of your very own.

But be careful when shoving yarn inside your ornaments.

Sometimes there are sharp bits along the rim of the opening, and then stuff like this happens.

And you end up pulling glass shards from your index finger. Not cool, ornament, not cool.