Warm Wooly Winter Wear

I'm working now to add some warm wool items to my Etsy website for sale. The cold is coming! Be prepared with unique knitted hats and scarves. Thanks to dawn and Dennis of dawn elizabeth photography for sharing these awesome pics showcasing my work!

Blue and beige mohair scarf

Stormy night wool hat & purple cashmerino scarf

Skittles wool hat

Purple cashmerino scarf

Rhinebeck rocked!!

My loot! :) Clockwise beginning at bottom left: handcrafted dpn needle holder, yellow/green/pink superwash merino from Sliver Moon Lake, turquoise/brown merino from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm, pink/red/brown/grey merino/tencel blend from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm, 2 skeins of harvest colored superwash merino from Persimmon Tree Farm (for a Mythos KAL with reluctantMANGO), 2 skeins of brown/pink handpainted angora/llama blend from AngoraOnline, and a skein of lightweight burgundy superwash merino sock yarn from Socks that Rock.

 An alpaca

 A tiny baby alpaca

 Angora rabbit!! So fluffy! He was at the shop where I bought my angora/llama blend yarn.

 Ravelry party - table of cupcakes. Yum!

 Jenferkel, reluctantMANGO, and I at the Rav party.

Casey, Jess, and crew giving out awesome prizes at the Rav party

Sock progress.....

One sock.... ready to knit the toe. I estimate another hour of work on it, just because it's been quite awhile since I've done a toe.

The second sock, still back at the heel. Ugh. It's not looking promising to finish. How fast do you think I can pack for my weekend at Rhinebeck, so that I can knit before work today?

Here's a pic of the sock to the toe.... gotta run and pack!!!

Now I remember why I prefer to knit.....

Lately I've been hit with a clean/organize bug. It's led me to pull out all my old started projects, no matter what the craft, and sort through. The ones I've acknowledged I'll never go back to, for whatever reason, I've let go; now they can't taunt me and make me feel guilty whenever I uncover them.

The ones that still have a chance, I've put into two large baskets (one for fabric, one for everything else). Every time I feel like working on a project, I've decided I have to pick from the basket. That in and of itself is difficult enough. Just last night I was updating some pictures of my FOs (knitted Finished Objects) on Ravelry (read: social networking for knitters/crocheters) and the next thing I know, I have inadvertantly found no fewer than 3 more knit projects I'm just itching to cast on! I even caught myself up in my craft room, staring at my yarn stash, debating which wool would be best for the cabled pidge I loved!

However, I shook myself out of new project reverie and headed downstairs to open my project basket for something to occupy my hands while watching the Viking/Jets game. Out came a small cross-stitch piece of a tiny teddy bear holding a stork sack --- a piece for a new baby. It's over halfway done. So I set out to make some progress.... and was quickly reminded why it is that I prefer to knit: because you can see progress! Granted, there are some knit projects that just never seem to grow (like the socks I blogged about the other day), but usually you can see something happening. On the other hand, cross-stitch grows at a painfully slow rate!

Socks.... can I finish them before Rhinebeck??

Usually projects for me to wear are set aside in favor of items to sell for Smile Creations Crafts, or for gifts for family and friends. This pair of socks is a prime example. I started them in October 2007 (three years ago!!!) while at a book signing by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Since then I have picked them up every few months, worked an inch or two, but always had to leave them to work on other projects.

Well this time they are destined to be completed!! Knitters love wearing their own knit creations when in the company of other knitters. Wearing knit items provokes the question "did you make that?" and can be a simple way to begin conversation with a veritable stranger. Since several friends and I are traveling to Rhinebeck, NY this weekend for a HUGE wool/yarn festival (Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Festival, to be exact), I am determined to complete these socks to wear while there.

I'm back!

Yes, after a very long break in posting (during which I did quite a bit of crafting, but got very lazy about sharing with everyone), I'm back. I'm sorry to all my fans and followers who missed me in my absence. My goal is never to leave you hanging like that again!

For today I'd like to share with you pictures of the Baby Surprise Jacket I've been working on obsessively. I added a hood to this jacket (not in the original pattern) to keep the little one extra warm in the cool autumn breezes.

It's for a friend of mine, who's wife is pregnant with their first child (and due very soon). He's stationed in Iraq; I'm not even sure he'll be able to come home for the birth. I hope seeing this tiny little sweater will bring a smile to his face.

Enjoy!