Clairmore- in the works

As I've mentioned, numerous times, I went to the LA Yarn Crawl this year...Not only did I acquire some amazing yarn, but I also received several free patterns, just for stopping in at the yarn shops. 

One such pattern, which I obtained on The Yarnover Truck, is called the Clairmore. It's described as a cowl and a shawlette. If you have a Ravelry.com account you can find the pattern here. The fun thing about this pattern is it uses just one skein of Anzula Cricket (250 yards), which is some of the best yarn I have knit with (for various reasons, but the yarn is so soft it makes it hard to put down).

It's a fairly easy pattern and works up pretty quickly.  This one definitely requires blocking once finished, as the lace pattern doesn't really show up (see photo above for pre-blocking image). This particular one is for my friend Jessica- a hand-knit birthday present; and I will post a follow up once it's finished blocking (I use the wet-blocking method as opposed to the steaming method so it takes a few days to dry in it's "new" form). I'm working on a second Clairmore Cowl/Shawlette as we speak which will probably go to my mom, if she wants it.  Otherwise it'll be up for grabs.

Apologies for not posting more, recently. We (Gonzo and myself) are attempting to find a new place to move to and that has taken me on some crazy journey's to some very interesting areas in Los Angeles county. Hasn't left me with a whole lot of time to blog.

Take care!

Baby's Sweater

I just finished sewing the buttons on this knitted sweater for my niece.  It took me a little longer than I had anticipated, as I vanished to parts unknown for two weeks and only took along socks to knit instead of a nearly completed sweater.

Originally I picked this sweater for the awesome cable that runs along both sides of the front.  I love cables...they take forever (sometimes), but I love knitting them.  The pattern I used was from the book "Baby Basics to knit for new moms"...which, no- I'm not a mom- but I'm not sure my sister-in-law will be picking up knitting needles anytime soon and the pattern was too cute not to make.  

I found the cute little white buttons while I was visiting parts unknown...at a Hobby Lobby...yes, parts unknown have Hobby Lobby's. 

The yarns are ones that I picked up during the Yarn Crawl The pinkish-purple yarn (Stripes on the front and sleeve color) was a yarn that was in the basket I won at The Altered Stitch; the speckled yarn is from Ancient Arts Yarns called Unwind Hello 1 Speckled and is from their Hello Kitty line of yarn colors- that I picked up at Unwind.  I figured my barely over 2 month old niece could use a sweater that has a little Hello Kitty inspiration in it, right?

Since I know how kids are with knits I am anticipating my niece's hatred for me for sending her an itchy sweater to wear...One day she'll understand it was made with love. 

Post Vacation

I kind of left the blog for a few weeks.  That's not an indication of what is to come for the remainder of the year, but that is telling of the fact that I went out of town...back home, if you will...and didn't feel like connecting.

It was a fantastic two weeks of de-stressing and reconnecting.

I've only lived in CA for 6 months.  To say it's been an easy adjustment would be a lie- contrary to some of the posts on here, day to day life isn't easy.  I know I've mentioned my frustration with the apartment that we live in, previously- It hasn't gotten any better.  To appease me, Gonzo sent me to visit my parents.

For two weeks I enjoyed the quiet solitude of my parents home.  We visited; laughed; napped; ate; crafted and just enjoyed some time together.  Unfortunately the napping was brought on because I showed up sick and then my parents got whatever I had...all was exacerbated by the awesome allergies of North Texas- so I was exhausted pretty much the whole time.

But it was quiet.  The only sound was the meowing of their cat when it wanted attention; the bugs that hit the windows at night, and the thunder of the storms that seemed to be hanging around nearly the entire time I was there.  It was fantastic!    


I have pictures, but they are mostly food from homemade meals or restaurants that we went to.  Some pictures of the flooding that was happening around Dallas on my last day in town.  But I won't be posting them.  It was a nice time back home and I'd like to save those memories for myself.

I can't say that I'm entirely excited to be back in California.  But I'll try to make the most of it.