Project Spectrum red!

February and March are the Project Spectrum Fire months. I wish that the Fire theme could help heat up the freezing cold temps, but alas - I had to take matters into my own hands:

I knit these awesome mittens to help warm my freezing fingers. And let me tell ya - they are warm!



The pattern is the "Bird in Hand Mitts" by Kate Gilbert and the pattern is truly a work of art. I love how the leaves and flowers unfold as you knit. And who doesn't love the little bird that peeks out from the thumb. The yarn is Berrocco's Peruvia . It's a soft single ply yarn that reminds me a bit of Malabrigo. Very soft and fuzzy and very warm! I have only knit one of them so far - and I do plan to knit the second - but it may be a bit before I start. I tend to get easily distracted by other things like....

Sewing these!



I made up a little wristlet pattern. I made three so far and they are so fast and easy - that I see myself makeing a bunch more. I recently bought some fabric "Javajem" labels here and these are my first finished objects that got to try them out.

I got the idea for these little wristlets after making this makeup bag for my mom. She requested a new makeup bag that she could smoosh in her suitcase and yet be large enough to hold her hairbrushes and makeup. So I came up with this:



I added a little zipper pull and tried out one of my new "special" stitches on the fabric zipper fob.


I also had made this bag to hold all my WW books:



It's just a simple zipper bag that I made with left over Alexander Henry fabric from Jolene's Nappy bag.

I combined the two pattern ideas and ended up with the wristlets. I'm going to try to put together another tutorial if anyone is interested in the wristlet pattern - let me know!

Meet my new baby...

I just got a new cell phone!! My "new every two" came around this month and I got the coolest new phone for free!!!

It's Verizon's enV



I'm not a huge texter, but I have been known to do my share, so what better feature to have than a full keyboard!




I love it - I also got a bluetooth earpiece for safer driving and talking. (And my friends know that I tend to call you while I'm driving!) hehe!

I am debating if I want to buy the internet/navigation feature. Does anyone use a navigation tool on their cell phone? Does it work? I'd love to know from some fellow Verizon users especially.

Have a great weekend guys! I'll be sipping my water and loving it!

Amy Butler's Nappy bag

I am very late in showing you this, but I finished the Amy Butler Nappy bag a few weeks ago for my friend Jolene. She recently had a little boy and was telling me how she much she liked the Amy Butler Nappy bag pattern. So naturally - I had to make her one!



Stats:

Pattern: Amy Butler Nappy bag
Fabric: Alexander Henry's Mocha collection
Mods: I added a key chain clip inside and I left out the bottle holders (she's breastfeeding anyway)

Here's a closer look at the key chain holder I added to the inside:



This baby used A LOT of fabric. I think I ended up using about 6 yards total. It uses canvas as the "interfacing" to help give it structure and bulk, and the pieces are huge. The whole bag is huge actually. It would make a fabulous knitting bag too... I may just have to make one for myself in the future!

Here's a closer look inside - I used three different Alexander Henry fabrics in total - all in coordinating colors. The lining is the blue circle fabric and then I used another floral for the pockets on the inside (although you really can't see them too well)



The construction of this bag is very unique. I love the way the strap completes a continuous circle with the body of the bag. You'll have to try the pattern to see the genius way it all connects. Overall - it was a great pattern.



In other news...

Wow! Thanks for the support everyone! And thanks to :
Polly
Sweet
Jolene
Amie
Large Marge
Jenny
Bea
Coleen
bysarah
Pheelya

for joining me in the challenge! We can do it!! I'll try to make weekly updates on how I'm doing. So far so good!

Fat Tuesday and a challenge...

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone!

Everyone knows Mardi Gras means beads and lots of drinking.

The actual reason for Mardi Gras is that it marks the last day before Lent. Now - I'm not Catholic or anything, but I grew up with the tradition of giving something up for Lent. I started trying to eat healthier this year along with some friends - so we can all support each other. I think Lent is a perfect way to try to do one more thing for my health and personal weight loss goals.

I don't really talk about my weight loss plans with anyone normally - but what better way to help me try to stick to my plans than announcing it online?

I joined Weight Watchers in January and so far I've lost 15.8 pounds. I'm very excited with my weight loss so far - but I definitely still have some very bad habits. One of them is my Diet Crack, I mean Diet Coke habit. I'm a Diet Coke fiend! I must have one every day. Just the thought of trying to give up my Diet Coke makes me twitch.

I am going to attempt to give up Diet Coke for Lent.

Who thinks I can do it? I challenge myself to go 40 days with no Diet Cokey goodness.





Who's with me? I will personally send everyone that does this "No Diet Coke for Lent Challenge" with me (and succesfully completes it) a prize. Seriously!

Everyone!

Repeat after me, "I will drink water - lots and lots of water"


Sign up in the comments if you want to kick the Diet Coke habit with me - I'll need all the support I can get!!!

Now I'm going home to drink all the Diet Coke in the house - so I'm not tempted! (just kidding!)

It's just another manic monday...

I wanted to squeeze in a post today.

You know it's a grand day when your amarillis finally blooms! Mine bloomed this weekend and I just had to share:







I also finished up a quick knit - a fair-isle headband.



I wanted to practice my colorwork techniques, so I whipped up this headband. It was a great little project to try - no worries if it gets messed up because it's not like it's a sweater or something big.

I tried several techniques while knitting this:
- knitting with both hands (knitting with my left hand is currently a very slow process for me and I'm trying to improve my speed and tension)
- and knitting both colors with one hand (this actually worked quite well - I was able to knit at almost full speed and without twisting)



My unwilling model Bailey is sporting my headband as a collar!

B is for...

There are so many good things for this letter I couldn't do just one. If I had to pick just one though - it would definitley be my Bailey dog!



My best buddy Bailey has been my boy for 8 years now. He just had a birthday too on January 21st - Happy Birthday Bailey buddy! (like my B alliteration?!)

I also have some more B's for you...

All these photos were taken with a new Nikon lense that John rented for me. Did you know you could rent lenses? I sure didn't. It's a great way to try out a new lense and see if you like before you invest an obscene amount of money in actually purchasing one! He got it from rentglass.com. They have both Nikon and Canon lenses. I got a Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro for those of you who may be interested. It's basically for taking really close up and personal pictures.

Here are some B inspired photos:

A closeup of the Brick on my house:



I love how you can see every grain of sand in the grout.

My favorite summertime flower, Black-eyed susans, still look pretty cool in the winter:



Even the shadows look great:



These shadows have bee on my mind recently. I keep thinking about how great a black and white drawing of them would look. Now I just have to actually sit down and try to draw it!

Another B in my life is Baltimore.

Last weekend my friends Erin and her cowboy, Jen (jeekeehoo) and I went to Baltimore's Visionary Arts Museum. It was a fun day spent looking at sculptures, paintings and mosaics. There was even an exhibition of some of the secrets sent to Post Secret.

Outside there was a crazy tree made up of crystals and mirrors. I like to call it the Bling Bling tree:



It was a great day spent in a great city.





And for those of you here for the knitting... I have a Beginning shot of my Diamond Fantasty Shawl (ok that B was cheating just a bit!):



I'm using my own handspun for this baby and I love the way it's coming out so far.
Have a great week!

Liberty Socks

I should have posted about my latest socks a while ago - but I was busy working in DC all week. May I present my Liberty Socks!



Stats:
Pattern: Basic cuff down sock
Yarn: My own handspun
Roving: Mama E's Cyberfiber Merino Tencel in the
Needles: Size 3 DPNs

I starting knitting these socks while I was in Philly a few weeks ago. I was sitting on a bench in front of the Liberty Bell and Sarah and I were enjoying the view. Plain socks were just the ticket for enjoying the day.






This is the first object I have ever knit from my own handspun. I have to say I am hooked! I started the Diamond Fantasy Shawl last week with some other handspun.
Pics of that hopefully coming soon!!

Koolhaas

I am so in love with this hat! I love the pattern, the yarn, the fit, everything. I'm not usually a hat wearing kind of gal, but the combo of bone chilling weather and this awesome pattern won me over.




Stats:
Pattern: Koolhaas by BrooklynTweed
Yarn: Malabrigo (mmmmm - yummy!)
Needles: Size 6 and 8 DPNs
Alterations: None

I taught myself how to cable without a cable needle for this hat. It was so much easier than using a cable needle since this entire hat is made up of little 1x1 cables.





I highly recommend this pattern for a quick and yet satisfying knit!

Hats hats everywhere

I have a few finished objects to share with you this week! It's colder than cold here lately - so I have had hats on the brain!

First up (and the first finished object of this year) is a simple ribbed hat for John.





Stats:
Pattern: Christmas Emergency Hat by Jenny Dolan
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky
Needles: Size 10 DNPs
Alterations: Instead of knitting it with three strands of worsted weight yarn held together - I just used one strand of bulky yarn.




My mom was visiting a few weeks ago and she wanted me to show her how to knit (again). I had tried to teach her once before and she started a purse, but was getting "bored" with it and wanted something smaller and easier. So I thought a simple basic hat was just the ticket. I got her started on hers and I started this one at the same time, and she was on a roll for a while, but then alas... it was also too boring for her.

"I want to see some progress!" she says. So while I finished my little ribbed hat on my own that evening, she got her "progress fast knit fix" all right. I gave her some size 35 needles and Lion Brand Thick and Quick and she was off!

Yeah... she had about a foot done in like an hour. She was thrilled! Go mom! I wish I had a photo to brag on her some more!

A is for...

Art!

One of my goals for 2008 is to do more art.

I used to draw and paint all the time when I was younger. Knitting and sewing have taken up a great deal of my life, but I still need to stop and remember my painting and drawing.

My mom got me a watercolor a day calendar for Christmas. At first I thought it was kind of corny - but we painted a few together and I really like how they came out.



The kit has a differnet watercolor every day. Some are famous paintings, while others are original drawings for the calendar. Each page is basically a rough line drawing of the image. The kit also comes with 5 watercolors (blue, yellow, red, green and black) with which to paint.

It was challenging to get the right color at times and I found myself thinking back to my elementary school color wheel to help me mix the paints to get the right colors!

Here's a closer look are two of my favorites:




The calendar also shows a sample completed work photo for ideas on what colors to use etc.



As you can see I paid no attention to the date - just picked the images I liked best. I look forward to more painting and drawing this year. I bought some quality ink pens while I was in Philly a few weeks ago - and I can't wait to try an ink and watercolor project I have in mind. Stay tuned!