Knitting and Sewing (and a Craftsy Class Giveaway)!

This week…

Knitting :: My Maeva socks… some of you might recall that I cast these on for the Ravellenic games, but didn’t finish them in time. I’m about halfway into the foot of the second sock, so I’m going to try to finish these this week so that they can be my March socks for my 12 Socks in 2014 challenge. (Rav link)

Reading :: Cosmo by Spencer Gordon. This is another short story collection for my CanLit course. I’ve just started it but I like it so far… it’s a fairly recent work so all of the cultural references are contemporary. I might get to meet the author in a few weeks, which would be really interesting.
I also finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman this week. I quite liked it- the setting was really interesting and the plot was good. The main character wasn’t great (he was kind of boring) but overall I’d recommend it.

Watching :: Series 2 of The Bletchley Circle… if you haven’t seen this show, you really should- it’s awesome! It’s about a group of British women who were codebreakers during World War 2, who go on to solve crimes in London in the 1950s. Superbly done, great acting, and gorgeous costumes and sets.
Season 2 of Motive. I had kind of forgotten about this show but season 2 just started airing and it’s still quite good. It’s a crime show set in Vancouver, and it’s set up so that you know who the killer is at the beginning of each episode, and then the focus (as the title suggests) is on figuring out the motive for the crime.

And as you might have noticed in the above photos… I bought a sewing machine! I figured that nearly two years of living away from home warranted me having my own. I bought it used and just picked it up yesterday. I’ve even got the very beginning of a fabric stash (to complement my yarn stash)! One of my goals is to learn to make a quilt, so I’ve been watching the free Intro to Quilting class on Craftsy… I can’t wait to choose fabric and get started!

In fact, in celebration of crafting month, Craftsy is giving one of my readers the chance to win a free class! In keeping with my current project, I’ve selected the Toe-up Socks class (40.99$ value), so you can create your own awesome socks! Craftsy has their own giveaway system so it’s really easy to enter. You’ll just need to click here to be entered to win the Craftsy class! If you don’t already have a Craftsy account, you’ll be prompted to make one- it’s completely free and gives you access to lots of great resources, patterns, and inspiration. The giveaway will be open until March 31st (Monday) at 11:59pm.
This giveaway is now closed, thank you for all of your entries! The winner will be announced shortly.

Let me know in the comments what you are currently knitting and reading! Happy Tuesday!

Linking up with KCCO and Yarn-Along as usual.

Disclaimer: Craftsy had kindly given me a free class to give away. I also use Craftsy affiliate links on this blog. All opinions are my own and I only ever write about products/ companies that I really use and love. Thank you for supporting our sponsors and affiliates.

A new project bag and DNF socks.

While I was visiting my parents for reading week, I used my mum’s sewing machine to make a project bag from Noodlehead’s tutorial. I love how it turned out and I definitely want to make more of these in different sizes for other projects and notions! The tutorial is really detailed and easy to follow, even though I haven’t sewn in awhile. This was my first time using a zipper foot but it was pretty simple.

What else would I store in my new project bag but my current WIP? I’m still working on my Maeva socks! I started these as a Ravellenics project but definitely did not finish them before the end of the Olympics (in fact, I’m not even halfway through the first sock!). That’s alright- I knew that finishing them while I was off from school and busy at home would be a challenge and I’m still working on finishing them before the end of March for my 12 socks in 2014 challenge. The yarn is Cascade Heritage Sock in Navy and the pattern is free from Knitty.
(Rav link)

Let me know in the comments what you’ve been knitting and sewing lately! Have a wonderful day.

I’ll be linking up with KCCO and Yarn-Along as usual, as well as Craftastic and Made by Me.

Yarn-Along

This week…

Knitting :: Maeva Socks in Cascade Heritage Sock (colourway Navy Blue) for my second Ravellenics 2014 project. I’m 14 rounds into the second chart on the first sock, so I’ve got awhile to go on these. (Rav link)
Spring Boneyard Shawl… I’ve made a Boneyard Shawl before, but I’m making a lighter springtime version with laceweight cotton/linen, Diamond Luxury Collection Pima Lino Lace. The colourways are Nile and Light Denim. I love how this is turning out so far but the longest rows are going to have a crazy number of stitches! (Rav link)

Reading :: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I’m not very far into this but it’s good so far. I also finished An Abundance of Katherines this week, which was pretty good. Definitely John Green’s worst book, but the most of the characters aren’t bad, the plot just isn’t very compelling. I gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads but in reality it was more like a 3.5/5.

Watching :: Season 1 of Orphan Black (okay, so I started and finished this…). If you haven’t seen it yet, you need to stop reading this and go and watch it. Right now. It’s that good!
I also started Season 3 of New Girl… not loving this as much as season 1 or 2. The humour just seems slightly different somehow.

Let me know in the comments what you’re knitting, reading and watching… I love getting your recommendations for books and shows! I hope you are all having a lovely Wednesday!

Linking up with KCCO and Yarn-Along as usual!

FO: Business Casual Socks

That’s right, I finished the socks! These took a long time (over a month) but now that they are done, it was worth it. I love the way that they turned out! I made the smaller size, which I was a bit worried was too small, but turns out was exactly the size I needed. I wear a women’s 9.5 and have pretty wide feet, but the smaller size fits with just a tiny bit of snugness (perfect if you hate socks that fall down… like me!).

I used Cascade Heritage Sock in the colour 5631 (charcoal). As I said when I finished my last socks in Heritage Sock, I really like this yarn- it’s soft, seems durable so far, and comes in great colours.

I knit these as part of a KAL hosted by Celtic Cast-On. If you have a few extra moments, I would encourage you to go check out some of the other finished socks so far… there are some very beautiful ones!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

I’ll be linking up with KCCO, Yarn-Along, and FO Friday as usual.

Finally

Before I headed home for reading week last week, I heard that Romni Wools was having a Valentine’s Day sale. I have never been in a place with more yarn than Romni, so, armed with the remainder of my Christmas money, I set out to take a look. I only bought 3 things while I was there, which, if you’ve ever been to Romni, you will know is pretty impressive.

I bought 2 balls of Diamond Luxury Collection Merino Bamboo, which is so soft. There were so many colours to choose from, and they were 4.50$ each (minus the Valentine’s discount). I got one ball each in silver grey and Caribbean. I can’t wait to knit these up… I think these two colours would look gorgeous as a colourwork hat. (Rav link).

I also picked up a skein of Aslan Trends Santa Fe. It’s only 180 yards of fingering weight yarn, so I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, but the colourway (1324- earth seasons) was just too pretty to leave this last skein behind. I’m thinking maybe this will become some fingerless gloves, but I haven’t yet found the perfect pattern. (Rav link).

I have also finished the first of my Business Casual socks! I’m into the leg of the second sock and it seems to be going a bit quicker than the first. I’m not sure why these seem to be taking so long. I enjoy working on them, they just seem to knit up very slowly. (Rav link).

I’m spending the weekend with some friends but I will be back Monday (perhaps with finished socks?). Have a great weekend!

Tangles

When I cast on for the Business Casual KAL, as you might recall, I was really excited about using my new swift and ball winder to wind a lovely skein of Cascade Heritage Sock. Long story short, after knitting the leg of my first sock, the ball got really tangled and pulling from the centre just kept revealing more knots. Since I’m at home and not at school (where my ball winder is), I’ve spent the past two evenings detangling and rewinding my yarn by hand. I’m not entirely sure what I did- all of the balls I had wound before were fine.

Fortunately, I’ve finished the untangling and rewinding… back to knitting! I’m done the heal and I’ve moved onto the foot. These socks are lovely but are coming along very slowly. I sense there will probably be some second sock syndrome when it comes time to cast on the next one! I’m hoping to cast off the first in the next few days. We’ll see. (Rav link)

Linking up with KCCO, Yarn-Along, and WIP Wednesdays as usual!

Happy Wednesday!

Silence.

The silence as I write this post is almost unnerving. A sudden allergy flare-up has me awake at 2:00am waiting for some anti-histamine to take effect, and the house is eerily quiet at this hour on a Monday. Since I live in a residence with 14 other girls, silence is rare, but tonight, even the heater, the fridge, those little creaks and noises are all silent.

It is a little unusual, but it is calming and it is lovely. A perfect time to write.

I’ve been working on 2 knitting projects lately. Well, I guess I’ve been working on 3 but the third is a new design that I’m still working on. It’ll probably be released in a few months along with some other new patterns.

I have been working on my Business Casual Socks (Rav link) for the KAL, albeit a bit slowly. I have been keeping this project in my bag and working on it in those in-between moments over the course of my day. This means that they’ve been progressing a bit more slowly than I had anticipated but I’ll be taking the train home on Friday for reading week, which will give me a solid two and a half hours of knitting time. I’m almost done the three pattern repeats for the leg (I’m knitting the smaller size), and then I’ll be set to turn the heel. Maybe I can finish the first sock on the train.

I’ve also continued to add little mitered squares to my Colourful Blanket of Craziness (Rav link)… These are so addictive! Like I said in my last post, each square takes under 2 yards of worsted weight yarn and about 5 minutes. I can’t wait to get home so that I can raid my stash for worsted weight scraps there!

I’ve also been dutifully weaving in the ends as I go… It’s a bit tedious now but I think it will be worth it. I can just imagine the anger that future me would feel towards past me if I left those hundreds of ends to weave in all at once.

At this point, I think I’m pretty happy with the width of the blanket, so it’s time to start building more rows on top of the first two. I can always adjust the width later, though, if I change my mind. My current square count is 26!

I’ll be linking up with KCCO, Yarn-Along, and WIP Wednesdays.

Happy Tuesday!

Business Casual KAL

In February and March, I’m going to be doing the Business Casual KAL, which is being organized over at Celtic Cast-On! I didn’t participate in the Aidez KAL because I didn’t have a enough time for such a large project, but socks are some of my favourite things to knit, so I just couldn’t resist this time!

The Business Casual pattern is so pretty and is actually a free download. I’m going to be knitting mine in Cascade Heritage Sock in the colour 5631 (Charcoal).

I don’t remember if I mentioned this before, but my parents got me the KnitPicks ballwinder and swift for Christmas! I have been really liking using them.

The cast-on date is February 4th (tomorrow), if any of you want to join… there’s a prize! All of the info is here. I’m ready to cast on! (Rav link).

I hope you all had a great weekend!

FO: Kai-Mei Socks

I finished my Kai-Mei socks last week and just got around to washing and photographing them this afternoon. I love how they turned out! I also realized that despite having had multiple stashes of Cascade Heritage Sock, this is actually the first pair I have finished in this yarn. I have been wearing the socks all day and the yarn is heavenly. So nice to work with and to wear… I’m happy that I have 2 more skeins left!

(Also, I would just like to point out that it is very hard to take good photos of your own feet. Unless perhaps you’re a gymnast?)

See them on Ravelry here.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Linking up with Pinworthy Projects today.

Yarn-Along

This is going up a bit later in the day then my usual yarn-along posts, but I’ve been getting back into the rhythm of classes and readings and life in the big city.

I’ve been working on these socks for a few weeks now (I cast them on on New Year’s day). The pattern is Kai-Mei, from Cookie A.‘s book Sock Innovation- I’m loving it so far, the cuff is simple but there is just enough lace on the foot to add some interest. I’m using Cascade Heritage Sock in the colour 5627 Jade (a Christmas gift from my mum). I wasn’t sure about the colour at first (it doesn’t look anything like the website photo), but I’m loving it now… it’s perfect for this pattern!

I’ve finished the first sock and started the second, which is working up much faster than the first. I can’t wait to wear them! See them here on Ravelry.

I’ll be linking this post up with Yarn-Along, KCCO, and WIP Wednesdays. Have a great day!