Summer is Finally Here!

I apologize for the lapse in time since my last post. We have had beautiful weather during the month of May here in Minnesota so it's been difficult to sit my tush on the sofa and get to writing. I have, however, been getting in alot of knitting which has been great. Typically around the month of April I set my needles aside and start focusing on my garden. I'm not sure what changed this year but all I want to do is knit. I blame Ravelry. With their endless database of patterns and yarns, I've been able find any project I want, along with some that I didn't even know were an option! I also blame Webs. Have you been on this site? If this isn't yarn porn, than I don't know what is. They have close to every yarn imaginable! Between the two of these sites, they have given me the inspiration I need to make me believe that I can make a sweater on my own without having to take a class to figure it out.

With that said, behold my next project. Granted it's not technically a sweater, but it's close enough and it will definately make me feel more comfortable for when that time does come. Plus, it's perfect for summer. I'm not going to use the Cascade 220 like the pattern calls for because it just seems silly to use 100% wool for something I'm going to wear when it's 80+ degrees outside. I've decided to use the Berroco Cotton Twist that I got at that wonderful lady's garage sale a couple of weeks ago. I have 10 skeins so hopefully that's enough. I will be casting on tonight, and in the mean time, here are some of the projects that I've been working on along with a link for where to find the patterns. Hope all of you have a safe and awesome Memorial Weekend. It's going to be a hot one!!

Breckinridge Cowl designed by French Press Knits (I still need to find a button for it)

French Press Felted Slippers designed by French Press Knits

I made these socks for my brothers birthday. The pattern is Thuja designed by Bobby Ziegler.

Spring Cleaning

Recently I had the good fortune of finding a lady on Craigslist who was moving to California and needed to de-stash her yarn. She used to work at a local yarn store and was selling all her skeins for $1. Needless to say, I was the first person to hit the sale when it opened. I have an obsession with quality yarns and this sale did not disappoint. I wanted to buy everything she had (which was easily 5 full large boxes) but I had to control myself and only purchase what I could see myself knitting in the near future. There are several felting projects on my list, so I was in the market for some good wool. If I was in Vegas, I would have hit the jackpot! Among the fabulous items I found was Cascade 220 (every knitters staple), a large cone of hand spun wool, and unopened pack of Berroco Cotton Twist and a variety of others. In all I got 2 cones and 18 skeins for $21! I did the math when I got back to work and the retail value of all the yarn totals around $120. Not too shabby!




Now what’s a girl to do with all this yarn? My stash was already overflowing, and I know my husband is sick of seeing the bags of yarn just sitting in the corner of our living room. I needed to organize, and I needed to do it quick. Coincidentally, I had to make a run to Target that evening, and I came across this great cube organizer. We have a wall in our living room that has been pretty bare since we moved in, and this would be the perfect thing to fill that space. So, two days later I dragged Josh (my husband) to Target and we loaded it up in the Suburban and had it set up 2 hours later.






I'm loving how it also doubles as a bookcase. My yarn has never been so organized! I still have a some overflow yarn to deal with, but this definitely works for now. So now I'm happy and so is the hubby.