Summery Header

I thought I would update the blog with a new header. I'll miss Elphanté - he's such a cutie - I thought I could use something a bit more summery though… maybe I'll put up something new in the fall and keep the seasonal change going.

Happy summer everyone, and happy knitting!

Thank You, Tracie!

I'm working on an for Fiber Buzz. It's a full page ad that will go in the Interweave Crochet, Fall 2007 issue and Tracie from Lampes Lumps is one of the contributors to the ad. I've never meet or worked with her before and she is sooo sweet! She sent me a 'Lump' of her handspun fiber especially for little 'ol me! Isn't that so sweet and isn't it wonderful! I love the colors and the feel of the yarn. I've actually never worked with handspun yarn before so this is a very special treat. Thank you, Tracie! I can't wait to knit it up!
Another fun thing that happened today is I got my invitation to Ravelry! If you haven't heard of it yet you need to check it out. I'm have yet to play around with it and get settled in but it seems like an awesome place to be! Here's a little bit on what it's all about.

Once you sign up you get put on a waiting list but that is just because the site is still in developmental stage and they are taking it a little at a time. Frankly, I already think the site is huge! Anyways, get your name on the waiting list and see what the all the fun is!

P.S. I signed up in May and just got the invite now.

P.P.S. Here is my Ravelry page - I have yet to fill all the project pages up and whatnot.

A Weekend Get-Away!

Ed and I got back last night from a great weekend get-away full of R&R! We took off Friday and headed up north to Little Bass Lake in Irons, Michigan. We had his Aunt and Uncle's cabin all to ourselves and it was so great. I got to do a lot of this…
and this…
(Ed spent his time fishing - he loves to fish as much as I love to knit, you can catch him in his red shirt in the background of a couple of these shots)

I worked on my Butterfly Top. Got it off the needles and now I just have to figure out the construction. I casted on for the Summertime Tunic out of Interweave Knit Summer 07 and I even finished the knit part of the bag I'm working on for the Summer KAL CAL. Remember me posting about it? OMG! You have to check out this HUGE ball of fabric.
The night before we left I worked on making this one, BIG, continuous ball. That's OK, you can laugh… because Ed walked in on my doing it and when I held the ball up the 3.10 pound ball he said, "You're crazy!" - we both started laughing, I mean seriously, it's as big as my head! HA!
I do think I'm onto something though, check it out…Look at it pulled up on one of my bags, you can get the idea right? I still need to figure out how I'm going to finish it, but I'm loving it already!

Doesn't even looking like a put a dent in that enormous ball so I'll be able to make more! HA!

Summer KAL - CAL

A few days ago Sharon from She-Knits contacted me about contributing some of my Knitterella product to a Summer KAL - CAL Purse Round-Up that she and Marly (from Yarn Thing) are hosting. I was flattered to be asked and I was intrigued to see what it was all about so I looked into it…

For those that don't know KAL stands for Knit-Along, and CAL stand for Crochet-Along. Knitters and Crocheters join these groups and they are a great place to network with fellow knitters and crocheters and also a great way to inspire each other. This particular one is giving away prizes to the bags/purses that are voted 'best' by the members. There are a lot of great things from a lot of great places - check out the growing list! I decided that I defiantly wanted to donate and I'm going to donate a pack of Sitting Knitting Notecards, Knitting Quotes Notecards, Yarn Ball In Heart Notecards and a set of Knit Gift Tags and Crochet Gift Tags.AND… All this seemed like so much fun that I've joined the KAL - CAL myself! This is my first KAL - CAL ever and I'm pumped about it! I already have an idea for my knitted bag and this is what my 'plan' is - hope it turns out! See I've had this basket of fabric scrap balls from my grandma who passed away back in 1987. The fabric strips are actually recycled clothing from garments that her and grandpa and the 8 kids used to wear. Grandma was probably going to use these strips to make a braided rag rug or something crafty and useful for her home. I guess I assumed that I would one day learn how to do a braided rag rug but now I think this Purse KAL - CAL is the perfect use for them. I hope it turns out and I hope that it's a bag I will use often and will always be reminded of Grandma and the whole family whenever I use it!

Be sure to check out Marly's and Sharon's podcasts. Marly's is here and Sharon's is here. They will be talking about the KAL - CAL and other things knitty and chrochet. Last but not least! The Summer KAL - CAL Purse Round-Up blog is here. Check it out! You should join, it will be fun!

P.S. I'm going to be away from posting for a few days - but will be back soon!

P.P.S. Sharon of She-Knits makes and sells some amazing bags on Etsy. Check them out! Love her felted bags with the flower designs on them, reminds me of something out of Anthropologie.

Knitting Buddy

My one and only niece Olivia, (the one I knit the hat for) is my new Knitting Buddy. She is 5 years old and is all about learning how to knit and I love it! We had our own little sit and knit tonight. Here she is knitting. She's working on a belt/scarf/hair tie thingy.Here it is finished - she was so excited.
We thought we deserved an ice cream treat for the knitting accomplishment!

Goodie Bag!

My mom just got back from a week long trip to New York with 3 of her sisters. It was the first time being there for 3 out of the 4 and they had a blast and had so many funny stories to share! It's good to have my mom back to Bay City though! And to boot - check out the goodie bag she brought me full of wonderful things!I got all excited when I saw this gift bag, do you recognize the logo? I sure did and I've never even been there before. I've seen the String logo in magazine ads and have been to their website. They sure have a great logo, I wonder if they sell shirts?It was so nice of my mom to make a special trip to a yarn shop for me. Just the thought alone is so nice and then she even picked me up this cool book. I've dabbled in socks just a little but have anyways wanted to do more so this book is great and will be very handy.

These socks from MacKenzie Childs are fun!

This hand-painted wine cork from MOMA will be very handy! :)And this little guy,I already have him outside in one of my planters. Isn't he cute? Makes me smile just looking at him :)

THANKS, MOM!

"Butterfly" Part 1

I came across Knitscene at my LYS about a month or so back and I'm already looking forward to the fall issue coming out end of June.There are a lot of projects in the spring issue that I love. To start, I've got "Butterfly" on my needles as we speak. This is my first time working with Bamboo. I'm using Twizé, 100% Bamboo, colorway is called Twown. I like it. The drape is very nice and I think that is what will make or break this project - and of course the finishing work… the instructions ask for some details that I'm a little nervous about. For example, the finishing involves using things like pleats and sewing in elastic to gather the back. I've never done this with knitting before. Hope it turns out! I'll show you when I'm done.

Summer Knitty

Yippee! Summer Knitty is here! So fun when the new issue comes out. I don't know about you, but I go right to the free patterns. So many talented designers sharing their work, it's fantastic!

I feel kind of silly but I really, REALLY want to knit these Bloomers - YES BLOOMERS! HA!

(They actually remind me of Free People because I think last winter they had bloomers layered under skirts with leggins in their catalog. So cute!)

The pattern is really called Unmentionables by Lee Wood Juvan.

Thank You Knitty and Thank You Lee!

The Garden Is In!

Since we are a couple weeks later then we like we missed out on some of the vegetables we typically use. So this year we will have summer squash and brussel sprouts instead of zucchini and cucumbers. I've never grown brussel sprouts, have you?We also planted tomatoes, a variety of peppers, plus basil (my fav!), cilantro and parsley - we've got chives and onions are in there too.Look at this little guy already sprouting out! Oh, and see the long boards up against the fence in back? - up in the second photo - I want to make some planters out of those. I also plan to start planting perennials along the fence in back as well - you can see in the third photo that it heads off to the right and nothing is planted in there. I'd really like to have perennials for cutting - any suggestions on what types are good?

Anyways, as usual I have a lot of ideas, I just need to follow through with them!

Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet

Anthropologie is my favorite store and when I stumbled upon this Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet I had to knit it!The pattern is free and easy and it's from the blog Peony Knits. There is also another pattern on there called the Circular Shrug - I think I'll try that one too because it's designed after a piece from another favorite store, Urban Outfitters.

This knit was so fun, easy and fast (only about 6 hrs) and I must say, so cute and cozy to wear! I plan to make many more. Thank you Peony Knits! Great work and thanks for making it a free download!

I knitted mine with exactly 4 skeins of Chimera by Lana Gatto. Knit on 10 1/2, 24" circluars and dpns.

Olive You!

My sweet niece, Olivia, lost her dear Grandpa to cancer earlier this week. It has been hard on everyone, especially the grandkids.

I made this hat for her because her Grandpa used to call her "Olive" - I hope when she sees and wears it, she's reminded of him.


Pattern source: Itty-bitty Hats, by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Berroco, Touché

Planting Flowers Part 2

Here are some photos from my Planting Flowers Part 1 post.

In the backyard there is this one hanging on our little red barn by garden (that is still waiting to be planted)…
and then there is this hanging basket just outside our sliding door.
In the front are two smaller hanging baskets here…
this hanging basket by the front door…
and, my favorite, this on the front step. It's an old container of some sort that I found in one of my dad's barns. I really like it…

So, what do you think? I like them and really like the fact that they are not dead yet!

Planting Flowers Part 1

Look what I finally got to do yesterday!
Don't you just love wandering a greenhouse and admiring all the color and beauty? I sure do. The problem is I don't really have a green thumb… well, I'd guess I'd call it more of a pale chartreuse green, but this summer I'm shooting for a deep, vibrant kelly green!
I've always admired those homes with beautiful flower beds and colorful, over-flowing hanging baskets, but every summer I'm notorious for either over watering or under watering my containers and in the end having to move them to the back of the house where they can die with some dignity. Where they don't have to endure those disapproving stares from passers-bys. What is even more embarrassing is that my dad is a farmer, and a good one! I mean, you'd think I'd be a little bit better at this!
This year instead of buying the $30/$40 already flowering baskets I thought I'd pick out a bunch of flats and make up my own colorful combos. That said, this is what $30 at the local greenhouse got me. I was able to fill 4 baskets and 2 containers. Here are some of the names of the flowers I picked up:
•Geranium
•Pansy
•Petunia
•White Robe
•Blue Moon
•Sundial Mix
•Coleus

I will show you some photos of the finished product soon… that is if they are not dead yet!

The Latest Buzz

I'm very honored to be part of the new Fiber Buzz team. That's right, I'm the freelance graphic designer for their ads, logo, website, etc. It's a privilege to work with such talented contributors (see the "Who We Are" link for the current list). Fiber Buzz was founded by the Stitch Diva herself, Jennifer Hansen, check out the newly posted website to see what Buzz is all about.

Don't forget to click on the "Top 10 Picks" link to see the latest ads that I worked on for the group. Working on ads for Vogue Knitting and Interweave Press was a trip because I'm a big fan of those magazines (and to the contributors of the ad)! Oh yeah, see that link at the bottom? The blurb-age about "…Click here to visit Jill?" Yup that's my plug! -- Sorry, I know I really, REALLY need to work on my webpage/redesign desperately but as with everything you never find the time for yourself! Plus, I do have a full time job that I love and of course… there's knitting to do! ;)