Queue Enhancement Friday!

So, since I've been so slack this week...I figured I better at least do the queue enhancement Friday so that you guys could all give some awesome patterns some lovin'. These aren't going to have much of a commentary, since I just want to get it up and give you guys the patterns and some pretty pictures.

 

Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder 

(Picture by Dreams in Fibre)

 

Beverly by Kristen Hanley Cardozo

 

Sweet Dreams by Boo Knits (Photo by  Pagebooks)

 

Phoebe by Ruth Garcia Alcantud (Photo by Susan Gibbs)

Sunset on the Shore by Elizabeth Lovick

I hope one of these patterns inspires you! By the way, I'm looking for something good to make with a scrumptious 200yd ball of Qiviuk that Dallas bought for me. If you have any suggestions, please post them in the comments!

Have a lovely evening, my knitties.

Katie =^..^=

Inspiration!

On the Needles: A super fuzzy pink scarf! Almost finished.
Soon to be on the needles: a double knit, custom order, scarf!

So, yes. Another post. So soon, you ask? Yes. But like I said in the previous post, I probably won't have as much time in the school year, so I may as well write as much as I can right now. And besides, inspiration has struck and I want to share!

First, though, the mittens are up on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80685241/handknitted-childrens-mittens-purple-and

So exciting! These mittens are ridiculously cute! Though if you're looking for something different, please feel free to ask; if you've checked out my profile page, you can see that people have still be requesting custom orders.

Something else to check out (to help promote the other yarn crafters on Etsy) are my two treasuries, featuring a "Stay Warm" theme of knitted items and crocheted items:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ2NjM0MTJ8NjQyODA4MDcz/stay-warm-this-autumn-crochet-edition?ref=pr_treasury

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ2NjM0MTJ8NjQyOTc4NDky/stay-warm-this-autumn-knit-edition?ref=pr_treasury

And now, the inspiration. I was driving home from work last night, and I saw a whole row of fence posts covered by black birds, with little birds inbetween. And suddenly, inspiration struck! It would make an amazingly cute hat, and it would also be awesome as a scarf, blanket, and other things that are starting to work themselves out in my head. And then I realized how I can do it, and so now I really want to be home again to be creative and write all of this down.

But these won't be started until after I start the scarf mentioned above; it's going to be double knit to a certain name (fingers crossed that I can actually figured out how to get the letters to stay unmirrored). I'm excited about this, because it'll be the first time that I'll have used double knitting!

In other news, my Facebook page got over 25 "likes" so I now have an official username. And, and! I started a Twitter account. You can find me by clicking the "Follow" link over on the right hand side!

Once I have a few more followers and am more established, there will be certain perks to liking or following the blog/Twitter/Facebook.

Tonight, I get to go home and bake and craft and talk to some friends, which sounds like a really good evening to me! And tomorrow's my last day of work, which is sad, but I'm so excited about this upcoming school year! It all kind of balances out.

So, short post, but that's OK. Short, fast, furious, and then you'll have a break in the school year!

Have fun!

Katie =^..^=

Teasers!

On the needles: mittens for a 4 and 2 year old. (It's the mitten knittin' summer!)

So, here's a few pictures of what I'll be posting on Etsy within the next week!

First off, the stripy legwarmers that I've been working on:

The colours are Paton's Canadiana "Bubble Gum" and "Lime Juice" with a black polyester ribbon tipped in jewelry clamps. They are corset laced, and I used the black ribbon because the colours remind me of a watermelon...So I figured I would add the seeds!

The next is what I fondly refer to as the "Cheetos" shawl, because of the colour and texture of the yarn. I knit it while I was in Japan to have something to do, and I liked the funky colour. It's a simple garter stitch knit that wonderfully shows off the yarn's texture! I don't remember much about the label (It was all in Japanese), but I know the yarn was made in Italy, so that makes this a really unique item! Made in Japan with Italian yarn by a Rocky Mountain Canadian girl. 

A simple knit hat: 

And a quirky scarf made from "Boa" yarn: 

I will post full pictures and links when I make the full posts on my Etsy shop. I need to get out in the proper light for some good pictures of these items before I fully post them on the shop. I need to put my best foot forward with the first listings. And there will be coffee cup cozies, too.

Other than that, I actually picked up a couple of knitting magazines today. Specifically, "Knitting today!"'s August/September issue, and "Interweave Knits"'s Fall 2011 issue. Both of really nice patterns in them, and there are a couple I'm definitely going to take and adapt. I really like to pick these magazines up for the inspiration that they can provide. I might have to consider investing in a couple of subscriptions...Or requesting subscriptions for Christmas! I love getting mail, so that would be perfect.

Speaking of inspiration, after these mittens are done, I'm moving onto another couple of projects. One is definitely going to involve intarsia and a hat and the Rocky Mountains, potentially a Rocky Mountain sunset (although that may come later); the other is going to be a baby/toddler log cabin blanket to put up for sale. If the Rocky Mountain intarsia hat turns out well, that might be something that I enter in for next year's Calgary Stampede contest. I guess we'll see!

Other than that, just getting settled into the new place. There's two bookshelves filled with books, and the yarn will be organized soon (I have a feeling that it will be a never ending process, what with the stash that I've accumulated). And the clothes need to be unpacked. It seems as though it's a rule that I make sure that the books are unpacked first!

Until next time, take care!

Katie