And Now, Kind of Back to the Regularly Scheduled Program

WiP: Non-Felted Slippers, super secret project (ssp)
In the Plans: SSPs (yes, plural), and more non-felted slippers

We did it! Dallas and I are married. And here is a picture to prove it:

 

You can just barely see my rings. But they're there! Everything went amazingly well, and it was definitely the best day of my life (so far). It was perfect! I'll share some photos of the decorations/interior after we've shown the photos to our parents. 

For our first honeymoon, we went to Victoria (our second honeymoon is Walt Disney World). We visited three different yarn shops, which was fantastic, and they've now pointed Ogden Point. The most impressive on to me was the thunderbird, which went from the edge to the ocean!

We also went whale watching, where we saw a whole pod of orcas! I have some really cool photos from that as well that I can share as soon as I actually get them off my camera.

I honestly think I might still be a touch burnt out from this whole planning and executing of a wedding, even after a month.

But, that doesn't mean I haven't already planned out stock and done a few fun things.

Like spinning silk hankies! I got these at the Olds Fibre Fest in June 2013 and decided that it was time to finally get them on the wheel. Sooooo much fun, and they are spinning so amazingly. They're indie-dyed by Luscious Luxury (Barbara Robinson) out of Rossland, BC! (It looks like the best way to get your hands on some of her gorgeous hand-dyed yarn will be to contact her via email.) This is her "peacock" set, so I'm going to spin all three colours and then navajo-ply them to get a kind of short-striped gradient. 

And this, my friends, is the start of the crazy Christmas season stocking that I've started. This picture is of one of my own wedge project bags* filled with a pair of slippers that I have already completed! (The picture was taken yesterday (August 18, 2014), and I finished the slippers last night. So, if you see anything you like, let me know! Twitter and Instagram are the best places to get up-to-the minute updates of what I'm doing right now. 

And on that note, I should be more present on the blog here (hopefully) - I'm aiming for one a week right now, so we'll see what happens. hahaha

Have fun!

Katie =^..^=

*This "Kitschy Kats" bag is available here (along with others): Wedge Bags! That bag is currently holding a skein of Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick, just to give you an idea of how large it is - it will also work for two-at-a-time (or one-at-a-time) mittens, socks, and etc. I would even say small baby items or small to medium shawls would fit quite nicely.

That Yarn Looked Tamer in the Skein...

WiP: Cozy Calligraphy Cardigan (nearly done - just knitting the buttonhole band); My Hope by Laura Linneman in Zitron Dreiklang (It looked Tamer in the Skein)

This past week and weekend have been so up and down it's been crazy! Between work, and a bridal tea, I had very little time to sit down and knit on anything most days.

However, I made a special point of it on Sunday - I sat around the house (inside and out) and knit on my Calligraphy Cardigan so that I could get the sleeves done (which I did) and start on the button band (which I also did). Reading through Harry Potter has definitely given me something to do while I'm going about mindless stockinette or 2x2 ribbing! haha

< This was Sunday morning as I was starting. 

This is Laura Linneman's My Hope, a pattern that I thought would look really good with this yarn. It is looking fantastic so far (I'm on the next garter stitch section), but the yarn for this shawl, as the title suggests, looked a lot tamer in the skein. I have to decide on beads for this - I'm thinking something that will shine down at the bottom of the cast off, where it's supposed to be beaded. 

These are my first knits from my handspun! I've had this yarn in my stash for about a year and finally decided it was time to use it. The yarn is a bit crunchy, because I over spun/plied in places, and it's a 3-ply, but they'll do for a pair of mittens during the fall when it's not quite full mitten weather yet. I cast on, knit, did a thumb gusset, and it's a picot bind off on both the hand edge and the thumb edge. I love that they don't match, but still have striping (I did do a good job of not muddying the colours, at least)! 

And these are a pair of boot cuffs for a friend that still need a set of buttons on them. This is a trade for the illustration she drew for Dallas and I for our wedding invitations! :) (I'm also knitting her a cabled pair in orange.)

And finally, our guest book! I purchased this from Watermark Bindery on Etsy. It is gorgeous! Diane and Viktor made sure that all my questions and requests were well looked after - this is handbound and signed by Diane, which I think is awesome. And they did an amazing job of incorporating Dallas and my monogram and date into the front of the book. Super happy with it, and I cannot wait to use it at our wedding!

All in all, an all right week - at least I've gotten lots of knitting done, and I'm NEARLY finished the cardigan - I just started the buttonhole band last night, so I should be finished that by the end of the week/this weekend.

Then this coming weekend I can work on that shawl and the table runners. Less than 6 weeks to the wedding! We're right at the place I wanted to be by this point in time, or else I would be panicking.

On that note, who else is doing Stash Dash 2014??

Katie =^..^=

Wedding Wednesday 9/80: Shoes of Prey

So, I've got myself bribed to go to the gym. Once I finish all my sets, I'm allowed to go buy my wedding shoes.

Not that I've disallowed myself from looking.

Which means that I'm 99% sure I've come across what I want to do for wedding shoes. A little bit more expensive than I was planning, BUT I can make something that I will wear...And wear again.

I came across the absolutely fabulous website Shoes of Prey last night, which lets you custom design your shoe!

I love it, because it means that, instead of trying to search for a pair of sparkly pink or pink lace covered Oxfords that are heeled but not stiletto...I can design them right over the website.

I'm super excited.

Means I have to get back to the gym!!

hehe

Have a lovely evening, my dears!

Katie =^..^=

Wedding Wednesday 6/80: VistaPrint Review

All right, so if you've been watching my blog for awhile, you'll remember that I've talked about VistaPrint, briefly, before. Last year, they printed my banner for my fairs, and they have done some work for my 9-5 job.

Anyway. Dallas also got our Save-The-Dates printed through them, and I have to say that they were very quickly and well done!

We received them last Friday, a business day before we expected them, and they were high quality and are easy to address with Sharpies.

I will definitely go with VistaPrint for future print jobs.

Other than that, nothing.

Next week, perhaps, some shawl updates~!

Have a lovely day, my dears.

Katie =^..^=

Wedding Wednesday 5/80: Exercise and Save-the-Dates

That's right, don't laugh.

That's all that's been done.

Exercise.

Save-the-Dates.

Oh, we got our photographer (I think I mentioned that last week).

It's Andre of InkPink Photography

He photographed my friend's wedding and did an amazing job! I'm super excited to have him photograph our wedding too!

Save-the-Dates are the in the mail.

I have the venue contract, but I need to look over it a bit more closely and sign, send, and pay.

Running off!

Take care, my lovelies.

Katie =^..^=

Wedding Wednesday: 4/80, Save-the-Dates

Hello, my lovelies!

Quick update this week.

We're designing "Save-the-Date" postcards, which I think has been really fun. I'm just deciding on how to word the backs.

I don't know if I want a super playful "hey, we're going to tie the knot!" saying or if I want the other one that I like, which is "Once upon a time...Come help us celebrate out happily-ever-after!"

I'm definitely leaning towards the second, because I want a kind of fairy tale feeling to the whole day, although this would likely be the most obvious part of it, since the rest will be more subtle.

Otherwise, we actually met with and booked our photographer, and are in the process of getting our ceremony/reception venue booked! Super exciting. I can't wait to go do the tasting!! hehe

So that's where we're at. I'm going to talk to Dallas and get this figured out, and once I do, I'll let you all know about it, too!

And suddenly, I hear something about the shawl...Yes. That. I'll be casting on again this weekend and trying not freak out about how freaky it is how it's growing while I'm looking at the back of it, essentially.

What are your opinions on the save-the-date wordings? Let me know in the comments below! (Or just comment on how bad that rhyme is!)

Katie =^..^=

Day # 3

On the Needles: 4/6 boot cuff!
FOs: 1 more boot cuff

That's right! I'm down to the last three boot cuffs, and I'm already about a quarter of the way through this fourth one!! Yay!!

Got all the Christmas gifts wrapped yesterday. Now to just finish the super secret Christmas presents, which I will this coming week.

Today will be the fourth day that I will go to the gym. I'm just waiting for my tummy to settle after breakfast. I don't want to give myself stitches!

I also totally spoilt myself yesterday and bought myself some Dragonfly Dyewerx BFL (Blue Faced Leicester) fibre. I have two braids of it, for a total of 200 grams. Once I'm finished boot cuffs, I am going to spin some of this (that's the goal for today, anyway). The colour really, really, really reminds me of a kind of cherry blossom/black cherry sort of thing. I'll make sure to take progress pictures, don't worry. Also, Dragonfly Dyewerx is out of Drumheller, AB, Canada, so she's actually pretty local to me! I bought it at a local store called The Loop (in Kensington). They are wonderful ladies and terrible enablers. I wouldn't have gotten the two braids, but the lady said that the one had a twin...And I quickly fell down from there. hahaha I've told Dallas that if he ever wants to get me a "just because" gift, that's the place to go, because any of the colours that were there yesterday, I would LOVE to have in my possession. haha

Let's see...

I'm figuring out how to do DIY invitations for our wedding! It's so awesome that we have so long of time in between, because it's giving me a chance to plan out and also organize what I want to do. DIY invitations look like they're going to be awesome to do! And one of my bride's minions is going to draw a custom invitation for us, because she's awesome! And an amazing artist. In fact, you see some of her art every time that you come to this blog, for she drew my Etsy logo! You can find her here: Starlitdragon and bask in the glory that is her art.

Other than that, can't really do much right now anyway. Just relaxing over Christmas. And I'm going to look over more once Dallas is home so that we can decide together what we want for things. Because, once we decide what venue we will be at, we (I) can start making the decorations that I want! And yes, a lot of this will be handmade, because I want this event to reflect both of our tastes, and since it's fairly eclectic, it'll have to be handmade.

This all definitely leaning towards a strange mix of classical informatlity. I want semi-formal. But that will also be up for discussion with Dallas.

Anyway. If anyone gets tired of me talking about all of this, please let me know. I'm just super excited, and I want to share! Maybe I'll start warning you that the "wedding section" is coming up, and then you can scroll down to the end of "wedding section" if you don't want to read about it. I won't know the difference! haha

Oh yeah, and after this whole Christmas rush, spinning, etc. I have to get geared up for the Mommylicious show on January 20th in Calgary. Fingers crossed I can do it!

Anyway. Just a few more minutes and it'll be gym time. Hope all is well with you, my dears.

Take care!

Katie =^..^=

Day # 2

WIPs: Boot cuffs
FOs: None
Progress: some (almost done 1/3 pairs of cuffs)!

They say it takes about three weeks to establish and maintain a good habit. So here's to day # 2 of habit making!

I went to the gym last night, and again this morning, and I'm all pumped and ready to go tomorrow and Sunday, and then I have to start training with my trainer again.

And, although I was up at about 6am this morning (well, my alarm started then. I didn't get up until the still unholy hour of 6:30am), I am feeling quite energized...But at the same time like I will actually be able to go to bed tonight and get an amazing night's sleep. Yay! Means that I'll try to be up at the still unholy hour of a wonderful hour of 6ish. I need to be up earlier than I was today to hit the gym earlier on the weekdays (less people, more spare time for me getting to work).

The upside of  this is that the gym doesn't open until 8 on weekend, which means I can get up and make myself a nice, hot breakfast, and get some knitting done (i.e. the boot cuffs. haha)~!

This is also day #2 for my blog posts! Yay! By the way, the 50th post brought my views up over 1600 views! So happy about it.

Also, I found pineapple-flavoured Danone yogurt drinks...Actually surprisingly tasty! I hope it helps cultivate good bacteria in my body!

Let's see...

Finally got all the information from all of the venues that we've been looking at. I think it's helped narrow it down to two specific ones, which we'll go look at in January (I think).

I know that it may seem like a long ways out, but I do really want to do this now so that they don't get booked up before we even get a chance, and since we do have such a long time we get our pick, mostly.

Another benefit on knowing where we'll be is we can put the town on Save-the-Dates, which I want to get out soon so that my international friends that I'm inviting have time to save to come here. It also allows me to see the space and see how I can decorate, and what handmade items I want to make to decorate. :) (i.e. garlands of yarn pom-poms, anyone? hahaha)

I'm going to have so much fun with this~!

Dallas has this last trip up north and then he's home for Christmas, so we can sit down and talk more seriously about what we want to do, and budget around things. He was studying for an exam last week he was home, and so that wasn't conducive to talking about much else. (Fingers crossed he passes!) (He thinks that he's going to be going from stressing about exams to stressing about wedding details. I told him no. It's going to be a lot of fun planning! At least, that's how I'm going to look at it, and that seems to be half the battle. That and I think I have amazing bridesmaids (actually, a Minion of Honour and Bride's Minions, which is even better)!)

If you read Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's wonderful Yarn Harlot blog, you will notice that I am likely going to start emulating her a bit more (like, with struck-out text above). If you don't read her blog, go do it. Do it now!!!! She's fantastic. :) And Canadian (all the better).

Now, to go contemplate...things. Like knitting (one more row and bind off for the first pair)!

Have a lovely evening, my dears!

Katie =^..^=