Finished: Handbrake

Pattern: Handbrake

Designer(s): Kay and Dan Jones from The Bakery Bears Podcast

Yarn: madelinetosh vintage

Colorway: Neon Peach

Notes: It's finally finished! I say finally because I started this on my trip to San Francisco in April, which just-so-happened to coincide with the complete loss of my knitting mojo. I managed to get it done and cast off while we were at the beach over Memorial Day, though, so here are the pictures I procrastinated on taking (of course, part of that is because I needed to soak the cowl since it's made with madelinetosh and I didn't want to wear it before getting any extra dye out).

The pattern is $1 on Ravelry and all proceeds go toward cancer research. It's such a versatile pattern that you really have no excuse not to make one! It's perfect for beginners who know the extreme basics (casting on, knitting, purling, and binding off), plus it comes with instructional videos from Kay. For more advanced knitters, it's quick, fun, and perfect for any stash yarns you have that need to be shown off with straight-knit designs.

If that hasn't sold you, you'll also get an exclusive edition of the Bakery Bears Podcast. I watched it on my plane ride to SFO (while knitting the cowl, of course!) The great thing about podcasters is that we're all real people, not typically paid advertisers who are talking about products we love or hate just to make a buck. We love what we do and letting people into our lives - we're genuine, and that really shines through in this special edition podcast episode!

Finished: Crochet Baby Turbans

And just like that, another weekend has come to an end and I've attended another baby shower for a close friend of mine - a friend who's having TWINS! Hence the two hats in the photo :)

Knowing that I may or may not have an obsession with the fiber arts, my friend sent me some baby ideas as soon as we got word that (another set of) twins would be joining our crazy group. One of those ideas was a pattern for an adorable crochet baby turban. How could I turn that down?

I set to work once I had a date for the baby shower, whipping these bad boys (girls?) into shape after a couple days of crocheting on and off. They're fantastic, although I'm having a hard time adjusting to the "wrong side" being the "right side" for the entire crown. I know that only I - and maybe some other crocheters - will notice that, but I really hate the wrong side of crochet fabrics. In any case, they're still cute. I can't wait to see the wee ones wearing them, although they may swim in them for a couple months.

I've been knitting on a couple other projects, some of which I've already photographed and started writing about, and others that I just haven't had the energy to care for (ie: more headbands for Etsy orders). I think I need to take a break from the Etsy shop for a couple months, maybe pausing to pre-knit some things for the fall. I love everything I sell, but I'm bored to death of making the same headband over and over again when all I want to do is drool over the KnitCrates I've been getting every month. Such is the life of entrepreneurship, I suppose, but I'm going to lose my mind if I don't make something challenging soon!

Finished: Barley Hat

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! I know I did. Not only did hubby take me to one of our favorite restaurants (where we had delicious drinks and devoured flourless chocolate cake that made me gain 5lbs in two hours), but he also got me yarn and a super adorable doggy card. I guess I'll keep him around for awhile.

But I wasn't the only one to receive yarn for Valentine's Day. I got him some yarn, too - but in the shape of a Barley Hat. As my Instagram followers know, I had already bought some madelinetosh vintage in the limited edition Black Tie Affair colorway specifically for this project. Nick is a huge fan of simple hats in blacks and greys, so I figured this would be a good fit. Plus, it gave me a good excuse to pick up some new Karbonz since I didn't have any Size 8s.

He loves it and wears it every day, but he refused to let me take a picture of him in it. Coward. 

Being that I haven't made him a hat since our first anniversary, it was about time I got back to my roots and showered him with handknits. I'm glad it was a hit!

Finished: Crashing Waves

Here it is: my finally-finished Crashing Waves! Designer Grace Akhrem recently completed this KAL in her Ravelry group, and I more than happily added more stress to my life by trying to complete it in the allotted amount of time. Why? For the chance of winning an as-yet-to-be-announced prize, of course.

The result? Well, I totally flubbed up on a section of lace, but you can barely tell (at least, not in the picture). One row of diamonds just looks chunkier than the rest. I wasn't about to rip back - I was too worried about ruining the gorgeous yarn.

I used madelinetosh prairie in the Holi Festival colorway. It didn't start out as planned: because the shawl is constructed in a "V" shape (like most shawls), the bright colors were bunching up on one another. I didn't mind this, actually; I just thought it might look more obnoxious than originally envisioned. But as the shawl grew, so did the length of color changes. Eventually, everything tapered off to something more neutral with specks of bright colors, which is exactly what I wanted.

I finished soaking and blocking this a couple weekends ago, but wasn't able to snap a decent photo until recently. Aside from the minor lace issue, I'm happy with how it turned out, and excited that I was able to complete my second shawl in less than a month. I'm still in custom order mode for my etsy shop, but it's nice to take a break and remind myself that I can do bigger projects than stockinette-stitch headbands.

Finished: Lapidary

It's done, it's done, it's finally done! I've finished my Lapidary!

Started the day after Christmas, Lapidary by Brittany Wilson was the yarn and pattern kit that came in my December 2014 Indie KnitCrate. After two months spent working on orders for other people, I couldn't wait to knit up a project for myself. I don't typically make anything for my own wardrobe (which is horrible marketing if you're in the knitting business looking to turn a profit), and it super stinks when I want to make something, but have to put it off for weeks at a time.

Anyway, I was dying to get my hands on this project, and I'm happy to say I saw it through to the end. I knit on Lapidary almost exclusively for three weeks, a feat unheard of and often celebratory in my world. We experienced and fixed dropped stitches together, as well as sat through the new season of Downton Abbey and sipped many cups of loose leaf tea freshly brewed in my favorite glass tea pot. Lapidary is the first project I've successfully soaked and blocked, all using my new blocking mats from KnitPicks. Indeed, I finally felt like a "real" knitter.

And I think that's why I lost interest in blogging about my knits for some time: I wasn't doing anything new. Almost everything I knit or crocheted was for a custom order, and each of those orders are made from patterns I've used a million times. It all became a little monotonous. It's not that I didn't enjoy it anymore, but it wasn't worth talking about because I'd already said what I've needed to say about those projects. It was time for something different.

So I'm happy to say that Lapidary has launched me into a new obsession: shawls. It's what spurred me to join Grace Akhrem's Crashing Waves KAL, plus another KAL that's Instagram-only. I consider myself an intermediate knitter, but wasn't making any intermediate projects. I feel like I can now truly say that I'm intermediate and understand more concepts than initially thought. How cool is that?

I know I've been on a KnitCrate bragging spree lately, but I truly believe that without my subscription, I wouldn't have ventured into this world for quite some time yet. Or at least had the patience to finish something using techniques I'd learned and never implemented. I plunged in after seeing what the talented blogger/podcaster KnitFitch was able to create with less than a year of knitting experience - I was blown away. And now, I feel like maybe someone will be blown away with what I can make, too.

In fact, I'm kind of blown away with myself.