Multiplying Like Bunnies

Over the weekend I made one of these. (thank you Rebecca Danger!)

I needed a little gift for my knitting students' last class (they're all 8 years old.) So just like bunnies do, they became this little herd.

And I don't know if I can part with them today or not.  The cuteness is overwhelming!

I am offically a Bunny Nugget fan (or as the Husband likes to call them Nuggy Bunnets!)

Sharing the cuteness at Savvy Southern Style.  You can check out everyone else's fab Christmas goings-on.

My First Sweater

Here it is!! 

 

I can't wait for it to finish drying.  I might not ever take it off.  It took me over a month and there are plenty of mistakes in it, but I love it.  It's the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig a.k.a Knitbot. 

It's a happy Friday here at the Reslus Arms.  I hope you are having a great day too!

November Needles

I haven't jumped into Fall decorating this year.  I don't even have a pumpkin.  I keep meaning to pick up some gourds, or find some colored branches for the mantel.  We did go on a walk in the park with the Puppy and I was taken with all the Fall color.  this little acorn made me smile.

Instead of trolling the pumpkin patch for the perfect gourds, or lining up at the garden center for the best mums around, I can't seem to pull myself away from the knitting!!  After a month of doing almost nothing else, I only have the collar left of my very first sweater.  I'd show you a pic but I'm going to have the big reveal once I'm actually done (hopefully withing the week).  Here's the sweater I'm making though.

I am also teaching a knitting class that starts today!  It's a class for 3rd and 4th graders and I can't wait to get started.  We're going to start out making these:

They are super easy and I'm hoping will give the girls some (almost) instant gratification for their new skills. After bracelet making we will move on to making a little bag.  (I seem to be all about accessories for this class)  It will be knitted up like this.

Then we are going to felt them into this:

It still needs a button for the clasp but you get the idea.  It would be really cute with some embroidery or embellishment too.  I have yarn on the brain people and I just can't stop myself.

Things That Have Been Making Me Happy*

Today is my birthday.  Here are some things that have been making me happy lately as recorded by my iphone:

*a Husband-made smoothie for dessert last night

*my growing collection of mushrooms (no pun intended, well maybe a little) that have sprung up everywhere since it's been raining since hurricane Irene

toadstools

tall boy in the forest

hanging on a log

sunning along the fence row

mushroom bloom

If anyone knows what types of mushrooms/fungi I've captured please feel free to educate me.  I have no idea.

*the view from a friend's backyard

 

*my current knitting projects - it's Fall people.  I cannot put down the needles. 

this will be the Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig of Knitbot

Wish me luck. This is my first sweater (sort of, I have put the debacle of last winter behind me.) 

this will be the Peaks Island Hood by Ysolda Teague 

This is being made with the yarn that I frogged from the previous disaster just mentioned that we will never speak of again.

*and of course, the Puppy

one ear on the wind

I hope you are having a great day.  I know I am.

Knitting Season

I'm ready for Fall.  Know how I'm ready?  I picked up my needles after a too long hiatus a few weeks ago and have jumped head first back into knitting.  I usually don't knit during the spring and summer but last year I had increased my skills and tried new things.  I thought that it might actually turn into a full time hobby.  Sadly I got struck down by a project that was making me sad and I just had to put it away for awhile. 

In January I decided to knit my very first sweater, specifically this one by designer Veera Välimäki:

It's a great sweater. The pattern is well written and I found it pretty easy to knit.  I even finished knitting the body.  

Then I tried it on....I'll be honest.  I felt fat.  The yarn is Rowan Cocoon which is beautiful and soft...and bulky.  Though I love Veera's designs and this is a really fun sweater I don't think it's the sweater for me.  At the time it was really disheartening and I completely stopped knitting for 5 months.  Now that I'm back in the saddle I think it's time to frog it and use that beautiful and squishy yarn for something else.  

Now that I've moved on, here is what I've been working on:

A sweet little baby hat for a gift

Greenleaf Baby Hat by Evelyn Uyemura

Arm warmers for when the weather finally turns a little cold

Toast by Leslie Friend

And now I'm working on this Dandy Neckerchief by Ariane Caron-Lacoste 

It's a really simple but beautiful lace pattern that creates a series of leaves.  When it's blocked I think it's going to be dynamite!

As a quick sidebar to all this knitting talk I just want to say how thankful I'm feeling today to have made it safe and sound through Irene over the weekend.  My parents were visiting and they bravely weathered the storm with us, though our very wooded front yard looked pretty harrowing for most of Saturday.  We didn't loose any trees, we had the yard all cleaned up by 10:00 AM on Sunday thanks to my parents lending a hand and we were without power for only 23 hours.  I have friends that have a lot more damage and still don't know when power will be restored.  We feel so very lucky. 

MCP Project: 52 {week 4}

Week 4's theme is Soothing Repetition.  I am about 8" into my first sweater.  It's the most soothing repetition I've got going on right now.  If you asked the Husband if it sounds soothing with all the grumbling and profanity coming from my side of the sofa he would probably say no...It is soothing though and I'm so happy that I finally got brave enough to try a sweater.  It's this one by the way.  I hope it turns out in the end!

Happy Friday everyone!

What Have I Made Lately

Pardon me as I take a design break, sort of...

As I've mentioned before I've been a little crazy with the knitting lately.  I like small projects for the instant gratification and in general I'm a pretty impatient knitter.  The goal I've set for myself is to make a sweater.  I'm a little intimidated but excited about the prospect.  I'm sure I'll have to do something else while I'm working on it too to keep me from completely burning out.  In the meantime, here's what I've made lately:

the Republic Hat - took me forever to find buttons for this bad boy.  Does anyone have a good button source?

 All Away Around Cowl - This was my first attempt at making something seamless with a provisional cast on and using a kitchner stitch to finish.  It's not perfect but it worked out okay in the end.

French Press Slippers - one of my most favorite things I've ever made.  These are SO cute and really easy!  They ended up a little big so my Mom got to be the proud owner of the first pair.  I can't wait to make more.

The Clutch You'll Never Want To Give Up - this clutch is mostly done.  I still need to sew on some buttons or make a fabric flower to glam it up a bit.  My Sister has promised to help me make a lining for it too.

Rosie's new Chihuahua Sweater - my first dog sweater knitted in the round.  I modified the pattern a bit to give some shaping to Rosie's slim figure.  And I made sleeves for the first time!  She looks super cute wearing it when the weather's chilly (the girl shivers at anything below 80 degrees)

Cabled Cowl - this cowl turned out nice and I really love the color of the merino/cashmere blend yarn (it's called limoncello)

and last but not least

Fetching - fingerless gloves to keep my too cold hands warm in the house this winter (the Husband thinks I have ice blocks attached to my hands and feet)

Okay, thanks for the diversion.  Back to design tomorrow!

Pardon Me While I Ramble....

I have been feeling a bit anti-design blog lately and needed to step away from the keyboard a bit.  Design is my job but it's also my hobby and it can be all consuming sometimes.  I have a great passion for it but sometimes it just feels like work and I need a bit of a break to regroup and to think about other things....though, to be honest, it's hard for me to stop thinking about the new sofa I want or the new kitchen I want or the new bed for the guest room I want, etc. etc.  It's not even about wanting stuff.  It's about dreaming of creating a home and spaces that I truly love.  I guess on top of it all I'm feeling a bit like the Cobbler whose children need new shoes. 

Aggh, to get back on track with the topic at hand,  I am trying to give my brain (and heart) a break by doing other things.  I taught myself to knit several years ago and for a very long time made lots of scarves.  It was something simple that I didn't have to think too much about and didn't have to even follow any directions.   Finally last year I decided to take it up a notch and learn some new skills.  I learned to knit in the round and made several hats.  Then I learned to cable and made this hat:

Who knew cabling was so easy.  It looks so complicated.  That taught me the valuable lesson that you won't be able to do it unless you try.  I tend to put the needles down in warm weather so I hadn't made anything lately until a few weeks ago.  I needed a distraction and I was inspired to make this wrap which actually turned out pretty nice (I still need to block it though)

 After finishing this I decided that I have the attention span of a gnat and needed something small to work on.  I've had varying degrees of sucess but I really like how these organic cotton dishcloths turned out. 

I found this excellent pattern from the Homespun Living blog.  The cotton is so soft and beautiful.  I doubt that it will make me want to wash the dishes any better though!    Now I'm making myself a pair of these. 

Fetching from Knitty - Summer 2006

Ah, for cooler weather and a calmer mind. 

 
 

The Lost Weekend

Pardon me while I leave the design observations to talk about yarn for awhile....

So I got this incredible urge to knit again last week.  It's a hobby that I enjoy during the cooler months but usually during hot weather I put the needles down.  I started by working on a scarf that I started sometime last year and abandoned for more interesting projects.  I thought it would be nice to start slow, to see if I even remembered how to knit and purl.  By Friday night I had a full on fever for new projects.  I spent the evening searching for new patterns/ projects and couldn't stop thinking about it when I went to bed.  Saturday morning I went out and bought the supplies to make this:

copyright indigirl

Okay, so I don't have the budget or skill for cashmere, but I thought I'd give it a try with some nice wool and maybe work my skills up to the level of cashmere for next time.  When I got home I decided that I should finish that old scarf before I started something else, but along the way I stumbled across this little cowl:

copyright pickles

I immediately dropped everything and spent the rest of my Saturday night making it.  (I know, I lead such an exciting life!)  By Sunday morning I had finished:

I will definitely use bigger needles than the pattern called for next time.  Over all I"m happy with the project and look forward to trying it again.  The rest of the weekend was spent in a knitting haze.  Now clear eyed on Monday I wish I could have my weekend back but am excited for projects to come. 

A clear headed design mind will be back tomorrow.  Happy Monday! 

Random Reasons I'm Looking for Fall

Okay, so there were several things that all came together in my head last night to create a incredible desire for fall.
1. The weather has been BEAUTIFUL (i.e. not overwhelmingly hot).  It has been in the upper 70s - mid 80s for the last few days.  It has be 90+ for most of the summer.  We've had the windows open and could enjoy sitting on the front porch again.

2. It's August and no matter how old I am I still feel compelled to go buy new school clothes.  I really want to wear sweaters, jackets and scarves again.  I love to layer.  It's not possible to layer when the weather is 95 and muggy.

a new jcrew trench

Frye Boots

3. I got the urge to take up knitting again.  When the weather is warm I seem to have no desire to pick up the needles but I got the urge last night and actually worked a bit on a scarf that I never finished from last year.  This urge also led me to this photo of a lovely cardigan that I think I might feel brave enough to attempt this year.  Up until now I've been more of a scarf and hat kind of girl but I think this is the year that I branch out and learn something new. 

 

 copyright Joseph Feller

4.  Don Draper's study from the 3rd season of Mad Men.   

via Tom & Lorenzo

The husband and I just finished up the 3rd season of Mad Men on DVD last night.  I was suddenly taken by the colors and textures of Don's study.  I love the navy grasscloth walls and crisp white trim with the pine paneling that is so typical of that period of house.  IT MAKES ME EVEN LIKE THE PINE PANELING!  I didn't know that was possible.  Love all the details of this room.   If my own home weren't already so dark I'd be converting the office tomorrow.  

All of this rambling is to say I'm really looking forward to the new season ahead.  Here's to Fall!