Windschief Hat & Snow

Remember way back in December when I visited Yarnology in Winona? I scored a sweet skein of black and white twisted wool and the Windschief hat pattern by Westknits (who I adore, btw). In the hustle and bustle of holiday crafting, I never got around to making myself that hat. Then, before I knew it, we were packing and moving and crazy stuff, so the hat got put aside again, before I ever cast it on.

Well, after the sadness of my Baby Sophisticate sweater fail, I decided I needed a little distracting happy project. So I dug the Windschief pattern out and got to work. After four hours of dedicated knitting with watching Law and Order SVU on Netflix, the fruits of my labor were ripe for harvest.

Or....binding off and weaving in ends. Since....you don't really harvest hats.

 Now, this is not the yarn I purchased to make this hat. No, no. I was silly and decided that since it's Spring time here, I ought to make this hat in cotton. Creamy colored cotton. Because cotton is warm enough to fight off the breeze, but breathable enough to keep my head from sweating. Because in springtime, it gets warm out.

HAH.

It snowed yesterday. At least I have a cute hat.

 I've also been on a "sort stuff and make a mess while pretending to be cleaning" spree. It's like Spring Cleaning for crazy people. The down side is you make a bigger mess than you started with, but the plus side is you find some random pink cotton flowers you crocheted who knows how long ago and are able to make a cute pin for your new knitted hat.

My head will be bloomin', even if it's snowing in APRIL here. BLARG.

 I really really enjoyed the pattern. It was easy enough to do while watching Olivia Benson kick some bad guy butt, while still being interesting enough to make me feel like I was doing something clever with yarn. And it looks hipster-tastic when it's done!

Dat twisted rib section. Mhhhmmhmhmhmhhh.

So, here's hoping your week is less snowy than mine is so far!! BUH. WINTER. Needs to be over. I want flowwweeerrrsss!

Okay, I promise I'm done whining.

STUPID SNOW.

LOOK AT HOW EVIL IT IS!!!

Okay, now I'm done.
Happy Tuesday, yo!

The Windschief Pattern is also available online.

The Narwhal Hat Pattern is LIVE!

It is finally available!! Now you can be the envy of all your friends with your very own Narwhal Hat that you made yourself!! Joy of joys!!

The pattern is available for instant download via Last in Line Shop on Etsy.
(Also, look! I'm a big kid now with a Ravelry Designer page!!)

I was very hesitant to jump in and finally offer patterns for one of my most popular hats, but I am incredibly excited now that it is finally up! It's especially invigorating since I've been working on updating my Ravelry page, and now I'm a bonafied designer! With a pattern available!

In other news, I'm working on another pattern. It is a LOT more intricate than my beloved Narwhal Hat, which makes me even more excited to offer it for sale. Soon. Ish. Once I get it all typed up and edited and pretty.

That's all. Just wanted to let you guys know that I feel pretty spiffy with this pattern up for sale.
Hope your day is warmer than mine! After a weekend of 50+ degree weather, it's snowing today.

SNOWING.
IN APRIL.

-sigh-

Regardless, happy day to you all!

Baby Sophisticate; or Not Everything I do Turns Out Okay

 Remember when I bought all that cotton with visions of baby stuff dancing in my head? Well, I started working on the baby cardigan before we moved, and got pretty far on it! I was feeling pretty proud of myself, but I had to put it on hold until we got somewhat situated.

When I pulled it out again, I was disgusted to find that what I had previously seen as a perfect beginning of a darling garment...was a mess.

I kept telling myself it was okay...it wasn't.

Wonky. Distorted. Stretchy. Lumpy. I was so distressed, I took a quick photo to show some of my other crafty friends. I was hoping that they would calm all my fears.

"It'll block out!"
"Oh it looks fiiinneee. You are just being harsh on yourself."
"Cotton always looks like that before it's washed."

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that if anyone said any of those things to me, I'd think they were lying. Because they would have been. My baby cardigan was weirdy shaped, and there was no denying it. When I showed my internet crafty group the pictures, my go-to knitting guru and favorite Norwegian citizen Liz (of Lizzy Knits Day By Day) confirmed what I had already accepted as truth: there needed to be some major changes if I wanted this cardi to look normal.

So, unfortunately, I'll be frogging this baby. If you hear screeching or uncontrollable sobbing coming vaguely from the direction of the midwest, it's me, ripping the sweater apart. Good thing it isn't an adult sized sweater! I'd be inconsolable if that were the case.

Really, it's not so bad. But if I want an heirloom baby piece, I want perfection.

What your worst gotta-rip-it-out story?

Pitter Patter: Knitted Baby Socks

As I mentioned earlier this week, our life plans have undergone a massive makeover in the last two months. The job out West fell apart, so we have decided to stick to our roots and buy a house in our hometown in Illinois. In the meantime, my loving parents have graciously opened their house to us while we sort things out. Gotta love family!!

Though we are in a gypsy state of living with my parents until we find a house, my nesting desires are growing stronger everyday. My body doesn't care that my mom would probably flip her lid if I painted the living room while she was out. I want colors! I want to decorate! I want to move furniture around! Okay, I don't want to personally move the furniture, but I want to tell Sailor to move stuff around as much as my prego brain desires.

But alas! Though our house hunt is going well, we are not in our own place yet. So I have to be content with casting on and making some socks. If I can't force my husband to do manual labor, whipping out some adorable socks is the next best thing, right? Right. Don't argue with me. I'm pregnant.

I used the Leftovers Baby Socks pattern that I found on Ravelry. It's free. It's easy. It's adorable.I am pretty sure I'm going make at least a bajillion more. They work up super quick, especially if you are watching Dr. Who on Netflix in you pjs on a rainy day. Just sayin'.

Cuffed or uncuffed, these socks are adorable.

 I really like how tall the socks are. Baby Z is going to be born in August, which means winter will be right around the corner. Gotta keep those darling little newborn legs cozy! Especially if this coming winter is anything like the winter we still have hanging about. Did I mention it snowed last week? Barf.

Pretty proud of these heels. I am indeed. Why was I scared of socks before?

You can bet your sweet biffy that baby-type projects are going to increase dramatically in the coming days. Nothing wrong with that, right? Right. Riiiiggghhhtt.

Fiber Field Trip: Crafty Planet, Minneapolis

 About a month ago, Sailor and I took a little trip to Minneapolis. There are so many crafty shops in this town, it is worth the drive to have a weekend of exploration. Plus, the streets are dotted with gluten-free friendly cafes and whatnot, which makes it super easy for me to while away some hours shopping and snacking.

On this last trip up, I had some solo adventuring time. I decided to hit up a store I've been reading about online for months: Crafty Planet. It is hard to put into words how amazing this place is. Fabric. Yarn. Buttons. Beads. Patterns. Glitter. I mean. I just. This:

"Crafty Planet is an independent retailer who prides itself on a do-it-yourself ethos, bringing you the coolest craft stuff in the galaxy!" -CraftyPlanet.com

Walking around this shop, I was overwhelmed with the selection of fabrics. I am very very easily inspired by color, and let me tell you, this place was a mecca of inspiration. I was pulling fat quarters off shelves and pairing them til I made myself dizzy. It was very enjoyable.

 While Crafty Planet does offer yarn in addition to fabric, the selection of yarn was not enormous. I read a few reviews about the lack of yarn choices, but when I visited the shop myself, I was not at all disappointed in their offerings. They had a variety of fibers and weights at good prices. Their selection of hooks and needles was quite extensive as well. By no means could it compete with a yarn-only shop, but it was impressive when you take the vast array of sewing supplies crammed into this store.

Besides the fabric, and yarn, and tools, and just the sheer inspiration of the store itself, there were a few more factors that made me want to unroll my sleeping bag and camp in this shop forever:

1. The staff: The ladies behind the counter were so cheerful and helpful, I felt like I was a member of a fun secret crafty club. Even though it was my first time in the shop and I don't even live in Minneapolis. While I was checking out, we bantered about sock monkeys (our hometown is the birthplace of the Nelson Red Heel Sock and thus the Sock Monkey), reupholstering chairs, and how easy it is to spend money when surrounded by such beautiful fabric.

2. The patterns and displays: Besides the amount of inspiration I already felt from the colors of the fabric alone, the shop was full of funky project patterns displayed with the finished projects made by workers of the shop. Plus little piles of fabric that would look oh so great together conveniently placed right by the patterns that they would work on. Sales ploy? Oh yes. Did it work? -hides pile of fabric sheepishly-

3. The classes: Again, I know I don't live in Minneapolis, but the list of classes offered at Crafty Planet made me wish I did. Knitting. Embroidery. Quilting. Crocheting. And then some. Come on. You cannot say that taking a fun class in an inspiring shop would be pointless. So much fun. I wish Crafty Planet was in my town!!

So yes. If you are even in the Twin Cities and have a hankering to be inspired, head to Crafty Planet. Guh. I love shopping. I'll have to take some pictures of the fabrics I scored on my adventure so you can drool and jump in your car and drive to this store and get your own. Oh wait. You don't have to drive all the way to Minneapolis. Because you can shop CraftyPlanet online.

I'm sorry for telling you.

Watercolor Wanderlust

Here is something I've been doing lately that is not in the normal vein of my crafty outpouring: watercolor painting. It is so relaxing for me, and it's a great creative exercise to get my brain ready for whatever I decide to do next. You know, like knit. Or crochet. Or walk the dog. Like working out your body, it's a good plan to warm up before you work out your creative muscles.

Plus, I feel really fancy with my watercolors all spread on the table. Colors are the most inspiring thing for me, and a box of colors is just the thing to glace at when you get depressed about the fact that it's April and it snowed again last week.

I've had my plastic pallet since high school. My benevolent art teacher preached quality of materials and scorned the dreaded Prang watercolor pallet. We got to use real-deal, from a tube, watercolors in her class. Let me tell you, it makes you feel like a real grown up to use them. Right before I went off to college, she let me load up my pallet with any colors I wanted to take with my to school. A little paint goes a long way!

It has been a few years since then, so some of my colors were beginning to run out. I was lucky enough to score a ton of new tubes of color from a local model/train/hobby shop. They were clearing out their fine arts inventory and all paint tubes were marked down to $2/tube. TWO DOLLARS A TUBE. These Windsor Newton watercolors usually sell for $5-8/tube. What a deal!!

I love Micron pens. So much.

Just for fun. Nothing fancy. Just a little way to push myself to be more creative in different ways than I normally do. An artsy challenge, if you will. I may never be able to push myself to run a mile, but by golly I'll push myself to paint more.

We Need to Talk.

We need to talk. We really do.

No, you aren't in trouble. We need to talk is scary. Don't those words just make your stomach churn? Like some adult authority figure has discovered the fact that you did the thing.... The thing you were under no circumstances supposed to do? Yeah. I probably should have said, "Hey, can we chat?" Chat is nice. Chat is friendly. Chat means they didn't find out about the plate you broke.

So let's chat.

I've been gone a while. Well, I've been gone for....a few weeks? Heh. Yeah.

In my absence, my real life has been changing more rapidly than you can say "wireless access point." I've been thinking a lot about my life in general and my choices and how I spend my time and blah blah blah adult chores. I've come to two realizations:

1. I'm having a baby in 4.5 months.
2. No matter how clever you are at planning, if it's not God's will, it's ain't gonna happen.



While obvious, these two things alone have driven me to inspect various areas of my personal life with a new lens. I won't bore you with a weird tale of self discovery or emotional breakdowns, but I will fill you in on how my view on my blog has changed.

One of my long-distance crafty buddies had mentioned to me a week or so ago via la texting that she could tell I was super busy, since I hadn't updated my blog in so long. It suddenly struck me that I was busy, but not that busy. I mean, I was busy before and I still managed to churn out several blog posts a week. I then, staring blankly at her text, began to think about why I hadn't been posing things on my blog? Really, why hadn't I?! Things have happened! I've been crafty! I could share stuff!

So....why not post?

Every time I logged on to blogger to start a post, I felt drained. I know, I'm pregnant. Tired is my day to day life. This tired was more a mental tired than anything. Doing a blog post meant making sure I update Facebook and Google+ and put all the fancy tag words in it and posting it to link parties and Pinterest and watching page views and numbers climb and drop and and and -sigh- nope, I'd rather watch Netflix. And knit. Or scrub toilets. Anything but blog.

I took a break, because I was looking at blogging the wrong way. I was comparing myself to big-name bloggers who have bazillions of pageviews a day. The ones that companies beg to write reviews of their products. The ones whose projects show up on thousands of Pinterest boards instantly. The ones who make moolah off of their blog. I had started to idolize them. To study their habits, and their tips on the best way to be seen, develop a following, and create great content...while making money doing it.

This is my personal opinion. I am not hateful of the peeps who have mad blog-money-making skillz. That is great for them, for their families, and whatnot. I do not think that any blogger who reaps money from their blog is a sell out, or evil, or anything like that. For me, however, the blogs I love to read and the ones I follow most closely, are not the big-name mega blog queens. They are people who share interests with me. People who inspire me with their creative outpourings and silly tidbits on life. People who answer my comments and who I feel I can develop a real relationship with, albeit online.

It all dawned on me with that one text. Why was I writing a blog that I hoped would become a big blog, instead of focusing on being the type of writer that I would love to read? Why was I feeling angst about not having thousands of page views a day instead of relishing the people who did take the time to read my nerdiness? It was crazy, I tell you, crazy. And incredibly selfish. And it made me avoid writing on my own blog. Well, no more, I say!

I am not going to monetize this blog. Though the thought still delights me, it was kind of the reason I started to hate what I was doing. Again, I am not writing this to try and bash on people who write sponsored content. If you can make money off your blog, good for you! I don't hate you or think what you are doing is dumb. I just hate how I felt when I realized the reason I was avoiding my own blog was because I wasn't having fun writing it when the goal at the back of my mind was "more pageviews" and "someday making money off my blog."

So how is this new direction going to change things? Really, the biggest changes are going to be behind the scenes things. Mostly things that happen up in my brain. The result will be more frequent posts and more sassy commentary. And more belly pictures. Because I love my belly and I don't care who hates belly pictures. Sorry I'm not sorry?

16 weeks (aka 3.5 weeks ago)

So, three cheers for having a silly outlet for your crafty musings! Three cheers for being true to yourself! Three cheers for probably overthinking this entire thing, but not caring!

Has anyone else been feeling similar angst? It would be nice to know I'm not alone on this crazy train of thought.