Experienced knitters don't make fewer mistakes than new knitters. They make bigger ones faster.



- Yarn Harlot -


Monday, May 14, 2012

Reilly's Daughter is now OPEN!

Reilly's Daughter

First, just click the link and take a look around.

...

Ok, now that you're back, let me talk about the store. It is all items handmade by me. Right now it is mostly jewelry, but stitch markers and knit/crochet/woven/generally yarn-y things will follow. This is also only about half of the jewelry I've made. There is a lot of work to be done, but hopefully this will pay off. I really just want to get the word out right now and get some feedback on the items, descriptions, photos, etc.

And don't be shy. Feel free to share the link with EVERYONE.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Big News!

My Etsy shop, Reilly's Daughter, is almost ready to open! I finally took some initiative and started editing the photos I took and posting. And I now have more respect for anyone that opens up a shop online. It's a lot of work typing up descriptions for everything you make. But with any luck, it will be open this weekend, even if it doesn't have every item posted that I want.

I also finished this:






I had some leftover baby yarn from a blanket I made for a friend of my dad, and wanted to use it up. I thought this would be a fast, easy pattern to knock out a baby blanket. Too bad I can't estimate my gauge, because this turned out a little bigger than I planned. But this way, the baby can grow into it, right? This will probably also end up in the Etsy store.

Q2 Goal Update

I'm also doing well on my goals this quarter. We're about halfway through, and I've already posted as many blogs as I did all last quarter. Part of what is helping is taking pictures of stuff I've made. The other part is being able to publish the post when I want. That way I can write a couple at once and have them update at regular intervals.

I've finished my "queued project", which are my monkey socks!



I've also finished one of 2 sock yarn projects, which is another pair of vanilla socks. I started my second a couple days ago, which are the Nutkin socks in Austermann Step. So I have 2 more pair of socks, 2 more blogs, oh and a Blanket-versary to finish.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Moment Of Silence

I suffered a fairly significant loss a couple months ago.


That is an Owls sweater. It used to be adult sized. That is a beanie for size comparison.

I thought I had dried this in the dryer before. I swear I had. So I threw it in.

Apparently I was thinking of another sweater because I most definitely did not dry this in the dryer before. It's felted. WAY felted. So I've decided this will turn into a bag. I just have to cut off and sew up the sleeves and attach purse handles.

That is if I can ever bring myself to hold this thing for longer than it takes to take a picture of it.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Hexi-Crack Update

Ok, so this is only about 18" square. But doesn't it look awesome? And I have these and more to add still.

The idea is that this piece will be the center and as I make more puffs I'll add them around the edges. That way each time I finish another batch of one color, it will be arranged around the outside of the square to keep everything randomly placed. And my idea of knitting the puffs, putting them on stitch holders, and stuffing a bunch at once I think is working. I knit the puff and put the live stitches on paperclips to hold them, cut a tail long enough to finish the puff, and put it in a bag. Once I have a bunch/feel like stuffing, i'll stuff a bunch, close them, border them, and add them to the pile. This is sort of feeding into my hatred of finishing things, but I think it's working out. It also lets me knit these elsewhere, because this way i dont have to carry stuffing around too.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Q1 Goal Update

I actually finished my knitting goals early, but, as usual, my blogging goal is behind.

This is the Moorish Mosaic Blanket that I started a few months before I moved to Indy, which was almost 2 years ago. I packed it up half assembled and never got around to unpacking it. It took most of one night to finish assembly and another night to finish the border. Most of the ends have been woven in, but I'm using it anyway!






And this is how I usually find it.





These are my 2 queued projects. The hat is the Sockhead pattern and it turned out much better with the wide ribbed band. It almost makes me want to frog my first one and fix it. Almost. The Rococo Shawl is made with Alpaca With A Twist Temptation and I LOVE this yarn and color. The only problem is that it turned out much longer than the pattern stated. If its just over my shoulders, it reaches my knees.





My sock yarn project for the quarter is the Persephone Shawl in Cherry Tree Hill, colorway Jade. The border is leftover Fleece Artist in Ireland. This is my first crocheted shawl and I have to say, this worked up miles faster than the knit ones I've made. This is a picture of it blocking.



My goals for this quarter are to finish my Grapevine Blanket (which i think I also moved here with in pieces), 2 more sock weight yarn projects (one if which is halfway done already), and one queued project. Oh and 2 more blog posts a month. Lets see if I can do it this time.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

New Toys

I want to show you guys what I've made with my awesome new toys. My husband and I got our tax return back and he said, "You haven't bought anything big for your hobby in a while. I think it would be ok if you bought a new spinning wheel like you wanted to." After jumping up and down for joy, I realized this was code for him getting the PS Vita. You win some, you lose some. So I got a Schacht Ladybug and an Ashford Knitters' Loom, and I can't stop playing with them.





This is some targhee I had in my stash, so I thought it would make a perfect first project for the Ladybug. It's about a worsted weight, and spun up super fast. That may have just been my excitement though. I have big plans for this wheel, but will need more bobbins for all that.


These are my first 2 scarves from the Loom. (Side note: The action you use a loom for is called weaving, not looming. You don't "loom" on a loom. People my height can't do much looming anyway.) These are both made from scraps from my acrylic bin. The stripey purples and grays one looks better in my opinion, but there wasn't enough contrast between the shades of gray and purple so i looks a little muddled to me. The cream and purple one was first to see how much yarn a scarf takes, and to work on the contrast part. Too much contrast in this one. And no, that gray stripe on the end was not intentional. I ran out of cream yarn, but wanted it to be wider. I think it actually turned out ok though.

Oh, and doily.

Monday, February 13, 2012

I brought my own bag...

Hexi-Crack, or Puff Puff Pass

Here's an update on a project I started a few months ago but never posted:





Yes, I gave in to the hexipuff craze. They're super easy to make and are cut and little and squishy when they're finished. The only problem is that I have to make about 600 to make a good sized blanket. This sample is about 2' x 2'. I'm calling this a long-term project. I have 78 puffs finished since I started in the middle of September, but I'm only working on it sporadically. I'm also adding a single crochet border in off-white to make them look a little more uniform and so I can slip stitch them together instead of tying the corners.

Oh, and I'm totally addicted to making them. I've actually been working on socks so that I can have more scraps to make puffs. The ends justify the means, right?

Monday, January 9, 2012

My Apologies

Dear readers,

I apologize for my blog silence over the past few months. in classic jasmine fashion, i got in Over My Head. i took on a second job, adding 15-20 hours of work per week. that was silly, and a little stressful. naturally, some hobbies fell to the wayside, like this blog. of course my knitting did not. however, there are no pictures to prove it.

my Q4 goal was basically trashed since the new goal of "make more money" and christmas gifts took over. i was able to make 1 baby hat a week for the entire year and will be donating those soon. i also finished my owls sweater, which has even been seen in public.

i've also decided on my goals for this year. the main 2 goals are increasing my techniques and decreasing stash:

1. try new techniques, especially when the pattern calls for it. stop saying "i'll just do it the way i know how."

2. finish the blankets you MOVED HERE WITH. yes, they are still in pieces.

3. get and maintain sock yarn stash to <10 skeins

4. following #3 knit at least 6 projects from sock yarn

5. finish at least 6 projects from the queue bin you organized last year

6. blog more. i'm aiming for bimonthly

for q1, i want to finish my moorish mosaic blanket, 2 queue projects, one pair of socks, and 6 blogs.

thats doable, right?