WIPs This Week

Here are almost all of this week's works in progress. I say "almost all" because the pile is missing a hat I started last night for an order in my etsy shop. But otherwise, everything's here and ready for your judgment. Critique away!

1) and 2) My Yarnspirations mystery scarves. I'm still having fun with these, but I'll be glad when the event ends next week. I'm starting to grow weary of working on them constantly, especially now that I have more projects hogging up my hooks, needles and time. It was fun while it lasted and served for a mindless lunch break most days.

3) My crochet Rudolph hat for an order. I haven't worked on this at all, despite having plans to, just because I got sidetracked by work, life and...

4) The Mario star-inspired blanket that's getting near completion. Only a couple more rows of white and making/attaching stars before I'm ready to plop this next to our Wii U. I'm debating making another one on a pink background so Nick and I can have "his" and "hers" blankets - after taking a nice long break from the small hook size and carpal tunnel I'm getting, of course :) No seriously, I'm pretty sure I'm getting carpal tunnel.

5) A knitted brown headband for an order. Hurray for branching out into colors that aren't grey!

Keep your eyes peeled for more posts as these projects complete themselves (I wish) and I cast on even more. I've already got some ideas up my sleeve for what to start next. Hint: it includes the fact I've ordered more than enough indie hand-dyed sock yarn to clothe a small army.

WIPs This Week

As we head into another weekend (YIPEE!), here's what I've got attached to my needles and noodling around on my hook:

1. My Yarnspirations CAL mystery scarf
2. My Yarnspirations KAL mystery scarf
3. A crocheted Rudolph hat for a custom order from a friend (you can't tell, but the red yarn I used from the nose is sparkly; it seemed appropriate!) I'm not using a pattern for this, other than a simple hat size chart. You can view the pattern it's based on by clicking here for the Ravelry page, and you can also check out the mods to make it the Mario star by clicking here.
4. A Super Mario Bros.-themed star blanket. I'm thrilled with how fast this blanket is completing and how fun it's going to be when done.

Sadly, I haven't even touched the Week 4 CAL/KAL patterns. I got a migraine on Wednesday night and worked from home yesterday, and I've been way too enthused about the star blanket to work on much else.

What are you working on this weekend?

Caron United CAL/KAL Progress: Week 3

As we enter Week 4 of the Caron United Mystery CAL/KAL, I feel like I'm accomplishing something. I know I haven't solved world hunger or rallied for world peace or something, but it's been fun to experiment with stitches and patterns I haven't needed to use in my knitting or crocheting. So I've been expanding my skills and feel like a better fiber artist because of it.

That said, these scarves are... well... they're interesting.

I'm loving them - don't get me wrong. It just seems like they have a bit of an identity criss.

That's not a bad thing, necessarily. Like, I don't often make scarves because I get tired of the same thing over and over and over again, so this project has been a success if only for the fact I may finish them. Swapping the patterns has helped distract me from scarf monotony and the swatches don't look bad together; whoever wrote the instructions did a good job ensuring the color repeats coordinated well.

Overall, I'm a satisfied panda.

Are you participating? How are your scarves coming along?

Interested? It's not too late to join us, even if you're only there to check out everyone's progress photos! Just visit the event over on my Facebook page and jump in whenever you're ready :) All the links for previous weeks have been posted, so you don't have to worry about catching up and not having supplies.

Finished: Knit Headbands with Crochet Flowers

Once again, I've been (happily) inundated with orders for knit headbands with detachable crochet flowers. They're fast and fun, though I have to admit I'm more than tired of always making them in grey. I'm not sure what gives - is it because my main photo is grey? When I had a cream colored headbands as my default photo, the only orders I received were for cream colored headbands; I would have murdered someone for a change. Lo and behold, I'm now the same way with grey. Hmmm.

Trust me - I am thankful to be making these and they're always fun. Plus, they look amazing on everyone. I just love experimenting with color and haven't had much opportunity.

But luckily I had an orange one thrown into the mix. Not only did it provide an excellent distraction from my pile of grey fiber, but it made me feel all fall-like. We had a temporary break in the warm weather, so I enjoyed cuddling under a light blanket in my chilly craft room and working up this quick little knit. I was happy.

Both grey headbands pictured are made using Caron Simply Soft and my FREE knit headband pattern. The orange headband is Vanna's Choice in Terracotta.

Hope you're all having a great week. And brace yourselves: there are more headband photos coming your way ;)

WIPs this Week

If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen these posted for #TGIFwipitoutwednesday. But in case you don't, here's what I've been up to this week (well, in a crafty sense - outside of knitting and crocheting, I kind of want to blow my head off because there's too much going on):

1. My CAL Mystery scarf, whose Week 3 clue I've completed since this photo was taken. It was thankfully quick, which helps give me time to focus on other projects (like gifts and shop orders), but a fun distraction from my stressful week.
    
2. My KAL Mystery scarf, that I plan on knitting more of tonight. I still haven't decided which clue to use, but I'm thinking the Russian Mosaic will be the way to go. Why? Because it'll bring some color back into the design - an important feature considering the last 16" or so are all ivory.
    
3. A knitted round dishcloth that I finished up last night while watching YouTube podcasts. Super simple and easy to memorize. My least favorite part, though, was grafting the final edges together in garter stitch. I don't hate grafting, but it takes me a few times through to remember the pattern.
    
4. Two grey knit headbands with detachable crochet flowers for custom orders in my shop. I have a third that will be knit up in a beige color, so I'll be able to finish all three this weekend for shipping out on Monday.

Anyway, Thank God It's Friday. Seriously. I've been waiting all week for this. Just to give you an idea of why, I'm managing a total of 1500 square feet of booth space at two upcoming trade shows that are happening at the same time. I actually love it, but it's a lot of work and man - I could use a nap.