{Knitting} Nido VT Shopping & a Herringbone Man Scarf

My loving, caring, generous husband always harasses me for the fact that I never knit him anything, ever. My response is always the same thing, "when we were dating in college I knit you a beer cozy with your school name and in your school colors and you never used it and don't even know where it is" and then he is promptly silenced. He also only says these things in front of people, so I can only assume that the tone of my retort wasn't the most pleasant.

We recently found ourselves in Burlington for Labor Day weekend and I knew that if I was in Burlington I was absolutely-most-definitely-no-doubt-about-it going to the shop Nido right on college street, downtown. I learned of this shop through a giveaway I won many moons ago, and just knew I had to make it there. Ashley from the blog Film in the Fridge raves about Phiona's fabric selection on her blog all the time, and posts some pretty great projects she has done with a lot of the fabrics she buys from Nido, including several projects with handstamped fabrics, which is awesome!

The shop was in a great location right in the heart of downtown Burlington, next to all the shopping and restaurants. I walked into the shop and was very warmly greeted by the worker there, who I later asked "Are you the owner, Phiona, by chance?" and in fact she was, so we quickly struck up conversation about all the different fabrics in her shop and Ashley from Film in the Fridge and lots of other crafty things, and some personal things too like how it was her first day back from work after a 2 weeks off because she got married (veryyy exciting).

I have got to be the most annoying shopper ever. I touch everything. Literally. I have to touch and fondle everything in every store I am ever in. I got yelled at a lot in Paris! I spent about an hour groping all of the beautiful fabrics, yarns, and other goodies and Phiona didn't say boo about it, which was awesome. 

She had some spectacular fabrics that I haven't yet seen in person, like the new Heather Ross line, Nani Iro double gauze, Anna Maria Horner's Rayon Challis, Robert Kaufman's Essex Linens, etc. I totally fell for the Nani Iro prints. I honestly didn't even know what they were or that they existed at all. They are so beautiful and luxurious and subtle at the same time. I grabbed 1 yard of each of these prints and I plan on making some type of cowl or wrap that I can wear at work. I also got a yard of this Scandinavian inspired linen print. I don't know why but that print just screams Christmas to me, so I had to grab some, as I've been eying it for a while now.

Isn't this Nani Iro print unbelievably beautiful? It almost looks alive. I am obsessed with it. It reminds me of a Monet painting, don't you think?

 
My main purpose for the trip was actually for some yarn, not fabric. I mean of course I got both.  She carried wonderful yarns in the store, all from the Northeast. She had some Swan Island Yarn and lots of other brands that I hadn't even heard of. I ended up finding some BEAUTIFUL yarn in gorgeous fall colors and was instantly inspired. Finally all of my husband's nagging got to me. I don't know why really, but I think that I was mostly inspired by the yarn color, a beautiful golden wheaty mustard color with a little bit of green in it and a lot of depth to it. Husband has a dark charcoal winter coat so I think the mustard hue will go nicely. I bought two skeins that are about 300yds per skein and the yarn is probably a 3 weight yarn, not quite worsted 4 but not a fingering weight yarn. What is that, DK weight? I also bought some of the same yarn in a beautiful berry color to make myself a cowl. 

 

I searched the internet and blogosphere for a herringbone scarf pattern that was wide enough and had all of the things I like in a scarf, like a nice border to finish the scarf off on the sides and prevent curling. I didn't find everything I was looking for, but I found the general pattern for the herringbone section and then just did a quick gauge to see how many stitches I needed to cast on in order to get my desired width. Like I said, the yarn is DK weight, so I used a set of size 7 circular needles (my fav) and cast on 71 stitches, with a 3 stitch border on each side, so 6 of those stitches are for the borders only.

I haven't worked so diligently on a knitting project in a while! This scarf is taking me FOREVER. I think I probably should have upped my needle size by one or two so the yarn went a little farther and the scarf didn't take as long, but I know that I will be happy with the final product, and hubby better be too! His birthday is on Halloween (I know!!) and hopefully I will have the scarf done by then! UPDATE: Currently I am through 1 of the 2 skeins of this fantastic yarn and the scarf is about 48 inches long and I've been knitting it for about a month now! I will probably just knit through both skeins, or ask hubbs how long he wants it (as if he even knows what he wants).

As for my cowl, I am not sure what I want the cowl to look like. I will definitely be increasing my needle size to either an 8, 9, or 10. I will have to whip up some test pieces in the pattern I choose, I want it a little looser than my hubbs scarf. Maybe I will make a Purl Soho Herringbone inspired cowl to match hubbs? I was also eying this Hamanasu cowl from Quince & Co.. Or I could make the ever popular honey cowl that everyone is raving about.  Who knows? It is probably going to take me another month to finish this one so my cowl might be a tax season project. 

What has inspired your projects lately? A specific fabric or yarn? A picture? Pinterest, lol?

HOLLER

{From Scratch Club Guest Post} Crocheted Face Cloths

Those of you following this blog for a while may know that I am a blog contributor over at the amazing and wonderful From Scratch Club blog on a monthly basis. 

Here is a little excerpt from FSC's about page to give you some insight into what the FSC is all about:

"WE ARE {MAKING} FOOD MATTER, TOGETHER

We live within the Capital Region of New York State (Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga Springs) striving for a sustained connection to our kitchens, our gardens and our communities by inspiring people to jump back into the kitchen, their gardens and food communities as a daily way of life regardless of income, space & time. We host community food swaps, a podcast on iTunes, virtual food-focused book club on Goodreads and lastly, we teach DIY classes around the area. The rest of the month we are here, on the blog, sharing stories, recipes, DIY projects, homesteading tutorials, kitchen tips & tricks and food policy news."

I have been dubbed the FSC Crafter and on a monthly basis I post a crafting project for all of the FSC members and readers to recreate. I try to maintain a utilitarian focus when it comes to the craft projects that I choose to write about, as the men and women of the FSC really like to get stuff done!

My post for September was instructions for your very own set of Crocheted Face Cloths!

My past posts have included:

• Thrifted Silverware Garden Markers
• A Mug Rug
• Embroidered Jar Lids

I hope you check out my posts over at the FSC Blog and also take a look at the recipes and projects blogged about by other FSC Contributors. The website is a wealth of knowledge! 

HOLLER!

Apparently I've Been Crocheting

I hope that everyone has been enjoying their summer as much as I have been enjoying mine. 

So far this spring and summer we've been to 5 weddings, Europe, Cape Cod, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Oswego NY, and several other visits to our respective home towns. I think we've been in our own home all of 1 weekend since May 1st. PHEW it has been crazy. I don't know why but this year I have been on quite the bender, too, drinking more than my fair share of ST&L's (sapphire, tonic, & lime) at each event, staying up well into dawn. Maybe my body knows that I could be getting pregnant soon and it is allowing me to regress to the college years without too much punishment? Either way ... we have a wedding this weekend, and reunion each weekend through labor day so with those plans we will be hitting my home town in Upstate NY (Watertown), the town I grew up in on the Jersey Shore (Spring Lake) and then we are renting a huge house in Burlington with a group of college buddies for Labor Day weekend to end my summer binge on a high note. 

Ramble over. 

So I promise you that I HAVE BEEN crafting. I have been crocheting a shit-ton. It is the  most portable craft that exists, any size crocheting project really travels like a dream. It is sooooo much easier to travel with than knitting! I have mostly been working on pretty mindless crocheting patterns, which is awesome, especially after several ST&L's.

I have been working on a sweet white soon-to-be blanket. It is made with mercerized cotton and is a traditional granny square pattern. Right now it measures about 15 inches square, and I plan on crocheting it with white yarn until I run out in the center, and then ivory yarn around the outside until I run out of that as well. Naturally, the yarn I chose is now sold out so I am just going to make it as big as I can and maybe it will be a good light-weight stroller afghan.

I also started another crocheted blanket with yarn I already had in the stash. This is another traditional granny square pattern that I started uses a worsted weight wool yarn.  Honestly, I had 4 skeins of yarn and desperately wanted to use them up. I absolutely loved the way the ivory, navy, and chartreuse colors looked together and wished I had more of those colors to end the blanket there. But I had this other kind of seafoam-y color to use up and is so didn't match the chartreuse that I just planned to place is as far away from the chartreuse as possible. I don't think the result is that bad, although its not my favorite. I have about 1/4 skein each the ivory and seafoam-y color left and will stitch until I am done. I think that this will be a good sized crib blanket when I am done with it, or a small blanket for a chair or sofa. 

One of my (many) New Year's Resolutions was to make sure I wash my face every night. I am seriously so bad at keeping up with this. I don't know why its so difficult for me, I mean I can manage to brush my teeth and floss every night, why can't I just wash my face while I am at it? I digress...

So I whipped up these crocheted face cloths to entice me a little. They are definitely working! I hope to sell these in my soon-to-be-opening Etsy shop as well (more on that soon!) so I tested out several different patterns to see which one I liked best. Starting from the left, the first pattern is a traditional granny square and I think that it was a little small. The middle face cloths are a great granny square pattern I used in a blanket early this spring, and I love the size and shape. Crocheting with two colors is kind of a PITA because you have more ends to weave in, but compared to the face cloths on the far right which are the exact same pattern, the pattern stands out more in a two-color format. So we shall see which ones I whip up for the shop. 

So that's what I've been working on this busy summer. What have you been up to? Any suggestions for other crafts that travel easily? 

OH! I almost forgot to mention ... I NEED YOUR HELP!! Remember the knitting needle roll that I made? Well I made a matching crochet hook roll as well. I had grand plans of designing the pattern for a complete set of tool rolls, which would also include a double pointed needle roll, circular needle roll, an accessory bag, and a notebook cover BUT naturally my Joann's no longer carries that great red fabric that is the inside of the roll, and of course I cannot find it anywhere on their website either, after hours of searching. I know that this is a lot to ask, but if you are out at your Joann's and happen to come across this fabric, please for the love of God buy me some (like 3 yards) and I will reward you handsomely. I know that this is a long shot, I am not delusional. I e-mailed the company and sent them a picture of the fabric asking for their help but they said they cannot help without the selvedge info and that is long gone. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.

HOLLER!

{Holiday Crafting} My Christmas Stocking!!

This week I have put the final touches on our Christmas decor, with the very last piece being My Very Own Christmas Stocking. Finally! 

In my last post, I showed you the Christmas Stocking I made and monogrammed for Chris. I made a matching stocking for myself, and am totally in love with it!
 

The only difference between the two stockings, aside from the obviously different toes, is that while making Chris's stocking, I didn't use bias strips to make the piping, and what a mistake that was! See Chris's stocking below, I wasn't overly impressed with how the toe came out.

I learned my lesson and used bias strips to make the piping for my stocking, and I am thankful because it would have been miserable to pipe otherwise.

Don't you love the pair? Can someone please pay me to sit home and make Christmas stockings all day??

HOLLER!

I'll consider it a success

Remember when I mentioned that I taught a knitting class back here? Well, one of my students (my neighbor below me) showed me her completed work and I am sort of PROUD!
My neighbor Tara was at the knitting class and she was was one of the students that caught on quickly. This is her sheltie Riley who we a.d.o.r.e. I must say, he makes a spectacular scarf model:

 (his eyes really aren't that creepy, he is a gorgeous dog)

I hope to post more progress photos from my other students once I see their results. Oh, any my finished scarves whenever I get around to them.

xoxo