February Crafts!

Thought I'd stop by and give you a quick update on some of the crafty adventures I've been on lately. After finishing the Never Ending Slanket and Susan's Winter Shawl, I decided I needed to make some smaller "instant gratification" projects. I started by knitting Alex a new Winter Beanie for school. 

This turquoise beauty is a replacement for the wonderful hat I made him last year. It was a gorgeous, deep gray, Celtic Cable knit, 100% alpaca Ski Hat, which he wore for the entire Winter season then managed to leave on a bus somewhere. (I'm still getting over the loss.)

This new hat is made using the pattern Graham by Jennifer Adams. It's a quick, easy knit that's totally reversible. I think it took me about 4 days to make it. I used Bernat Sheepish which is 70% Acrylic and 30% Wool. It's splits a bit, is a pain in the ass to frog and pills like crazy. It's super soft and durable though and knits up with great stretch and is machine washable. I'd recommend owning a Lint Shaver if you're going to use it though, otherwise your project is gonna look like a big ol' cotton ball in a month. 

Next, I decided my goal in life was to learn to knit TWO SOCKS AT THE SAME TIME!!! How is this possible, it's some sort of wizardry! I grabbed the book Knitting Circles Around Socks and got to work. 

Not that Alex is spoiled or anything, but these are also for him. He's gonna be the best dressed guy on campus. 

Turns out knitting two socks at the same time doesn't take Witchcraft! It just takes some patience, two sets of double pointed circular needles, and some really good instructions. I'm not quite done with them but I'm definitely going to be using this technique again. I'll probably be trying Fish Lips Kiss Heel by SoxTherapist next time since the gals on my knitting Podcasts (TwoKnitLitChicks and Yarniacs) just can't stop raving about it! 

I'm using KnitPicks Stroll sock yarn in Dove gray. It's super soft Fingering weight yarn, 75% Merino Wool and 25% Nylon. It's wonderful to work with and it's machine washable, which is awesome. This is my first time using this yarn so it has yet to be tested for durability. The reviews on KnitPicks.com are awesome though so if all goes well it might become my go-to sock yarn. 


The last project I wanted to share with you is almost a Work in Progress, except for the fact that I haven't started it yet...

That's right. Mug Painting! 

A few years back I made a few of my family members these beautiful, hand painted mugs at a Ceramics Shop downtown. I painted them with all these lovely stains and had them professionally fired! They were glorious, I wish I had pictures. But, somewhere along the way, most of these treasures ended up getting accidentally broken (you know who you are!!!) So I decided to embrace the current Pinterest CRAZE and pick up some oil based permanent markers and some plain white mugs and make some replacements! 

Kitty is obviously excited to help. I might also paint a little Valentines Day Mug for Alex while I'm at it but he's getting pretty spoiled as it is so, we'll see! 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Ashley