My Malabrigo

Last week, I went out alone all day. I visited the book store, went to my local yarn shop, and even saw a movie by myself. Every once in a while, striking out on my own is freeing and reminds me what it is like to be independent...but only every once in awhile.

I have been eyeing this wonderful, soft, luscious, shiny yarn for months. It was all balled up, sitting on the shelf, begging me to clutch it between my fingers every time I walked into the store. It was also sitting on that shelf intimidating me. I can't quite explain it, but there is something slightly intimidating about a good quality yarn. Its as if I fear that all the art ended once the yarn was dyed and spun. If it looks so beautiful just sitting on the shelf, what could I possibly make to compliment it?

Well, I will tell you what! I finally bought that beautiful Malabrigo handspun yarn, and it inspired me to write and publish one of my first knitting patterns! There is something oddly magical about buying a quality yarn. It feels like it should really have purpose. If I am going to hawk out a hunk of change on some fiber, it ought to be worth something to me.

This week, I made two pairs of fingerless gloves with my malabrigo.

I learned to use Double Pointed Needles with my malabrigo.

I fell in love with my malabrigo.














I learned to cable knit with my malabrigo...

Ah, yes...my malabrigo and I have become very close. How will it inspire you, today?

Despicable Minions

I was mesmerized by the Despicable Me movie this past summer. It really struck a chord with my inner child, and ever since, I have been itching to make a Minion. Isn't he awesome? I would really like to make a few others and experiment with different eyes, mouths and hair. Maybe, at some point, I will actually get the pattern sorted out and published for other Minion lovers.

One year and Two days

I have officially been married more than one year! It is sort of strange and exhilarating to say that out loud. We watched a lot of couples split up that were married near the same time we were. It blew my mind to see so many people not even make it through the first year. And honestly, without knowing any of the reasons people get divorced, I just have to say that maybe those people should have been more patient with each other. It is not my place to judge, but I have to wonder.

Our first year was tumultuous. It was slow. It was fast. It was full of fighting (or me yelling while my husband rolls his eyes at me behind my back). It was full of love and laughter. I can't believe our first year is over. I know it doesn't make me an "old married lady" just yet, but it sure does feel nice to be past the first year.

It always sort of felt like there was a lot of pressure for that first anniversary. I would sit and wonder what it would be like...if my husband would suddenly become the romantic type and whisk me away somewhere. I wondered what we would do and how I would feel...sort of the same way you always wonder if turning another year older will change you somehow. I can't honestly say it changed either of us, the day in itself, but the change in us over the past three and a half years is obvious to us both.

When we started dating, I was so high strung. I made lists. I had to stick to those lists. If I didn't plan it, it sure as hell was not allowed to happen because we did not deviate from the list. I was not spontaneous, though I longed to be. I was naive, though I was convinced I knew so much. I was a child thrusting herself into the "real" world.

During the first year we were dating, my husband and I moved in together. My mom died very suddenly, and I had not given myself a chance to come to terms with the fact that she was not actually invincible. My husband took the brunt of my anger for almost an entire year. Even after I realized I was taking my anger out on him, I continued to do it because he was always the one around when I was feeling my worst. Those were my "Dark Days," and my husband was there for me. He never ran, even when he definitely should have.

It took me two years to really feel like I was in a state to care about other people again. I know that sounds awful, but losing my mom rocked my world. It made me re-think everything I thought I knew. It also managed to polish my heart a bit and renew me to the person I am today. If it weren't for my husband, though, I honestly don't believe I would be this person I am.

My husband taught me so many lessons about loving who you are, keeping life simple, appreciating the small moments, and always being confident in your inner artist. He doesn't know a thing about knitting or crocheting, and while many of my friends like to give me a hard time for doing those crafts at such a young age, he has always been proud of me, always shown pride in the things I make like they were his own creations.

Someday, (and no we don't know when) he will make a great dad. Only, he won't be just a "dad." He will be a real, live father, one that I will be honored to stand next to. He is going to be an old man with me, and we are going to hold hands for all the young people to see.

As for now, we are still learning, and we are enjoying every moment of our naivete.

My First Quilt Bee

I am participating in my first quilting bee ever, and I have finally found the perfect sheets! The quilt bee is for a vintage sheet quilt. I have seen so many gorgeous vintage sheet quilts, and I have wanted to make one for awhile. Now I have the help of a group started up by Deb at Works in Progress, and I can't wait to get started cutting out blocks. Here are a few pictures of the vintage sheets and pillow cases I chose!

This one is my favorite! It was my first choice, and I chose the rest from here.

I really love all the blues. When we move into our new house, I am going to get an office, and it will be very free spirited and calm. I am going to decorate it in light pinks, blues, and purples to match some chairs I have, and I think this quilt may just have to have a place in that room. I can just see myself cozy up under this quilt in one of my comfy chairs with my yarn or a good book.

I can't wait to get started! Thanks again Deb for starting this group!

Eight Answers

I have had yet another hiatus from blogging recently, as I'm sure you all noticed and wondered sleeplessly over. ;0) It seems I have broken my elbow...two weeks ago, and it also seems I have had surgery on said elbow... one week ago, to put screws in said elbow. So, now, as I sit here once again fully capable of typing without pain, I have some new hardware in my body, and I have heard two separate times, "Now you can be like the Tin Man. You know? Like, from the Wizard of Oz." The only reason they felt the need to explain that it was from the Wizard of Oz was because the second time I heard it, I just gave a blank stare and wondered silently how two people could think this was just so darned clever. But its all in good fun!

Moving on, I am about to entertain you, intrigue you, and maybe even send you running with my answers to Eight Questions posted by another blogger who is new to me at Foxs Lane. Her answers were quite fun, so I hope you enjoy what I've got to say and maybe you will even head over to her blog and join in the fun! Or at least check out a few other blogger's answers.

1. What is your favorite meal to eat? Honestly, I am having trouble remembering this at the moment. For the last two weeks, I have eaten so little because I have been hungry so seldom. I was having to take a lot of pain pills for my aforementioned elbow. But, I must say that recently, I followed my big sister on a new adventure to eat more healthy foods and little to no meat. Our mother died 2 and 1/2 years ago from cancer, cancer that returned after she had gone into remission once already. So, it has become a passion of my sister and I to try everything in our power to stay healthy for our future families. At the moment, one of my absolute favorite things to eat is Spinach and Mushroom Pizza with thick crust, feta, Parmesan, mozzarella, and a few other Italian cheeses. I am almost positive that Pizza should be a main food group in my life, and before now, I had never eaten pizza without meat. In the past few months, I have eaten many a veggie pizza. Yum!

2. Do you have a quirky eccentricity? Well, yes. I have many. My sister spends a lot of her time looking at me with "crazy eyes," and my friends often have trouble wrapping their minds around my being. A few off the top of my head are that I possess an old soul. This isn't something I decided for myself. It is something I have always been told. Another is that I spend quite a lot of time inside my own brain... unhealthy extents of time some days, and yet another eccentricity is that I live to create and learn. I absolutely despise the feeling that rises up inside me when I feel I have stopped learning.

3. What is your middle name? My middle name is Marie. All the names I have contain five letters, and both my first name and middle name end in "ie." I have pondered this since I was somewhere around five years old. It just seemed a bit odd. My middle name causes a lot of pondering for me, though. I so seldom hear it unless I am telling someone what it is, and I feel that I don't emanate anything that would cause me to be a "Marie," but I cherish it all the same. There is something dainty about the name Marie, something sweet and innocent. And, what I love the most about it is that I shared it with my Mom. I never did ask her why she chose to share her middle name with me, but it is a permanent part of her I will always carry with me.

4. What are you passionate about? Creating, loving, living each day to the fullest, and being healthy physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I have felt many times throughout my life that I was a square peg trying to be forced into a round hole. I have never fit into anything society gives me. I am led by my intuition, though I have quite a rational brain. They tend to fight a lot. I want to leave sort of a silent stamp on the world. I don't want fame and fortune, but I want the generations after me to have learned something that they continue to pass on to the generations after them.

5. Thongs or Birkenstocks? Umm...Flip-flops (thongs) occasionally, but mostly I just wear comfy flats or tennis shoes. I am clumsy no matter what I am wearing.

6. Who was I before I had kids? Well, that is simple. I have no kids. I am a newlywed still, so I am still just me. I couldn't' tell you what I want to be when I grow up. I go where I am led. We would love to have children, but I suppose we are waiting for God to choose the child he wants for us. It is in His timing.

7. Have I ever been arrested? No, I haven't. I can't honestly think of anything I have done to be arrested for... other than crimes against fashion, I suppose. ;o)

8. What will you be doing this weekend? This weekend, I will be with my husband! It feels like ages since I had any quality time with him since he started a night shift job. We are going to check out the Relay for Life (a sort of fundraiser for the American Cancer Society) and hopefully, if the rain stays away, we will be seeing a drive-in movie. We live amidst cornfields, but our small town is one of the few (less than 100, I believe) in America to still have a drive-in movie theater. I will be teaching my first Sunday School lesson that I co-ordinated on my own, and I will be starting physical therapy for my elbow. All very exciting things!

So, what will you be doing this weekend? I hope answering eight questions is the first thing on your list!

New Love

Check out one of my newest loves!

Recently, I have started to knit with wool for the first time I ever. If you read my previous blog, you found out that I started to knit again as well. ;o) I have never worked with wool before now, but I had a friend who had been making wool diaper covers, pants, shorts, capris, etc. for her two little girls. Now, I don't have any babies of my own, yet, but I was in love with these little knit clothes.

So, I took up knitting again, more determined than ever to figure it out, and I have now knit (and frogged) a pair of fingerless mittens, two skirty diaper covers (which I did not frog), and a pair of infant capris with a girly picot edging. These are my most recent project (and yes, there was a bit of frogging going on in the beginning...well...because I am still learning).

The author of the pattern seems like a wonderful lady. She wrote the pattern, allows you to download it for free, and on top of all of that, she encourages you to sell the items you make, especially if you are a stay at home type like me. ;o) I was so thrilled with this because all I have been finding lately are patterns you have to pay an arm and a leg for, and then you must give up your first born child just to be able to sell the items that you spent your own hard earned money and your blood, sweat, tears and time to make. I mean, maybe I'm being slightly melodramatic here, but the licenses do normally cost a pretty penny. Some authors even go so far as to put a cap on how many items you are allowed to sell in a year's time.

So now, you can see why I thought Annalea was a saint. I did e-mail her and tell her that in so many words, and when I was finished, I sent her another e-mail with a link to my Etsy listing. What I got back was so very sweet. She was very happy with my enthusiasm, and she liked my project enough to feature the picture on the pattern page! If you click on her name above, you will be taken to her pattern page where you will see my creation right next to a few others wonderful creations. I feel so grateful!

What Have I Been Up To?

It's been a little while since my last post, and man have I been busy! Recently, I decided I'd like to take another crack at knitting. I tried teaching myself once, but my heart was really set on crochet. (Don't worry, it still is.) However, I have finally managed to get the hang of knitting, and I must say that I love it, too. Here are a few things I have learned as of late:

• Kitchener Stitch: It appears to me that many people have been intimidated by the Kitchener Stitch, and I must assure you, it is unnecessary. I too, was pretty confused the first time I was reading about it, but it really does make for a very nice seam. I still have to refer to the directions each time I use it, but, like anything else in life, with practice, it is becoming very easy. Click on the link above, and it will direct you to About.com's pictorial directions of Kitchener Stitch. And believe me. If I can wrap my head around it, anyone can! :) Below is a picture of my second time using the Kitchener Stitch. I used it to seam the crotch of this skirty diaper cover/soaker closed.
  



• Knitting in the Round on Circular Needles: Knitting in the round on circular needles has been great for me because I despise using double pointed needles (DPN's). The first time I tried was horrific. Granted, I was trying to teach myself to knit for the first time on the same day I was trying to knit on DPN's. Call it what you will, but I would so much rather use circular needles. They are perfect for knitting something seamlessly. As a crocheter, I was used to working things in the round. I was convinced that knitting in the round could not possibly be simpler or even as simple as crocheting in the round. Guess what, though! It really was! If you click on this link above, it will again direct you to About.com's basic guide to knitting in the round on circular needles. The picture below shows my first ever project knit in the round. It is another skirty soaker, and I really love it!

• Magic Loop Method: Now this method, I am learning as I type here. It was just slightly confusing at the beginning, but this link will lead you to Knitting Daily website where you will find yet another pictorial guide. I am only doing my gauge swatch right now, but my next project is going to be Alice Cullen Fingerless mittens in a yarn I like to call Aqua Paradise.
  

I know it is hard to see, but here is a link to the free pattern on Ravelry. And below are a few

pictures of my gauge swatch in the Magical Loop Method.

And on a final note...All three yarns pictured here were hand dyed and hand painted by me! But that is an entirely separate post. :)