Keeping it clean...

Some different colrs I've made the Sacks.

I've just purchased some cotton yarn and a cotton/linen blend yarn from Knitpicks.com and have been in a frenzy, knitting washcloths and Sudsy Soap Sacks (a personal creation of mine!).

Example of a Sudsy Soap Sack, with a bar of soap inside.

The idea is to eliminate that pesky slippery bar of soap by stuffing it in the Sack. Also, the Sack acts as a washcloth, sudsing up nicely and continuously as you scrub. You can use the drawstrings to hang it up in the shower to dry.

I absolutely LOVE the CotLin yarn, it comes in so many beautiful colors. I've also used it to knit up a sweet little summer dress for my daughter, who is currently 9 months old. It's an excellent swimsuit coverup, or just something to wear on any sunny Florida summer day!

Shoreline Dress

Scallop Crochet Edging detail.

Detail of Fairisle Wave Pattern.

I'm going to try my hand at tatting next, I've already got my supplies ordered from The Tatting Corner.com and I can't wait! Thanks to Bridal D.I.Y.'s youtube how to video, I know it'll be a breeze to tat my first....whatever I decide my first project will be. It's such a beautiful craft, and unfortunately a lost one, but I hope to revive some interest in this gorgeous knotting tradition.

As always, my motto:

You just never know unless you try.

So, here's to everyone giving it a try!

Back on the horse...

Wow, I have been out of touch for so long, but I gave birth to my second child in July last year and the last 7 months have just been a whirlwind of activity. We closed on our house in June, only 3 weeks before the due date, so between labor and unpacking, I have been a busy woman!

But, I'm back on track now, gearing up to begin some new knitting projects, including some self-authored patterns. I can't wait to see how they turn out! My kids are such an inspiration for me, I love to knit them all sorts of things, and kid knits are so satisfying, those tiny items knitting up so quickly they feed my instant gratification personality.

Stay tuned for an update on the Yggdrasil blanket (finally on border #2!), as well as some pics of my pretty purple sweater (has anyone realized yet how much I love that color?) and the patterns I am intending to publish once they are perfected.

Granny Squares!

So I have just begun my crochet journey! I have done some light crocheting in the past, but a few days ago really dedicated myself to learning the quintessential crochet pattern: the Granny Square! I have already hooked a slew of them and even learned two different ways of joining them.



My family and I have just moved into our first house and so during the packing and unpacking process the sheer hugeness of my yarn stash was brought to the surface. I have SO MUCH yarn, its a little scary. As a result, I am on a mission to make gifts for friends and family with this pile of yarn to help decrease the overabundance.

The large one on the left is my very first Granny Square! The smaller two to the
 right are just some ones I experimented with a couple days later.

A passing thought that crocheting would be a quicker way of creating items to gift floated through my mind and got stuck. I googled some how-to videos and in just one afternoon the wide world of crocheting burst open for me!

Besides the granny squares, I also made this super cute little cloche! I can't believe what a knitting snob I was, just last week, thinking that crochet was a lesser craft! I love it!

Close up of the cloche.









I will soon be posting my own tutorial on how to make a granny square, just because I think they are so much fun to make and everyone should try it!



Self-striping yarn gives these socks some visual

interest and really makes it easy!



Just a small post script, I LOVE knitting socks, and I just finished a pair for my son. He has a habit of kicking off his blanket, so I like to be sure his little tootsies stay warm!



Close up of Archon's socks.







Well, that's all I have for tonight. Please let me know what you think of my newest obsession!







First Ever Blog!

Well, this is my first attempt at blogging. I love to knit, love to create things out of natural fibers. Since the birth of my son, my kntting has veered into making anything and everything for babies and toddlers. He is two now, and has worn the socks, hats, sweaters and mittens I have designed for him (sometimes not willingly!). I enjoy knitting small things, as they are finished quickly and so give me an immediate sense of accomplishment. He has inspired me to try new stitches and yarns, and even to expand my crafting into other areas.

Close up of the Yggdrasil Blanket I am making for Archon, my son. This is the first of 3 borders surrounding the central tree panel.

The ear flap hat I designed for my son because after making several beanie-type hats for him and getting frustrated when he would just rip them off, I added the flaps and ties so he couldn't take it off!



An example of one of my forays into another craft besides knitting. I hand-stitched the tunic and embroidered the neckline. I also hand stiched the breeches, which laced up, and made the simple leather belt, using a couple of tuxedo shirt studs as the closure. Archon was a Viking for Halloween last year, and I made his costume!


I am now learning to do screen printing and am dabbling in making beads. I'll be posting more info when I become more skilled!

For now, I will end this post with some words of advice: no matter how impossible it seems, it isn't. I can't count the number of times I have found myself stuck on a project, not sure how to make it look like I wanted, or sometimes not able to figure out how to make a certain stitch. Yet, sooner or later, inspiration strikes and the path forward is illuminated. There is always a way, you just need to find the patience (which is a huge challenge for me!) to allow it to find you.