Divine Slouchy Hat---and Snow....

Yesterday we had snow.... the first official of the season!!!

I was at the Yarn Shop... and I have to say it was magical!
We were "complaining" that it had been raining all day long... and then around 3pm it started to snow... slowly at first, mixed with the rain and it melted as soon as it touched the floor. Then it started to fall heavier and heavier and sticking a little more... and then suddenly it was a heavy snow!! it covered the cars and awnings like in half hour.
It was amazing to be sitted warmly surrounded by beautiful color yarns, and see the snow fall... we even had hot apple cider!! it was perfect!!!
I tried to take pictures but it didn't work...
And of course, all of it will melt today as from now to Sunday the weather is supposed to be clear and sunny!

I worked on a hat for an upcoming class that we'll offer in January for the intermediate level.

It's the Divine Hat by Sarah Arnold... it's a good project for someone that is starting to crochet but has already the knowledge of the stitches.
It has increases and decreases and uses fpdc and bpdc with are a little more advanced that just a dc.
And... while I was looking for a right hat pattern for the class, I noticed that this one is the crochet pattern with more projects done in Ravelry!!!!!!!!!!

I added some increase rounds to make it a little slouchy...

I love the swirl on the top!!It used almost the whole skein of yarn... a pretty tonal purple-lilac Ultra Alpaca by Berroco.

With the remaining I had just enough to make a flower::: 

I loved it! I might make a tutorial on it one of this days... when I can have MG to take pics of my hands working.

See you soon!
S.

Thanksgiving review...

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How was your Thanksgiving???

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, full of magic and nice things.

We had wonderful times... dear MG took all 4 days off work and it was a blessing.
I started crocheting a little stocking to welcome MG on Wednesday night... he loved it!!!
I saw a post on Ravelry pointing to it (post done by Lucy from Attic24)... and then follow the instructions on Le Monde de Sucrette blog (wonderful and nice colorful blog I must say!)

It was rainy outside so I didn0t have good light to take the picture... I played with my camera settings but none gave the right colors... but you can still get the idea...

We cooked a "Cranberry Ham" on Thursday morning...

... then went for lunch to a nice restaurant in campus...

...and then took the ham to a party with MG's friends... It was fun to get together and meet new people.

Thanksgiving is not something we have in Mexico, and we didn't grew up with it, but since we've lived in the US it had become MG's favorite holliday. He awaits it the whole year and he counts days to it on the last month.

Here are some reasons I'm thankful for this year:::

• I have a really wonderful and sweet husband that loves me completely and makes me feel really like the most special girl in the world.
• We are both happy and healthy and loving each other more and more.
• We both have amazing families that love and support us.
• MG has a work he loves, were he's inspired and happy.
• I have a whole bunch of incredible friends at the yarn shop. 
• I have someone to love, something to do and something to wait and wish for. 

Friday started early (6am) at the mall... where we got nice deals in some clothes for me and tennis shoes for him. Not a lot more shopping. But it was nice and fun.
Nice breakfast and then a good amount of yarn shopping in a different yarn shop, since my loved shop doesn't carry the colors I needed (more on that later).
And then all afternoon spent with my friends and MG at my usual YS. Happy times!

Saturday with friends and a college football game!!!

Sunday of relax and laziness with MG at home... I stayed all day in my pj's!! that's happyness!

How was your weekend??? What are you thankful for?
See you soon!

S.

Tiny Hexagons Scarf...

 

This so pretty scarf is made with what appears to be several strands of lace weight yarn held together and changing colors in every row.

In my version, fingering weight, self striping yarn is used... that way we hope that the hexagons won't have the same colors without having to change in every row, which allow us to not to have to use lots of balls in different colors and weave tons of ends...

The yarn I'm using is Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace... A Slow Striping fingering weight, single ply yarn, 80% Merino Wool-20% Nylon, 195 yds/50g ball, in a pretty color that I think is called Rainbow Trout. The hook is a D or E.

I made the first hexagons in a class and blocked them after that... it made a huge difference and I think is the way it should be done:::

However, I thought about all the sewing that would be needed at the end with so many hexagons, so I decided to join as I go...

Every time I get to a corner I join with another(s) hexagon(s). I'm planning on making half of the skein in single hexis and then join them with the rest as I go. This so I can play a little bit with the colors and mix them in a fun way and not necesarily as they come out of the ball.

Here's the pattern I'm using:::

Multi-hexagon Crochet Scarf

Hexagon Pattern:
Ch 3, sl st to make a ring.
Rnd 1: ch 4 (counts as first dc + 1 ch), (dc in the ring, ch 1) 5 times, sl st on 3rd ch (6 dc + 6 ch-1 sps)
Rnd 2: ch 3, dc in same st, (2dc, ch 1) in each ch-1 sp, sl st in first dc (12 dc)
Rnd 3: ch 3, dc in same st, *(2dc, ch1, 2dc) in ch-1 sp, 2dc in next dc* repeat from * all the way around, sl st in first dc.  Fasten off

Half Hexagon Pattern: (use for side panels)
Ch 3, sl st to make a ring.
Rnd 1: ch 3, 5 dc into ring (6 dc)... Do not join to close the round.
Rnd 2: ch 3, turn, (2dc in next dc, ch 1) twice, 2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in next dc (8 dc and 2 ch-1 sp)
Rnd 3: ch 3, turn, dc in same st, [2 dc in next dc, (2dc, ch1, 2 dc) in ch-1 sp] twice; 2 dc in each of next 2 dc.  Fasten off


You would need 3 full hexagons and 1 half for each scarf row. And about 120 full and 40 halfs for the whole scarf.

Let me know if you make one! I'd love to see a picture!
See you soon!
S.

Health Center...

I hope you're doing ok...
We are, but today we spent a good amount of time at the Health Center...
MG had been having a little bit of discomfort and some pain in the back, we thought he might had something going on with his kidneys... so we went to check him up at the university health center...
It's a great place for the students!!! we get a great attention and we are not really students... he's a post-doc and I'm the spouse, so we don't count as students... luckily, we still get great services there.
Anyway... good thing, he was checked and he's perfectly healthy and in good shape... granted, he could use more excercise (we both need it!!) but he doesn't have anything going on with the kidneys... uff!!!

We also got (both of us) a flu shot... so my arm is a little bit sore and I feel tired... although that is probably because i's almost midnight!!!
We went out today to the Comedy Attic... a place with an open mic night for aspiring comediants... one of MG's coworkers was performing and we went to hear him. It was a good show and we had a good time... we came back a little before 10pm... had dinner and I talked to my mom and now he's just hanging up with his parents... so I guess we are going to bed!!!

Good night!!!
See you soon,
S.

Holliday decorations for the shop...

As I've told you before, I'm in my knit/crochet year... I'm involved with my LYS and I'm there almost every day, Monday to Saturday. I'm teaching crochet and helping with a lot of things and learning.... learning a whole lot of amazing and fun things!!!!

Last week we started thinking about the decoration for the Hollidays for the shop...
We went to Hobby Lobby and bought a whole bunch of ornaments and lights for the store front...
Next I worked with 2 girls to make yarn ornaments...

 We made a mixture of water and glue and soaked yarn in it...

Then we squeezed the yarn to take out the excess of glue-y mix and wrapped it around balloons...

... and hung them so they could dry over night...

When they're ready, dry and hard, we'll pop the balloons and hang them around the shop as Ornaments...

We also crocheted some stars...

And finished them with a golden trim...

We haven't made a lot, but we don't need a big amount.

Here you can see the size of them

****************************************
So this week, we popped the balloons, we took out the lights and decorations and worked around the shop to add more color and some bright and sparkle spots...

 Can you see the colored lights and snowflakes (crocheted) under the arch in the photo above??

and you can see how the balloons turned out!!! we were very pleased with them and made 8 more to complete de decoration.... to pop next week.

The next photo is kind of small, but maybe you can see the bright lights framing the windows ? and the ornaments hanging in the middle of them??

And last, the crocheted stars in the window... we still need to block them, and maybe make some more...

Is your LYS decorated??

See you soon!
S.

Knitting, knitting...

Thank you all that commented on my last post! I felt totally fine yesterday, actually by Friday night I was fine.
Ladies at the Yarn Shop called it a 24 hour flu... I think it was a 6 hours flu... but who knows... the point is that yesterday I was good and went to see my friends at the show and then to the yarn shop as I had a beginner crochet class to give... it was very good. Nice afternoon knitting and then movies night with my dear MG.
Today totally lazy day with him, cooking and doing tons of laundry!!! I hate laundry! we have to go to the basement and I don't like it when is too cold... today is suuuuuper windy! although not cold.
Good thing that we do the laundry together... that way is not as tedious and burdening as it could be.

Now to the knitting bussiness.......
I thought it was ridiculous that I spend almost every day a GOOD amount of time crocheting/knitting and MG doesn't have a scarf or a nice hat...

That is not possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what kind of yarny girl I am???

So I took him to the shop to see different patterns and to choose a yarn...
He chose a delightful Vintage Chunky, by Berroco. I love that yarn and I've used it for a lot of projects. It's really soft and it's made with wool, acrylic and nylon, so is machine washable!!! it comes in great colors and one of the best parts is that it comes in DK, Worsted and Chunky weights! FABULOUS!!!
So MG picked a dark navy blue with heathery hints of something that looks purple-ish.

And for the pattern, a Brioche stitch that is mindless once you've got it. It looks like a knitted ribbing but it doesn't have any purls in it!!!

I'm half way on it, I'vee used a whole skein already... so it'll be a 2 skein project and then a hat. I don't know which one yet. I want a knitted hat that goes with the same texture as the scarf.
Last year I made him this one

Which is what he uses but I think is far from being my best finished item so I don't like it very much. And I'll make him another hat with the same yarn as the scarf.


On other knitting stuff... I took a class this week in knitted fingerless gloves...

Wow! I'm doing a lot of knitting this semester... maybe is just the time to get used to it... but this, by no means, means that I prefer knitting over crochet or that I've stopped crochet!!! that CAN'T be!!!

Anyway, fingerless gloves are coming nicely but the double pointed needles take their toll on my hands... I get tired super fast and my hands ache. So not so happy there...

That's just the cuff...

See you soon!
S.

Not so nice day.

My morning yesterday was wonderful. I was at the Church were the Spinners and Weavers show would be held at 10.30am. My friends were already there.
I helped them mark the spaces where the different booths would be and then helped them unload their different things from the cars and then set up their booths.

I was amazed at all the things they carry and have to set up a nice display of their handmade things.
I have a friend that is a knitter and a weaver, another one that just knits, and one more that dyes yarn in delicious colors and makes soap.

People started coming later to set up more booths, quilting, baskets, felting, a lot of weaving and knitting... it was fun to watch the inside of a show.

After that I was going to go to the yarn shop and then come back when the show opened to the public in the evening.... but when I left there, I started to feeling bad... my stomach hurted and was upset and luckily I was just crossing the street from my house, like a block and a half away... to I run to my house and started feeling ill.
I talked to my mom and she said it could be an stomach infection and gave me all the recomendations that moms give.
After a while I layed on the couch and I was feeling so poorly and awful that I started to cry. I wanted my mom and she was so far away!!!! and I called MG but he didn't answer because he was in a seminar.
I was very cold and trembling and all my skin hurted and was so sensitive to contact with anything... I think I ran a fever for 2-3 hours in the afternoon/evening.
So I couldn't go back to the show... I just stayed in the couch and watched TV.
MG came home soon... thankfully!!! but only because he was a bit uncomfortable too, and he had pain in his back after some bad movement the day before... not nice.

Anyway, today we are better... he is off to the lab, and I'll rush to go to the show quickly and then to the shop as I am teaching a Christmas tree ornament class today!!!

See you soon!
S.

11.11.11

Today I'm ready to be happy!!!

To make a wish at 11.11... and you get two if you make one in the morning and another one at night.

I'm off to help defining spaces and organizing the Spinners and Weavers Guild Annual Show... later the vendors will come (the guild members) to set up their stands... will be so interesting and fun to see the inside of a show, the set up and preparations, instead of just getting there when they are ready and open to the public...

Then I think I'll go to the Yarn Shop for an afternoon of making Holliday decorations with a couple of girls that go there after school while her mom gets out of work... don't you love the idea of "day care" where you can knit and crochet and learn fibery stuff???? I love that!

And then back to the show to see it in full with the vendors in place!

Have a great fun day and don't forget to make your wishes!!!

See you soon!
S.

Yarny business

It looks like my days pass by without giving me much time to seat down and write leisurely...
Anyway, here I am today... Very happy in the refugee of my home. I appears that it had started to snow... at least for short periods of time and not over the whole city at the same time.
Yesterday I had a bit of snow falling on me while I waited for the bus... I had that feeling of excitement that comes with the first snow, but also a bit of sadness that warmer days had finished.

I've been all over the place with my yarns!!!!
I finished my sweater, and its pretty, cozy and warm/hot... I'll show it to you later, as (again) pictures are in MG camera... but for know I have pictures of some of the parts... The back and one front...

The pattern is called Nimbus and as you can see is a knitted sweater. My first sweater knitted in parts and sewn together. The yarn I used is the one the pattern asks for and is Peruvia Quick. A thick chunky yarn in 100% wool.... ideal for the cold weather!!!!

But I do have a lot more thing to share!!!!

Here I am wearing the white shawlette/stole I finished a while ago... 

Very fun... I felt like I was wearing a cloud!!!

My LYS had a promotion with an already-dressed-loom so you could seat just for the afternoon and weave even when you didn't know a thing about weaving (like me) and without having to take a full class and dress the loom and all that.... so I took advantage of it and wove a table runner that I took to Mexico with me to give to my uncle as a Birthday present.... he was very happy with it and I was so proud of myself!!!

I did a couple of headbands using Shepperds Wool yarn... it was my first time using that yarn and I loved it!!! it is totally great for this headbands... they are knitted with 2 strands held together and are quick and easy to fix. they button in the lower part of your head and I added a flower to embellish one of them. I didn't have enough yarn to make a flower for the other one. I gave the one with the flower to a friend from Mexico and she loved it! she is living in North Carolina so it gets cold there the same as here, so with a headband we get to cover our ears and be warm even if we have styled our hair. 

And finally (before this post gets super long)... I want to share a scarf with you... 

Now... isn't that pretty???? but I didn't make it!!!!! you may recognize it from the web, because it was purchased in a big store. I don't know which one... the owner of the shop bought it and it was so popular with the customers and so many people asked for the pattern that I was asked to write the pattern for it. Or at least my version of it...

So I did.... and last week I had a class with 4 students to show this motives...

Here's what I did that day!

I need tons of hexagons!!!

See you soon!

S.

Quick trip, Halloween and Home coming weekend...

Hello guys!!!
I'm back and I hope to seriously be back to blog and catch up with you....

How you've been? I've missed you!!!

I had a quick trip back home last week... One of my friends was getting married. It was a very special wedding and I was so glad I was able to make it and be there with them. My parents went with me and all my friends were there so I had a great time!!

I came back on Thursday for a weekend full of events!!! MG didn't go with me to Mex and the wedding so he was playing crying because "he missed me sooo much and I left like for a year"... so we had an excellent loving weekend with lots of hugs and kisses because he was so happy I'm back! :o) that is perfection and happiness.

The weekend was Home coming weekend... and while we didn't got tickets for the football game, we enjoyed the night parade on Friday night... it was long and happy and I deffinetly love Bands!!!! I have a thing for them! every time I see and hear a band I get all happy and excited and jumping and more...
I don't have pictures because I forgot my camera that day... MG joined me there and he took pictures, I have to make sure to take them out of his camera and onto my computer.

Friday was a perfect autumn day. I had a nice walk in the main street downtown from the yarn shop to where the parade was going to pass... It was cold and chilly but not freezing and I bought a hot chocolate to make the walk. It was like a half mile walk and the hot chocolate was sooooo good! it was the first of the season and that made me happy!

On Saturday we went to our respective worlds: MG to his lab and me to the Yarn Shop.... :o)
Later we went to a store to pick up costumes for a Halloween party....
We dressed up as Pirates!!!

That's me... (oviously, huh?) the dress was a little tiny bit big but very comfortable, with cheap velvet and lace... I liked it... the skirt had pointy stripes in both fabrics and I wore fishnet stockings and tall boots.
Marco had boot covers, black pants and this set of hat and jacket:::

And here we are together:::  (You can see that MG is making a "Pirate" face)

We had a great time and the party was crowd packed with people in all kind of costumes...

What did you do for Halloween???

See you soon!
S.