March Madness

March seems to have crawled to a stand still. I'm assuming that it's because my spring break is coming up in a couple of weeks, or it could be because we're having what feels like a winter weather blast. But for whatever reason time is slowing down, it seems to be giving me more time for knitting. If all goes well, I could end up with 4 finished projects during the month of March. Starting the month off, I finished these convertible mittens for a friend.

{ravelry page}

My second finished project was my Merlot Lace, and right now I have two projects in the works. First off, I'm working on a beach bag for our spring break trip, and it's coming together nicely.

I love the colors - I don't know why, but they have a vintage like feel to me. My favorite project of the month I believe will be the socks I'm making from the Kalajoki sock pattern. I'm using some gorgeous Springtree Road sock yarn, and I feel like the pattern and yarn were just made for each other. I'm finished with one sock, and am itching to start the second.

After I finish up these, I've got a few pairs of "man socks" to knit, then I'll be working on a couple of my own designs.

Back to the original title of my post - have any of you been watching the NCAA men's basketball tournament? It's really the only big sports event that I have to watch every year, and this year is no exception. Every year we make a family pool, and everyone fills out a bracket and it's a big competition between us to see who can pick the correct winners. It's so much fun - and watching all the games is even more fun. It's always fun to pull for the underdog, and this year, there are 2 major underdogs in the final four, which will be played this coming weekend. I can't decide who I want to win it all, but I do know I want one of the underdogs to win - either Butler or VCU. If you're watching, who are you pulling for?

Beautiful Dawn

The leaves are slowly turning here in Asheville and fall is definitely in the air! We went hiking on Sunday and enjoyed a nice drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of Autumn. And, of course, with Autumn comes....

Wooly worms!! Ahh, I love these guys. Near Boone, where I went to college, every year there is a wooly worm festival - it's so awesome. People bring a furry little worm and they have races, and the winner is used to help predict winter. They were out in full force during our hike, so I had to snap a few pictures - they're just so cute! The scenery around here is just amazing - I'd almost forgotten how beautiful it is in the mountains....

The weather is starting to get chilly, the colors are rapidly changing, and life is good.

I've got a new pattern available! A few months ago, I picked up a gorgeous skein of thick and thin yarn from Maya at SpringtreeRoad. I have a thing with thick and thin yarn - it's just simply beautiful. I love the way it looks. But what do you do with it? It creates such an interesting fabric when knitted up, I just knew it needed to be turned into something beautiful. So, here's what I came up with....

The Beautiful Dawn Neckwarmer

I absolutely love it! The cable is beautiful and runs the entire length of the neckwarmer. The texture is amazing - and the versatility of it even better. The buttons are placed so that it can be worn multiple ways, and because of the fabric of the thick & thin, there's no need to make button holes! It's available on Ravelry and Etsy, and you can find plenty of yummy thick and thin yarn in Maya's shop!

a collaboration

**UPDATE** All the KAL kits have sold!! Yayy!!

Hey Guys! Just wanted to pop in real quick to let you know about a collaboration between myself, Maya of SpringtreeRoad and Alecia of MadBird!

It's a knit-a-long, and I've provided a pattern, while Alecia sewed up some gorgeous project bags, and Maya's spun up some amazing yarn! We only had 10 spots available - and there are only 2 left! You can find out more info here, in Maya's etsy shop. This is a fabulous opportunity to try knitting with some incredible handspun yarn, and to get a project bag made with such incredible attention to detail and superior craftsmanship - I definitely recommend it!

picture via madbird

picture via springtreeroad

face lift

Well, you may have noticed, I've made a few changes here on the blog. What do you think? I know absolutely squat about html and all that computer jazz, so I'm forced to use free things I find on the internet, but I think it does a pretty good job at reflecting me.

Currently, my camera is out of commission (more on that later....), so I can't share any pictures of my current project, so instead I wanted to share a few things I've come across on the web. First, let me backtrack a little....
I consider myself to be a cheap person. Meaning, I never buy something that I think I can make, I prefer to buy things that are really on sale, or snag things from the thrift store. Because of this trait (sometimes it's good, sometimes it's a flaw), I rarely buy things that aren't yarn. But, lately, I've decided to try and loosen the purse strings a little in order to support other handmade artists like myself.
So, here are a few artists that I find to be simply amazing and love supporting!

Not only does Maya take amazing photographs of her gorgeous yarns, but she is just a wonderful person all around.  Her yarns (I think I'm up to 4 of them now?) are just incredible to work with, and are made with such care and attention. I didn't have much experience with handspun before I bought some from Maya, and I have to say - if I was made of money, it would be all I knitted with. There's just something about it that I can't explain - I love the way it looks before it's knitted, the way it looks after it's knitted, and knowing that someone took wool in its rawest form and turned it into something amazing as these yarns just really gets my heart beating a little quicker (read: i'm a huge knitting nerd!). 

Sometimes I see an artist who just blows my mind with what they can create. As in, I literally can't imagine how they make things that are just so amazing. Taylor's Eclectic is definitely one of those shops.  I bought a ring from Taylor back in February, and it is absolutely one of my favorite pieces of jewelry, hands down. She's a very friendly seller, who creates one of a kind jewelry and home accessories, and I definitely reccommend hopping over there to take a look. You'll definitely find something to add to your wardrobe - probably more than one thing! So good luck deciding on what to buy!

This seller is from my hometown of Asheville, NC. A friend of mine had a bridal shower a few months ago, and I knew I wanted to get her something from our hometown that really used the beauty of the mountains as inspiration. I had to look no further than One Clay Bead. Not only did she gift wrap my purchase at no extra charge, but she worked with me to arrange for a local pickup, since I was going to be in Asheville anyway! Her work is just to die for, and I can't wait until I can have a large collection of her pottery in my house - especially her dinnerware! I can just picture my cabinets overflowing with gorgeous sets of her dinnerware.....one day.....

I'll share some more shops with you later in the week! In the meantime, are there any other shops I should be checking out? I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend (for those US residents!), and have a great Tuesday!

happy thanksgiving!

well, we're here in asheville at my parents house. my older sister and my sweet neice flew in yesterday from minneapolis. my in-laws  (mom, dad and brother) are on their way here right now, and my younger sister lives right down the road.  it's going to be a wonderful few days having everyone packed in the same place! i love my family, and they are definitely one of the things i am the most thankful for in my life. we have a great time together and i am truly blessed! even better -- there's a chance of snow tomorrow night and friday! even if it's flurries -- it'll be so awesome! we plan on spending our evenings having wii tournaments, sitting by the fire (i'll be knitting, of course!), and playing board games -- all while enjoying being in the company of each other!

i would *love* to have some of this to knit with!

harvest at dusk by springtreeroad 

i hope every single one of you has a wonderful thanksgiving! what are your plans?