MOM Monday

February is almost here, so I spent the weekend finishing the latest installment of my mom's "club." In honor of Valentine's Day, I made this sweet little owl in pink and white. She's made out of leftover dishcloth cotton, believe it or not! She's definitely one of my favorites.

Edited to add:
I spent a good amount of time putting together a post for last week's "MOM Monday," but I never hit "publish" (whoops). So, here is a look back in time at the owl-in-progress!

It's Monday, and time to showcase the latest project-in-progress for my mom's "Made-for-you Of-the Month" (MOM) club!

This month I'm working on a little owl from Knit Simple Magazine's Holiday 2010 issue. It was designed by Susan B. Anderson, who is best known for her books Itty-Bitty Hats, Itty-Bitty Toys, Itty Bitty Nursery, and Spud & Chloe at the Farm.

She still needs a little bit of work (and possibly a partner as well), but this little owl is bound to be a hit just in time for Valentine's Day.

I just need eyes, a beak, some wings, some feet...

FO Friday

It's been a while since I posted an FO Friday blog! I have two small projects to feature today, and I hope to have another to showcase on Monday.

The first is a little ladybug. I followed the pattern from Cricklewood Owl and Jubilee Ladybird, but used bulky-weight yarn and larger needles.

The second is an ancient UFO that I pulled out of hibernation last Saturday. Back in the summer of 2010, I made a pair of Golightly Gloves from Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines for my best friend. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and made two right-hand gloves instead of a complete pair! I made a mate for her pair and the extra glove has been languishing under my sink ever since. I'm delighted to finally have a usable pair of my own, and even happier to have one more thing crossed off of my list of UFOs!

Thursday Hexipuff Update!

It is my goal to update the blog with a running total of my Hexipuff count each Thursday. I'm aiming to complete my Beekeeper's Quilt (a total of approximately 384 puffs) by the end of 2012.

Today's Tally:

As of this posting, I have completed a total of 30 Hexipuffs! Only 354 more to go!

 

I have been trying to keep a pace of ~8 puffs per week, and I fell off of that a bit this past week because I was working on another project. I'm still doing pretty well though, and I'll have time to make up some ground this weekend.

I tried to put them in roughly the same positions as last week. The five new puffs are on the far right.

Thursday Hexipuff Update!

It is my goal to update the blog with a running total of my Hexipuff count each Thursday. I'm aiming to complete my Beekeeper's Quilt (a total of approximately 384 puffs) by the end of 2012.

Today's Tally:

As of this posting, I have completed a total of 25 Hexipuffs! Only 359 more to go!

 

 

I am really pleased with the progress that I have made so far and with the rate at which I've been able to produce hexipuffs. At first, I thought knitting a puff every day (on average) would be impossible, or that I would get sick of it after a week or so, but I'm still going strong. At this rate, I will be able to finish my blanket by the end of the year.

FO Friday

Today's FO Friday is short and sweet. I made this Swiffer cover for a friend of mine, who recently gifted me her entire stash of dishcloth cotton before realizing that she wanted to make a Swiffer cover. She is also a busy mom of three children under the age of three, so it's really the least I can do to pitch in with the knitting once in a while.
Look carefully and you may recognize this as Wednesday's "Mystery Project #1."

Thursday Hexipuff Update!

It is my goal to update the blog with a running total of my Hexipuff count each Thursday. I'm aiming to complete my Beekeeper's Quilt (a total of approximately 384 puffs) by the end of 2012.

Today's Tally:

As of this posting, I have completed a total of 17 Hexipuffs! Only 367 more to go!

WIP Wednesday

I have two "mystery" projects to share for WIP Wednesday this week. Both are surprise gifts for friends who may or may not read the blog, and I don't want to ruin the surprise. So, I've blurred the photos below for now. I'm hoping to have the first one finished tomorrow so I can post it for FO Friday this week, but we shall see.

Mystery Project #1

 

Mystery Project #2

That's all I have for today! I hope to have a Hexipuff Update to post tomorrow :)

Handspun and Sheep Kisses

This past weekend was just packed full of fibery goodness! On Saturday, I met up with my college roommate at the 96th Annual Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, PA. I haven't been there since we went in 2005 (when we were still in college!), and I haven't seen her in a year and a half, so it was so much fun to reconnect. Plus, there were all kinds of fiber animals there to pet and take pictures of and even kiss!

Photo by Allison E Frank Photography

I bought some fabulous fiber there from local vendors, including some 100% angora from Twin Ponds Fiber Farm, some hand-dyed merino roving from the Bauer Family Farm, and 4oz of Alpaca/Corriedale roving in "Chocolate Covered Strawberries."

When I got home, I finally finished spinning the fiber that has been on my wheel for MONTHS. It is BFL from Miss Babs that I got at Stitches East back in October 2010. It spun up really nice, but I spun it incredibly fine, so it took a long time to get through the singles. I ended up with 400 yards of 3-ply fingering weight, and I am very proud of it. It is so consistent and even that I think it could totally pass for millspun (not that millspun is better than handspun, of course!).

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012 everyone!

Phew! I can't believe that I've neglected my poor blog for nearly two months! Shame on me! I don't really "do" resolutions for the new year, but it is definitely a goal of mine to make blogging a more regular habit in the coming months.

Here's what I've been working on since I last blogged...
1. I finished the February Baby Sweater! I even sewed grosgrain ribbon in behind the button band. It will be going out in this week's mail.

2. I made a moose! For TMG's mom for Christmas, I made a Confused Moose. She loves him.

3. I'm not quite finished on the gift I've been working on for my best friend, who may or may not read this, so it shall remain a mystery for now.

4. I finished the Fuzzy Farm Sheep that I started making for my mom YEARS ago! All the poor thing needed was a face and some legs. He will be this month's MOM installment.

5. I made three Little Birds for my Grandma for Christmas. I only got a photo of the first two, as I finished the third whilst traveling.

6. I finished the first of my Crevasse socks, but didn't take a picture yet.
7. I worked a few rows on my Haruni shawl.
8. I sewed two pairs of fabulous flannel PJ pants with OWLS on them! Photos are pending.
9. Saved the best for last! I finally jumped on the bandwagon and started HEXIPUFFING! I'm hopelessly addicted and I have already declared 2012 the "Year of the Hexipuff." Here's a picture of my first five 'puffs... I won't say how many more I've made since I took the picture:

For those of you who may have been living under a rock, hexipuffs are little modular units that, when put together, comprise a brilliant pattern called the Beekeeper's Quilt. Don't worry... more on that to come!

Happy New Year, and happy knitting!