Thank goodness it's the weekend!

One of the things on my to-do list is to make some of these newspaper starter pots:

                                                                 Source: lindycottagehill.blogspot.com via Jesse on Pinterest

I found this project on Pinterest awhile back and there's an AWESOME tutorial on how to make them. I think they are so cute and very practical.

We are (that is to say, Scott is) reading all about container gardening and we hope to grow a lot of delicious vegetables! About a week ago we planted tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, spinach, onions, and jalapeno peppers from seeds in trays; and the tomatoes, spinach, and broccoli have already sprouted! We have hopes of making our own salsa and canning it later this season :)

I do have a question for all of you though: how do you get rid of/prevent aphids? We had some windowsill cilantro and it was attacked by aphid-like bugs, it was very sad.

Happy Saturday!

An afghan in progress

A few months ago, I saw two gorgeous cabled throws on Pinterest. The cables were thick and just the right size. It'd be the perfect type of afghan to hunker down with in the middle of winter. And ever since, I can't get cabled, chunky throws from my mind!

                                                                Source: cleverbirdbanter.wordpress.com via Jesse on Pinterest

Aren't these dreamy??

                                                                    Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Jesse on Pinterest

I came very close to purchasing afghan amounts of yarn several times, but I could never do it. Maybe it was the price tag for all that bulky yarn. Maybe I didn't think I could commit. Maybe it was because JoAnns never had enough of one color to buy enough yarn at once.

In the end, I decided on Sweet Cream by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss; it's in a knit and crochet afghan book called 7-Day Afghans. It's my first knitted afghan and I was very anxious to cast on.

The yarn I chose is worsted weight Lion Brand Wool Ease in Dark Dusty Rose.

I only purchased six skeins; I'll most likely need more

While it's not a chunky, cabled throw, it does have faux cables created by k2tog and PSSO. And it's incredibly squishy.

It won't exactly be a warm, winter afghan, but it will be perfect for spring days and fall nights. Right now, the length covers my lap while I knit, and it keeps me pretty warm!

The most current status photo. This was almost two full skeins, and I am now on my third. I might try and take a progress photo whenever I start a new skein.

I'm not sure how someone could knit this afghan in only seven days (as the book title insists). It is worsted weight yarn on size US 10 1/2 needles, but you'd have to knit nonstop! I started April 7, it's been ten days, and I'm probably a third to a fourth of my way in. It is a fun pattern and fairly easy to memorize. There are twelve rows in each repeat, and half of those rows (on the wrong side) are the exact same. And the stitch markers are life savers!

I had better get to knitting :) Happy Tuesday!

Two Baldwins!

They are finally finished!

I really struggled through this. I've mentioned my dislike for the yarn already and that was truly the reason this project took as long as it did. Even with nickel-plated tips, the acrylic yarn still squeaked (which I hate!) and was difficult to knit with. Maybe it was working the yarn on US 6 needles that made such a tough fabric, but it's like iron!

But I couldn't be happier now that they are finished! And it felt so great to knit something that wasn't a monster, and not feel guilty!

Just the bodies

This one is for a two year old girl

and this is for her six year old sister!

I really do hope the girls enjoy these monsters! Even though I disliked the yarn, I still knit these with the girls in mind, and I hope a little of the love shows.

Woo hoo!

I am so excited to be announcing my first giveaway winners!! Thank you all for the support and for playing :) I had so much fun knitting these little sweaters, reading your comments about your favorite summer beverage, and now anticipating the winners using them!

Random.org chose two numbers this morning, and the winners are Hazel and Katiebee!! Congratulations! I will be sending you both emails.

Thanks again, to everyone!!

Hi friends, hope you all had a wonderful Easter and weekend :)

There's one more day left to enter my giveaway!

Knitting some monster bodies :) unfortunately the pink yarn pooled!

Hope everyone's week is going great... it's almost Friday, yay!

A Wee Giveaway!

Here it is! My first giveaway!

Fits a standard sized, 12 fluid oz. bottle

You could win one of these cute, hand-knit beverage sweaters!!

1. Blue cable

2. Blue & green stripes

3. Grass green cable

4. More stripes

I love these beverage sweaters! From the knitting standpoint, they are quick and easy to knit up, and a wonderful space to play with color and texture. And from the drinking standpoint, I use them all the time. In the summertime, they absorb beer sweat and I like to think they keep the beer chilled longer. I use them in the winter too, because the bottle is cold!

Beverage sweaters are knit with 100% wool and must be hand washed.

Two ways to enter! 
ETA: You can double your chances of winning, by entering TWICE! Here's how: 

1. Leave a comment on this blog entry, answering the question What is your favorite summer beverage? Make sure to leave your name and an email address I can reach you at if you win.


2. Visit my Facebook knitting page, Oocha Knits and follow the directions to enter there.

I will use the Random Number Generator and choose four winners, two from this blog and two from my Facebook page. Winners will be announced Wednesday, April 11th. 

Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

<3

(I couldn't resist. A little Hunger Games obsessed here).

It must be giveaway season!

I think everyone is a little more hopeful when spring comes along. I know I look forward to the lengthening days and daffodils blooming. It's hard to be grumpy when the sun is shining, which is probably why there are so many giveaways happening! I just wanted to share a few that I know about:

*Andi from My Sister's Knitter has a great yarny package giveaway to celebrate her blog's two year anniversary!
*Tanis Fiber Arts has a yarn palette giveaway with some very pretty colors!

And I want to share an iPhone app from Gina House that is free to download, called Sleepy Eyes. It is awesome! It's clear that a lot of time and love went into its creation, and it's super easy to navigate. There are many original and free patterns (by Gina) that are downloadable through the app. I've had Gina's Amanda Hat in my Ravelry favorites for awhile and since it's one of the patterns you can download in the app, it will make knitting on the go so much easier. Gina had a giveaway for her app a little while back, and I was one of the winners!

My package arrived the other day and it totally made my day!

Yarn close up!

Thank you Gina! I am so excited to use this yarn! I just have to find the perfect project for it.

That's it from me today, I am putting the finishing touches on my own giveaway! Now I have to clean the spare bedroom and look for my good scissors :)

Happy Crafterday!

Psst!

I am very excited to be planning my first giveaway! I have been wanting to do this for some time now and finally have my ducks in a row :) Details will be available soon, but for now, a sneak peek of what you could win:

Baldwin III

Remember my friend who asked for this monster for her nephew:

She wants two more for her boyfriend's nieces! They are two and six years old, and they each picked out color yarns they like the best. And of course, they both picked Red Heart.

Normally I have nothing against Red Heart or acrylic yarn. In fact, it's what I've primarily use to crochet my afghans. It's so durable, there are plenty of colors, and it's what my grandma used. But acrylic on wood needles? Blech. I had knit my friend's first Baldwin (with Red Heart) on my Knit Picks Harmony's, and it was tortuous. It squeaked, it stuck, and I swore never again.

And so I cried a little when my friend came over with two skeins of Red Heart. But since it's for the children, I went out and bought some double pointed aluminum needles. They worked great until I had to join feet with legs...and I caved and switched to the circular. But it's the same thing, sticking and squeaking, and I'm throwing in the towel.

I just put my Knit Picks order in for a set of US 6 nickel plated tips. Gosh, I hope they arrive soon!

Round Ripple

I started this afghan sometime late last year, and stuffed it away in order to finish Christmas knitting. This weekend I felt like crocheting and pulled it out. The pattern is Lyn's Round Ripple and here is where I'm at now:

There are a few reasons why I love this pattern (this is my third time crocheting it!). Since you begin in the middle and work your way out in rounds, you only need to chain a few stitches to get going. One thing that really deters me from crocheting a rectangular afghan is chaining all those stitches!

This is also a great stash buster. I think I will only need three one-pound skeins of yarn, and they're all from my stash. Two are the Caron One Pounds and the variegated is JoAnn's Sensations, the Rainbow type. I think it's a neat way to play with colors.

And one of the last reasons why this pattern rocks is you can stop whenever! It could easily be a nice lap blanket or a huge queen sized afghan.

Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday afternoon :)

Baldwin take two!

A little while ago a friend requested a Baldwin monster for her one year old nephew.

Since he is so young, I opted to embroider the eyes rather than use plastics safety eyes, just to be safe. I also used some stash acrylic, which is good for wash ability and durability, but really stinky on the needles!

This is it:

Updates!

I have so many things to update on! Hopefully, I will slowly catch pack up on blogging.

First thing, I finished and sent the hats off!

 

Second thing, I have been trying my hand at two-at-a-time toe up socks! I love to learn new techniques and there are so many benefits to knitting socks this way. What appeals the most is always knowing you will have enough yarn to finish the socks (unless they are knee highs).

The first toe up socks I tried were the sample socks from Melissa Morgan-Oakes Toe up book:

Little toe cups are my favorite!!

which turned into....

These should fit a toddler, according to the book.

And then I cast on a pair for me from Regia 4-ply Silk - yarn I received last Christmas.

And this is more or less where I am at now:

I'm probably about two or three inches up the leg. They feel fine! Nice and silky on my feet, and I can't wait to wear them.

So far I have almost three pairs of hand knit socks for myself !!! It's so rewarding to look in my sock drawer and see the pairs I knitted. But then I get to thinking about Scott, and how he only has one pair of hand knit socks... so of course I wanted to knit more for him.

We went to Loopy Knit and Crochet in Missoula and he picked this yarn:

It's lovely stuff! The colors are beautiful and the little alpaca hairs are nice.

The other night I was knitting the toe cups and finishing the Hunger Games trilogy! I haven't read a book so fast in awhile! And there's a great deal on Amazon to purchase the trilogy on the Kindle for $18.99, so I did :)

And right now, I'm relaxing on my day off. I picked up an afghan I started sometime last year but never finished. I really had only started it before I stopped crocheting on it, because it's less than two feet wide (it's the Round Ripple afghan I'm so fond of).

Happy Crafternoon :)

Hats!

I just finished a three-hat order! I can't wait to share the photos but I'm going to wait until the recipient receives them. Wow, I am so excited about this order! Mainly because he is so excited about them - it's really fun to knit for someone when he/she is just as excited as you! I'm excited because this is my second custom hat order! More on this later...

I'm also working on a project for a friend, for her nephew. Almost finished knitting that too, it just needs arms ;)

I started a Facebook page for my hats and have been thinking about having a hat giveaway. Details will follow as soon as I have a hat to give away.

That's it for now. I just purchased a few knitting books - two are knit/crochet flowers, bugs, leaves! and one is toe-up socks! I can't wait to try my hand at some butterflies and a new sock technique!

Happy Thursday :)