Halloweening

Last night was Books Crafts Wine Snacks Club and as always, it was fabulous. Autumn held it at her house and she is the best hostess of us all:

so festive and spooky!

These quinoa cakes are amaze-balls!!! As soon as Autumn sends out the recipe link I will post it here because they are fantastic! I could have eaten the whole plate:

how cute are these napkins and plates!? and the ghost mug hehe

We celebrated Abbey's birthday too! No candles, but we all sang a very spirited Happy Birthday to her :)
(our singing needs work)

do you see the bloody handprints on the glass? scaaaaary!

 Autumn made a red velvet cake and used GLITTER icing! 

cute decorations

I was the only one who crafted, though I suspect other girls brought something and just didn't bring it out... These mittens are part of KnitPsycho's Finish or Frogtober KAL on Ravelry:

As the name suggests, for the KAL you must either finish or frog an unfinished object that was started before September 1 of this year. No problem, since I started these October 2011! All they need is the green double stitching.

We began discussion on our book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and will finish discussing it at next meeting since not everyone had time to finish it. I am really eager to know what the other clubbers think about the ending.

That's all for now, Happy Thursday!

WIP Tuesday

I had planned to type this tomorrow, when it will actually be WIP Wednesday (and sounds better), but I am working in the morning so I'd rather write it tonight.

Right now I have two major WIPs, one is this afgahn:

I have almost knit six skeins, and will probably buy one more to add a little length. It's not a very large blanket, not something for the bed, but it's the perfect thing to cozy underneath on the couch :)

and the other WIP are my Cakewalk socks. I haven't made a lot of progress on them since their last photo so I won't post another :)


Tomorrow night is Book Club!! I will be sure to take a lot of photos of everyone's crafts and of the food :)

Diagonal Lace Socks

Of course, I decided to take photos after I blogged about them yesterday :) 

Pattern: Diagonal Lace Socks by Wendy Johnson
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Harvest Tonal
Needles: US 0
Method: Magic Loop and toe up
Modifications: At the cuff I decreased to 64 stitches per sock to knit a 2x2 rib because the socks are a bit loose. I probably could have omitted one lace repeat. There is also an errata in the pattern. On even rounds, you should knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches; I just knit even because I found the errata when I was halfway through the socks and didn't want to change :)

The pattern is free on Ravelry as a preview for her book Socks From the Toe Up. I own the book as well, and am really looking forward to knitting more patterns from it! Even though these socks took me several months to complete, they took me out of my sock knitting comfort zone but I love how they turned out. They were a great project for when I wanted something that required a bit more concentration but didn't need my entire focus.

I am so happy it's the weekend! Enjoy friends!

FOs and books, but no FO photos...

Hi friends,

I thought I'd check in even though I don't have too much to show you yet. Thanks for your lovely comments of support and advice on my last post, they were so nice! I am still very nervous about teaching but I know with more experience I will gain confidence.

In the past week, I have finished two pairs of socks! One is the Diagonal Lace Socks that I started so long ago, and the other pair is for my friend Lorri. I haven't taken photos of either pair yet, but I will not forget to snap some before I send Lorri's socks to her! They turned out beautifully and I really hope they fit.

I cast on this pair a few days ago:

ssss

with the fabulous Cakewalk Yarn I purchased from my podcast friend, Amanda at Knitting Psychos. They will be nice and plain stockinette socks. 

I also received this wonderful San Fransisco/German care package from my cousins:

They are expecting their first baby and I knit them a baby blanket. This box of chocolates and coffee was a thank you from them :) Right now they live in California so I don't see them very often, but I am getting excited about knitting baby things now that I know it's a boy ;)

In other news, I'm voting via absentee ballot for the first time this year, and I just got my ballot! They didn't send me a I Voted sticker though... I've also started several new books. One is Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, which I've skimmed a lot. I borrowed it from the library which was a good decision. I think the problem I have with it is the pace and her writing approach. The writing itself is good, it's just that what it says doesn't excite me. She says she spent a year researching first before writing The Happiness Project, which seems weird to me. Happiness doesn't need research does it? Her research appears in the first chapter in the form of quotes and thoughts from famous dead people. I also have a problem with her dialogue recreations; if this is a book about a past journey, why include dialogue? It feels fake since it's absurd to think we can remember an exact exchange of words between two people that happened years ago -- and I realize we're probably not supposed to take it word for word, but I don't like it. This book would be better without dialogue. /rant (funny how talking about The Happiness Project did not make me happier...)

I'm also reading Mariana by Susanna Kearsley, which was the Kindle Daily Deal the other day. It's a time transportation book. In this case, the main character goes to 17th century England. I really enjoy this kind of book so I'm sure I will like this one.

Did I tell you I finished Gone Girl? Ultimately I didn't like it because the ending was so disappointing! That's all I will say. 

Berny masters the back leg face palm

I didn't mean to write so much, especially about The Happiness Project... if you have read it, I would like to know what you thought!  

 Bye for now, TGIF :)

Big decisions

Some of you might know, I've told a few, that I am going back to school for my English teaching degree! It's something I thought about while in school, and then after I graduated, and then now, while I'm just working. I am just not content with my job, even though it leaves me plenty of time to read and knit, which I've thoroughly enjoyed and will miss. My parents and friends and boyfriend have been supportive, which has been beyond super.

I can start taking classes this January and then hopefully be accepted into the College of Education. In the meantime, I will be filling out my application and trying to volunteer to work with youth. That is one of the factors in being admitted, your experience working with kids. And since I don't have much experience I'm eager to find some.

Well, I guess it's pretty much official, now that I've blogged about it ;)

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Nom nom

I pretty much died when I saw these knitted candy corn on the Purl Bee and I had to knit some:

Super easy and each little candy corn only took me about thirty minutes.

Pattern: Candy Corn! by Whitney on the Purl Bee
Yarns: I was lucky I had all the right colors in my stash! Three different yarns: Patons (white), Cascade 220 (orange), and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (yellow)
Needle: US 6, magic loop
Modifications: The first one I knit to pattern, but the second and third I modified the placement of increases to k1, m1r, k3, m1l... etc, mainly because I knit using Magic Loop, so it's easier to m1 after knitting one

So cute, right? I want to make a whole basketful!

Saturday Sew Day

Oh yes, I spent almost all of Saturday (and today, ahem...) sewing.

I have only recently heard about mug rugs but I am completely obsessed with them! They are like little quilts for your beverages or snacks:

This one I sort of made up as I went, and it turned out a little large. I really want to make this one too! This was a good, little project to help me practice and work on my sewing skills. By the third mug rug, I was getting pretty good ;) I also really liked the mock binding (I found the technique in a great quilting basics book called The Quilting Bible) and might use it for my quilt when the time comes.

I also sewed two WIP bags:

I used this fantastic tutorial for both of them, though I modified the pattern for a drawstring top.

I love these fabrics together!

I channeled my inner Zakka for the patchwork one with inspiration from this book:

The patchwork was really fun to make! Not too time consuming and I was able to use a lot of little scraps that I've been holding on to (hoarder).

One last thing:

blue skies for the first day in over a month! It has been incredibly smokey due to forest fires since before we left for the coast. It feels wonderful to have the mountains back. Happy Sunday, friends.

WIP Wednesday

Sunny Spread afghan in the works:

Pattern: Sunny Spread by Ellen Gormley
Yarn: Vanna's Choice in Fern, Magenta, Purple, and Sapphire
Hook: J (6.0mm)

I have to crochet at least 64 motifs, I'm in the mid 20 range. It's been a long time since I've been excited about crochet, but some mornings I wake up and want to crochet instead of knit! This is a really fun pattern, easy to memorize, and the blocks are fairly large.


And this pair of socks is for a friend:

Pattern: a secret.... (for now)
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL
Needles: 2.25 mm

I don't think she reads my blog, but just in case, I want to keep the color and pattern a secret. Last night I turned the heels, and I will pick up gusset stitches today (the one thing I hate most about cuff down socks!).

Enjoy your day, friends!

Finished at last!

Tina:

Pattern: Terence the Tap Dancing T-Rex by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Multy, Knit Picks Telemark in Northern Green and Aubergine
Needles: US 4 magic loop
Modifications: none!

She was almost finished about three months ago, I only had one leg to knit, but I kept putting it off to finish other projects. She was still very huggable even without legs. This is the first dinosaur I've knit of Rebecca Danger's trio of dancing dinosaurs; there's Sherman the Square Dancing Stegosaurus and Basil the Boogie-Woogie Brontosaurus.

Happy Hump Day!

Book Club

Ack. We have had two Book Crafts Wine Snacks club meetings that I haven't blogged about ... my problem is I forget to take pictures because I am snacking and crafting. I will try to be better about this because they really are fun events spent with awesome people.

The new book we chose to read is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Right now it is second on Amazon's Top 100 list! I spent the entire day yesterday reading because it is such a good book!

via Goodreads 
I am oocha on Goodreads if you want to be my friend!

A psychological thriller, narrated in two character voices (Nick and Amy, the married couple). It's difficult to know which character is trustworthy, if any, especially when they talk about the same event. I do think it's interesting that I enjoy reading Nick's narrative much more than reading Amy's, even though this is a female writer portraying the inner psyche of a male.

But, looking at the jacket cover now, I am curious why the author's name is the prominent, top-most print. Thoughts?

Happy Sunday everyone! Mine will be filled with Gone Girl, knitting, and NFL.

Oregon vacation 2012

So many things to share! Prepare yourself, lots of pictures to follow.

Scott and I spent the first part of September in Oregon! A much appreciated vacation in one of my favorite places. We camped the first four nights in four different locations, all the while driving towards the coast.

We (mainly Scott) had been preparing dehydrated food for this trip about a month in advance. All the recipes came from the Backpack Gourmet which I had nabbed for free on my Kindle. Some of the meals we made were Saucy Tuna, Summer Casserole, Chili, Meatless Lasagna, Apple Leather, Indian Heaven Balls, Baked Soybeans, and a Bruschetta with Oven Bread. I highly recommend making dehydrated food! Our basic routine would go like this: make meal (at home) and eat it for dinner, dehydrate leftovers (of which, there was always a lot!), double bag and refrigerate. Then while camping, pour amount in saucepan, cover with water and boil. Easy cheesy and so good!


Little Crater Lake:

Hiked to Bagby Hot Springs. Seriously hot water:

Portland, visited Powell's Bookstore (of course) and I did not buy one single book!! We only gave ourselves one hour to spend there, so it was unfortunately a little rushed.

Ate lunch sitting on these steps (left) from a Korean food cart (right). It was delicious.

The only yarn purchase I made! But it is highly coveted :)

The yarn stores I visited were Yarn Garden, Happy Knits, and Knit Purl. Respectively from each store, I bought Opal Vincent Van Gogh yarn, Knit Picks interchangeable Nickel-plated US 10 1/2 tips, and two of Rebecca Danger's dino patterns!











One of the highlights, Rogue Brewery in Newport. We went back several times...

Our favorite brews were Smoke Ale, Good Chit Pilsner, Dead Guy Ale, Chocolate Stout. Try it if you can :)

BEACH!

Aquarium:

A fantastic trip, many great memories, but very happy to be home too :)