Blogging Vaca and My Next Knitting Project!

Hey y'all! I had to take an unexpected vacation from my blog and actually most of life.. I had a bad reaction to a medication early last week that basically left me on the couch until this Tuesday. I've been so busy playing catch up with all the things that don't get done when I'm out of commission so blogging has just now made it to the top of my list.

I am about to start a knitting project that is going to be amazing if I can pull it off. I'm going to learn how to do color work AND short rows. Both of these have terrified me in the past. Like, put down the needles and back away from the yarn, terrified. But I have this friend, Alisha. She's pretty much like a sister, she's my own personal motivational speaker, sharer of inappropriate memes, and just a ton of fun to talk to. I'm so lucky to have her in my life that I will never tell her no when she asks me to knit something for her. *Side note: I have sent the knitting bug to bite her butt and it's all gonna be downhill from here. I kidnap added her to my favorite yarny facebook page and now she's ordering needles and yarn. Mwahahahaha.

What IS this scary and amazing pattern? Why, I'm so glad you asked! It's the Dreambird Shawl by Nadita Swings. . I actually might have bought yarn to make one for myself once I'm done with hers. *whistles innocently*

I am so excited to get started, the background will be amazingly soft and squishy Valley Yarns Charlemont in black. It's a Merino, Silk, Nylon blend that I just know is going to knit up beautifully. For the feathers, I worked with Kim from Kim Dyes Yarn to create a custom colorway in a Merino, Cashmere, Nylon blend. It is literally face smooshingly soft.  It starts out with a bright grassy green, moving to a kelly green, then to a light turquoise, then a royal blue, finishing up with a jewel tone purple. 

Kim was an absolute dream to work with. She was extremely communicative, we talked back and forth over a couple of days about what I was looking for, and her turnaround time was fantastic. I will definitely be ordering more from her. You should stop by her shop. Like, now. Well, after you finish reading.. ha!

I love when Alisha requests something knitted. I tend to stick to what I know when it comes to projects for myself. I really grow as a knitter when I'm knitting for her or my family because I'm less afraid to take on more challenging projects. Backward thinking, huh? 

The project was initially written for lace weight yarn. I have very few rules for myself when it comes to knitting. One is no lace weight. It's like knitting with hair. So, I'm going to use fingering weight and start out with size 2 needles. I'm using my Knitter's Pride Dreamz needles. Birch is a great wood for needles because it's slick enough that the yarn can flow well but not so slick that I'm going to lose all my stitches. I really dislike losing stitches, especially on a big project. It makes me say grown up words. Loudly.

Anyone taking any fiber chances out there? New fibers? New techniques? New patterns? Share them in the comments!

My New Travelers Notebook and How I Organize My Knitting

Okay, so I'm so freaking excited I can barely stand it. My bestie over at Lucky Clover Leather worked with me to custom create the most amazing FauxDori Travelers Notebook. It is a thing of beauty and sass. It fits me perfectly. I am shamelessly plugging all of Alisha's everything today because y'all NEED to get some Lishy in your life. Here is a quick pic I snapped yesterday between squealing fits.

Everything fits inside perfectly. She left the elastics untied so that I could make sure both of my Moleskines fit perfectly. It has a cute pen holder inside and it feels like heaven to touch. I might have rubbed on my face.... that's not weird, right? RIGHT?

Oh.... okay....

Soooo, if I haven't totally lost you, I want to talk about how I organize my knitting in my Bullet Journal and Book of Lists. I keep 2 books, it's easier for me to keep my lists separate from my daily and monthly spreads. Otherwise, I would lose all my lists between my dailies and my other notes.

In my book of lists, I have 2 pages devoted to knitting goals I want to accomplish this year. Things like learning to read charts (*dies*) and knitting a sweater for MYSELF. Whaaaa? Right, I've knitted 3 sweaters now and nary a one for myself. I want to learn how to knit short rows. This one is super important because I'm knitting a shawl for Alisha that is all short rows... I better get cracking on that one!



I have a list of WIPs, or works in progress, it shows how far along I've gotten. I started with Xs and realized I liked coloring in with brush markers. I might actually have more in progress but these are the ones I'm trying to finish up most quickly. There are always cast on projects lurking about trying to make it into my knitting rotation. I ignore those bad kids. I won't let myself start a new project until I get the two closest to completion finished. That's what I'm trying to do. You know, best laid plans and all.

Below, I try to make space for myself to knit into my dailies. Most times, I knit at night while we're watching whatever on Netflix. Right now we're watching Z Nation. It is probably the worst zombie show ever but we're anxiously awaiting the return of Walking Dead and Scandal so it'll do.


I've also changed up how I use my bujo. I used to just make a list and mark them off. It felt boring and really utilitarian. I'm a horrible artist/doodler/letterer so I'm filling in the empty space with thoughts about the day and things to get my mind and heart back on track. It feels more like ME. I know that the purpose of bullet journaling is to be clean and easy to read but I'm messy and emotive so this feels juuuuuuussssst right.



Share your blogs about layouts and knitting! And go talk to Alisha about your very own beauty!

Yarny Fun!

I've been an avid knitter for about 4 and a half years. There's just something magical to me about sticks and string becoming art. It's so good for anxiety. And then you have fun stuff to wear!

About a year ago, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at dyeing my own yarn. I started with kool aid, it creates bright colors and is colorfast so it won't bleed. It will lose color over time if it's stored somewhere sunny but it's a great place to start. Food coloring works also but you have to add acid (white vinegar) to get the color to set. Here is a great tutorial for creating gradient dyed yarn. This is the tutorial I used to learn how to dye my own yarn!

There are a few rules. And I mean just a few. First, you must use 100% animal fibers, wool is the easiest and most cost effective when you are just starting out. There are ways to dye cottons and other fibers, I just don't do it. Second, you have to use the powdered mix, the squirty bottle kind has sugar in it and you don't want sticky yarn. Third, you have to have fun! Here are a couple of my first kool aid dyeing attempts!

After I became comfortable using kool aid, I invested a bit in some acid dyes. The brand of dye I use utilizes white vinegar as the acid that sets the colors. There are other brands of dye that use other sources of acid, I'm just most comfortable with the Jacquard dyes.

My recent dye job was a first for me, I used a sock blank. Basically, it's a pre-knitted piece that you dye and unravel to knit with. It's great for stripes and handpainting designs into the yarn. It starts out looking like the pic to the right. This yarn is going to be a yummy pair of socks!

Once you've dyed the blank, you unravel it and wind it into a hank or a ball. There is something insanely fun about unraveling a blank. I hate having to unravel (or, frog) my knitting though. The yarn is pretty kinked up when you unravel it so it's a good idea to wet it and let some of the kinks relax. I put a plastic coat hanger on the bottom of the hank to add a bit of extra weight.

I love the way the dye didn't completely take so that I have speckles of white in the purple. I haven't picked out the pattern to use yet but I can't wait to see how it knits up with the speckles and solid sections! I have a few (read: a bunch) of projects that need finishing first though. Sigh. There are simply too many awesome things that need to be knitted!

A little note for my local readers! We meet to knit and crochet at Shineworthy Tea the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month from noon to 2pm. The tea and company is fantastic so be sure to pop out and join us.

Don't know how to knit? No problem, we've got you covered. I was gifted some knitting needles and I have plenty of spare yarn to share!

Everyone go out and have some yarny fun today!! Do you knit or crochet? Dye your own yarn? Spin? All of it? Tell me about it in the comments!

Resolutions, shmezolutions...

I am the worst at New Year's resolutions. The literal worst. I some half-hearted statement about "this year is THE year". But, the year for what? And whatever it was is usually forgotten by the end of the first week. For me resolutions=magically attaining whatever I only sort of want.

This year, I threw out the idea of a resolution. This year, I have GOALS. Goals have a start point, a list of steps, and an end result. There's no magic in that. Only hard work and determination. I don't feel like halfway doing things in my life anymore. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to DO it.



Here are my list of goals and a few of the steps I'm going to take to reach them.

• Better Self Care
• I'm going to stop feeding myself junk food. My body is a dang temple that deserves healthy food.
• I'm going to push myself physically and then I'm going to rest when I need it.
• I am going to set myself up for success with meals by buying healthy foods.
• I am going to have days where I just veg and read, sometimes I need to just go inside my head and that's okay. It is NOT selfish.
• I am going to practice affirmations.

• Moving Up Ranks in My Thrive Business
• I'm going to build new relationships.
• I am going to help people improve their lives by taking control of their wellness
• I am going to help my team in any way I can
• I am reading books on Network Marketing

• Move My Body
• I am going to do some sort of physical activity every day. My preferred mode is yoga but if it ends up a dance party in the kitchen while I cook dinner, I'm going to be happy for the movement.
• I am going to hit 10k steps 4x a week. I have a feeling I'll be doing lots of laps around the house! HA!

• Keep Up with My Bujo
• Oh my gosh, this one is easy because I love doing it. Checking off color coded boxes just makes my heart happy. 
• I will set up my day the night before so that I know what is coming up and what needs to be done. I'm thinking that this will make more effective use of my time.
  
  
  
  
• Knit More!
• I have so many knitting projects that I want to make this year. My plan is to finish at least one a month!

Do you make resolutions or goals? Do you keep them? Do you have a plan? Share with me in the comments!

Work in Progress: Trillian Shawl

I've been knitting for about 4 years now. I picked up needles and yarn when I was going through some tough times. I had a colicky infant, I had just had major abdominal surgery to attempt to put back to rights my busted up abdominal muscles (sidenote: it didn't work), the huz was working INSANE hours. By insane I mean, a 70 hour work week was standard. My mom came to stay with me every day, from morning to night. I was bored and depressed and anxious. I had briefly attempted to learn how to knit when I was in my late teens but I lost interest.

Sitting on the couch, day in and day out, got boring really quickly. In desperation, I asked my mom to  take me to the craft store and teach me to knit. That day, a monster was created. Now, I have yarn stashed all over the house, I have projects in various stages of completion in a basket, overflowing, beside the couch. Most knitters will tell you it's almost impossible to only knit one thing at a time. Maybe in a time before the Internet, people could work on one project from start to finish. 

There's this evil amazing website called Ravelry. It has patterns for everything you could think of to knit and some you'd rather not have seen. Through the wonder of Ravelry, I have 9 pages of patterns (or 445 individual patterns). I will never be able to knit them all, if I gave up eating, sleeping, bathing, and tending children, I would still not have enough time to knit them all. If you happen to be a "hooker", there's also a wealth of for you as well.

One of my projects that is currently unfinished is the Trillian Shawl from Martina Behm. It is my lazy day knitting project. It's not terribly difficult so I can watch TV or keep an eye on the kids if they're having a rowdy day. It creates a beautiful, light shawl that you can wear in all seasons. Or so I've heard. Mine is about a third of the way finished. 

I have fallen into another crafting abyss... hand dyeing yarn. I love it. I love being able to control the colors and create custom yarns for projects I want to make. Because there's nothing worse than going to the yarn store to not be able to find the exact right color for your project and still leaving $100 lighter. I started with kool aid. It is insanely easy to dye yarn with kool aid. If you follow me on Pinterest, I have some neat pins on kool aid dyeing to get you started. I dyed the yarn for this shawl. I love the soft teal and the variegation came out perfectly!

I've since moved on to acid dyes, which sound hard and scary but aren't. The acid is usually vinegar. The color combinations you can create are amazing and you have a bit more control than with kool aid. I tend to stick to grays, blues, purples, and teals. They're my favorite. I've dyed a few skeins of yarn red but I haven't found THE red for me yet. I'm not quitting though. 

Do you knit? Crochet? Dye? What is your favorite craft or creative outlet?

My Favorite Knits: Saroyan

I knit as often as possible. I love it. To sit with some sticks and string and basically make art just makes my heart happy. Plus, I can binge watch all of my favorite Netflix shows while I'm knitting. See, multi-tasking!!

Such fun to knit!

There's tons of research on how knitting, or any needlecraft, is really good for you in lots of ways. Here is a link to a Washington Post article about benefits of knitting on cognitive functions and even in illnesses that impair motor function. It's truly amazing what the repetition and click of some needles can do for your mood. It is absolutely my go to when I'm stressed or cranky.

All finished and ready to wear!

This particular pattern is one of my favorites of all time. The Saroyan from Liz Abinante. It's a simple shawl/scarf that knits up quickly and is beautiful to watch growing from your needles. I would say that an adventurous beginner could easily knit this up. The body of the shawl is a simple stockinette and the leaves are knit as you go, rather than being added later. It is knit in a heavier weight yarn (mine is in Madeline Tosh DK, hosta blue) so it goes pretty quickly.

It's so versatile that I've worn it most of the autumn and will continue to wear it into the winter! I can wrap it several times to wear like a scarf or let the width wrap around my shoulders for more of a shawl feel. Here's my finished one!

Have you tried this pattern? Share yours in the comments!

Knitters: Busy Hands and Big Hearts

I've been a knitter for 4 years now. I love it. I can make beautiful things with sticks and strings. It helps when I have nervous energy or a heavy heart. If you see me out and about, there's a good chance I have a big ziploc with yarn and needles in it shoved down in my purse.

A while back I found the most supportive, fun knitting group on Facebook. People will do random giveaways of items they don't need so that their unused yarns and needles will not collect dust. It's truly beautiful. A couple of months ago, the admins decided to create an offshoot group for RAK's, or Random Acts of Kindness. A bunch of us joined, it's a lively group. Filled with requests for yarns that will be knit into hats and scarves and gloves for the needy. Some people are just starting out and don't have a lot of extra money to invest in needles and yarn. Some people are there because they're just darn good people who want to spread the love of good fibers and sturdy needles.

I'm a part of a local knitting group that meets twice a month. We encourage people who want to learn, to just show up. We'll lend the needles and yarn. I have lent out all of my spares and was worried about people who would be showing up and not have tools to work with so I asked in the RAK group if anyone had any spare needles that they didn't use anymore. I figured it was worth a shot.

I received a lovely message from a fellow knitter asking what size and how many sets of needles. I replied with the sizes and told her whatever she had to spare. She ordered 6 sets of knitting needles, brand new, from Amazon and had them shipped to me.

I emote. A lot. Anyone that knows me, knows this. I cried. I cried that someone not only donated to new knitters but bought brand new needles for them. This means we can gift at least half of them! I am so excited for our next knit and tea! I can't wait to hand a brand new knitter a set of needles and ball of yarn and say, these are for you. To keep.

So next time you see someone knitting, give 'em a hug or a high five or just a little nod. Because I'm pretty sure knitters have the busiest hands and the biggest hearts!

Hello!

Hey all, I'm Allison! I've been married to the most amazing huz ever for 8 years, together for 13 total. We have 2 boys, ages 6 and 4 and a huge dog named Fawn. I work from home as a Brand Promoter for Le-Vel Thrive, I knit as often as I can sit down, and I love to try new recipes. I am also helping build a PTA for the new elementary school in the area and am the President.

Big P is an incredible artist and engineer. He loves drawing pictures of robots and then building them with legos or linking toys. It's amazing to watch his mind work. He's a Star Wars nerd just like the huz and he loves watching Minecraft tutorials.

Little C is hilarious and scrappy. He's small for his age but boy does his personality make up for it! Shy at first, but once he is comfortable, he's a total ham. He loves Mickey Mouse and Big Hero. He also loves to make up songs about whatever he might be doing.

The huz is a chef at a swanky retirement community, he absolutely loves his work. He gets to create fine dining food for people who really appreciate it. He loves all things history and Star Wars. He hates sports. (I LOVE this about him) Our football is watching DVR'ed episodes of Chopped on the weekend.

Like I said earlier, I'm a brand promoter for Le-Vel Thrive. It's an amazing wellness program that is done in 3 simple steps in the first half hour or so of your day! It's a total game changer.

I knit for fun, I started when Little C was an infant, I had just had major surgery and was down for 10 weeks. I needed something to keep me entertained, I picked up a set of needles and some yarn and I haven't quit yet!

I'm a bit of a nut for pinterest, I love finding new recipes! The huz gets to try them out on his days off. He enjoys this thoroughly.

I got involved with PTA at the beginning of this year when I asked who to talk with about joining. I was told there wasn't anyone, so I decided that I had some time and that I'd take it on. So far, it's been really interesting learning the history of the PTA and how they have been integral in advocating for children for over 100 years! I'll be sharing my hits and misses with starting up and getting running.