Holy Cow!

Posted on September 16, 2014 by atangledyarn84

I’ve written before that my mother is also a “crafter” and I come by this urge ~~compulsion~~ hereditarily. Now she primarily sews, cross stitches, quilts, and crotchets. I stay firmly in knitting with a bit of sewing thrown in. Possibly a bit of mother/daughter rebellion?

But I digress….upon her last visit my mother brought this little crocheted gem for Jellybean’s nursery.

This is a delightful toy made from a book she picked up at Joann’s Fabric. (I can’t remember what the title was.) But momma whipped this up in no time out of some Caron Simply soft acrylic. I have named her Betsy, fitting don’t you think? Now to find her a place to live in the nursery…

I have no doubt that this is the first of many toys and grandma surprises. Jellybean is going to up to his or her eyeballs in yarny goodness between the two of us!

Happy crafting!

Appreciation Of Craftmenship

Posted on September 15, 2014 by atangledyarn84

A dear and beloved friend from my college days bestowed Jellybean and I with the most squee worthy and hormone tear inducing baby quilt.

My friends, I’m not a quilter but my mother is. I can spot quality. Let me tell you this piece is impeccably made. My dear friend commissioned this from a local quilter in the great city of Portland, OR. It’s a 100% cotton pieced top to match my nursery colors and a solid minky backing for pure heavenly delight. Not a seam out of place and made with loving care!

Pardon me while I sit in my nursery rocker and pet this lovely whilst waiting for Jellybean to get here….only 20-ish days to go! I can’t wait to wrap my little one up in this huggable blanket!

Holy Crap…More Tomatoes

Posted on September 13, 2014 by atangledyarn84

I must be a masochist…or really love my husband. I’m peeling, blending, cooking, and canning 6 more gallon bags of homegrown tomatoes today. All so I can feed his salsa addiction over the winter and possibly give salsa out as Christmas gifts…

At least this cooking day I invested in a stool for the kitchen to rest my swollen preggo feet. Kind of a fool me once fool me twice kind of epiphany, lol.

This should be the last hurrah for my canner this summer and then I’m going to KNIT ALL THE THINGS until jellybean arrives!

Happy Saturday!

FO Friday: Jellybean’s Blanket

Posted on September 12, 2014 by atangledyarn84

It’s done!!

The edging turned out beautifully! It really cleaned up the edge and tied the whole thing together. And I only had to go round the blanket twice, phew!

And for all those interested, the all important stats!

Pattern: Hexa-ghan by verybusymonkey

Yarn: Universal Cotton Supreme Yarn
I used 3.09 skeins/556.2 yards/309 grams of lemon, 2.54 skeins/457.2 yards/254 grams of beige, 3.17 skeins/570.6 yards/317 grams of lime, and 3.09 skeins/556.2 yards/309 grams of teal. That brings the total to 11.89 skeins/2,140.2 yards/1,189 grams of yarn total. I worked a total of 44 hexagons in eight rows!

Needles: US 8 dpns

Mods: I added a single crochet border around the edge to neaten it up and tie the whole project together.

Now it’s washed, dried, folded, and waiting in Jellybean’s crib! I can’t wait 🙂

Happy Knitting!

Destruction of Creativity

Posted on September 11, 2014 by atangledyarn84

I just had to snap a quick photo of possibly the cutest diaper cake ever. It was a Dr Seuss themed shower. This is from my second baby shower with my bestest friends since literally pre-school. (I grew up in one of those small towns where you graduated high school with the same kids you met in pre-school)

I’ve had it out on display for weeks but alas I now have to dismantle it ahead of Jellybean’s arrival. As a knitter and hand crafter there is just a little twinge of sadness to take apart something so beautiful even though I know that’s what it was intended for, lol.

Hormones anyone?

A Very Expensive Lesson in Cooking

Posted on September 10, 2014 by atangledyarn84

Last Christmas my mom purchased a mandolin for my kitchen. It works great and really speeds up the chopping process…when used correctly. Some veggies are harder to slice than others I have found.

I chose to use it without all of the proper safety guards….and paid the price. While slicing green peppers I took off the tip of my right index finger. Nothing life altering but it bled something awful and I will spare you the details. The hubby had to take me to the walk in emergency clinic to get the wound closed with silver nitrate. Again I will spare you the painful gory details. All in all they took very good care of me and packed me on my way with meds and care instructions. Now I just await what I imagine will be a frightfully high doctors bill…expensive lesson indeed!

It hurts like a buggar when I accidentally hit it on something but is healing nicely. Upside…I literally finished Jellybean’s hexi-ghan the night before. AND I can still knit, albeit in a slightly modified and slower manner.

Live and learn I guess? But at least I will have a FO to show this week!

Happy Knitting!!

A Little Dog Humor

Posted on September 9, 2014 by atangledyarn84

My fur babies are TERRIBLE beggars when it comes to snacks and people food. (As an aside they only get healthy dog friendly bits like carrots, broccoli, apples, lean meats, etc.) If they behave and perform their obedience commands I save the last bits to share with them.

I usually get this right up in my face…

And this is what you get when you command him to back up and lay down…

Pathetic right?

I Can See The Light!

Posted on September 8, 2014 by atangledyarn84

That’s right….Jellybean’s blanket is all dry and ready for a border! I must admit I’m dreadfully slow with a crochet hook but based on progress so far I should be able to finish up in just a couple of dedicated crafting evenings.

I decided on a simple crochet border in the green color way. I’m chaining my way around to establish a foundation then I’ll add one or two rounds of single crochet. I don’t want to overwhelm the texture of the knitting and I need some green leftover for my bunting!

Happy Knitting!

Multi-tasking Saturday!

Posted on September 6, 2014 by atangledyarn84

I feel a bit like a proper knitting mother today. Who says you can’t take a breastfeeding class and knit your Cuff To Cuff sweater at the same time?

I’ve finished the first sleeve just knitting in class and cast on the body stitches. Not to mention learned a million things about nursing. I call this day a win!

Happy Knitting!!

Finally…Cuff To Cuff

Posted on September 4, 2014 by atangledyarn84

Now that the pressure of Jellybean’s blanket is off and I’ve started the nursery bunting, I’ve finally let myself start my fall sweater!

The yarn has been wound, pattern read/notated, and the whole shebang organized into a project bag for a couple of weeks. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get my fingers into this yarn!! It’s some Berroco Vintage in a luscious teal I picked up at a yarn shop going out of business awhile back.

This color just makes me happy! What makes you happiest about your current WIP?

My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures

Ramblings from an obsessed knitter