So, I joined a yarn club...

I just received my first yarn club shipment from MadelineTosh, and it is beyond gorgeous. There were three color families to choose from: Jewel, Natural, and Neutral. I chose Jewel because I am in love with the bright/intense colors that she does. So, without further adieu....meet "Lolita":

There is enough to make a sweater of some sort (around 1300 yards). It is superwash, single ply merino in fingering weight. I have some in a couple of other colors, but I think this is my favorite, so far! I'll be getting 2 more shipments of yarn through the yarn club. In April I'll receive 3 skeins of Pashmina (superwash wool, silk, and cashmere...YUMM!), and in May a skein of Eyre Light (no link because it's not a yarn they sell wholesale....but it is merino, silk, and baby alpaca....double YUMM!). 

Are you madelinetosh-ed out yet? I'll move on, in case you are! 

Next up....Ravelympics medals! I was able to complete 3 projects, which was pretty gosh darn exciting! French Press Slippers were for the Felting Freestyle, the Heirloom Baby Blanket was for the Giant Slalom-ghan, and.....

A Sock Hockey Medal for my Crazy Cabled Slipper Socks:

I made these out of the "Jazzercise" yarn from my spinning class. The pattern is Cabled Footies from the book "One Skein". It calls for worsted weight yarn so they knit up REALLY quickly. I want to wear them every day, seriously. They are so cozy.

I also just started a pair of Sweet Fern Mitts, from "The Knitter's Book of Wool". It is a fabulous book by Clara Parkes of "The Knitter's Review".  I joined a ravelry group that she has and we are doing a woolalong! Every month is a different kind of wool and last month was Cormo. I spun up some Cormo fiber and started these:

The yarn is really soft and cushy. Wool for the month of March is Blue Faced Leicester and I'm in the middle of spinning some up...then I'll just need to find another pattern.

I've also been doing a little sewing on a secret project. I just finished all the components today and it's ready to ship to the recipient, so just a sneak peek for now:

Phew. Are you sick of looking at yarn and crafts yet? I'm going to be casting on for another Knit-a-long with Purl Diva, but I'll wait until I have something to show before I delve into the details.

Weirdo is coming this weekend on his way to Hawaii! Hopefully the rain will hold off so we can go do something fun. Speaking of weather....I think I could easily be a meteorologist here in Oregon. Seth and I were laughing the other day while watching the weather. Every single day we hear, "Well, today it might rain, but it might be sunny" or "It looks like the clouds will lift this weekend, or they might stay". It's really pretty amusing.

Well, I'm off to eat lunch and take the pup for a walk before the rain (or no rain!) starts!

Love,
Liz

Pretty, Pretty Plum Tree

Who knew plum trees were so pretty?! Ours has started to bloom and looks gorgeous:

We also have lots of other flowers popping up all over the place!

In Ravelympics news, I just finished the Heirloom Baby Blanket in MadelineTosh DK. It's so soft and cozy! 

I'm also working on a pair of cabled slipper socks out of some handspun yarn. They are a really quick knit and are going to be a great for kicking around the house. Hopefully those will be done tonight or tomorrow. I also need to finish up invitations for M's bridal shower and bachelorette party so I can mail them out next week. 

Not too much else going on besides excessive shopping at Trader Joe's! I bought some really yummy garlic and herb pizza dough yesterday and topped the pizza with some Italian style spicy chicken sausage. It was delish! Steak fajitas are on the menu tonight. 

I'm sad there are only a few more days of the Olympics...although it will be nice to go to bed before midnight!

Love,

Liz

Let the Games Begin!

Charlotte,

I hope you had a wonderful weekend with F and that all the crazy East Coast weather didn't interfere with travel plans! Seth and I took a trip up to Portland on Saturday for some good food, yarn shopping (Seth was psyched about that-and was particularly impressed by the electric ball winder at one of the shops), REI, and rock climbing at the gym. I checked out 2 yarn shops: Knit Purl and Dublin Bay Knitting. At Knit Purl I was enlightened about a Yarn Crawl in March, which includes 15 shops in the Portland metro area!

I've also been working on my Ravleympics project, an Heirloom Baby Blanket with MadelineTosh DK yarn:

Last night I needed a break from the blanket, so I decided to whip up a pair of French Press Slippers with Malabrigo yarn.

Pre-felting:

Post-Felting:

And a picture of the lovely flowers Seth brought home for me:

Well, as much as I would like to spend the rest of the day crafting....there is a pile of laundry calling my name.

Love,

Liz

Since It's Pouring....More Hawaii Pics!

The weather here today has been CRAZY! Sunny one minute, and dark clouds and pouring rain the next. Thankfully I was able to get to Trader Joes during one of the sunny periods. It was crazy there, too. I think I will end up doing a lot of shopping there once it quiets down a bit.

Thought I'd share a few more pictures of Hawaii before I start the Ravelympics Frenzy!

My Mom and I rented paddleboards on the beach outside our hotel. It was much easier than I thought it would be...and we saw Sea Turtles!! Very cool.

Here's a local artist outside of an art store at the Hilton Hawaiian Village:

Mom and Grandma:

My Mom and I on our way to dinner one night:

Diamond Head in the background:

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! I'm excited to cast on for the baby blanket for the Ravelympics! I'm also hoping to finish a striped Noro sweater that I started back in September.

Miss you!

Liz

Well Aren't You Crafty!

Dear Liz,
I'm terribly impressed by your spinning and the potential for spinning on your bike as well! Does it take a long time to make a skein? Did you dye that yourself?

I got distracted last night from the mom sweater.. so I took a wee break to make a little heart for a friend going through a tough time. It took less than an hour (complete with distracted knitting happening while watching NCIS and biggest loser at the same time... and the most complicated part was figuring out which way to sew it closed! haha.

I've been delaying sending holiday thank you notes because
A. I'm a little lazy.
B. I secretly want to send thank you's disguised as Valentines
C. I now want to make a million of these and send them along too!

So now I have many reasons to delay.

On the fitness front, I ran again yesterday, farther than Monday and it felt easier too, which is always a good motivator. The dog is having a blast running twice as much as I am, scampering across the fields and the little stream to chase birds and good smells. This lead to a great night's sleep for both of us.. so much so that I slept through my alarm! I'm also making a conscious effort to drink more water during the day... this is going alongside my non-resolution to minimize the amount of processed food I eat (which translated quickly into SODA!!) which has been a lot easier than I anticipated.

Oh and what is the yarn for that shawl!? It's amaaaazing!!!


Love you,
Charlotte

ps! I told F about our ravelympics team and he thought it was awesome! He wanted to know if you had to register for a certain event or just make it up and most importantly how the medals were given out. One more reason he's a keeper!