Huggles

Hi there!
So you may have noticed I always sign off with *Huggles*. I love huggles! How does a huggle differ from a hug you may ask? A huggle involves every bit of you. Your mind wishing the person well, your soul sending good cheer/comfort, and your arms giving a squeeze full of care (often combined with a rocking motion).

Why all the huggle talk? Well, a group mate on Ravelry was having a hard time this month, and I wanted to send a RAK to cheer her up. "Well, why not send a huggle?" I thought. But what would a huggle look like? I first made one that would sit in the palm of your hand. Sort of a snowman shape with long arms. But it didn't feel portable enough and I wanted to call it a portable or traveling huggle. I'd been working on another project that had a yellow happy face in it, and it just clicked with huggle, so I made another and ended up with:

I put magnets in his hands so that he could actually 'huggle' your wrist. Unfortunately the magnets sold at the craft store in town apparently aren't strong enough to hold thru a layer of yarn. Blah. The recipient received it this week and said it did help cheer her up a bit so mission accomplished!



I also received a wonderful surprise RAK this week! You may remember the itty bitty panda I knit awhile back. Well, I have a picture of it as my avatar on Ravelry. Justanotherbrick found a wee charm that perfectly matches my panda and made it into a stitch marker for me! My first ever fancy stitch marker. I absolutely love it! The fact that she even thought of me while in a store filled with a zillion goodies makes me feel wonderfully warm and special. I shall treasure it always :) Here's a picture of them hanging out together. Isn't he just precious?!


Until next time...
*huggles*

More spinning

I took these the other day, and just realized I didn't post them here. To the left is an updated pic of the spinning from my last post, after the false start.  It is much thinner and I really like it. I can't wait to ply it! I still have quite a bit left to spin first though.









Here is the lovely multi-coloured blue that I started spinning as well, to see the difference in the fibers and how they spin. I drafted this one a bit thicker to showcase the lovely colours in the roving.

I can't wait to spin more, and to ply these. I still haven't decided which type of plying I'll do.  I may ply the multicoloured one with white once I get some white and spin it. :)



I haven't stopped knitting, but I had to frog my last piece of work (a shawl pattern I'd modified) after my needles broke. Here's a glimpse of what was turning out to be a pretty nice, warm shawl.It's hard to see in this image, but there is a row of eyelets just before each stockinette section. Just enough to give it that delicate lacey look.





I have made a couple other items, but as they are gifts I don't want to risk the giftee's seeing them here. I promise to share after they've been doled out. :)


 I was horribly upset about having to frog that shawl. However a few perfectly timed RAKs arrived from 2 wonderful Ravelry friends and made it much less painful. This group of lovely natural yarns to play with AND 3 new sets of circular needles perfectly sized for my little toy knitting, came from 2 dear women. The 3 on the left were from LilyLemon and the 2 balls of bamboo and all the needles were from JuleeQue. Aren't they fabulous?! I can't wait to knit them up and see how these fibers differ from my boring old acrylic!

Until next time, happy crafting!
*huggles*

RAKs

Hi there!

So I had written this long post gushing over the RAK (Random Act of Kindness) I received last week. I had posted it...or so I thought. I just noticed today that it apparently never saved. Blah.
PirateRed (a wonderful member of a group I belong to on Ravelry) sent me my first RAK package...and boy did she spoil me! In the group we belong to you post a list of 5-6 things you would like. Then other members of the group can chose to send you something on your list if they happen to have something appropriate. On my list I put that I would love bits of roving so I could learn to spin. It was posted at the beginning of august, before I had actually tried spinning and was just dreaming of trying 'some day', as I didn't have a spindle yet.
She not only sent me 3 wonderful BIG samples of different roving...she sent me a spindle too! Lookie:

Closeup of the spindle

My wonderful RAK from PirateRed

Needless to say I was squealing for hours over this package. I'm still all fluttery and happy over it 4 days later. :-)




The roving: First is a delicate silk/merino blend that is just so soft and lovely I am afraid to try and spin it, so I just keep touching and petting it.
The stripey blue is wool colonial from Blue Goose Glen, and so sproingy (yes that's the technical term) and soft. Last there is the solidish bluish green. It is Pagewood Farms BFL and I just love the subtle changes of colour it makes.
The spindle is an Ashford student spindle and wow can I tell the difference using it compared to my cd spindle! It spins like a dream. 

I've actually spun up some of both of the blues now. The blue-green on the right, after a false start (see the pic below), has made a very nice thin single that I just adore. I can't decide how I want to ply it...because it is sooo lovely as is.
The stripey blue I've made slightly thicker to showcase all the colours in it. I'm still working on both but will snap some pics later to share.

False start. 

The new spindle took some getting used to as it is a lot lighter than my cd spindle. I had to get used to putting more twist in, or it ballooned out leaving those sections that don't look spun. I was also trying to spin the opposite of how I'd spun my orange/yellow as I'd read I did it backwards. I've gone back to my original way and it is working much better. I guess I'm just backwards. :)

I'm off to draft some more of this lovely fiber and spin some more! Happy crafting everyone!

*huggles*

I Can Spin!!

Hello Hello!
A few days ago I started a new craft. It's not a far leap from my knitting obsession. Not even a stretch. More a supporting craft even. I began to learn to spin my own yarn. I can't even describe the exhilaration that came with taking a ball of fluff and turning it into a smooth (mostly) and usable piece of yarn.

I'd been wanting to learn for a long time now, but was nervous and held off thinking I needed proper equipment. Turns out it is very simple to make your own spindle. Flocknfiber from Ravelry gave me this link that shows you how to make a simple cd spindle out of a few easy to acquire, inexpensive items. Mine is a little wobbly. I need to try and glue the whorl in place with better glue (I used my glue gun, but it didn't hold).

Once you make your spindle, all you need is some fiber to spin. It comes in several different make ups (Roving, top, clouds, batts, and hankies to name a few).  There are also umpteen different types to choose from. Wool from dozens of breeds of sheep, goats, alpaca and llama fleece, hemp, bamboo, silk. The list goes on and on. I had a bit of Corriedale (a type of sheep) roving left over from when I made some dryer balls a few months ago. So after watching hours of videos and reading many sites and guides, I jumped right in.

Here is my spindle with my very first attempt at spinning on it. On the right is a closeup of the orange yarn and my second attempt which was yellow of the same Corriedale fiber. The yellow one is much more consistent and smooth thanks to some drafting tips another friend on Ravelry shared (thanks again Bradymom29!).

After the 'singles' are spun, it was time to try plying. Again there are many different methods for this. I went for a simple 2 ply yarn by spinning my two samples together. It is definitely harder than it appeared in the videos, but for a first attempt I was happy with the result. Here it is freshly spun:

I then wound it up into a hank using the back of my chair, tied it in several places to prevent it from getting tangled, and dunked it in my bathroom sink filled with hot water. Right now it looks like this:

I can't wait until it is dry so I can see if it is balanced (doesn't twist into one big knot). If it is I can try knitting with it. So exciting!

For now I'm off to try and catch up on some knitting projects. Happy crafting!

*huggles*

Pretty eyes for pretty toys!

It felt like Christmas yesterday. My package of goodies from GlassEyesOnline finally arrived. Someone in ravelry's knitted toy group had mentioned loving this vendor and I just had to try them out. I've been running to the mailbox daily to check if they were here yet. It only took 11 days to get here from the states (that's quick!), but it felt like forever!
SO worth the wait though. I got a huge assortment of eyes, noses, ovals, etc.  Look at this amazing selection of goodies:

Info spew cause I'm in love: 
This site is great. It allows you order as few or as many of whatever size/colour you want. So you're not restricted to ordering 25 pairs of the same colour of eyes, or paying a premium for an assortment.
You do however get a discount if you order x number of a certain size. (over 12, and then over 25 and 50). However you can order whatever colours of that size you want. So, for example, I ordered 12 pairs of  regular 8mm eyes. 4 pairs were blue, 4 pairs were silver, 2 pairs were gold and 2 pairs were clear. But because I ordered 12 or more pairs of 8mm, I saved a penny or two off each pair.

As an added bonus you get free shipping if you order over a certain amount. I think it was $25. I spent $37 for all of this.

End of gratuitous information sharing




Here's some closeups of a few items. First, some special glitter eyes:

Then some iridescent ones (hmm lost one of the pearl ones in that shot) and finally a few of the different noses.

Time to go dream up new toys for all these goodies. Until next time...
*huggles*

A Purrrrrrfect bookmark

Hello again!

I can finally share pics of the surprise I was working on. It's a kitty cat bookmark. One of the groups I belong to on Ravelry has this great random act of kindness (RAK) thread where people list 5 things they would enjoy and random people can send them to them no strings attached. One person had a list which included: Anything with cats on it, anything handmade, and unusual bookmarks. I decided to help her cross those 3 off her list in one cute lil project. I first tried to make a cat curled up sleeping. It ... ended up looking like a rat. Then I remembered this picture I'd seen months ago and used it as my inspiration. This is the result:

I forgot to take a final picture after I blocked it, but you can see the added paw details in this picture of it while it was blocking:

 

I'm happy with it, and the giftee (all the way in south Africa!!!) received it today so I can finally share.

On a sad semi-related note, Canada Post is raising their shipping costs yet again. All parcels to the USA are going up by 20%. They already have prices far far above those in the USA, and even above FedEx and UPS. If I had either of those depots anywhere near me I wouldn't use Canada Post anymore. As it is, I won't be shipping out Christmas cookies this year. It was $28 for a medium tin of cookies last year. I love sending fresh baked nummies to my extended family and friends in America...but no home baked goodies are worth THAT much, on top of the prices of mats to make them. I'm extremely sad about this as baking and singing carols are my favourite things about the holidays.

Until next time....
*huggles*

Phoeny KAL Done!

WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!
The month long mystery knit a long of one of Phoeny's designs is done! Take a look at this darling knitted sheep! It is her pattern "Shaun the Sheep".
It's not yet available for sale, but hopefully soon! It's such a great quick pattern. I think it likely took maybe 5 or 6 hours total knitting time plus some time for seaming if you knit flat. The longest part for me was the body which is moss stitch and which I'm terrible at...I don't know how I always get distracted and forget to swap stitches. My fault for usually watching tv/movies as I knit I suppose..But I paid attention for the WHOLE body and it turned out fabulous! I love it!  

This was such a great experience. I especially love seeing everyone's take on the same pattern. "He" was supposed to end wearing a scarf but when I tried this tiny shawl on him he just became the cutest lil grandma sheep. So I made a pair of glasses out of some hanging wire from the toolbox, added a cute sheep button as the shawl pin and voila!

Until next time, happy crafting and *huggles*

Snow in July!

Hello!
It has been SO hot and humid this summer. Hottest on record I do believe. So I thought I'd knit up a little friend to help cool things down.

What do you think? I just grabbed some needles and wool and went at it, so he was very simple to make other than using the boucle yarn. IGH! But he turned out so much cuter using it I think.Still debating if he needs a scarf or not.

I also finished the little cutie below on Friday, thanks to the inspired idea of one of my Ravelry group mates to designate Friday as 'finish Friday'. He'd been sitting on my desk without legs for a whole week. Poor fella.

I made him in an attempt to destash some horrible old scratchy acrylic. Bad idea on a detailed knit in the round piece (my fingers were red and sore for days). But he turned out cute and laughing and perfectly palm-sized so I suppose it was worth it. If you'd like to make your own smiling alligator you can find the free pattern here. My apologies for the blurry first photo. Silly shaking hands. *sighs*

Now I'm on to a new cute project but I can't share it quite yet as it's a surprise gift for someone.
Ooooh, but we have Thursday to look forward to! The final step in the mystery knit a long of one of Phoeny's magical designs. I can't wait to see it all put together. I shall post as soon as I get it assembled and pics taken.
Until then, happy crafting and *huggles* for all!

Awwwwww I have flowers!!!!!!!

WARNING: Non-craft related hijacking below

My boyfriend is the BESTEST boyfriend in the whole wide world. How do I know? Not only is he absolutely wonderful and perfect and allows me to drone on and on about my knitting and crafting obsessions....he sent me flowers for our first anniversary yesterday. They are so beautiful I just had to hijack my own blog to share and coo and swoon. :) I'd never had a boy buy me flowers before *ducks and blushes* but I have to say these are the most beautiful and most wonderful flowers EVER. Not only that, he had the forethought to think: Hey! It's in a basket. She could use that for knitting stuff! Yes, he's just that wonderful!














Oh! Oh! Oh! Not only did he get me flowers, he was extremely sneaky finding out what my favourite flowers were (carnations, ftr). A few days ago I was pouncing on etsy (randomly pops up 3 new shops) and had found this shop. The owner takes butterfly wings (after they have naturally passed) and laminates them to make the most stunning necklaces. So I was rambling on about that and my bf pondered (not even a real question!) as to whether that could be done with dried flowers too. I, thinking it a legitimate conversation, proceeded to ramble about drying flowers and how some could and others wouldn't cause they lose colour or would be too thick, etc etc etc....and he slips in there somehow (I'm still not sure how!) asking what my favourite flower was. Yep. That's my sneaky loveable rogue. *sighs happily* I am so incredibly lucky.
It has been a fabulous year and I look forward to many more. Thank you again my dear sweet love! 

Hmm....since I've already hijacked this thread, I may as well go ahead and share this adorable pic of my nephew who just turned 3 months old on the 7th. Looks like he loves teddies as much as his auntie. :)

Until next time!
*huggles*

Cloths, Cloths and more Cloths

Wow I've fallen behind. Lots of new things to share.

First, as a gift to the twin of the girl that received Snape, I made a little collection. To the right is the final product. Inside is a glass jar of pomegranate sugar body scrub, 2 washcloths and a face scrubbie, all made of the same yarn.
The cloth on the right is the same pattern as the white one I posted previously. The square one is a DW Cloth. I love how the carries look. I've posted pics of the face scrubbie in a prior post I think.

Edit: Woops, just looked and  I didn't show the scrubbie before, so here it is with the one I HAD made and posted before. :)

After these were all done and gifted, I started work on a new cloth that caught my fancy. It's called the Pi Cloth. (above right) There are so many ways to personalize this cloth, as you have 3 sections to do whatever pattern you chose. I rather like how it turned out. I still need to block it to hopefully get it to lay flat in the middle.






Finally, I've joined my first ever KAL (Knit Along)! It's so much fun! It is a mystery KAL which is even cooler. I have no idea what the end product is going to be. A new bit of the pattern is posted every week for 3 weeks. This one is a toy pattern by an amazing and inspiring pattern creator who goes by Phoeny on Ravelry.
Here is week 1. The head and body.
I'm currently working on week 2 which is arms/legs. So no, it is not a penguin (my first guess as I played with the pieces). Though I'm partial to penguins as they are my sweethearts favourite :)

So that is what I've been up to. How about you? 
Until next time, Happy Crafting!
*huggles*

Edit: sorry for the bad layout. Blogger is being a pain today. *sighs*