My Sister's Knitter

The pink post...

Be prepared. If you are not a fan of the color pink, look away now. This will indeed be a pink post.

Some fantastically pink socks have come off the needles. 

For me, these are happy makers. As you may know I adore this color. Everything about it screams girl to me. I have had this yarn in my stash for a while. It was one of those skeins of yarn that you don't want to use because once you do, it is gone forever. So glad I didn't listen to myself.

Since this is a pink post, I found some more lovely pink items for you on Flickr.

 

1)Bethany's new yarn 2) Raindrop in Pink  3) Jesse's socks 4) Lakeshore shawl

This year I have been exploring new colors and learning to appreciate them, but my heart will always find love with the color pink.

 

"Almost all words do have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see

someone's eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too."- Gladys Tabor

 

Wishing you happiness with your favorite color this weekend!

XO

Andi

Keeps on giving...

Happy Sunday everyone! Happy Mother's day to you if you are a mom! I hope you  have been spoiled much. Since I am not a mom, this day if no different for me. That means typical Sunday stuff. Getting ready for the work week and spending some time with my yarn.

As I may have mentioned a million times, I am working on WIPs. This one has been on the hook for a while. I know it is a project that will take some time to complete. But I figured I need to work on it at least once a week if it is ever going to get completed in my lifetime.

As I am working on these grannies, I am reminded of each project that was completed with them. Not only did these balls of yarn at one time produce a project, they are now helping me to create another one. How cool is that?

Not sure why the pink and green ones look so washed out, but they were as bright and colorful as the picture of the granny. Anyhoo...it is kind of like the memory lane of knitting. What do you do with your scrap yarns? Do you want to see some fabulous projects that other did with their scraps?

• This baby blanket is adorable. Add the baby and it makes it super adorable!
• I may have mentioned this one before but now that it is completed, it so deserves another shout-out. Ivy is lucky she doesn't live close to me because that blanket would go missing!  
• These scrappy socks are just fab! (Not sure why I have been saying fab lately)
• The usual suspect...the sock yarn blanket. This one is wonderful!
• Of course the hexipuff craze needs to be included. These puffs make me happy!
• This scarf not only made me really excited but introduced me to someone even more obsessed with sock knitting than me. Don't believe me...take a look at her blog. She has knit like 47 pairs of socks in 2012 so far!

Since that last blog has me reeling, I am going to go back to my socks scraps and create, before I get seriously side-tracked. 

Happy yarning today and I will see you later this week!

XO

Andi

 

Let's give yarn some love...

Why not? It gives us so much pleasure. So how about a shout out to some new to me Indies?

First up Phydeaux Designs. When I opened my mail and saw this beautiful packaging, I knew what was inside was going to be brilliant. Was I ever right?

This lovely is Mocha Creme Camel in a fingering weight. The yardage is 490 yards! That means this will probably become a shawl.

Hello green! This is another fingering weight with generous yardage in the color Green Teal Golden Amber. I'll say. Brenda is the owner of Phydeaux Designs and is a true artist. Her shop not only carries beautiful yarns but also wonderful buttons, shawl pins, and patterns. her customer service was excellent and super fast. I will be a repeat customer, so you better get there before I do!

Next up stripey goodness. I enjoy knitting with self-striping sock yarn because it feels like most of the work is done for you. All you need to do is knit a simple vanilla sock and you end up with a fabulous pair of fun socks.

Wicked fun! Seriously how happy would you be sporting one of these striped socks?  The top one is Groovy Garden Party (heck yeah) and the bottom one is Carousel. Another great shop on Etsy. Again the packaging and goodies, (candy and a cute lady bug stitch marker) makes me  stoked. Ladybug Fiber Company  is having another shop update on May 10th...seriously you should get there before me. :)

My last yarn addiction can easily be blamed on Maryse. She gifted me my first Biscotte & Cie and now I fear there is no turning back!

This bad boy is self striping in the color Melon D'eau. Do think she designed this sock yarn color for me or what? The best part about this new addiction is that The Loopy Ewe started carrying this yarn! I have my eyes on Uniforme du sorcier and Cupcake.

A whole lot of fun bright colors for some great summer socks. Whew! Enough eye candy for you?  And you wonder why I have nine projects on the needles. I haven't cast on, I promise.

I will leave you all now so I can get some sleep and dream of the next Indie dyer's shop I want to raid. As always if you have any shops you would like to pimp, let me know. Hope you are all having a lovely week. It is almost the weekend, hope there is yarn shopping in your weekend plans!

XO

Andi

 

Dwindling down...

Things are getting done and I am pleased as punch. Before I show you my finished projects, let me just add that I did not mean them to be so matchy-matchy.  I have noticed a trend in my knitting projects, where I seem to knit the same colors at the same time.

The pattern was an easy wonderful knit, made more wonderful since it was part of this KAL. The yarn proved to be surprisingly soft, and after a soak was like buttah.

Next up socks that you may be tired of seeing. In my defense they are blocked now, since blocking makes everything better, I had to show you.

Heh, told you they were matchy. The unintentional color theme seemed to be orange-pink-yellow combos. 

Two projects off the needles, that leaves me with nine projects still on the needles or hook. I am really holding myself back from casting on anything new till the WIPs are more manageable. That will not stop me from tempting you from casting on, because  I am evil. How about I show you some lovely projects from around Blogland?  

• Chantel's Damson is tempting me.
• Oh hello, Michelle's cute socks.
• Speaking of cute socks, must mention Dona's. She is a sock addict such just like me!
• Look here another Wholehearted finished and it's a beauty, and this one too...wow.
• This Oak Shawlette is killing me...but I must stick to my plan.
• Bethany you are your Spectra are fab!
• Marlyn's beautiful shawl...that color is yum.

A whole lot of temptation right? I will leave you with that, but I promise I will be back midweek with some yarn enabling. It has been a little while since I have done a shout out to some of my new favorite Indie Dyers.

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and happy yarning!

XO

Andi

 

Weekend coming to a close...

Just when I feel like I am starting to get into the groove of the weekend, it is Sunday night. I guess the key is to be grateful that I have a job to go to tomorrow, somehow that eases the pain. :)

New socks have been started. These socks look like they should have been my Easter socks. They remind me of little girl's Easter dresses.

These bright footies are having the last toe grafted in a few short minutes. Yippee. Love the color. Had I know the yarn would have been so stripey, I probably would have knit a pair of vanilla socks. Regardless they are still fantastic and I love the pattern.

Other than socks, other knitting/crocheting has been going on. The progress is not too noticeable or else I would show you the pics. Maybe next weekend I will be able to post about some finished things. Wouldn't that be cool? I have really been trying to focus on getting my WIPs down to a more manageable number like five. I know there are some of you that may feel faint at the thought of having five WIPS, but I still like you. :)

What else? The usual weekend stuff, cleaning and cooking. Oh, have I ever shared with you my favorite comfort food of all? To me it is like a grown up version of Mac and Cheese, Greek style.

It has a rich feta sauce which has white wine, garlic, tomatoes, onions, and shrimp. I would share the recipe but it came out of a cookbook that I cannot link because it was written to raise funds for a Children's Hospital in NV and  I wasn't able to find it online. It is kind of like this recipe, but without olives.Anyhoo, nothing tastes more like heaven to me that this dish. Do you have one certain dish that brings comfort to you? Please share if you do, it is nice to share. heh.

Enjoy a nice Sunday song. Hope this post finds you all settling down with your knitting and happily ready to face Monday!

 

XO

Andi

 

Let's get this party started...

It is Saturday my friends, hope it finds you all relaxing with a nice cup of coffee and some yarn. I know that is how this morning finds me. What else am I doing? Oh, I don't know maybe drawing a couple of lucky peep's names for a pattern giveaway. :)

Yeah winners!

Julie-

I'm so grateful for many things, but especially for my husband and my family, who make me feel loved every day.

Crochet with Raymond-

lovely! I would love to win the pattern, that is really sweet of you to be paying it forward.
I am absolutely grateful for finding the joys of spinning, knitting and hooking, god knows what I would do with myself if I didn't!
XXX

All of the comments were fantastic. I loved hearing all the things you were grateful for. I will be sending the two winners their patterns via Ravelry in a couple of minutes.

I have started my shawl. After much agony trying to decide color combos, which I am complete rubbish at, I decided I will knit mine in one color. I am knitting mine with Knitpicks Stroll Tonal in the color Queen Anne.

I also joined Evelyn's KAL, so I will be in good company while knitting away on this baby. I mentioned before that this pattern was gifted to me from Evelyn as a way to help a designer. Since then many have payed it forward, via gifts or giveaways. Love it!

Along the same line of feel good and giving, I will share with you a wonderful video that Bethany featured on her blog. What better way to start a Saturday?

Caine's Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

 
Have a great day!

XO

Andi

*****Update-one of the winners already has the pattern. So I drew another name...drumroll please....Heather. Pattern is on it's way to you!

Heather-

What a great way to help. I am grateful for renewed health in my family.

 

Let me..enable you!

Lately I have been spoiling myself. So I feel it is only fair that I share with you some of the goodies  I have treated myself to, in hopes that you treat yourself.

What is not to love about this coffee cup? I purchased my owl man from Danmade at Etsy. I had my eye on Octomug, but this guy won in the end.

I am a sucker for themes...therefore, I needed  this Bazinga (Big Bang Theory), self striping sock yarn from SpinningFates.

Continuing my theme addiction, GnomeAcres sock yarn-color Hermione (Harry Potter)

If you are a Downton Abbey fan, you must have these. 

All the Etsy shops provided excellent customer service, but Knitcubby was brilliant. Brittany sent me  emails saying they enjoyed making these for me. Nothing feels better about purchasing items from small businesses than comments like that.

Now I wouldn't be me if I didn't also enable you will some beautiful projects around blogland!

• Kate's Mizzle Shawl.
• Always beautiful stitches, Chawne's latest is a new fav.
• Jesse's afghan in progress is tempting me.
• I think Claudia's Hootie would go well with my new coffee mug.

Enough enabling? I know, sometimes I have to just walk away from blogland or else I will never finish anything.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my most recent giveaway. We all have so much to be grateful for, your comments confirmed that. I will be back to announce the two winners on Saturday. Till then, have a great rest of your week. Don't forget to spoil yourself!

XO

Andi

 

Sharing the love...

Good morning to you all! Feels like a great week to share the love.

Isn't this a lovely shawl (picture is from the pattern)? I received this pattern as a gift from lovely Evelyn. When I read that the purchase of the pattern was going to help a designer, I decided to pay it forward. I have since gifted this pattern to three of my dear friends and now I would like to offer two more as a gift.

Please leave a comment before midnight Friday the 20th (PST), telling me something that you are grateful for today. It can be big or small. I will draw two names and announce the winners Saturday.

If you would like another opportunity to win this pattern, Jody is also having a giveaway on her blog She has 4 copies to gift!

Happy Knitting!

XO

Andi

 

Baby, what took you so long?

Happy Saturday everyone! It is here and it's a good one. Maybe because I have an FO?

Ever have one of those projects that you are not sure why it took so long?

This was one of those projects for me. Once I set my mind on finishing it, it only took a couple of days to complete.

Details:

Pattern: Arroyo

Yarn: Fiberphile Yarns Super Squish Sock-Lowtide

I may have mentioned before that I am not much of a shawl wearer. I just really like knitting them.This one lays more like a scarf, so it will be put to good use this coming winter. The pattern itself was a breeze. It was well written and should take someone a week to finish (obviously not me).

Want to see some other incredible shawls?

• Lori's Plains Shawl is now complete. It is quite fantastic.
• Dona's third Shetland is the most beautiful yet.
• Monika's Chevry..I mean wow.

It is a shawl-a-palooza! :) Before I go I want to share this video that may help those of us who need to know different ways to wear a shawl. Have a wonderful weekend!

XO

Andi  

 

Let's Yarn Along...

It has been a couple weeks since I participated in Ginny's Yarn-Along. So I fixed that.

Heck, it has been a couple weeks since I have been able to pick up a book and read. This week's project came out of a funk I was in. I needed a break from a very detail oriented pattern and for some reason I had no desire to work on an anything I currently had on the needles. You know those funks don't you? So I cruised my scrap yarn box and casted on this Granny Mandala designed by the wonderful Alice. Now she did say it was addicting and she did not lie.  I pulled out four colors, (No idea what yarn they are because the labels all fell off) and went to town.

The book I picked off my shelf is Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy. Maeve is one of my very favorite authors. Whenever I need just a good book, I gravitate towards any of her books. I thought I had read them all and was pleasantly surprised that I had not read this one. So far so good.

Are you Yarning Along this week? If not, what types of Springtime/Summertime books or projects do you seem to pick out this time of year?

Because it Wednesday and I need a little "pump it up", here is a song for you!

  
XO

ANDI