My Sister's Knitter

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 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

Little Blue...

The sister has a lovely friend who is expecting a little boy. Since the sister does not knit or crochet she asked if I could hook a blanket for her friend.

Of course I would. I used this pattern, which is my go-to for baby blankets. The sister selected the colors and I ran them through the random stripe generator.

It is not often that I work with washable yarn, so when this blanket came out of the dryer all soft and squishy, I almost wanted to keep it for myself.

A nice quick project to add to my FOs. While I love to crochet, I enjoy the knitting process more. That means I must stay away from Chawne's blog, because everytime I visit I want to hook on something else.  

I will leave you will some loves and wish you all a great week!

• This time of year it is great to see the transition  into Spring colors.There are some serious beauties here.  
• Would love to have this shirt to stop people from asking if I am seeing anyone.
• My friend Marion knit up a lovely stripey hat, makes me have grabby hands.
• ButterflyBush Yarns has added some new sock yarn and stitchmarkers to the Etsy shop!

 

XO

Andi

 

Yarn Along...

I have so enjoyed being involved in Ginny's YAL. So here I am participating in another.

I finished Stones from the River, which I highly recommend. I am still reading Little Bee and oh is it ever wonderful. Judging from last weeks comments, many of you agree with me. This week I was looking for a little humor and who better to dole that out then Ellen. This is one of those books you do not want to read in public because you will get strange looks when you bust out laughing.

On the hook this week is a baby knit. The sister has asked for a baby blanket for a friend who has done a lot for her. She supplied the yarn and I supplied the hookery. The pattern is A Neat Ripple Pattern and is my go to for baby blankets because of the ease of it. I have made enough ripples for everyone else, one day I am going to have to make myself one. There is nothing like squishy ripple to cuddle with.

Want to see some other lovely blankets?

• This one is just fantastic. I have never seen a pattern like this.
• She says Noro is happy making, well it sure did make me happy seeing this!
• The queen of beautiful blankets, has another lovely starting out. I am excited to see what it becomes.

Don't all these blanket just want to make you snuggle? Me too!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday.

XO

Andi

Living up to the name...

The name of my blog is my sister's knitter, as of late I haven't been living up to the name. There have been hats, blankets, and lots of socks for me. Not that the sister minds at all, but she has put in a request. I have crocheted my sister some face cloths before, but she asked for some new ones.

The other ones did not get lost, but became completely useless when something appalling happened. According to the sister, my brother in law used one in the shower. She could not use them on her face now, because she was worried that at some point they may have come in contact with his "man parts". 

  
The pattern was a freebie on Ravelry and the yarn is some cotton from my stash.

Okay on to a more savory topic. Food! I loved hearing about some of your favorite comfort foods. Soup seems to be on everyone's list. I whipped up this recipe today and it was delicious! I added some carrots, corn, green onions, parsely,and thyme.  ( I never can leave well enough alone)

 
I could eat soup everyday.I have been looking for some good vegetable soup recipes, do you have any? Please share!

Happy Knitting everyone and hopefully your knits are "man-part" free.

XO

Andi

***I forgot to add....Ruth has just opened her Etsy Store! ***

WOW Wednesday...

Maybe there is something to this whole "setting personal goal" thing.

The squares have been put together. There was some planning involved. How to attach and with what color. I tried to make sure that light and dark squares alternated.

Now if only the weather would cooperate, allowing me to snuggle under this beauty!

Happy Whippin it out Wednesday everyone!

XO

Andi

 
 
 

Whippin' it out...

I can only imagine the confusion for people who do a Google search for that topic, and end up on a knitting blog! They are probably like, "What a A-hole!" (sometimes I am-heh)

Now on to the main reason we are here. I am going to try and post my WIPS on Wednesday, as a way of holding myself accountable for finishing them. Here is the thought process, I will post the pic on Whippin' it out Wednesday (referred to here on out as WOW- because it just sounds too repetitive to type it all out), by the next WOW, it should be done.  That is the goal anyway.

 
And yes that is a binder clip aiding in my stitches matching up perfectly. Use what you got, I say! 
Do you remember the Baker's Dozen Swap squaresI received. They are getting put together and I am excited! It has been more work than I originally thought. The reason being is that obviously not everyone's gauge is the same, nor the yarn, so that means a lot of resizing on my end. As well as trying to makes squares out of some "not so squares"

 
I decided to make all motifs have 40 chains on each side. That mean increasing and decreasing galore. I am using 20 of the 23 I received, which will make for a very size-able blanket! Yeah!

Wish me luck, because it is going to be hard to pry myself away from all the socks I want to work on.

Have a great rest of you week, and watch this super cute video. It will make you chuckle!

 

 

 

XO

Andi

Hats off...

Just a quick post to show off what has been on and off my needles this week. Quick because I seem to have gotten some type of stomach bug, that has just downright kicked my arse!

So do you want to see what I crocheted for my baby?

I found this doll on the floor at a local Goodwill and fell in love with her. I named her Siren after a childhood friend. The sister always needs hats for some of her baby photo shoots. I had some extra yarn so I cast on this hat. I had no model so Siren stepped up. :)
Then I cast on another hat for one of my Ravelry groups.

 This by far is one of my favorite hat patterns. It only took two nights. The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted-Cognac.

Other than that, I have been sleeping alot and knitting on socks when I have been awake. Oh, and I told you in the previous post that the sister and I went to see Bridesmaids. It was hilarious. The sister and my face hurt from laughing after it was over. Melissa McCarthy (from t.v. show Mike and Molly), stole the show for us.

I hope you all are having a fantastic summer weekend and able to get out and enjoy your weather. Most of us don't here in AZ, because it is too darn hot! :) Enjoy a song that I have been singing around the house at the top of my lungs. This is really scary considering I cannot sing at all.

  

XO

Andi

 

Projects...and yes a Haboob.

All is well on this beautiful Sunday. Thank you for sending emails asking how we weathered through the "Haboob". More on our dusty visitor later. :)

With the scrap granny finished, there was a need to get the hook going again. Since I still haven't received all my squares from this swap, I decided to start another blanket for me. I am telling you, Chawne is going to be responsible for my home being wall-to-wall blankets!

 
After the color flooded granny blanket, I was craving something more "folk". Nova's pattern and KnitPicks Wool of the Andes aided in my new love affair.

 
Thankfully I am still in the sock-zone. July's are coming along nicely and have even traveled to work with me, for some much needed lunch therapy.

 
I know I said I would have some pics of the scrap granny, but once the ends were weaved in, it was immediately given to the sister. She loves granny squares like no other. I was able to click a quick picture, hopefully she will take some for me.

Plans for this Sunday, include a date with my sister. We will be having lunch and catching a movie. Then on to getting ready for the work week. Which involved some serious dusting thanks to Haboob. As a stated earlier, we are all fine. We are just left with layers of dirt and dust on quite a bit of things. Oh and our air quality is a tad harsh right now. Most are walking around with the taste of dirt in their mouths and out of whack allergies. How I look at it , dust is nothing compared to the flooding and tornadoes that has taken so much from so many. Although it looks a bit like Armageddon, our homes and lives are intact. You have all seen the aeriel views of the Haboob, this video was how it was outside our windows. Enjoy! :)

 

Have a great Sunday!

XO

Andi

 

Come together...

right now...over me!

Is there anything better than a granny square? I think not. I thought for sure I would finish this blanket this weekend, but alas we came upon a work-stoppage.

No more white yarn. How is that? I have no idea. I do have other white yarn, but a  different brand. For me that is a no-go. A trip to the yarn store is now on the agenda. So this color fest is going to have to wait till probably next weekend to get finished. So, back to knitting. :)

Because you know how much I love to get song stuck in your head....here you go!

 

You are welcome,

XO

ANDI