Em's Going to New Orleans!

In about 3 days I will be packing my bags and heading down to New Orleans with 9 other Education Students and 1 Professor. We are pretty excited to go down there! During my stay, naturally, we will be focusing our time and energy on teaching at a Post-Katrina School. Tim, our trusted communications member will be our blogger during our time on the trip. Please feel free to read about our adventures for the week in our updated blog found at this link:

http://educnolatrip.blogspot.com/

Please read and enjoy!! We are so excited for our trip and are thankful to SNC Education/TRIPS for providing this rare and wonderful opportunity!! We hope to make an impact on the lives we meet, as we hope they make an impact on us!

E

Now That I Have a Break...

Me and my family enjoying our Christmas!!


Now that I have time to actually enjoy my Christmas break (i.e. no needing to rush into any church or go to any school...) I have time to enjoy my knitting and blog about it once again. Yippie!

My most recent knitting adventure consists of the Mod Cable Mittens from Jeanne (Sourire11 on Ravelry).



The yarn I am using is from Stitches 2010. It is called Zitron Opus 1, 100% Merino and organic. I bought the yarn after falling in love with it and the knitting pattern at Stitches 2010. It was the first purchase I made on the Saturday and I did not regret purchasing it! I made the first mitten during the Jeopardy Freshman Day at SNC but because of my schedule and everybody's love for Waffle Mittens, I did not have time to make mitten 2. Now, that I am done with living in either the Mulva or Resurrection Catholic Parish/Old Saint Joes' Parish. I want to make something for myself for a change.

Other knitting adventures include the famous Sharon Socks.


A few years ago my mom was trying to find somebody who could restore a Christmas tape that she made the year her father died, back in 1974. She wanted it perserved on a CD. Sharon's son, Matt does that kind of work and was telling me she wished she knew somebody who could repair her socks she got from her grandmother. It was her last pair of socks and she was sad because they kept her so warm. I launched a plan, I would call Shana from Loops and Links (does anybody remember when we used to go there...ALL THE TIME because it was so COOL???) and took her sock making class. Three class times later, I walked out of Loops with a Sock Pattern, free Marble Worsted and sized 6 DPNS. Ever since that Christmas, I have knitted socks for Sharon. This year, Sharon got Interlacement Toasty Toe Socks, which was the first project I worked on with Interlacements. It was the first pair that got finished with more than 6 hours before I gave them to her.


Finally, I took one more break from 60 Quicks Knits and knitted Spruce Tree Mittens for a girlfriend in class. (I won't specifiy her name because I am not sure if she gave them to her sister yet.)



I loved the yarn. I have no idea what kind of yarn I used. She gave me a skein of yarn that wasn't marked. It was a beautiful Alpaca Pink yarn. I have not found this yarn anywhere, but perhaps I will one day. It beats the cotton yarn I am using to make the Very Cabled Mittens for Tammy. (I heart Tammy but I can't stand cotton!!!) I have to say, I was not happy with this pattern. The knitting pattern was difficult to follow and the thumb was the strangest design ever. I didn't get the right mitten correct and had to end up adding more stitches to make the cabled designed not looking like it got yanked over a few rows.

Finally Tim's siblings gave me plenty of yarn... Red Heart Green and Red, Vanna's Choice and JoAnn's Sensations: Kashmira Pattern.





I will be making an Xmas Stocking out of the Red Heart Yarn, but not for a while. I have idea what I will do with Vanna's Choice. I think I will be making interchangeable mittens with the Kashmira Pattern Yarn.



Other than that, I have been scrapbooking and cleaning the craft room!!! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


E

The Flip Tops Are Done...The Waffles Return!!! Alpaca Dominates!

I am so excited to be done with these mittens!!! They took a long time because I had so many issues getting the yarn. My client wanted alpaca mittens, but the problem is the brown did not match what she wanted. Therefore, I had to switch yarns. I got Persia Nashua yarn. Beautiful Alpaca wool that softens the more you knit it. It was truly the best yarn for this project. Thick enough to make the knitting go by fast, thin enough to be warm and stay within the correct gauge. Now all I have to do is add the buttons on them: which I will do over the weekend. Since the next shopping day is Black Friday (and I avoid that day like the plague) I have to wait until the people stop shopping like nutcases to run to JoAnns to go get wooden buttons.


In the meantime, I am currently working on Angie's Cable and Twist Mittens from 60 Quick Knits. Angie, like Kate, has great taste in yarn; she also wanted something soft and durable. The first word I thought of was well..Alpaca!! Angie's mittens are being made out of Misti Alpaca Worsted. I need two skiens, and they are pretty nice. I'm very excited to work on these. I knitted about three rows under the gusset! Today, being it Thanksgiving, I plan on finishing one of the mittens today.




I want to finish these mittens this weekend because I will be working on yet another pair of Waffle Mittens for another classmate of mine! The good thing about this pair of mittens, is I have to make them within a week of Christmas. Once again, Melissa choose an Alpaca Berant yarn. It is a beautiful deep pink. If I can start them on Monday, I can then finish up A/two pairs of mittens and B/Sharon's socks.


Have a Happy Thanksgiving! More to post soon!!!

No More Waffle Mittens...Until NEXT YEAR!!

I am so excited today!

I finished Lauren's Waffle Mittens! Now I can start working on Tammy's Mock Cable Mittens...SWEET!!! I love how so many people love them, but I want to knit more than just Waffle Mittens. I mean there will forever be an indentation in my 60 Quick Knits book, but it is time for me to move on. I'm so sick of them. I did realize that I have been making the mittens wrong this entire time. Originally, the mittens are supposed to be K 2 rounds then k2, p2 for two rounds. Instead, I did k all for 2 rounds and then k1, p2. That's cool though; it's my own variation of the design. It makes my projects more unique.

More Waffles!

Lauren was very pleased with her mittens...and they fit her perfectly. Call me strange, but whenever I plan on making mittens for anybody, I always measure their hands. This way the mitten customized. I normally don't have any issues with the hand itself fitting; it is the thumb that I worry about. There have been a few times where the thumb did not fit correctly, resulting in the yarn either stretching or being too big for the person. When knitted objects aren't made to perfection, people don't wear them. That makes me sad. I would rather see people wear their knitted goods than paying for them. (Don't get me wrong, I do charge, but it's probably not as much as I should charge. It's more of an incentive to finish the knitted project.) When people are wearing EMBellished Mittens...more people want them! That means two things: more knitting and $$$!

So for these new mittens I am making... they are from my favorite book: 60 Quick Knits: 20 Hats, 20 Scarves 20 Mittens from Cascade 220.

My New Project! So Excited!!

They are the Cables & Striped Mittens created by SpillyJane. The only downside to making these mittens are that Tammy is requesting me to make the mittens cotton...and not just any cotton...Lion Bran Cotton Fleece...probably one of the hardest types of cotton for me to work with. I am going to keep an open mind though while I knit them: hopefully it won't be too hard on my hands.

Sugar'N'Cream...

In other news, I am almost done with my Bulky Flip Tops. I ran out of Nashua Persia Yarn and have to pick some more up on Sunday. For some reason, I used more brown than white. I think it has to do with the fact I used brown for both the thumb and for the cover of the flap. Now all I gotta do is finish the other mitten and attach the mittens and they will be done!

Bulky Flip Tops!

That is all for now! Keep looking back for another exciting entry of EMBellished Knits soon!

E

Yarn Purchasing, Forever Waffle Mittens

Well I finally did it...the room is clean! All organized of yarn! It's pretty damn exciting. All of my yarn is now recorded in my Ravelry account. It took me over a week to really get the yarn all organized and what not. Now that I have purchased enough yarn for an entire state to knit for, I'm going to lay low on the purchasing yarn for a while.

However, sometimes it is required to purchase yarn. And I am okay with that.

I never really had any confidence in myself with knitting--actually scrapbooking is the only skill I have any true courage in. Somehow, in someway, people still want me to knit for them. This is always a very exciting adventure. Right now I have two clients, both girls I go to school with, that are paying me to make mittens for them!!!! One pair is the (dreaded only because this is pair 6 this year alone) Waffle Mittens from 60 Quick Knits...the other...the Bulky Flip Top Mittens!

Sixth time is the charm!!!! Casting on to make mitten 2!


Mitten 1 still needs a thumb!!!

The Waffle Mittens are being knitted on Nashua Creative Focus. She wanted a color that showed off the pattern but yet wasn't too light or dark. I had a hard time finding the perfect yarn for her. In the end, I made my boyfriend Tim stop at Iris Yarns in Appleton so I could purchase a skein for her. So far I am not disappointed in the yarn. It sometimes plies and has that mohair look towards it. Yet it is soft and warm. I'm shocked by the fact, despite my 2 month vacation from Waffle Mittens, I still have the pattern memorized. I'm really excited though for Lauren to get EMBellished Mittens. Everybody really needs mittens in their lives and I'm glad people turn to me for them!!

This was also the first time I tried Crystal Palace Double Points. I'm not a fan, they are small and for some reason feel like they take forever to knit. I am going to still use the Crystal Palace for the second mitten for Lauren, but the next pair of Waffles I make (I have another order!!!) I am going to use my Clovers again.

The Bulkly Flip Tops...well...finding THAT yarn was also an adventure! I needed something that would benefit Client #2. She requested for Alpaca, but I knew if I got 100% she'd be paying me about 40 bucks for a pair of flip tops. I couldn't afford to float out the money anymore than she could probably pay for it. However, at the very last possible yarn we could find in Spin, I did find a wonderfully soft Baby Alpaca, Wool Blend from Nashua. It was a divine miracle we could find it! It is really perfect! Reasonable, but soft and washable. I am using 2 skiens of Nashua Paradise for her mittens. I'm most excited to make the Bulky only because it is a new pattern to work on. I haven't used too many patterns outside of the 60 quick knits book in a while. Also--I used this lady's pattern's before and loves the way she writes them!!! I urge you to pick up your own copy of any of Jeanne's work (Sourire11 on Ravelry) Jeanne also wrote the pattern for Mod-Cabled Mittens, which I bought yarn for in particular in Chicago for Stitches Mid-West.

As for the rest of my life...well schoolwork is still dominating it. I pulled an all night adventure at the Mulva Library on Tuesday Night/Morning because of my Resource Binder. I turned that in on Thursday and was on a party-scene binge for two days. Now I am back on track... to find out we have another big project due in that class!!! When will the work ever end?

I was able to sneak out to knit at the library this weekend, but it wasn't the same as my Wednesday night knitting group...sometime about the smell of coffee is just missing there. That and comfortable chairs. Thankfully Zoe helped me feed that addiction in Door County the next day. We saw Kasey Jean Hembel's Route 66 Art Show. I got two photographs, both beautiful and has that KJH mark on it! Zoe and I are going to come back up on Halloween for another DC adventure (maybe we can get the third Mousekateer to come along;))

FOREVER WAFFLES!!!!

Until we meet again!
E

A Week Looking Up (in Terms for Yarn)

So I had the best Sunday ever!

I went up with Tanya and Zoe to do some work for Tracy. While Tanya and Zoe had the pleasure sorting through knitted garments adding buttons and price tags to them, I decided to take up the master task of organizing Tracy's dye collection. This was not an easy task. Tracy was explaining how she always wanted her back shed organized. Zoe and Tanya looked a little concerned, but I smiled with delight. Hey, I am going to be a kindergarten teacher one day, I HAVE to be organized otherwise I'll never make it as a teacher...you know? So I yanked out the label maker and got to work. I learned a lot about color as well as how dying actually works.

I got to see all the undeyed wool and learned about which undyed wool with what colors becomes what yarn for Interlacements. Many of Tracy's yarn are named after states such as Kansas, Hawaii, Alaksa, Colorado etc. (Sadly there is no Wisconsin...WTF!?!?!) This truly inspired me to consider dying my own yarn one day after I fulfill the dream of graduating from a school with a degree...which I hope to do in May 2012!!! But a girl can dream right? Dream big is how things happen! And who knows-- maybe I will get to choose the colorway and dye with it for the yarn Wisconsin--ha.ha! I learned that it takes different dye to dye different types of yarn. I worked on fixing up the Wool dye, but next time, I'll be hammering away at fixing up the Cotton dye. I cannot wait. We are going again in a few weeks.

Believe it or not, I'm more excited about fixing up the back of Tracey's garage than pricing garments. Pricing things is not my tea, however, I did have the chance to price some things. I felt that they were pretty decent prices; we shall see how much they sell at the Sheep and Wool Festival next Sunday. I wish I could go--but naturally, I, being a Church Musician, have to work.

By the end of the day, I was stating to tell my friends which dye was made for which yarn. I got to take home 2 skeins of Kansass, a skien of New York and some random yarn that Tracy claims was poorly dyed (I've yet to see how it was poorly dyed--it is so beautiful). I showed my boss which dyes were used to make which yarns and she thought I was nuts...but that's normal for her to think;) I have been holding it in my hands while watching Family Guy for the past two days. I wanted to call my girlfriend Brittany up before I would wind up the yarn (she likes to watch me wind yarn) but I couldn't wait for her to become free so I wound it last night. My parents have been concerned about how much I am obsessed with this yarn. My mother thinks I need a new hobby, but when I mentioned to her I all ready scrapbook, knit, blog, do photoshoots, work 4 jobs and attend school full time, that I do need my downtime even if it consists of holding balls of yarn and watching Family Guy.

My knitting friends had a chuckle about it too... but I had the biggest chuckle of all--on the way home I blew my nose and Emerald Green came out---two days later, I still got Emerald Green coming out of my nose. I laugh. I hope next time I get some shade of blue!

E