Close to my Heart

Tulips

One of the nice dangerous things about Etsy is the abundance of Indy dyers.  I showed a fair amount of restraint when my fiber purchases only consisted of yarns, however since I've had a wheel, I've been spinning through a fair amount of fiber, thus need to continually add to my stash.  If you check my Ravelry stash page, I have added the majority of my recent fiber acquisitions.

One of the new arrivals in the last week or two was this lovely Corridale Roving in the Tulip colourway, from the Exclusivelylindalee Etsy Shop.  Uli actually bought it first, and showed off the listing on the Canadian Etsy forum her and I frequent.  Well within minutes of clicking on the link, I'd added it to my cart.  Here's what it looks like:

Corriedale is a lovely fiber to spin up.  In the end I had about 109 yards when plied.  I am spinning consistently thinner and am getting more yardage from what are typically four ounce braids.  So why is it that the yarn always seems to be more or less worsted weight?  Anyhow, here's what the final product looks like, first on the niddy noddy:

And all skeined up, with the backdrop of the rocks on our fish pond (which I think makes quite an attractive background, if I do say so myself):

This weekend is the Victoria Fibre Festival.  I'm making a long weekend of it and heading down on Friday.  I'm trying not to succumb to any more Etsy Fiber purchases prior to this weekend, but the jury is still out as to whether or not I will succeed.  There are just too many temptations!

Back to spinning now, and then finishing a little bag I'm knitting with my own handspun.

TGIF

It's been a busy week and despite my best intentions, I haven't gotten around to blogging.  I thought I'd do a very quick post while I wake up with my coffee this morning.

Here's what I've been up to this week.  I listed something new in my Etsy shop:

I finished a pair of socks (only my second pair this year, shamefully):

Details will be up on my Ravelry page sometime this weekend, hopefully.

And yesterday morning, I was unable to make our bed before leaving for work:

Fiber Feast

Since purchasing my spinning wheel at the beginning of April, I've spun through most of the small fiber stash I already had.  Spinning on a wheel is SO much quicker than on a spindle.  As a result, I've been on a mission to acquire some pretty fiber to spin up.  This past week, a few pretty numbers came to live in our house, so thought I'd show them to you today.  First, while on  business trip this past week, I stopped at an LYS that I rarely get to, in the hopes of finding fiber.  I came home with some lovely Fleece Artist sliver in an alpaca/merino blend:

This picture really does not do this lovely fiber justice unfortunately, you'll just have to trust me that it is a lovely vibrant pink.

I did not really enjoy being away from home this past week.  I was on a course that was somewhat in the middle of nowhere, and it also resulted in being away from Joe for our 14th anniversary.  We've never been apart for our anniversary before.  I was glad to return home to Joe and the kitties (and my spinning wheel!), and also to find more fiber in the mailbox.  This was waiting for me when I returned:

Beautiful soft and squooshy fiber,it's 100% merino and is from Etsy seller TheYoYo.  She very nicely included this beautiful sample for me to spin as well:

And the day after I arrived home, after a day off that included a work phone call, emails, vacuuming and washing the floor, I opened the mailbox to find my package from another Etsy seller, one that I had previously purchased from, CopperPot.  I selected two different items from her:

This merino is called "GoodnPlenty."  The second fiber in this package was Apple Blossom, a merino tencel blend:

I must admit though, I'm not so sure how to spin these up when they so obviously have big strips of colour, and I'm still at the stage of pre-drafting everything.  Any advice?  Hopefully I won't make a mess of things!

My biggest question though, is what should I spin up next?   I can't even say that I have a favourite, all of these items are lovely.  Oh, and I must admit, I did more online fiber shopping yesterday (gotta love Etsy) so stay tuned for more new arrivals at Chez Close to my Heart!

Shop Update

After neglecting my Etsy shop for most of March (work was just too crazy, and at the end of the day I sought solace in yarn and fiber), this past weekend I got back into my papercrafting.  Most of what I created included elements made using embossing folders, I love the look that the embossed paper gives.  I'm happy that my Etsy customers seem to like my creations too, I've sold a few things in the last few days.  Here's a some of my most recent listings:

And this is one of the favourite cards I've made to date, featuring a stamp from the always wonderful Stamping Bella:

I still have a couple more things to add in the next few days, with Etsy it is best to spread out the listings for the best exposure.

Celebrating

In my circles, seems like the past few days have been VERY popular for birthdays.  I've made cards for two of these people, and thought I'd show you them today, which is my Father's Birthday.  Here's Dad's card:

I have the same card listed in my Etsy store, although all of Etsy appears to be down as I write this.

And this past Thursday, Uli celebrated her birthday.  Visit her blog and check out the great card her daughter made her.  Here's the one I sent:

Another Stamping Bella stamp, Partygirlabella. I love that she is holding a cupcake (they are SO popular these days, look for more cards in my shop soon with a cupcake theme) and that the balloons can be personalized.

My day today will be taken up with this year's Ice Show.  You may wonder why I haven't mentioned it here since I was SO pumped about the last show two years ago.  Let's just say that I'm quite underwhelmed by this year's production, and with skating in general.  I'm planning to take a break once the current session ends mid March.

Happy Weekend!

Shop Update

The last week has been a busy one, and as a result, I went an entire week without knitting!  I'm happy to report that is now history though, and I'll even have a finished item later tonight, even if it is a baby sweater!

My Etsy store has been somewhat neglected since the holidays.  As of this weekend though, I feel that I'm now on track.  Here's a couple items I listed in the last twenty-four hours:

Please visit the Island Crafts store for details.

Okay, today has been consumed with papercrafting, time to go pick up the pointy sticks.  I hope the week ahead is a good one for you!

A lovely three day weekend is now coming to a close.  I was hoping that I'd have a finished Mr. Greenjeans to show you, however the button that I was waiting for didn't arrive until today.  And this afternoon I had other distractions to keep me busy, and tonight was skating.  Tomorrow I'm off for a one night business trip and it's much too bulky to take along.  Hopefully by this time Wednesday night it will be all done though.

Most of my crafting time this weekend was spent making cards.  They are for some family birthdays in February, so I will wait until the occasions have passed to show you them here.  Today I had a new Bella to play with.  I love all the great stamps from Stamping Bella, and I think my newest stamp, savvyshoppabella  might be my favourite yet.  Here's the card I made with her:

I made three of these, cause I really want to have a stash of cards available when I need them.  I may also list one on Etsy, haven't decided yet.

I did do a small amount of knitting this weekend.  I finished one Mountain Colours Sock.

I knit this sock toe up, using the  Flegal Heel that Bliss posted about a while ago.  Unfortunately, after finishing, I decided that the heel is too baggy.  It might also be because this yarn seems a little thicker than most fingering weight yarn.  I'm contemplating ripping back to the heel and doing a short row heel, or ripping the entire sock and knitting it on fewer stitches.  The sock is in time out until I decide.

FInally, I just have to show you one of my latest Etsy purchases:

I just started using this bag on Saturday, and have already received several complements on it.  It's a functional lightweight bag that holds a lot, including my big work daytimer and notebook.  And it enables me to shop hands free too, which I always like.  Check out Kitty Empire to see more of these bags and accessories.

Well I'd best wind down and get to sleep, back to work tomorrow.  Hopefully my next post will be of the finished Mr. Greenjeans.

A New Look

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I like to change up the template from time to time.  Here's the latest.  I purchased the custom banner from Etsy Seller the Banner Queen for a very reasonable price.  She was absolutely awesome to work with, asked for lots of feedback from me, and was willing to revise until we had the end product.  I love it, and in particular love that Buttons and Frisbee are now featured more predominantly on the blog.

I'm plugging away on Mr. Greenjeans.  Since I frogged back on the body (see last post) I've now completed said body and am MUCH happier with it.  I'm now knitting on the first sleeve.  Was hoping I'd finish sleeve #1 today, but that's not going to happen.  I've spent FAR too much time on the computer this weekend, working with the Banner Queen on the banner (my contribution being rather minimal compared to her great work) and then fixing up the template to match the banner.  I've also been shopping Etsy lots this weekend. Since Mr. Greenjeans calls for only one button, I thought it would be nice to have a truly spectacular button, so I trolled Etsy in search of said button.  Here's what I found:

I can't wait for it to arrive, and am hoping that it will be timed well for when I finish the sweater.  It is slightly larger than what the pattern calls for (by 1/4 inch) but I think it will be fine.  I'll post seller information once I have received the button.

I start my new job on Monday.  My last day in my old job was a little bitter sweet after working so long in one department, and receiving wonderful feedback from colleagues around the province.  I'm looking forward to the new challenges ahead though, but do admit to having some nervousness about the whole thing.

Okay, gotta get off this computer, find something for dinner, then back to Mr. Greenjeans.

Not a year in review...

Well,  I had great plans to write a year in review type post here, but that just isn't going to happen.  I also had great plans to blog more while I was on vacation.  I return to work tomorrow, and obviously that never happened either.  I will say that 2007 proved to be a year where the majority of  my knitting seemed to consist only of socks.  My Gallery (see sidebar) is hopelessly out of date (was hoping to remedy that while on vacation too....never happened. I'm thinking that I won't create a new Gallery for 2008 but will just list my projects over on Ravelry) but I know that I haven't completed any new garments since it was last updated.  So, in 2007 I knit only two sweaters (malabrigo top down cardi and the pinwheel), two shawls (one still needs to be blocked) knit one bag, crocheted two bags, as well as lots of socks. I will always have socks on the needles, but really want to accomplish more than that in the New Year.

My first Finished Object in 2008 will likely be Mr Greenjeans:

Unfortunately, this sweater isn't as close to being done as it would appear in this picture.  I'm going to frog back to about two inches above where the cable rib pattern begins, as it is too low on my body.  I was initially going to leave it, but know I will enjoy this sweater more if it fits properly.  I've really been enjoying the cable rib pattern (it knits up much quicker than I thought it would thanks to cabling without a cable needle) so I really can't complain.  Maybe I am a process knitter after all?

2007 was also the year that I got into papercrafting and started my Etsy store.  It's been a lot of fun, gives my hands a break (since I do have some carpal tunnel like symptoms), and I've met an awesome group of fellow Canadian Etsians in the forums.  I also enjoy having a Finished Object in much less time than while knitting or crocheting.  Here's one of my last card creations for 2007, again using a Stamping Bella stamp. 

I made three of these cards as a thank-you to some awesome friends who supported me in my journey to a promotion at work.  I chose this particular stamp as we had recently enjoyed a day at the spa together, which ended with a soak and a clay scrub.

More camaraderie was enjoyed through knitting events such as retreats and fiber festivals.  I met lots of fellow knit bloggers for the first time this year, including Peg, Lisa, Raven, Michelle, Shannon (just yesterday, finally, even though she lives only a kilometer or two away from me), and even the Yarn Harlot herself.  I also enjoyed continuing friendships with Shelley and Uli.

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I do have hopes for the 2008.  I want to spin more, I haven't touched my spindle for a couple months at least.  Was also planning to do that during Christmas vacation....  I will start Kauni as soon as Mr. Greenjeans is off the needles (really!).  I want to add more pages to my scrapbook and not just make cards.  And of course I need to eat healthier, exercise more, and loose some weight.  And I look forward to some interesting challenges ahead at work as I start my new position on January 7th.

Hmmmm, looks like I just wrote an end of year post, how'd that happen?  I wish each of you New Year filled whatever makes you happy!

Snow Day

I've really been neglecting the ol' blog lately.  What with Ravelry and Etsy, I just don't have the time for everything!  I miss blogging though, I really do! Since I last "talked" to you all, I've continued to knit Christmas gift socks.  I've finished another pair, with the LAST pair almost half done, yeah!  I think I'm getting sick of self striping yarn now.

Anyhow, here's the most recently completed pair of gift socks:

Yarn is ONline Supersocke 100 Holiday Color 90.

Over at my Etsy store, I'm having a sale on my Christmas cards, so be sure to go take a look.  Here's my most recent offering:

I thought it appropriate to list today, given this:

1. PC010341, 2. PC010353, 3. PC010358, 4. PC010338

Yes, winter is here on the West Coast.  Cuppa hot chocolate anyone?