It was my Birthday

My Birthday was last Friday. I turned 24. I had a great day. The boyfriend took me out to breakfast first. Its a little tradition with us to go to this one diner out here, called The Cracked Egg.

I love the food.

After breakfast we went out to an estate sale. He actually TOOK ME TO AN ESTATE SALE. He hates estate sales/thrift stores. He'll only takes me on my birthday.

Anyway. Onto the awesome score!

I picked this little guy up.

I needed to take this home. Needed to.

As soon at I spotted this I knew it had to be mine. I got that 'you complete me' feeling. 

 I also picked up this little family of owls.

They're just cut out and then glued onto some card -stock.

When I say, card-stock I'm not kidding.

I loved the little cards. I turned them over and it was fate.

Here's a close up.

I also picked up 2 dresser clothes.

One with various fruits.

The other with a billion french knots.

I also picked up a floss organizer and some Aida cloth.

When we got home I made my cake. I went for a low-carb Boston Creme Pie.

Lesson learned. Make a cake the day before.

Mine didn't look that awesome.

But it tasted delicious.

A very awesome start to another year!

FO Fridays: Bees and Leaves

The internet issues still haven't been fixed. Our router died, meaning the only computer hooked up directly is the boyfriend. I have very little internet time.

When all you can really complain about is a busted up router, you know life is pretty frackin good.

I just recently started a new job. I work at a craft store. I LOVE IT.

Onto my finished projects.

I recently finished my BONUS shawl  scarf.

Its the Apis Dorsata pattern from Knitty, Deep Fall 2011

I've had my eye on the pattern since it came out. The pattern calls for 2 skeins of Madelinetosh Merino Light in Nutmeg. 

I couldn't afford the yarn it called for unfortunately, so I just put it aside as a 'hopefully one day' project.

Then I saw this yarn online.

It's Knit Picks Gloss Fingering. The colorway is called Honey. Perfect, right? 

They were discontinuing the colorway.

I snatched it up.

I used about 2.5 skeins.

Knitting up the scarf in the yarn called for is still on my 'hopefully one day' list.

I also finished another little project. Well. Half finished it. 

I made a mitten! It's actually my first ever mitten.

I'm delaying making my last 2 gifts this year. I wanted a project to make for myself, because I'm selfish like that. That and I really don't want to make them.

This is the Leaf Mitten from Vogue Knitting Fall 2011.

...I just realized that Fall 2011 must have been a very good season...

I made these mittens using stash yarn. They were very spontaneous, and a pretty quick knit too.

Another thing I've also realized is that it's not easy taking photos of your own hand. 

Year of Shawls: July Summer flies

For my July Shawl I decided to go with Summer Flies.

Out here in Las Vegas I belong to the Las Vegas Fiber Arts Guild. Every May we have a guild meeting where we dye using natural dyes. Normally I dye little sample hanks. Well, this past May I decided to dye a full skein of Knit picks yarn.

I walked into the meeting knowing that I would dye a full skein with something. I didn't really know which one I wanted though. When I saw the Kamala Powder pot, I knew it had to be that one.

The dye bath looked like really yummy curry.

When I saw the Summer Flies pattern, I knew my skein needed to become this shawl. 

I didn't have enough yarn to make the shawl though. So I decided to alternate the different sections with Kamala powder and un-dyed yarn.

I wasn't so sure about the color combo until Claudia from my Thursday knit night (also one of my rock climbing buddies!)  mentioned that it looks like a fried egg.

That's all I needed. So far this is one of my favorite shawl.

Cross Stitch Sundays: A plan, a Bunny and a Geisha

I finished my Bunny stamped cross stitch. I purchased him back in June at a thrift store. He was nearly finished. One stitch was even left unfinished.

I decided to finish him.

 Now that he's done, all I have left to do is frame him and hang him.

Now that I have my Bunny done, I can focus all of my attention on my Geisha again. So far so good. She's going to take me a while.

I have my next project in mind. Its another Geisha. I'm not kidding when I say I like Asian cross stitches.

What can I say? I'm just not a fan of lighthouses.

FO Fridays: Mommy's Sweater and a birthday

I set a goal for myself, I wanted to finished my Mom's cardigan before October.

I finished it on September 29th. YAY!

This is pre-blocked straight off the needles.

I still need to pick up some buttons for it. 

Here's a more detailed photo of the cables. The cabling work is really pretty, but the yarn is a dark charcoal.

It's what my mom requested though.

In other news, Friday was my BIRTHDAY.

The boyfriend took me out for breakfast (yummy), then to an estate sale. I picked up a couple of awesome things. I plan on posting in a couple of days. He also picked up a bunch of double edge razor blades, circa 1970s. He paid .50 for each pack.
He's happy.

I made myself a Low-Carb Boston cream pie.
Note to self: make cake the day before.

Thrifted Thursdays: Big Hit

I love going to thrift stores. There's something about the hunting thing that I love. I have my favorites out here in Las Vegas. Sometimes it's hit or miss.

This time was definitely a hit.

My sister was out here in Las Vegas this Summer. Back in June we went out to one of my favorite thrift stores. While walking through the holiday/craft section I spotted this guy.

It's a Bucilla felt kit. Santa's Vintage Car. It was still sealed. I turned it over and spotted the price tag.

 Yeap. 3.00.

Online they retail for 40.

So I snatched it up. Did I mention that it's never even been opened?

I also spotted this kit at the same time.

The price tag on this one was 6.00. The lady at the cash register took a look at that and said "that seems like too much."

She ended up selling it to me for three dollars. It's a half finished stamped cross stitch kit. It's also my most recent finished cross stitch project.

Sometimes thrift stores are hits.

In fact, the fabric in the background I also picked up at that thrift store. It didn't have a price tag. It's over 12 yards. She gave us a price of 2.00.

WIP Wednesdays: Two shawls and a goal

The internet is being screwy again.

I just typed up a little rant about silly wireless routers, and how they die. In the end, that's the only thing I really have to complain about.

Big picture: dead wireless routers don't matter. So, whats the point in me complaining?

Life is really good.

Anyway, onto my WIPs.

I've had another productive week.

I finished my Moms sweater. I gave myself the goal of finishing it by October, and I did. YAY!

I also finished my stamped cross stitch. I'll share on Sunday. YAY!

I still have two official WIPs.

I'm over 2/3rd the way done with my BONUS shawl. YAY!

I haven't picked up my September shawl in the past 3 weeks. I really need to finish it. At this point I just want it off my needles.

I've determined plans are good. My next projects are going to be gloves for my stepdad, and a hat for my grandpa.

My plan is to cast on these projects by Saturday.

My goal is to cast off these projects by Halloween.

Here's to plans and goals.

Year of Shawls: June Sonnenblume

This would be my June shawl, Sonnenblume. I originally knit this using stash yarn leftover from a weaving project. It was Lion Brand 1878, in Fisherman. 

And as you can tell the shawl was kinda boring. I'm all for white shawls. But I just wasn't feeling this one.

So, I decided to dye my finished shawl using Kool-Aid.

First, I rolled up both sides of the shawl.  Then I placed it in a microwavable glass baking dish. I poured a mixture of Strawberry, Grape, Pink Lemonade and Cherry over the shawl. I then microwaved it for 5 minutes. 

It ended up with a sorta hand painted feel.

It's definitely not white anymore.

Shopping List Saturdays: Paper scooper and worms

A couple of weekends ago, the boyfriend and I were at Costco. I spotted this list in the parking lot.

I love it when shopping lists have their own special paper.

Berries, syrup and dinner...they seem normal enough things to buy.

But then I turned it over, and...

When I first glanced at the list, I read that as PAPER SCOOPER and WORMS.

I was a bit perplexed.

First off, whats a PAPER SCOOPER?

Secondly, why WORMS?

After doing a double take, I realized that it was a POOPER SCOOPER and WORMS.

Makes much more sense.

FO Fridays: Amazingly Scrappy Beret

I've been on a self-imposed yarn diet this year. So far it's going pretty well. 

This is one of my stash busting projects.

After making my Grandma a shawl, I had nearly a full skein of Amazing left. I decided to knit myself a slouchy beret. It was a rather impulsive decision. 

I love Entrelac knitting. I love watching it grow. I've had my eye on this pattern for a while.

So, I used the leftover skein and some stash yarn for the hat. I did end up having to buy another skein of Amazing though.

The hat itself only took a couple of days to make.

Creepy cosmetology head alert!

No photo bombing cat though.

I ended up having to knit this using 2 sets of DPNs, which were both different sizes.