So on a whim one day, I went to HomeSense (aka hell for me cause I want to buy everything and can’t) and they the most perfect shadow box.

You can’t tell too well in the pic, but it’s a really pretty distressed grey :) I immediately knit up both my little mini skeins into squares.

Lucky for me, the frame (and a cork-board i also got) came with some really pretty pearly pins. I carefully positioned my little swatches and pinned them in place.

I made a little label for it. I was inspired by those frames you see with insects with the little label underneath describing what the insect is.

And then… TA DA! My first handspun was ready to be hung on the wall and shown off with pride.

It’s now proudly hanging on the wall next to my stash. I thought it was the perfect place for it.

In other news, so far the giveaway I posted on friday is doing really well! Well, for me it is ;) If you haven’t entered yet, I’m giving away a kit to make your own Rebecca Danger Monster Doll. You can read more about it here. The contest ends friday so enter enter enter! :)

On the needles, I still have my brother’s socks (half way done the second one) and I’m slowly but surely chugging along on my mom’s travelling woman shawl.

I decided to cast on one more project so that I can keep the momentum going so I can quickly bust my stash :)

I’m making a garter stitch jacket for Madison. It’s from a Bernat leaflet and for the life of me, I can’t find the pattern on their site to link to. So, if you want the pattern, let me know by posting a comment. It was free, so I don’t feel bad sharing it ;) I’m using Bernat’s Softee Baby in a light pink. You cant tell from the pic cause my iphone took a crazy saturated pic and I’m way to lazy to correct it.  I would much rather have used something bright like yellow or orange, but I was limited is the choices I had. I can’t wait to finish it and have Madison wear it!!

Hope you all had a great weekend and here’s to a super awesome week!

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 2 years already! And, because I’m a nerd, I went and checked on my google analytics to see what happened on the blog these past two years. I was completely blown away with the numbers I got! Now I know that it may not be much to some, but to me, it means the world! It really means a lot to me that people like coming by to see what kind of sillyness I’m up to and what I’m knitting. So, to all of you that have come by and read a post or two….

THANK YOU!!!!!!

And because I can’t help but be a nerd… Here’s the numbers from my first two years with my blog:

I’ve had 4,343 Completely Unique visitors to the site
Those visitors visited 6,739 times
All those awesome visitors viewed 10,922 pages in total
My 3 most popular posts were:

• Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies
• Cowichan Sweaters
• Travelling Woman Shawl

44.49% of my visitors are from the USA
42.65% are from Canada
3.23% are from the UK

To me…. all those numbers are pretty damn awesome. I seriously couldn’t be happier!! I hope to keep improving on the blog and trying to add more fun content on a regular basis. I’m thinking a redesign is due too.

So to mark this super kick ass event for me… I’m having a teeny weeny little giveaway.

I’m giving away a kit to make this Rebecca Danger Monster Doll:

Included in the prize will be:

• The pattern (not depicted)
• 2 balls of Patons Classic Wool (one in lime green one in pink)
• 1 sheet of white felt for the mouths
• enough stuffing for both dolls
• 4 safety eyes (not in the picture cause I’m waiting for some to get delivered)

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below and let me know what you like about the blog or… what more you would like to see :)

The contest is open to all countries and will end on Friday, February 10th 2012 at 12 noon EST Winners will be announced that same day no later than 5pm EST. The winner will be picked at random.

Again… thank you all for visiting my blog and I hope to have more and more of these giveaways!

happy knitting everyone!
Telma

One – It’s time to start busting my stash. I want to buy lovely wonderful new yarns but there’s no way that I’m going to allow myself to let my stash overflow out of the lovely shelves I have it on right now.

Two – I purchased this lovely little knit hat for my little monster:

I was so excited cause it was PERFECT. Well, the hubs accidentally put it in the wash. And by accidentally, I mean… He asked me if it was ok to put her hat in the wash while I was busy and distracted cleaning so thus just muttering “yes” :) It shrunk quite nicely and the poms and hair felted up oh so nicely. So we were in need of a hat that fit again.

I knew that I FINALLY wanted to use my lovely handspun/dyed that I got from Knittink aka Ady Bee. Her handspun was the first handspun that I EVER bought. I will never forget being on twitter and reading her tweet about how she needed to seriously sell some handspun to help pay for vet bills for her little dog. I wanted to help so I bought some handspun. I remember asking her to “just send me all you have in this color” thinking I would make something like a shrug. lol She very politely and nicely indicated that they’re single skeins because they’re all one of a kind and handspun doesn’t come in bulk like at the store. lol So Ady, if you’re reading this… thank you for not making fun of me and for teaching me about handspun and how to purchase it! lol I never got proper pics of the skeins, but I have these that are in my Ravelry Stash:

Iron Man vs Griffindor

and Dr. Doom vs Slytherin

I’ve been holding onto these 2 skeins that I bought from her for a long time now. I didnt want to knit them up because they were so pretty and precious to me. But, I can’t keep them forever and I knew that the Iron Man vs Griffindor skein was perfect for Madison.

I decided to knit the Junie Cap by Annie Watts.

I managed to get some progress pics. This yarn was soooooo awesome to knit with!

I was hoping I would have enough yardeage but alas, as soon as I got to the first earlflap, I knew I wouldnt have enough. So I improvised and added some black in Debbie Stollers Full O’ Sheep.

The Hat was very easy to knit and super quick. Its a little big on Madison but it does the trick. Maybe I will line it so that it fits a little more snug :)

The only way I was able to get pics of her in it was to take her outside so she would be distracted :)

She of course was more interested in the snow than posing! lol

So there you have it. My first stashbusting project ….. done!!!

I for the first time in my life, have a “fancy” purse. Now go figure that for my first proper purse it ends up being a knitting bag! ha! My lovely husband got me a gift card for the Purple Purl. I knew I didn’t want anymore yarn (crazy huh) because I had a TON and needed to destash. What I REALLY wanted was a set on interchangeable needles. I looked at what the Purl had and I really wanted the Knit Picks ones and those… they didn’t have. So I immediately set my eyes on the lovely knitting bags. It was down to the the clutch purse or the messenger bag.  I’ve always had messenger bag types of purses and the thought of having something as pretty as an old school snap top on my purse made me swoon. I very quickly decided that I wanted the Jordana Paige bag in the teal :)

Ladies and gents… my new baby:

I’m going to use it as my all around main purse. I’ve been using my diaper bag as a purse so I’m sure you can just imagine how excited I am :) I’m going to use the front pocket for my wallet/keys/phone and then the main area for my knittings :) I hope to still be able to knit on my lunch when I go back to work. I foresee a lot of socks in my future! lol

I would also like to announce that i’m now the proud owner of my very own set of the before mentioned Knit Picks interchangeable needles!!! I was at my favorite “omg look at all this yarn” outlet type store – Sew Knit N’ Surge – and they had them there. I was there just after Christmas and saw that they had a boxing week sale on all their yarn. I asked Peter, the owner, if they’re needles were on sale. I think he saw me oogling the set… he asked me if I wanted the Knit Picks set. I very coyishly nodded yes. He looked at me and said “you know what? you really want these don’t you? You should have them… I’ll give you 30 percent off” I just about died!!! So that day, I brought home my new needles :) When I go back to work I hope to get more extender packs for the needles.

In other news… I’ve managed to finish one of my brother’s socks! yay!!!!

I’m hoping to get the second done more quickly :) I also want to learn how to knit toe up socks so that I know exactly how much yarn I have left for the leg instead of guessing. Drives me insane to have little balls left knowing that I could have used it! If I finish the second one in decent time then I will cast on a second pair in this super fun Lion Brand sock yarn

The first pair will be his ‘serious’ socks… these will be his ‘fun’ socks :) I cant wait to see how awesomely bright they will be!

I’ve also managed to get 3 lace repeats done on my mom’s Travelling Woman Shawl:

I’m not sure that I will do the whole 11 repeats. Last one that I made with all the repeats barely fit on my queen size bed for blocking! ha! We’ll see how it goes.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I’m off to go organize my stash. I feel a huge Stash Bust Army mission coming on :)

And yes… I totally kept the little tag on it. It was the “cool” thing to do :)

The funny thing is that looking back at them now…. Well… I would actually wear them today! Mind now it would be ironic and oh so hipster of me :)

So this weeks way back Wednesday is dedicated to my first pair if real sneakers… My LA Gears.

How cute is that little jacket?!?! The cables are absolutely amazing. It’s like a mini version of a grown up jacket. This kind of stuff kills me!!! BUT… get ready for the one that will make every knitter say “awwwwwwww” the second they lay eyes on it:

Aren’t they just ridiculous??!?!?! See what I mean? Knit baby shoes for the knitters daughter!!! What a perfect gift! I still cant get over the fact that she has knit shoes!

They’re pretty awesome and they will fit her in a few weeks I’m sure :)

FO wise… I knit another set of the Rebecca Danger Momma and Baby dolls for someone who saw mine on instagram and wanted one for his daughter :) He picked a purply pink and green for her dolls. These things are sooooo fun to knit. I’m thinking I need to get her book because I want to knit Madison some more ;)

Right now, on the needles I have my mom’s Travelling Woman Shawl that I hope to get done for her birthday at the end of March. Now that the little monkey takes longer naps… I can actually get some decent knitting done on it. I’m using Dye-Versions sock yarn in the Pendragon colorway. It’s knitting up so nicely. As of this morning… I’m one row away from my second repeat of the lace pattern.

Also on the needles are a pair of socks, well, for now one sock… for my little brother for this birthday in April. I’m using the Pattons Kroy and it’s fine. It’s a little “itchy” and I’m sure my brother will not like that. I’m thinking of knitting a second back up pair just in case :)

For now that’s all I have going but want to so badly cast on something for Madison. I also have some more monster dolls to knit up for friends that fell in love with them. We’ll see if I manage to resist the urge to cast on something else by my next post ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful week! And thanks for stoping by.

Well…. I finally did it!

I don’t have much in there yet but at the rate I hope to be knitting… I should have her full in no time :)

It’s not the prettiest jar. I’m fresh out of mason jars and this old beat up one was all I could find. Once it’s full I will go out and buy something more display worthy :)

I decided to make Madison the momma and baby monster dolls from Rebecca Danger. I absolutely adore her knit toys. I let the hubs pick out the colors. He a designer so he always knows what colors are best together ;)

He picked a lovely orange and purple and I immediately cast on. This was super easy, quick and fun to knit.

I didn’t use the safety eyes because well, I don’t have any :) I didn’t feel like making the trip to Michael’s so I just used buttons instead. I opted out of gluing teeth on them because I knew Madison would find a way to rip them off and shove them in her mouth :)

They were so fun to knit that I’m now in the process of knitting another set for a little girl who’s turning 4 soon :)

I manage to get my Christmas knitting done. Mind you… I WAS weaving in ends in my brothers vest hours before they got here! I didn’t get any pics of them wearing what I made them and the pics of them opening their gifts aren’t the best. But I have some of my progress pics I wanted to post oh so badly before that I can finally  post :)

I made my sister the Sedum cardigan:

Blocking – this took almost 3 days to dry!!!

Vintage Pink Buttons :)

And my brother got the Subtle Stripe vest:

the hand dyeing made the vest kinda look like woodgrain!! lol

They seemed to have liked them. So all in all… Christmas was a success!!

After all that gift knitting I decided that I needed to just knit random things that need no deadline :) well… All except for one!! My moms bday is in march and I want to make her a traveling woman shawl like I had made my grandmother. I got some Tanis Fiber Arts sock yarn in the most pretty colorway – Pendragon Lol I’ve cast that on and hope to have it done by March 30th.

I’ve also been knitting Madison a little Monster. One of Rebecca Dangers monsters to be exact :) I’m almost done. I just need some arms for the baby monster then I can stuff and sew. Since this was drafted, all i have to do is stuff and sew ;)

Momma monster

Baby monster

Lastly… Im now in countdown mode for when I have to go back to work. It’s gonna suck. I can’t even lie about it. I know that I’m not the first to leave her little precious at home to go back to work… And I know I will adjust…. I just don’t want to. It’s hard to believe that in a few days, it will have been 10 months since she came into our lives. They really aren’t kidding when they say time flies. I’m going to make sure to enjoy every minute I have left with her during the day :)

Madison and her monkey hat that i wish i had knit ;)

And now really lastly…. I wish you all happy knitting/crafting for 2012!!

Well.. I used to be able to knit super fast :) back in the days of getting home from work and quickly whipping some dinner together then knitting for the rest of the night ;) Right now… 99% of my knitting is done after the little monkey hits the sac. And y that time…. Im exhausted. Thus… My idea of knitting overly ambitious Christmas gifts is now a really dumb one. It’s not much. It’s a cardigan for my sis and a vest for my brother :) here’s hoping they’re too busy to check on my blog till after Christmas ;) I’m done my sisters and need to finish the neck and arm borders for my brother :) We have a long car ride tomorrow, and I’m hoping I can get a bunch done :) the worst part… Is that I’ve been knitting these for months!!!! Gah!!!! So annoying :(

In other news…. And way more fun news….

I LEARNED HOW TO SPIN!!!!!

It was quite funny. Anytime I told anyone that I was taking a spinning class they thought I was taking a cycling course! Lol

But yes… I finally took a drop spindle spinning class at the Purple Purl. It was 4 hours long and I loved every minute!

I can see how spinning is addictive. You totally get into a zen sort of state of mind and it gets very very peaceful. Well… Until you keep breaking your fiber! Lol

We learned to spin with 2 types of fiber. I only remember that one was called top :) I was way to excited to pay attention to the names of the fiber I was using! Lol in gonna start doing my homework and learning about different types of fiber.

This is my first little skein that was spun with the top :)

This is my second mini skein

I of course came home with some wool so spin and started spinning it right away :)

Im trying really hard to spin a little every day. But till I get this Christmas knitting done… It’s gonna have to wait :)