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Entrelac Scarf Tutorial

I Tweeted and Facebooked about this back in December but realized I never gave it the proper blog post it deserved!

I was honored to be contacted by Staci Perry of verypink.com asking if she could film an entrelac tutorial based on my Entrelac Scarf Pattern. Those of you familiar with Staci’s tutorials know how wonderful they are!

If you are new to entrelac knitting (or intimidated by it!) this video will make you an entrelac pro! You can download my pattern and follow along as Staci walks you through every step!

And please visit Staci’s website for more wonderful tutorials!

 

Would you believe that one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to blog more often? Heh.

So what’s been happening the past several months? My Flower Market Shawl pattern is now available on Ravelry, Patternfish and Craftsy and has been a great success! I am thrilled with the feedback I’ve gotten on it. I even got an email from Patternfish congratulating me on its success and telling me to “DESIGN MORE!” OK, OK, OK! I’m workin’ on it!

Of course, I’ve been knitting and crocheting (and not finishing) about a gazillion projects. Well, I did finish one sweater but I haven’t a) sewn it together or b) found buttons for it. Maybe I’m a “process knitter.” Someone who enjoys the actual knitting and not the actual finishing. Ahem…

Three of my current (constant) works in progress are:

Aidez Cardigan

The popular Aidez cardigan! I was watching everyone (and their brother) knitting this sweater and I had to get in on the fun. I’m a sucker for anything with cables. I have a cabled cardigan that I bought at Target years ago that I wear all the time and people always ask me if I made it and I sheepishly (ha!) answer “no.” So I wanted to find a pattern that had that “comfy cabled cardi” feel to it so I could retire the store-bought sweater and proudly answer “YES!” to that question. Aidez fit the bill perfectly. I am just two sleeves away from finishing it! Just in time for warm weather! My timing is truly impeccable.

Marigold Socks
My second go-to project (and the one that serves as my small, portable project) is Marigold Socks. Some of you may recognize this stripey goodness from a Chevron Scarf I was making for myself. Well, my heart was definitely not in it and it never seemed to get any longer! The Scarf That Never Grows became a big joke in my knitting group so I rrrrrripped it out and decided on a fun stripey pair of socks instead! I do not consider myself a sock knitter but I do have a pair of Pomatomus socks that I made years ago. I wore them a few weeks ago and was reminded of how incredibly comfortable handknit socks are. They’re like a hug for your feet! So I may become a sock knitter after all!

Ruffle Rose Pillow

The Ruffle Rose Pillow is one of my current crochet projects. I never thought I needed a ruffly crocheted pillow until Allyson over at The Sweatshop of Love convinced me that indeed I do. My bed needs one (or more?) of these! This is my current “mindless” project that I usually pull out at knit night when gossiping intellectual conversation starts to take up most of my attention.

Another project I’ve been working on is ME! I’ve been trying to get into running for years. I would start running, injure myself, stop running, rinse, repeat. Since 2012 is my 35th year on this planet I decided THIS IS THE YEAR I BECOME A RUNNER. So I put my money where my mouth is and hired a running coach. He has me running three days a week and cross training three days a week. So I’m now doing an hour of some form of exercise six days a week. Sometimes I feel like exercising is all I do. Whew! It is exhausting but so rewarding! If any of you are on dailymile please add me as a friend! Lord knows I could use all the encouragement I can get.

This post is becoming super-sized so I’m going to end it here. I do have more things to share but I’ll save them for another post! I promise I’m going to start blogging more! Instead of a New Year’s Resolution, I’ll call it a Leap Year’s Resolution! Yeah!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

See you in 2012!

The ornaments above are Raveled here and here

New Pattern: Flower Market Shawl

The day has finally come. The Flower Market Shawl pattern is now available for purchase on Ravelry (you do not need to be a member of Ravelry to purchase the pattern)! It’s a perfect shawl for the changing seasons! It is a really fun knit and I had a blast designing it!

The Flower Market Shawl is a triangular shawl with a garter stitch border. It is knit from the center back to the bottom edge, with increases at each edge and along the center stitch. The finished size is approximately 51 inches x 30 inches. The pattern includes both chart instructions and full written instructions. It has been test-knitted several times without issue.

Flower Market Shawl Preview

I want to give a shout-out to my good friend Heidi who helped me design a logo to use on this pattern (and all future patterns). She really did an awesome job (and graciously put up with me changing my mind on things every 5 minutes). I’m thrilled to have something to represent Freckles & Purls so beautifully! Thanks, Heidi!

Coming soon…

ugh

I’m working on a new design for a lace shawl and I’m thrilled with how it’s turning out! I’m almost finished with it! The charts are done and I’m in the process of converting them to written instructions. Then it’s off to test knitters, etc and then available to YOU! I’m shooting for an early October release so stay tuned!

new shawl in progress

The funk

How can the one thing I’m completely obsessed with not bring me joy? It’s the question that I think all knitters and crocheters have asked themselves at one time or another. It usually happens when a week (or more) has gone by and we realize we haven’t picked up our needles or hooks at all.

Of course, there can be many reasons for this lull/hiatus. One is life. Life sometimes (most of the time?) finds itself getting in the way of the fun stuff. Another hurdle can be the loss of interest in current projects (this plagues me more than I care to admit). Or maybe we put down our hooks and needles because of lack of inspiration. There just aren’t any patterns out there “calling” to us. Or maybe there are other hobbies or interests filling up our free time.

Or maybe, like in my case, it’s all of the above.

I’ll admit that after my last post (has it really been 3 1/2 months?) I found myself in my own funk. I found myself doing a lot more reading and a lot less knitting. And I finally got myself an iPad, and, boy, is that thing a big time-sucker. It has games to play! Books to read! Movies to watch! I’m not really sure I even put it down at all that first week.

But, thankfully, babies continue to be born, and that’s always a kick in the butt to put down everything else and return to my yarn. And, without fail, when I do return, I remember just how much joy it brings me, and the love affair is rekindled.

So I do have two finished projects to show that I recently gifted to some expecting and new parents.

This is the Vintage Crocheted Blanket that I made for some friends who are expecting their first baby VERY soon! We don’t know if it’s going to be a boy or a girl so I decided on this gender-neutral, brightly colored blanket, and I love it! And they do, too! Project specs and more photos of the blanket are here.

I also finished a sweater for Geoff’s boss who has a new baby girl at home. Project specs and more photos are here.

We are slowly adjusting to summer down here, and the oppressive heat definitely tends to dictate what projects I work on (for some reason, finishing a 100% wool sweater when it’s 100 degrees outside just doesn’t sound appealing to me). So of my current works in progress (WIPs), I find myself working mostly on the Sunny Spread. Crocheting blanket squares is definitely doable in this heat. And who knows, maybe I’ll have it finished in time for cooler weather (barring any more funks).

What are you working on this summer?

Spring Has Sprung!

I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation. Spring has definitely sprung down here and I am loving it! I get to open up the doors (and the two windows in the house that aren’t painted shut) and enjoy the warm breeze. Of course, Spring always inspires me to do some Spring Cleaning so I have been doing more of that and less of the fun stuff like knitting. Also, the house across the street from us burned last month (thankfully everyone got out safely!) and it really got me thinking about all of the “stuff” we have accumulated over the years and how important it really isn’t. So there has been this overwhelming need to purge purge purge. It’s also kicked our butts into really developing an inventory of the items we have (that is, those that survive the big purge) and make sure our insurance is up to par! While our neighbors lost pretty much everything, they were fortunate to have great insurance and the rebuilding of their home started TODAY! Lots to be thankful for!

In between spring cleaning and purging I have been doing a bit of knitting! I’ll give you a peek into a couple of projects I’ve started since we last spoke. One is a pair of mittens. I know, just in time for Spring! But seriously, at the rate I’m going, they’ll be finished just in time for Winter. They are the Potpourri Mittens from the Fall 2008 Vogue Knitting.

I’ve also started a Chevron Scarf for myself (again with the cold weather knits as Spring arrives!). It’s my current “mindless knitting” project and I’m digging the funky stripes.

And I have a little sweater for a baby that just recently made her debut into the world. I don’t have any good pics of it “in progress” but I’ll finish it soon and hopefully get some good ones then!

I’m also gearing up to teach an Entrelac class at my local yarn shop next month. I haven’t taught a knitting class in SO LONG and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve got to get my butt in gear and knit some class samples soon! Time is whizzing by! Those in the Hattiesburg area interested in taking the class can call Teresa at The Yarn Basket to reserve your spot! 601-582-7272 Saturday, April 16 11am – 1pm! Just $25 per person (plus materials – 10% off)! Come join the fun!

Happy Spring, Everybody!

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