My Year in Instagram Photos!

   I was very late on the Instagram game, so maybe this isn't the most exciting share... but I love when other bloggers do 'week/month/year in Instagram' posts, so I thought I'd share my own. :) Here's my partial year on Instagram!

• The first dress I've sewn that I liked (second dress I've sewn since I've picked up sewing).

• My mom taught me how to crochet when she flew up for my birthday and left me with some yarn and hooks!
• One of the things I made during my mom's trip up to Washington, some velvety leggings lined with thermal fabric.
• My first order of Spoonflower fabric, of my little boy Einstein of course. :)
• The pattern to my first jacket I've sewn.

• Just some delicious grilled cheese, haha.
• Starting my first ever crochet project.
• And finished my first crochet project as well, a slightly slouchy hat!
• My first ever yarn haul. :) I was just using the yarn my mom left prior to this.
• My second hat/project, I just had to make this. I love my old Jayne hat that I bought on amazon but it was simply too big!

• The results of a quite annoying trip to Jo Ann's. Not Jo Ann's fault though, I was not prepared for the cold weather. :(
• And the jacket that I finally finished with my little Jo Ann's haul!
• I decided I needed beautiful portraits of my kitties with yarn, so here's that!
• Portraits, of course, are not enough for a cat lady. I also needed to make a dress with my boy, Einstein's, face plastered all over it. :)
• I started (and did not finish, boo!) a project of taking a self portrait every day for a month. Even unfinished, I got some photos I really love out of it. Part one portraits, part two portraits, part three portraits.

•  Just a little festive cat beanie and my photogenic boy, Einstein, haha. :) I made the beanie for some Christmas themed pet portraits. :D
• My first buy from knitpicks, definitely not my last. :)
• A current WIP, a silver bobbled polka dot scarf! I've put it down in lieu of starting my first pair of socks, but I'll have to spend some more time on it soon.
• I got a TON of knitting needles as a Christmas gift, so now I have to make a new (neon pink!) needle case to fit them all.
• Last but not least, I wrote out my first pattern. I love my new double pom hat. :)

   Well, that's my year in Instagram. :) Happy New Year ya'll!

 

   Happy Holidays from my cat family to yours!

My Favourite Things: Super Chunky Yarns

   I am in love with super, extra, jumbo chunky yarns right now! I love how visible and obvious the texture of the yarns are. I love how the stitches stand out and are extremely easy to see. If I don't get my hands on some soon, I might explode!

   Some of the yarns in particular I have been looking at are Loopy Mango and Couture Jazz yarns.

   Loopy Mango's Big Loop yarn is on the pricey side, to put it lightly, but it looks oh so worth it! Plus, they have 'mini's of their super chunky yarn for less (thought still a bit pricey) and there is plenty in it to make an awesome super chunk scarf or cowl.

Loopy Mango's Big Loop Yarn | Loopy Mango Knit Kits (lots of good Big Loop kits here!)

   Premier Yarn's Couture Jazz goes for a much more affordable price, if you don't mind it being a bit less chunky! It is a funky open-net style yarn that you can apparently make a cowl out of without even knitting or crocheting it.

    I prefer the knit cowl from SimplyMaggie, but this non knit/non crocheted 'jazzed up' cowl is definitely worth checking out and trying for yourself. You can find Premier Knits Couture yarns on amazon.com, overstock.com, walmart.com, etc. It's pretty easy to find!

   Another awesome alternative by Laura from nocturnalknits.com is using unspun wool roving (and pvc pipes as needles. How cool!) I imagine it sheds a bit but you should definitely take a look at this video, anyways:

 

(on YouTube)

   I wanted to share my newest yarn obsession (can you consider it an obsession before getting a chance to try it out yourself? I can't stop googling and youtubing it so I guess so!) with ya'll, but blogging has made me ready to knit and crochet something instead! Hope you enjoyed!

A Couple Little Crochet Things

   I've made a couple little crochet things so far this month! The first was just a free-handed bag for my crochet hooks, I didn't have anything to store them in and they tended to wind up everywhere! The bag is nothing special but it keeps them all in one place so I'm happy with it. :)

   It's actually kind of ugly, haha. But it does it's job and that's all it needs to do.

   The second project turned out much prettier! (At least I think so. ;D) It's a quick bow scarf pattern I found to try and use up my Hometown USA yarn. I had two skeins and now just have less than half a skein left, I have no idea what to do with the remainder though!

   Here's the scarf!

   These are kind of unflattering photos, so just ignore that please, haha.

   I found the pattern for the scarf on Ravelry. It worked up in about two hours, and was really very simple. (Of course, my little helpers helped me take my time.)

   I definitely recommend it for a quick, cute project, here's a link to it!

  

Amazing Crochet and Knitting Patterns!

   I have a couple little tiny new changes to my blog that I want to share as well as some rockin' patterns from Ravelry!

   So, first things first. The new changes to my blog (these are pretty small changes but I thought I'd share) are that I've added my Ravelry page and my Pinterest boards to my links, and I've fixed problem I've been having with my layout. For some reason the "older posts" and "newer posts" links were disabled and couldn't be used. All fixed now though!

   Okay, on to these super neat patterns! I just have to share because I love them so much, so I hope you love them too! All patterns shown are free.

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   All images link to their pages on Ravelry! If you have made one or decide to make one, I would love to see! I am fairly novice at crocheting and VERY new to knitting, but I plan on (eventually) making all of these, I just love them!

   I have more of my favourite knitting and crochet patterns on my Pinterest, as well. ;D

December Projects!

   Wow, I have not blogged in a while! Life was catching up to me for a while there, but I'm back ahead of it. Last month I dedicated a lot of my free time to practicing my banjo and doing a self portrait project (which I did not finish), and not a lot of time making things. This month I want to change that up though.

   I have recently started to learn to knit. I am really new to this and haven't even made anything yet! I bought a 'learn to knit kit' from Barnes and Nobles on impulse, and I decided this will be a great new hobby! My sweetheart got me One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit or Crochet on Black Friday, since Hasting's had a "five used books for twenty dollars" sale.

   I also ordered some books off Amazon. None have arrived yet but there was a 30% off books sale that I just couldn't pass up! I am awaiting The Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book, Knits for Nerds (totally looking forward to the Firefly themed projects here!), Getting Started Knitting Socks, and Woodland Knits!

   This month I decided a couple of my goals to be to begin and finish (at least) one crochet, knitting, and sewing project each. I need to get back to making things! I feel at my best when I've accomplished making something beautiful. :)

   Here's the three projects I've got planned. I may decide on something else later, but for now I look forward to these:

   The Larissa moto jacket pattern from Burdastyle.com, which I want to make in denim! :D

   These cunning Jayne Cobb style socks from Knits for Nerds!

   And this triangle fringe scarf from Crochet Boutique!


   Well, that's all I have to share for now! I just wanted to peek in and say, "I'm still here!!" and share this month's upcoming projects with ya'll. Which one is your favourite?

   Have a craft day. ;P