Flit, Flit, Fly

I saw this cute little guy the other day when I was coming home from Pick Your Project. His wings were so beautiful!

I love the way dragonflies flit around; they always seem like they are on a mission - did you know they can fly up to 45 miles per hour?

Apparently seeing a dragonfliy is good luck - which is always a good thing. Although I was told once that dragonflies should remind you to reflect on your deeper thoughts and desires. Dragonflies have short lives and must live life to it's fullest.

And here I thought he was just a cute bug!

New Yarn!

Susan went on vacation last week and spent a lovely week cruising around Vancouver.

While she was there she visited the Felicia Lo's studio, Sweet Georgia Yarn.

Susan and I are big fans of Sweet Georgia Yarns. The have amazing base yarns and incredible colors. Both Susan and I have designed patterns from her yarn.

I asked if she would mind picking me out some yarn while she was there, as she was already going to be buying lots of yummy-ness anyway. I couldn't wait to see what treasures she would find there!

I said to her in a cryptic message on Ravelry:

"Think teals / purples / greys. Think rich and yummy - a bit of contrast between the balls so that you can see the changes within a few stitches or rows but not enough to be tacky. A really nice silvery grey ball and a semi solid to go with. . . purple or teal. Think a delish shawl with a pop of color for winter . . . like grey, grey, grey, oh my TEAL! (or purple) . . ah I'm not worried, you have great taste."

Fortunately Susan knows me well enough to see where I was going with my idea.

I love the subtle-ness of the semi-solid colorways. I bought two skeins of Malabrigo Sock that matched perfectly with these two - I just can't wait to get started on this project.

The Perfect Bag

I don't know about you, but I always have a hard time finding the perfect bag. There is something that isn't quite right - I wish the pocket was here; not there etc.

I finally found an excellent bag! It might not be completely perfect but it sure is trying :) My newest purse is from Street Level. Most of the Street Level bags are made from vegan leather which is kinda neat. I discovered it while on the "fun" day, during my latest trip to Vancouver, at Barefoot Contessa.

Everytime I go to Barefoot Contessa, I find something cute, whimsical and amazing. Barefoot Contessa delights it's patrons with vintage goods, local and handmade items varying from dresses, jewels and purses to housewares and the occasional book. Love!

This cute doctor bag has 3 compartments: a middle one - perfect for keys, phone, wallet, and 2 outer ones - perfect for knitting! The fact that you can put a project on one side with it's pattern and not worry about the yarn getting caught on all the regular purse stuff is just delightful. And! The inside of each of the compartments has a vintage, flower print feel to it. Too delightful!




And yes! That is 2 hundred gram balls stuffed in there with a pair of addi's! Isn't that just great!

Little Green Dress

When I got back from Seattle (and Vogue Knitting!), Maria had a list of little knits to be done.
      You're probably thinking -  I've seen this dress before and you would be right! I posted about the Girly Dress from Lana Hames before. Two years ago, I knit 2 little, white dresses for Maria's granddaughters.
        Apparently, the girls love to wear them! Now that they have grown, Maria wanted to get them new ones and have a couple made for the new granddaughters.

Zongpai - A Dropped Stitch Slouch

Last Tuesday, Hengpai - A Drop Stitch Slouch came out as part of the Malabrigo Quickies program! As promised I'm releasing the sister hat to it today. I was so inspired by Hengpai and drop stitches that I just knew I had to create another hat using that technique! (And there just might be 6 more ideas along the same lines bouncing their way through my head! Don't be too surprised to see, next fall, a delightful assortment of drop stitch items - both accessory and garment.)

Here's a recap from last week: 

 

As I was knitting Hengpai and Zongpai, I was thinking about how both of the hats are very similar in their stitch pattern but yet a little different as one is knit vertically and one is knit horizontally.

In Chinese writing, one can write horizontally which is known as hengpai and one can write vertically which is known as zongpai. After reading about hengpai and zongpai, I knew my hats had their namesake."

Here are the details:        

                                 

* Malabrigo Worsted -1 Skein, Color Shown is # 37 Lettuce

         - approx. 145-165 yards

* 5mm / US8 Straight Knitting Needles

* 5mm / US8 16" Circular Needle

*Tapestry Needle
 

 

Enjoy!

 

A pic to help visualize the decreasing at the top of the hat.

Malabrigo Quickie: Hengpai - A Drop Stitch Slouch

As part of the Malabrigo Quickies Series, I present to you, Hengpai - A Drop Stitch Slouch. I've been wanting to knit something out of the Malabrigo Worsted  in Taureg since the moment I saw it. The color is just the most amazing teal-y blue; very rich and wonderfully semi-solid. Huge thanks to Malabrigo for their yarn support!

As I was knitting Clapo-Ktus, I just knew I was going to design something with a drop stitch pattern to it. I loved how easy it was and yet so effective.

The first of the hats I designed was Hengpai. This hat is knit sideways in stocking stitch using short rows to create the round shaping for the crown. Once all the short row sections are worked, the hat is cast off and the stitches are dropped to create the dropped stitch openwork pattern. Once the seam is sewn, stitches are then picked up and knit for the brim. I used a grafting technique to sew the seam for the back of the hat.


The second hat was Zongpai. This is a vertically worked drop stitch pattern knit out of Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce. It will be released next week here and on Ravelry.

As I was knitting Hengpai and Zongpai, I was thinking about how both of the hats are very similar in their stitch pattern but yet a little different as one is knit vertically and one is knit horizontally.

In Chinese writing, one can write horizontally which is known as hengpai and one can write vertically which is known as zongpai. After reading about hengpai and zongpai, I knew my hats had their namesake.

Here are the details:                                         

* Malabrigo Worsted -1 Skein, Color Shown is #98 Tuareg

         - approx. 145-165 yards

* 5mm / US8 Straight Knitting Needles

* 5mm / US8 16" Circular Needle

*Tapestry Needle

Enjoy!

See you next Tuesday, when I will release Zongpai. I can't wait - it is quite the beauty!

A Little Milo

David and I are leaving in a little over 2 weeks to go to Seattle for a vacation and Vogue Knitting Live! I am still way too excited about this little endeavor. Until . . I realized I still hadn't finished a present for Lizzie, David's two year old cousin, for whom I was knitting for before she was born! Yikes how time flies!

So, last night (1:30am) I jumped onto Ravelry and began immediately looking for super cute but quick patterns I could knit up just in time for our Seattle trip. I found 2 really cute patterns and realized I couldn't make up my mind as to which sweater I wanted to knit - as to whether it was because they were both just too cute or because it was now 2:00am I'm not so sure . . probably the cute thing! I decided to start with the vest pattern and I will work on the sweater if I still have time before we leave.

This cute vest,  Milo, is from designer, Georgie Hallam. I omitted the cable on this little vest because I felt that it wouldn't show up the way I would like with the self striping yarn. The yarn is Riot DK from King Cole - Color #401 Cool. I can't wait to make another Milo. The pattern is easy to follow and quick to make. Love!