Finished!

So, I've been a bit quiet. Mea Culpa. Things have been rather hectic around here, but I'm hoping to get all updated.

I have a bunch of projects on my needles, have snagged some more fabulous fibers and stitch markers, and I doubt I'll ever get the opportunity to share them all with you. LOL.

However, I did just finish a hat and I want to introduce you to the Bubba hat:

The Bubba Hat ... in action

It was crafted from this fabulous yarn I snagged over at Gherkin's Bucket on Etsy. It's creamy, soft, luscious and just sparkly enough to keep me happy without sending me into a glitter-coma. The pattern is Handmaiden's In An Evening Toque hat, found on Ravelry.

Here are the yarn skeins I got:

Bubba - Superwash Merino/Silk/Nylon Sparkle/Faux Cashmere blend; bulky, 90yds

Quinn - 80/20 Superwash Merino/Silk blend; worsted, 202yds

The colorways are from the Vamp Camp Collection and are based on characters from the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Yes, I am a fan. I couldn't resist and the price was SO reasonable it made it a certainty that they'd be mine:)

I also picked up some stitch markers from the lovely soccerchic21 over on Etsy as well. Again, with the True Blood series (and trust me, there are more I'm waiting on because I went on a mini shopping spree as it had been ages since I'd gotten yarns to fondle!)

Eric Northman markers

Pam markers

Sam Merlotte markers

I have a few more projects on the needles right now and hopefully, when finished, I'll share them!

XOXO,
Bella

Happy Post-Zombie Jesus Day!

This is what I get to see everyday that I take Dragon to work. See? Mountains:D

So not much going on in our household this weekend (or for the past few weeks rather) thus the lack of updates. HOWEVER!!! I have completed some projects, started some new ones, taken a SLEW of pictures and I am here to inflict all of this information upon you.

Behold ye, and tremble in fear.

Purple Jade and Sterling Silver...so pretty!

This is a purple jade pendant with a silver dragon on it, courtesy of Uwajimaya Market in downtown Seattle. I also got some Puchi miniature meals...and they are made of awesome and cute!

Puchi Mini Meals...dangerously addictive.

It was amazing and we will definitely be going again sometime soon. It's so refreshing to finally have a place to go to get the awesome Japanese food that I remember from Japan:)

Now, on to the completed works! First up the infamous crochet orange scarf and knitted hat out of the Orange Slices Merino yarn from Andrea :

Finally completed. Very warm and very bright, they help to keep the dreary Seattle chill away. My favorite part (aside from the yarn) is the edging. It's a crochet braid stitch that looks to be much more complicated than it really is.

Then I splurged a little bit (a whole $6) and bought the Applejack hat pattern from Croshay Designs and proceeded to make two of them. The first is out of the amazing BFL in the ColdSteel colorway from the faboo Andrea .

And what's more, I had so much left over that I decided it needed a scarf to go with it, so I'm currently using the Magic Scarf pattern by Crazy Aunt Purl and still working on it:

Then I used a combo of the Dexter colorway in Merino/Silk blend from Cosmic Fibers Yarn on Etsy and some of the Obsidian Merino/Tencel from Andrea :
I didn't have enough of the Dexter to do more than the hat, so I'm thinking that if I knit a scarf for this one I'll do it strictly out of the Obsidian. And I'm thinking cables:D

Then we have the latest Calorimetry that I'm making for my BFF Dawn down in Alabama out of the most AMAZING chunky baby alpaca yarn! I picked it up from Yarnzilla for a steal and I will definitely be getting more of it because oh...it's so lush! I believe the colorway is called Ember Melange and the photos just do NOT do it justice!

That's my little purple skull cupcake stitch marker from Scary Merry over on Etsy. I adore them:)

And last, but certainly not least, I'm working on yet another scarf, this time using the incredibly gorgeous Her Eyes tencel from Andrea . Again....photos cannot capture how truly beautiful this yarn is, folks.

Those are the new bamboo needles I picked up on Amazon for a steal! I now have no excuse because I now have every size from 0 - 13 in 9" straights and DPNs.

I'm using the Old Shale Pattern, found on Ravelry, and so far, it may not look like much, but I swear, when it's blocked? It's going to be utterly fabulous!

So that's it for now:) I swear it's taken me entirely too long to get this update on here. But I'm sure that after viewing such beautiful yarns, you'll need a rest.

The battle for the water box is on. First Blade...

Then Kratos;)

Until next time;)

XOXO
~Bella

Knit-geek, ahoy!

I received a $100 gift card to Barnes and Noble for Christmas from my employer and I've been sitting on it, patiently plotting, trying to decide what I want to use it on.

I've had my eye on Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby for a while, but kept hem-hawing around picking it up because I couldn't justify buying it when I was still a n00b to the knitting scene. Well, I finally decided to get it and it's just gorgeous. I adore Victorian lace and have wanted to try it for myself. I'm still intimidated all to hell, but there is such a variation of different types of lace patterns that I really can't see myself NOT using it. I'll definitely be starting small, though. *laughs*

I also picked up The Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns by Sterling Publishing Co. from the bargain bin. At a little over $14, it was a steal! It is chock full of fabulous stitch patterns that I can already see myself making use of! So, so happy with it:)

As for the other books, they're not knitting related, but for anyone who's interested in how eclectic I can be:

Death, A Life by George Pendle,

and three of the The Element Encyclopedias:

Secret Signs & Symbols,

Ghosts and Hauntings,

and Birthdays.

I finished up the two Calorimetry scarves for the baristas, already given Dinah's to her tonight! She was quite excited that I hadn't forgotten:) Good. Girl needs something bright to wear because she's such a perky person anyway. Thursday we're going to swing by and give the other one to my punk-girl. She should love it too.

I've discovered that as much as I love buying yarn and knitting for myself, I also really seem to enjoy knitting for others too, if for no other reason than to see the joy on their faces when they get that hand-knit item. They truly appreciate it.

I'm still knitting away on the kitten paw scarf and I've been toying with the idea of making a skull motif scarf or shawl out of the "After the Fire" yarn I got from Andrea. It's such a darkly beautiful yarn....I dunno! Suggestions are welcome on what I should make of it! If I knew how, I'd make a pair of stockings, honestly, but I don't trust myself to make them look right. *laughs* I'd love to make it into a pair of the skull stockings over on the Victorian free patterns website I saw earlier today.

In any event, I'm going to go back to watching The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. Why yes, I watch Disney movies. My brother works there. I'm...er...supporting him;)

XOXO
Bella

*Insert gratiuitous whining here*

How can one stand it when you have a picture like this teasing you?

Those are the beautiful bits of lovely waiting on me to play with! Andrea, in her awesomeness, has not only spun these sexy strings, but she's wound them into balls for me because she is made of complete awesome and win.

Let's see if I can remember what the colors are. Clockwise from the top: Her Eyes, Lemon Drop, Obsidian, After the Fire, and Hawk's Eye (I believe).

*whine whine whine* Ahem.

So come payday this Friday, I will ship off for these most craved for yarns and will soon hold them in my greedy paws!

In other knitting news, I will upload pics of my mom's present after she's had a chance to see it (because I know she looks at this blog *waves* Hi Mom!) so I don't want to spoil the suprise:)

We were out for coffee yesterday and I was wearing my latest Calorimetry head scarf. Side note: I am seriously addicted to making these. They take up very little yarn, so they're great stashbusters, plus, they're ridiculously quick to knit. They keep your head and ears warm and...well...I'll just let a picture speak for itself. This one was knit in Cosmic Fiber's Moonlight series Josef colorway, 100% Leicester wool!

Anyway, the one I was wearing is done in a lovely skein of black Noro Cash Iroha yarn which is a cashmere/silk/lambswool blend and OH so warm!


As she was handing me my coffee (because I adore Terravida, just sayin') she said she loved my hat.

This is where my Dragon pipes up with, "She knit it herself!" Bless him. She looked shocked and then when I asked if she wanted one, she asked how much I'd charge. I told her it's Christmas...so it'd be all for her. She said she liked the black, but, oh noes, I don't have anymore black, BUT! I do have a beautiful deep garnet and a vibrant purple, both in the same yarn...so I think I'm going to follow Jack's advice and make one of each, and let her pick:)

She's such a sweetie, so perky and upbeat (and adorable as hell), and she makes me smile. So it's nothing major for me to make her a little something to keep her adorable head warm:)

I'm also working on turning the Silver Lining bamboo into a pair of glovelets, but it reminds me, working with the DPNs, how much I detest the DPNs. I seriously need more circular needles because man...I feel like I'm wrestling a hedgehog. It's slow going, but that's mostly because I have very little experience with them.

And just in case you haven't had enough yarn porn...behold, the newest additions to my stash that the most lovely Andrea is going to spin and ball for me:

The Morning After, and:

Copper Penny;)

I'll explain why I got one so close to the coppertop colorway a little later on.

Anywho. So there you have it. Current WIPs. Yarn Porn. Awesomeness and Win.

And freakin'-A, it's snowing!!! I'm going to go dance in the snowflakes for a bit!

XOXO
~Bella

Finished!

I have finished one project, the most important one right now, because it's for my mom's Christmas present:)

It's currently blocked and drying in the bedroom, much to the chagrin of the cats. I don't have a blocking board or proper, er, needles? for it, so I'm making do with what I've got. The blocking does, really, open the pattern work so you can see it better and from what I understand, the drape will improve and this particular yarn should hold it's shape much better:)

I just hope she likes it! Last year, my mom gave me a beautiful handmade quilt that serves as my "hug" while I'm up here and she's down in Texas. This year, I'm returning the favor.

And that's all I'm going to say about that, lol! I'm just so damned proud of myself for finally finishing it! And it's beautiful.

So I suppose that I need to add blocking board and pins, and, possibly, blocking wires, to my list of things to get. It joins the ranks of ball winder and Signature Art needles with stiletto points (alllll of them, in all sizes, AND the DPNs).

Oh. And yarn;) Of which the lovely Andrea will be getting her payment and I should be getting my order of the latest yarn porn soon:)

That's all I have right now. The weather outside is frightful. Windy, rainy, and temperatures plummeting to the point they're forecasting snow showers all weekend. I'm excited because, hello, I adore snow! And we don't really have anywhere to be this weekend, so I might get a chance to sit and watch it...and possibly make a tiny snowman. *insert cheesy, child-like grin here*

XOXO
~Bella

It's a small, small world.

I was browsing around on my other journal today and someone had posted this link:

How to peel and eat a pomegranate.

3 things of note (aside from the sheer awesomeness of the post itself):

1. The author and I share the same name (even the same spelling, which is so awesome I can't even describe it)
2. We share the same city
3. We share the same adoration for the color Purple (not the book, the hue).

And it struck me as I read the post that....wow...this is an awfully small world sometimes. *laughs*

In other news: The weather outside isn't nearly as frightful. A bit drizzly and grey, but it's lightened up since this morning. A crisp 50-something out there which makes it entirely pleasant to keep the window open:)

Shadow-cat is mooing at something in the backyard while the other beasties are passed out in their typical spots.

I made a Whipped Cream Butter Pound-cake the other night because I had a hankering for something simple yet decadent (that, and my Dragon has been pestering me for a cake the past few weeks). I realized earlier today when discussing the merits of this particular pound cake as the base for Strawberry Shortcake, that I'm in blackberry country now, so I think I'm going to try to get my hands on some blackberries, macerate them, and try for a blackberry shortcake. Mmm.

Still plugging away at the scarf. It's coming along very nicely.

I find myself at a loss for words today. I think I'll go back to knitting and dreaming of blackberry shortcake.

... Or perhaps I'll make a nice spinach salad as a healthy alternative. LOL!

XOXO
Bella

Bamboo...it's not just for Pandas anymore.

I just finished knitting up my gauge swatch for my newest project.

A pair of lace up opera gloves by ysolda that I intend on making out of the glorious Silver Lining bamboo yarn that I received yesterday from Andrea.

I never knew how soft, how lush, how utterly fabulous bamboo yarn could be. I normally don't do gauge swatches, but I couldn't resist casting on and playing with this yarn as soon as I touched it.

I'm glad I did because not only is it PERFECT for the gauge of the project, the shimmer of the yarn really shines through in the way it pools and shifts through the colorway.

I love it! And I can't wait to cast on:)

Confessions of a Yarn Slut.

I have to admit, a year ago, I was in acrylic yarn hell. It was all I really used for any of my projects. Natural yarns seemed too difficult to find and too pricey to boot.

Some months ago I finally gathered up the courage to go into an actual yarn store and was blown away by the variety and beauty of the yarns for sale. I bought a couple of balls of hemp yarn and a sock blend in an amazing purple variegated colorway, and for months they just languished in my stash. I thought they were too pretty to play with and was still a novice knitter, so I worried about making the wrong thing or messing up the yarn somehow.

When we moved to Seattle a few months ago, I was determined to scope out my local yarn store to try to increase my stash (who doesn't?) and ended up spending a pretty penny on some very pretty yarns.

Then I discovered Etsy. And Woolgirl.com. And Natural Obsessions. Well, I was hooked.

It's not a cheap habit, by any stretch of the imagination. But oh! The colors! The softness! The love that goes into making these fibers!

My current obsession is Natural Obessions. Like I explained to my Dragon, I have no problems spending money on individual proprietors who hand-dye and spin these gorgeous skeins. Andrea is an amazing colorway artist and her yarn is so vibrant and beautiful! I've already ordered way too much, in fact....let me show you some of the colors I've gotten from her!

You're already familiar with the Lemon Drop and Coppertop that I've received from her. But here are a few more:


This lovely skein is 100% tencel, colorway: Amethyst.


This was one of the first that I ordered. Antique Brass.


This roving, called Hawk's Eye, will be spun for me by her very capable hands:)


My most recent purchase (as of last night): Her Eyes.


Another beautiful color: Nearly Grackle.


Obsidian, a 50/50 Merino/Tencel blend, I believe.

And last, but certainly not least:

Silver Lining. Oh how it shimmers!

She has many more exquisite yarns over at her Etsy store and I highly recommend her! She's an amazing woman with amazing vision and just amazing yarn. I swear, if I had limitless fundage, I'd buy everything she's got in a heartbeat (*starts making plans to win the lottery*).

I posed a challenge to her last night about a specific colorway I was hoping to find and she's taking it on!! *squee* I'm really excited to see what she comes up with because I know it's going to be gorgeous:)

Okay. Enough squeeing. I really should get some work done. BUT! I am not finished with pictures yet. *grin* I have a few of the scarf I'm working on that I took this morning. It's slow going, but that's because I procrastinate. But as soon as I get them uploaded, I will once again assault your eyes:)

Until then!

XOXO
Bella