Extended:: KAL Day 2

   So, I wanted to check on all of you, I hope that you have cast on, and started on the pattern. I know that I was confused in the beginning, I dropped some yo's, miscounted, but sooner or later it clicked, and I got it! I don't even think that I could even get my brain to comprehend it at first. I haven't done any knitting since my last post, I've been crocheting. I am going to work on it for a while tonight, making sure that I am knitting along.
   I also want to mention, this KAL is not  a "you have to be here by this time" kind of KAL. I would like each of you to knit as you please, just remember, the FO thread (Will be put up probably late next week) will be closed at 11: 59 P.M. Central Standard Time on May 20, 2013. I will be posting tips that I find as I knit whenever I can, and posting in general about the shawl daily. I will post progress pictures here on my blog as I take them, and there is a thread in the Ravelry Group called "Show off your progress!"

I hope that you all are enjoying knitting along with me, and all of the others! Happy Knitting! :)

KAL Day 2: Cast On!

   Today, let's all cast on and begin our Garden View Shawl! I would love for everyone to complete at least 5-10 rows today, because if we do 5-10 rows a day, we can reach our goal of 2 1/2 leaves a week! :) I got confused on a few parts in the beginning, so I had to start taking notes. Beside each row, I put the number of stitches that should be on the needles and realized it goes up by 3 stitches each row (due to yos) until the decreases start. I'm pretty sure you more experienced knitters out there won't have very much trouble out of the pattern, but as a beginner, that's just what I did and it helped me a lot! I will say, I've had to tick back many many times because the stitch count was not adding up. I've done about 10 rows in the picture, just to give a feel to what it will start to look like. Don't forget to head on over to the Ravelry Group and join in on there too!

Podcast Obsessed!

   So I have recently found that I am OBSESSED with a podcast, Joy and Smiles! I originally started watching it when I found it on a blog that I follow. Then I just HAD TO subscribe to Joyatee's blog too! As we speak, I am downloading iTunes to listen and subscribe to Joy and Smiles, and all of the knitting podcasts that she recommends! I really advise all of you podcast listening fanatics out there to check her podcasts out, they are so fun, informational, and enjoyable! After seeing a few later episodes, I had to go all the way back and see the very, very first episode!
   A podcast that Joyatee recommended was Stockinette Zombies, I haven't check it out yet, but I will be! So far, I think there are 74-76 episodes, I'm not exactly sure. I know that listening to podcasts IS my new hobby!

KAL Day 1: Information

I have started a ravelry KAL group for any blog KALs that will be hosted here on my blog, if you would like to, please join! Here is the link!

Start Date: April 28, 2013
End Date: May 20, 2013
Pattern Link -> Garden View Shawlette

First KAL

   I am going to have my first KAL here on Only Living for Today. It's a simple pattern, spread over 3 weeks. The goal for each week, is to complete at least 2 1/2 garter leaves. There are 7 garter leaves total. Any progress pictures you would like to share during this KAL can be emailed to jordyndunaway AT gmail DOT com. Please let me know, through the comments if you would like to participate! :) Looking forward to all the fun!
   KAL starts tomorrow, Monday, April 28, 2013!

The pattern is a free ravelry download found here!

Looking Foward

   Sadly, we have approached the last day of the 4th Annual Knit & Crochet Blog Week. It was a great first year! Great experience, great posts from everyone around the World Wide Web! I can't wait 'til next yer!
   Next year, when the 5th Annual Knit & Crochet Blog Week comes along, I hope to have made more than a few projects. I hope to have done some sweaters, skirts, hoodies, you know, bigger projects than hats and scarves. I want to accomplish at least 5 projects a month, a mixture of big and small projects of course. I also hope to be more skilled in each craft, knitting, crochet, spinning, and dyeing. I really enjoy

28 Yd. Skein

I just measured the yarn I finished spinning, and as I will say, I am disappointed with the yardage, I thought I had spun more. It is 2 ply, Laceweight, and is spun from a batt called "Genie in a Bottle." The pictures are a little blurry and dark, but it is a hot pink, gold, light pink, white and sparkly color blend.

A Tool to Covet

   My favorite tools in my craft bag are....

My Drop Spindle

No FO's, Only WIPs

   So, they're are no Fo's this week, but..... I do have some WIP's :) Sorry for the blurry hands, knitting while the laptop took the picture. :D I also edited these pictures due to major brightness in my webcam.

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week: Day 5

   I'm not really sure how I want to do today's post, but I think I'm going to do a short story. Well, let me give it a go...

Patient: Dr, Dr, I think I'm sick!
Doctor: What are your symptoms?
Patient: Everytime I close my eyes, I see yarn. Lot's and lots of yarn! Pink, blue, red, white, purple.
Doctor: I've seen this case before, It's not an easy fix, but I'm confident in you that you can help me fix it!
Patient: Okay, what do I have to do?

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week: Day 4

   For day 4, we are supposed to do a color review. Look over our projects, see what colors we have used most, realize what colors we buy most at the store, and take it all and see if it at all relates to our house mascot.
   I know for a fact that I love using pink, but I've tallied up the exact number (looking at my Ravelry projects)

WIP Wednesday

   I am still working on my mom's Snowflakes Throw, hoping to get it done by Mother's Day on May 12th. As you can see, I was mid snowflake when I decided to take a picture. It's a gorgeous throw, if it weren't for my "project ADHD" I probably would have finished it by now. See that little fur-ball in the back? That's my cuddle buddy when I knit or crochet. Miss Molly, she loves yarn and will take every chance she gets to be on it, playing with it, or trying to take it away from me! :)

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week: Day 3

    So, I hadn't even heard of infographs until today, I thought graphs were graphs. You know, pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs etc.? Well apparently, they have a fancy name to them. Given that they provide information, and they are graphs, my guess is that someone decided that "graphs" was too plain and gave them the name "infographs."  Well, I guess I should stop rambling and post my infograph for today's blog post....

Miss Molly

   I haven't really introduced you to Miss Molly, well, officially anyways... She's a sweet puppy, and a rotten one at that, but here are some of her best shots expressing who she is!

Knit & Crochet Blog Week: Day 2

   

   For knit and crochet blog week day 2, we are to think of a project that represents our house. I thought of probably the perfect one, the Beekeeper's Quilt! It is a knit project, there are a ton of honeycomb-like hexipuffs. This seems like a fun project to do because you don't feel like you have to sit down and do them all at once, you can do them when you're not doing anything or between projects. I'm not one to usually buy patterns, but I may have to try it some time!

Please Let This Be the Last Time

   Don't you just hat when you miss some stitches and end up with less that what the pattern calls for to be on you needles? I do! I just finished the second repeat of the Garden View Shawlette and ended up with 5 less stitches on my needles than called for! Why oh why! I guess I'll just rip back all the way to the beginning and start again. I mean, on the plus side, I can straighten up the edges and make sure that there are no mistakes.

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week: Day 1

 

   For my house in knitting and crochet blog week, I have chosen the house of bee because I just seem to feel as if I "fit in" in this house. I am exactly as the house description says so, I am drawn to bright and shiney things that strike my interest, and I always have more than one project going on, since I fly through them.

I've Been Updating My Blog!

   So, the last few days, I've been working on my blog, adding things for you all to interact with me, changing things up, and just making it more fun! I hope you all check it out! Let me know what you think!

Flashing My Stash

   I got some.. well, a ton more yarn. Sooo... I decided to lay out all of my yarn to see how much I really have! As you can see, Plenty of pink! I love, love, love pink! So anyway, here's my stash!

Wanting to share

   I wanted to share more about myself for all you readers. :) So I decided to make a list.

1. I have 4 pets. Abby (American Shorthair cat), Molly (miniature shihpoo-dog), and Lilly & Navy (Russian Tortoises)

FO Friday

My FO this week is another slouchy hat! Custom ordered, rainbow, and super fun!

Woohoo!!!

   Woohoo!! I finished the slouchy hat! I won't post any specific pictures of the FO until tomorrow since it's FO Friday! I will post this picture though! He went around for ever singing like a Jamaican! lol He wanted to be the first to wear it!

WIPW

   My WIPs this week are......

   Finally, Snowflakes throw. I was hoping to be done by now, considering I started at the beginning of the year... But, I'm making progress! I'm halfway done, only 4  more rows, 24 more motifs, and I'll be done. Well close anyway, that's not counting the 44 filler motifs.... I wish I wouldn't over think the whole math process of these things. I always look at how much is incomplete than how much is complete. I guess it's just how my mind works.

Oh, Come On!

   This morning I had 5 rows left of the custom slouchy hat and probably 10+ yds of Red Heart Super Saver in Bikini. I kept saying, I don't need any more yarn, this will make it through since they're decrease rows... Well, boy was I wrong. I have 3 rows left and I need more yarn!

Sweet Suday

   Not much to share since I last blogged, but I will say, I have mad tremendous progress on the matching slouchy hat for Miss Kim Campos's infinity scarf. Being on round 23, I can't even believe that I have gotten so much done! I am going to break out my P90X video's tonight. I know it'll hurt, but I'll be getting healthy!

Wanting to Dye

So I've been working with fiber for a while, and decided I want to dye my own fiber, and spin it to my liking. Maybe even sell it. I know how to dye and have finally gotten the hang of spinning. Well, here's the Kool-Aid that I will be using as dye when I get some white fiber. Quantities listed below the picture.

Tropical Punch - 3

Orange - 3

Grape - 3

Cherry - 3

Strawberry Kiwi - 3

Pink Lemonade - 3

Blastin' Berry Cherry - 3

Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade - 3

Lemonade - 6

Black Cherry - 3

Mixed Berry - 3

Watermelon - 3

Peach Mango - 3

Strawberry - 3

Strawberry Lemonade - 2

Watermelon Cherry - 3

  I can't wait to get some white fiber! You don't even know how excited I am!

FO Friday

Woohoo! I got the Rainbow Infinity Scarf done! I took longer than I hoped, so I am just now starting on the matching hat. It took 2 weeks, a week longer than I wanted. I think it is gorgeous and I hope that Kim likes it!

A Goodmorning Post

   As I'm sitting here watching tv, I have the sudden urge to blog! Although, I don't really have much to share... Well I guess I could tell you about yesterday afternoon. I was using my straightener and all of a sudden the cord fell off and it exploded into sparks! Luckily I am okay and the house didn't catch fire. The brand is Zoe from Ulta, so beware!
   Then we went to Wal*Mart for another skein of Red Heart Super Save in Bikini for the custom order I'm working on! I'm almost done with the scarf, then I'll have to start the hat.
   Well I'm going to work on the scarf!

WIP Wednesday

   This is for one, the first WIPW post in a while. And for second, the first time I have gotten all of WIPs in one place together. I only have 5, and I thought I would share! Yes I know, only 5? I'm one of those people who don't like just doing one thing at a time! (Top left) My baby sister, Piper's, infinity scarf, (Bottom left) Preemie with a Twist Baby Blanket, (Middle Bottom) Kim Campos's almost done infinity scarf, (Top right) You can't really see it that well, but it's my aunt's infinity scarf - crochet, (Bottom right) My mom's snowflake's throw.
   I have to go and buy more yarn for the rainbow infinity scarf and for her matching hat! Other than the projects I'm working on, today is (supposed to be) a very rainy day! Storms today, tomorrow and probably Friday too! Not fun! I'm hoping that maybe if we're lucky, it won't rain at all! I really don't like when it rains, it makes me sleepy and makes me want to stay in bed all day! Well thanks for stopping by :) I hop you enjoyed looking at my projects!

Spinning Night!

   I just could not wait to open the bag of 100% Shetland wool fiber that Stacey got me, so I got the drop spindle and have been spinning for at least an hour now! It's a wonder why I haven't wanted to learn to spin before! I love it!

On the spindle now!

Roving...

These are some thicker pieces that I was just experimenting with.

WoW! :)

   So I didn't go to co-op today, stayed home. Well I had forgotten to give my mom Mrs. Stacey's drop spindle to take back to her while she was there. I texted my mom and told her, she didn't reply. She came home and she started pulling stuff out of the basket and handing it to me. I started looking at it and she said "Stacey got all of this for you and she said you can keep the drop spindle!" I was so in awe! It was all so gorgeous! I am so thankful to have met her, she taught me how to spin and taught me some more about knitting along the way. I have only known her for about a month though, but I'm truly glad I met her! Thank you Mrs. Stacey!

Fiber - "Sheland"

Unknown color/brand, but it's so beautiful!!

Handspun by Stacey - PAM, worsted weight, 100g, 218 yd. Check her out! BrazenStitchery!

Fiber - "Genie in a Bottle" alpaca, tencel, merino, bamboo, angelina

Ends... They're coming!

   No, I'm not talking about the end of the world.. I'm talking about 2 different kind of ends. The first end is the cool weather. Here in Texas, we have had amazingly cool weather, which is amazing. Although, it is becoming bittersweet seeing that May is coming soon, and from May to probably September, it's going to be hot, hot, hot. I don't like cold weather and I don't like hot weather. I like cool weather! I do like hot weather when there is a pool available for my using ! I'm still in the light jacket and sweatpants phase of the year and trust me, I have no intentions of leaving it! I just want the cool weather to last through.. well... the rest of the year!

   The other type of end I'm talking about is the end of the custom infinity scarf that was ordered. I am hoping  to finish it hopefully tomorrow maybe Tuesday. The matching hat that she ordered has to be done pronto! I have got to go to Wal*Mart tomorrow! I really need to! Well, another end that's coming is the end of my Teen Mom 2 episode, so I'm going to work on the scarf and finish my show. Then dinner will be started! It's a fried chicken kind of  night! Woohoo!

Just Another Day

   Today, I go to my dad's. Fun right? You would think so...I don't like going. I'm hoping that the 2 knitting WIPs I am bringing will keep me entertained. And if I finish both of them, or in one case, run out of the yarn that I need, I will just start another one. I mean I'm not hurting in yarn. Well I need to go get ready, hopefully today isn't terrible.

Custom Order, and a Sweet Drop Spindle

   Today, I am at about 1' 3" on the custom infinity scarf! That's only about 3'7" left! Then she would like a matching slouchy hat so that will be done too! I can't wait for the order to be done, and neither can she! Yesterday was co-op, spent the day with my mom and her class watching John Wayne's The Alamo. They enjoyed it, I was working on the scarf! I won't get to go to the DFW Fiber Fest, sadly... all because I have to go to my dad's. I guess I'll make my own "Fiber Fest" and head to Hobby Lobby on my way home.

   I brought out the loaned drop spindle earlier and spun the last bit of the wool I was given, it looks pretty good if I do say so my self!

Oh, Alamo!

   I am sitting here in my mom's 2nd period class, they're watching The Alamo, and I'm working on the rainbow infinity scarf order. I'm enjoying my Jolly Pop, Healthy Pop popcorn and the sweet feel of the yarn between my fingers! <3 :)

Precious Little Puppy!!

  First of all, I want to wish everyone a happy late Easter! I spent my day with family, Steven, and lots and lots of candy! Here are some of my eggs that I colored yesterday, yes I still love coloring eggs! I would show you all of the candy, but that's mostly gone... >:)

   Today I was working on the custom order (Bottom Picture) and Miss Molly came to "help." I will say, this fuzzy little critter plays with my yarn more than Abby does! She rolled it across the bed, into the floor, all across the room, and back! My, my, my.. Or as my mom says, "Good golly, Miss Molly!"

^ Infinity scarf for Kim Campos. Red Heart Super Saver in Bikini ^