I Believe in the Impossible

This yarn by Fab Funky Fibres on Etsy is way cool. I saw it on Instagram and had to get a skein for myself. The colorway is called I believe in the impossible. I have to say, the service from this seller in the UK was quick and I recommend her. I wanted something bright & cheerful for spring ad this was just perfect. I should be working on other socks but I had to cast on these and I kept knitting to see what color (of 23 colors) came next! These are awesome. I added in black for the heel & toe as I find it makes the rest pop. Also, this allows me to make the skein stretch further. After weighing my leftovers, I have 50g left, enough to make another pair. I can’t believe I finished these in exactly 2 weeks. The last time I made a pair of socks (for hubby) it took almost 4 years. I had a bad case of second sock syndrome.

 

I made sure to start the 2nd sock in the exact same spot as the 1st sock, so they’re an identical match! I’m debating making the 2nd pair from this skein matching or mis-matched. And I’m thinking about doing it with a hot pink heel & toe…

Knits for Boys by Kate Oates

 
I got the chance to review a book called Knits for Boys by Katie Oates, which features adorable and stylish knits. There are sweaters, tops, vests, hoodies, mittens, hats, which are designed especially for boys and sized from 4-12. When I got asked to review this book, I told the woman who contacted me that I was the perfect person to review this book seeing as I have 3 boys of my very own. The book also features reference sections on how to knit for kids, choosing colors and styles, sizing, how to make a sweater grow with your child, how to find a comfortable fit, and even tutorials on simple additions to patterns such as hoods and zippers.

The theme of the book is “Grow with me”. This is fantastic because my boys seem to outgrow the things that I knit for them quite quickly. Katie is a mom of FOUR boys, so she is the perfect person to write a book on boys garments. The tips in this book are fantastic and I learned some interesting things on how to get more use out of children’s knitted garments.

My favorite pattern in this book has got to be the T-Rex Graphic Pullover. I wonder if any of my boys would wear it if I made it.

If you have any boys in your life, then you definitely need this book! Some of the patterns can be modified with girl colors to daughters too, by playing with color or texture. If you are interested in this book, you can purchase your autographed copy here or on Amazon.

You can preview what’s in the book here.

If you are a US Resident, you can enter to win a copy of this book. Sorry to my Canadian & International readers, unfortunately Stoackpole will only ship to a US resident.

To enter, leave me a comment on this post to let me know which pattern from the book would you knit first. Click here to view all the patterns in the book.

Giveaway entries close at 11:59PM EST on April 1st, 2015.

Inches Lost

Three years ago, July 5th, 2012 I blogged about going beyond my weight loss goal. I had lost ALL the baby weight after 3 kids. And then in 2013 I bought the wool shop, I started working full time out of the house, exercise time disappeared and so did my clean eating habits. There’s a wonderful bakery across the hall from my shop, and I was eating from there at lunch and having snacks from there, out of convenience. Slowly, but surely, the weight started to come back on, and I didn’t even realize how quickly that could happen.

In December 2014, I saw this picture of me (left), at my sister’s 30th birthday party. I was so round. And I only realized after seeing the picture. It was time to do something about it – I couldn’t let myself continue like that. I’ve had a love hate relationship with food all my life. The right hand picture is me, this morning, 12 weeks into training 5-6 times per week. (I mainly go 6 days a week, only 2 weeks I couldn’t go 6x, once because I was out of town for the weekend and once the week I started because I started on a Tuesday and couldn’t go more than 5x that week). The trainers at 30 Minute Hit are amazing and push me to my full potential. Some days are harder than others but I push through, and I keep thinking about the bikini that I want to wear on future vacations. I haven’t worn a bikini in years, and I plan to this summer, hopefully! Since starting in January 2015, I’ve lost as of last Friday, 43.75” off my body. I have a bit more to go, but I can see the finish line now. And thanks to the help of my new FitBit toy, I’m hoping to stay on track!

Week 2 vs. Week 12.

Jumbo :: A new yarn weight

The Craft Yarn Council is amending their standard yarn weight classifications to include a new, larger category (#7) of extremely bulky yarn :: called Jumbo! This seems to be in response to new larger-than-bulky yarns that are coming on the market. This addition also resulted in slight gauge adjustments to its Super Bulky category #6. The goal with this change is to make it easier for crocheters and knitters to understand the type of fabric these Jumbo yarns create and the range of hooks and needles generally required. These yarns, many used for arm knitting, did not fit the gauge guidelines in the Council’s Standard Yarn Weight System.

Fingering Weight Weaving

This was A LOT of work. It was quite challenging to weave with fingering weight yarn. It took 2.5 balls of 50g Regia sock yarn to warp this project. Then it took another ball and a half to weave this project. I wanted to show that we offer weaving in my shop, and that one can weave with any weight yarn. This woven project is in my current window display at my shop. I used my 20" Ashford Knitter's Loom to weave this project. I warped it on Feb 27th and was done on March 4th. The quickest project I think I have woven to date! You can view more details & pictures on Ravelry here.

Knubbelchen

I changed the store window at the beginning of March and this window is sponsored by Regia. I knit up baby socks (below in the image) a few months ago for this window and I finally got around to finishing up my Knubbelchen doll. The doll used up 36g total of My First Regia sock yarn. I knit up the doll using a 2.75mm needle. Ain’

Fitbit Charge

I got a FitBit Charge today with a gift card from Christmas. I didn’t know what I wanted to spend it on, and I finally decided that I want a FitBit. Originally I was thinking about getting the FitBit HR but I couldn’t find it anywhere locally, and I didn’t want to wait for it. The only difference between the Charge and the HR is for a few bucks more (30$ more) it tracks your heart rate. I don’t really think I need that, so I went with the Charge model in the end. I work out doing kickboxing 6 days a week (Mondays through Saturdays) and I thought it would be fun to see how many calories I’m burning and how many steps I take in a day, etc. What I love about the FitBit Charge is that it has caller ID, so I can see who is calling me, while I’m working out. I started kickboxing on January 13th, and I absolutely love it. I’ve been going 5-6 days a week (usually going 6 days as long as I’ve been in town to do so), since starting. I’m addicted. It’s been 10 full weeks now and I’ve lost 15 lbs and 40” off my body from my starting measurements. Muscle weighs more than fat, so I’m seeing more the inches lost than pounds lost. I feel fantastic!

Are any of you on FitBit? If so, find me using my email address and add me as a friend! My email address is in my blogger profile.

A Woven Rainbow

I warped this project back in October when I finished my first woven scarf (that I did in my Weaving 101 class). However, life got busy and I didn’t have time to finish working on it. Finally, I decided to finish it – as I needed my loom for a work project that I am now working on. I used my 20” Ashford Knitter’s Loom for this project and 3.82 skeins of Berroco Versa, which is a discontinued Berroco yarn made of 50% Cotton 50% Acrylic. It’s a bulky weight yarn. (14.0 sts = 4 inches). I had a lot of fun with the colors in this project. It’s a super long scarf as you can see, and I love it. Some friends of mine think it might look awesome as a table runner. Being made of Acrylic & Cotton that might be a good idea. Otherwise, it’s nice and lightweight even though it’s long. 8” wide by 84” long (not including the fringe). I still haven’t decided what I will do with the fringe. Oh, weaving is fun! (And quick with bulky yarn)