You Cannot Call Me Al

My first project for 2013 was supposed to be You can Call Me Al sock pattern from Knitty Fall 2012. But while working on the pattern I found some issues that I did not like. So I decided that I would scratch that pattern and just make it up as I went along and thus the "You Cannot Call Me Al" socks were born. I did not know what else to call them since I made up the socks on the fly. I thought that I would write out the pattern and upload it to Ravelry, but after searching on Ravelry I found similar sock patterns so I decided to not do it. If I ever design my own pattern I want it to be as different as possible to other patterns.

I really love the yarns from Cephalopod. They are always so bright and the yarn always feels amazing! So far this year I have made two projects with their yarn and there are more in my future.

Until next time, Happy Knitting!

~Knitting Chica

Emerald - 2013 Color of the Year

Rejoice Green lovers, Pantone has voted the color Emerald as the 2013 color of the Year.  

Emerald is one of my favorite shades of green but as much as I like it I do not own very much in the color. The dominating color in my closet consists of mostly black and grey, which fits the stereotypical uniform of a New Yorker. Without much success I have tried to introduce color to my pallet. Is not that I do not like color, my favorite color is red, the brighter the red the happier I am and I also love jeweled toned colors which Emerald would fall into the mix is just black is so much easier.

When I was planning out this year's projects I had already decided that I was going to add more color. I have projects that will be made in lime green, yellow, hot pink and other anti-me colors. I think it will be the beginning of a beautiful relationship with color or a total train wreck. 

In order to continue my trip outside of my color zone and in honor of the color Emerald, I will make one of my "2013 Projects" in Emerald Green. Being that I am still in one of my two yarn shopping months of the year, I am still keeping with my yarn diet.

The project that I will be making in the color of the year is Sotherton:

The designer sweater is already in a beautiful green color which sealed the deal for me to make it in the color. I have a few ideas for the yarn to use for this project:

Blue Sky Alpacas Sport Weight in Emerald

Louisa Harding Orielle in Emerald

Patons Fairytale Soft DK in Emerald

Rowan Baby Merino Silk Dk in Emerald

It is amazing the difference in the shades of Emerald from one yarn company to another. My favorite from the 4 above has to be the Louisa Harding Yarn. Not only is it a beautiful color green the gold metallic gives it a pretty sparkle. Not to mention it is 100% Baby Alpaca so you know it is super soft on the skin. 

What do you think of this year's color? Will you be embracing the 2013 Color of the year?

Until next time, Happy Knitting!

~Knitting Chica

2013 Project Plans - Part Three: Spinning

I am now the proud owner of an Ashford Kiwi 2. No more drop spindle for me! Well, I will still use my drop Spindles but I think I will be using them a lot less.

 I still have to finish it and put it together, but since I have to do the finishing outside and leave it outside to dry that is a project that needs to wait till we get better weather. In the meantime I have some books that I am going to read while I wait for better weather.

The first book which I already own and have read before but plan to read again is "Start Spinning". This book was very helpful when I was learning how to spin and I think reading it again will give me a good refresher for when I start spinning. If you are interested in me giving a separate review on this book on "Book Thursday" let me know in the comments and I will queue it up.

Next book I do not own but plan on buying in the very near future is "The Intentional Spinner". I have heard good things about this book and would love to read it. If I have time over the weekend I will stop by the Library to check it out before I purchase it.

The last book on my to read list is "Spinning Wool: Beyond the Basics", I also do not own this book but will see if my Library has it and decide from there if I should get it. I am trying to stop my compulsive book shopping so I want to start borrowing the books from the Library and depending how useful/informative they are I may or may not buy the book.

My goal for this year is to spin enough yarn to at least make a hat. I have yet to spin enough yarn to make a large project.

So this concludes my goals for 2013. Hopefully by the end of this year I would have completed all my goals.

Until next time, Happy Knitting!

~Knitting Chica

2013 Project Plans - Part Two

Happy New Year!! Welcome to the year 2013 and welcome to the updated blog. What do you all think of it? There are still a few more things that need to be done but the main changes I wanted to make are done.

Today is part two of my planned 2013 projects. There is also a part three which will posted on Friday. Part three is more about what I want to do to become better at my crafts. Like classes that I want to take, techniques that I want to learn or skills that I want to improve on.

Projects:

July: Fighting Words, The wonderful +Deena White gifted me this pattern last month. There is no way that I will be able to make them before this winter is over but I will definitely have them ready for next winter. This is the only project I do not have yarn for so on my Birthday Yarn shopping trip this is one pattern I will be shopping for. I thought some Spud & Chloe Fine yarn would be perfect for this project. Their yarn is always so vibrant and gorgeous.

Fighting Words*

August: Dinner in the Eiffel Tower Shawl, this pattern has been in my radar for most of 2012. It is such a pretty shawl. The only reason why I have not made it is because I cannot decide on what color yarn I want to make it in. I have previously bought a red color yarn, also a dark blue and green. Each time I decided that it was not the right color and I would end up using the yarn for something else. I have finally decided that I want to make it in a light color, maybe I can fine two skeins of Madelinetosh DK in "Antique Lace"? Let us see how lucky I get this month.

Dinner in the Eiffel Tower Shawl*

September: Sir Knight Helmet and Seedy Bow Band, These are the only Crochet projects I have planned for this year. I will be making 2 Knight Helmet's and 1 Seedy Bow Band. September is the start of my Christmas present crafting. The helmets will go to my nephew and my friends daughter, the bow will go to sister.

Sir Knit Helmet*

Seedy Bow Band*

October: Citron, The Christmas presents continue. This one will go to Step-Mom. I have a pretty light yellow lace yarn and a green lace yarn. I have not decided in which color I want to make it yet but I know either will be beautiful.

Citron*

November: Sotherton, this is probably my favorite pattern from the 2012 Summer issue of Jane Austen Knits magazine. I bought this amazing blue Berroco Vintage DK yarn just for this project. Since November is NaKniSweMo month I will practice patience and make this sweater for the challenge.

Sotherton*

December: Space Girl, for the month of December I will be making another sweater. Since I take a long vacation in the month of December a sweater is the perfect project to work on during my relaxation time.

Space Girl*

Back up Projects: These are projects that I will have waiting in the wings just in case I finish a project early in the month or a project that I had planned is just not working out with the yarn I had planned for it. I am not posting photos for these, but they will be linked to the Ravelry project page.

• Salem Fingerless Mittens
• Leftie
• Entrechat
• The Modernist
• Regina

If I stick to my plan by the end of 2013 I would have put a considerable dent to my yarn stash. As I stated in yesterday's blog post I only get this month and November as yarn shopping months. Also, I can only shop one time each month. So for January it will be on my birthday and November it will be on Black Friday.

What projects will you be working on this year? Let me know if the comments below!

Until next time, Happy Knitting!

~Knitting Chica

 *The photos on this post are not mine. They are all the project photos found on Ravelry for each of the patterns.

2013 Project Plans - Part One

With today being New Years Eve I thought this would be the perfect time to plan my projects for the New Year. My goal for this year is to only make things using my current stash and I will only add to my stash two times this year on the month of January because it is my Birthday month and November because of the Black Friday Sales. Hopefully putting this down on "paper" will keep me on track with my goals.

Projects:

January:  You can Call Me Al socks that I never finished this year. I started this pattern a few times but I kept getting distracted. 

You can Call Me Al*

 February: Mary Margaret's Lace Tam and Lucy Hat. I am a huge fan of Once Upon a Time and loved Mary Margaret's hat in the show so I was really happy to find a pattern on Ravelry. I will also be making another Lucy Hat. I made one for my step-mom for Christmas and loved how it turned out.

Mary Margaret's Lace Tam*

Lucy Hat*

March: Peony Cardigan, this pattern was my Kryptonite of 2012. No matter how many times I would start it over I would mess it up or get stuck somewhere in the pattern. I finally wrote the whole pattern out line by line but by the time I was done doing that I did not even want to look at the pattern. Well, I will be completing it this year and hopefully will be able to wear it a few times before summer.

Peony Cardigan*

April: Rose Garden Shawl, I love the look of this shawl. I even bought the same yarn in the same color that it was shown on the magazine. But the yarn has been nightmare. It was so tangled that after a month of trying to untangle it I had to enlist the help of one of my friends. It took her two weeks to get that monster into a ball. By that time I just needed to set it aside. Now I am ready to go back to it. I think it will make a great Spring Shawl.

Rose Garden*

May: Pair-a-normal Socks, another pattern that I had 2012 plans for. I wanted to have these done by Halloween but of course that never happened. It is an on going theme with me, is like I have knitting ADD.

Pair-a-normal Socks*

June: Jeweled Cowl, I Love this cowl and cannot wait to make this. I have blogged about this cowl before, the only reason why I have not made it is because I have not decided on what color beads I want to put on it.

Jeweled Cowl*

 This ends part one of my planned 2013 projects. Tomorrow will be part two of my 2013 projects along with a new look to my blog which I am super excited about. Hope you all have a wonderful evening and see you in 2013!

Until next time, Happy Knitting!

~Knitting Chica


*The photos on this post are not mine. They are all the project photos found on Ravelry for each of the patterns.