Teddy bears, more than meets the eye!

A friend of mine showed me this print today:

It made my heart melt!  Teddy bears are VERY special to me.  Specifically, this one little bear.  Thanks for always keeping me safe from the monsters, Teddy! I <3 you!

Loooooong overdue update!

I'm alive!  Really! I'm here :).  I've been so busy the last few weeks, I just haven't had a moment to post at all!  So, what have I been up to in the past few weeks?  Well school started, so I'm working on my dissertation and I'm also TAing a class and I have a Graduate Assistantship...which is all quite time consuming. I've also been working a bit more, making up some days I missed during the summer. AND I've been knitting and crocheting :).

Yesterday was my mom's birthday.  I like to make her handmade items for gifts, because she has basically all the important things she needs.  She loves slippers, especially slippers that cover her ankles and go up nice and high.  So that's exactly what I made her!

I also made my mom a little robin, because we say that my dad visits us from Heaven as a robin.  So here is the little guy, with a heart for his red breast.  I did some stitching around the heart in red crochet thread to make it look a bit whimsical.

I've also completed a few baby blankets.  The cow blanket was a commissioned blanket that my friend Kerri wanted for one of her friends who was having a baby and LOOOOOVES cows. :).  The second, you might remember one just like it from a few months ago, was a blanket my mom asked me to make for someone she used to work with.  (Btw, I HATE the picture of the lavender blanket because I took it late at night and had to use a flash...and it reflected off the yarn...sheesh!)

I've also been working on Christmas gifts!  Here is the progress on my mom's blanket...which was started as a gift for Christmas 2010....it WILL be done this year! I think I have like half more to go...

 This is a vest that I'm making my mom for Christmas.  Funny story...the other day my mom said to me "Jess, you know what I want for Christmas? I'd like you to make me a vest!" Funny enough, I already had knit just about this  much of the vest!  I guess I *do* know my mom ;).  The pattern, the Loretto Vest, is really quick and easy and can be found in one of the issues of Knitscene!

I've also been on a hand warmer kick.  Here are avocado green hand warmers and a pair of oxford gray hand warmers.

Annnnnnd this pair of pink ones has a story behind them.  My good friend Steph LOVES pink and really liked the picture of the hand warmers I showed her.  So I decided to cast on and knit her a pair.  I started Thursday morning on my train ride to the city.  On that ride, I got an ENTIRE mitt knit and seamed.  Why you ask?  Well, my train was one of 4 trains that got stuck in one of the tubes of the Hudson river tunnel that runs under the Hudson river between NY and NJ.  The entire tube lost power. My train was second in line with a train before it and two behind it...stuck under the river for over 2 and a half hours, almost 3, until we were pulled out by a rescue diesel train.  You can read about the story here.  The train that they quote the conductor on, was mine ;).  I'm famous! HAHAHA.  So these are my "Trapped Under the Hudson" mitts :).

I will try and be better about posting in the future, but man a PhD keeps you REALLY busy!!

The Versatile Blogger!

Recently I received my first blog award!  Emma over at *winging it* nominated me for "The Versatile Blogger" award :).  I'm quite excited and I'm sending Emma a big thank you!!! :-D!

As part of the award, I have to share 7 interesting things about myself. So, here it goes!

1. I probably could recite every line from the movie Titanic.  When this movie came out, I went to see it 7 times in the theater.  I even still have all of my ticket stubs.  I guess this popped into my head first since the movie is currently on TV.  Seems like a good thing to be watching during/after a hurricane, right?  Lots of water? 

2. I'm obsessed with owls.  I really like owls...but the cute kind, not the creepy looking ones from the 70s.  Ok, I should rephrase that.  I prefer the more modern take on owls :).  I've decorated my living room with all different kinds of owls, including salt and pepper shakers and a hand sewn owl!  They are really a *hoot* to me ;).

3. I really love school supplies.  No really, I love school supplies.  I have a huge collection of various types of school supplies, including a large box full of unsharpened pencils...yes unsharpened ones :).  I used to always look forward to the Back to School stock up in September when I was younger.  Now a days, I don't really need any more...I probably have enough to last me for years and years to come!

4. I have been in school for 25+ years. I started school before I was 3 years old and I've been in school ever since.  From high school, I went to college, and then directly on to my masters.  After that I went directly into my PhD program.  So not only have I been in school for basically my entire life, I've also never had a full-time job :).  Hey, as they say, "Grad school, it beats getting a real job!"

5. My high school dream occupation was to be a medical examiner and work for the FBI. I still would love to do this one day.  I used to be and EMT and I love all things medical.  Somehow my life took a turn into education instead.  However, I hope that with my background in mathematics and statistics I might one day explore the medical field again!

6. I don't like peanuts or peanut butter.  Yep, that's right kids, I don't like peanut butter nor do I like peanuts!  I'm not allergic to them.  I just do not like them.  Luckily I love almond butter, so I can still have ab&j sandwiches!!!

 7. I have a multitude of hobbies. I hope this comes across in my blogging! I really love to try all different kinds of things.  I think that my top favorite hobbies are knitting/crocheting, photography, and gardening.  I'm trying to get more into sewing, but that's a work in progress!  I've always liked to do crafts and take photos and work in the garden.  Since I was a little girl I always liked to keep myself busy.  Maybe this is due to the fact that I grew up as an only child (technically I have a half brother and a half sister but I only met them a few times as a little girl).  I'm really good at entertaining myself and rarely feel bored just sitting home :).  

Chinese bamboo knitting needles

Yesterday I received the knitting needles I ordered off of eBay! For like $7 I got pairs sized 0 to 11 made of bamboo. They came from China :) so fun!

Kale Chips

So easy! So delicious! Take kale wash and dry it. Tear it into pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350 for about 15 min until crispy! Mmmmmm

FO: Project Bags

I've been needing some additional project bags to carry my knitting/crochet projects with me as I commute to the city for work and school.  Today I was bitten by the sewing bug and sewed up three different bags.  I had all the fabric already and the ties are made from shoelaces that I got from Michaels on clearance!  Two bags were made from the "Fabric Palette" fabric that you can buy from A.C. Moore that is approx 18" x 22", so they are a bit squatty.  The third I made from fabric that I got from Fancy Tiger Crafts while I was visiting Denver in April/May of 2010.  It was my first patchwork project and I really am happy with the way it came out! :) I think my sewing skills are improving, but I'm still a beginner!  Making these took mew a few hours all together (including clean up...and a few seams that I had to rip out...whoopsie!).

Here are both sides of the patchwork bag.  I used 18 squares and still have 8 leftover to make something else with!  It is the perfect size for me!!!  I'm most excited, proud, and happy of this bag!  I'm not sure which square I like the most!!

And here are the other two bags.  You can see that they are wider than taller, but that will work for my needs :). Since I'm still just a beginner sewer, with only a few projects under my belt, I didn't want to go fabric crazy.  Maybe in the future!

Blogging on the back burner...

I need to blog, really, I do.  It has been far to long since I last posted.  ESPECIALLY since I finished my Central Park Hoodie on 7/24/11! It took me just under two months to complete it! (Which is great to me since I didn't work on it alllllll the time because I work and have my dissertation to work on.)  I really wanted to have a big **ta-dah!!!** post about finishing it...but I just can't find the time to take proper photos of the finished project, so this one will have to do for now. BUT the proper **ta-dah!!!** post will come soon! Pinky swear! Oh, as well as a group photo when everyone is done!

Saturday, Alex and I spent some time knitting/crocheting by her pool.  I, of course, brought over my finished CPH to show her and her mom.  Well, what was the next obvious thing to do on a summer day?  Take a photo in our bathing suits and sweaters of course!

So here, for your viewing enjoyment, is our lovely summer sweaters and suits photo!

Buttons for my CPH!

I've decided on buttons for my CPH! All that is left is to finish the button band, sew on the buttons, and tuck in the ends!!


I found the buttons at a trimmings store in NYC :).

Adventures in dyeing!

I had promised myself that this summer I would dye some yarn with Kool-Aid.  I took this past week off from work to work on my dissertation and relax a bit.  After getting a bit written for my proposal (***HOOORAY!!!!***), I decided I deserved to take a fun break.  What better to do then to try dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid?  I searched the web for a good tutorial and found this one from Knitty.  I also found a tutorial on how to paint roving and yarn, which I used bits and pieces of.  Next, I had to go and gather my supplies.  I went out an bought a turkey baster, some natural wool, and searched for Kool-Aid.

After visiting 4 different stores....2 of which did not sell Kool-Aid, I returned with these flavors.  3 which were red (kind of clockwise starting with the red packet at the bottom): Cherry, Strawberry, Tropical Punch, Lemonade, Orange, Grape, and Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade.  The tutorial said to use 1 packet per ounce of yarn and each skein I bough was 3.5 ounces so I just bought A LOT of Kool-Aid.  Luckily it is relatively inexpensive :).

I decided to try three different types of yarn.  At first I was just going to try Patons and Stitch Nation, but then I discovered that the Michaels I went to had Classic Merino Wool in Tweed and I needed to buy that. Anywho, here we have Classic Wool in Aran.

Classic Wool Merino Tweed in Aran Tweed.

And Stitch Nation's Little Lamb :).

The next step was to wind the yarn into hanks because center-pull skeins don't allow the dye to get into the middle of the yarn.  So I took out my handy-dandy Knit Picks swift, attached one end of the yarn to it, and started spinning the swift.

And about 10 minutes later per skein, voila!  A nicely tied ring of yarn. (And a somewhat tired arm...). I used left over bits of acrylic yarn to tie the yarn circles so that they wouldn't get tangled during the dyeing process.

I only decided to dye 4 skeins of yarn--the two Stitch Nation skeins and one each of the different types of Patons yarn.  Here they are as hanks.

Next, the yarn had to be washed in mild soapy water, rinsed, and soaked while the dye was prepared.  I have to admit, my kitchen started to smell like a wet sheep....

I wanted to try different methods of dyeing the yarn.  Here is the tweet in a pot with 4 packets of the Blue Raspberry Lemonade Kool-Aid.  This was brought to a boil (ewww, this fruity smelling sheep...) and then covered and let sit for 30-45 minutes.

On my windowsill I placed 3 glasses each filled with a different flavor of Kool-Aid.  One of the reds (I can't remember which one), orange, and lemonade.  I stuck the yarn circle in like snake and let the colors absorb up the yarn.  I was hoping for some sort of gradient color change.  IF you do this, remember that the yarn is wet and WILL spill water on the floor....I learned this the hard way haha.  This was one of the Stitch Nation skeins.

I hand painted the second Stitch Nation skein with every flavor of Kool-Aid I bought.  I coiled up the yarn circle and then just used the turkey baster to squirt colored lines across the yarn.  This used up more dye than I thought, so I chose to leave some "natural" parts of the yarn.  This was then steamed for 30 minutes and sat covered for another 15 minutes.

Finally, I used all 3 red flavors to dye the Patons Classic Wool.  I put down plastic wrap, then they yarn, and spooned the colors on the yarn to really saturate it.  The red sadly went all over my counter...and dyed it red for a little bit (thank goodness for Clorox wipes!!!)...sooooooo put down a big garbage bag if you do this!!  After the colors were applied, I folded up the sides of the plastic wrap and rolled it into a little packet, and then microwaved it for 2 minute intervals 3 or 4 times.

When it was done, I carefully opened it up and let it cool.  Notice how the white acrylic ties didn't take the dye at all.

Next, the yarn had to cool and then be washed with mild soap and rinsed again with water, THE SAME TEMPERATURE AS THE YARN.  If the water was colder, the yarn would felt.  After each was washed and rinsed, I gently squeezed as much water as I could out and hung them to dry in my shower :).

It took over a day and a half for the yarn to really dry.  Then I twisted them up and now have 4 hanks of fun dyed yarn!

Color-way: R.O.Y.

Color-way: Icy Blue

Color-way: Taste the Rainbow

Color-way: Really, really, really red!

This was definitely a fun project and I'm looking forward to dyeing the remaining 2 skeins of yarn AND some roving that I bought at the NJ Sheep and Wool Festival last fall :).  Maybe I'll use Kool-Aid to dye the roving...or maybe not.  I do have to admit that the smell of "cooking" 100% wool and Kool-Aid isn't the most desirable smell, even if the end product is fruity smelling yarn!

WIP Wednesday: Central Park Hoodie

Life has been a bit hectic lately, but I've still found a bit of time to knit.  Here is a little update on my Central Park Hoodie!

We had our second KAL meeting Friday night (unfortunately one of us couldn't make it :().  We had decided that we would have up to the sleeves completed so that we could begin the hood.  The pattern saves all the seaming, except for the shoulder seams, for the end after everything is done.  During this meet up, I sewed my shoulder seams and started a few rows of the hood.  Picking up the stitches wasn't bad--got one side on the first try and just had to do the second side once over.  I've only ever picked up stitches while turning the heel of a sock, so this was good practice.  I decided to omit the double cable running up the back of the hood because I imagine myself wearing the hood down more than on my head and I think that I'd rather not see the revers side of the cable.

During this KAL meeting, Alex's mom seamed the sides of the sweater, one sleeve, and attached the sleeve and tried it on and also had Alex try it on.  The sweater has a nice fitted appearance.  (It seems really easy to modify the fit once you have an idea of how a certain size fits you.  Just make it larger to have it be more "relaxed" fitting).  The next evening after our meeting I was really anxious to see how my sweater fit, so I seamed the sides and tried it on.  It fit nicely, but I couldn't tell if it would be kind of snug once I added the sleeves.  So, the next day I seamed the sleeves.  I tried them on without attaching and they seemed tight. Then I sewed them on the sweater, and low and behold, it fits WONDERFULLY!

So, now all that is left is to finish the hood, add the button bands, and tuck in all the ends.  In the pictures below you can see that the front is hanging open a lot.  I think that once I add the button bands it won't do that so much--I think it is just rolling.  I still can't get over how much it looks like a sweater!  Yippee for my first sweater *almost* being finished!!! I can't wait!