The Herringbone Cowl

I'm very late blogging about this project. I bought the yarn over the summer while on a knit crawl with the girls. I absolutely fell in love with it when I saw the sample at Purl Soho. Here's the pattern - Big Herringbone Cowl.

This pattern was, for me, absolute torture. I casted-on and frogged FOUR times before finally getting going. No small feat considering the cast on is over 200 stitches. I ended up buying new needles which definitely helped. I recommend using the sharpest needles you can find in wood or bamboo. You need grip! Plastic, which I started with, was hell.

 I took this project on a trip home in September thinking it would be a great project for plane travel. I made great progress on the plane - a solid 5 inches - but just as we're about to land, I realize I made an error in the pattern 3 INCHES AGO. Once I finally got home, surrounded by family, I frogged it AGAIN. 

Apparently, for me, five is the charm. With new determination to finally finish this cursed project, I powered through. I had such trouble keeping tension with this pattern. All the slipped stitches in combination with large needles was just challenging for me. A good blocking definitely helped even things out and the final object does look pretty nice. But I will never make another one of these. Ever.

In The Hood

I've been on a roll with my holiday knitting and took a break last weekend for a photo shoot. I plan on adding some fresh hoods to the Etsy store and I think some new photos are just what's needed. Here are some behind the scenes photos I snapped with my Fuji Mini.

It was a very fun day and I feel so lucky to have such talented friends and family. Once I get final images back, I will be sure to share them here!

Vermont

 

It's hard to believe our little Vermont vacation was two weeks ago. We had a lovely trip. We did some walking trails at the Shelburne Farm (beautiful), visited the Shelburne Museum (loved - highly recommend!) and indulged in several rounds of hot apple cider & cider donuts. 

Come to think of it, most of the trip was about food. We had the most amazing breakfast/brunch at Penny Cluse in Burlington. I managed to snap one photo before we dug in. You can't really see exactly what Adam's eating but let me tell you - it's called 'Bucket O Spuds'. Noted as "A heaping mound of homefries with melted cheese, salsa, sour cream & green onions'. Plus an egg on top. Mmmmmmmm. The banana bread with maple walnut cream cheese was my last minute addition.

Penny Cluse was recommended by the lovely woman at Nido, a little fabric and yarn store in Burlington. Her fabric selection was awesome and I definitely took home enough to make several garments. Adam was so wonderful, I took him through 5 different yarn/fabric shops across our trip and he only commented once that I might be buying too much yarn. Muhahaha! For the record, I only came home with 10 skeins and most of it is for holiday gifts. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

Woolrich

I remember my parents having really warm, really great woolrich coats and shirts. I am so excited to see these new styles from their Fall/Winter 11/12 collection. I love the styling. I wish all of this was in my closet!

Up and Running

 

This pattern has provided yet another win. This time I made the little self belt dress. 

Oh - and I made it with this new little portable Singer. When I called my mom to lament the loss of our machine she told me about a super discount on machines at HSN. I decided it would be good to purchase a small, portable back up machine while I research my next big purchase machine. So far it's sewing along just fine (maybe even a bit faster than the previous machine ...).

And now, back to the dress:

I think this one turned out so nice. I see lots of options. Perfect for the cruise we're taking later this year and perfect with tights and a sweater for autumn days.  I need to find some nice fabric to give the skirt a try. I'm sure I'll be making these patterns again!