Mystery Socks

Here are my finished socks from Through The Loops Mystery sock knitalong! This was the first knitalong I have participated in and I really had fun with it. Okay, so I was mostly a silent participant but I enjoyed reading and seeing the other posts and comments.
I wanted to finish both pairs during the KAL so I went out and bought some more needles and started the second sock as soon as I could. I would knit the new clue on one sock and then when I finished with that one I would pick up the second and work on that one (maybe I need to try the two socks on two needles again). The pattern was fun and easy to follow, Kirsten did a wonderful job!

I made the medium size and they are a little big but they are so comfortable. They pattern shows up better in person than it does in the pictures. I would really like to make another pair of these in a solid color yarn so the pattern will show up better. I don't know if I should have knit a small or if I should have just gone down a needle size.
I am very happy that I have picked up my knitting, I had missed it but just wasn't in the mood I guess.

February Lady

I finally finished my February Lady sweater (2 weeks ago)! I wore it for the first time yesterday and loved it, it was so comfortable. I enlisted my 15 year old to go outside and help me to take the pictures so I could finally blog about it. I really enjoyed knitting this sweater and can say that I am thinking about knitting another one sometime in the future. This is the first sweater that I have knit for myself that I actually felt comfortable wearing and it has inspired me to find new patterns for sweaters to knit for myself.

Warm Hats

Now that my son has received his birthday box with his hats inside I can show the pictures! I had to ask my youngest to model them for the camera and he did so willingly because he is such a camera ham. I used the "A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend" pattern found here . I really liked this pattern and it was a very quick knit (2 hats in 3 days).

I used Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted for both hats. The lighter gray hat I used size 8 needles as called for in the pattern and I love the big squishy look to it. Knowing it was supposed to snow soon I decided to knit two hats for him and so the second one I thought I might be able to knit up a little tighter and maybe it would be even warmer??!! I went down to size 7 needles and it is fine and it fits great. When I went back to look at the pictures though I realized I am so much happier with the looks of the one knit on size 8 needles. He was very happy with them and said they fit great so that makes me happy.

Now that I had my younger son modeled the hats for me, he has been planning out his own hats and my oldest told me his accidentally fell into his laundry and shrunk (felted probably) so he will need new ones too.

Knitting Again

I have been knitting a whole lot more than sewing these last two weeks and have been very happy to have my knitting needles back in my hands. I have had the February Lady Sweater on my needles since last Fall I think. I had knit all the way to the beginning of the lace pattern and then walked away, the only thing I can figure is that I got to the lace pattern and felt intimidated by it. The funny thing is, I have been enjoying the lace pattern since I picked it up and started knitting on it again.

I apologize for quality of the pictures, it has been dark and stormy here the last couple of days.

This is My Mystery sock that I am knitting, the yarn is a mystery to me too since I pulled it from my stash and the labels were missing. I am enjoying this knit too! The other item I am knitting are my my Anastasia socks I started about this time last fall. I am still on the first sock but I hope to get moving on these and finish both socks soon. I believe this yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd stripes.
On the sewing machine, are two of my MIL old formals that I am attempting to cut and sew into a southern belle dress for my 10 yr daughter's Halloween costume (hopefully)

Shirt-Stripe Boxes

I have finally finished my Shirt-Stripe Boxes quilt top! I decided to add a fourth row and am so happy that I went to all that extra work, I am in love with this quilt. It's not perfect and there are some wonky squares here and there but I just love looking at it.

I can see another one of these in my future, though I will definitely go with the ruler and rotary cutter. I will also pay closer attention to the shirts, to make sure the materials are the same weight. I did run into problems when sewing the different weights together. Now I need to decide how I want to quilt it, I will have time to decide on that.

I have started a new quilt and I have picked up my knitting needles again after a 6 month break. I saw the Mystery Sock KAL over at Through the Loops and decided to knit along! I am going to cast on today along with finishing a birthday present for my son's 20th Birthday that he celebrated in while he was in Bulgaria. Since it snows where he is stationed I figured I'd better make him something to keep his head and ears warm. Since we are from California this should be a fun and cold experience for him.

Cupcake Pop Attempt

I have been visiting Bakerella's blog for quite awhile now, admiring her work and wanting to try it for myself. Last week My 15 yr old told me she saw Bakerella's Cupcake Pops and wanted us to make them for her friends Birthday. Saturday I went a picked up a few things we needed, passing on the cookie cutter because I had one I thought would work and not getting anything for the coating because I just knew I had white and chocolate bark in the freezer. Saturday afternoon I baked the cake and Sunday I got to work making them.
Here is Step 1 the cake crumbles,I put mine through my food processor.
Step 2 We added the cream cheese frosting.
In step 3 we mixed the frosting and cake crumbs together.
Then in step 4 we rolled it into balls and then put them in the refrigerator for a few hours. This was very messy and washing your hands frequently like suggested really helps.
Now in step 5 you are supposed to use the cookie cutter to shape them into what looks like a cupcake shape. Well, that is, of course if you have the right size cookie cutter. My cookie cutter was just a little too big, I should have measured it instead of guessing.
Step 6 you melt the chocolate and dip the bottoms and insert the lollipop sticks. I used the chocolate bark and I think it was a little to thick, so next time I will thin it a little.
I didn't have the white chocolate bark like I thought and the store didn't have the bark, (in my store I guess they only carry it at Christmas) so I used white chocolate chunks which worked fine. We added fall sprinkles which looked really cute and even though they don't look like cupcakes they were still fun to make and are absolutely yummy!
Packaged and ready to share!! I have been urging the family to please share them, give your friends two or three! They are evil little things, lurking in my freezer calling me to eat them and I am never going to lose my weight if they stay in my house!! These were very fun to make and I will try them again with the correct cookie cutter.

Pillow Covers

I decided it was time for some change in the living room so I made some new pillow covers. I love how just changing something as simple as that can give your room a whole different feel.Autumn is my favorite season with Winter being a close second. I love fall decorations and colors, so slowly they will start showing up around my house in the next couple of weeks.