Momo's Amazing Modifications

Momo is a fantastic knitter with a droolworthy project page on Ravelry. She tackles difficult colorwork projects quickly with ease, has great color sense and almost always uses fabulous hand-dyed yarn. I was beyond thrilled to see how she creatively translated the charts from Elektrocute into a full pullover!

All photos by Momo

In addition to expanding the charts to fit the length of the sweater, Momo made the background a gradient progression of grays which I think would look great in the cowl too! According to her project page notes, the pullover is top-down, uses the contiguous sleeve method and the zipper facing is steeked.

Super creative--thank you for letting me share this, Momo!

If you love a colorwork chart but don't like the item it's intended for, why not modify? A cowl chart can be turned into a full sweater, a mitten motif can become the motif of a circular yoke cardigan, or a full sweater chart can be scaled down to a hat if you are dipping your toes into stranded knitting and want to test out a smaller project first. Knitting is full of limitless possibilities if you are open to making modifications and coming up with creative solutions to get the projects you want. Go forth and modify!

Stash Stats

One of the fun things about being part of the knitting community on Instagram are the Instagram equivalents of 'chain letters', so to speak, where one person tags others to share a particular type of photo or factoid about themselves. Yesterday I was tagged by fellow designer Andrea Rangel to share what color dominates my stash and I admit, I wasn't sure going off of just memory! I decided to cure my curiosity and take some time to reorganize my stash, which has been on my to-do list for awhile. I started with the konmari method of emptying all of the possessions in question (yarn) out on the floor so you can see them in their glory--and maybe so you can be shamed by how much you actually have? Whatever works! Then I got inspired and arranged my stash by color:

ALL THE PRETTIES! This photo (and the corresponding data in the rest of the post) includes my unused stash and any mostly-full balls I intend to keep. There is a whole pile not shown of yarn I am destashing and leftover bits I am tossing out. Remember: I am coming up on 5 years of being an employee at the largest yarn store in America, so not only do I have access to a lot of yarn I also have a sweet employee discount. Sowwy! I would estimate that I paid full retail price for less than 10% of this, what with that awesome discount plus there is some free yarn support for upcoming designs in there. (Design yarn gets stored in a separate bag but joined the rest for this photo!)

I'm not really a stats person but I decided to play around with some numbers after seeing my stash laid out like this. Here are two ways to process that picture: stash by color and stash by weight! For both I counted individual skeins, not by potential project.

Green is my favorite color so no surprise that it takes the top spot with 21%! Grey is next with 14%, followed funnily enough by natural and pink at 12%--both colors which I like but don't particularly feel are favorites of mine. If you asked me what my favorite colors are, after saying 'almost everything' I would settle on green, yellow and orange. Yellow is in the middle of the pack at 9% and shockingly....no orange yarn! Though I do already have an orange sweater, I guess it filled my orange yarn urges well enough that I didn't buy anymore. (And I have an orange purse.) I'm not surprised at blues, purples and reds making up the bottom of the pack since I don't feel a strong attachment to any of those colors. Seeing as there is no clear majority (I don't even have a color with 30% or more hogging my stash) it's obvious from this photo that I am rainbow-friendly. I feel this is an accurate representation of my openness to colors in my yarn stash and by extension, in my personal wardrobe!

Sorting my stash by weight surprised me more than the colors did. While I'm not surprised that worsted holds the majority share at 34%, I'm surprised to see fingering come in at second place with 27%. I am not a huge shawl or sock knitter, though I do like knitting and designing both. When examining the fingering weight pile more closely, however, a trend emerges--I stash sweater quantities of fingering weight faster than I design/knit fingering weight sweaters. Oops. Guess I gotta get on that for 2015! I feel like I knit with DK weight a lot but quite possibly I wound up using all the yarn for those projects, or they were for outside publications in which case I don't get to keep any leftovers. I have two sweater quantities of bulky weight which drives that up to 13%, and since I rarely use laceweight I'm not at all shocked that comes in last place with a measly 5%.

What does all this mean? Well, odds are that if you reach into my stash at random you are most likely to pull out green, fingering weight or worsted weight yarn! Aside from that....I have too much yarn! Keep an eye on my Ravelry destash page this week if you want a chance to get a piece of this pie.

Playing with Color: Stripe Quartet

Let's dive into another color-driven design, shall we? Stripe Quartet is a great simple, stripey cardigan using Baah Aspen. Mira (of Baah) and I picked out the colors together at TNNA last May and it was wonderful that we had similar thoughts. I'm super pumped she let me throw that orange in there because I love orange! There are two ways to approach a project like this, in my opinion. First is to use two neutrals and two color pops, which is what I did with my sample using two greys, hot pink and orange. There aren't many neutrals currently in the Aspen color line, so let's pick out a few different color pops that could be subbed in using the same greys as I did, Shadow and Grey Onyx.

Clockwise: Shadow, Coral Reef, Grey Onyx, Sirena

I'm really digging that Coral Reef color! But how does it look with other 'pop' colors?

Clockwise: Shadow, Coral Reef, Grey Onyx, Peche

Clockwise: Shadow, Coral Reef, Grey Onyx, Fuchsia

Sirena and Fuchsia are the more startling/weird color combinations with the Coral Reef but come on, I like weird! If you're going to do a four-color striped sweater I say have fun with it and go outside your comfort zone. :) Peche and Coral Reef is a tonal, more muted version of the original sample. Each of these combinations has a mix of warm and cool colors, which I think is important to consider when knitting multi-color designs. (Shadow, Grey Onyx and Sirena: Cool; Coral Reef and Peche: Warm; Fuchsia: Debateable.)

Another way to approach this project is by picking 4 shades in the same color family for a more gradient effect with less contrast. This option is dependent on your yarn of choice having lots of colors in the color family of your choice, and Aspen is somewhat limited here--you can't do an all-yellow Stripe Quartet, but not many dyers offer a multitude of yellows anyway!

Clockwise: Blue Topaz, Sirena, Navy, Sky

These four blues create a balanced pairing since the top row features warmer blues with turquoise/teal influences and the bottom two colors are straight blues, almost a little greyed out. A great example of warm/cool mix while staying in one color family.

Clockwise: Amethyst, Fuchsia, Aubergine, Violet

Another beautiful and subtle palette that combines warm and cool purples of all hues!

Which way do you prefer your stripes--funky and off-beat or tonally united?

Playing with Color: Gilt Sweater

One of my favorite things to do in my part-time gig as LYS employee is to help customers pick out color combinations for multicolor projects. I feel like I have good color sense and my coworkers ask for my opinion on colors which helps reinforce this idea, even if it is all in my head! I tend to go by instinct and don't follow a strict set of rules, though I do keep the varying values of the colors in mind when picking 3 or more for a project. Since I love color, a good number of my designs feature multiple colors and as far as I'm concerned, the quirkier the better! I know a lot of people don't trust their color sense or can have a hard time envisioning a design in other colors, so I thought I'd introduce a mini series on playing with color. Each post will examine a colorful design of mine and I'll showcase some other potential color combinations that I think would work along with tips on how to approach choosing colors for that particular project. Up first is the Gilt Sweater! Since this design relies heavily on an ombre effect, you really need to pick two yarns that are closely related in order to duplicate this same effect. If you always order your yarns online, this can be really hard to do! I would suggest picking out several possible color combinations and then looking at other people's projects on Ravelry in those colors to see how the color reads across multiple cameras and lighting situations. I definitely suggest using a hand-dyed yarn to enhance the color blending, which also means that you have variation across dyelots to contend with. If at all possible, I'd visit a LYS or two and check out colors in person to find the best combination.

Let's take a look at Malabrigo Lace, the yarn called for in the pattern. Malabrigo arranges their colors by family, which really helps in choosing for this project since all the blues are next to each other, the yellows in a separate section, etc. Take a look at the blues.

Often you'll see a perfect combo right next to each other, like Blue Surf & Jewel Blue, Bobby Blue & Tuareg or Tuareg & Azul Profundo (for a darker usage of Tuareg). Other times you'll want to mentally rearrange the colors to find a better pairing, but you can also do so in a computer program like Photoshop or Paint if you're having trouble seeing the two together. Stone Blue & Paris Night are separated on the website and look great together!

Stone Blue & Paris Night

Try identifying the primary hue in a color that draws your eye, and then look for a lighter or darker version of a color that carries the same hue. IE, if you're attracted to blues that lean green/almost teal, look for another blue that contains green rather than a purpley blue.

Here is a rainbow of color combinations for a rainbow of Gilt Sweaters!

Apricot & Tiger Lily

Cactus Flower & Molly

Verde Esperanza & Cypress

Jacinto & Purple Mystery

Cognac & Marron Oscuro

Notice that I chose the semi-solid, less crazy colors of Malabrigo. While I think you could successfully make a Gilt Sweater using a more variegated colorway and a coordinating semi-solid, it will be harder to pull off (especially without buying the yarn in person) and the end result will likely be a different looking sweater. That's ok! Just be aware of what look you are creating and swatch heavily, especially if you are trying to avoid an obvious transition line between colors.

Now go out there and show me some fabulous ombre color combinations of your own!

Pole Antics

For those of you new to this blog, I pole dance. I'm not a stripper, meaning I don't pole dance to make money and I don't remove articles of clothing while dancing with the intent of becoming partially or fully naked. (Some lovely acts involve costume changes while dancing, hence the 'naked' qualifier at the end.) That aside, there are plenty of similarities between what strippers do and what I do, and it would do them a huge disservice to pretend that I am 'better' than they are--because I'm not. Pole dancing in any situation is an extremely athletic act, and many modern moves were born in strip clubs rather than being adopted from Chinese pole or mallakhamba. I have nothing but respect for strippers--hanging from one knee is difficult enough, let alone having to do so while wearing 6" heels and possessing the customer service skills of a waitress or hospitality industry person! Anyways, that's not the point of this post but I felt it needed to be said. I understand the impression most people have of pole dancing though and I'm not offended if you are uncomfortable with it--feel free to skip my pole posts! I'm performing in a Halloween showcase in a week, alongside many other lovely ladies and I just had to go full throttle...by making my own costume! Today was our dress rehearsal so I snagged some photos afterwards.

Armed with this great printed spandex from Spandex House, my favorite source for stretch fabrics, I immediately went back to my comfort zone of sewing--aka, making shit up. There are a few practical considerations for making a pole costume, primarily in terms of coverage. Obviously I wanted something secure enough that it would stay on as I spin and invert, but you also need a certain amount of skin exposed to ensure better contact with the pole. Your knees and inner thighs are used while climbing and sitting on the pole, respectively, while your waist needs to be bare for certain inverts. In short, sex appeal is not the only reason why pole dancers wear what they do!

I used an existing pair of booty shorts as my 'pattern' for the proportions and shape of these ones, but added in the open side panels with elastic strapping. You can't see it in these photos but the butt features that scrunch butt ruching that is very flattering. ;) The top was harder since this was my first time using soft bra cups and I found them really hard to place properly in the lining--mostly because the strappiness of the top meant I wasn't able to really try it on until it was fully assembled, and I needed to put the lining in before then! Luckily, I have a small chest so I didn't need anything more than the cups and a thick elastic bottom band to keep everything supported. The center of the bust is also gathered to match the shorts and create a more flattering neckline for my shape. And that strappy back (or backless)....perfection! Exactly what I was going for, and incredibly comfortable it turns out.

Now I just need to practice my full bracket grip until Friday!

Revisiting the Kangaroo Dyer

I am extraordinarily lucky to have contact with fantastic creative people every day, whether it's my coworkers at the store on a work day there, the myriad of knitters and designers I'm in contact with online, my pole dancing/circus family, or my friends. Getting out of my creative niche to explore someone else's is fun AND mentally refreshing! I've dyed with Gail (the Kangaroo Dyer) once before, four years ago--my one and only time dyeing until recently, when she invited me back in her studio for take two. Now I'm older, wiser (lol right)....well at the very least, I was more confident in my dyeing skills this time since it wasn't completely foreign! One of the more awe striking sights in Gail's dye studio is her large collection of orange juice containers, testament to her lifelong love affair with Vitamin C...In all seriousness, friends and students donate the containers to her so she doesn't overdo it on the OJ! Those shelves house her ready-to-go dye mixtures and the dye powders themselves are conveniently lined up behind each solution when the time comes to make a new batch.

First agenda was to dye some superwash merino worsted yarn. With the help of handy dye color cards, I picked out three colors that sparked my interest and tested them on coffee filters until deciding on the right level of saturation for each.

Then...dyeing time! I handpainted the hanks in sections and tried to blend each color into the next to avoid any harshness.

I can't wait to use my gorgeous yarn and see how it looks knit up!

Next, Gail offered something new--a chance to dye silk fabric! I have extensive summer camp tie-dye experience but that's about it. Since I decided I wanted to pleat the silk before dyeing it, this part was somewhat familiar thanks to my tie-dye days! Gail helped me fold the 2 yards of silk and then roll it up like a jelly roll. I submerged each side of the roll in a different dye color before opening up the fabric and overdying in stripes. I then scrunched up the fabric before adding the final layer to create the dimension I was looking for.

I plan to sew with it and I've got my eye on La Sylphide (the blouse version), once I have some fun money to snag the pattern with. I love it....it's like yummy chartreusey endivey goodness!

Gail's studio is so cute. Her whole house in general is overflowing with her love of color and her work--there is yarn draping over furniture, drying on her front porch if the weather is nice, scraps of silk and other dyed fabrics on her kitchen table. I couldn't help but take a few shots of of her workspace to try and share that Kangaroo Dyer essence.

My creative mojo is now working overtime!

Different Kind of DIY: Garage Gym Makeover

In June, Mark and I undertook the massive task of converting our not-a-real-garage into a garage gym!

Before: outside and in

"Not-a-real-garage" because it had no door and that opening isn't large enough to fit a car into, so it mostly became the repository for random stuff. (Obviously these before pictures are after it was cleaned out of junk.) We rent, and this structure was already here and wired, which was great because we didn't have to mess with that--only needed to get our landlord's permission!

The first step was to prep for a poured concrete floor. Since Mark has a contractor's license and this was his baby, he did most of the labor though I helped out when I could. It was his first time working with concrete but luckily, his father used to work as a mason so in addition to watching lots of This Old House videos, we had an expert who advised us on the prep and then helped out the day of the pour. Super win! We rented a plate compactor for the day to tamp down the dirt floor in preparation, and to press down some gravel that we used to level out the floor. Somehow we managed to fit it into the backseat of my Honda Civic--the rental guy was very impressed with that trick. Then Mark laid down the concrete mesh, which is just thick wire mesh that covers the floor to make the concrete stronger. (I was able to help a little with this part, ha.) Seeing as we had an opening in our structure and weren't pouring a closed off foundation, we had to place boards across the opening and shore them up with little props so the concrete wouldn't spill out on to the lawn.

We contracted a local company to deliver the concrete on a Saturday morning and the truck was HUGE! It's one thing to pass one on the highway and quite another to see one dominating your driveway:

During: concrete delivery and Mark hand float finishing the surface

Once the concrete is poured and spread to all the areas you are covering, it comes time to float the surface! Floating=making the top nice and smooth, leveling and filling in any gaps, basically creating the look of the finished floor. (The concrete delivery guy had left by this point, they don't help with anything past dumping the concrete.) We rented a bull float, which kind of looks like a large metal Swiffer without a pad on it, LOL, but it was in poor condition and was messing up the surface rather than smoothing it. Mark's dad to the rescue! He showed us how you can finish it entirely by hand, using boards to kneel on to avoid sinking into the concrete, though we did have to wait a little bit after it was poured for the concrete to reach this stage to make the support possible. You can't wait too long to float the surface or the concrete becomes unworkable and the 'cream' (the moisture that rises to the top when you float it) is no longer present, and that's needed to smooth things over. Professional concrete contractors have power float machines which can get that super smooth and shiny finish seen in stores, but we weren't about to get into that so our floor isn't perfectly smooth (though entirely useable). Mark and I also put our handprints into one corner before the concrete dried :)

After the floor had cured for a few days, Mark began framing the opening so we could put in a door.

During/after: framing and the final outside (I'm wearing an unpublished sweater design, hence the censorship!)

We painted our door red because, why not? The wall we built to close the opening is painted brown, but it pulls more purple in some light which is why it looks purpe-ly above. Currently the rest of the structure is unpainted, though we'd like to paint the rest of it someday and add gutters, if we can come to an agreement with our landlord to reduce rent in exchange for those labors.

So what's inside?

After: the finished inside!

All the workout goodies! We have:

• power rack with T-bar row attachment, on the lifting platform Mark built
• Olympic bar and 500 lbs of plates (that's including the bar's weight)
• adjustable weight bench
• two mirrors
• ballet barre for stretching
• heavy bag
• full set of dumbbells and 2 kettlebells, ab wheel, wrist/ankle weights
• exercise ball, pull-up bands and resistance bands
• yoga mats and blocks
• two pull-up bars (one is part of the rack, the other is separate)
• gymnast rings

It's incredible to have this at our disposal 24/7, only a few feet from our house. Mark lifts almost daily, since he's currently following 5/3/1 (a powerlifting program). I use the gym more sporadically because I'm attending fabric and pole classes every week, but it's great to have the freedom to pop in when I want a quick workout or have the urge to try something new. Currently my favorite use of it is to do some short lifting sets, either squats or deadlifts, and then do pull-ups and aerial conditioning on the rings. I like to invert on them and cycle through different positions (split, pencil, pike) and lower myself down really slow. My goal is to be able to do skin the cat!

If you're local and want to workout with us...let's do it!

Balance

Finally nailing my shoulder mount (left); handstand progressions & improving form (right)

So far, the best thing about my new gig is that I have time to enjoy being me. That includes extra pole sessions, late night Fallout 3 marathons, and the luxury of spending an afternoon reading--something I haven't done in years because of the guilt of not constantly forcing myself to be productive, to do something 'worthwhile.'

When I imagined my new life I thought I would be ten times more productive, because I assumed I would spend all my spare time knitting and doing the myriad assortment of related designer tasks (as I had done previously in every spare moment I had outside of work). More spare time=more work, right? Instead, I'm taking time to live...and my designing isn't suffering.

This is your regularly scheduled reminder to strive for balance. I'm a couple years late to the message though!

Free Pattern: Rainbow Slip Mitts

I have a free pattern for you today! These were inspired by some work I'm doing with my friend Gail, The Kangaroo Dyer. She put together these colorful mini skeins in her Poet Seat Fingering base--she calls it her 'first aid kit' for color--and gave me a batch to play with. I decided to put them to good use in this super easy pair of handwarmers! They are worked flat and seamed partially up the side to create an opening for the thumb. Rainbow Slip Mitts

Finished Size: 7" around, 4.75" long (17.80cm x 12cm)

Yarn: approx 50 yards of natural and scrap amounts of 5 colors. I used RainCityKnits MCN Fingering in Natural, and a Kangaroo Dyer Poet Seat Fingering Mini Skein Kit. This is a great way to use up precious leftovers!

Materials: US 3 (3.25mm) needle, tapestry needle

Gauge: 30 sts by 38 rows = 4" (10cm) in rainbow slip pattern. Gauge is not crucial for this project.

Using natural, CO 49 sts leaving a long tail to seam with at the end. Row 1 (RS): Slip 1, *p1, k1; rep from * to end. Row 2 (WS): Slip 1, *k1, p1; rep from * to end. Repeat these 2 rows until work measures 1.5" from beginning. Knit 1 row, then purl 1 row. Begin rainbow slip pattern.

Switch to pink (or your first color). Row 1 (RS): K1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * to end. Row 2: Repeat the last row. Row 3: Knit. Row 4: Purl.

Switch to orange (or your next color). Row 5: K2, slip 1, *k1, slip 1; rep from * until 2 sts remain, k2. Row 6: P1, k1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * until 1 st remains, p1. Row 7: Knit. Row 8: Purl.

Switch to yellow. Row 9: K1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * to end. Row 10: Repeat the last row. Row 11: Knit. Row 12: Purl.

Switch to green. Row 13: K2, slip 1, *k1, slip 1; rep from * until 2 sts remain, k2. Row 14: P1, k1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * until 1 st remains, p1. Row 15: Knit. Row 16: Purl.

Switch to indigo. Row 17: K1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * to end. Row 18: Repeat the last row. Row 19: Knit. Row 20: Purl.

Switch to pink. Row 21: K2, slip 1, *k1, slip 1; rep from * until 2 sts remain, k2. Row 22: P1, k1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * until 1 st remains, p1. Row 23: Knit. Row 24: Purl.

Switch to orange. Row 25: K1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * to end. Row 26: Repeat the last row. Row 27: Knit. Row 28: Purl.

Switch to yellow. Row 29: K2, slip 1, *k1, slip 1; rep from * until 2 sts remain, k2. Row 30: P1, k1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * until 1 st remains, p1. Row 31: Knit. Row 32: Purl.

Switch to green. Row 33: K1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * to end. Row 34: Repeat the last row. Row 35: Knit. Row 36: Purl.

Switch to indigo. Row 37: K2, slip 1, *k1, slip 1; rep from * until 2 sts remain, k2. Row 38: P1, k1, *slip 1, k1; rep from * until 1 st remains, p1. Row 39: Knit. Row 40: Purl.

Switch back to natural. Knit one row. Row 1 (WS): Slip 1, *k1, p1; rep from * to end. Row 2 (RS): Slip 1, *p1, k1; rep from * to end. Repeat these two rows once more, then work 1 more WS row. On next RS row, BO all sts in pattern and leave a long tail to seam with.

Weave in ends. Using your tail from casting on, seam the bottom of the mitt 2" up the side. Use the tail from your BO to seam the top of the mitt 1" down the side. This will leave a 1.75" opening along the side for your thumb, but adjust the length and placement of side seams as needed to comfortably fit your hand. Repeat for the second mitt (they are identical.)

Happy slip knitting!

It's KAL Time!

Looking for some knitting motivation? Join the Accessorize Yourself KAL! From August 15th to September 30th, choose any of my accessory patterns and knit along with us in my Ravelry group. My currently available self published accessory patterns will be 20% off from now until the start of the KAL with coupon code ACCESSORIZE, so if you've been waiting to pull the trigger on one of those designs, now would indeed be the time! Of course, I am offering lovely prizes to the victors. The grand prize for one lucky person will be a one-of-a-kind skein of Valley Yarns Charlemont Hand Dyed, a Blue Sky project bag and 2 free patterns of their choosing (from my self published patterns only) from now until the end of 2014. You'll want to save at least one of those because I have some awesome fall releases coming up!

An awesome OOAK skein!

I'll also pick two runners up who will each receive 1 free pattern of their choosing, same stipulations as above.

Head on over to the KAL thread and join in! What better way to close out summer and kick off fall right than with a beautiful accessory and sparkling Internet conversation, eh?

A Different Kind of Stash

Thanks to horrible/wonderful enabler Emily Ringelman I discovered the wonders of Girl Charlee, online fabric paradise for the print lover on a budget--hey, that's me! In preparation for my upcoming descent into poverty, I snagged some fabric now so I can keep on sewing. I have a super modest fabric stash, most of which is leftover pieces from old projects....so this is really my first official fabric haul!

I grabbed both of these knits to make as-yet-undetermined dresses. Thinking Lady Skater for one and not sure on the other--any suggestions?

That adorable (and now sold out) fox knit is destined to become a Briar! I'm liking the cropped version but we shall see. The multi is crepe de chine which I've never used. I think it would be suitable for blouse, maybe something tunic-y? Suggestions also welcome there! (And if my fabric + pattern matching skills are completely off base, do speak up experienced sewists. I WILL thank you!)

And lastly, some cotton lawn for a Hollyburn! I'll have to line it though since the fabric is a little sheer.

First of all though, I need to finish my damn dress for the Outfit Along! I only have to sew in the zipper, hem and finish up the armholes but I've been dragging ass on it since I don't like doing zippers. If I make decent progress on my deadline knit for this weekend I've told myself I WILL finish the dress. Not allowed to play with new fabric until I do!

Spring Cleaning

Some people clean in the spring. I don't because let's be honest, I hate cleaning no matter what the season. My dream is to be rich enough to afford a house husband who can stay home and do all the cooking and cleaning so I don't have to. (But without the actually being married part because right now in my life I don't believe in marriage. House lifetime partner?) Though I don't break out the vacuum when nice weather hits, I'm not immune to that tantalizing rush of Change and New Beginnings that flows through the air--I find it more seductive than the other time of year when people love to plan Big Changes, aka January 1st. What new things have I been testing out then? As of a few hours ago...plants!

Maybe it's a tad pathetic that I'm proud of my ability to pick out plants at Home Depot and put them all in a pot together but look Ma, plants! I am not Green Thumb Girl. I am more like apathetic, I will have a garden if you do all the work just so I can get fresh vegetables Girl. Plants are a mystical confusing world that has never really interested me, though I can agree that they are pretty. Plus these ones thrive on neglect, according to the internet, which is perfect for me! I would have kids if kids also thrived on neglect! (Just kidding. That is why I have cats though.) I have to admit, I've been looking at pictures of succulents in cutely shaped planters after bringing home these babies and I am not against getting more. Waiting to make sure I don't kill the test batch first though!

I'm also halfway through my April Challenges! I meant to post about this on April 1st and here we are...13 days later... As I'm sure you've guessed, health and fitness challenges are my jam if I'm going to do any kind of personal challenge at all. See: Whole 30, Rugged Maniac, and so on. I felt like I was coasting and wanted to set myself a few challenges to push myself a little this month and hopefully ingrain some new habits. They aren't a very hard investment which is good since I am pretty busy in general right now and didn't want to feel overwhelmed.

• My first challenge is a Green Smoothie Challenge! I am pushing myself to drink 3-4 green smoothies a week. Currently I am on a kick of spinach, mango and pineapple smoothies but I have also done spinach and various berries. I have yet to branch out into other greens instead of spinach, though I did make one avocado, pineapple and coconut milk smoothie which still counts as green in my book. Once I found some good green smoothie tips and got my proportions all sorted out, this challenge came easy! No more swamp water concoctions for me.
• My second challenge is a Hula Hooping Challenge! One of my friends posted this hooping challenge to Facebook and I really liked it, but I can't commit to 30 minutes of hooping every day. Especially on days where I have a circus or pole class after work, by the time I get home I'm wiped out already! Instead I told myself I simply need to hoop every day this month, no matter what the time span. I haven't hooped in a long time so just getting in the groove regularly is really helpful, even if I'm only managing to do it for 10 minutes! Unfortunately...I already technically failed this one since I missed a day last weekend. :( Completely forgot about it. One mistake doesn't mean giving up and I'm soldiering on to finish it with a 99.9% success rate.
• The final challenge is a Squat Challenge! This one was not planned originally, but a fitness group on Ravelry I'm a member of is doing a group squat challenge for April and I couldn't resist joining in. When the month is out, I'll have completed 2,035 squats--yowza! I am mostly doing them with just bodyweight, but if I happen to be in the gym doing squats on the same day as challenge squats are assigned, my back squats count towards the day's challenge total I decided. Mostly because if I do a bunch of squats in the gym I am not re-doing them all again at home later.

Other new things: took an aerial rope workshop yesterday; just started watching Mad Men; changed the background on my phone. (Scintillating, I know.)

What's new in your life?

Friday Night Music Videos: Birthday Madness Edition

Friday night is extra-special this week because... I turn 26 on Sunday!!

So this is my birthday WEEKEND as far as I'm concerned. I fully intend to spend it knitting my little fingers off since that's what I do almost every weekend. Also I am getting a birthday biscuit breakfast which incidentally, is the same thing I had for my birthday breakfast last year, except that birthday was in Seattle! Do you sense a theme? I really love biscuits, man. You can't age out of that.

I'm also giving a gift to you! Saturday and Sunday (3/29-3/30) use the code 26BIRFDAY on Ravelry to get 26% off one of my eligible self-published patterns (aka Striated, Brooklyn Bridge Mitts or Elektrocute. Short list, sowwy.)

Tonight I'm jamming out to my latest earworm courtesy of Arctic Monkeys. This is exactly the type of band I would have listened to in high school, I was way into the 'garage rock revival' trend of the early 2000s that consisted mostly of bands with 'The' in their name. IE The Strokes, The Hives, The Vines, The White Stripes, and so on. Of course, in my advanced age I haven't bothered to keep up with new music and as such, this is the first Arctic Monkeys song I've actually heard. It's pretty awesome.

P.S. I finally made a Ravelry group that's ALL ABOUT MEEEE. Check it out!

Happiness is...

...having a whole bag of Unjunked Peanut Butter Cups in your cupboard. ...spending lazy weekends with these two weirdos.

...finally finding the perfect lipgloss formula! Laura Mercier Lip Glace, in Violet.

...completing your first aerial fabric recital in a most spectacular fashion. Yes, I'm wearing a pink fishnet shirt. We performed to Britney, 'nuff said!

...hearing that a Heliopath KAL is about to start and being super flattered that people like your pattern enough to run a KAL!

Wait, what?

Two awesome ladies, The Unapologetic Knitter and Ghostface Knitter decided to run a KAL for my Heliopath Vest. The KAL just started this weekend, but right now the only goal is to get a swatch done so there is still time to grab your yarn and cast on. Some great prizes await all who participate...including a pattern donated by yours truly. Check out the first week's post! I love how they are taking this KAL to Instagram as well, since I am a huge IG fan. In case you couldn't tell by all the perfectly square photos I recycle into blog posts so I can pretend to be relevant. :P I'm cool, I swear!

Friday Night Music Videos - Mac Lethal Edition

I treated myself yesterday to a few new albums and one of them was Mac Lethal's 11:11. I first heard his songs on my Atmosphere Pandora station, and finally bit the bullet and got the album since he's just that good. It's no secret that I like hip hop/rap, especially of the alternative and white guy varieties. (See: Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, Classified...) So feel free to skip this edition if that's not your cup of tea since this is a double dose of Mac. No actual video for either of these...he's clearly too cool for that.

Hooker's Startitis

I am a pretty newb crocheter. My most notable project to date, a cute summery tee, is currently languishing half-done. (Oops.) I enjoy the rhythm of crochet, but my excuse is the same one for selfish knitting--I don't have time! 98% of my knitting time is devoted to design work and at most, I manage to squeeze in a small accessory project to break up the monotony of creating beautiful things you then have to send away instead of showing off. It's a hard life, this designing. Cue violins. Anyways, last night I tried the crochet chain provisional cast on for the first time instead of the usual provisional cast on with waste yarn I use when knitting. LOVE it, so much easier. Unfortunately, picking up a hook made me start daydreaming about all the crochet projects I'm dying to start. What better way to spend a snow day than fantasy yarn shopping?

The Holla Knits KAL* just kicked off this week and I wish I was right there with everyone working on a Deco Daisies of my very own! I love this sweet and flowery cowl, which I think would be perfect in a color changing yarn with long repeats like Knitting Fever Painted Desert. I'm thinking something pink and purple-y for the ultimate feminine neckwarmer.

I loved this sweater so much that I bought the issue of Interweave Crochet as soon as I saw it. Once I have time, it's waiting for me! Of course, as a Tosh addict I couldn't resist dreaming of Madelinetosh Tosh Sport color combinations for this. I love Heuchera but have yet to use it in any projects and would make it the main color of the Fall Fields Cardigan so it can take center stage.

My coworker and crochet design maven Sara once said that hand-dyed yarn looks great in crochet and I couldn't agree more. I love Fable Fibers' colorways and couldn't pick just one! This yarn sudden death match comes down between Orchid and Lucky Penny, both in Fable Fibers Story MCN. Each would give the Sugar Sparkles Shawlette a different vibe and I can picture either color at home in my wardrobe.

I'd love to grow my crochet queue, so share your favorite patterns or designers with me!

*There are tons of cool prizes in the Holla Knits KAL, including my self-published patterns and the Pantonal pattern collection--incentive to join in if you've been waiting to whip up any Holla Knits patterns!

Friday Night Music Videos - 1/24 Edition

Tonight I am living the exciting life, as I am so wont to do, and cleaning. Because I have company tomorrow and I don't want them to think I'm a dirty hamster (heeeey-OH, oblique Jersey Shore reference!) I'm good with the putting things away type of cleaning, and not so good with the vacuuming and actually scrubbing stuff type of cleaning. I also have a (small) Martha Stewart complex and want to impress people with my clean house, unless they're my dear friends and then I just don't care anymore. You know I really love you if my house is messy when you come over. Pumping myself up with some high energy garage-y alt rock!

Spring, Spring, Spring

I couldn't resist that bit of nerdiness, now you know my secret love for musicals. SORRYNOTSORRY.

Spring is a fever dream right now in New England. Warm weather? Exposed arms? Dafuq?! But you too can dream that fever dream by checking out the great spring looks that have just been released as part of Louet North America's Spring 2014 Collection. If you start knitting now, you'll be prepared by the time the snow melts! In theory...

This is a very well rounded collection, featuring tanks, tees, a long-sleeve pullover, two shawls and a skirt. All use either Gems Fingering, Gems Sport or Euroflax Sport. The first two are smoothly plied merino yarns and the last one is 100% Linen. Yarn store employee confession time--Euroflax Sport simultaneously intrigued and terrified me when I worked in the store. If a customer wanted 100% Linen yarn, Euroflax Sport was one of the only ones we had. In the hank it's stiff and wiry but we kept a blocked swatch nearby to prove how well it softened once washed. LIKE MAGIC. I never got a chance to try it but still hope to someday!

I decided to style my three favorite items from the collection. First up is Selway by Karen Marlatt. (All photos of the collection by Caro Sheridan, who is a fountain of awesomeness by the way. Took a photography class of hers and it was amazing!)

BFF Afternoon by yorkshirelamb featuring Mel by Melissa

I love oversized, airy layering pieces and Selway is perfect for that! You can add a different colored tank top under it to change your look completely and have it fit right in with your wardrobe, especially when knit in a neutral like white. I made it pop with yummy coral jeans and cute kitschy shoes from Modcloth but you could easily work Selway into a more ~grown-up look. I think this would be perfect for an afternoon of shopping with my BFF--comfortable and still fashionable!

Summer Date Night by yorkshirelamb featuring black shoes

Niobrara by Jairlyn Mason features an elegant pleated neck detail and a flattering shape. I dressed it up for a summery date night out with a look that's put-together but not stuffy. A mini and flats put all the attention on your legs (one of my favorite parts to highlight) and a cardigan is a must-have when braving overly air-conditioned restaurants. Just don't forget to roll the cuffs back to show off that sweet stack of bracelets!

Lazy Sunday by yorkshirelamb featuring canvas sneakers

For days when you need a quick layer but want something more polished than a sweatshirt, Camulet by Anne Podlesak is perfect. I'd let a bright tee peek through this lacy number for a lazy Sunday spent knitting, running errands and doing whatever else strikes my fancy. I'm a huge fan of long sleeves with shorts--I think of it as the less-popular cousin of short sleeves with pants--and as I've mentioned before on this blog I am a diehard Converse fan, so there's no contest in the footwear department! Add a geometric necklace and you are golden for spending a day on the couch without looking like you're spending a day on the couch, ifyaknowwhatImean.

Now that I've unfairly whey your appetite for warmer weather, go forth and knit! Or check out the other stops on the Louet North America Spring 2014 Collection blog tour to explore these great designs further!

January 13: Louet North America January 15: Mari Knits January 17: From the Desk of Molly Purlz January 20: Fiber Dreams January 22: Nik’s Knits January 24: Emma Welford Designs January 27: Guest Post by Patty Nance on Louet Blog January 31: Wooly Wonka Fibers February 3: Kangath Knits

Friday Night Music Videos

Since I get to listen to music I already have at work (RIP deceased ipod), I like to listen to Pandora or videos on YouTube when I'm doing work at home. (Notice I said listen to videos...I don't actually pay attention to the videos themselves after the first time through.) Netflix is for knitting; YouTube is for pattern writing and other computer-driven activities. Makes no sense to try and watch two screens at once, yaknowwhatI'msaying?  So this is where I embarrass myself by revealing what I'm currently digging on! I'm thinking I'll make this a regular feature, if I can remember to. Tonight is all about female rappers because I love me some good rap, and I love women breaking into male-dominated areas of music.

(You probably shouldn't blast these at work though. Or if you can, you have a really chill workplace.)

Graze Box Review

This post has not been sponsored by Graze Box, nor have I received any compensation from them. Total free will here! In case you hadn't noticed by now, I really like food. I also really like getting stuff in the mail. So when one of my co-workers sent an email around about his free codes to join Graze Box, a snack subscription site, I decided to check them out!

For $6 a shipment (which includes shipping), you get snack-size portions of four different healthy snacks. Healthy is variable depending on your ideals of course, but the full ingredient list for all snacks is available on line and most are free of scary, unpronounceable ingredients--the exception being some of the cracker-y things but really, what do you expect from crackers. (Those scamps!) You can sign up to get a box every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks, I've opted for the latter and have received three boxes so far.

These snacks are definitely SNACK sized. So if you want more bang for your buck, buying bulk bags of your favorite snacks and divvying them up yourself would probably be better. If you have problems with portion control or just want to try some new things then I think this is a good way to go.

Graze Box snacks fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Cracker-y type items, which includes the sub-category of 'dippers'--a (usually) cracker-like item served with some type of dip or sauce
• Dried fruit
• Nuts/seeds
• Chocolate
• "Flapjacks" which is just a fancy-ass way of saying granola bar

There is much overlap in the fruit/nut/chocolate category. Ok, they give you lots of trail mix you could say. But it's GOOD trail mix, and I've never been a trail mix fan. Things like Dark Rocky Road (pecans, cranberries and dark chocolate buttons) or Jelly Doughnut (raspberry fruit strings, raspberry infused cranberries, almond slices and sponge pieces.)

The coolest part is that when you sign up, you can browse their list of snacks and adjust your preferences. Hate anything spicy? 'Trash' the chili and honey almonds and you'll never receive them. Can't get enough of fancy-ass granola bars? 'Love' the flapjacks to receive them in your boxes more often. I nixed most crackers and spicy items from the get-go, along with any unpalatable flavor combinations, and left the rest set to 'try' so I could taste-test as many concoctions as possible. If you're allergic they can't guarantee no cross-contamination, but picky eaters are safe. Heck, you could even 'trash' all the chocolate if you believe in a world without chocolate. (Like a world without shrimp, a la Anya's explanation of other dimensions in Buffy. But why would you want a world without chocolate?!)

As boring as it may sound, I have to give full props to the dried fruit. I don't know what magic they inject into each tiny dehydrated nugget, but all the fruit is really juicy and tasty. You know when you're eating a bag of raisins or dates or whatever, and there are always a few depressingly hard ones, like they're shells of their former fruity selves? I haven't found any of those in my boxes yet which is pretty slammin'. A+ to the fruit. The cheesy sombreros (seen in the top right above), however, are a lie. I pictured a festival of cheesy, vaguely Mexican taste sensations in my mouth. Like Goldfish or Cheez-Its, but with a more fun name. Instead they are hard, decidedly un-cheesy rice wafers.  The biggest Graze Box blow so far, F-. I immediately trashed any other sombrero-containing snacks out of my future boxes.

Currently you need a referral code to sign up, or you can ask to be put on their wait list. I happen to have two shiny codes, so leave a comment if you would like one! First two people to comment with their emails included get them--and maybe you can spread yours around once you sign up to anyone else wanting one? Sign-up via code gives you your first and fifth boxes free, yay, and the person whose code you used gets $1 off a future box so that's all the kick-back I receive. I'm big on disclosure.

Snack happy!