still going...

I started this knitting project in early January - Epiphany, to be exact. I cast it on as something simple to take to my first foray into the local yarn store's knit night. It's another design from Melanie Berg and another epic journey through an ombre cake of fingering weight yarn that is more than 1000 yards long, similar to my North Sea Ombre wrap that took me two year to finish. 

 

This is where it was when I pulled it out this weekend in the front garden of the place we stayed in Petaluma. I've got a ways to go yet, but the blue has started to shade into purple! The end is in sight, but the rows get longer... it may never end! 

Petaluma

This past weekend brought a getaway trip to Petaluma, which is a charming place in a beautiful part of the Bay Area. I liked it so much I wondered if it was a mild place to live during the summers... worth considering for the long term daydream!

One of the great things about it was the small town feel, made even better by the presence of a great quilt shop. Quilted Angel was a small but mighty space, as so many quilt shops here are, with a wide array of beautiful fabrics, lots of patterns, and a bunch of lovely quilts on display. It also looked like they had a classroom space in the back. The shelf above was my favorite, full of Ruby Star Society fabrics. I also have to mention that the folks there were very friendly. The woman who checked me out gave us a great recommendation for a day trip out to Bodega Bay complete with directions to a delicious crab and lobster themed lunch spot. 

Our last day in town found us at the local yarn store, Fiber Circle Studio. This was a great space with lot of beautiful things. I took these pictures below for my friend Sam who was interested in what kinds of options there were for loom-compatible yarn. The colors are just gorgeous. 

I of course struggle to leave any quality crafty establishment without purchasing something, and I was on vacation so the excuses to splurge a little were abundant. I did not intend to get thematically matching items, but here we have it. I was in a poppy, plum, and teal mood. Quite a nice combination, actually! 

Bay Area yarn crawl

Oh boy did we have fun! Sam and I cavorted all around the Bay Area, from Morgan Hill all the way out to Livermore and back through San Jose, picking up yarn as we went. I think in the end we went to 5 or 6 shops, most of which were new discoveries and some of which I expect will become regular (if infrequent) spots for me. This came at a time when I definitely did not need more yarn, more projects, more ideas, or anything of the sort. But what a fun chance to head out with a friend for a day of crafty bonding and mutual enabling. 

I think I picked up something at each spot we went to, and with one exception (those gorgeous purples) I do have a project in mind for the yarn I chose. The cottons on the left may combine to be a Shift cowl of my own, the browns I hope might make a summery top, the bundle of lovely minis is a kit for a color work cowl, and the navy and coral I intend for another Hold Sway sweater. See? Justified. :) 

One of my favorite spots was In Between Stitches out in Livermore. It was also a quilt shop! Rather than buying fabric with no plan, I got myself a pattern for some really great totes they had on display. I am hoping this will help me with my goal of sewing smaller-than-a-quilt things this year, and the construction was quite unique so it was different enough from anything I already had. 

I think I have my work cut out for me for quite a long time at this point. I always feel slightly guilty after a stash infusion such as this, but also excited for the enjoyment of stitches to come. 

stitch markers for crawl

Bay Area Yarn Crawl is just around the corner, and I recently heard that there will be a stitch marker swap as part of the festivities. I've made some in the past, and this seemed like a great opportunity to dig into my miscellaneous beads and findings and see what I could come up with. 

These yarn hanks are really fun and unique. It's kind of a kick to contemplate all the different colors of yarn on the shelves of a yarn shop and to recreate them in miniature. I have a lot of DMC floss from a very long time ago, and these variegated colors haven't been that useful to me in stitching but are the perfect mini hand dyed yarn. 

These little sparkles look just like oblong skeins of yarn to me. The silver findings in the middle give the impression of the label and the jewels on the end are the squishy yarn bits. 

And of course I couldn't pass up the chance to add some of my sunflower charms to a few. These lovelies are combined with the sparkly yarn skeins and millefiori heart beads to make longer charms that should hang quite nicely. 

I made markers on several different sizes of rings and even included a couple of safety pins (saved from clothing!) to accommodate use in crochet. I'll have to find a good box or tin to pop these in for carrying around during the yarn crawl. No idea how this will go, but it was certainly fun to revisit stitch marker making!

gnibblets

These are possibly the tiniest things I have ever made and perhaps the cutest. I can't even. TINY GNOMES!!!

When Sarah Schira mentioned in her gnome workshop I took last month that there was a tiny gnome pattern for earrings I pretty much decided right then that was going to be my March gnome-of-the-month. As one might expect, these were *extremely* fiddly to knit for me. Some people may like small numbers of stitches on multiple needles. I'm not one of them. But it was only like 14 rounds and the end result is so worth it that I did it four times. 

Finding the earring hooks in my stash was not hard, and it took just a few attempts (and a couple broken ones) to get these little Gnibblets hooked up and ready to hang. Aren't they just amazing? I will be wearing my green guys on St. Patrick's Day, for sure. 

shift begun

True to my intentions, I started a new thing. This little corner has grown in the last few weeks from this... 

... to this! I was a little intimidated to take this to knit night because talking and knitting on a piece where I had to refer to the pattern seemed like an invitation for mistakes, but it's been totally ok and no harm done yet. I'm really enjoying the color changes of the variegated yarn, the weight of the cotton, and the surprising ease of the pattern. It is quite well written.

I've also learned how to do an I-cord edging, which looks so very satisfying marching up the side. There will be a seam in the end, but I expect that the way the seamed edge is set up that it will go together cleanly. Enjoying each row as it comes for now!