312 beads later...

Just a little close up of some of the beading on my most recent project. Of course, I wanted the beads to match the tan yarn so it does make it rather hard to see the beads. I promise they are there. There are also about two dozen beads that are now in my couch cushions. 

One thing that really helped with adding all the beads was the Fleegle beader. If you have a project where you need to add tons of beads, I would highly suggest buying one. I tried other methods like using a piece of folded wire and the floss things, but they didn't go all that well.

And the entire shawl. I did a quick blocking of it, but it really needs to be redone. And I need to get a better photo of it.

I'm not going to lie and say that this was an easy project for me, but I'm very glad that I kept at it and finished it. Most of the problems I had were just from getting distracted while counting during the top patten section. Then again, watching shows I had to focus on probably wasn't a good idea either.

Also, there has been a lot of spinning going on, but you'll get to see that next time.

Daybreak

Two color knitting, at least stripes with a few slip stitches, wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. There were a few times when I got my two balls of yarn rather tangled, but that was mostly when I wasn't paying attention when turning the piece.

The shawl is Daybreak by Stephen West and the directions were super easy. And the yarn (100% superwash merino) was wonderful to work with as well- all the yarn I've gotten from Nerd Girl Yarns has been.

And now back to spinning up Violet.

In which I begin to question my sanity...

Had anyone asked me a year ago if I ever thought I could knit a hat in a day I would be laughing.  Seriously full on laughing. Granted a year ago I didn't know how to knit, but a hat in a day? That is just crazy talk...

Barley hat

Oh wait. I just managed to knit a hat in under twelve hours on Sunday. Note to past self, stop laughing. We had a speed race quidditch event with the House Cup and I decided to give it a shot. The hat was very simple, just knit and purl stitches with some decreases thrown in. We had to do the large size and I was a little too into my shows and forgot to measure so I ended up adding about 3/4" onto the height of the hat, but I now have a nice slouchy hat to match my sweater. 

We should probably not talk about how many episodes of Bones  or  Once Upon A Time I watched. It was more then 4 episodes total, but I'm not giving away any more than that. 

NGY

A while back I stumbled across the Nerd Girl Yarns group on Ravelry and was amazed by the gorgeous yarns and fiber that were dye up. And of course I just had to order some...when I had the money for it. You know how that goes right? (I'll give you a hint, I got side tracked by other shiny objects) Anyway, right before Thanksgiving I noticed that there was going to be a Cyber Monday sale of all of the yarn and fiber- both dye to order and one of a kind. One of the few times I will actually admit that insomnia is a good thing. I snagged a bunch of dye to order and a beautiful OOAK skein called Father Time.

From left to right on the first photo there is H.G. (so named for Helena on Warehouse 13), Father Time, Blue Box Exploding, Don't Blink and Jenny x5. H.G. has already shawl/kerchief, Don't Blink and Jenny will become a larger shawl together, and I have no earthy idea what the other two will become. Unless I can figure out how to knit socks soon because Blue Box Exploding would be some super fun socks.

Some how I never managed to get a better photo of all of the yarn before finishing HG and casting on Don't Blink and Jenny. But all of the yarn is amazing to work with. Super soft and gorgeous colors.

Soon I'll post a picture of the current WIP shawl.