So much to cover!

Over the past months I've been so active knitting, crafting, and taking on new adventures. I haven't shared much, not because I didn't want to, but because of lack of time. I have to block out time for all the things that I do each day, and I've failed to make my blogging a priority. I am working on fixing this though, so I'll load up this post with alot of fun stuff to share, including FO's!

A recent FO, made for a spoilee I had in the Vampire Swap, is the "Fresh Bite" scarf. This is super easy to knit and definitely fast to knit.



The buttons were very special for me to choose, they are my 2nd choice, first choice of buttons didn't fit through the buttonholes, so these were my 2nd and I think they are perfect, and should of been my 1st choice! Thankfully the 1st choice of buttons didn't fit.



Pattern: Fresh Bite Scarflet
Yarn: OPUS 1 by Zitron
Needles: US 8
Started/Finished: Not noted, sorry, but I did make it in the latter part of October over the course of 2-3 days. Probably spent a few hours on it.
Mods: None.
Make again?:Yes, I will make again!! One for me definitely, and one for my Mother, who liked it very much.
Supplies:Yarn and buttons purchased from GPY.

Do you know why I choose these buttons? What do they look like? What would help is the theme of the swap, which was a "Vampire" themed swap, so now do you know? Well they look like bloody vampire teeth to me, at least that's my take on it. The green colored yarn, a choice I made based off of my spoilee's taste. The fit of this scarf is very nice, and the yarn, OPUS, an aloe based yarn is just divine. Extremely soft and the slow gradient color change is very pretty.

In the middle of all my craziness, I also got my package from my super secret spoiler from the Vampire swap. My good friend and co-worker was referred to the Vampire swap by me 8-) and she was given the task of spoiling me, but did I know? Nope! During the whole swap, she wasn't allowed to let on that she was secretly stalking me. Then, one Saturday, she calls me to ask what I'm doing.

I was like "I'm knitting, why?"
To which Christy says "Well I was going to stop by the LYS and see if you wanted to meet up"
I said "No sorry, I'm knitting right now, maybe tomorrow?"
Christy said "Ok, well just checking, talk to you later, bye."

After getting off the phone I look at the clock, it's about 5:30 p.m., but it didn't mean anything to me, so I continued knitting. About 30 minutes later my home doorbell rings, I assume it's my brother, who I was expecting to stop by. Nope! It's Christy, with a big smile "Surprise!" holding a large black bag with red tissue paper. I still didn't put it together!

I was like "Hi?"
Christy said "I'm your spoiler! For the Vampire swap! Here to deliver your package personally."

I was utterly flabbergasted! I've always heard of people in swaps getting packages delivered directly to their doors, but this was a first for me. Here's how everything was packaged up.





Christy seriously spoiled me rotten! Everything a perfect match. I love the yarn by Hazel knits.



And the Porom beret, a pattern from one of my favorite designers, Brooklyn Tweed.



It also came with this amazing scarf! Which I've worn many times since I was given it.



Christy, if you read this post, "THANK YOU!!!!!".

Now onto the Reducio Swap, theme "Hogwart's Teachers". I made these wee items for my spoilee.



This is a miniature version of Professor McGonaGall's witch hat. I looked all over to find a good mini-witch hat pattern but couldn't find any. So I devised up this one, trying as best I could to make it look like the real thing. You'll notice the crooked tip of the hat, which McGonaGall is known for in her hats, as well as the feathers. I actually want to make another one for me, just to have on my shelf. The hat turned out better than I had anticipated.

I then made a Gryffindor mini-sock, based off of my spoilee's house.



I made a boo-boo when knitting this, knitting the "G" for Gryffindor in the wrong area (intarsia method), so what ended up with was "G" in the front of the leg vs. the side. I realized I had to fill the void of the back of the leg now, so I stitched this.



What does that look like? I'm hoping you say the Golden Snitch, which is what I was aiming for. In the end, I was happy with the sock turn out. Knitting the miniature items is always fun and creative.

I still have more to share, but I'll end for now. Tomorrow's a holiday for me, yay! No work = knitting, sewing, crafting, = FUN!

Happy Wednesday!
~Rocky

Mittens and Magical Things

I've been quite busy working and trying to get other projects done. As I've said prior, I've had a secret project that I've been working on, or rather really a number of private ones. Each one has progress, but none yet ready to really share. To elaborate a little, I've been writing, and am working towards a complete manuscript, hopefully one day I'll have something in published form. I've also been putting together a business plan for my Etsy site, which I plan to have ready by summer time. I'm pretty excited about the Etsy endeavor, I'm really going to start it up. I'm also working on more patterns of my own design. The designing for me takes time, first because I have to form the image of what I want to make and then because everything else gets in the way, and of course, knitting as well. Oh, and I have did some test knitting, which I do enjoy, for some of my favorite designers. One I can share, are the Clepsydra mittens from Through The Loops Kirsten Kapur.

These are so pretty, and I really enjoyed knitting them.









I can't wait to wear these out to a Reno adventure!

And I had made these for Svendel in the Twilight Breaking Dawn swap last year, and loved them. So I made me a pair, just cause I couldn't get them off my mind and it counted as Divination homework for the HP Knitting and Crochet House Cup group on Raverly. They are "Bella's Fingerless Gloves".







Oooh, and the magical things I've been making, pretty much all Harry Potter themed...here's a tidbit to share. This was homework for the Hogwarts A Little Bit of Everything on Ravelry, the History of Magic Gryffindor Reducio Scarf bookmark.





I love making all things magical!

~Rocky

Knitters are cool

What can I say? Knitters, and I shant forget, Crocheters, are so cool!

I have received 2 completed Traveling Scarves groups this week, both are beautiful.

First is my SO's scarf, all in really nice black and gray colors.



To all the gals from my TS#25 SO group, THANK YOU MUCH FOR adding your wonderful knitting to my SO scarf!

Next is my NORO scarf



It is so pretty, and I love all the different NORO additions. THANK YOU TO all the members of the TS#37 NORO group, I really really enjoyed Mod'ing the group. It's been a pleasure and I'm sad to see it coming to an end. Everyone is getting their scarves in the mail soon, I was lucky enough to get mine's last week.

And now for a Knitter who can really put a package together! This is my package for my Harry Potter - A little bit of everything swap. It comes from the wonderul Minerva Wood.



She knitted me "Habitat" from Jared Flood, my absolute favorite designer. I love the red and the pattern. Everything in the package was perfect, and I got goodies for my dog and cat too, which they've loved playing with.

THANK YOU Minerva a.k.a. Yogaknot on Ravelry.

~R