New Yarn and Knitting Dreams

Hello friends, I hope you had a lovely weekend. Today just flew by: I spent a big part of the day quilting the Wonky Log Cabin quilt I've working on. I can't wait to finish it. It is turning out so lovely (you can see some of the progress here and here). And while I was busy quilting I kept dreaming about what to do with my new yarn. It just arrived last Friday and I can't get over how pretty it is. I usually don't buy yarn without a project in mind, but I just couldn't resist. The pink bubble gum color is the perfect pop of color against the gray. I'm thinking a shawl or a cowl would look lovely with this yarn. Time to head on to Rarely and do some research :)

Wishing you a beautiful week. 

*Linking up to Wool On Sundays @ Rainbow Hare Quilts*

XO

Martha 

Back to Knitting

Hello friends! I hope you had a lovely weekend. My weekend was super fun. I worked on the Wonky Log Cabin quilt I'm making for my husband and I'm very close to finishing up the quilt top. Also, after a long break from knitting last week I went back to my knitting routine. Every morning I knit a couple of rows during my morning commute. I had stopped because I was suffering from tendonitis and it became painful to knit and was definitely not enjoyable anymore. But lately my condition improved and I was able to pick up the needles again. I'm so incredibly happy to be able to knit again. I started this shawl last year and I can't wait to finish it. It is about two thirds done, so it will take me a while to finish it, but I'm so glad I'm able to work on it again. 

I hope you have happy week!

*Linking up to Wool Sundays @Rainbow Hare Quilts*

XO 

Martha

Wishing for Autumn and A New Shawl

Happy Saturday! I hope you are having a lovely weekend. I'm having a great weekend so far. Enjoying what it seems to be the last days of summer (I hope). While summer has been fun, I find myself wishing for cooler weather. I started to notice a few glimpses of autumn here and there: it is getting darker in the evenings a lot sooner and some trees have already started turning colors.  

I feel like autumn weather is the perfect knitting weather so in anticipation of its arrival I began knitting a new shawl.  The pattern is Nae available on Raverly.  It is a beautiful pattern and what I find most interesting is that is knitted from side to side rather than from the center.  It is truly an enjoyable project and it is growing really fast! 

*Linking up to Wool Sundays at Rainbow Hare Quilts and Yarn Along at Small Things*

Wishing you a happy weekend!

XX

Martha

Bandana Cowl

While summer is still in full swing around here (today was about 96 degrees Fahrenheit), I have been slowly adding to my winter wardrobe. This weekend I finished this super cute and easy to knit Bandana Cowl. The pattern is from the Purl Bee. I started knitting it about three weeks ago and I still cannot believe how fast it went by. I have to admit though that I made a couple of mistakes. But the pattern is so forgiving that they are hardly noticeable. I absolutely love the way it turned out, imperfections and all. Now I just have to wait for the weather to cool down a bit so I can wear it.  But in the meantime I think it is time to start  my next knitting project.

I hope you have a beautiful week!

*Linking up to Wool Sundays at Rainbow Hare Quilts and Yarn Along At Small Things*

XX
Martha

Knitting Finish: The Age of Brass Shawl

Happy Monday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. I'm having a bit of celebration going on here;  I finally finished my Age of Brass Shawl! After about four months of hauling around my knitting bag everywhere I went (I rarely knit at home, I do most of my knitting in the car when my husband drives), it is finally finished. Yay!
The pattern is very easy to follow and such a fun project. It is available for free on Raverly. The instructions on the pattern are for a small shawl or kerchief but I added a few more sections to make it into a shawl to cover my back. It gets chilly at the office so I thought it would be nice to wear a shawl once in a while instead of my usual cardigan.  I absolutely love the way it turned out. The yarn is Galileo from Knit Picks; a blend of Merino wool and Bamboo.  It has a beautiful drape and it feels so soft and luxurious. The color is so yummy it reminds me of raspberry jam.
I'm slowly growing my collection of handmade knit wears and it makes so happy. Plus with each project and learning new techniques to improve my knitting skills.
Now I'm off to browse Raverly in search of my next knitting project.

Have a wonderful week!

XX
Martha.

Color Inspiration

I have a new color crush. I'm always inspired by nature and the flowers in my garden are a constant source of inspiration. Lately I have discovered that I'm drawn to the color purple, which happens to be abundant in my garden. Whether I'm choosing colors for my projects or my wardrobe purple seems to always be in my mind.  And my recent yarn purchase was no exception. It had to be purple! It is such a happy color don't you think?  The light purple or lavender yarn will become a shawl (a birthday present for someone special) and the darker one will become a cowl for me :) I can't wait to get started but in the meantime I'm getting lots of inspiration for even more future projects from this book.
I hope you have a happy weekend.

XX
Martha

Friday Link Up: A Picture... A Moment

Lately days have been busy and no much time is left for working on my projects but every morning I sneak a few minutes of knitting. And a couple of rows a day my little shawl is slowly growing. 

How about you? Did you capture any special moments this week? 

Please join in and share a moment from your week. Add your link, visit others that link up and help me promote the link up with at text link or the button. 

XX

Martha.

Boneyard Shawl

It seems like spring has arrived around here. Everything has started to bloom and develop new growth. Yesterday we had the most wonderful spring weather. We got a little break from the rain and as you can see on the photos my peach tree is exploding with pink blossoms. It looks like a big cotton candy.

I finally finished my Boneyard Shawl. I started it back in January and it has been such a fun knitting experience. The progress was slow; only knitting a couple of rows a day. I still can't believe it is finally finished.  While at times it felt like a long process I enjoyed every bit of it and I learned so much from this project. Halfway through the shawl I discovered that the technique I was using to do the yarn overs along the spine and the edges was not the right one to get a perfectly shaped decorative eyelet. But I've done so much I didn't want to frog the whole thing and start over. So I decided to keep going and finish it anyways. And I'm glad I did. I love the way it turned out even with its little imperfections. To finish it off I used a sewn cast off technique (which until then I had never heard of it before)  that I learned from this book. If you are interested in knitting or learning how to knit it is a great reference book to add to your library.
 There is so much I still have to learn about knitting, but slowly I'm gaining more confidence to try more complicated patterns.  I'm really looking forward to starting my next knitting project.

Have a lovely week!

*Linking up to Wool on Sundays at Rainbow Hare Quilts*

XX
Martha. 

New Yarn And Some Knitting Decisions

Hello! I hope you are having a lovely week. I've been meaning to show you the new yarn that  I purchased a couple weeks ago from Knit Picks.  This was my first time ordering yarn online and I'm absolutely delighted with how it looks in person. The yellow/gold one is called Billow in Turmeric color; it is 100% Pima Cotton bulky weight. It is so soft and cozy. The pink/fuchsia  is called Galileo Yarn in Abalone color; it is 50% Merino Wool 50% Bamboo sport weight. I think the color and texture looks so luxurious.

I usually find it hard to work on more than one knitting project at a time. But since I'm on the final stretch of my shawl I have been working on I though it is time to decide what to do with these fabulous yarns.

After and extensive research in Raverly (oh boy there are so many amazing patterns!), I found some great options that would work really well with each yarn. For the bulky cotton I thought that this Bandana Cowl from the Purl Bee would look great with it. And for the pink yarn I'm thinking about making another shawl. I'm still learning some of the basics about knitting so I think  This pattern would be a nice challenge. 

What do you think? Which one should I start first?

XX

Martha.

Owl Project Bag and the Begining of My First Shawl

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. My weekend was crazy busy, but I managed to fit in some crafting. If you follow my blog you might remember that I mentioned that my sewing machine was giving me some trouble while I was quilting my Feathers and Patchwork Quilt. Well, I had to take in for service and I finally got it back from the shop. I'm happy to report that it just needed some maintenance and now she sews again like new. So to celebrate the return of my sewing machine I decided to make a new project bag for my knitting. The fabric is a screen printed fabric that I got from fabric.com a while back. I think is very cute and whimsical, don't you agree? To make the bag more functional I added a zippered pocket inside to keep my knitting notions in place and to avoid loosing them in the bottom of the bag. 

Speaking of knitting, I also started to knit my first shawl. The pattern is called Boneyard Shawl and is available for free at Raverly. So far is going good and it doesn't seem too complicated, but I'll let you know how it goes...

XX

Martha.

Knitting Finish: Honey Cowl

I'm so excited to have finished my Honey Cowl. My first finish of the year, yay! You might remember that I started knitting it back in November. I'm totally surprised at how 'fast' it came together. I'm not a fast knitter and  I only knit a little bit everyday; usually in the car (when my husband is driving) or few rows in the evening while watching TV. But it goes super fast. It is not wonder why the Honey Cowl is so popular; the pattern is fantastic and such a joy to knit.  I'm sure this won't be the only one I make. I'm already planning my next one :)

For this one I used Cotton Ease by Lion Brand Yarn. The yarn is very soft and light weight perfect for the winter weather here in California. I think I will be wearing it all week. 

Have a lovely week!

*Linking up to Wool on Sundays at  Rainbow Hare Quilts*

XX

Martha

Yay! Started a Honey Cowl

Hello everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend. I had such a busy weekend, but I made some time to work on a couple of projects I've been meaning to finish for a while. But more on that later... let me tell you about the new knitting project I started. For a while I had been admiring the very popular Honey Cowl, and I finally started one. I'm really enjoying working on this project. I have to confess though, it took me a while to understand how to make the stitch. I must to have read the stitch instructions about twenty times trying to figure it out until it finally clicked in my head :) The stitch is lovely I just love how "puffy" it looks and now that I understand how it works it is actually very easy to knit. I'm really looking forward to finishing this one.

*Linking up to Wool Sundays at Rainbow Hare Quilts and New to Me in 2013 at Celtic Thistle Stitches*

XX

Martha.