PlanetJune CAL

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Heather

I’m sure most of you are aware of my great love for PlanetJune crochet patterns. I’ve taken part in a couple of her CALs, and I’m planning on taking part in the newest one focusing on her Christmas designs.

This time around the CAL is a contest. All you need to do is make one of PlanetJune’s patterns (see above, and several are free), post about it, and let June know. All particpants will receive a discount code for a future purchase, and you just might win a $10 gift certificate to PlanetJune’s shop. You can read all about it here on June’s blog, or here at the PlanetJune Ravelry group.

Last year I made a whole bunch of the Christmas pudding ornaments, so I don’t think I will do any more this year. I’m leaning towards the poinsettia (a free/donationware design) or maybe the little PocketAmi set. Although, I’d have to buy that pattern and my crafting budget for the month is shot. 🙂


(Images of PlanetJune Christmas patterns belong to June.)

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A Plan for Socks

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Heather

I’m really intrigued by the idea of sock clubs. Fabulous yarn and a pattern written especially for it arriving in my  mail box every month? Yes, please! Unfortunately, non-wooly sock clubs are few and far between, and the shipping costs to Canada are often prohibitive.

Now, I’m sure most of you who knit know that the Yarn Harlot created a self-imposed sock club for herself this year. And, let’s be honest, I have more than enough sock yarn to do the same for myself. So, yesterday, I put the final touches on my 12 in 2011 self-imposed sock club.

Winding some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Candy

Most of my sock yarn is in balls, but I did need to wind up my two skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Candy. The swift was made by my dad, and works really well. I figured it was best to wind them now, rather than when I got around to knitting with them.

Final two balls of yarn ready, and my ball winder from Knit Picks

And here are the two balls of yarn ready to go, along with my Knit Picks ball winder. The winder gets the job done, but it is a little janky. If there was one piece of my knitting equipment I would replace, my ball winder is it.

12 in 2011 Self-Imposed Sock Club

And this is a box with all the yarn matched with their patterns. I’ve got all the patterns listed in my Ravelry queue in slots 1-12 (link requires Rav membership to view). At the beginning of each month, I’ll just run the random number generator to pick which one to work on.

How’s that for an ambitious plan? For comparison, I made six pairs of socks this year.

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Headin’ to Texas

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Heather

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m deep into holiday knitting and stitching, which means I don’t have a lot of pictures to share.  However, I did forget to share the socks and ferret that I sent off to a lady in Texas.

The socks are Cookie A.’s Kai-Mei from her fabulous book Sock Innovation. They were knit with Crystal Palace Maizy, a corn fibre yarn. If you are interested, you can see my project notes here.

Kai-Mei Socks by Cookie A.

The lovely stitch pattern wraps around the top of the foot, and looks so pretty. I am absolutely going to make a pair of these for  myself someday soon. In fact, I think I have them in my sock of the month club I have planned for next year.

Kai-Mei Stitch Close-Up

And here is the cute little ferret I crocheted. If is from PlanetJune’s Fuzzy Ferret pattern, done in Bernat Satin, my go-to amigurumi yarn.

(Un)Fuzzy Ferret by PlanetJune

I’m hoping to finish up a project or two that I can share some time in the next few days. I have some ornaments I’m stitching up for my mom to give as gifts, another ornament for an exchange, and then there is my ornament of the month club ornament that I need to get cracking on. Thankfully, my holiday knitting is very nearly done, with the exception of two small projects, one medium project, and one large project. Ack. I guess there still is a lot to do.

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Halloween Revisited

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Heather

I know that most of us are now thinking of the next holiday, be it Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Christmas. My mind is still a little bit on Halloween because my prize from Missy Ann and Annette’s 31 Days of Halloween arrived earlier this week.

Day 27 Prize

Annette’s stitching is fabulous, and the finishing on the needlebook book puts anything I’ve done to shame. As for the rest of it, I think it speaks for its self.

Thank you again, Annette and Missy Ann, for making October extra fun!

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Lest We Forget

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Heather

Thank you to all the veterans, currently serving members of the military, and their families. We appreciate your sacrifice, and pray that never again will we experience another world war.

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Ferret Face!

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Heather

No, not Frank Burns, but this cute little guy:

Ferret by PlanetJune (WIP)

That’s the head of PlanetJune’s Fuzzy Ferret pattern, crocheted in Bernat Satin. I’m making it for a lady in Texas, and I just sent off this picture to get her approval on the face before I finish him up.  He looks so sweet!

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November and December 2010 Goals

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Heather

Happy November! I hope you survived the ghost and goblins of last night, and still managed to hang onto a little bit of candy for yourself.  We didn’t take Baby Man out. I think he is still too small, and he isn’t a big candy eater anyway. He prefers baked goods. 🙂

For many of you, November begins the busiest time of year. Up here in Canada, we have already had our Thanksgiving, and there is only Remembrance Day to observe this month. It is an important day for us, and an excellent start to the season of friends and family. But there is something about waking up on November 1st that gets me thinking about Christmas and the holidays. No decorations yet! But all the Halloween stuff with be down shortly, with just a few autumn pumpkins and the like left out.

Christmas and the gift giving season is coming up very quickly, and that means that I will be focusing on stitching and knitting gifts for the next two months. And that also means fewer posts and pictures. With all of that in mind, I thought it would be better to write my goals for November and December, since  it is all going to blend together anyway. So, my goals:

  • Stitch and finish six ornaments
  • Knit six gifts

How’s that? Wish me luck!

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