Birthday Time!

Apparently it's Birthday Time!

Two of my friends have birthdays that are very close together  (and to make things really odd, they both knew each other -before- they knew me, but, didn't know that the other knew me until about last year!  Small world!)

So, one friend is getting the prototype of my Raindrop Shawlette;

I will, eventually, post this as my own design to my Ravelry Store, and you can see more about it on my Designer's Blog, but I want to tweak the pattern first before I put it for sale, and that will take some time, considering I'm going to re-knit a second prototype.

The other specifically requested a pair of Dragon Rider Gloves, just like the ones I made for my roommate (except hers are in black!):

I'll present them both at a Birthday party tomorrow night, and I'm looking forward to it!  (No, seriously, this friend throws amazing parties!)

So that's that for now.  It's nice to have a few projects off of the needles (have you seen how many WIP's I have!), and I hope both of my friends appreciate their new knitted things!

Wedding Attire!

So I finally finished the Fairview Scarf.

It may have only taken me, what, one-and-a-half years, but it was worth it.   It blocked out to be taller then me (so almost 6 feet long)!

What prompted me to actually get the scarf done was the fact that my step-sister was getting married!  So, I figured the Fairview would be something I could wear to the wedding!

The wedding was wonderful.  No pictures yet, but number of people were taking photos, so I'm sure there will be pictures online in a short while.  And my new step-brother-in-law (what a word!) is actually a totally sweet man.  He's very kind, rather quiet, and quite a gentleman. 

I didn't get a chance to get a picture of me all dressed up (I suck at taking selfies), so, you'll have to put up with these pictures for now.  While I don't get the 'selfie' culture, I do wish I could actually take a few decent selfies when the time requires it, mostly to show off my knit-wear! But that's another topic for another day.

Anyway, I will offer an online huge 'congratulations' to my Step-sister, who should still hopefully be enjoying her honeymoon as I type!   Congratulations and I hope you two have all the best!

Beaded Year of Lace Scarf KAL

Hello again all!

So I said I was going to try and get better about posting things again, so here I am!

This time, it's with a Scarf KAL!

Every Year, Elizabeth Ravenwood Designs does a yearly Lace Scarf.  It's a free KAL, with one clue a month. 

It's basically a sampler scarf -- which is great, because then each section only takes a little bit of knitting!

The KAL is free to join (though you will have missed the first sections for February and March), and it's a lot of fun.

So, without further ado, I present my Beaded Year of Lace Scarf!

This shows the January and February Sections, and the start of the March section.

It's a lot of fun, honestly, and if you can join in, please, feel free!

I find I end up quite happily looking forward to each section of this.  I intend for it to be a Christmas gift for my Aunt, since she was gushing over the 2014 scarf when I wore it to the family new years party.

EatSleepKnit 2015 Yarnathon

Arg!  Why didn't I post this before!

So, once again, EatSleepKnit has revamped their Yarnathon, and while posted this other places, I've been neglecting my blog again (bad Serena, bad!)

It's actually amazing now.  They've got badges you can win for things like extra yardage in the yarnathon, store credit, Ravelry credit. . . . and there aren't 4, but 12, year-long KALs!

"But why are you only telling me about this now?" you might ask.

Well. . . ok, I admit it.  I've been neglecting my blog.  That's why.  I blame this thing called 'work', plus some other not-so-fun health stuff that came up and kicked my butt for a while.   But don't despair!  Just because it's April does not mean that you too can't get involved in the fun that is the EatSleepKnit Yarnathon.  It runs all year! (And, while yes, it is addictive, it is also a good way to earn store credit and other rewards from then, so, take that with a however much salt you need!)

(And yes, full disclosure -- there is a badge for introducing folks to EatSleepKnit, and I intend to submit this post for it!)

Despite all my silliness, folks, though, this store is actually quite awesome.  Not only do they have many ways to give their customers free stuff,  they've also got amazing customer service, too.  It may sound kind of sappy, but they really are my go-to online store.  Also, their 'free shipping' prize does apply internationally, which is amazing! (Which, sadly, I cannot say about Canada Post).

That's about it for now, folks!  I leave you with the fact that the EatSleepKnit Yarnathon is fun, and a promise to try and update my blog more!

Updates, News and other Stuff

Well, yeah.  I've gotten pretty far behind in updating my various projects here.  Anyone who has taken a look at my Ravelry Projects Page can see just how many more projects and things that I'm working on that I haven't really talked about here.

There are a few reasons.

1) I find I'm concentrating more on my actual crafting, nowadays.  In some ways, that's a good thing -- it means I'm spending more time knitting/crocheting then I am randomly reading the Ravelry forums (Rav is fun, but it's a time-killer!)

2) I've got -a lot- of projects.

3) (And really, the most important reason).

I've been thinking for a while about actually making something out of this whole knitting hobby, and after a lot of searching, I've decided to take some of my original designs (not featured here or on my project page) and begin the process of selling my patterns online through the Ravelry marketplace. 

At this point, though, I'm still only in the process of designing and knitting my prototypes.  And since I'm not a fast knitter, this may take a while.    That being said, I've rediscovered such a love of the fiber arts, that I might as well see if I can make that passion into something, even if it is just a small amount of income on the side.

Due to my previous experiences in a work-from-home envrionment, I've created a second Ravelry ID, as well as a second, more professional, blog.   The reasons for this is that way, the messages and e-mails go to a 'work' e-mail, and allow me to keep a psychological boundary between my work and my fun.  I made the mistake, once, of using my personal e-mail for a work-from-home . . . and that alone did a number on my mental state.  I've since become a very strong believer in separating 'work' from 'life', even if 'work' is a huge passion.

That being said, I do encourage anyone who has been following me here, to check out those other pages to see my ideas and progress.  And don't worry, I'm not going to stop updating here, but my updates may slow down a little.

So. Many. KALs. . .

Well, the title says it all, and is also my explaination of why I haven't posted as much recently!


1) The Montego Shawl KAL is still going on.

2) I'm in a Seasonal Sock KAL; and the Spring Deadline is June 20th.  I've almost got one of two Charade Socks done, but I'm hoping I can finish the other sock in about a week. :)

3) Tanis Fiber Arts set up a  June Shawl KAL with a deadline also of June 31.  I decided to make a 198 Yards of Heaven using leftovers of TFA Green Label in "Chestnut", which is working out nicely, and is actually pretty far along.

4) The Yarn Attic is doing another Summer Bag KAL,  (also a June 31 entry), and I've got a couple of entries, but only one has a picture, and that's my Crocheted Project Bag.   It's an easy pattern, and so I'm making project backs using leftovers from my stash.  It's also a good way to teach myself to crochet again.

And finally, the ESK Team Mascot KAL is also still going strong.  No new pictures of the Octopus Mittens, sadly, but they're actually getting close to finished.  So I still do have a chance to finish up most of this stuff over the next few weeks.

Montego Shawl KAL

Hello!

So it seems like it's the Summer of KALs.  In addition to a summer scarf KAL (more on that forthcoming), the Yarn Attic is also running a KAL for the Montego Shawl.  

The deadline for entries is closed now (I've really got to get better about timely updates, huh?) but I'm working away at my shawl for the KAL deadline of June 31.

So far, it's coming along well, even if it's going to be enormous by the time I'm done. It's my first attempt at a beaded shawl, so I'll see how well this works out when I get to the beaded edging chart.