Photography

I've always loved photography and the way it could make or break a blog, and I realize that my pictures now are not up to par with other photos bloggers take, so, in the following week or so, I will be experimenting with different styles of photography that will best suit me and my blog. I will most likely not be making too many posts until I am confident with the quality of my pictures. I want to give the absolute best material to my readers, however small and sparse they may be, so I ask that you bear with me for a while, and even if you're not subscribed to my posts, please keep checking back! C:

Finished: Beanie

I find myself always rushing through my projects because I absolutely can not wait to see how the finished product turns out. Luckily with this project, it only took me a few hours to complete it, so only a little bit of rushing was required. The pattern is super simple, and even though it's mainly a men's hat, I can't help but wear it for myself. I used the Bernat Roving yarn in Flint. It's 80% Acrylic, 20% Wool and 100% soft! The yarn itself is a bit difficult to work with because it's very felt-y. The hat also felts a lot, which does not please me so. I think I'll try the hat again with a different bulky yarn and see how it works out.

 

 

How the hat looks inside out.

Aaaaaand I was going to post a picture with my face in it, but I looked awkward, so here's one of faceless me, wearing the hat.

Haul 003.

Wool, wool, wool! A cloudy day with lots of chill and wool is my favourite kind, all I need now is a pumpkin spice latte and I'm set for life. My package from Etsy has arrived and I'm so excited! I found this wool while browsing and I fell in love with not only the colours, but the prices as well, ahem. Not one of them is acrylic or any other 'fake' fabric, which is what really drew me to them. The first one is from Lanaloft and it's pictured below. It's a gorgeous lavender colour and my mom chose it for the headband I'm making her. It's 100% wool and is 160 yards. I also believe it's hand spun because it's all one long string, rather than a few strings twisted together, if that makes sense.

The new two are from Lamb's Pride. One is a beautiful flannel blue colour that I'll probably use for a chunky ribbed hat for my dad, just so he can wear around casually. The other is a really pretty seafoam colour. I have yet to decide what I wanna do with that one. They're both 85% wool and 15% mohair, which makes them snuggly and soft to the touch. They're also 125 yards. I'm actually really excited to work with these guys!

Next are two skein's from Nature Spun, the first is a silver sage colour I'm so in love with that I'll have to make myself a cowl with, and the second is a beautiful purple colour and I know exactly who this one's going to. They're both 100% wool and super, super soft. With a good wash and fabric softening, they're going to be amazing on the skin. Okay, I know I was excited to work with the Lamb's Pride yarns, but I'm actually really excited to work with these ones.

And last but least, I have these three babies. I'm planning on making the H&M scarves with these, even though I know I got the wrong material for them. The H&M scarves were probably a mohair, but I know I can throw these in the wash with some fabric softener and they'll be really great. Another weird thing I did is get 1 pink and 2 of white and grey. I don't know what was going through my mind at the time, but it could be the people I'm making these for. Anyways, they're all 80% cotton and 20% merino wool, and 215 yards.

So that's my wonderful haul! And yes of course I'll be updating further about what I'll be making with these beautiful yarns, so stick around. Also, can anyone please tell me what "second" means? It says so on each yarn label and I'm a touch confused.

Chunky Cowl

Aaaand another project! It's a chunky cowl from iKnits. Originally, I was going to use the Tweed yarn for this cowl, but I decided against it and used the Loops & Threads Zoomba yarn. I love this yarn! It's super soft and chunky. I did buy 5 skeins of it, but the pattern technically calls for 6, so we'll see how it turns out. The pattern calls to use 3 threads at once as if you're using 1 really chunky yarn.

So far it's turning out pretty well, but it's a little bit stiff. I'm a bit worried about how the end result will turn out, but I'll keep you guys updated and see how it turns out after washing it.

Quick Beanie

One of my favourite Youtubers posted a Men's Beanie video and it was such a coincidence because it was exactly the type of hat I was looking for! I just happened to have the right yarn for it, so naturally I got to work right away. Admittedly, I'm not loving this yarn because it felts very easily and is a bother to work with, but it's coming along so no regrets.

The yarn I used is Bernat Roving yarn in the colour Charcoal (but don't quote me on that 'cause I could be wrong). I'm using the same circular needles from my Boye Needlemaster set as in the video.

I'm almost done and super excited! Pictures to come of the completed project!

Haul 002.

Yay another haul! I'm really bad with obsessions because then I spend all my money on them, but in this case it's worth it because I'm actually going to make something useful with it. So my green aluminum Boye needles ended up breaking (sorry, had no time to take a picture), and I luckily still had the receipt stashed in my mess. The problem with the Boye ones was that they are placed in the packaging very oddly so the cord becomes misshaped and the needles have quite a bend at the end to make them more 'circular', but it just made them worse. I purchased them at Michael's for around $11, and I was originally going to exchange them for a different pair but they didn't have any round needles in a size 17 US so I just returned them. The pair below is from Red Heart and I got them at Wal Mart for $6 and they're SO much better than the Boye ones. They're made of plastic so they're light, durable and they're straight so they're easy to work with.

These next needles are from Lion Brand and Michael's had the exact same ones but they cost $23 and I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much on some plastic, so I decided to check out Ebay instead. Lo and behold, I found the same pair for $10. My lucky day! They came in the mail a week or two after and I love them! They're similar to the Red Heart ones above and they're very easy to work with.  These are a size 19 US on a 29" cord.

While at Wal Mart, I found a shelf full of sale yarn in the mirror section (what?) and I squealed with joy! But not literally because that'd be weird and I'd be eternally embarrassed for squealing over yarn. ANYWAYS, it was $3.77 a skein and they had lots of colours and selections! I ended up choosing the most yardage for the best price. They had some that were around 72 yards for the same price, whereas these ones are 360 yards. They had several different colours, but I really liked how the grey and blue look together. I think I might make a colour block scarf with these two. Also, this yarn, although acrylic, is SO soft! They're going to be so wonderful on the skin.

Aaand going back to Michael's (these items were bought at one time, I promise), I found these two yarns. It's funny 'cause I went to Michael's first and picked up the grey and then later when I was at Wal Mart looking at the Bernat yarn, I thought to myself "Hey, I don't have a grey yarn!" and then when I came home realization hit. Whoops. Oh well! I'll most likely use them for hats. My dad needs a hat and my brother does as well, so that's probably where they'll go.

Herringbones

Yay for new projects! As beautiful as the moss stitch is, I got tired of it and I was just itching to get my hands on something new. I found a wonderful tutorial on Youtube for this gorgeous herringbone cowl that is super chunky and super cute. I planned on using a different yarn for this project, but switched last minute and I'm so glad I did! Instead, I used my tweed yarn from Romni's. As you can see below, the piece is beginning to curl a little at the ends, but I think it's probably because the cast on is rather thin, and then the piece doubles in thickness. When I wash it, I'll block it a bit to ensure it's flat.

After working with the stitch a bit, I've come to the conclusion it's the thickest stitch I've ever worked with, but it's also my favourite. I just love the pattern that comes out of it and it's very easy to work with. If you're afraid the stitch will be too thick for you because you want a lighter piece, I'd suggest using a thinner yarn, possibly a fingerling.