SnarCraft

Psst! Guess What!? I PUBLISHED MY FIRST PATTERN LAST WEEK! First time I've ever felt like this was me...something new every day, right? Thank you to everyone who did the excited happy dance with me last Tuesday. You helped distract me from obsessively hitting the refresh button on my stats to see if anyone thought my design was cool enough to even click on. ;o) I confess was a little nervous about publishing a pattern, mainly because there was a little voice in the back of my mind saying that this pattern was ‘cute’ but not anything someone other than me would want to knit…I ‘emmed’ and ‘erred’ about for a few weeks while I finished the first iteration of the project, blocked it, and took photos. I kept telling myself I might as well be prepared, whether I decided to publish the design or not. But it was actually Youngling who helped me the most in deciding firmly that I would indeed publish the pattern. For starters, I realised if she’d come to me saying that she t...

I am happy to report that the Tyrannosaurus Rex Mittens survived surgery and are now on their way to New Zealand to make another special nephew very happy. Followers of this blog will remember the Triceratops Gloves I made last month for someone’s special nephew? It was a romping good play at hacking a pattern and flying blindly by the seat of my pants, listening to my gut assure me that everything would be fine, only to have it all be SPLENDID at the end. When I blogged about the gloves I was also most of the way through knitting the mitten portions of the TRex mittens. I was feeling pretty darned accomplished after kitchernering the top of the second mitten, and I laid them out together to snap a photo.   Yeah….I should have known better than to knit them individually. I was annoyed enough with myself that I had to set them aside for a little while to let the air clear. I was very certain that I was not going to knit another mitten from scratch. No, no, no. There was ...

Dear Yarn Stash - I’m sorry. You were right. I should have listened. I should have not let the shiny new Stash acquisitions grab so much of my time and attention. I should have recognised it for what it was - a fling, a dalliance, a distraction. More pointedly, I should have anticipated that the new acquisitions would not feel as loyal to me as you would when embarking on a collaborative project; our relationship being so new and green and all... I guess I was asking too much of that lovely vampish purple gradient when I decided it should be a lacework shawl...and perhaps I was coming on too strong for the autumnal sock gradient, because I can’t find the remaining yarn to start the second sock... As a sign of my willingness to make amends, I went through my Ravelry Queue looking for my next cast-ons with only you in mind. Here’s what I’ve found. Do let me know your thoughts, won’t you? Pumpkin Spice Mittens by Skeindeer Knits Source: Skeindeer Knits on Ravelry I kno...

IT. IS. DONE. That's right, you heard it here first! (Ok, actually if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you would have heard it there first, but let's not be too pedantic just now. I'm celebrating.) That beautiful steampunk/art deco inspired Stephen West shawl I have been slogging away at for over a month? I decided Sunday night that come hell or high water I was finishing those last 35 decreases and it was going to be off my needles. I sat down, I put on some DS9, and I gritted my teeth and whacked out the rest of that damn shawl. then I had a glass of wine in celebration. I also gleefully messaged everyone I could think of to say the fraking thing was DONE! (Sorry to my friends who are less excited about wool than me, but I'm sure you understand on some level.) Here's a photo of the project fresh off the needles. I will get a photo of me wearing it up for you soon. This is going to involve getting someone I trust to take my photo in decent lighting, s...