Yellowbird Yarn Room

January: The Month of Me

I read a discussion on Ravelry a few weeks ago that I have been thinking about a great deal.  It was among yarn store owners, and they were discussing what shoppers were looking for after Christmas.  It was virtually unanimous.  While different owners had different nicknames for the reference, the sentiment was the same. 

January is the Month of Me!

After the hustle and bustle of the holidays we all want to do a little something for ourselves, right?  And if being crafty is your thing, then you've been crafting like crazy for others, right?  And probably thinking to yourself "if I were doing this for me I'd do it this way, but I think so-and-so would like it much better this way..." 

Personally, my needles have been flying faster than ever these last few months in order to stock the shop with my own brand of artful goodies (of which very little remains...yay!).  And then, of course, came the handmade gift exchange with my ladies.  And an unexpected special order.  

And my one hand knit gift that I give each year. 

Yeah, I know, I hear all about people who knit scarves for everyone they know (and then some) every year.  Or coordinating mittens for every member of their nuclear family.  Or sweaters with the recipient's initial on the front.  Possibly in maroon.

But, goodness!  Maybe when the kids are grown and out of the house and we've won the lottery and I have a knitting machine to save myself from the inevitable carpal tunnel surgery... For now, though, I'm good harnessing all of my knitting power into just one gift each year.

 

This year's recipient was a sleek and stylish young mom, who juggles work and school and family, and who is thin and almost always wears black and still looks good in a ponytail.  It was one of those things where I drew her name for the Big Family Gift Exchange the Christmas before and said "oh, I can knit her something cool."  Somewhere over the course of the year I looked at the yarn and knew it was for her.  And I've been really drawn to seed stitchlately.  The arm warmers were the obvious part and someone else said something that made me think of the neck warmer. 

      

I tried on the arm warmers to make sure they would fit okay and they were soooo comfy!  I've knit four different pairs of arm warmers altogether now.  I've loved them all.  I really wish I had a pair for myself...

I didn't try on the neck warmer because it looked so cool and comfy that I was afraid I wouldn't want to give it up!  After all, I have knit at least five or six neck warmers altogether now.  I've loved them all.  Really wish I had one...

Did I mention that January is the Month of Me?

Ok, so it may still be December but I had the yarn and no more gifts to work on!  I was in withdrawal!  My needles were calling me!  I will be very Toasty very soon in a stunning variegated green...

But January is coming, what will I do then?  Oh.  I have a plan.  A plan I have been working on for a long time.  Years, really. 

Did you ever want something that doesn't exist?  Well, I want a hat.  That I can wear either with a ponytail or without.  With buttons for both ease and style.  I have searched for just such a pattern to no avail.  Close.  But not "it".  Come January I will be designing myself said hat and will give you updates along the way.  Comments and suggestions all welcome!

And if I don't write again beforehand...Happy January!

I loved it as a T-shirt

Until it shrank.  That happens to me a lot.  

But on the plus side, t-shirts do make for wonderful knitting material!  Look how great it looks now!

 

The picture may be a bit grainy, but you can still see the cute comfiness, right?

And you know what?  I think my stash just grew ten times over!     

Handmade gift exchange

Last Thursday, the ladies of Open Knit and I had a little Christmas party, complete with scrumptious eats and gifts of the handmade variety (we are, after all, a very crafty lot!).  We exchanged our gifts "white elephant"-style, allowing us to take presents that we really liked from other people.

My problem?  I liked them all!

But let's go back to the beginning, shall we?

The idea for this handmade gift exchange was brought up several weeks ago, but a date was never set.  I had some thoughts in my head about what I could make, just in case, but nothing concrete.  After all, these things are often discussed without ever coming to fruition, right?

Right.  Until someone comes in and says "Ok, we're doing it next week"!

Now, it is not generally in my nature to repeat projects unless specifically requested to do so.  If someone likes something I made and decides they would like more, possibly to give out as gifts, I will gladly make more!    But even when faced with the prospect of giving a handmade gift within a week I found it difficult to stick with the tired and true!

So, let's see...these are "foodie"-type gals.  I've made hot pads.  They're easy, quick, fun.  That's a good start, but I need a new design and something to go with it.  Well, I recently discovered that the local craft store carries flour sack cloths and I've been anxious to play with the possibilities there...  A little random doodling for a new design...  And there you have it!

 

The hot pad was knit with my beloved Granite and then felted in the washer.  I then "un-plied" some strands of luscious Tundra to sew the edge and needle felt the design.  It was my original intention to use embroidery floss for the flour sack cloth, but as I was low on time I decided to experiment!  If all went well, I could use the same techniques as on the hot pad and whip that cloth out in no time flat! 

Well, I thinkit went well.  I liked the looks of it after it was needle felted but it got a bit fuzzier around the edges after being hand washed than I would have liked.  The long-term usability factor is questionable.

At any rate, the lovely ladies of Open Knit laid out a fine spread of goodies both sweet and savory, and the gifts were all lovely.  I'm very sorry to say, however, that most everything was cleaned up and gone before I could get pictures!  Luckily, one remained who had received my gift and one who's gift I happened to have received.

 

My two sweet little boys and I have had a grand time hammering off pieces of cashew brittle and munching away their snowy days!  (The recipe for the brittle can be found on my friend's blog.)  And when the brittle is all gone, I still have myself a marble tile, perfect for serving cheese (and that's an adorable spreader there with the multi-present-shaped handle).  As a bonus, one of the other ladies brought in some crocheted snowflakes and bells for us all to bring home.  Just because. 

Nice!

I really wish I had more pictures for you so that you could appreciate the labors of love that went to happy homes that day.  Not to mention the yummies that kept me going until dinner!  Thanks to you all, all you ladies of Open Knit, for sharing your work and your passion for it! 

Deadline extended!

Thanks to high demand and several exclamations of "oh, I meant to do that!" the drawing for the blanket raffle has been extended until Monday.  That gives you a whole 'nother weekend to come by River City for your tickets and your opportunity to help give a Merry Christmas to those kids in the area who need it most!  Every dollar helps, and hey...doesn't a nice heavy hand knit blanket sound good right now? 

 

Headed to River City!

It's Open House weekend at River City Gift Shoppe, and I've been working hard all morning long to get things done so I could be there for a little while today!  There was just one more thing I wanted to do before I left...

It is now officially December and I have yet to post a single picture of my November craft-along ornaments!  So, allow me to at least give you a couple of parting shots:

 
The raw goods:  some knit, some crochet, all pre-felting.

 
So far, so good!

While the four lovelies you see above are already gracing a fine little tree at River City, the two ball ornaments have proven to be much trickier and are still WIP's.

For now, though, I'm off to spend a little quality time at the Open House before my quality time with my kids...  I'll be in and out of the shop all weekend and I hope to see you there!