Photo time! and NEWS

Hi,
Ah, winter break has come to an end, and I'm back in school.  Yay (and no, that was not sarcastic)!  I just got back from Florida and I have some more vacation photos to share with you. (Warning: picture packed post ahead!)

Baby lizard

Okay, now that you've seen some vacation photos, it's time for some (drumroll) FIBER PHOTOS!!!  

 100% baby alpaca!  Softest yarn EVER!

My first skein on Madelinetosh!  Such an exciting moment!  I love the forest colors.

My first good-quality cotton yarn!

All of these yarns were from Sheryl, who sent these as a late birthday RAK present. There was also a skein of Malabrigo that I already had so now I have 2 skeins of that color way, so I can make a larger project!

Okay, now back to business!  I recently joined the Blog Hub group on Ravelry and discovered some awesome Memes in the forums that I would like to start participating in.  Here are 3 that I thought were pretty cool!: FO Friday, WIP Wednesday, and Squee Sundays.  Stay tuned to figure out what happens on those Meme days! ;)

ღ Emily

Stepping into 2013

Hi,
I have a confession to make: I did not finish Christmas presents on time.  However, this year I'm going to try very hard to knit up all of those presents and get them finalized, wrapped, and shipped before Christmas so all my friends and family can open their new hand-knit gift on Christmas morning.  So, how will I be able to accomplish all of this knitting?  I will be starting Christmas knitting: right now!  Now I have no excuses for not getting presents done on time! :) :P

Anyways, I'm still in Florida and I will be flying home to rainy Oregon on Sunday.  I'm sad to be leaving the nice weather but it will be nice to get back home and start my first sweater!  Yep, I will be knitting up the Owls Sweater with my fellow knitter and raveler Hasol!  First, I will need to take a trip to Twisted, a very nice yarn store in Portland.  The yarn I'm going to get is going to be a dark gray, in bulky weight.  I can't wait to begin!  My new nickel plated needles are ready to go.

Emily

Happy (EARLY) New Year!

Hi,
2013 is literally right around the corner and I just wanted to take a moment to list some awesome things that happened this year and state some resolutions that I would like to achieve and live by during 2013.

Here's some awesome events that happened during 2012! (not in a particular order!)

1.  Learned how to purl! - This was a huge step for me in terms of knitting.  I learned how to purl during a knitting class I took at my LYS (For Yarn's Sake) and let me tell you that I didn't fall in love with it.  However, this allowed me to go deeper into the knitting realm!

2. School - Yes, one of my awesome events is going to school. :P  :D  I love my school so much, as it offers so many art classes that other schools don't.  At school I can take ceramics, film, animation, drawing, painting, mixed-media, creative writing, and many more art classes.  I owe so many thank you's to my school, Acma, for providing me with classes that allow me to become a better artist and student.

3. Made my soccer A team (again)! - Now I can play soccer at the highest level in my league and be challenged with my team!

4. Designed my first pattern! - The Forbidden Forest Cowl is my very first pattern I created and I'm very proud of it.  I can't wait to make up more patterns for everyone to enjoy in 2013.

5. A Yarnful Life! - I discovered the amazing world of blogging during 2012.  Creating the A Yarnful Life blog has been such a great experience, it's so much fun sharing my WIPs, yarn, giveaways, patterns, and thoughts with other crafters.

Okay, now for some resolutions!!!

Here are my resolutions and goals for 2013!

1. Grow "A Yarnful Life" and improve my blog layout and banner.

2. Only 2 projects at a time and get rid of all those unfinished projects!

3. Stop buying yarn just because it's pretty.  ;)

4. Use up all my "cheap" yarn and buy some nice, good quality fiber to replace it.

5. Do extra after school work to add to the minimum homework my school gives out.

6. Finish at least 25 projects this year.

7.  Explore different art forms at school.

8. Design lots of patterns this year!

9. Do monthly giveaways for A Yarnful Life.

Happy New Year!!!

Emily

Greetings from a Knitter in Miami

Hi,
I know. I know.  I said I wouldn't be able to post much during Winter break but I have some time, and I'm going to use that time to write a post and share some (knitting related and not knitting related) photos.

I'm in Miami, Florida right now and it's very warm and a bit humid, opposite of Oregon.  There are palm trees everywhere, which an unusual sight for someone who lives in Oregon where palm trees are a rarity.  Overall, I'm loving Florida so far!

Now for some pictures!  Today my family and I walked down to the beach and had tons of fun swimming in the warm and not freezing ocean and digging big holes in the sand.  I was amazed by the color of the ocean, it was so light and teal!  The ocean on the Oregon coast is dark and muddy blue.  Here's a picture of the ocean.

I also saw a few feathery friends... well, actually a lot of them! 

Seagulls

Another Seagull

Oh yeah, I also did a little knitting.  I'm making a Forbidden Forest Cowl (click on the "Patterns" tab to purchase and download the pattern) for my cousin.  I'm using Caron Simply Soft in a nice, silvery blue color.  Here's a picture of my work in progress!  I'm using my brand new KnitPicks Options needles (nickel plated) and they are super nice and slippery.

And, just because, I'm going to share with you a couple of random, cool, nice pictures that I took! 

 

YARN!!!

 Feet?!

Okay, that's all for now folks!  Make sure to enter the GIVEAWAY if you haven't already to win some soft and colorful yarn.  Have a wonderful day!

Emily

Happy Holidays!

Hi,
I just wanted to wish all of you awesome readers, "Merry Christmas!" or if you don't celebrate Christmas, "Happy Holidays!"  Thank you for reading my posts, commenting (or just quietly reading), purchasing/downloading my designs, and following me throughout these few months.  Hopefully you'll continue to join me for more yarnful adventures in 2013.

Tomorrow I will be departing for sweet, warm, and sunny Florida.  I'm really excited to get out of wet and rainy Oregon, but I won't be able to blog very much until January.  I hope that's okay, but remember, when I come back, one of you will be the winner of the giveaway!

Anyways, enjoy the rest of the holidays, and have a wonderful day!

Emily

A Yarnful GIVEAWAY!

GIVEAWAY!! GIVEAWAY!!  GIVEAWAY!!

Who doesn't love giveaways!?

Yay!  For the January giveaway I will be sending the winner one lovely, colorful, yummy skein of this yarn!

Here's what you can win: 

About the yarn: - 250 yards of light worsted weight yarn 

                             - wool, llama, and alpaca

                             - wound into a cake

How to Enter: 

1) Leave a comment on this post saying what is one of your New Years Resolutions (if you don't have a resolution, just tell me something you want to accomplish in 2013)

2) Make sure to leave your name and email and (if you have one) your Ravelry username so I can contact you if you win.

3) Commenting on this post will get you one entry for the prize.

4) If you follow my blog, you will get ten entries for the prize.

  - If you are planning on following my blog, please comment as well saying that you will be following my blog for 10 entries.

5) I cannot ship internationally. :(

6) The giveaway ends on January 20th, so enter enter enter! :)

Good luck!

Emily

Please post in the comments the name of your account that you will be following my blog on (if you are planning on following me, thanks!)

Fiber Photos!

I love yarn.  You love yarn (at least I'm assuming you do!). Everyone loves yarn, and today I'm going to treat you to a tour of my growing Stash.  I know; I'm such a nice person.

Here is one my true beauties, Cascade 220 Paints.  I love the ocean-like colors, and I like how bright and vivid each color is.  The color way is Tropical Seas, dye lot is 9862.  My friend Hasol gave me this for a swap, and I am never trading it, never giving it away, and never letting it out. of. my. sight.

Next up we have a super yummy, gorgeous,  purply skein of Malabrigo Merino Worsted.  I love how the colors and super crisp, as there are many different shades of purple in the yarn, but the color changes are random and less obvious.  I really enjoy working with single plied yarn because it feels much different than working with multi plied yarn.

Here is a nice, bright skein of Cascade 220.  Let me tell you a story: Back in the olden days ( about 2 months ago) I worshipped Cascade 220.  I thought that it was the best yarn in the world, and that there was no yarn that could compete with it.  However, ever since I touched Malabrigo, I stopped worshipping Cascade 220.  :-'(

I'm sure just about every yarn crazy person in the world has heard of KnitPicks, right?  I have a few KnitPicks yarns in my stash.

KnitPicks haul part 1

Knit Picks Haul Part 2

Well my friends, I think we'll stop there for now.  That's all!

Emily  

Not Much Time

Hi,
I have to make this post super brief, due to Christmas being only WOW 3 days away!  Isn't that crazy?  Time has flown by so fast!  I promise that tomorrow will be a picture-packed post!

Must get back to work (puts on a serious face and grabs a WIP)...

Emily

Hard at Work

Hi,
Christmas is only FOUR days away!  I'm freaking out because I still haven't finished my mom's present, my dad's present, my brother's present, Erin's present, and my 2 cousin's present.  How am I supposed to cope with this?  Knit like a crazy person.

I've never been so stressed out during Christmas time, usually, I finish my presents way before Christmas and I can just "enjoy" the bitter, rainy, and cold Oregon weather until Christmas comes around and we open presents and then everyone is happy.  Nope, not this year.

Due to my lack of days left to finish projects I am going to make a schedule.  Ta da!

December 12-21: Finish Mom's cowl

December 12-22: Finish Noah's baby monster

December 12-23: Finish Dad's earbud pouch

December 12- 23 to 12-24: Finish Erin's Penelope the Empathetic Monster

December 12-24 to 12-26: Finish Cousin's presents (I can work on them on the plane ride to florida, which is where I will give them their presents)

Wish me luck!

Emily

I'm Back!!!!!!!

Hi,
I know.  I haven't posted in a really long time, but I'm back with news and... a pattern!  Which thing should we start with?  I think I'll tell you about "The News" first.

On Saturday my awesome knitting friend Hasol and I went to Archer's Afield in Oregon and had tons of fun!  I suck at archery, but it's still really fun.  Luckily I brought my camera so I took some pictures.  Here they are!

Fletchings on the arrow

altogether!

Hasol's bow and arrows

Bows

Our targets

Cool huh?  Archery is definitely something fun to do with friends!  I also have some yarnerific pictures of the yarn I got at All About Yarn, which is right next to Archer's Afield.  Here's what I bought.

Malabrigo Merino Worsted

Melody Sock Yarn

Pretty purple!  Hehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehhehhehehehhehwhehehehehhehhehehhehehheheh!

Also, on Monday I turned 13!  It was an awesome birthday, with presents, celebrations, wishes, and cheesecake (from the cheesecake factory).  Here's what I got....

• iPhone from my parents!  It's my dad's old one, and I like it very much.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

• $50 dollar gift certificate for Angelika's Yarn Store also from my mom and dad!

• $20 dollar gift card for For Yarn's Sake from my little brother!  Thanks Noah!

• $25 dollar gift card for Barnes and Noble from my gramma and grandpa!

• A KnitPicks ball winder from my best knitting friend, Hasol!  Thanks!

FREE PATTERN!  FREE PATTERN! 

(didn't see that one coming, huh?)

Whoo hooo!  Yep, that's right!  I have a FREE pattern for everybody!  Here it is! (also available on Ravelry)

Ericaceae

This lovely little cowl looks like itsy bitsy cranberries (or holly berries) and is super cute for winter!

Materials: 

• size 7 needles
• worsted weight yarn: 120 yards (yardage is estimated) I used Malabrigo Merino Worsted
• 2 stitch markers
• size 7 cable needle/dpn

Notes: When you see *  * repeat what instructions are between the *  *s twice

Pattern:

CO 40 stitches

Row 1) K8, (pm), k24, (pm) K8

Row 2) K8, (slm), p24, (slm) K8

Row 3) same as row 1

Row 4) same as row 2

Row 5) K8 (slm) *sl 3 sts onto CN and hold to back, K3, K3 from CN, sl 3 sts onto CN and hold to front, K3, K3 from CN*, (slm) K8

Row 6) same as row 2

Row 7) same as row 1

Row 8) same as row 2

Row 9) same as row 1

Row 8) same as row 2

Row 9) same as row 1

Row 10) same as row 2

Row 11) K8 (slm) *sl 3 stitches onto CN and hold to front, K3, K3 from CN, sl 3 sts onto CN and hold to back, K3, K3 from CN*, (slm) K8

Row 12) same as row 2

repeat these rows until your cowl is desired length

BO, weave in ends, sew the 2 ends of the cowl together and... enjoy!

That's my latest design, Ericaceae!  I love the garter stitch edge and the chain cables.  I had tons of fun knitting and designing this pattern and I wanted to make it available to everyone. :)

Happy Knitting,

Emily