A New Look...

Hi Everyone,
I'm sure all of you have noticed that I changed my blog design again.  But I can 99% assure you that I will not be changing it again... besides reorganizing the side bars and that kind of stuff :)

I put a lot of time and thought into designing the final banner, and I hope that all of you like it.  I think it truly represents who I am as a person, knitter, and artist.

I wanted my banner to be graphic but a little organic, simple but not boring, eye catching but not overwhelming, and most of all, my greatest desire was for it to represent me.

The font I chose is called RNS Camelia.  It has been one of my favorite fonts for a while and I'm so glad that I am finally able to incorporate it into my blog design.  It's very clean, rounded, simple, but very different to any other font I have seen.

I got the inspiration for the design from two things: feathers and stitches.  I think the design on the sides resemble both of these things, showing my love for birds and nature along with my passion for knitting.  And of course I just had to use my favorite color, teal, in this design!

Anyways, I really hope you like this new website design I came up with.  If you have any questions, comments, compliments, feedback, ect., please comment!  I'd love to hear from you.

Also, there is now an A Yarnful Life Instagram account!  It's public so feel free to follow.  I'll be posting photos that don't make it onto the blog, stash updates, and other quick snippets!

Have a great day!

FO: Owls Sweater

Hello Everyone!
Over the last few days, I finished a very big project that took a very long time.

Yes.  The Owls Sweater is done, off the needles, and in my eyes - perfect!  It took me approximately 8 MONTHS to knit this sweater and I am so glad that it's finished.  To tell you the truth, this project was both a pain and a joy to knit.  It was painfully boring, but once I started cabling the owls it became a rather fun project.  If you can get past the many rounds of plain knitting, this project can turn into a super interesting knit!

I decided to knit the smallest size, which in most places, fits me perfectly.  The forearms and back are a tad bit loose, but not baggy.  For the yarn I chose Cascade Yarns 128 Superwash in the colorway silver.  I really like this yarn.  It's made up of two plies and is really soft and warm.  I can't see myself wearing this sweater until mid winter, because it's such a thick and wooly top.

The thing that I love most about the Owls Sweater is definitely the owl cables.  It's so cool how you can turn a few twisted stitches into a knitted bird.  I like how subtle the owls are, and that at first they just look like a bunch of intricate cables, but when you look closely you can see the owls. :)

I would definitely recommend this sweater!

I'm getting ready to cast on some new, smaller projects!

photo credits: mom

August Yarnful Giveaway!

Hi Everyone!
I know it's been a while since my last giveaway due to vacations and end of school business.  But I'm back with a great giveaway that I know all of you, especially Madelinetosh fans, will love. :D

The Prize: One gorgeous, yummy, squishy, soft, and irresistible skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in colorway Plaid Blanket.

So, you wanna win this yarnful giveaway?  Here's how you can enter!

Entering:

- leave a comment under this post saying something fun you have done over this summer
- make sure to include your name and a ravelry id OR an email address so I can contact you if you win
- internationals are welcome! :)
- one comment per person, please.
- commenting gets you one entry
- follow me to get extra entries - email subscription, bloglovin', google friend connect, ect.
- don't be a sore loser!

Ready. Set... Enter enter enter to win! :)

Have fun!

One Arm Done... Another Arm to Go!

Hello!
I just got back from a beautiful weekend in Sun River, Oregon.  I had a soccer tournament in Bend so we decided to turn the few days we spent there into a vacation.  Between soccer games I would pull out my sweater arm and knit a few rows.  Fortunately, all of those rows added up and that arm is finished!

I know that I haven't been a very productive knitter lately, so that's all I really have to share today... in terms of knitting, that is.  I'm putting together a giveaway that you can look forward to, but until then, here is some photos I took at Sun River.  I used my camera so much over the weekend, so I got lots of great shots.  All of them were taken in the backyard of our rented house, during the Golden Hour. :)

Travel Pictures!

Hello Everyone!

I know it's been a while since I last posted, so to make it up to you I've decided to show you a collection of a handful of the photos I took on my European Vacation.  These photos feature flowers, sites, architecture, food, and many other things!  I hope you enjoy this long, picture filled post.  I didn't have time to post so often because it takes a while to upload pictures.  Hopefully this makes up for my absence!

Also, be on the lookout for a giveaway post and some knitting progress posts! :}

The Little Things...

Hello!
I'm in London, England, and I'm really enjoying it here!  I've seen so many of the amazing and famous sites, but what really made my visiting time here sweet, was the little things.  And, fortunately, I took some pictures of those little things, so that's what I'm going to share with you today.

There were tons of macaroon shops and stands around London, so my family and I grabbed a few as a lunch dessert.  I love everything about macaroons; they're tasty, and really cute to photograph :)  And the colors are just so adorable and cheery.

Flavors (from left to right):
1. Raspberry
2. Vanilla
3. Chocolate from Venezuela
4. Strawberry and Mint
5. Lemon Zest
6. Melon
7. Iced Mint
8. Chocolate

Yummy! - Well, that's all I have for today.  I'll be posting some more "knitty" pictures in the next post.  Tomorrow we're saying goodbye to London and flying off to Sweden, which will be a whole new adventure...

Emily

FO: Honey Cowl

Hello!
I have another FO to share with you today!  I'm so excited to have this project out of the way; It was really fun to knit, but I had other projects that I wanted to cast on.

Today's FO is my beautiful little Honey Cowl, a warm and squishy cowl with a super cool stitch texture.  The pattern is by Madelinetosh, my favorite yarn brand ever!  I used their Madelinetosh: Tosh Merino Light in color way cherry.  The Honey Cowl pattern calls for a DK (double knitting) weight yarn, but instead I doubled up the merino light yarn (which is fingering weight) and used it as a worsted weight yarn.

I'm sure you're dying to see the photos, so get ready for the grand parade of photos!!

Isn't the stitch pattern beautiful?  It's called the "waffle stitch", and it creates the coziest fabric in the history of knitting.  I think it looks a bit like garter stitch, but it has a more sophisticated look.

I really love the colors of the yarn.  They remind me of red cherries and other summery fruits.  I think the colors really compliment the pattern!

I couldn't get a picture of it being modeled, so I used a chair instead. :)

A tree branch also turned out to be a stellar cowl model.

And that is my Honey Cowl!  I hope all of you enjoyed this post, have a great day!

Question For You:  Will you be making a Honey Cowl someday?  Have you ever made one?  If so, how'd it go?

FO: Owl

HOOT!  HOOT!   Did you hear that?  It sounded like a bird call... HOOT! Oh, there it is again!  I wonder what kind of bird made that sound... a sparrow?  Robin?  Jay?  Or maybe an... owl?  Oh my!  Look in the trees - Do you see it?!  It's an owl!  A whimsical, teal and black owl!!

Yes!  I have finally finished my precious knitted owl!  It wasn't easy, but the job is now officially done. :)  And I am so happy with the adorable, irresistible owl that is the final product of my blood, sweat, and tears... just kidding -  It wasn't that bad!

This project has taken me a very...very...very long time.  Part of this is because the project is deceptively big!  I know it's a toy, and that it doesn't really look like a ton of knitting, but trust me - It is.  I don't recommend this pattern, Xavier the Observant Owl, if you're looking for a quick, small yardage, knit over the weekend project.  It's more of a long term project, in my opinion.  But it's so cute nonetheless.

I'm quite pleased with the yarn and how it knitted up.  I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in color ways Marina and Coal, knit on size 5 needles.  It's not the softest yarn I've used, but it's not scratchy enough to lead to discomfort.  The plies didn't split, so it was easy to work with.  I think the colors are very vibrant and are perfect for this whimsy little owl.

I decided not to add talons (feet) for two reasons:

1.  I didn't have enough yarn.
2.  Even if I did have enough yarn to make talons, I probably wouldn't have enough steam left to keep knitting for this project.

I was even debating whether or not to knit up the wings - I'm so glad I did!  The wings are my favorite part about the owl, they are floppy, round, and truly make it look like a bird.

I used felt for the eyes and beak, because I didn't have any big safety eyes.  I glued them on with fabric glue, and so far they are holding up well...

Anyways, I am so excited to have this little owl off the needles!  It feels great to have finished something.  There's more info and stuff about this project on my Ravelry project page, so please check that out if you want.

I have some fun new posts coming up about some projects, so keep watching my blog for more fun. :)  Comment if you want to, and have a great day/night!

Emily

WIPs: Sweater, Owl, and Honey Cowl

Hello Everyone!

I hope you're having an awesome day, I know I am.  It's as sunny and warm as can be here in Oregon, and the school year is ALMOST over.  I get out of school on next Thursday, the 13th, and I am so excited about the end you have no idea!  Okay, maybe you do if you are a fellow middle schooler! :o)

Anyways, I have a handful of projects to share today.  Two of them you probably recognize, the Owl and my Owls Sweater, but the third one is fairly new.  I'm really happy that I have time to post today and talk about these new projects of mine.

I'm sure you have been wondering about the Owl toy I was making.  Well, I'm glad to say that I have finished the horns, and I am now working on the wings!  I have a good feeling that you'll be seeing the finished owl sometime soon ;)

Next up is a small update on my Owls Sweater.  I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but my dog decided to take a nap in my sweater and she messed it all up.  Here is the new work I've done after the little incident with my dog.

I also mentioned a new project.  It's a Honey Cowl, and the texture is really fun and easy to accomplish.  I'm making it for my mom.

I hope I can finish this soon without running out of yarn to make a decent sized cowl....

Have a great week!

Emily

It's Called Organization!

Hello Everyone!
Today I did some "end-of-spring" cleaning.  I reorganized my stash, found a nifty and quite artistic way to store my knitting needle interchangeable tips/crochet hooks, and just polished up my room because A. My room was messy.  and  B. A friend and her family are coming over to my house tomorrow and C. I was getting tired of having my yarn and needles take over my room. :)  So I would like to show my End-of-Spring cleaning progress later in the post, but I have some stash updates to share with you.

If you remember 2 posts ago I talked about how I went to an alpaca farm.  Well, not only did I get to see the cutest alpacas ever, but I also got to pick up 7.5 ounces of their luxuriously soft fiber!  I'm hoping to spin this fiber up and try dying, since the fiber is a natural color.

Also, over the weekend I bought 3 skeins of yarn at two of my favorite local yarn stores.  On the left is a beautiful skein of Madelinetosh Merino DK; in a cloudy mix of purples, blues, grays, and aquas.  I'm hoping to make a Pressed Leaves beret out of it this summer.  The other two balls of yarn are Quince and Co. finch.  I love the pretty shades of blue and the simple texture of the yarn.  It's 100 % wool, but not scratchy at all.  I'm going to make a Daybreak Shawl out of them!

 I want to show you some things I accomplished during my insane organizing day.  I found a really convenient and artistic way to store my needles and hooks!  Ta-daaa!

A few months ago my dad made me a little "pencil organizer" for my artist pencils.  However, I didn't really use it.  I preferred to have my pencils in a little pencil can.  So the organizer was left empty for a while.  But I came up with a genius (not really) idea to put my pencil tips and crochet hooks into the organizer and display them like some sort of "decorative art thingie...

I also organized my cheap needles.  Since I have my nice nickel plated needles, I don't really use my cheap needles...unless I have to.  But, they need a place to stay until I need to knit with them.  I also put some assorted mini skeins on my knitting table so that I can be prepared incase I have a need-to-knit-a-hexipuff moment.

And to keep my interchangeable cables tidy and untangled, I pinned them on my wall!

I even gathered up all my knitting notions and put them in a little bin so they don't get lost and spread out all over the place.

My favorite little notion is my baby turtle tape measure.  I think the design is really cool and it is just so adorable!

I think the turtle believes that my drop spindle is a carousel or something.  It's a very interesting turtle, indeed. ;)

And here's a pretty awesome (in my opinion) picture of my blow glass ball.  Doesn't it look like the ocean on a sunny day?  By the way, I made it! :)

Stay tuned for a WIP post on Wednesday!  I wanted to post about my WIPs today, but this post is already really loooonnnng.  So I'm saving the knitty goodness for this Wednesday.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Emily