Let the Sweater Making Commence!

I have made the decision to partake in National Knit a Sweater Month (nakniswemo) this year. The pattern has been chosen, the yarn bought, and the skiens rolled! What are the rules you say? Well check them out here on Ravelry. One of the biggest rules is that your sweater must be 50,000 stictches. Nope you didn’t read that wrong. I am pretty sure my chosen sweater (Minette by Andi Sutterland) will make the cut. I should note that I plan on making the sweater an inch or two longer so that it will sit at my hips. I can’t wait to get started, but another rule is the kickoff needs to be November 1st. The anticipation is killing me! I already created a swatch so that I can get right into on Saturday. What yarn you say!? I selected Persimmon, which is a Cascade 220 superwash wool in DK weight. The perfect fall color. Check back for more progress!

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Weekend Wrap Up

San Francisco is consumed by World Series Fever. You can’t really turn anywhere without seeing people rocking their black and orange. Even City Hall is rooting for the Giants!

To escape the baseball mania, we headed up to the Marin Headlands to Tennessee Cove. The hike to the Cove was fairly flat, but we defiantly had to compete with the wind. At points hats were flying off due to the high gusts. Check out how far the water came up on the beach.

One of the things I love about San Francisco is that nature is fairly close to home. These cliffs are only about a 30 minute drive from downtown.

How was your weekend?

Why Not?

Sitting here in my running clothes and knitting away. Defiantly procrastinating on going out for a run. Why doesn’t knitting count as cardio exercise? 😒

Choosing a Sweater Pattern

6:00 pm last night:

I am at a standstill in terms of a knitting project. I just can’t make a choice. The positive is that I have widdled it down to …SWEATER! The negative is that I have about 5 patterns in my queue (not that bad right?). How is a girl to decide? Is there an app for this?

7:30 AM the next day:
After mulling this over I created a little rubric to knock out some of the choices. First I will present you with my queue options (all patterns are located on Ravelry):
1) Eyelet yoke sweater by Courtney Spainhower
2) Pixelated Pullover by Jennifer Beaumont
3) Elsie by Deb Hoss
4) Miette by Andi Satterlund
5) On the beach by Isabell Kraemer

My Pattern Selection Rubric:
1) Time it will take: Let’s be real, I am starting the sweater making a little late (it’s mid-October already?!). In saying this I can’t pick a project that is going to take months and months. At the rate I have been knitting lately I will be luck if I finish by December.  That knocks out things that require lots of seam sewing, tons of cable or lace sections, patterns where I will have to recalculate quite a bit, and anything that has an intended yarn weight under DK.
Pattern (s) Knocked out: On the beach– It requires sport weight and too much math  and Elsie– knocked out just for now. There looks like a lot of sewing involved

2) How often will I wear it?: After working many hours on something I want to be able to get some serious wear out of it. This being said a simple pullover or cardigan would be my best bet for right now. This way I can wear it with several pieces of my wardrobe.
Pattern (s) Knocked out: Pixelated Pullover– I LOVE this sweater, but I could only wear this every so often (aka not a staple wardrobe piece).

3) Fit: I have a atypical body shape. I am super petite (under 5′) with a short torso and a muscular build. Therefore, I really don’t like to pick patterns that are boxy or drapey.

Pattern(s) Knocked out: None. All the remaining patterns seem like I can adjust if needed.

So it is down to two Miette and Eyelet Yoke Sweater. Maybe I can just use Eney, Meeny, Miney, Moe…

How do you choose patterns to make?

Easy Halloween Decoration

Check out my Snapguide to make this easy Tin Can Black Cat to get you in the Halloween spirit.

Level: Easy (children may need assistance as hot glue is involved)

Materials: black paint, foam shapes, pipe cleaner, hot glue gun, tin can, sharpie.

Time: 35 minutes (accounting for paint drying time)

Weekend Wrap Up

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Ours was fun filled!

It was Fleet Week in San Francisco. Think  sailors, tanks, and lots of airplanes. We took in the Blue Angels  airshow where the fighter jet pilots performed amazing stunts.  I don’t know how these pilots do it. I certainly do not have the guts to aim a vehicle straight for the ground going 200+ miles per hours while spinning! I knew they had done these stunts a 100 times, however, I still felt super nervous something was going to go wrong.

On Sunday a group of us headed to Sonoma to do some wine tasting. The weather and scenery were gorgeous. We visited Cline Cellars, Jaccuzi Winery, and Mayo Family Winery. Cline Cellars continues to be one of my favorites. The staff are friendly, the grounds are beautiful, and the wine is superb. If you go try the Ancient Vines wine :).

Jacuzzi Winery

Sonoma Mission

Cline Cellars

Since we were having so much fun a very tiny amount of crafting occurred. Hopefully I will get some knitting done this week. Enjoy your day!

 

My First Crochet Pattern!

Halloween is upon us and I can’t wait. I haven’t decided on a costume, but my crafting brain has been in overdrive. My first project… a Crochet Ghost Bag! This would be a perfect candy dish to have in the office or on the coffee table.  If you desire add a handle and make it a children’s trick or treat bag.

BOO!

 

Crochet Ghost Bag

Level: Beginner

Pattern begins with constructing the bottom of the bag (rectangle) and then transitioning into creating the bag in the round.

Ch: chain

hdc: half double crochet

hdctfl: half double crochet through front loops

st(s): stitch(es)

* *= stitch pattern section that should be repeated

Materials: about 50 g Worsted weight yarn in white, small amount of black yarn, US size 10 or J crochet hook, yarn needle, stitch marker if desired.

With white yarn and size 10 hook:

Ch 20 sts.

Row 1-8: 1 hdc in each st (20 sts)

Beginning to shape the round bag section.Slight increases will be made in the corners of the bag.

Row 9: 2hdcfl in first st, 1 hdcfl in each of next 19 sts, 2 hdcfl in next st, 1 hdc in the next 8 sts, 2 hdcfl in next st, 1 hdcfl in each of the next 19 sts, 2 hdcfl in the next sts, 1 hdcfl in the next 8 sts (60 sts)

Row 10: 1 hdc in each st around (60 sts)

Row 11: *1 hdc in each of the next 18 sts, skip 1 hdc, 1 hdc in next st, skip 1 hdc, 1 hdc in next st, hdc 7 sts, skip 1 hdc, 1 hdc in next st*, skip 1 hdc, 1 hdc in next st, *repeat 1x from * ( 52 sts)

Row 12: 1 hdc in each st around ( 52 sts)

Row 13: Skip 1 ch, *1 hdc in each of the next 17 sts, skip 1 ch, 1 hdc in next st, skip 1 hdc, 1 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 5 sts, skip 1 ch, 1 hdc in next st*, skip 1 ch, 1 hdc in next st,  *repeat from * (48 sts)

Row 14:1 hdc in each st around (48 sts)

Row 15: Skip 1 ch, *1 hdc in each of the next 15 sts, skip 1 ch, 1 hdc in next st, skip 1 hdc, 1 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 5 sts, skip 1 ch, 1 hdc in next st*, skip 1 ch, 1 hdc in next st,  *repeat from * (40 sts)

Row 16: hdc in each st around (40 sts)

Row 17:  Skip 1 ch, *1 hdc in each of the next 14 sts, skip 1 ch, 1 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 7 sts, skip 1 ch, 1 hdc in next st, *repeat from * to end

For the rest of the rows: 1 hdc in all sts until piece measured 5” in height or you until the piece has reached your desired height.

Using scrap yarn create two eyes and a mouth for the ghost.

Eyes (make 2)

Round 1: Ch 5 sts.

R2: sc 5 sts

R3: sc 2 in same st, ch 5 (6 sts)

R4: *sc 1, sc 2 sts in same st *repeat 2 times more. (9 sts)

Mouth (make one)

Follow pattern for eyes until R4.

R5: sc 9 sts

R6: *sc 1, sc 2 sts in same st *repeat 2 times more. (13 sts)
Sew on the eyes and mouth with your tapestry needle.

**Please note that this is my first time writing a crochet pattern. If you discover errors please leave a comment so that I may correct them. Thanks!**

 

Fall Craft: Squirrels

It is a difficult task trying to teach about fall when it is 80 degrees outside :(. Yet fall is one of my favorite times of  year, so I decided to take a different approach this year. I chose to focus on animals and how their actions relate to preparing for winter. Most of my students are city kids, so I decided to start with squirrels rather than deer or bears.

I stumbled upon this cute book Nuts to You by Lois Ehlert.  After reading the story the students made squirrels to put in my “speech tree.”

How many squirrels can you find?

Here is how to make your own squirrels:

Materials needed: liquid glue (think Elmer’s), construction paper (I used black, dark brown, and white), poster board or cardboard, a pencil, scissors, and feathers.

1. Create a template of  squirrel parts using the pencil and poster board.

2. Cut out your template pieces.

3. Trace your template pieces onto your desired color of construction paper. You should make 1 head, 1 body, 2 arms , 2 ears, and 2 legs per squirrel. Cut all of your pieces out.

5. On your background paper glue all the pieces together to form your squirrel. Add eyes and a nose to the face.  The feather will serve as the tail.

Additional add ons can include yarn whiskers, an acorn or some seeds, or googly eyes.

Want more activities? Click here or here

Enjoy!

Hot Child in the City

Whew it was a hot one this weekend. I am not sure that California got the memo that it is October and temperatures are suppose to be heading down not up. Nevertheless, we managed to enjoy the sunshine without sweating to death.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival took place in Golden Gate Park this weekend. I love this festival as it is free and the music is pretty good. Don’t let the festival name deceive you, it isn’t all banjo music. The stage we were at had more funk/alternative music.  We saw Deltron 3030 (of the Gorillaz fame), Built to Spill, and Social Distortion.

Fun in the sun!

Trying to keep cool

Deltron 3030 and orchestra

Massive Crowd

On Sunday, we headed down to Santa Clara, CA for the San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs game. It was expected to be an exciting game as our former quarterback (Alex Smith) now plays for the Chiefs. Our morning started with a tailgating party and some serious people watching. The excitement of the other fans was electrifying. There were grills cooking, music pumping, and footballs flying.   This was our first time going to see the 49ers in their new stadium, so we were even more excited.

Well Levi’s Stadium did not disappoint.  There were so many levels and observation decks, one could really get lost just trying to get to the bathroom. The actual game was a nail biter as the score stayed pretty close in the first half. However, the Niners pulled ahead in the last quarters and we won the game. Way to go Niners!

Now it is Monday and it is time to get back into the groove of things. I am feeling a little slow going so hopefully I perk up soon. Happy Monday.

In Between Projects

I am having a little bit of a hard time choosing my next project. There are about 15 items in my Ravelry queue, and yet I cannot choose one. In the meantime, I decided to make a quick project with my leftover Anzula Squishy and make some fingerless gloves. Not that I need them anytime soon as it is “summertime” in San Francisco. Temperatures are supposed to reach over 80 degrees, which is extremely hot for us. The good news: At least I will be ready for winter 😊