Recuperating

I was in a wedding this week (Friday) and had family visiting earlier this week, so I'm writing to say that the family visit went well, the wedding went well (however slightly crazy and stressful!) and I'm home recuperating. In short news- I finished the shawl on time and will be chatting about other knitting progress soon!

Slog slog slog

I feel like I am making no knitting progress, which isn't really true, but its hard to shake that feeling. I'm working on a lot of large/long-term projects right now, and I really just want to finish some stuff and cast on ALL THE THINGS. I thought if maybe I blogged about what I plan to cast on next it would help my castonitis urge :)

The very first thing I am going to cast on is the Accidental Girly Mitts. These will be for a swap package I need to get out by the end of the month, so they will go on as soon as the wedding shawl is done, probably by this weekend. I'll be using Plymouth Happy Feet dk in a purple and pink colorway. They should go pretty quick, which is perfect!

Next in my queue are the Mr. Pitt's socks, which I will be making for my husband. He is out of town right now, so its the perfect time to start on his Christmas gift! These will obviously be a long term project! I'm not sure how much hubby-free-time I will have to work on them, so I thought the earlier I started them the better. I'l be using Lang Yarns Jawoll in a black and gray colorway for these.

Lastly I leave you with a photo from yesterday. We had quite a storm pass through the area yesterday and I took this photo out my car window (I was parked at the time- you couldn't see the cars in front of you!)

Not Like Me

If you know me at all you know I am frugal (aka CHEAP). You can probably tell that I don't live in a mansion or pull six figures, and honestly even if I did I still wouldn't like spending the money. However, the past week has necessitated a few purchases, and I thought I would share them today!

First up was some shoes for my friend wedding next week. The only specification she had was that they had to be silver. Our dresses are super cute, but they fall mid calf and not being super tall, I wanted something with a heel on it so I didn't look like Stubby McStubberson up there! After scoping on a couple of sites online I decided to go with these:

They aren't the most comfortable things in the world, but I'm wearing them around the house for the next week to try and break them in a bit. I got these putties for less than $20 including shipping! Score :)

Next up was a tote bag. I have had the same bright green tote bag for about 6 years now. Its nothing special- just  $5 I got at Old Navy that said "Green is the New Black." I used this bag for everything- knitting, school books, long trips, you name it this bag was perfect. Two weeks ago I noticed a small run/hole starting at the back and I new the day had come to partially retire the bag. It still works to carry light knitting projects, but I needed a new tote bag! I looked a few places and nothing caught my eye until I got an email from Cafe Press with a coupon. They were also running a sale, so I decided to splurge and buy myself a new bag!

I think this bag is hilarious, and its coming my way in about a week for less than $14 including shipping! They still have the coupon code on their home page, so if you are looking for a new bag (or shirt, mug, etc!) check it out.

I'm not sure I have mentioned this before, but I always use Ebates when I shop online. You get a percentage back of whatever you spend when you go through their site. Usually its only between 1-5% back, but it adds up, especially when I am buying textbooks for school. If I'm going to spend the money, I might as well get a little bit back, right? My account is set up to to deposit my money right into my Paypal account quarterly so there's no extra work for me. There's a link on the right hand side of my blog if you wanna check it out for yourself!

It's been a month

I know, I know, bad blogger. But I've been busy! The hubs and I took and international trip, I threw a surprise bridal shower, I'm taking an online class, knitting as much as possible, and still managing to feed the Mr. and I. I'm hoping to slowly get some photos up from the trip, but for today I have some knitting progress. Admittedly it isn't much, partially because I only had time to photograph two of my projects this morning, and partially because I have been so dang busy!

First up are the Hermione's Everyday Socks in Sunshine Yarns Hermione color way:

These socks are still fun to knit, and they are my take along knitting for car rides. They probably wont be finished real soon (unless I surprisingly get lots of car knitting time) but I love them just the same.

And I also whipped up a quick knit last week using some leftover Knit Picks Felici. Its a Preemie Baby Beanie:

Sorry for the sideways photo- it just uploaded that way and I can't do anything about it! I love knitting these little hats and they sure give mini socks a run for their money.

Still on the needles and not pictured is Yolanda's Wedding Shawl, Casey & Sean's blanket, Gideon's Jerry, and my Loopy Spectra. The shawl is coming along nicely and with any luck will be finished in time for next week's wedding. Obviously this has become priority number 1! My Loopy Spectra is on a back burner- I was disappointed not to finish in time for Camp Loopy and I just have too many other things on the needles that have deadlines. Speaking of deadlines, Casey and Sean's wedding is coming up in just over a month, so as soon as the shawl is off the needles that takes the priority spot. Lastly, little Gideon was born a few weeks ago, and he's a little small for Jerry the Musical monkey yet so I don't feel too badly about not having it finished :)

22.5 degrees

I finished my first Camp Loopy project! The challenge was to make something by a designer who was not from the same country as you, and it also needed to be 400 yards. After much pattern searching I kept coming back to this simple but elegant pattern by Martina Behm, which you can find here. I ordered some Colinette Jitterbug from the Loopy Ewe in the Caramel colorway.  Not my typical colors, but I like it. I omitted the scalloped edging because I knew I was going to be close on yarn. Instead I weighed my skein every 5 minutes until I was sure I wasn't going to get another row out of it, then bound off.

I really like how it came out! I used up all but a foot of the yarn, so I call that a success. I even photographed myself wearing it (it was a little warm since it was about 78, but much cooler than it has been!)

In other news, lots of little projects are underway at the house. The window installation is coming to a close, the garden is (finally) planted, the herbs in their planters are flourishing, and my hammock is going to be put up this week! I'll try to take some photos, but lets me honest, I'll probably forget ;)