It’s getting cold out here in North Dakota, and in the tender little moments where it feels like ice crystals are burrowing into every pore of my face I began to realize that I was woefully unprepared for real cold after my cushy, easy winters in the Pacific Northwest.

I went over to the website my dear familiar, Knotty Lamb, and ordered Madelinetosh’s Tiny House on the base Farm Twist since I had been ogling it anyway and this was obviously pure necessity.

Then I dug through my hat pattern collection to find Camas by Cory Ellen Boberg,

Other than completely messing up the first triangle section, and having to rip out 15 rows of progress because I was a bit too caught up in Buzzfeed’s Unsolved: Supernatural, this hat went remarkably smooth.

Who could blame me though? They were talking about Mothman!

Even after my paranormal distraction mishap, this hat was finished in two days.

I have found this pattern so attractive that I can guarantee you will see the design elsewhere in another project I work on. Cory Ellen’s concept is beyond beautiful, and now I must have a matching cowl and maybe even a sweater if I find the right yarn.

As for alterations, I did make the hat one repeat longer than was dictated in the pattern. Personally, I prefer hats that are long enough to put all of my hair into so I can focus all of my attention on my freezing cold face. I can’t stand my hair getting in the way of that.

It may also be a little nice to have my hair in a bun so it’s not tickling my face. Have you ever tried to move hair out of your face with gloves on? It’s like a cat trying to pick up a small piece of paper.

Now I’m one step closer to not freezing to death!

Stay warm, stay sweet, stay crafty, and stay tuned.

So often I find that the projects that end up on the needles are the ones that I feel like my heart is bursting out of my chest to have. I know at this point that if I’m anything short of this ridiculously ecstatic state, the project will almost certainly never get finished.

Lucky for me, there is an endless number of beautiful things to knit, and amazingly talented people like Mara Catherine Bryner will come out with patterns like this Forest Grove shawl so I can continue to obsess over what’s possible with two sticks and yarn.

And obsess I did. Knotty Lamb (one of my favourite yarn stores) was cruel enough to post heaps of pictures for this pattern and their kits of Barnyard Knits’ yarn to make the shawl exactly like Mara Catherine Bryner’s, taunting me for weeks. I could have gotten angry at them, I could have written hate mail to Knotty Lamb, I could have used every social media platform I have a presence on to vent my malicious feelings, but instead I did one better. I ran home, bought the kit and checked the tracking number 5 times a day until it got here.

That will show them.

The rule I had for myself was that I had to finish Rock Creek before I could start Forest Grove, even though by the time I had the yarn I was having dreams of the completed creation, that I would so delightedly wear.

Once I started the shawl there was no stopping. Every spare second was spent working on it, and helping it grow into the lovely thing I had only seen it pictures and dreamed of.

This is also the first time I’ve ever used a kit for a pattern I was working on. Usually I’m eager to work with a colour palette that I thought up and arranged, but the original concept was so beautiful that I for once I didn’t want to deviate from it.

And I’m glad that I did so, these colours play so well together, and since they’re all from Barnyard Knits, they have all the right tones to meld together. I noticed in particular that the transitions between colours looked natural and smooth.

This is also obviously good planning and coordinating on Mara Catherine Bryner’s part, as each of these yarns have hints of every other yarn present so you do get this near seamless look in the pattern.

As I got lost in the love of these colours, soon the shawl was completely knit up, and just about as beautiful as I hoped it would be.

I think the only thing I don’t love is that I did my I-cord edging a wee bit too tightly. Which I plan to remedy in the future by allowing those side stitches to be looser, instead of pulling every stitch tight like I always do.

As for with this shawl, I plan to aggressively block it until it realizes how badly I want it to lay flat. I feel that with enough determination I will show it the error of its ways.

No matter how successful the blocking is though, I still love it and find it beautiful.

(And so does this lovely cat)

Until next time-

Stay sweet, stay crafty, and stay tuned.

Much to my surprise, a year has passed since the last Rose City Yarn Crawl, and therefore it is the season to lace up my witchy boots, agonize over which hand knits to sport, and set out on the town with my crafty coconspirator, Alexis.  

I know these aren't roses in the glass, I asked for the rose mimosa and they were out.  So here is a lavender and orchid mimosa that, while less symbolically nice for signifying the start of this adventure, was ultra delicious.  I'm not going to a look a gift mimosa in the bloom.  

If you're not familiar with Rose City Yarn Crawl, I will happily explain (and if you already know, you can send your loving thoughts to those that have yet to experience such a wonderful time).

The Rose City Yarn Crawl is a 4 day event in which the yarn stores of the Greater Portland Metro Area are represented on a passport.  Each place has a drawing of their own that you can enter when you visit and put your name in the proverbial hat, and if you get stamps from all of the shops that are participating you are entered to win the fabulous Rose City Yarn Crawl prizes themselves.  In total, there are 75 prizes, if you don't count the gift of having such an incredible event to go to.  The Crawl is the first weekend of March and goes from Thursday-Sunday, and this year had 11 participating shops.  

Gallery Yarns from Knit Purl

My first blood of Saturday was this wonderful and deliciously soft alpaca yarn from Knit Purl.  This yarn also now smells like several different colognes and perfumes as I have thrust it upon anyone that looks like they need a bit of extra scrumptious softness in their lives.  I'm not complaining though, they got to experience some lovely yarn and it's a miracle it doesn't smell like the floor.  Winding this soft and slick yarn proved to be a challenge, as it would launch itself off the ball winder if I went any faster than a snail's romantic stroll in the park.   

Despite my flinging yarn wildly, the crawl was remarkably relaxed this year.  Yes, the stores were stretching at the seams to let in all of these avid crafters, but it was like being in a house with a huge family.  There were few stores that Alexis and I went into that we didn't get complimented on our knit wear.  There was near endless positivity and excitement just to be there participating.  Granted, we spotted a person here and there that acted prickly- but we can just hope the yarn will warm their heart if the people haven't already.

In our journeys we also stopped by Knotty Lamb of Forest Grove, OR (a personal favourite of mine).  One would think that 11 shops would include every store in the area, but sadly Knotty Lamb is too far out of Portland to be included in the Yarn Crawl.  Instead, they hosted a massive sale on all of their yarn along with a raffle for their own prizes, rewarding anyone willing to come the extra distance to make the shop part of the crawling.  

Witching Hour from Knotty Lamb

Before I could even blink, Alexis and I had gone to every shop and submitted our passports to Starlight Knitting Society.  This Crawl went by quick and if it hadn't been for my crafty partner in crime and the amazing people still around me (including meeting the positively stellar individuals of Indie Knits), I would have felt a little sad.  I don't go out a whole lot anymore, health hasn't been in the best place for it, and so it was a tad bittersweet to realize the crawl was already over.  That my crafty community at large, this huge family, would be apart until the next event.  

Lucky for me, Alexis called upon her endlessly magical ways, and handed me the call to action I needed.  As can be seen below, there is a Lunar Phase Mystery Knitalong by Larissa Brown that we're just in time to prepare for.  I knew it was perfect just from the logo (few themes get me like moons and stars).  Always surround yourself with inspiring and lovely enablers.  

Alexis discovering the Mystery Knitalong also made me realize that even if it's not the Crawl, or one of the many other fiber events we go to, I always have my crafty family.  My mother and I talk projects often (especially considering she's lovely enough to read my blog- hi mum!), I'm still friends with my spinning group that I grew up with that I find endlessly inspiring, and I happened to become friends with this remarkable human being that's to the right of me in the photo below.  We became friends at first through luck and chance, and close friends through talking and crafting.  

If you're looking for more craftiness, and want to read a blog that's charming and well written, Alexis has her own place on the internet at https://alexis-findingmyknitch.blogspot.com/ .  Because we definitely all need more of a crafty family wherever we are.

Stay sweet, stay crafty, and stay tuned.