Yarnalong!

Today I'm linking up with Ginny, over at Small Things, who says, "Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading . . . I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?"

What I'm Making:

My cat, annoyed that I'm interrupting his nap on this marvelous new blanket by putting a book down next to him. 

He closed his eyes again right after I took this picture.

I'm still plugging away at Anna's afghan, but I'm within spitting distance of the end now. I've only got about four more stripes to go. (You can see the beginning of the afghan back in this Yarnalong post.) 

The book:

I'm reading "The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets".  

I'm not much of a poet, but I like writing it, and I wanted to write more of it, if only as cross-training for my fiction-writing. Sort of like a swimmer doing weights or running on her non-practice days. 

Also, poetry is just a good thing. As the author of this book points out here:

Also, it made a lovely poolside read for one of our too-hot October days:

What are you making and reading this week?

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

This post contains Amazon affiliate links; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.  (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

New Finished Objects!

I recently finished a few large projects: an afghan and a table runner.

The table runner was made of laceweight cotton, and it was one of those slow, meditative projects. I designed it myself, specifically for this yarn. Very plain, the only decoration was a line of eyelet lace on either end:

But it looks pretty on our oak table, and I've been enjoying seeing it in our dining room this week. (Forgive my terrible photography! I promise it looks better IRL.)

The afghan was another project where I made up the pattern in order to fit the yarn: in this case, the yarn was passed on to me by someone who'd decided to go a different direction with her own project. I started crocheting it, and my daughter, Bess, asked, "Is that for me?"

And with that question asked, it was. :)

Now that it's done, Bess has taken to coming home and curling up straight away on the couch and burrowing under her cozy new blanket, which is just very gratifying to this crafter.

Of course, now the other three kids are sure they need one, too.

They all already have full-sized blankets that I've crocheted them, but those blankets were made of acrylic, and I admit that I love the idea of making them all wool afghans that are really, truly WARM. I think I just might ...

And that's how it goes: projects beget projects.  

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

I made a pair of earrings!

So I have been slowly (oh, so slowly) decluttering our home.

And one of the first places I decluttered was a bookshelf in our living room which held, strangely:

-children's novels
-DVD's
-video game discs
-crafting supplies

As I worked my way through the crafting stuff, I discovered that I own quite a few supplies for beading.

I organized all the beading stuff, throwing away things I thought I'd never use, and trying to get the rest of it into a condition where it would be easy to use, if I ever got the urge to make myself some jewelry.

The thing is, I got the urge to make jewelry while I was organizing.

Here is the result:

These earrings are the product of:
1) A pair of terribly glitzy old costume earrings. I pulled the pearl-drop beads off of a matrix of faux diamonds and some sort of silvery metal. (I wish I'd gotten a picture before I pulled them apart! They were a very 90s concoction)
2) Basic craft supplies. In this case: gold earring wires and a couple of headpins.

The result is something simple and lovely. It didn't take much skill - I'm a knitter, not a jewelry-maker. But all I had to do was thread the headpins through the beads, and twist them so that they hung properly on the ear-wires (which I did not make, but bought).


And now you can all enjoy my non-existant selfie skills, and see what they look like on:

Sorry for the blur!  Along with being a knitter, not a jeweler, I am a knitter and not a photographer!


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Knitted Finished Objects: Wee Envelope Baby Sweater and Matching Baby Hat

I finished it in time for the baby shower!  And that is the very exciting news about this particular sweater.

I was weaving in the last few stitches on this sweater the morning of the baby shower while my daughter (who I hired for the occasion) baked cinnamon breakfast muffins for the same party. (I highly recommend growing your own 11-year-old gourmet.)

The pattern and  yarn links for this sweater are in this blog post, if you're interested in knitting one for yourself (or an expectant friend).  

I was pleased with how it turned out: the "envelope" neck opening really is perfect for a big, wobbly baby head.

I also made a matching hat out of the same yarn:

The pattern is one I've used before and you can find it for free here.

Looking forward to meeting the recipient soon! :)

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Yarnalong: "Wee Envelope" and "The Winner's Curse", by Marie Rutkoski

I'm linking up with Ginny, over at Small Things, who says, "Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading . . . I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?"

The knitting:
The pattern is "Wee Envelope" by Ysolda Teague. I love how this sweater is designed with a baby's big, wobbly head in mind. Some church friends of ours are expecting their first baby, a boy, and I'm excited to be knitting a little something for them.

I also love the chance to pray for the baby and the parents as I knit. Does anyone else do this, as they work on a gift for someone? I bet I'm not alone in this habit . . .

The yarn is Loops & Threads Luxury Sock.  I like it because it has just a touch of cashmere (10%), but that's enough to make it noticeably soft to the touch, which is perfect for a baby garment.


The book:
I started this book yesterday, during my kids' swimming lessons: "The Winner's Curse", by Marie Rutkoski. So far? So good!  It's a typical YA spec. fic. set-up: we have our disaffected heroine, our mysterious hero, our weird unlikely society . . . but it's well done, and with this genre, that's what matters. 

I know I sound cynical when I talk about "a typical set-up", but I promise that I'm not. Writing genre well is hard, and I love genre lit. In this book, the writing is good and the setting is interesting and the protagonists are likeable and I want to keep reading, which thrills me. I love finding a story that pulls me in and this one does. I'm curious to see where the author is going with this plot and these characters and I'm enjoying the journey.

So, what are you knitting or reading?

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

 

This post contains an Amazon affiliate link; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.  (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Knitted FO's: another baby hat and another scarf

It feels like all-craft week here on my blog!  I guess I've gotten behind on documenting the things I'm making . . . 

Anyway, I'd made scarfs for each of my girls (see here, here, and here) and so it was Gamgee's turn. 

He wanted blue and orange, and so I took advantage of the anniversary sales over at WEBS, and bought some yarn. I ended up with this:

I also used some scrap sock yarn to make this baby hat:

Do I know what baby it's for?  Nope!  :)  But I have a few ideas (and a lot of expectant friends).  

It never hurts to have a few gifts put away for a special occasion, because, God be praised, special occasions keep coming up.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Handmade Crocheted Beaded Necklaces

So the Saturday before last, I decided it was time to make some jewelry. I hadn't done that for awhile, and so I had to dig out all my beading stuff from the dark recesses of the living room bookshelf wherein it resided.

I was inspired by the pendant in this picture, which I'd recently found at Michaels (I'm a sucker for botanical imagery):

And even though I ended up ditching the twine for some plastic beading wire, I did end up with a successful necklace:

Though I think I might go back and redo it. Not sure I like the plastic wire, even though I worked it along with some gold quilting thread. I might just use some cotton laceweight yarn instead.

But then, I went on to make this:

and I love it so much!  This was made with semi-precious stone chips (pretty affordable, actually, at your local craft store) and three strands of some DMC gold embroidery floss. I basically crocheted a tube shape for the middle stone section, and winged the two beaded sections on the end (sort of chain stitch, but with a bit of extra fiddling around to make it as thick as I wanted).  I had the closure in my stash, and now I think I need to get a few more like it, because it worked so well.

I think there's more jewelry-making on the horizon for me. It's just so much fun!

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Yarnalong: "No Way Out", by Susan Sleeman, and Baby Socks

I'm linking up with Ginny, over at Small Things, who says, "Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading . . . I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?"

Hooray!  A yarnalong!  I haven't done this in a while and I've missed it! :)

Anyway, onward! Here's what I'm reading and knitting:

The book:  I've been reading "No Way Out" by Susan Sleeman. Okay, here's the thing about this romantic suspense: the bad guy not only lives next door to the heroine, he lives on the other side of her duplex. Terrifying much? Yep. That counts as scary enough for me . . .

The knitting: My cousin is having her first baby, and I wanted to knit a little something for him. So I made a baby hat from this free pattern, and now I'm making itty-bitty baby socks (seriously, is there anything cuter than itty-bitty baby socks) from this free pattern.

I love making socks (as you can see here, here, and here), but this is my first time making them for babies. They feel like they are going so quickly, just because of the size! The process is exactly the same, just . . . smaller.

Okay, that sounds super-obvious, but experientially, it's a revelation. :)  

What are you making and reading this week?


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


This post contains an Amazon affiliate link; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.  (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)