Why I Love Raglan Sweaters

I know it's been a while. It's been crazy busy at work and life...oh, and I'm planning my wedding! Yep! My boyfriend proposed to me while we were on vacation in Aruba. It was perfect and the wedding planning is now in full swing.

Now on to the knitting! I was finally able to finish my Whisper Cardigan sweater that I was hoping to have in time for Aruba (oops.) It's great though and my friend Kristine would like one too. The yarn is already purchased for her. I'm using the same yarn (Malabrigo Lace - SO yummy) in the Orchid colorway. Perfect for summer, especially in the freezing cold terrain of our office.

Reasons why I love top-down raglans:


1) You get to start at the part of the sweater where all of the action is.
Countless times I've started a sweater that begins at the bottom and have gotten bored and quit before I made any headway at all. With a top-down raglan, you start off with the collar work and the sleeve increases right away. Then before you know it, you've got half the sweater done and you're on the downhill slope!

2) You get to try on your sweater as you go.
Nothing is worse that finishing a garment only to find it doesn't fit. As well written as some patterns are, women (and men) are not all the same size and shape. I love that I can make sure the sleeves are fitting before I close them off and begin the body of the sweater. I also love  toe-up socks for this reason.

3) You can finish the item (albeit a bit shorter than expected) if you run out of yarn.
Running out of yarn when working from the bottom up can leave you without a neck, or sleeves, etc. With top down, you can just opt for a cropped look!

I'll post some pics of my finished sweater soon, and the project I'm taking on while waiting for the Malabrigo to arrive.

Sweet Easter Treat: "Deviled" Cadbury Creme Eggs

One of my favorite parts of spring is the arrival of Easter treats. I'm not sure why I love Cadbury Eggs so much, it could be that they are just so darn delicious, or it could be that they are a seasonally limited product.

Check out this sweet recipe for a fun twist on a traditional Easter favorite.

Socks in Progress

This week I find myself in Houston again for work. I don't really mind it so much because I get loads of free knitting time!

This week, I packed the Monkey Socks (above) in Shi Bui Sock yarn for a secret surprise and Watershed  (to the right) that I'm working on for my friend at work. They're both great hotel knitting projects because they are lace and charted and require an extra bit of concentration that can be hard to come by at home :)



I always feel so silly when I pack for any trip because rather than worrying about clothes, toiletries, etc getting packed and being adequate, I always pack my yarn and books first!

In keeping with this week's theme of awesome knitting projects and other knitting related items, I packed my current book, Needles and Pearls. It's the second in a 2-book series by Gil McNeil. I adore these books because I love the author's writing style (she capitalizes Important Ideas, which I totally identify with) and the main character is a woman who has recently begun running her gran's wool shop in a small, seaside town. It really is just a nice feel-good series and I hope there will be more soon.

Glitter Easter Egg Tutorial

As I was driving yesterday, I saw a sign on a church advertising the times for Easter Services and it hit me that Easter is just around the corner!

Last year I wrote up a tutorial on how to create these gorgeous glitter eggs. Normally, I do up a batch of these eggs and fill them with money for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. The kids love it, and truth be told, I love crafting anything with glitter!

Click here to view my eHow article for the tutorial complete with material suggestions, instructions, and pictures.

Note to Self

When using a provisional cast on, it's always best to do the cast on in a different color or different yarn than your project. Yesterday morning I started a new project for a girlfriend at work that I was so, so excited about. In my excitement, I failed to remember this simple bit of advice and used the project yarn for my provisional cast on. This morning I finished the bottom edge and went on to the next bit where you pick up along the side to create these knitted scallops along the edges. Lo an behold I'm having an absolute devil of a time because I can't figure out which yarn is the cast on and which yarn is from the actual edging!

Even though I've been knitting for years, sometimes it's best to revisit those basics of knitting.

My Dream Workroom

I hope that one day my honey and I will buy a home with enough space that I can have my own craft room. But in the event that I can't get a whole room to myself, I think I will be more than content with the setup in this photo. I love all of the options for storage, the clever pegboard, and the inspiring turquoise color of the space.

What do you imagine your dream workspace is? Is it a closet, a whole room? Do you have a color schemed bookmarked in your mind?

Finished!

It's finished! Just in the nick of time to meet my Aunt Patty (I like to call her Aunt Party) for lunch. She was so pleased with the scarf and I hope it brings her Cowboys some luck next season. Although this thing took me months to knit, it wasn't at all that I was bored with it. The yarn is wonderful - it's a soy yarn made by South West Trading Co. called Pure. I knit the scarf in the round on size 3 DPNs. I'll get the pattern posted soon on Ravelry in case anyone else is interested in it.