Bless your beautiful hide, wherever you may be.

I consider it apropos to bring Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (as quoted above) into any discussion about lumberjacks.  I can't even quite recall if they (the brothers) were lumberjacks, per se, as it has been quite some time since I watched it at my Great Aunt Eunice's house.  (Bless her, she brought many a wonderful thing into my life.  Mostly herself.  She was wonderful.)  Regardless, great movie.  If they weren't lumberjacks, they certainly threw down that vibe.  

Confession time.  I have a irreversible crush on Lumberjack Plaid.  You know.  The classic red and black flannel.  It's got my heart.  

While at an apple festival at a local orchard with my sister and roommate, it dawned on me that I NEEDED, in a big way, some lumberjack legwarmers.  Armed with no less than four skeins of yarn, a set of "death sticks" (as my friend Anna has recently termed double-point needle sets), and a heaping spoonful of determination, I set out to make this a reality.  Though a time-intensive task, it was really not that difficult to bring to fruition.  For this I am glad.  

Here they are, as photographed by a lovely friend of mine who has just set out to sharpen her photography skills.  Luckily, that means she was willing to roll on down to a local hiking oasis with me to snap some photos of my newly acquired lumberjack legs and share in the merriment of a good forest frolic.  She's a favorite of mine to frolic with, so I was doubly blessed by her involvement in this endeavor.  

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold.

Another favored barista of mine (I'm telling you guys, coffee is the way to my heart.) is the biggest Harry Potter fan I've ever met.  Ever.  And I know a lot of  HP fans.  Of which, I am one.  Last year she asked me if I'd consider making her a Weasley sweater.  I explained that, though I would love nothing more, at my current rate this endeavor would likely take up all of my spare time for a solid year.  :/  So, we struck a deal and decided that golden snitch mitts were the thing to sport to properly non-verbally state one's admiration for the magical writings of miss JK.  I hope these mitts would do JK proud.  I can't bear the thought of anything less.  She's been so good to me, entertainmentwise,  I wouldn't want to disappoint her.

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind.

As previously shared, the warm summer months tend to leave me lacking in inspiration to knit things.  Nothing I like to knit is to be worn in the summertime.  So, like a true procrastinator, I like to save the bulk of my knitting for the days when the early morning air is ominously chilly.  I need this reminder of the imminent cold snap to snap me out of daydreaming about squirrels and canoeing, and to inspire me to get to the getting on fall and winterwear.  It's like a race to see if I'll finish things before my appendages and the appendages of those I care about fall off from frostbite.  It's all very exciting.  Necessity.  Mother of invention.  That old chestnut.

However, I found myself this summer continually thinking of one of those such someones I care about & wishing I had gotten one more knitted thing sent off through the snail mail before the season for knittings wound down.  Thus, I did a rare thing and got summertime crafty.  The search for a non-wearable knit sent me down a solitary path toward kitchen accessories.  Some other crafty skills were dusted off along the way, namely crochet and embroidery, to complete the ensemble.  As this friend has one of the best senses of humour of anyone I know, it was a delight to make some custom kitchen things for her based on inside jokes and some hilarity that has been brought to my life by her (Cherie) and also by my dear Wild Norrberries.  (Hi Ash!)

Please enjoy the before and after below.

Somehow this after photo looks a little worse for wear after its drive down the information superhighway, so I'll just tell you that it contains crocheted dish scrubbers, knitted dish rags, embroidered tea towels which say "we say crumbs now" and "someone in SD buffaluffs me", and a copy of Who Pooped in the Black Hills (for good measure). 

You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,

know when to walk away, know when to run.  

Looking for one last knitted hoorah before the inevitable season of inspirationless knitting hiatus that is summer (Don't feel too bad for me here, there are just so many other things to do, and it's just too warm to think about wearing yarn.), I decided to knit a springy pattern that I had saved on Ravelry for a couple years for the day when I would give lace knitting a go.  You see, lace knitting involve purposefully leaving holes in your work, so as to create eye-catching patterns and whatnot.  See leafy fun below.  This was meant to be what is called a "bandit" (think shawl worn backwards in a scarf-like manner) for my dear friend Cherie (Hi Cher!), but alas, as the project was nearing completion, I realized I didn't like it as well as I did when I first put it in queue to be knit.  So, I just chalked this up to a lace-learning experience and moved on to the next big thing.  It's definitely a technique I'll repeat.  It has some pretty fun possibilities, and plastic makes it possible.

Sarah, Sarah. Storms are brewing in her eyes.

What do you get for the rad coworker in your life upon parting coworking ways?  Especially one who is quick to share in a good giggle, never lets you down on music trivia knowledge, will endlessly entertain you by completely rocking out the lyrics to some crazy 80's song, and will put up with her fellow coworkers singing any song (see above) to her (no matter how lame it may be) which contains her name?  Well, this bandana cowl says "I know exactly how much of a bad mamma jamma you are and I'll miss the heck outta yer mug."  Or, at least that's what I was going for.  It also says my love for you will still be strong, after the boys of summer have gone.  But, that's neither here nor there.  

And I was like, baby, baby, baby, oh.

My dear friends who reside in a li'l town not so very far from my own had a bun emerge from the proverbial oven several months back.  The mother of this babe and I go way back.  All the way back.  So, she is well acquainted with my joy in crafting things, in general, and knitting things, in specific. She is always very kind to send inspiration my way.  I love her for trusting me to bring her thoughts to life.  She's pretty sweet.  Anyway, It was my great pleasure to make this little hat commissioned by miss Nola, so that she and her rad husband Scott (who I want to DJ my life) may enjoy the sight of it perched upon their little one's head.  She's cute as a button, so it's only appropriate that there should be a larger-than-life button on her noggin.  

I'm a Christmas Unicorn! In a uniform made of gold.

^^ The genius of Sufjan.

Greetings, friends.  Alas, admittedly, I am a terrible blogger.  Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.  But, as knitting season is in full swing and demanding to be chronicled, lest I forget my knittings, as I am wont to do.  Here begins the recap of other things that were knit last season, which I have kept secret and safe until this very day.  I didn't really do that on purpose.  Just out of sheer laziness.  I know better.  My grandma taught me that "secrets are lies," after all.  So, here, let's get truthful.

A dear barista of mine (Yes, I claim baristas as my own.  My favorites among the human race.) showed a small amount of interest in some ninja mitts I was making during some in-between jobs time in the cafe one day. To this, I of course responded with something along the lines of: "You want 'em?  They're yours.  What color?"  Really, folks.  Just give me coffee and I'll do just about anything for you.

Anyhoot, this particular coffee-slinging chick is a BIG FAN of the unicorn.  They're so fluffy she wants to die.  Beings as though I like to support folks in their liking of things and life and whatnot, I set out to surprise her by making these mitts to fit her personality, not just her handles.  As you can imagine, there weren't a whole lot of unicorn knitting patterns to choose from on the world wide web, so I just did my own durn thing, as per usj.  I busted out the highlighters, created a pattern, set out to swap in some colors to give life to our mythological friend here, sang some Livin' on a Prayer, and we were off to the races.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the result.  Due to color preference (bright purple!), I did these in an acrylic yarn which I've discovered doesn't play as nicely for fair isle (knitting with multiple strands so you can pick up a different color as needed) as I'd like.  So, I think I'll stick to my wool blends for such projects in future, as they have better stretch.  But hey, don't think twice, it's alright.  Uni-Uni-Unicoooooooorns, I looooove them.



<-- Talk to my thrummed palms, alright?!