A non-needlework post

I have a real problem wearing earrings. After a few hours of having them in, my ear starts to get red and swollen, and it gets really painful. I've tried all kinds of earrings, but it is always the same result. So when I found this shop on Etsy, I was so excited! Catchall Jewelry has some really beautiful, affordable items for sale including unique 'cuffs' for your ears.

I bought a Brass Swirl Ear Cuff and I wear it every chance I get, it's perfect. I love the idea of the cuff, you don't need a piercing to wear it! Go check out this wonderful shop whenever you get the chance.

Flickr

 

I love putting my photos up on Flickr. It's just a great way to sort and share your photos, as well as look at photos from other people. I always put up the photos of my finished projects on my Lazy Daisy Knits account. I also love browsing through different groups, especially The Subversive Cross Stitch Group, some of these projects make me laugh out loud! Crazy for Knitting is another group I look through for inspiration and some awesome ideas, I just can't believe how creative people are! If you want to see some darn cute and interesting knitted stuffed toys, go on over to Mochimochi Friends.

Those are just some of the really great groups that are out there for you to discover. I find that the best way to start on Flickr is just to search something you are interested in, you will probably find a lot of other people who have already posted pictures of it!

FO from this week

I had plenty of left-over yarn from my Granny-Square Vest and I wanted to use the rest of it up. I found a great pattern for a market bag in the 'Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar Knitting' book, it was so easy and was great for some mindless knitting. I have used these when I went grocery shopping and they work great.

This is not the greatest picture of them, but the colors are really great and the yarn is perfect for this project.

Some great free patterns

I have a so many great patterns saved in my bookmarks. I wish I had unlimited time and unlimited supplies to make these great projects! Thought I would share some of my favorite free patterns.

This Boredom Buster Bag from A Simple Stitch blog, is a so cute!

 This beautiful Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl is available as a free download.

The Haruha Scarf pattern from MadeByMyself is so pretty.

 I am such a geek and I absolutely love this Goomba Hat pattern. I keep meaning to make this for my boyfriend, I just love it!

What to do?

A while back I ordered a bunch of skeins of yarn off of Ebay. I love the colors and the yarn, but I have no idea what to do with them! They are a total of 300 yards and 150 grams. I was thinking of a hat, or gloves? Or a cowl? I have no idea, they will probably sit in my stash until I stumble on the perfect project for them... 

I did a pair a socks with another set of skeins a while back, the kabuki pattern is from 'Knitted Socks East and West'. I love these socks! They are so warm... So maybe a another pair of socks is an option? 

P.S. If you love knitting socks, you need to get 'Knitted Socks East and West'! Such a great book with some really nice pattern in it!

Some WIPs

I have been showing you guys a lot of finished projects lately, but I seem to have run out of things to finish! I'm working on a few of 'bigger' items that are taking me a while to get done. Such as this afghan for my sister-in-law. 

 

I showed her some pictures of different afghans and this is the one she chose. It is from the Creative Knitting Fall 2009 issue. I am making this 'Quick and Easy Afghan' with Loops and Thread's Charisma yarn in Forest, with size 10.5 needles. I don't know how quick this is going to be, but it is a good pattern for mindless knitting. I definitely should have used longer circular needles though, it is bunching up like crazy on the 29" long ones!

My second project is these socks for my boyfriend. I got the pattern from the Son of Stitch 'n Bitch book, Treads is a great pattern for a men's pair of socks. It is simple with a little touch of cables for some visual interest. I am working these up with Lion Brand's Sock Ease yarn in Sour Ball, and I am liking the colors!

Lookie at what I found!

I always love it when I find a website that inspires me to create things. Add in the fact that these are Dollarstore items, and we have got a real winner! Dollar Store Crafts is a great blog to just look through and find all kinds of amazing projects, I spent about an hour yesterday going through the site and here are some of my favorite projects.

 

 This doily-covered soap project looks so great. They say to use store-bought doilies, but I would probably make my own!

 My mind was blown when I read what this was made out of - toilet paper tubes! This faux wrought iron wall art just looks so good and would be so simple to make.

I have noticed a new fad springing up all over the net, friendship bracelets seem to be getting really popular and this friendship bracelet loom is an easy way to get in on the fun!

I am always loosing my stitch markers. I don't know where they all go but I am now using paper clips to keep my spot when I'm knitting. I can quickly make up a bunch of these cute little stitch markers so even if I lose some, they can be quickly be replaced!