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So after many more months, I was poking around in Ravelry (an obsession that Susan, my Pod-mate, instilled in me when I was just learning to knit) and I found them again.  The very same picture I’d seen on Pinterest.  And a pattern available for purchase.  So, being the awesome Pinterest-savvy person I am, I pinned the Ravelry link so that future boot cuff droolers wouldn’t face a dead-end Tumblr account.  You’re welcome.

And then, only months after that (this a short story that I’m making long), I finally overcame my fear of cable knitting, purchased the pattern and got to work.  Things I learned with this knitting project included :

• Cabling is, in fact, not that hard.  Quite easy actually.  And now I’m cabling everything.

• This was super fast project.  I’m a slow knitter and had both cuffs done in a few days time.

• I now had the cutest boot accessory and felt so fashion forward.

• I had no idea how to wear them.  And I felt like a moron for that.

Sad but true – even after all of Amy’s styling advice and lessons, I struggled with figuring out how to wear the boot cuffs.  I tried with skinny jeans.  Hated it.  Tried with taller boots.  Hated it.   Tried them tucked in and folded over.  Tried to wear them straight.  Tried to wear them around my ankles like I’d seen other women do at the airport.  Hated it, hated it, hated it.  I had failed.  Which made me frustrated because I was so excited about these dang boot cuffs.

Last week I was at Target and just *happened* to walk past the stocking section.  I stared at all the shades of leggings they had available and heard Amy in my head saying, “Do it!  I told you to get leggings months ago!  They will become your saving grace for wearing skirts and bloating up like hibernating bear this winter!”  (Caveat: Amy would have said something much more clever.  She’s very clever.  But just go with the flow.)  I reached out for the last pair of black leggings on the shelf and tossed them in the cart.

Target carts are the worst about finding extra things in them come checkout time, no?

It didn’t click until the next day that I should try the leggings with the boot cuffs.  With the weather looking dry, I planned a photo shoot in our driveway featuring my legs, my favorite pair of boots and the boot cuffs I knitted in December.

So here’s the thing: even as I was getting dressed for my little photo shoot, I still felt like an idiot in the boot cuffs.  (The leggings made me feel like an idiot as well, but we’re not going to discuss my weight issues and skin-tight bottoms with the free world.  Amen.)  But I told myself that I wanted to actually show off my first cables the way they were meant to be worn, even if it was only once – I was taking this one for the team.  The team being me.

While I felt silly in this outfit (and you can’t see all of me for a hot mess of a reason), the photos actually turned out well.  And, while I’m on this honesty kick, the boot cuffs looked OK.  Cute even.  Does this mean that I’ve found a new cozy and fashionable outfit to wear?  Heck no.  Leggings will not be exiting my front door any time soon.  But there are these things called baby steps and I’m going to take them.  Let’s just hope I take them before it goes out of style.

*Pattern: Boot Candy by Sara Gresbach, pattern download available on Ravelry.com.

It’s been hot outside, so the urge to sit with warm yarn in my lap hasn’t really existed.  But with football season upon us, I started a new project in August.  Football season – it happens to be my reminder to start knitting again.

I decided to recycle a slouchy hat pattern I knitted earlier this year.  But instead of bright color, I opted for a muted merino/alpaca blend fiber.  This yarn was delicious in between my fingers, incredibly soft to the touch but perfect for the pattern.  Once I had some rows behind me and the repeated pattern began to form, I knew that it was the perfect gift for a new friend in Chicago.  She had opened her home, her business ideals and heart to me – I wanted to do something personal for her as well.

When I made this hat in solid green, the swirling of K2togs and PSSOs could easily be seen.  With the animal fiber and the self-striping if offered between cream and soft taupe, the pattern is a little more hidden.  But where there’s a loss, there’s a gain.  With everything combined – the pattern, the color, the feel – this hat is fall in Chicago.  It’s simple.  It’s warm.  It’s a style that’s popular and has the “I didn’t try so hard” urban look.  Yeah, I think it’s perfect for Chicago.

*Pattern: Ballard Slouch Hat by Felicia Lo, free download on Ravelry.com. Yarn: Cascade Yarns Eco Duo

If you follow me on Instagram (LOVE Instagram) (my handle is shutterboophoto in case you’re interested), you know that I’ve been busy thinking up ways to stay crafty.  I took on a challenge, 30 Days of Creativity, and while I did not make it 30 days (I think I made it 23 and then I just started forgetting), it was a good challenge.  I did some things I normally wouldn’t have done and really liked how everything turned out.

Like spray paint.  I spray painted a shelf.  Then little statue.  Then re-spray painted the shelf.  Obsessed.  (And the shelf didn’t stay green.  It was actually spray painted a third time then “distressed” but I like it.  Just took longer than I anticipated.)

I sent some care packages.  (Honestly, I love sending care packages.  Little surprises in the mail or on the porch?  Best thing ever!)

I also used some regular paints and painted stripes on an old cork board.  It’s super cute now.

Did some stamping, made some tags, stamped some tags.  The heat gun might have come out too.

Got out some clippers.  Did a lot of cropping on a photo project.  And made jorts.  (Not a joke.  But I haven’t left the house in them so I think I’m good.)

I got creative in the kitchen with leftovers, made a tasty fruit pizza and went town with some homemade peanut butter cookies.  (Thanks for the cookie scooper, Mom.  It works great!)

I even tried my hand at quilt square patterns.  Not that  I quilt… I just like them.

But I did hang on to goodies.  Like knitting (finished that sweet little hat up there), photo sessions and editing in Photoshop (that totally counts) and planting flowers (which look sad these days).

It feels good to make something.  I sometimes get frustrated because my projects don’t turn out how I imagined they would (like the shelf), but who cares.  You get the wheels turning, you get your hands dirty, you make a mess and pray the doggin doesn’t walk through it.  And call me silly, but taking a picture of whatever I was working on afterwards?  That was the most rewarding part.  So since my thinking cap has been off for a couple weeks, I’m thinking about putting it back on.  I’m just not sure what project to tackle next.  The glass-free window pane that I may hang in the kitchen?  Some decoupage on old picture frames?  Or maybe even try to create my own wall art?  Hmm… I think Pinterest is going to have to help me decide.

The working of K2togs and PSSOs give the hat a fun, swirly texture.  Of course, those same K2togs and PSSOs gave me a headache because I started this hat three times.  The first two times I successfully ribbed the start of the hat but then it went down hill in a hurry.  I couldn’t figure out how so many people on Ravelry “love this pattern” and had “knitted this eight times now.”  The problem wasn’t the pattern but rather the knitter.  (Not a shocker, folks.)  Something about not having the right number of stitches to repeat in the pattern. But I’m a smart cookie.  And third time’s a charm.   And the finished piece was perfect.

And of course, I made Lauren model it for me.

It looks really good on – and with Lauren’s blonde curls sneaking out the sides, it works for her style.  It was made for her.  Literally.  Because I made it.  Whatever, it just works.  Now that I know the pattern, I want to call a rematch and cast on a second one because I know there would be no hiccups.  But now the problem is finding time to knit.

*Pattern: Ballard Slouch Hat by Felicia Lo, free download on Ravelry.com.

I casted on six times.  And ripped it out six times.  Failure.  Six times.  Gah.

It was time to try a different pattern.  A lush-ious one.  And once I did, all was right in the knitting world again.

The swirl cowl had been in my queue for months.  The admiral navy blue yarn had also been in my possession for months.  The two were married in late February and a beautiful union it is.  Together, they have movement, like waves, but still soft and warm enough to make any neck delightful.

The pattern flew by.  Easy to follow, easy to read, easy to complete.  I did skip the last repeat of rows 1-9 – my yarn was running out faster than anticipated.  But even with a few rows shaved off, the cowl is a really nice length and finished up nicely.  I learned my lesson from the last cowl I knitted and made sure to keep the CO and BO loose.  Success in the department of slipping it over one’s head. *high fives*

The blue waves have made their way to Baltimore to keep the lovely Wendipants a little warmer.  I’m always so happy to hear that I made someone’s day a little brighter.

*Pattern: Lush-ious Swirl Cowl by Linda Frydl, free download on Ravelry.com.

I got this wise idea last year to knit matching infinity scarves for my three lady friends.  I found the GAP-tastic pattern and immediately fell in love with it.  Simple.  Trendy.  Useful.  So I casted on with light brown yarn and got started.  I finished in about 2 months.  And then I casted on with pink yarn.  I finished it in about 3months.  Finally, I casted on with purple yarn.  Six months later, on Thanksgiving Day, I wove in the ends.   And it will be a very, very, very long time before I even blink at another pattern that has a seed stitch.  But the screaming fingers and 11-month time line was well worth it.  Because they were perfect.

For Natalie, a natural color.

For Abby, a bright and lively color.

For Kelly, my Little Skipper, purple. When I look at her, I see purple.

Squishy.  Warm.  Perfect for a cold winter day.  I really want one for myself… but I will be waiting a long while before I even decide what color I want.  Just the thought of knitting the seed stitch over and over and over again… yeah, it will be a long, long while.

*Pattern: GAP-tastic Cowl by Jen Geigley, free download on Ravelry.com.

I patted myself on the back a little too early with this project.  I was so proud of myself for reading the pattern, not skipping a yarn over or a slip slip knit, until one evening at knitting class.  You could say the conversation was distracting.  Or that I talked too much and forgot my place.  But I had messed up – enough to throw the pattern off and make me a sad knitter.

Luckily, I surround myself with prized knitters and the following evening at dinner (in a booth at BW3s), Martha attacked my project.  She slipped out the needles and began to unravel it.  I closed my eyes to avoid the horror.  And as she slipped the stitches back onto the needles, all was well again.  A stitches were accounted for, even the yarn overs.  And so I began to knit again and my pattern was perfect.  Until I tried it on.

I bound off too tightly.  So tightly that this beautiful cowl didn’t want to fit over my head.  If it wasn’t going to fit over my head, how in the world would it fit or my friend’s?  I pondered my two options: give to a kid who has a small head or undo the binding and reknit it.  I chose the second and I’m glad I did.  Because even though I had two set backs with this piece, I loved how it looked in the end.  How it actually fit.  How the leaves climb up the neck.  And I loved sending it off into the mail to keep a neck in Indianapolis warm.

*Pattern: Growing Leaves Cowl by Meghan Macko from Macko Design, free download on Ravelry.com.

It’s true.  Every gal needs pom poms in her life.  They’re cute, they’re fun and the name itself is darn fun to say.  Pom pom.

When I first started knitting, I hated pom poms.  I didn’t understand the point of having a tuft of yarn to top a hat.  But after looking at knitted pieces and patterns over the past couple years, the pom pom makes complete sense to me.  It’s the finishing touch.  And I love them best on ear-flap hats, right on the end of the I-cord that ties around your neck.

I finished another hat a couple weeks ago.  A kid-sized hat, with ear-flaps, pom poms and two little triangles on top – it was a kitty hat.  The hat itself is cute.  But the pom poms are my favorite part.  Fluffy, soft, perfect to tug on.  They make the hat, people.

*Pattern: Kat’s Hat by Diana Foster from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve finished my last knitting project and it’s been so hard to bite my tongue because I’m in love with it.  Of course, it was super secret.  Super secret is my new theme for knitting.  Shhh… don’t tell.  I torture myself with super secrets, but they’re usually worth it.  As this one proved to be as well.

I gifted the super secret last night.  To a good friend.  Who is expecting.  (Who isn’t expecting these days?  Riddle me that?)  So I made a special little something for her special little gal who’s making her debut in just one week.

I really, really like it.  Not just the pattern – the pattern is super easy and looks great and it’s free – but the colors and the yarn.  In all the examples I could find of this little sweater, everyone had made it for baby boys.  It really is a unisex sweater but I wanted to girl it up a bit without making it fru-fru.  Thus the cool purples and gray.  The little silver floral button ties it all together.

At least in my opinion it does.  And today, my opinion is all that matters to me.

The cotton and pima yarn… it’s so soft and snuggle-y… and still washable.  Apparently, that’s a very important thing in baby wardrobes.  And will be perfect to layer for this fall.

The stripes are what sold me.  The purls make the transitions between colors stand out.  It would look nice in a solid color too, but why would you not want stripes?

My only beef is when I slipped off stitches to work on the back and arms, I did not have the number of stitches the pattern said I should.  I had to add two stitches on the back and both arms.  No biggie.  But I thought I had messed up somewhere… and kept counting my stitches over and over again… and I hate counting stitches.  Finishing the piece was a tad difficult as the holes under the arms were much larger than I expected, but a mattress seam helped hide them.  And it may have taken me 30 minutes to crochet a one inch chain.  (That happens when you’ve never crocheted before.)  In the end though, I’m a huge fan.

I can’t wait to see weeMohn in her purple stripes.  Out of all the baby pieces I’ve knitted, I’ve only seen two little guys in little hats I made, so now I have something to look forward to.  I might also look forward to seeing weeMohn herself.  Very excited for our friends and their new addition – and hope to hear good news in the next week!

*Free Pattern: Super-Natural Stripes baby sweater by Fawn Pea

I’ve been keeping myself busy with too many things to count (all but cleaning, that is), but I keep making time for knitting.  I’ll admit it’s slowed down since the thermostat has been reading over 90°, but there are still projects in the works.  And of course, knitting “class” every week.  All this talk of football has me looking forward to hours of being posted on the couch with a skein of yarn in my lap.  But the rotten thing about all my working projects is that they’re all gifts.

Gifts = Secrets.  I don’t know why I torture myself with keeping things on the down low but I do.  It’s all hush over here.

Boo.

But I’m very excited about my latest project.  It’s coming together quite brilliantly, the colors are perfect, the comfy worsted yarn is very comfy (thus the name) and it’s pretty darn adorable.  It’s purple.  Actually, all of my current projects are purple.  I may have to throw in another small one just to mix up the color palette I’m working with.

As reluctant as I was to start knitting [because in my mind it's what old ladies did], I’m happy that started clicking my needles.  If my Mom hadn’t joined in her knitting circle, I would have never even tried.  But I love it.  I love to be able to create something with string and sticks.  I love that two stitches can make so many different patterns.  I love seeing how creative and intricate others can be with the same materials.  And I love sharing what I make.  Thus all the secret knitting.

It’s a viscious cycle.  But I think it’s worth it.

This hat was made with somebody in mind.  Someone that’s got a little funk in them and expecting a little boy in only ten short weeks.  When I came across the pattern, I said to myself, “Oooh, I know who’d like that.”  Come to find out, I was right.  (I love it when I’m right.)

The interesting thing about this hat is it’s made from the top down.  I was hesitant about doing an entire project that included M1 stitches throughout, but that’s the best way to learn.  And learned I did.  I knew I didn’t want to do bar increases because of the stockinette but I struggled with the knitted increase.  After I huffed and puffed, Susan and her crafting prowess came to my rescue and showed me the correct way.  I had left out a minor detail in the stitch… a detail that left no peek-a-boo holes… I conquered the Make One, people.

Also new to me was striping.  The pattern called for each stripe’s yarn to but cut and hidden.  Instead, I carried the yarn (it was only five rows) and was quite pleased with my jogs.  I won’t get into the pom-pom.  But I will tell you that it took way longer than it should have and I may have broken a sweat on Bev’s couch.  (Yes.  Knitting can be stressful.)

The stocking cap finished up very nicely though and I loved the final look of the piece.  I can’t wait to see it on someone’s little head though in a few months.  In other words, I NEED PICTURES!

*Pattern: Striped Stocking Cap by Deb Gemmell from Baby Knits Head & Toes!

You wouldn’t expect less, no?

Gah.  The cuteness kills me every time.

A dear friend of mine is expecting.  (What?  No way!  You know pregnant people?  Shut up!) She had shared with me that her little man’s nursery was invaded by owls and I made it my personal mission to incorporate something owlish on my Ravelry queue.  When I stumbled upon these little guys, I had to knit them up.  Just look at them – how could I not?

I started with the gray owl and followed the pattern (he finished about 2.5″ tall).  I wanted to try my hand at a second one, a larger one, so I casted on more stitches and improvised (he measured about 4″ tall).  After they were knit up and I finally found my bag of Polyfill [hiding in a closet top among a bazillion white pillows], I sewed up some rice bags to weigh them down, attached their eyes and stuffed them up.

To say I like them is an understatement.  I’m smitten.

I hope the owls find a nice place to cozy up in the nursery.  I hope they get touched and squeezed and drooled on.  And I hope to see Baby C’s photo with at least one them while wearing his stellar baby beanie.  *hint hint*

*Owl pattern: Owls Two Ways (knit and crochet) by Ana Clerc.  Free pattern available through Ravelry.com.

I found myself a new [free] pattern, not too far off from Miss Abby’s hat, and casted on.  I knew that I was going for the bear look, so I chose heathered brown yarn from Vanna’s Choice.  And I now know I don’t care for that particular yarn.  It looks very nice but I think  my fingers may have gotten spoiled with all the wool I’ve been knitting with.  Damn you, fingers.  So after I finished one, I casted on for a second to use up the yarn.  And then there were two nice hats.

Did I not mention that they’re super cute too?  How could I forget that morsel of information?  My bad.

Yeah, so they’re super cute.  One skein made the entire hat with ear flaps and then one hat and one bear ear.  Luckily, Bev at knitting class had extra of the same yarn and I was able to knit up the second bear ear to have  a complete set of ears.  And… done.

I actually gave these to some gals at work.  They both had little boys several months back and with these knitting up larger than expected, I thought they’d last at least through this year’s winter.  I got see some pictures of the little men in their hats – I died.  Seriously, my heart stopped because they were that darn cute.  THAT is the reason why I’m loving this knitting so much right now.  I love to share.

And so the cycle continues… and I knit another baby hat.  *addicted*

*Pattern: Lil’ Devil Baby Hat by Kitty Schmidt.  Opted out devil horns for bear ears.

Sure did.  I usually try not to make goals because I feel like a weenie when I don’t meet them.  And if I do make goals, I rarely share them with others because then they ask me questions and I have to admit I failed.  But I made a goal.  Nay, I made more than one goal – I made goals.  And I will be victorious.  Yes… yes I will.

My goals this weekend are to:

1. Turn on my sewing machine.
2. Thread a bobbin.
3. Drive some fabric down the line to practice.
4. High-five myself for making some progress in the land of sewing.
5. And, if I feel so inclined, attempt to craft something.

I’ve had my cute little sewing machine since October and I’ve done nil with it.  Even as I set it up at home, the hubs eversolovingly reminded me that I don’t know how to sew.  [As I'm quite good at it,] I ignored his spewing facts and told myself I could do this.  I could.  And I will.  Then I might have not touched my cute little sewing machine since I first set it up.  But by golly, I am bound and determined to use some damn needles and thread.

I have a binder full of tutorials, some projects are more for inspiration rather than coming to life, but my mind has been focused.  I’ve found several “easy” projects but I know they won’t be “easy” until I can weasel my way around my machine.  This weekend, I conquer my cute sewing machine.  Wish me luck.