inhale ~ Melissa

...and everything smoky-smelling and the sky orange and ash gray at twilight, it seems Halloween will never come in a fall of broomsticks and a soft flap of bedsheets around corners.                  

- Ray Bradbury :: Something Wicked This Way Comes

 

 

 



 

 

 

Last autumn is a blur ~ my favorite time of year came and went unnoticed and uncelebrated.  I'm making an effort this season to take in the things around me that I love so much.  The damp earthy smell of the air, the crunchy kaleidoscope foliage underfoot, seasonal baking with local produce - my favorite apple cake can be found here (best right out of the oven with a cool spoon of homemade whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon), weekends filled with snuggling under a blanket and watching football and the World Series, listening to the blustery winds and the spate of daily rain showers that are part of October and November in the northwest.  I spent an hour today gathering fallen leaves in the hopes of following Ginny's lead ~ I'm finally going to wax and string a garland for our house after bookmarking this post four years ago.  I didn't plan ahead well enough so I don't have beeswax ~ I'm hoping paraffin will work just as well.  I'll let you know.

 

I'm just finishing a perfect book for this time of year, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, a favorite from childhood.  I'm also skimming through a new Martha Stewart magazine ~ I was taken in by the cover at the market and it somehow ended up in my basket.  I haven't bought one of her magazines in years but her October and November issues were always my favorites.

 

And I've been knitting.  Alot.  I'm so behind on getting things up on Ravelry - so not like me - but I'll get everything posted one of these days.  I've got three new finished projects:

Ceramic Flowers Cowl (notes here)

Streusel Shawl (link here)

and the Shale Baby Blanket (link here) that I finished last weekend while at retreat (posted here) .

 

I'm getting really close to finishing up the Hemlock Ring Blanket (link here) that I'm making for our second Goddaughter who will be here in just another month or so.  And I'm just casting on the second of my By the Seine River Socks (link here) that are my October set for Liesl's monthly sock challenge over at Buckaloo View (link here) . 

 

I'm so glad to be joining Ginny and everyone again for Yarn Along (link).  It's been awhile!  Looking forward to seeing what you all are up to since the last time I visited!

 

~ Melissa

 

(ack..sorry about all the links - I should have put them all at the end but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it all now! my post is a bit of a mess!)

Celebrating Streusel ~ by guest blogger Julie

It's finished, it's finished! My Streusel is finished! Great pattern, wonderful yarn, and that amazing color! Here's the proof:

As an added bonus, you even get to see me wearing it! In addition to knitting along with all of you here, I was participating in the second annual Yarniacs podcast Colors of Fall Knitalong. The idea behind that KAL was to knit something in one of the colors from the Fall 2014 Pantone Fashion Color Report and then style a fall look incorporating the knitted piece. My Streusel is a dead ringer for the Pantone color Sangria, and I wore it with a green shirt (Pantone color Cypress), jeans and my hand knit Couplet socks (incorporating some elements of Pantone color Mauve Mist). Styling Streusel was a fun exercise, and Mr. D (my dear husband) took a pretty nice photo, too.

Thanks so much, Melissa and Kelli, for including me in the knit along. I look forward to joining in on another one sometime soon.

Bonnie Sennott Again~ a post from Kelli

Peppernut  by Bonnie Sennott
Yarn :  Local Color Fiber Studio, fingering weight,
I choose 3 different dye lots in the same color way.
With a couple of modifications, I chose
to stockinet stitch the top and carry
through with the M1L/M1R into the second
section, down the middle.



A wonderful knit, quite a few nupps
to test the strength of your wooden needles.
Great 'check points' along the way to keep you honest.
Knitted during the Harvest Moon~

Thank you Bonnie Sennott~ from Kelli

What a treat!  Loved knitting this up.  A great design.

Such a refreshing knit of lace.  Everyday I struggled

to stop knitting on it.

A perfect blogaversary  knit-a long.   Can't wait to see

everybody else's~

wip it, wip it good ~ posted by Melissa

Devo anyone? this will stay with you allllll night :)

 

Just a quick update on the kal and other goings on...Seahawks preseason pregame show starts in 10 minutes and I aim to watch every minute (GO HAWKS!!)

 

I'm at the official 'halfway' point for the Streusel knitalong ( ravelry notes here ) ~ 40 stitches prior to my marker.  I've used just under a third of my yarn (27.5g / 144yds).

 

She measures 22.5" long and 8.5" wide without stretching my work at all.

I'm going to keep going with the increases.  Why not?  I've got the yarn and when such a simple lace edge looks this gorgeous....

 

 

...I'd be crazy to stop now!  How is everyone else doing?  Hoping to see some progress photos and hear how you all are enjoying the pattern!

 

I'm also on the downslope of my test knit ~ I can't wait til dandiliongrl releases her High Plains pattern!  I think it's going to be a huge hit!  I learned a new seam (she provides a link to a 'how to' diagram and instructions) ~ I can't remember ever joining a live horizontal edge to a vertical edge.

 

All that's left is a border and it's finished ~ I already highly recommend this pattern and I can't wait to make it again.  I had to stick to the pattern this time since it's a test knit but I have an idea rolling around in my head how I want to change it up just a little the second time around!

 

I'll make sure to share a link to the pattern when it's available to everyone else ~ until then, my ravelry notes can be found ( here if you're interested ).

 

And in case you haven't seen me gushing the last few days, Bonnie Sennott released a new pattern called 'Skipperling' ( my project page here ) and I don't think I can wait to cast on until I'm finished with these two works in progress.  I'm so obsessed with her pattern and the yarn I'm using which was a gift from my husband for our 20th anniversary last month :

 

And to top it off, Bonnie is offering $2 off her pattern through August 15th ~

here's the link to the pattern page if you want to peek .

 

Thanks so much, Bonnie for the generous incentive ~ I've told everyone I know :)

 

Gotta get ~ there's football to be watched and knitting to be done!

~ Melissa

 





A Walk In The Park~ a post by Kelli

Lov'in this Knit A Long, and everyone's colors are so beautiful.
Here's mine so far.


Thanks from all the 'well wishes' and sweet comments about our 5th
year blogging!

A Little Late to the Party… by guest blogger Julie

I meant to post yesterday, on the actual day, but the title of this post says it all. I'm also a little late to the party on following Melissa and Kelli's blog, as I have only discovered it within the last year. That doesn't stop me from wishing you both a very happy 5th blog anniversary. Thanks for the wonderful photographs, lively content and so much knitting inspiration!

I may have been late to the blog anniversary party, but I wasn't late starting the knitalong, despite spending a couple days dithering over yarn. 

Should I knit with this?

Or this?

In the end, I was in more of a pink mood (but really happy to have an excuse to post one of my favorite purple yarn photos) so Hazel Knits Entice in the Land of Sweets colorway was the choice. I moved on to winding my yarn and then cast on.

I'm really happy to be part of this KAL, and I'm looking forward to seeing and reading about everyone's progress on Bonnie Sennott's beautiful pattern. And Melissa, thanks for organizing this!

fun fun fun ~ posted by Melissa

Happy Birthday to us!  We are 5 (hooray!) here at Girls in Sheep Clothing and celebrating with this fun knitalong.  It was so exciting to see posts appear yesterday as we get started on our Streusels (my ravelry notes are here).  I cast on at midnight on the 31st since I was up waiting for Jas to get home from work (he set power and did standby for the Jay Z / Beyoncé concert at Safeco Field Wednesday night). 

I love knitting up these jumbly masses of stitches, knowing what awaits when we finally get to block our work and see the magic happen.  Who would think that messy looking lace edge could become what it does?  It makes me kind of giddy just thinking about it!

I'm also working on a test knit for dandiliongirl on Ravelry (notes here) ~ another poncho to add to my collection...this one with a lace panel...again, giddy :) ... lace ... mmmmm, lace!!!!



 So not much chatter from me today ~ the sun is shining (it's hot!!) ~ I'm going to sit in the shade and listen to some tunes and knit the day away.  I'm imagining you all gathered round, needles clickity clacking away, joining me in all the fun!  Thanks for celebrating with Kelli and I ~ I love that you all come back and knit with us when you're invited!

 

Looking forward to hearing from more of you and seeing some progress! And newcomers are still welcome ~ it's never to late to join in the fun :) ~ Happy Friday !

Melissa

a Bonnie Sennott knitalong ~ posted by Melissa

07-19-2014 - edited to add:  I just saw that Bonnie has started a newsletter...

here's the link

 

if you haven't purchased your Streusel pattern yet, there's a coupon code in the newsletter that gets you 50% off one of her patterns before the end of the month, just for subscribing!  I just signed up and now I'm off to use my coupon code to snag another of her lovely designs for future use :)

 

 

Are you on the fence about joining us for our next knitalong?  If you missed the info here's the link!

 

 

If you are, I thought it might be a good time to share this summer shawl I just finished.  It's Stria by Bonnie Sennott...our lucky designer pick for our Girls in Sheep Clothing blog anniversary.

(ravelry notes can be found here)

 

 

Stria was a breeze to knit and I'm so happy to be knitting another one of her designs so soon after finishing this one.  Her patterns are well written and so much fun.  And I'm pretty sure she'll be keeping an eye on us since she knows we're hosting this kal and seemed tickled when she found out about it.  I think a few of our newest kal'ers may have come from her posting about our knitalong on her facebook and twitter accounts as well as her group on Ravelry.  Let's do her proud :)

 

So far we are seven ~ Kelli and myself of course, Penny (knitwitless) and Andrea (aksaxton).  Mimi (benzngems) will be knitting with us (your invitation has been sent...check your email!) but she wasn't sure if she would actually blog with us or not.  I hope she does...I've already seen her yarn choice & it's perfect so I'm encouraging her to share :).  We also have Susan and Cynthia joining us for the first time ~ don't forget, you two...if you want to blog with us I will send you an invitation as soon as you message me on Ravelry with your email addresses!

 

There's still lots of time to jump on board ~ we don't cast on until July 31st ~ so if you're interested please know you are welcome and we'd love to have you join us!

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Melissa