FO Friday 32

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you had a great week and have an even better weekend. Unfortunately, all of my time has been spent getting my company ready for next week. It's basically a full time job. So, I don't have a FO. :( UNLESS you count finishing my website (well, except for linking it to the actual items listed on Artfire, because it has to be listed to do that) and getting my Artfire store set up (except for clicking the activate link and listing the yarn that is currently in the crock pot).

I just wanted to say thank you to all who participate in WIPW each week. We had the most people this week, at 44 and it seems to be growing. I also wanted to apologize for not being able to respond to each comment left on my blog and not commenting on your blogs until Thursdays. I am currently watching my nieces on Wednesdays (all day) and my sister currently doesn't have internet. That leaves me Wednesday night (but let me tell you, after a full day with an almost 2 year old and most of the day with a almost 7 year old, I'm pretty tired. How do you parents do it?) or Thursday to go through each link. I hope you don't mind that I don't comment until the next day. :) I still manage to get to everyone.

Don't forget, please visit the blog on Tuesday. I will be announcing my company launch and other exciting things!

Share your FOs!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 38

Hey everyone! I hope you're having a great week. I'm going to keep this pretty brief as I have been in front of the computer a ton this week. If you read my post yesterday, you know that I will be opening my shop next Tuesday. Because of this, I have been very very very busy. I've taken all new photos of my yarns, finished building my website, design and order my business cards and am still in the process building the inventory on my Artfire store so that everything will be ready for me to "flip the switch" Tuesday. I guess you can call all of that work a WIP in itself. I'm also trying to dye the last of the un-dyed yarn I have in stock so that I can open the store with as many hanks of yarn as possible.

That brings me to another WIP that I don't have a picture to show. It's a new self-striping that I swatched, or am in the process of swatching for the store. I'm far enough along with it, that if I show it to you, you'll see the whole color scheme, so I'm going to save the picture for next week.

Now on to WIPs I have pics of:


Not a great photo, but you get the idea. I'm really trying to make a dent in this blanket as I would like to have it finished soon. Each row seems to take forever, due to working it length wise like I mentioned last week. Now that the colors have repeated, I really like it. I wasn't sure at first, since the light color is SO light compared to the other two. Anyway, I'm happy with what I've finished on it, but not on the progress that I've made. It's also kind of hard to work on such a heavy, warm project due to the weather being nice. Today is supposed to be 82 degrees, so the blanket isn't the ideal project to work on.



What's that beautiful yarn you ask? Why, that's more Knit Picks Chroma in Prism! When I ordered the yarn for my scarf, I bought this extra ball for just this purpose and that purpose is another monster!. When I got the order, I was so excited, but then I hit that wall with the monster I was working on at the time, now named Roger. This time, I'm making Harold the Houseplant Monster. I picked him for a few reasons, one being it will be a challenge to do the hands and toes, and I wanted to make sure that I learned something new, just like I did with Roger. I probably won't be getting this done any time soon though.

I have too many other things to do. I need to officially start my tank top, and also I've been dying to start my first pair of socks. So many projects in my queue and yarn in my stash, so little time. I may be bothering some of you for some help on my first pair of socks, so watch out for my trolling your Ravelry mailboxes or annoying you here. :)

On another note, I'm really a really fun knitting book, but I'll wait to share any more about it until later. I plan to write a review of it, despite it being an older book. I was lucky to randomly find it at one of our antique malls for $2.50!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Dyeing for Fun Part 17

First off, big news! I will be officially announcing and opening the doors to my online shop next Tuesday! Please come by for the name/logo/website reveal.

Also, on another note, you may have noticed I have changed the name of the blog to Tami's Amis and Other Creations. I figured crochet just didn't fit anymore, since I now crochet, knit, dye, etc.

Okay, now back to business.

Today I'm going to share a skein of fingering yarn that I'm keeping for myself. That's right, most of the skeins/hanks I've shared will be up on my shop soon (again, next week. WOOHOO!), but this one I couldn't part with. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but since it's not easy to replicate, I figured if I like it that much, I should keep it. The reason it's hard to get another skein just like this one, is because I "broke" Wilton's black. I'm not sure if many of you know, but some dye colors break, meaning the colors separate once you change the pH balance (aka adding acid/vinegar). When I dyed this skein, I was trying to break it, and I was so happy with how it turned out. Some areas stayed black/gray, while others turned lavender/pink/green. The pics don't do it justice.




Colorway: Black Magic
Fiber content: 75% Merino Wool, 25% nylon superwash
Weight: Fingering Weight
Yardage: 464 yards
Unit Weight: 100 grams
Care: Machine wash/tumble dry low
Dyed with: Wilton's Icing Dye

FO Friday 31

How is it Friday again? Where did this week go? Insanity. I didn't get a ton of knitting done, but as you could see from WIPW this week, I only had the assembling to finish for my little knit monster. I started Petunia the Patio Monster by Rebecca Danger on February 7th. You read that right...FEBRUARY 7TH. I cruised through the body and thought I would cruise through the legs and arms. I guess I got too cocky after learning the 3 needle bind off with ease. I tried to start the legs/arms with DPNs like the pattern suggests a billion times. With much frustration, I wanted to throw it across the room, but instead decided to try the magic loop for them. That's how I did the body and it was so easy, of course I could do it...except at that point I was so frustrated, I couldn't seem to cast on a simple 6 stitches and then do k1f&b to start the legs/arms. I was practically in tears so I put it away and forgot about it. I was then checking out the group on Ravelry for Rebecca's designs and BAM, a light bulb went off for some reason. I picked it back up and did the start of the arms/legs with no problem! I just needed to step away for awhile I guess. I'm so glad I did.

As soon as I finished my monster, I realized that he didn't look much like a Petunia, well, because he's a he. At least he looks like one, don't you agree? So, I'll stop rambling so you can officially meet Roger!


Materials Used:

Knit Picks size US 7 needles
Berroco Comfort Worsted
Size 12mm safety eyes
White felt
Tapestry needle

Despite the name change, Roger informed me that he is still a garden monster. Here he is making a wish at my neighbor's fake wishing well.

Here's Roger hanging by the pond off my back deck, enjoying the late afternoon sun.



Roger definitely didn't want me to share the crotch shot, but I couldn't resist showing how clean I stitched him up! I'm super proud of it.


Share your FOs!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 37

Happy Wednesday! This will be short and sweet, as I am in LA for the LA Kings hockey playoff game on Tuesday night. I just have to say, GO KINGS! I hope to have time to comment on everyone's posts when I get home, but it may be later in the day. Have a great day!


What is that you ask? IT'S MY KNITTED MONSTER! I know he looks almost like a chalk outline of himself, but trust me, all of the pieces are there minus the face pieces. I can't explain to you how excited I am. I can't wait to show you the FO on Friday. I did cheat a little, and finished him right after I took this photo. :)

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Dyeing for Fun Part 16

It's that time again, when I share my most recent dye project. This one isn't actually my most recent, but needed to knit a swatch to show exactly how it stripes. That's right, it's self striping yarn! You may remember that I started the swatch and shared the beginning of it for WIPW 35.

I think this colorway is SO fun, and I hope you do, too!



Colorway: Gumdrop
Fiber content: 75% Merino Wool, 25% nylon superwash
Weight: Fingering Weight
Yardage: 455 yards (originally 464 yards)
Unit Weight: 98 grams (originally 100 grams)
Care: Machine wash/tumble dry low
Dyed with: Wilton's Icing Dye, Kool-aid

FO Friday 30

Happy Friday! I've been feverishly working on my monster, but was unable to finish since I had to still do both legs, arms and assembly. On Thursday afternoon, I decided to finish the dishcloth that I started a few weeks ago and have been ignoring. This is the second one I've made from the pattern and I love it for multicolor yarn. It's an easy pattern and once you do a couple of repeats, it's easy to remember and just knit from memory, another plus.

I'm going to keep this pretty short, because my hockey team is tied 2-2 right now in the 3rd period and I'm a nervous wreck...so I will just say GO KINGS GO!

Have a great weekend!


Materials Used:

Knit Picks size US 8 needles
Lily Sugar'n Cream
Tapestry needle

The dishcloth is an actual square, it's just on a curve so looks a little wonky. :)

Share your FOs!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 36

Happy hump day! As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I didn't get much crochet/knitting done over the weekend, so I don't have a ton to share. I did finish the swatch for the new self striping colorway, but will be saving that for a yarn dyeing post.


I haven't made HUGE progress since you've last seen this crocheted ripple blanket, but the colors are now repeating. It's slow going with this yarn, and also I'm working the length of the blanket instead of the width. Each row seems to take forever, but I'm not letting it bother me. Overall, it's a fun project to work on. One of my cats, Roxy, LOVES it. When I work on the blanket, she always crawls into my lap and begins to kneed it. Very cute, but very annoying. :)




Now, I can not explain to you how excited I am about this. You may remember my knitted monster I started in February. I put it away because I couldn't seem to get the legs/arms started. I tried DPNs and magic loop (I did the body with magic loop), but was having so much trouble with the K1f&b part. My starting stitches were too hard, so when it came to the part to knit into the back of the stitch, I just couldn't. Anyway, here we are April 13th and I tried again, this time SUCCESS! It doesn't look perfect, but I'm happy enough. I hope to get everything done soon and sewn together. YAY!


For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Dyeing for Fun Part 15

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had fun in LA, and I even found a few gems at a vintage store I had never been to. One of my finds was an old 1950's cardigan, weirdly from Ireland, for $19. Total score. If I remember, I'll take a picture of it. I also got a cool belted jacket for $18, a '50's skirt for $18 and a cute scarf for my hair for $4. It was a little chilly at night there, and I was even able to wear my Chroma scarf. A total win to the weekend.

Now on to yarn dyeing! Another great part to the weekend, my mom bought me a ton of Kool-aid flavors/colors I've been unable to find in my area. I just used them yesterday (the yarn is still drying so that isn't what I'm sharing today) and it turned out great! I'll share it in the coming weeks.

Originally I was going to share the new self striping that I started swatching on Wednesday, but I didn't have time to finish the knitting and re-hank it. That will be next week, so be sure to check back for that.

Today I'm going to share a color that I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I love how vibrant it is. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it's the closest I could get to the real thing photo-wise.




Colorway: Orange Sherbet
Fiber content: 75% Merino Wool, 25% nylon superwash
Weight: Fingering Weight
Yardage: 464 yards
Unit Weight: 100 grams
Care: Machine wash/tumble dry low
Dyed with: Wilton's Icing Dye and Kool-aid

FO Friday 29

Happy Friday! I'm heading to LA this weekend to visit my parents and for a little fun, so I'm going to make this short because I still some house cleaning/laundry/packing/dinner to make (remember I write this post on Thursday) to do.

That said, I CANNOT WAIT TO SHARE MY FO!!!!!!!!!!! You guessed it....

THE NEVER ENDING SCARF IS FINISHED!!!

Or better known as the Noro Striped scarf that I made with Knit Picks' Chroma. So I'm a nerd and wanted to know how many rows and stitches this scarf had, because honestly it took me awhile. I started it March 3rd and finished yesterday, April 7th.

Here are the numbers:

534 rows
267 rows of each color
20, 826 stitches total

Now, I know that isn't a huge deal to those of you who knit sweaters, but that's a lot of stitches for me!

Materials Used:

Knit Picks size US 7 Harmony needles
Knit Picks Chroma Worsted (Galapagos)
Knit Picks Chroma Worsted (Regency)
Tapestry needle









EDIT: OMG, I was so excited I forgot the Mr Linky! Here it is!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 35

I can't believe it. I almost forgot to do this week's WIPW. I had my crochet/knitting meet up tonight and a weird day all around so it almost flew by me. How weird that would have been, not to have a post up in the morning for all of you! At least I remembered before bed (I write them on Tuesday so that it can post at 12:01 Wednesday for all of you across the pond).

Back to WIPW. I don't have a ton to show today unfortunately. I've been working on my scarf (still), but didn't want to show it since I plan for it to be done Friday (really this time, not like the last two weeks. LOL). I've also been dyeing a lot, and have 4 new skeins to show you in the coming weeks, one of them being self striping. That leads me to one of my WIPs.


I don't do this a lot, but since I don't have many things going on that I'm actively working on, I decided to share with you the swatch from the new self-striping. I just started on it at my crochet/knitting meet up and did a LOT of talking instead of knitting. LOL I won't tell you the name of the colorway yet, or the order the rest of the colors will go, but here's what I have so far and you can see a little portion of the ball of yarn in the picture to get an idea of what the other colors are.



I've worked a few rows of the dishcloth since the last time I showed you all, so I decided to post that too. Not the best pictures (sorry, I'm kind of doing this hasty). I hope to have this finished by the Friday after next since it's an easy knit, though I really have to work on that ripple blanket more. It's just so unwieldy.

That's it for me for this WIPW. Hope you all have a good day and the rest of the week (well, until I post again Friday!)

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Dyeing for Fun Part 14

I wanted to thank everyone for voting in the polls that I posted on Thursday and Friday. It helped a ton to see what everyone is interested in when buying yarn. That brings me to today's colorway. I was surprised at how many of you loved blues and purples. As I mentioned in the comments section, I'm always attracted to those two yarn colors, and it looks like I'm not alone. I actually dyed this before I posted the polls, but thought it was a perfect time to share it with you.


Colorway: Grape Taffy
Fiber content: 75% Merino Wool, 25% nylon superwash
Weight: Fingering Weight
Yardage: 464 yards
Unit Weight: 100 grams
Care: Machine wash/tumble dry low
Dyed with: Wilton's Icing Dye

FO Friday 28

Happy Friday AND April Fool's Day everyone! I was racking my brain yesterday to think of a good April's Fool joke to pull on you guys, but my mind came up blank. I blame it on the beautiful weather we're having here. It was 81F on Wednesday, 85F yesterday and today is supposed to be 81F. This is the best time of year in San Diego. Warm enough to go to the beach, not too hot and everything is blooming. Of course, that brings allergies.

I've worked sooo hard on my scarf the past few days, but it's STILL not finished. I feel like these balls of yarn are growing as I knit. My husband pointed out that in the end, I'll have a beautiful scarf that will be warm and cozy. Hard to be excited about that in 85 degree weather. LOL

I wanted to thank everyone who voted in my polls yesterday. If you haven't yet, please take the time to do so. For your convenience, here is the link to the post from yesterday where the polls live. If you've already voted, please don't vote again. That being said, I did forget to add one more poll question. I hope you don't mind, but if you could please vote for this one below as well, I'd really appreciate it.

What type of dyed yarn are you most interested in?
	Self striping
	Hand painted
	Kettle dyed solids
	Kettle dyed multi color
pollcode.com free polls

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Share your FOs!