Happy New Year and A List of Hopes!

Can you believe it?? We're in a new year! Happy New Year to everyone! 2012 was an amazing year for me, and I'm super sad for it to leave. Candy Skein was as successful as I hoped, and I now have a studio dedicated to working. My husband and I celebrated our 5th year wedding anniversary and moved into our dream house. The Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup (I thought I'd never say those words). We were able to visit my husband's family a few times in Wisconsin. I could really go on and on why '12 was so good to us. It's really amazing. And of course, I have all of you who support me and WIPW/FO Friday thoughout the year. Your kind comments here, on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook make each and every day fun/exciting/loving. Thank you!

One thing 2012 wasn't good for was my resolution list I made last year at this time (click the link if you'd like to go back and read last year's). I only accomplished a few of them. That's why I'm calling this year's list a List of Hopes. It's what I hope to accomplish, more than resolutions that I feel need to be accomplished.

My 2013 List of Hopes:

1. To knit more from my stash- I know I said this last year and gave a percentage. I don't want this to be something stressful, or where I feel like I need to hit a certain goal. I just hope to use some of the gorgeous yarn already purchased. That doesn't mean I won't be buying more yarn! After all, I'm going to Stitches West in February!
2. To learn colorwork- This was on my list last year and it never happened. I hope to accomplish it this year.
3. To finish the two sweaters already started and start two more- I'm 90% done with two sweaters (the Abalone and the Featherweight Cardigan). I'm not sure what's stopping me from finishing them! 
4. To finish the Woodlands Sampler Cross Stitch and steampunk cross stitch- I signed up for the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's 2013 Woodlands sampler. I'd like to finish it within the year (you get a little picture each month) and also to start and finish the steampunk cross stitch pattern I purchased for my husband's music/computer room.
5. To learn how to sew (better) and feel comfortable following a sewing pattern- pretty self explanatory.
6. To post more here- I know I promise this a lot, but I really do want to post more here. I think with my studio, I'll have more time as my work is streamlined.
7. To double my sales with Candy Skein and aquire more wholesale accounts- In 2012 I hoped to triple my sales, from '11 to '12 which I did. I'd like to double my 2012 sales! We'll see how that goes.
8.  To make more time to read- I used to read on average 2 books a week, but now I'm nowhere near that. Most of my reading time has gone to my craft hobbies but I'd like to get back to at least a book a week.

That's it for my goals! I'd love to hear some of yours if you'd like to share them in the comments section or link to your blog if you've written a post!

 I'd also like to share one last thing. What a perfect time to unveil the January '13 colorway, Pink Champagne. This yarn is available starting today in Yummy fingering on the website. Here's the link!

 Have a happy and safe New Year! See you Wednesday, as I have a new project on the needles to share.

Tami

FO Friday 118

Happy Friday for this short week (or vacation time)! And happy (late) Boxing Day for those who celebrate! I hope you're having a great week. I'm on the mend, eating real food which is good and keeping it down which is even better! I haven't finished a project that you haven't really seen, but you haven't seen BOTH socks together or on anyone!

Materials:

Yarn: Candy Skein Yummy fingering in November '12 colorway, Pumpkin Pie
Needles: US Size 2 circular 32" cable
Pattern: I just made up a basic sock 2x2 ribbed sock with a garter ridge edge Eye of the Partridge heel, round heel and basic toe decrease. I cast on 72 stitches for socks for my husband.

That's it for me today. I hope you have a great day and even better weekend! See you next week for the usual posts plus a bonus new year's post!

Share your FOs!

Work in Progress Wednesday 124

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I did despite having the flu. I'm still sick unfortunately, but my husband took great care of me over the past few days. He had to go back to work today, so I must fend for myself, but I'm on the mend. Not a great time to get sick, as I started feeling ill Sunday night. :( We spent the past few days at home just spending time together and watching movies. It's been awesome.

This is going to be pretty short as it's still Christmas here as I write this and to be honest, it's the last thing I want to do right now. I'm sorry I said I would be posting before Christmas, but I just wasn't feeling up to it.

As far as what I've been working on, it was a race against the clock to finish my husband's socks in time, which I completed a few hours before he got home on Friday! He never knew about them and was sooo happy he got them! They fit great. I'll have pictures of him wearing them for FO Friday this week.

The rest of the time I've been cross stitching as I hope to have my holiday cross stitch done by the new year. Keep your fingers crossed for me on this one. As you can see, I jumped ahead today and started on Christmas day, as it was only fitting. I must say though, I really despise stitching with the gold thread. It's super splitty and rough. After I finish the 25th, I'll have 5 3/4 squares to do! Not too shabby.

I'll see you all on Friday for FO Friday and also to talk about the new year to come! I'll have a look back this week at last week's hopes for 2012. We'll see how many I actually accomplished. (As I type this, I totally forgot what I said last year, so it will be super fun!)

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!

FO Friday 117 and a Candy Skein treat!

Hi everyone! Happy Friday and also Merry Christmas (early) if you celebrate! I'm going to try and post before Christmas, but in case I don't I wanted to make sure to send my well wishes. I hope you have a safe holiday and get all of the wonderful things you hoped Santa would bring you.

Speaking of gifts, I'm still working on my husband's socks. Keep your fingers crossed as I have to finish them by tonight. He has the weekend and Christmas Eve off, so this will be the last time I'll be able to work on them in secret. I have a few inches left before I start to decrease the toe. I'm hoping I can crush through it today but please send me your good knitting vibes.

I can't wait to finish the socks so I can focus on my cross stitch and finishing a few more projects before the new year begins.

Speaking of the New Year, the podcast Yarniacs (one of my favorite knitting podcasts out there!) is having a self indulgent KAL starting January 1st. The idea is to cast on a project for yourself the first of the year, after working on holiday presents for the past several weeks.  I'll be playing along, casting on a Color Affection shawl in a new Candy Skein yarn base that I'll announce soon. Speaking of Candy Skein, if you listen to the newest Yarniacs podcast (episode number 25) you will hear that not only will I be donating a prize for the KAL, but I also have a Yarniacs exclusive Candy Skein coupon! All you have to do is listen to the podcast to hear the coupon code and receive 15% off of all Candy Skein yarn through the end of January. The coupon can be used as many time as you order throughout the life of the coupon! How is that for a little self indulgence??!!

Again, happy holidays!

Share your FOs!

Work in Progress Wednesday 123

Hi everyone. Thank you for all the well wishes on Friday. I was out of sorts last week and everything is okay now, but all your nice comments helped. :) This week we've had great weather has it's been cold enough to wear the hand knits and storming. I love being inside when it's cold and rainy!

As far as WIPW, I can't take a picture of my progress on my husband's socks, as he's been home sick all day. He still doesn't know I'm working on the socks (or at least I don't think he does) so I don't want to spoil the surprise by taking them out for a pic. I hope you understand!

 Here's my progress on the glove! It's slow going since I've been exclusively working on the socks in hopes to finish them by Christmas. I do hope to finish this glove as soon as the socks are done though!

I'm a huge fan of Slipped Stitch Studios knit bags and so when I heard about her Doctor Who Bag of the Month I had to get it. I don't think I've showed it to you yet, but this is the large one (it also came with a sock bag size). The amazing thing about this? It fits my big 17" snap frame for my cross stitch, my box with all my stitching supplies and my pattern with room to spare! Amazing right??!! It's a great way to carry around and to be able to stitch at any time. :)

Speaking of stitching, here is my progress. As you can see I'm on day 15. I'll show you more details later on, maybe this Friday! I've finished a LOT of squares you have yet to see. Despite being behind on this, I love it so much and adore cross stitching! YAY!

That's it for me today. I hope you have a great day and rest of the week.

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!

FO Friday 117

Hi everyone! Happy Friday. I hope you're all doing well and have great plans for the weekend. I was able to finish the first sock for Christmas, despite some not so fun things that happened Thursday. This is going to be quick, as it's almost midnight. Have a wonderful weekend.

Share your FOs!

Work in Progress Wednesday 122

Happy hump day everyone! I hope you're having a great Wednesday, or it looks like your Wednesday will shape up to be a good one. It's slow and steady over here in Tami land, which is how I like it! I've been knitting and cross stitching the past few days, but wanted to share my knitting progress today.

My WIP pile is ridiculously huge, so I decided to pull out one that you haven't seen in a LONG time! Why haven't you seen it? You may remember that I broke my needle tip on these gloves like 6+ months ago! I found them in the move (or found the project bag that contained them!) and went to work again. Now I have another set of needles and thought it was time to finish these now that the weather is HOPEFULLY turning cold here. The pattern is Treads and I'm using Tosh Vintage in Baltic (the yarn is gorgeous!) I should have these done SOON, but I'm not making any promises! ;)

 As you can see on my second WIP that I'm currently knitting, I'm almost finished here too! I'm just starting to toe decrease on my husband's first sock. I'm making these for Christmas, and so I better get a move on! I've been comparing it to the sock that I made him awhile ago, but it's hard since the ones already made are a little stretched out and felted. I'm not using a pattern, but just making it 2x2 rib on the cuff and on the in step with a garter ridge lined Eye of the Partridge heel (my favorite!). Hopefully they'll fit! I'm using Candy Skein November '12 colorway, Pumpkin Pie!


That's it for me today. I hope you have a great day and rest of your week! See you 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!

FO Friday 116

Hi everyone and happy Friday. I'm going to keep this short, because as some of you know (if you follow me on Instagram), you'll know that yesterday (well, today as I type this) I had (still have) a migraine headache. If you've ever had one, you know the last thing you want to be doing is staring at a bright computer screen.

As promised, I have pictures of me wearing the shawl! It doesn't really match with what I'm wearing in the picture, but just pretend. I had my husband take these pictures before I left to take the Candy Skein yarn to Yarning for You! Sorry for the squinting, but it was REALLY glarey outside! I'll have pictures of that coming up on the blog and I still have some studio pictures as promised. I've been lacking on that, as I've been insanely busy but things will start to calm down a little soon.

I have to say, I didn't know how I'd like the shape of the shawl, but I do love it. It's very comfortable. The beading is subtle, but more noticeable in person than in these pictures.

Here's the details:

Pattern: Quaker Ridge Shawl
Yarn: Tosh Sock in Worn Denim
Beads: Size 6 seed beads
Needle: Size US 7
Notes: I only had one skein of yarn but really wanted this yarn with this pattern, so I made it work. Out of one skein of Tosh Sock, I got 7 repeats finished, sans ruffle, but with the beaded bind off. I did have a little yarn left, and could have maybe squeaked out another repeat, but decided not to take the chance. It's a very easy shawl to knit, and would really recommend it. I had a great time with the beaded bind off, despite it taking awhile (over a day). I think it was totally worth it.

Share your FOs!

Work in Progress Wednesday 121

Happy Wednesday! I hope you're all having a great week. Our move on Saturday went okay (though it was TOUGH on our bodies!) and Sunday we got our tree! I don't have pictures of it yet (well, I have a few on my Instagram), as the tree only has lights right now. We're going to fully decorate it this coming weekend. We decided to go all out and got a tree that almost touches our ceiling in the new house. It's 8' tall! It's so pretty and I LOVE having a real tree each and every year. It' makes the house smell so good and the kitties and puppy love it too!

Before we get into WIPW this week, I have big news to share with all of you today! One reason I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done recently is Candy Skein will now be offered in a LYS store. If you've been following me on Instagram (Candyskein) or Twitter (@candyskein) you've probably been seeing me post LOTS of pictures of Delicious fingering (70% alpaca/20% silk/10% cashmere). It was for an order of 72 skeins in 12 different colorways that will be delivered today (Wednesday) to Yarning for You in San Marcos, CA. If you live in the San Diego (or southern California area) and would love to go see/feel how awesome this yarn is, it will be in the shop starting Thursday morning! I'm SOO excited and so proud of how all the skeins turned out! If you do get a chance to check Yarning for You out, I will say, it's definitely worth the trip. It's an amazing LYS with a great selection and amazing owner/staff. I highly recommend it (even before they were going to carry Candy Skein!)

Not enticing enough? Here's the selection that will be available sitting in my studio ready to be delivered today! Pretty awesome, right? If you click on the picture you'll be able to see it enlarged. :)

From left to right starting at the top: Cafe au Lait, Strawberry Margarita, Robin Egg Malt Ball, Honey, Sour Apple, Fudge Brownie, Butter Pecan, Tequila Sunrise, Berry Salad, Cranberry, Plum and Midnight Mousse

Okay, now to WIPW!

Remember these socks I started in November! They're back out and on my needles. This is a surprise Christmas gift for my husband (or I hope it's a surprise and hope I can finish them by Christmas!) As you can see, I just finished the heel flap and am about to turn the heel once I'm finished with this post! I'm using the Candy Skein Yummy fingering November '12 colorway, Pumpkin Pie.


That's it for me today! I hope you have a fabulous rest of the week and I'll see you all on 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!