good to be girl :: a knitting blog

wristwarmer weather

2008-10-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

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Calendar for upcoming sales:

Tuesday, October 21st at 10 a.m. pacific Stitch Marker sale (possibly some necklaces)

Wednesday, November 5th at 10 a.m. pacific Project Bag Sale

Early December - final Project Bag Sale before the holidays

We have some great new fabrics (non-Amy Butler) we will be debuting during the next bag sale and a few contests over on the ravelry good to be girlies group. Sales will take place on the shop blog as well as etsy.

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ok, now on to the knitting stuff. i finished a cute pair of wristwarmers out of manos silky way back in early summer but just finished adding the buttons. they have already been put to use now that the colder fall weather has settled in.

love the button detail.

currently i have a pair of no purl monkeys on the needles in the grinchy str colorway. can't wait to get them done so i have a pair of christmas socks!

there has also been a bit of spinning. ok - a lot of spinning... i'll post some pics of my finished handspun socks shortly.

for now i leave you with a quick snapshot of my new fu dogs and the last of the farmer's market bouquets.

new hobby.

2008-09-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

it's quiet around here. bloglines is still crazy so i am still in a state of annoyance (lost the 400+ subscribers and those that re-signed up get posts that are 6 months old!). that being said - there is some fiber related activity around here. but it isn't knitting.

i know i spoke the words "i will never spin" many, many times. and here i am with a wheel and quickly accumulating fiber stash.

my new wheel is actually a floor model from village yarn and tea. so it wasn't brand new but i still really like it. although i can eventually see myself trading up if the habit sticks, for now it is just fine. it is the louet victoria in beech.

if you have have me as a friend on ravelry you may have already seen some of my handspun. most of it is spun and stashed but one particular fiber had to be knit right away.

cooper really loves the pumpkin fields forever BFL from moonlightbaker (i see she has some more of this colorway up now - you better go snag it!)

my first handspun socks - i am so excited! granted the yarn is by no means fingering weight - more of a dk - but they will make great autumn house socks. i knit them on size 1's so they will be nice and dense. a littly bumpy but i can live with that!

i absolutely love the barberpole effect. that is what sold me on spinning to begin with!

so of course now i am constantly searching for fiber! here are some recent acquisitions

targhee in night sky all spun up and BFL in spook and frankenstein from emma aka dragonfiber

crown mountain corriedale pencil roving in stonehenge

merino from frecklefacefibers in the goblin colorway (this will remain in the stash until i get a little better - i hear merino can be a bit tricky).

there is more on the way too :)

ok - that is all i have for now. back to spinning....

lucky to meet plucky

2008-09-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

*bag sale with new amy butler fabrics next week - details to come soon

sorry i have been silent for awhile. i have to admit that losing my bloglines subscribers makes me less motivated to blog. hopefully i will find some time in the next week or so to do a little more research. but for now it goes unresolved. i do appreciate those of you who are still stopping by!

although there is some stress in my life i did have a wonderful 5 days off last week and was lucky enough to spend it with my knitting girls - ellen and naomi. we had a wonderful guest in town, sarah, aka the plucky knitter. we filled our days with hitting some of the great neighborhoods of seattle (of course managing to hit a lot of yarn stores along the way). trophy cupcakes and a fun time were had by all.

on friday morning we got up early (hah! early for me that is!) and headed out to naomi's family lake house for the weekend. we could not have asked for better weather or better company, there were 7 of us total - ellen, naomi, sarah, michale, joni and melinda it was so relaxing - just what i needed (see joni's great post for more details on our weekend!).

of course yarn was purchased - hand dyed merino from fancy image yarns

and yarn was spun! ellen was kind enough to let me use one of her wheels over the weekend and i finally got the hang of spinning. it really clicked and although i have a lot to learn i really enjoyed it.

after 4 full days with plucky this is the only picture i managed to get

doesn't she look lovely with ellen's handspun around her neck? :)

i honestly don't think i have that much fun in some time. thanks girls!

Bag Sale today

2008-08-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

project bags sale on now over at the shop blog.

free brie*

2008-08-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

well it looks like my bloglines feed is lost. gone. disappeared. and i think it's permanent. i am so annoyed because they have not responded to any of my emails requesting help or some sort of answer. that means the 400+ people subscribed to my blog had it disappear from their list. i have checked the feed and all seems well but for some reason bloglines doesn't like it. what can i do? i have too much going on right now to spend my time trying to figure it out. so sad. so if you found me today anyways that makes me feel better :)

add another cowl to the list, i finished the stacked eyelet cowl (rav link) this weekend. i did the eyelets every 15 rows though. i used plucky knitter summer of love sport weight.

i think this is my favorite hat i have ever knit. super cute. this is a shop pattern from churchmouse yarns and teas. i couldn't find it on ravelry. i have another one queued up in a different color combo. the kidsilk haze pom pom is my favorite part!

i have several other projects on the needles and a pair of completed socks i need to take a picture of. that will come soon i promise!

in other news, another project bag sale tomorrow over on the shop blog. more new fabrics. we will also be debuting sign ups for the seasons project bag club. there is information about it over on the shop blog now.

other than that life is keeping me very busy right now. i like being busy, but when it is on my terms, such is not the case right now! oh well.

i am also obsessing over the condo again. so much so that i think i might start a blog just for the condo. mostly for myself, to chronicle the process and keep track of all the cools things i mean to do. i have so many ideas in my head that often i overwhelm myself and do nothing. that needs to change! i think i'll save my first entry though for my fabulous new chandelier headed my way this week. it is slightly over the top and i love that!

happy monday!

*i had no title for today's post so something totally random for you. yesterday at trader joes (tjs for those who shop it regularly) the checker forgot to ring my brie up and gave it to me for free. ahhh free brie. yum!

collage of cowls

2008-08-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

i admit that i have cowl fever. they are so quick and the perfect solution for those random single skeins you have hanging around. also a great use for that sock yarn that you don't want to use for socks (in this case the center one is sock yarn held double)

top: dragonfiber handspun (spun by ellen for my birthday)

center: urbangypz bamboo blend sock yarn in turquoise nugget (a gift from ellen)

bottom: araucania aysen (rav link) purchased on the lys tour this year - color 810

close ups

summer's night

2008-08-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

i have been fortunate this summer to spend many fun evenings with my friends. one evening recently i played pride and prejudice the board game with my friends pat and aimee.

we sat out on my deck on a really beautiful night and had dinner followed by 2 rounds of the game. the game was actually a birthday gift i gave to pat back in june. if you are local and interested i bought it at the lfp third place books. the rules could be better explained but for the most part it was a lot of fun.

here's hoping i get a few more nights with friends before the summer ends...

other things i am LOVING this summer
the wombats - such a great band. i heart indie pop. oh and it doesn't hurt that they are british! (thanks aimee!)

flipping out on bravo. pretty much the only tv i am watching this summer. i am in LOVE with this show.

knit picks size 1 needles in the 2.25 not 2.5. they are just right for my sock knitting!

faux bois knitting! i am such a fan of faux bois as an interior design element. i am currently considering this for bedroom curtains. pottery barn has the coolest rug. and a whole blog dedicated to it. needless to say the scarf pattern might turn into a table runner pattern for me! ;)

mooshy malabrigo

2008-07-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

hemlock ring - malabrigo worsted in paris night
another finished knit. this was off the needles some time ago but i just could not get a photo that i was happy with. i must have shot it 3 different times in 3 different places. i blame the colorway really (although i love it). it's a complicated mix of indigo and purple that looks solid navy at times. oh well. it lives happily on a chair in my living room and i know it is going to get some use this winter.

posh socks

2008-07-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

finally - vinnland socks are complete. whew, let's not even talk about how long these have been on the needle. although i wish i had used size 0's instead of 1's these are in my top 3 pairs of fav socks i have knit.

yarn: posh yarn - lucia 4 ply in virescent

ravelry link to my source of inspiration. although the base yarn and color aren't quite the same.

did i ever show you my zebra rug? i love it. don't you think it looks cool against the green socks? there was grand debate on that rug. i was so worried it would look tacky (not generally a fan of animal print) but i read enough to convince myself it was a classic piece. it was just the right pop for my living room though and completed the look i was going for nicely. i'll try to find a pic of the whole room to post at some point.

marker sale this week...

2008-07-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

there will be a stitch marker sale on Friday, July 25th at 10 a.m. pacific on the shop blog.

i don't know what my problem is but i can't seem to photograph my finished knits these days. every photo i take just looks wrong. the hemlock ring is blocked and finished but the paris night color just does not want to come through accurately and i am having a hard time photoshopping it! i have also finished 2 cowls since my last post and am a few stitches away from completing a pair of socks and a hat!

if the sun comes out today i am making time to get the pictures taken so i can share. i am in love with the hemlock - such a beautiful knit (doesn't hurt that i used the squishy and lovely malabrigo!)

too many projects

2008-07-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

just a quick fyi, i started a good to be girl*ies group on ravelry if you want to check it out. there will be special offers to group members from time to time on shop good to be girl items.

as knitting content, i thought i had my projects under control. then i did a quick inventory this afternoon of what is on the needles (too lazy to link patterns right now)

hemlock ring blanket - status: casting off

vinnland socks - status: 16 rows from completing the pair

gloria cowl - status: halfway done

2nd diamanta wrap - status: haven't completed 1st pattern repeat

lys tour wrap - status: only about 1/4 done

lys tour fixation headband - status: 1/2 way done

felted tweed and kidsilk haze hat - status: casted on, 12 rows done

lys tour fingerless mitts - status: knitting complete need buttons

so i really need to wrap all of these up so i can start the project i really meant to get done this summer - the shifting sands scarf. hopefully i'll have some pictures of these things for you this week!

on another note, it is that time of year again! stitch n pitch really snuck up on me this year even though it is over a week later this year. as you can see i had my mom whip me up a bag for the event. cute huh? we have a couple extra. if you are interested in one send me an email (amyATgoodtobegirlDOTcom). the game is august 7th so there is still plenty of time to ship it to you! and like last year, village yarn and tea will have special stitch markers at the game.

just a reminder that we have a bag sale scheduled for July 17th at 10 a.m. pacific. there are further details on the shop blog.

catch up part 2

2008-07-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

ok, so a little more catch up.

i couldn't resist showing you my birthday present from my friend denise. how cute is this? she coordinated 2 little bowls with some louet yarns. i'm a sucker for presentation :)

on the actual day of my birthday (party was weekend before) ellen,
naomi, joni (blogless) and i got together for happy hour and to cast on for our own little hemlock ring knitalong.

here is our progress at the end of the evening. pretty good for having been drinking while knitting (washington apple martinis for me)! sorry for the photo quality, these are iphone pics.

there has been much knitting on the hemlock since the cast on event - i'll blog that later.

and lastly for today's catch up...

i finished using my lovely birthday handspun from ellen to make the birthday cowl. i have a bit leftover and i might attempt some matching fingerless mitts.

fyi - there will be a bag sale in the next week or so.

i come to the sea to breathe

2008-06-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

i didn't bring out my camera as much as i should have but the past weekend at the beach was very relaxing (although i did very little knitting).

i'm not sure what it is but nothing feels more like home for me than walking barefoot in the sand. i absolutely love the beach and am reminded how much i missed it every time i go back. i always dreamt of living on the beach one day but i know now that isn't likely to happen. however, i did search for monthly house rentals as soon as i got back hoping i might find something decently priced and available this summer. i can telecommute so packing up and moving for a month wouldn't be unheard of. of course i didn't have much luck this late in the game. but i am hoping for a 4 or 5 day stretch in the next couple of months. we'll see.

i started missing the feel of the ocean on my feet and the sound of waves crashing as soon as we pulled away from the house we rented.

for now i'll lift my spirits by spending the evening with 2 of my closest knitting friends sipping tea, knitting and talking.

catch up part 1

2008-06-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

terribly behind on blogging, i apologize. first thanks for all the really nice comments about my cupcakes and cosmos party!

i have a bunch to say but no time. i leave tomorrow for my last occasion/event of june (there were 9 if you were counting!). i'm off for a weekend at the gloomy beach (no sun forecasted - boo!) for a bachelorette party.

for now i leave you with just a taste of the goodies i got for my birthday...

lovely birthday handspun from ellen. i had recently commented on how much i love the look of handspun. by the next day i already had the perfect project. the birthday cowl of course - because it was a birthday gift and i cast on the day of my birthday!

what fun these are going to be to knit up. thanks to naomi for my super fun knitterly things wee skein color kit.

cupcakes and cosmos

2008-06-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

a peek at my party last saturday. it was a lot of fun. unfortunately i didn't get a lot of good pics, so this is the best of the bunch. i can't believe i forgot to take a picture of the swag bag contents...

Bag Sale Monday June 9th

2008-06-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

reminder that there is a bag sale monday the 9th at 10 a.m. pacific.

after that i'll be back with a post on a finished object that has neglected to make it to this blog, my thoughts on seeing a 2 1/2 hour movie premiere at midnight and a recap of my cupcakes and cosmos party. :)

we have winners

2008-06-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

congratulations emily! you won the bag prize drawing! you will be getting the new large size project bag pictured a couple posts back along with an assortment of stitch markers and a few yummy frans salt caramels. thank you so much for participating :)

and second, amanda won the skein of yarntini sport weight in my blog colorway, good to be girl. an assortment of stitch markers and frans chocolate for you too!

i was chatting a bit with amanda in a forum on ravelry a few days back (plucky knitters of course!) so i got a good chuckle when i drew her name out of the 86 in my drawing!

congrats to you both - give me a couple days to get the stuff in the mail to you.

contest extended

2008-06-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

**forgot to mention the bag sale will be tomorrow at 10 a.m. pacific on the shop blog**

my blogiversary contest has been extended until 8 pm this evening (monday). if you sent an email with the quiz answers anytime after saturday afternoon (the 31st) please send it again. my blog was offline until just a short time ago. apparently there was an explosion in the building that houses the gtbg blog. several servers owned by the hosting company i use were down for a couple days so that is why you received an error if you tried visiting. thank goodness all is fine now. must make a note to backup the site :)

2008-05-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

it is unimaginable that it has been 4 years. truly. i have no idea how i have stuck with it so long. i thank all of you for reading, your comments keep me going. you make me feel like i am talking to somebody out there. blogging can be hard at times as those of you who blog know. finding something to say isn't always easy. i do all of this for one reason really - the knitting community. i started knitting just about 5 months before i started this blog. i am just as passionate about knitting as i was then (to my sheer amazement - my crafty hobbies usually come and go). i have met so many people along the way and made some really close friends all because of this craft.

i promised a sneak peek of some of the prizes...

a new size in the project bags - large! this is for those of you who like to knit larger projects (like sweaters, blankets etc.). and of course, yarntini sport weight in the good to be girl colorway. one prize will have the bag and the other the yarn along with other goodies (stitch markers maybe?). :)

both contests will be open until sunday night (june 1st). the first contest is based on comments but that is as much as you know.

the second is this lovely quiz about moi. just copy and paste this text into an email with the answers and send to amyATgoodtobegirlDOTcom. for every right answer your name gets entered into a drawing. i'm making you work for it a little this year! :)

1. what is my favorite color?
2. name a pattern or yarn i mentioned in my first ever blog post
3. one of my favorite sweets?
4. name of my favorite lys?
5. what are the names of my 2 cats?
6. how many clapotis' have i knit?
7. name one item that was in my first blogiversary give away?

AGAIN you have until 8 p.m. sunday evening (june 1st) to enter.

p.s. i was going to include something about yesterday's socks in the contest so i left out the details. but then i added it to ravelry and gave away too many details. so for all those who asked - pattern :: twisted tweed socks - yarn :: socks that rock lightweight in sherbet - modifications :: none, followed pattern as written

sherberty-good

2008-05-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

i completed this pair of socks last night. super bright, but i like them. it has been awhile since i have finished a pair of socks so i was very happy to get back into the sock knitting. handknit socks are one of my favorite things.

just a reminder that tomorrow is my 4th blogiversary! there will be a couple contests (one that has to do with comments) and another that has to do with my recent completed projects. hopefully i'll have a sneak peak of the prizes for you tomorrow as well!

and mark your calendars there will be a bag sale early next week with several amy butler fabrics we haven't used before. my mom found some out of print and hard to find ab fabrics. she has been sewing up a storm :)

festivities

2008-05-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

just a reminder that my blogiversary is less than a week away (28th). if i tell you that your comments will have something to do with the contest will that get you talking? :)

there will be 2 prizes this year, a grand prize and a secondary prize. the grand prize includes one of my mom's fabulous bags in a new size along with lots of other goodies.

i have to admit things are a bit overwhelming at the moment. i have a wedding shower and bachelorette party i am helping plan along with throwing myself a birthday party. i know it is kind of silly to throw a party for oneself but i am doing it anyways. i had a great idea for a theme and went with it

cute no? it is just over 2 weeks away and i still have a lot to do (like assemble swag bags for all my friends!).

not to mention that i am in a knitting mode right now so all i want to do is cast on and knit.

anyways, i'll be back soon with details on the blogiversary

for the stash

2008-05-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

ellen and i had a lot of fun (and spent way too much $$) on the lys tour. we could not have asked for better weather. besides the ferry crossings, we motored 271 miles over the 2 days.

just a few shots of some of the yarn i bought.

5 skeins of malabrigo worsted in paris night - planning to make the hemlock ring blanket with this

100% soy habu yarn in a pewter color - possibly for a 2nd melody shawl (just finished 1st one out of plucky 50 silk/50 merino lace, pics to come)

i also picked up 1 skein of kidsilk haze in a kelly green, 1 skein araucania ranco multi (sock yarn), 1 skein araucania aysen (merino,alpaca,silk), 1 skein manos silky in a teal and 1 skein rowan felted tweed in brown (for a hat). i bought a few patterns as well and a couple accessories. the tour was great this year, we only made it to about 12 of the 24 stores but it was just enough.

i'll block my melody shawl and share it soon.

and i just finished watching last week's ugly betty online. can i just say what a big fan of gio i am? i love that guy. can't wait to see the finale on thursday along with grey's. i am very interested to see how they wrap it up. i have been pleasantly surprised by grey's, the beginning of the season was painful for me to watch. glad they have turned it around a bit!

and they're off...

2008-05-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

lil and coop are minding the blog while i am away on the lys tour. neither have mastered typing so don't expect any posts until my return.

ellen and i plan on having a great time and buying lots of fabulous goodies. tonight we pre-funked at vyt. i hung out with naomi while ellen was busy working and met several ravelers who came in for the tour (yes knitter pre-funk, we did it for the harlot too). it was very fun and a great way to start things off.

fyi, if you are doing the tour, i dropped off some stitch marker sets at vyt along with a special edition for the event if you are interested.

*positive attitude brought to you buy sunny skies in seattle, i'll be wearing flip flops on the tour! yeah!

chat soon.
meow. meow.

diamanta

2008-05-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

i'm up late working a bit so i thought i would do a quick post. our IT department moved our web server tonight so i had to make sure our systems were back up and running after the move. they aren't. hopefully things will work themselves out overnight (most likely caused by a refresh issue) but if not i'll have a long morning ahead of me.

not that it matters to you, but it's late and i tend to ramble a bit when i get sleepy. ok, so what i really wanted to show is some pictures of the shawl i knit for my friend who is getting married this summer.

this is diamanta by french girl. i used yarn from one of my favs the plucky knitter. it is the silk/merino laceweight in meryweather i believe (the tag is around here somewhere but too lazy to look at the moment).

as i mentioned a few posts back i am having a hard time capturing it's beauty in pictures but i think you get the idea. if you are on ravelry you may have already seen these.

this was a fairly quick knit. i actually have a second in malabrigo lace on the needles for myself. i'm taking my time on it though so don't expect any pics soon. i am in love with this pattern. i wanted a lace pattern for my friend that felt a little more modern and i think this fits.

logging off now, happy friday!

long post.

2008-05-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

i wore my flip flops 3 days in a row. it's a miracle! (ok wearing them today was pushing it a little - it wasn't warm but at least it wasn't wet). i was also able to get a nice walk in the last 3 days without having to schedule around rain. but the forecast is gloomy for the rest of the week. i'm not sure i can put up with this much longer. it is may for pete's sake! (weather rant over, i know you have had to put up with a lot of them recently).

in knitting related news, i have been practicing my yarn buying for the upcoming lys tour. ellen and i are going to head out both friday and saturday to several of the shops. if we can find a cool place i think we'll spend friday night over on bainbridge so we can go to cafe nola and mora in addition to churchmouse of course.

first up is some lovely sock yarn that i just couldn't seem to live without

this is actually my 2nd skein of pagewood farm sock yarn. i have a pinkish colorway called rainbow too, this i believe is the crayons colorway. hopefully this will find it's way onto my needles by the lys tour.

and how could i resist signing up for plucky classics when i am a huge jane austen fan? this yarn makes me swoon because it is named after one of my fav leading ja men, captain wentworth.

ellen suggested a cabled sock and i think that sounds about right. however, i am considering a cowl and beret as well.

today i caved and also ordered a skein of regular plucky yarn in the summer of love colorway. i'll post pics when it arrives.

if you think i have only been buying yarn, this pic proves otherwise. the thing is this was such a boring knit in progress that i didn't want to bother with photos until it was done. this is the lucy bag pattern. i bought it on the way to cannon beach last fall and am glad to check it off my to-do list. i love it but will try to felt it one more time to shorten the strap a couple more inches. it sits just a little odd. i also am not loving how the cascade seems to be pilling after just a couple uses.

i had a 2 other projects knit up as well but they just didn't fit right so they will be frogged. one was a lovely springy green and white organic cotton beret. i had high hopes for it but it was huge even after a soak in some hot water and a hot dryer. my intention was to wear it with my cute new tote.

ok, make that plural. i have been on a bag binge lately. today's purchase is the lovely grey namaste bag from vyt (ellen did you buy the green today?). 2 kate spades and a dooney and bourke complete the assortment. however, the dooney will most likely be going back. this was to be my spring bag but with the weather i haven't had a chance to carry it and it isn't worth keeping if i am only going to get a couple months wear out of it this year. besides i bought a fantastic chandelier that i can only justify if i return the dooney. ahh how i rationalize my overspending!

ok, if you have made it this far congrats, this is one long post. above is my first attempts at acrylic painting. and probably my last. this was after 2 glasses of red wine. not horrible, but painting really isn't my thing. i haven't fully committed to hanging this in the condo yet. but it shows i am attempting creative pursuits outside of knitting so that is something no?

ok, wrapping things up now! my blogiversary is coming up soon. 4 years. wow. just like years past i'll be doing a contest around the end of the month. a project bag is likely to be part of this years prize so stay tuned.