where did this pattern come from?

i am knitting. a garment. not really a sweater, a shrug. but something that has to fit me. i do not have high hopes for it. but i continue to knit.


i don't know the exact place where the pattern came from. i know it was originally on the craftster board and is a copy of something from urban outfitters. i didn't print out a picture of what it looks like either so i kind of forgot. i googled it yesterday and found something it is supposed to resemble. not really my style, but i continue to knit. i have no idea why i chose this pattern, but it obviously caught my eye at some point. maybe i needed something substantial to knit for awhile instead of all these day projects that always leave me wondering what the heck to knit next. maybe i am bored with knitting patterns. maybe i just don't care. did i mention i don't have enough yarn? it is too hot.

after all that, you know what? i am enjoying knitting it, so i am trying to just let it be. if i have no use for it or run out of yarn i'll cross that bridge when i come to it.

off to make some more stitch markers. i have some pancakes i am working on for the shop. probably a small batch, but i hope to get them done. i seem to sit for about 15 minutes before getting up to do something else!

snowman update

heya, many of you are interested in the pattern, but i cannot find it online. if you are interested, send me an email to goodtobegirlATgmailDOTcom. i will send you the phone number on the back of the pattern and the phone number for depth of field where i bought them. btw the designers name is marie mayhew and the pattern is woolly snowman. if you find anything online please share :)

i heart snowmen. i really heart knit snowmen.

i didn't get as far as i would have liked on my minneapolis knits. but i did make some good attempts. see?


i am so in love with these guys. they had a couple shop samples at depth of field in minneapolis and i couldn't resist buying all the patterns. **UPDATE - did a little online searching, can't find the pattern available online, will keep looking and keep you posted


the hats are so cute. i made one, but i used worsted instead of the sport weight it called for and it was too big. i thought i could felt it down but no luck. that is the only part of the patterns i don't like, they call for sport weight. most of my felting wool is cascade, so it doesn't fit into that category. i was hoping to get away without having to make pattern adjustments for the worsted, but that didn't work. i'll see what i can do.

the yarn they used in the pictures is obviously not the cascade i attempted. their's felted way better. i know i have to take the whole white yarn/felting issue into account. i was just using what i had on hand. the body definition on the large one is also lacking a bit. i'll keep testing them out. i'm thinking christmas gifts.

the pattern designer is from st. paul so it was great for me to discover something i had not seen anywhere else! i love these guys! i have yet to google it so i can see who else has knit these up, but i'll be doing that shortly!

as i mentioned, i celebrated my birthday a couple weeks ago on a plane. what a way to celebrate! not! this year went off without much to-do and that was just fine. but i did receive a box of my all time favorite chocolates in the world (you remember the fran's salty caramels right?) AND fran's cookbook. oh. yum.


i have already made the truffle brownies. they were delish!

as for stitchmarker store news, it is coming. i got a surprise order the other day from someone who stumbled upon it (i didn't realize my web guy had changed the url!). so, it is functional, i am just waiting on some design tweaks. if you find it, you can place and order, i am just not advertising it yet! ha! i expect a "grand opening" in a few weeks. if you can't wait though, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. ;)

minneapolis.

i don't get out much really, so seeing a new city was fun. as i mentioned yesterday, i thought minneapolis was really beautiful. here are some highlights from my trip!


this was a very cool part of town. i just love how they built a museum within the ruins of the old mill (we didn't actually go to the museum).


the art deco looking building in this picture was my favorite of their skyline (the tallest building in the pic). i also loved all the brick buildings. they are lucky they don't have to worry about earthquakes!


you can't do minneapolis without seeing mall of america. i was pretty disappointed, but i did find one treasure!


how can you beat a peanut butter cafe? this place was really cute. i had a peanut butter, nutella, banana and honey grilled sandwich for dessert. yum!!


and finally, the land of target. this one had a big grocery section it was pretty cool. we drove by the target headquarters but we were going too fast for me to snap a picture.

there are no pictures of the 18 hour side trip to wisconsin. there wasn't much to see out where we were visiting. it was just HOT. i wish i had taken a picture of the guy who did our software training for us. he looked and acted just like joey from friends (although obviously smarter since he was teaching software classes!).

and of course the trip to depth of field....i'll cover that tomorrow. i am still working on something from there. it was the only yarn store we made it to, but i was satisfied with what i found there. you'll see!

there's no place like home

i am back! still decompressing from the trip. i have a bunch of emails to read and my bloglines count is above 300! yikes.

i made one pretty cool knitting related discovery on the trip that i hope to show tomorrow. minneapolis was really beautiful, but i didn't get much sleep on the trip and we had a REALLY bumpy flight home. the idea of getting on a plane again soon is a bit daunting (um yes, i have a 9 hour flight ahead of me in just a few short months!!). flying out in a thunderstorm isn't my idea of a good time.

ok, i'll be back soon, i need to call some friends and run some errands.

japanese dollar store

while checking out knitterista awhile back i came across her entry about bento boxes. which then led me to one of my new fav sites, cooking cute. how adorable are those bento boxes?

well it just so happens that my friend i recently got back in touch with is a japanese teacher and suggested we make a trip to the japanese dollar store. oh my. what fun! look what i came back with!!



and of course i had to pick up some presentation goodies like fun aluminum foil and liners.

i have yet to use the bento box though. i work from home so i don't have any reason to pack a lunch. yeah i knew this when i bought it but i had to have it. the bento box fascinates me. my friend explained a little history to me and it is pretty cool. i am sure at some point in my life i'll have a commuter job again so i'll save it for those days (although i hope they don't come anytime soon!).

i will be off to minnesota for the work week on sunday. i don't think i will be able to post during that time, so if i don't get a chance to post before i leave, have a great week and i'll look forward to updating you with my adventures when i get back. i had some fabulous tips come in from you guys on what to do and see (including yarn stores of course!). mall of america here i come!

oh target how you torment me! (in a good way)

fate. i don't believe in fate for the most part. but the other day something that felt a lot like fate happened. you be the judge.

so i was thumbing my way through one of the bazillion mail order catalogs i get when i came across this. i tore the page out immediately and thought about how great a pair of them would look in my place. but $90 each? a little steep.

24 hours later I am walking through target and on the end cap of an aisle i spot these

i kid you not. $16.99 each. hello! it kinda spooked me considering this is the second time my cosmic connection with target has proven itself strong. :) man. so i admit these are not as nice, just plain silver painted metal vs. nickelplated brass. but for the $146 saved? i have no problem with them.

before i forget, i need to send a big thank you to my candy swapper partner. kelsey in portland sent me the most amazing chocolates. they were from a place i have not heard of (portland used to be old haunting grounds for me). here is a pic of the lovely specimens all individually wrapped in foil with an embossed seal on each one!


i love chocolate. all kinds. these were fabulous (um yes they are almost all gone). i know when i am in paris and london chocolate will be a priority. la maison du chocolate? i'm so there.

in knitting news, i cast on for a very skinny scarf in apple green yesterday. i picked up some rowan cotton glace (i think that is what it is called) with this specifically in mind. have you seen those really narrow scarves (pretty much ribbon) that people wear looped around their neck? i am going for that look. so far so good, i have about 4 feet and will post a pic soon.

i iron wool

i'm not sure if i mentioned that i knit up one of the ribbon scarves from handknit holidays this last week. i used the misti alpaca sport weight in a mauvey pink. i intentionally knit the smaller size for fear i would run out of yarn (not even close, i barely used over 1 ball and i had 2). i had seen tami's version of the scarf awhile back and loved it. it was pretty short, but with the ruffles, all she had to do was cross it and it held it's place around her neck. however, when i completed it, i wasn't happy with how the edges curled up. it looked much like ruffles from scarf style, which i already have. i wanted this to look more bell like (that is what the picture in the book looks like to me). so here is the before


and here it is after i ironed the edge


i love it, it has a very romantic quality to it. and yes, this is another paris scarf!

i also whipped up a headband that didn't quite turn out. the free pattern is here. the pattern link is on the left sidebar (free patterns). here is a shot of it after i tried to iron it really flat so it would lay better on my head (it still didn't work so now it is a very short, skinny scarf)


now i must find an airline safe project for my trip next week. and i'm sorry, i know i offended the wool gods by ironing it. not once, but twice! who irons wool? apparently i do.

follow up

carole over at strangelittlemama and amanda at wannabe (totally unrelated, but check out that adorable bag she bought recently on etsy, i love it!) sent in the pattern that i cast on for, twitterpated by zephyr style. the yarn i chose wasn't right, so i have to frog, but i am sure i have something in the stash to whip this up.

i am also liking this berroco lorraine pattern sent in by lori, who didn't send a link to her blog so i am assuming she probably doesn't have one. thanks lori!

for those who send their blog address i have added you all to my bloglines. now i can see what you are up to! thanks again everyone, i got close to 100 emails with so much great stuff.

so i have another favor - if you are from minneapolis, have been to minneapolis etc. and have any yarn shopping advice, it would be much appreciated. i see that there are a ton of shops there and several are open until 8 which is fantastic since i will be in training all day! i leave sunday for a work trip there (on my birthday - blasted!). i am going with a co-worker who is also a good friend so we should have some fun. the mall of america is on my must-do list and on his is the spot in which mary tyler moore throws up her hat at the beginning of the show (don't ask, i have never seen the show). my email is goodtobegirlATgmailDOTcom or leave a comment. oh, and technically we will be staying in eden prairie.

winners!

the names were drawn from the bowl above. and the winners are....

lynn over at wrap and turn won the prize above.


erin over at girl who knits won the second prize.

congrats you two! and to everyone who entered, thank you so much! i will be sharing some of the patterns that people recommended as well as some great travel tips over the next few days. i was very inspired! i also have a couple small fo's to share and another small call for help. oh and the shop will be up soon! i got to take a peek today and it is pretty close. talk to you tomorrow!