This weekend was the DFW Fiber Fest in Grapevine, Texas and I had a wonderful time visiting this year. Join me as I chat about all the wonderful vendor booths I visited as well as the excellent fellowship I had with other fiber festers!

Vendors I’ll Visit Again

• Mookie Fiber
• Knitting Lagniappe
• Knitting Fairy
• GrittyKnits

My beautiful yarn bowl!

What’s in my bag?

• One Skein Shrug
• Piper’s Journey Shawl
• Green Sharf (yes, sharf!)
• Shrug Hug

What’s in my library?

• Bonnie Jean Infinity Scarf by Alissa Barton
• Bonnie Jean Shawl by Jen Hansen

Bonnie Jean Shawl Kit

What’s in my ears?

• My usuals: Caithness Craft Collective, Knitting Pipeline, DC Unraveled, Knitmore Girls, Knit Naturally….
• Crochet Chat Podcast: Online Resources for Crocheters by Stacey Trock

Lovely Leather Bookmark from Louise

A special thanks to Louise at Caithness Craft Collective for the beautiful handmade bookmark she sent me. And thanks so much to you for listening! I’d love for you to chat with me though commenting here on the blog, join in the Shorty’s Sutures group on Ravelry, or chat with me on Facebook or on Twitter. Please consider leaving a review on iTunes and join me again for the next episode. Until then, keep those hands stitchin’!

It’s been said a million times already but just to drive it home further, “What would we do without Ravelry?” Not only is it a great online resource for learning about yarn and meeting like-minded stitchy friends, it’s a wonderful place to research patterns and get help with them!

You may remember that I’m currently participating in my first Knit-Along (KAL) and the project at hand is called the Piper’s Journey Shawl. You may also know from the podcast and from my blog that I don’t have a lot of knitting experience under my belt yet.

I found out about this KAL through the Knitting Pipeline podcast for which there is a group set up in Ravelry that followers of Knitting Pipeline can participate in. A new thread was created within this group just for pattern questions and tips relative to the KAL and that’s exactly what I was hoping to find now that I’m at a new phase in the project and unsure of my ability to follow the pattern correctly.

By reading through the thread and seeing what other stitchers were chatting about I was able to see that another person had the same question that I was pondering about how to transition into a new section of the shawl. After reading through the thread of comments I’m now better prepared to take the leap into the new section.

Last night I took care of the preparatory reading, tonight I will test my first attempt at the new section of the shawl by using some scrap yarn. (I like to give myself a day or two after getting stumped so that I can mentally prepare and psyche myself up to get moving again. Call me crazy but sometimes that’s just how I roll.)

I’ll keep you posted on how the project moves along, but thanks to Jessica and Casey of Ravelry for their vision and for creating this wonderful tool that’s available for me (and you) to rely on so we can keep our hands stitchin’!

Do you ever get the feeling that something’s not right? Lately I’ve had that feeling about the Shorty’s Sutures podcast. I’ve been off-kilter and I’m looking to find balance.

I’ve let my mind wander from my original focus for Shorty’s Sutures… handmade stitchery in general. I’ve got this wonderful craft cabinet with so many things to stitch with and I’m all consumed these days by yarn.

What’s making this a negative thing is that I don’t feel properly trained so that I can efficiently move through my yarn stash. Which, if I were more skilled in knitting and crocheting, it may either prompt me to quickly make more things which may also move me in the direction of branching out into sewing and embroidery projects.

In case you haven’t caught on to this I’m an impatient crafter. I want to know how to do things and I want to know now. But, I haven’t properly invested in my skills outside of personal practice. I’ve mentioned before that I really want to take more classes, but I’m leaning towards taking private lessons instead of signing up for large group sessions. I’m confident there is a balance to be found there, as well…. I just have to put forth the effort to find the balance.

I know there will never be enough time to do it all, but I think I can make more time to balance out my love of thread, yarn and fabric so that I can make a variety of projects in 2012 and not just crocheted or knitted projects. That will help me bring more balance to my hobbies and the podcast that I look forward to producing.

This weekend is DFW FiberFest, and even though I’m not taking any classes this year I will visit the vendor hall and join in on the Ravelry meet up. I’m looking forward to meeting some Ravelry friends in person and seeing what the vendors brought with them this year.

Until I work all of my internal details out so that I’m one of the most efficient stitchy crafters in the world, I think I’ll just keep my hands stitchin’ on something. Is there something you’re hoping to balance out in your crafty life?

Tales of yarny goodness that I have the privilege of sharing in this episode include the generosity of a great friend and the surprise of a giveaway! All of these things have led the way for so many new project ideas to fill my head even with the weather warming up here in Texas. (Note of caution:  This is a short episode with microphone issues.)

What’s in my bag?

• One Skein Shrug
• Piper’s Journey Shawl
• Washcloths
• The beginnings of the Shrug Hug

What’s in my ears?

• Knitting Pipeline
• Caithness Craft Collective
• Cast On (accidentally referred to this as the Ready Set Knit podcast, also good but not what I intended to reference)
• Knit Naturally
• Knitmore Girls
• Down Cellar Studio

What’s in my library?

• Minerva – Fashion in Hand Knits (1951)

(My apologies for not adding the pictures from the digital magazine as I said I would in the podcast, but the files were too large and could not be added to the show notes.)

What’s in my stash?

• Perfection by Kraemer (Bark & Marble)
• Magnolia from Classic Elite Yarns (Ruby)
• Green Mountain Spinnery (Green)
• Spring Pond Farm (Black/White)

Well friends, that’s it for this episode. Feel free to send me an email at shortyssutures@gmail.com, find me on Facebook, Twitter or join the ShortysSutures Ravelry group. Please consider leaving a review on iTunes as your feedback is always welcome! Thanks so much for joining me and I do hope you’ll join me again next time.

Until then, keep those hand stitchin’!

I’m excited to report that I had great success over the weekend moving beyond my Stitch-Itis! I opened up my project bag that held my Piper’s Journey Shawl and figured out where I left off so that I could begin again. It wasn’t as hard to get going as I thought that it would be.

Oh, how my brain likes to trick me! And, oh how I let my brain trick me too often.

I made great progress on the shawl over the weekend and am cruising along quite nicely. I’m looking forward to getting to the next phase of the project which should present some new challenges as I learn a bit of knitting lacework. I think I’ll swatch as a fellow KAL-er Ledman from Ravelry suggested.

If you’ve been following me on Twitter then you may have already seen these pictures, but I’m ecstatic to share with you two recent yarny acquisitions! The first picture reveals a wonderful parcel that arrived in my mailbox last week direct from SavvyGirlMelanie of the SavvyGirls Podcast. Melanie and her podcasting sis Deborah hosted a wonderful giveaway recently, and much to my surprise I was a winner! The prize was a heavenly skein of Aquarella Malabrigo that I think may be the Floresta colorway. A huge thanks to Deborah and Melanie for their generosity. It certainly made my week!

Aquarella Malabrigo (Floresta?)

The other wonderful mailbox delivery I recently received was from JimmyBeansWool and was my recent Stitch Red campaign purchase. The Magnolia yarn from Classic Elite is in the Ruby colorway and is made from a merino and silk blend. I’m currently planning to dive into a crocheted cardigan with this bit of yarn stash using the new book by Dora Ohrenstein called Custom Crocheted Sweaters that was sent to me for review. Stay tuned for how the cardigan comes together.

Classic Elite Yarn - Magnolia (Ruby - Stitch Red)

And for those of you who are curious about the Shorty’s Sutures giveaway… I promise the next podcast episode will be available later this week and the big winner will be announced.

Until then, keep those hands stitchin’!

Do you ever get Stitchitis? That’s when you’ve started a project and were moving along nicely until you took a break from it for a couple of weeks then get nervous about picking it back up.

That’s what has happened to me with my Piper’s Journey Shawl. I’m feeling a bit crazy at the moment. I’ve had some time to work on it and I’ve found that my deluded brain is trying to tell me I’ll mess up if I get started again so I’d better wait until I have at least an hour to dedicate to getting started again.

I’ve got to find a way to mute this negative little voice in my brain. I would talk out loud to the Stitchitis Grim Reaper but I’m afraid that would confirm for everyone that I truly am crazy.

Do you ever have this problem? Or is it just me… the crazy stitcher?

With new crochet hooks and knitting needles in hand the itch to play with yarn has been almost constant! Keeping up with everything I should be working on is proving to be difficult, but new projects are still on the horizon. Stay tuned to the end of the podcast episode for your chance to win 50 grams of Isager 100% Alpaca lace weight yarn.

Isager 100% Alpaca Lace Weight Yarn

Finished Objects

• The Orange Sharf
• Tester washcloths

What’s in my bag?

• One Skein Shrug
• More tester washcloths (with special thanks to xnedra2 for providing me with the grit stitch pattern)

What’s in my ears?

• Ready Set Knit
• Yarncraft
• iMake
• JulieG

What’s in my library?

• Piper’s Journey Pattern

What’s in my stash?

• Quince & Co. Chickadee in River

Piper's Journey KAL with Knitting Pipeline

I’m ready to cast on for the Knitting Pipeline KAL! The pictures being posted on Ravelry are gorgeous and seeing them is making me antsy about getting my shawl moving along.

Something exciting I learned about this past week while listening to Ready Set Knit was the Stitch Red campaign at Jimmy Beans Wool. Heart disease is something I’ve been worried about since being told as a teen I had high cholesterol. It wasn’t until about four years ago that I really started watch my diet and reading labels to know what I was consuming, and it’s made a huge impact on my cholesterol level. Heart disease can sneak up on us so easily and I hope that more awareness continues to be brought to this disease for the sake of all women. Consider purchasing a Stitch Red product from one of the many supporting partners in the campaign.

Well friends, that’s it for this episode. Feel free to send me an email at shortyssutures@gmail.com, find me on Facebook, Twitter or join the ShortysSutures Ravelry group. Please consider leaving a review on iTunes as your feedback is always welcome! Thanks so much for joining me and I do hope you’ll join me again next time.

Until then, keep those hand stitchin’!

Sometimes someone shares something with me that gets me all excited and I feel compelled to pass the news on to everyone I know! That’s exactly what’s happened recently here on the blog.

You may have read the comments from my last post and saw that Xnedra2 shared the Grit Stitch pattern with me for washcloths. Last night I finally made a new washcloth using the Grit Stitch and my Classic Elite Sprout Organic Cotton yarn and I’m in love with the result! The combination of the single and double crochet stitches really creates what I consider to be a perfect fabric  for a washcloth.

If you’re looking for a new stitch for a washcloth then give the Grit Stitch a try. I think you’ll be just as impressed as I am.

I’ll talk more about the stitch, the yarn and my recent washcloths in the upcoming episode of the podcast. Until then, keep those hands stitchin’!

I’m excited to report that this weekend was a very productive one! I managed to finish the Orange Sharf and wear it all day Saturday. It’s so soft and springy. I just love it. The only thing that was disappointing was that I found two places where stitches were running away that I didn’t realize were there before I bound off. Thankfully, the stitch pattern in this scarf is messy enough to hide where I had to tie a couple of knots and weave in tails.

The Orange Sharf

Sunday I crocheted two washcloths, one from Cascade Ulta Pima Cotton and one from Classic Elite Sprout Organic Cotton. For both washcloths, I followed a pattern from my newest stitch dictionary, and it was interesting to see how different the patterned portion looked simply because of the yarn I used.

Pima Cotton Washcloth

Sprout Organic Cotton

You’ll notice that I made the white washcloth with handles so that I can more easily wash my back. An unintended consequence of this shape kind of makes the washcloth look like a maxi pad. Oh well…. stitch and learn, right?

The Sprout Organic Cotton (white) washcloth definitely absorbs water and soap well and feels great on my skin. I plan to make more washcloths with this same yarn but I think I’ll used a more tight and closed stitch combination instead of what you see here.

What have you been stitching on?

If you’re like me then you’re curious about the person behind a blog. I always like to know little morsels of information about bloggers, podcasters or online personalities.

Here’s a little morsel about what I’ve been up to at my new job. So far we’ve filmed two videos; this one and another one that should be released tomorrow on how to make a bracelet out of paracord.

If you’re a patch collector then pop over to www.tnvc.com and pick up your For the Girls patch today and help support the American Cancer Society and the fight against cancer.

Stay tuned for more stitchy news coming up later this week!