Tiny cuteness

The Tiny Empress set is part of the Royal Petite knitting pattern collection from Blue Sky Alpaca.  This pattern, designed by Colleeen Powley, is so sweet.  It is a well written with easy to follow instructions.  The Blue Sky Royal Petite yarn is a dream to work with, so soft and the halo created within the stitch definition is well, heavenly.  What angel wouldn’t look adorable wearing this set of cozy cuteness?  I enjoyed ever minute of working on this project and can’t wait to give it to the intended baby girl due early next year.

A gift to knitalatte

If you’ve been stopping by for a while, you probably noticed the changes here on knitalatte. With the help of Karen Valentine, I was able to create the visual look and feel that I wanted for my blog.  I do hope you love it as much as I do!

As a way for me to remember the old knitalatte, I wanted to create a printed book so I turned to blog2print.  It was really quite easy. With a few simple steps, I was able to add the covers, photos and content. The timeline I chose for the book was from when I started the blog to when I transitioned to the new look. 

The book arrived and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out.  What surprised me the most was how much I enjoyed reading all of your comments again.

Kind words are so powerful and make such a difference in our outlook on life.  They make me want to strive to be the best version of myself. To that end I will continue to create and share my projects with all of you here on knitalatte.  

I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who has stopped by and left thoughtful and encouraging comments.  It has uplifted my spirits and reaffirmed how much I love the blogging community. 

Paper or Tech?

Love both of these Magazines so much!

I’m still on the fence about electronic Magazines. I just purchased the fall/winter 2012 Debbie Bliss magazine at the Newstand and downloaded the e-version of the latest Jane Austin Knits onto my I-Pad.

My Pro-Con List for each method of delivery;

Regular Magazine

Fun to receive in the mail or purchase at the bookstore

Familiar method of reading and bookmarking pages

Keep as long as I like, share with friends/family or sell at a later date

Doesn’t age or travel well without protection

Takes up space, creates clutter

Downloadable version e-Magazine

Typically available before the newsstand version

A bit less expensive

Immediate download onto computer/I-Pad

Portable if carrying my device with me

No obvious harm to our environment

Love the zoom in feature

Worry that I may lose if device fails or becomes obsolete (Remember cassettes?)

Not possible to share with friends/family or sell at a later date

Unfamiliar with this type of reading, will take some getting used to…

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Wrap me up in Maddie

I know, I know I’m forever talking about Madelinetosh yarns.

So soft, cushy and just plain fun to work with.  Oh, and the colors, absolutely gorgeous! I just can’t seem to get enough. This crochet wrap used three skeins of the dk weight in the color maple leaf. 

Pattern from Red Boot Yarn Works shop on etsy.

The buttons are vintage from my stash.

It worked up so quickly that I’d like to make another! 

Model; Daughter Kristi

Color Affection Complete

 I must admit, I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this shawl project.  I loved working with the yarns and the color play the three selections created, yet I hated how the constant increases made each row longer in length so that the last section seemed to take an eternity.  So close yet so far kinda thing.  It is amazingly soft and snuggly against the skin.

I’m glad I added the extra yarn over’s at the beginning of the rows as suggested on the Ravelry page for this pattern. It is still a bit tight on the straight edge.  Blocking helped the puckers relax a bit. All in all, a satisfying knit.  Will I make another?  Probably not, unless talked into doing so by a family member. (Will not name names!)

Pattern; Color Affection by Vera Valimaki.

Yarns;

Plucky knitter fingering; Humphrey-Light brown

Contrasting color 1; Plucky knitter fingering; Purple Reign; Dark Blue

Contrasting Color 2; Sanguine Gryphon Bugga; Bess Beetle-Dark brown

Model; Kristi Case (sweet daughter of mine).

home stretch

Started the edging for my "Color Affection" shawl.  Won't be long now.

Puffs and more puffs

Looks like I've completed just over 200 hexipuffs and that I'll need at least an additional 200 to make a “throw” size beekeepers quilt.  I started sewing them together today and it was such a thrill to put them side by side and to see how they look grouped together.  As I was attaching them, it was fun to remember what other things I’d made with each of the various colored yarn.  It is a project that still holds my interest and it’s a good thing at the half-way mark.

Hexipuffs