I’m in Florida!

Let the wedding games begin!

After waking up at 3:30 this morning, heading to the airport, running through the airport (wedding dress in tow, haha), almost missing our first flight, having another flight, landing in Ft. Myers and then driving to Marco Island… I am dead, haha.

Its been quite a day. One of those days where you have no absolute control over anything, so all you can do is just laugh and go along with whatever is happening. I have enjoyed twittering and instagram-ing (because both those nouns can be turned into verbs. Oh yeah.) the whole adventure. And that was just the first day! Waaaat?! (You can follow me on twitter and instagram if you click on the corresponding links d^_^b)

Anyways, so we drove to Marco Island… which I haven’t been to since I was a wee little child. I have a lot of happy memories of when I was here, but it’s definitely been more than 10 years that I’ve been away.

My family has some family history, memories, happy stuff associated with Marco Island. We used to vacation here a lot when my grandparents owned an apartment thing. So, we spent a lot of time on the beach :-) This is one of the reasons why my sister decided to get married in Marco, on one of the beaches we played on as kids.

So, after the really long day… being pretty much dead and starving… we arrived. We had lunch on the beach, and then went for a walk.. All the stress of getting up at 3:30 and going through all the trauma at the airport was definitely worth what can be seen here on the island..

It was absolutely gorgeous today…

Sibling affection was shown. Sort of, haha.

we waded into the ocean.. it was amazing.

Seashells were looked at. It was a good day.

Tomorrow, we get to lay around on the beach (knitting ^_^) and just hanging out until people start arriving. I think tomorrow will be a good day as well ^_^

Baileys Salted Caramel Chocolate Pie (plus knitting)

I made a pie today ^_^

Its a Baileys Salted Caramel Chocolate Pie. And yes, it tastes just as amazing as it sounds. Not that I’d know or anything, I’d never taste the filling before running water in the bowl ~_^ (it was extremely tasty, heehee)

Super quick, super easy. I wasn’t quite sure how much 6oz. of chocolate chips were when measured by cups – I was getting several different answers online. I ended up putting in about a cup and a little bit. Melted the chips in the microwave – nothing special there.

Whipped together some sugar and heavy whipping cream, added the Baileys (which my dad picked up for me at a Spec’s), whipped it some more, then added the melted chocolate. Put it all in a pie crust my mom had gotten, sprinkled some salt on top, then stuck it all in the fridge! Where it is now sleeping, haha. It shall be eaten tomorrow… I can’t wait to try it ^_^

I’m so loving not having to go to school every day now ^_^ I have time to make pies and blog more and knit and sleep late and so many awesome things ^_^

In the knitting world, I cast on a sweater (because I could, haha) On… Monday, with some Brooklyn Tweed LOFT I had gotten in the Homemade Jam colorway (First maroon sweater, woot!) with the intention of making Reverb by Tanis Lavallee.

So I cast on, got my 2 and 3/4″ of the collar and was about to start the cabling. Then I realized… that Reverb is actually a worsted weight sweater. Why I had thought it was knit with LOFT, I have no clue, haha. It was definitely a laugh-at-myself-heartily-moment, haha. I’m so glad I caught that before I continued on though, this cable pattern is no joke.

It was frogged, and I cast on holding my LOFT double (thankfully with the 7 skeins I got and holding it double, I should end up with about 62.5 yards left over. We’ll see about that, haha) and I’ve made definite progress!

My main reason for casting this on was to do the Must Stash Podcast’s sweater KAL thats going on this month through the end of June, I think. Steph and Stacie are two of the sweetest people ever. Their podcast is definitely one of my favorites now. If you love knitting, laughs, and knitterly inspiration – this podcast is definitely for you. Ohhh yes, it is for you.

When Wool People 5 was released, Reverb was the one that stood out to me the most. I *had* to cast it on, haha.

I’m really excited about the yarn, despite the fact that I goofed and got LOFT instead :-P, the color is just so amazing. I like that its very true to its name – it’s got little flecks of darker purples and browns.. just like how homemade jam would. It would have little pieces of strawberries that were a bit darker than the jelly part. Brooklyn Tweed always has the best colors. So natural and rustic looking, ahhh.

Now I’m sitting at a coffee shop, enjoying the sounds and smells (coffee *and* rain. ^_^).. now its time to get a little knitting in ^_^

Oh man, do I love the summer.

FO!: Wendy – the Peter Pan Collar

Upon which I have an FO, and I feel really good about it.

This is called “Wendy” by Malia Mather. I used some Knit Picks palette in white…

I saw it in an ad on the sidebar of Ravelry, and there was an immediate need to cast it on and wear it, haha.

It was uber easy and quick! I love the detail of the icord edging; it adds a nice polished edge to it. The lace was really easy to keep track of.. There is both written and a charted lace pattern :-)

Definitely plan to make another one in a different yarn… That’s one of the great things about this pattern and this type of accessory. You can make it in different kinds of yarns and get a totally different result every time. I think it’d be fun to have the icord edging in totally different yarn or color just to spice things up ;-P

Peter Pan collars are quite awesome – they can dress up any kind of shirt. I definitely recommend knitting this. Its one of the most perfect accessories you can make ^_^

A&M Knucks

So, I’m really excited about going to College Station this fall. Like, kinda really really excited. So excited that I may have an A&M blanket…

Which, in reality, it’s just a piece of polartec at the moment. It’ll eventually have a piece of white polartec on the back… but I was just so excited when we got it, that I had to start wrapping myself up in it. It’ll get done! Then it’ll be even more amazing ^_^

But, like I mentioned yesterday, because College Station is a bit more nippy than Houston is (music to a knitter’s ears – “It’s a bit nippy” or anything that has to do with it being cold, haha) I’m creating a list of knitterly accessories/sweaters that I must make at some point… so I can stay warm ^_^ These items may or may not require techniques that use more than one color (i.e. maroon and white)

So, to begin my adventure on knitting all the knitterly things that are awesome (which is basically everything, haha) I started with a pair of Knucks! (free pattern on Knitty, woot woot!)

This is a learning experience, as I have never done a pair of mitts with the fingers before. After typing that out, I just thought of knitting a pair of toe socks.

Anyway, so they’re light grey. It’s Imperial’s Columbia yarn, the sport weight. Then I plan on putting “Texas A&M” (cause it FITS. WOOT!) on the fingers, in maroon.. of some sort. I am quite excited.

Or, I might add some stripes… somewhere? Maybe? I don’t know. We shall see ^_^

Goodbye, freshman year. Hello, summer

I’m back! Finals are over, hallelujah! I have successfully finished my freshman year of college! Now, the summer is getting ready to happen – its stuffed full with so much fun stuff, I can’t wait for it start ^_^

I do apologize for my absence these past couple of weeks – school is not kind to a regular blogging schedule, haha! But now it’s over with for the summer (well, till June – I’m taking French 1 this summer!) so we can get back to normal :-P

I also really appreciate everyone’s kind words while I was finishing up; it was so sweet of you guys… it really meant a lot <3

Knitting has been happening, despite the hectic schoolness! Slowly, but its happening :-P

Just divided for the fronts and the back a couple days ago on my Pomme de Pin cardigan by Amy Christoffers

I ended up going a little bit (like, half an inch… not much) past the 17″ mark that I was shooting for. When I found out I went over, it was quite exciting… It had seemed like forever till I was going to make it long enough :-P

I am planning on making it long sleeved (shocker!). This fall I am headed to College Station (Wooohoooo!!!), to A&M. I am quite excited, to say the least ^_^ But! I”ve heard that its a bit chillier than it is here in Houston.

What a perfect excuse to knit myself an entire new winter wardrobe of accessories (this may or may not be one of the reasons why I’m so excited about going there, heehee!)

Because of this, I’ve been creating a list of things I want to make for the colder temperatures of College Station. The list is over here, on my Ravelry page. I’m not sure if you need an account to view it – if you do, don’t worry… I’ll be blogging about the things on the list soon ;-P

Now my time has been freed up, my mind is just going crazy with knitting plans – I want to knit ALL the things!!

FO!!: Audrey in Unst

I have an FO, everyone! A sweater FO, at that… which hasn't happened in forever.

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Took me long enough, haha. I cast this on as my NaKniSweMo. Christmas kntiting got in the way, other knitting got in the way, I started my second semester of college… Life happened, haha!

But now that I’ve gotten it done, I’m thinking I should have gotten it done earlier… cause there was hardly any left on it. Just the sleeves and edgings.

. Such a delightful pattern, it was a joy to knit. So quick and simple, yet there was enough to keep me completely interested the entire time.

So, this is the Audrey in Unst Cardigan by Gundrun Johnson

The yarn that I used, I got in London while we were there last year… it’s Patricia Roberts Lambswool No. 2. It’s a really amazing yarn, it reminded me a lot of knitting with Brookylyn Tweed’s LOFT. Its very airy and has a really nice looking drape. It was a little scratchy while it was in balls, but its definitely gotten softer during the knitting process.

Definitely is at the top of my favorite sweaters list, haha!

If you’re looking for a really simple sweater that you can easily modify to fit you – this is the sweater for you!

Selbu Modern II

School is insanely crazy. There are only 4 more weeks of it. Then it will be the summer time. And I can hopefully go back to a more regular blogging schedule.

But I am working on knitterly things, always moving forward :-P

One of my dearest friends had birthday in March, and I am knitting a Selbu Modern for her in maroon and white (a.k.a. Aggie colors ^_^)

She came over on Thursday evening for some fun and a break from school, and I couldn’t resist keeping it a secret any longer. So I showed it to her, despite it’s a-little-more-than-halfway-state.

I’m quite loving how its turning out. When I’m done with this one, I have plans to make another one with the maroon and white, but with the color situation reversed. The maroon will take the place of the white, and the white will take the place of the maroon.

In other news, my sister and future brother-in-law are here this weekend for my sister’s first wedding dress fitting. Wedding happiness is bounding and its all quite exciting. We’re now headed out to go see a Houston Astros game (because… that’s the baseball team. I always forget that, haha ^_^)

and I am bringing my knitting. Its going to be awwwwesome! ^_^

Mocha Chocolate Scones

Yesterday, I had the urge to make scones. I don’t know why.. maybe I saw a picture of some that someone posted, or something. But I really really wanted to make scones. So, I decided that the next day (Today. Saturday. Woo, haha) to make some.

If you search “scones” on Pinterest (or “pancakes” for that matter), it will only instill in you an even greater urge to drop everything that needs to be done and make all the things.

Thankfully, I got all my Econ homework that’s due on Monday completely done, so I thought it’d be fun to treat myself and make some scones.

After scrolling through (and much repinning of future scone ideas, haha) I decided on one. Annnnd… it is quite an awesome recipe. They are Mocha Chocolate Scones.

It’s an extremely easy recipe. I had a blast making them.. and they are extremely tasty.

I’m so happy with how they turned out… the house smells like a mixture of a coffee shop and a chocolate chip cookie. It’s quite heavenly.

What was really handy was that I brewed the coffee that went into the scone batter and the glaze from our Keurig (I used Gloria Jean’s Buttered Toffee flavor, if anyone is interested). It was uber quick and made the whole process even faster.

The glaze portion ended up making way more than you need for however many scones. So I just put the extra in a container… and we’ll use it for an ice cream topping or something. Whatever we do with it, it’ll be amazingly tasty. Like… really really amazingly tasty.

If you are in the need of some scones (plus maybe a cup of tea, or coffee, or hot chocolate… whatever suits your fancy) and want to try something a little bit more fancy than your plain scone (though… all scones are awesome Love all the scones), I definitely recommend these. They are full of chocolate, but not enough to be overwhelmed (like that could ever happen, heh heh :-P) mixed with a hint of coffee. Definitely to die for.

Pomme de Pin progress

More progress on my Pomme de Pin!

I’m really enjoying the lace pattern, it’s really exciting and definitely not boring…

Its going really quickly, and I’m sure I’ll reach the 17″ in no time ^_^

Bertie found it very shortly after I took pictures, and decided to take ownership of it, haha.

I don’t have the heart to take him off… He’s just too cute. Oh my goodness, haha.

Midterms = No knitting mojo

Bertie and I are quite sad that I haven’t posted in like a week and a half. Thats crazy, I’ve never done that before… and I hope I don’t do that again, haha.

What was I doing? School got extremely crazy, midterms right and left.. non-midterms that had to be done.. Homework and tests were coming out my ears. Plus, I wasn’t really feeling that amazing, so that didn’t help. Oh, the joys of college.

So because of all hectic school and being tired all the time, my knitting mojo went waaaaay down.

“Wat, Grace, how can your knitting mojo have gone down? You’re always knitting!” you may be thinking.

This is true, but I wasn’t like bouncing off the walls about what I was knitting, and wasn’t really motivated to talk about it. (This is not to say that I’m not knitting awesome things, I am. I’m so excited about all the things on the needles. Just at the time, I was so tired I didn’t even feel like knitting. It was a bummer, haha!)

During one of my study breaks, my mom and I watched Diane of the Knitabulls podcast, episode #102 from March 14th entitled “Knitting What Makes Me Happy”.

Diane is so adorable and sweet, if you enjoy knitting podcasts, I definitely recommend hers… check it out! But in this episode, she talked about how this year she was only going to knit on things that made her happy! She wasn’t going to be pressured to finish things she cast on, if they had become a little tedious or boring to work on.

I love that. I don’t consider knitting (and all crafting) as something that I have to do in order to get a sweater or a hat the end… because I need a sweater or a hat. I do it because I *love* to knit. The things I knit are fun, and I’m excited about how they’ll turn out.

That kind of got lost amongst all my school, and knitting wasn’t quite as excited as it had been without the school. I didn’t want to knit on something half-heartedly then throw up a blog post without the passion behind the project, if that makes sense.

So here I am again! Because I took Diane’s idea to heart, and cast something new on because I could and because it’d make me feel good, haha! Despite the fact that I have several sweaters going, a couple shawls going and a wall full of yarn.

Over spring break, my family and I made a crazy fast road trip in one day… Houston to College Station to Austin, then home. In one day. But it was AWESOME. In Austin we stopped by the Hill Country Weavers (Oh my goodness. One of the best yarn stores I’ve ever been in. If you have a chance to go there, GO THERE. NOW.)

and we saw their shelf of Brooklyn Tweed… both Loft and Shelter. My mom and I squee-ed a bit, haha :-P

We came prepared though! A couple days earlier I had found a Pomme de Pin cardigan by Amy Christoffers that had been done in Loft! It was absolutely gorgeous…(you can check it out here!) and that sold both my mom and I on making one. Before we had been kinda like “ehhh, it’s so cute. But I don’t know about what yarn”. Loft is the yarn.

So we came home with several skeins of Loft, in addition to many other things (eh heh. It’s nearly impossible to go in there and not want to buy everything. I challenge you to go in there with something in mind, and not come out with at least one thing extra, hahaha!)

This is my color… and it’s so beautiful. I love the little flecks of black that show up. So yes, I cast on on… Sunday. Then today after my last class, I was almost done with the first lace repeat. Holy banana, it’s so gorgeous! And squishy! And it smells good!!

My mom got the Almanac colorway, which is that bright blue… but yet subtle enough so it’s still really classy. It’ll be adorable.

What else did we get? Well, I ended up getting a couple skeins of various MadTosh…

The ones closest to the bottom are Merino Lite, the other three are DK. I’m not quite sure what I’ll be doing with them… but I know that whatever I do… it’ll be EPIC.

Bertie approves too ^_^

So, I’m back, knitting upon things that make me happy. I do apologize for my absence – I missed blogging!