This Moment

inspired by Soule Mama:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

 

Spring Cocktail :: Watermelon Mojitos

Over the weekend we hosted an informal cinco de mayo get together for friends.  The weather was hot, a friend’s back garden was bursting with mint, and I had an open bottle of white rum.  What’s a girl to do except make mojitos?  Make watermolon mojitos!

This got a little juicy, but it is well worth the sticky puddles on your kitchen counter.  Fresh watermelon juice is a heavenly drink, pretty much like sunshine and summer breezes in a glass.  If you don’t have a juicer, you can use a blender or food processer to puree, then strain the juice.

Watermelon Mojitos

Makes 2 refreshing adult beverages.  Leave out the rum and it’s a watermelon fizz fit for the whole family!

4-6 fresh mint leaves

1 teaspoon sugar

4 oz watermelon juice

2 oz lime juice

4 oz white rum

6 oz club soda

• Muddle together the torn mint leaves and sugar.  Add to the bottom of a tall glass and add ice cubes.
• Stir together watermelon, lime, and rum.  Add to glass.  Top with soda.  Garnish with a slice of watermelon and additional mint.
• Depending on the sweetness of the watermelon and your sweet tooth, increase or decrease sugar.

On the Needles

I have a few things on the needles right now, none of which is seeing much action.  I’m having my semi-annual bout with knitter’s thumb, and it’s a drag.  I’ve been resting my hands this week, knitting a row here and there to test the waters.

Fiar :: I’m modifying this stripey cowl to use 5 shades from a gradient kit I bought from Black Trillium at Vogue Knitting Live.  It’s a bit of an informal KAL with Erin who happened to buy the exact same color! I’m almost halfway done, and I suspect Erin, a super-speedy knitter, isn’t far behind…

Lobelia :: I cast this on at the beginning of last month for another informal KAL with Liz in honor of our new magazine crush, Pom Pom Quarterly.  I got distracted by all my new yarn from VKL (even though the red yarn was also new) and it’s been sitting ever since.  I’m planning on picking it back up once my thumb is happy again, just in time for the Anzula CKAL at Stash.

So what’s on your needles this weekend?

p.s. Both of these photos are from my Instagram.  I’m pretty IG-obsessed these days. You can follow me here if you like.

Off the Needles :: Scraps

It feels really, really satisfying to knit a project and use up almost all of the yarn.  It’s as if it were meant to be, as if the yarn and the pattern were a perfect match.

Occasionally, however, you overestimate the yardage you’ll need for a project, only use a few yards of that extra skein, or inherit someone’s leftovers.  What is to become of all those partial balls of seemingly unwanted leftover yarn?

I usually toss all my partial balls into a bin inside my stash cupboard and let them marinate until a use becomes apparent.  I don’t really worry too much about them. Perfect for stripes, toys, crafts, gift wrap, and baby hats, I know my leftovers will get used up eventually.

First, I knit this:

Earth & Sky

And used the leftovers for this:

Scrappy Sockhead Hat

And then I knit this:

Tidal Cardigan

And used some of the leftovers for this:

Little Scallops

Isn’t this a fun game?!  How do you handle your leftover bits of yarn?

You can see details of all of these projects over on my Ravelry page.

This Moment:: Knit. Snuggle. Meow.

Inspired by Soule Mama: {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Spring Style Update:: Stitch Fix

I first heard about Stitch Fix from Becca on her blog, Nutmeg Knitter, and knew I was in trouble.  Despite the knitterly-sounding name, Stitch Fix is a fashion subscription service that sends you personally styled packages.  I was instantly intrigued, and enjoyed perusing the website and taking their personal style survey.  I quickly started telling friends, and before I knew it both myself and my friend Liz were eagerly anticipating our first shipments.

It was a little bit like getting a package in the mail from a stylish friend.  Like she hand-picked items just for me, with a few surprises thrown in to push my limits. Such a fun treat!

When I got my shipment, I could tell immediately that my stylist had picked up on my current obsession with Peter Pan collars, stripes, and floral prints via my Pinterest style page!  While not every item was a winner, I had fun trying them on and stretching my comfort zone a bit.  Each piece comes with a styling guide (photos), and you are encouraged to play with your existing wardrobe.  Keep what you want, send back what you don’t in a prepaid envelope.  Easy!

Here are Liz and I at Vogue Knitting LIVE in our Stitch Fix dresses.  We both got so many compliments, it was easy to feel extra excited about this idea.

I’ll be getting another box, for sure.  It’s a fun, surprising way to update my seasonal wardrobe, all without having to leave home.

Are you itching for a fix?  Sign up here (I’ll get a small bonus if you use this link) and be sure to share what’s in your first fix!

xo

Sonia

Yarn Lust

I’ve been wanting to get to this space all week, to tell you about my magical, yarn-filled weekend.  It was like Candy Land, but with yarn.

I went to Vogue Knitting LIVE to represent Stash, and expected to have a great time.  What actually happened was so personally satisfying and thrilling, it blew my wool socks off.

The people were kind and open and enthusiastic.  I met old friends, new friends, blog friends, podcast friends, and knitterari friends.  The wool fumes and collective buzz of knitterly enthusiasm was contagious, and I instantly felt my lust for knitting surge.  This was just the medicine I needed to cure a pretty bad case of Knitting Burnout.  I hadn’t knit in weeks, and was even starting to skip my daily Ravelry check-ins.  It was bad.  Rest assured, this was a brief malady, and I am now on a steady prescription of New Yarn.

The haul.

My color palette for the Turnagain Cowl

I had a lot of fun playing with different color combinations of Loft in the Churchmouse booth for a Turnagain Cowl.  I already had the Sap and Plume colorways in my stash, so I started with those and then played with different color stories.  I’m pretty excited about what I came up with, and even though it isn’t exactly wool-cowl weather, I’m itching to cast on asap.

I’m also pretty excited about that mini skein bundle of lavender gradient yarn from Black Trillium, the gradient cakes from Freia, the 2 ply hand-dyed from Spincycle Yarns, and the Madelinetosh.  So much new yarn!

Should you think owning a yarn shop satisfies the urge to impulse buy yarn, let me tell you it does not! When faced with the temptations of new yarn, I am just as powerless as the rest of us yarnaholics.

What yarn or projects are you itching to cast on right away?

You can read more about the trip and see photos full of yarn-drunk knitters over on the Stash blog.