Hasiok's new friend.

Hey, look who I found hanging around in my backyard!

Ok, to be honest I found him on Ravelry (where else?). I was lucky enough to join a free KAL for Owen's Opossum. This cutie was designed by my all-time favorite toy designer: Sara Elizabeth Kellner from Rabitt Hole Knits.

I finished knitting my possum in less than 3 days. I used acrylic yarn leftovers from my Purple Cats, and some pretty random scraps. Since I used smaller needles (3mm for magic loop, and 2,5mm dpns) he came out smaller than original.

 I haven't decided how to call him yet, I was thinking Frank - in honor of Fairway Frank from one of  Parks and Recreation episodes.

While outside, Frank tried to make my dog like him. They didn't get along so well.
Sometimes Korek seems just tired of it all:

"Keep your stupid knitting away!!!"

I went back to my attic and look who showed up! Just in time to meet his new pal!

They seem to be enjoying their company, peeking out of my window. I wonder what are those to up to? I just hope it's not related with my yarn stash in any way.

Well I'm definitely up to making a nice milkshake, with red currants! :3
And making some progress on my scarf. The one I'll share with next time.


Have a nice afternoon!
Gosia.

Cleaning up my project bags.

It's my first summer without summer brake... It is kinda hard, because usually July was my busiest knitting month. I'm not giving up this year, though!
In last few weeks I completed one big project and two smaller ones. And today I received long a awaited parcel - a skein of Malabrigo Sock yarn. I also got a free project bag, since the postage was seriously delayed. Oooh my!

But let's get back to my former -WIPs. I present to you.. my brand new Syna Shawl. Pattern Syna by Mary Renji.

For this shawl I used Cotton Soft by YarnArt and I was really pleased. This yarn is almost unspliatble! Perfect for crocheting!

The only modification I made was finishing work after a solid section. Last row was crocheted using a crab stitch. I still have some yarn left, but I decided it's big enough:

Now I have to buy a matching dress, because we've been invited to a wedding.

My other no-longer-WIPs are not that big, in fact they are tiny! It's a set of newborn-size cardi and a matching hat for my friend. She's expecting her first baby, and I still need to make a pair of small booties.

Free patterns: Marianna's Lazy Daisy Top-Down with sleeves  and eyelet baby hat, both by marianna mel.
For those I used what I had left from Never Again Blanket, which was made for the same baby-to-be.

Now forgive me, but I can hear my lovely, soft, delicate skein of Malabrigo Sock yarn whisper... "wind me, wiiiiind meee!". I just have to trick my hubby into being a skein holder for a while!

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.

Children's Day!

Who doesn't love Children's Day? Being 26 years old is not a good enough reason not to celebrate it, right?
Over a week ago my and my hubby got invited by my in-laws to their holiday home. Placed in small town, very near to mountains. Weather was surprisingly good, so we even got to do some hiking!

I regretted not taking any of my WIP's with me, so I could do some open air crocheting.
While enjoying the view, that is.

When we took some rest in the evening, my mother-in-law asked if I heard of octopuses (or is it octopi?) for preemies. As soon as I got home I googled a bit and gathered info on The Danish Octo Project. I found also a big Polish group on Facebook, crocheting and distributing octopuses.

All softies must be made of 100% cotton, and stuffed with polyester filling.
Soo... I dug up all skein ends of Alize Bella I could find and started my work. First two projects are staying with me, because I didn't get the tension right, and filling shows through :( I couldn't bring myself to frog them, though.
Here's my collection of finished octopuses/pi:

Two in the middle are the ones staying :)

I also have some unfinished heads, and tomorrow I'm visiting my sister in search of more cotton.
Let's just have one more look at those swirling arms, shall we?

I think I could find time to crochet another one today.
Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.

Long weekend is gone...

...aaand I'm back at work.

I've had an amazing 4 day long weekend, though!

On Thursday we visited Pszczyna, just like last year. On Friday we ventured in the opposite direction and arrived at Moszna (please, don't check for direct translation from Polish to English... just don't). The castle itself, looks like it was stolen from Disney logo, but it has a certain charm to it.

Not to mention a skeleton-princess in the highest tower, who did cost me some sleepless nights when I was a kid.

The most enjoyable part for me was a long stroll in the park. Rhododendrons were still in bloom... and just look:

Unfortunately two days of sunny weather turned out to be enough to build up thick stormy clouds, and Saturday and Sunday got us mostly grounded.

Every cloud has a silver lining, right? I had ALL the time in the world to knit! I started with speedkniting booties for my cousin's new baby. Bows Before Bros by Carrie Briggs :

And then I moved to crocheting my Syna Shawl.

No. I did not re-brand my Banana Leaf Shawl. I guess it's destined to be my standby project.

It's a new shawl I started on May 20th. Pattern is called  Syna by Mary Renji

I started using a delivery box as a project bag. You know how they say: reuse, re-purpose, recycle! :)So far I'm done with two lace section repeats, and I'm still enjoying my work. It is a mindless work except for moving from one section to another.

Netflix & Ch.. Crochet it is then!

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.

Mysterious Purple-Grey Thing...s

My niece's bitrthay was two days ago so I can safely reveal what I kept in secret since March.
Two chubby, striped kittens!

Some of you may remember my first kitty made from  The Parlor Cat Pattern by Sara Elizabeth Kellner. It was for my youngest niece's first birthday.
Word travels fast, so soon I had an order for "two big cats, four small ones and a set of mice".
Since I really enjoy going to work, and in having a life in general, I had to cut this order short. First one was a good and tried Parlor Cat:

But as I finished and still had a lot of yarn left (Nako Rekor, really nice, soft, a bit fuzzy acrylic) I decided to make a second cat. This time using different pattern from the same collection: 

The Window Cat by Sara Elizabeth Kellner.

At first I was afraid making two row stripes will show the jog on round beginning, but frankly, it turned out better than the first one!
I skipped making legs. I just like it better that way, and I saw many Ravelers do it :)

Yesterday I gave them to my niece. She loved them! Her real cats however... not so much. I hope they won't decide to murder their new flatmates! :)

Now that that's done I can get back to Banana Leaf Shawl. It's going really great, but I'm still not halfway through the skein! I'll take some pics for the next post!


Have a nice afternoon!
Gosia.

Happy Birthday, Sockalong!

Today I'm having a day off - 3rd of May is a national holiday in Poland.
Since last year it's also a holiday for all sock knitters...

Sockalong Anniversary!

For more info on this marvellous initiative check out Winwick Mum's blog.
Last night I managed to complete my 7th pair of socks.  I think they're worthy of celebrating this day!
Pattern: Skew by Lana Holden.

Photo by my hubby, who demanded that I mention him.

I'm absolutely delighted with this yarn! To be honest, I wasn't trying to make them match, because I couldn't get my head around color repeats. Also, different toes are useful for telling right sock from the left one :)

I think I should do a small compilation now, entitled "my year in socks":

#1: Green, 100% wool, 200% satisfaction

 #2: Grey monster-socks for my hubby

 
#3&5: Baby socks!

#4: First toe-ups - for mom's TV evenings :)

#6: Picture says it all! \m/

#7: I know, I know... just one more look at those heels:

We were supposed to go on a nice trip today, but it's rainy, so we decided to stay inside. I can't even pretend I'm worried about this...

Have a nice afternoon!
... I surely will!

Gosia.

PS.: Thank you, Christine for making this possible! :)

Never* Again! (*at least not this month, okay?)

Done, done, doooooone! The quickest blanket ever!
Elven Pixie Blanket by Tall Gal Knits, also known as Never Again Blanket

You know what? I absolutely LOVED making it! The best moment was when I removed pins after blocking, and discovered it grew over 10cm in each direction. Final measurements are 80x90cm! I used four 50g skeins plus about 1/3rd for border.
Also it got really soft and lacy afterwards.

Not to mention how it made the lace stand out:

 I wanted to give it to my coworker as soon as possible, so I didn't wait for a good picture light.
It would take me too long, because late April just turned really cold!

Ahh, now I can return to my Skewed Socks. I'm almost ready for second heel!
I also decided to add some rows to my Banana Leaf Shawl - I'm sure I could find a use for it this summer!

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia

PS.: Mom wanted me to take pictures of her tulips. I counted over 27 varieties...