28 days later

I'm not talking about the horror movie.

 

It's been almost a month since the Heliopath Vest KAL hosted by The Unapologetic Knitter and GhostFaceKnitter began and I've been a busy lady. Since purchasing my yarn way back on March 1st, I've managed to stay a little ahead of schedule.

• Knit, blocked and gauged my swatch

Swatch: knitting cable/lace pattern

Drying in the sun

16 rows of pattern in 3"= 5.33 rows per 1"

20 stitches in 4" = gauge

• Cast on 208 stitches, knit 2" of ribbing and jumped into 14" of cable/lace pattern

2" ribbing and about 1" of cable/lace pattern

2" ribbing, 3" cable/lace pattern

16 rows of cable/lace pattern and my notes

• Knit over 10 hours straight to reach 14" of cable/lace pattern

2" ribbing, 12" cable/lace pattern

2" ribbing, 14" cable/lace pattern

• Started shaping the armholes with a ridiculous amount of help and support from @seaandlake

Shaping first armhole / open vest

Shaping first armhole / closed vest

I've clearly made quite a bit of progress in the last 28 days and I'm determined to have it done before the 11:59pm PST April 12th deadline. So far this has been the most challenging and rewarding knitting experience I've ever had, but I'm definitely thrilled it's almost over. I don't know if I would have ever attempted this on my own and I am so extremely thankful for all the encouragement and praise I've received so far. I definitely consider myself lucky to have found such a talented and supportive community of knitters through Instagram.

Yarn Crawl LA 2014

I missed the last two yarn crawls because I didn't consider myself a knitter at the time. Since my recent adoption of knitting as a serious hobby, I knew this was the year just had to sign-up. There have been some awesome giveaways happening over on the Yarn Crawl LA website. The event starts Thursday, April 3rd and ends Sunday, April 6th. This yarn crawl is looking to be an amazing one. Anyone else participating?

Yarn Crawl LA 2014 : 32 stores in 3 days

Ipsy Mail

Over a year ago, I signed-up for a monthly subscription with Ipsy for a monthly Glam Bag. I'm not the most glamorous person you'll ever meet, but what girl doesn't like makeup?!?! My best description of the service is surprise make-up mail. I shell out $10 a month and get pretty pink package once a month with anywhere from 4-6 products and a make-up bag. I've been shifting what I frequently use into a single make-up bag (June 2013 is my favorite looking bag so far) and re-purposing the others as crochet hook bags, stitch marker bags... you get the idea.

Today I received my 13th Ipsy Glam Bag.

March 2014 Glam Bag

Lipstick | Eyeshadow | Eyeliner | Primer

Paid $10 and received 4 products worth $46.71 retail.

Here's the break down:

 

Brand: bareMinerals

Product: Marvelous Moxie

Color: Get ready

Size: 1.5 g

Price: $7.71
 
Brand: NYX

Product: Love in Rio Eyeshadow

Color: The Brazilian

Size: 0.105 oz

Price: $6.00

Brand: Chella

Product: Eyeliner Pen

Color: Indigo Blue

Size: 0.40 oz

Price: $24
 
Brand: Pixi

Product: Flawless Beauty Primer

Color: Even Skin

Size: 12 mL

Price: $9

The Flying Kettle

Joyce Hethcox, owner of The Flying Kettle Dyeworks and Fiber Co., has been hosting a glorious yarn giveaway over on her Instagram in honor of hitting 100 followers and you're reading the blog of one of her winners! I'm completely over excited and can't wait for my skein to arrive so I can officially refer to myself as a proud owner of some of her deliciously kettle-dyed yarn. She is now sitting pretty at 400+ followers and her giveaway is concluded, but you can still procure some of her kettle-dyed mill-spun and hand-spun yarn and fiber over in her Etsy store. Seriously check her out, she's simply amazing!

The Flying Kettle

Etsy | Facebook | Instagram | Website

Heliopath Vest KAL

I was gifted an electronic version of the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits magazine in January (thanks babe) and have been waiting for the right moment and pattern to start knitting. Following @socalmeaghan and @ghostfaceknitter on Instagram provided just the right amount of incentive to start knitting the Heliopath Vest:

Photo Arrangement by: @socalmeaghan

They both provide all the details in their respective blogs The Unapologetic Knitter and GhostFaceKnitter. Not only is there a prize are there four prizes, these lovely ladies have literally broken down the daunting process into weekly goals. I made a nifty little Google Calender to keep track:

  The KAL (knit along) started today and even though I should have started knitting the swatch to check the gauge, I didn't exactly get the chance to put needle to yarn. I did, however, brave the rain to visit Unwind for my yarn, a new needle and a glorious scoop of buttons (plus 8 perfect for this project).

Berroco Vintage: Chana Dal (5192)