Happy Halloween! Knitting Neck Edge Finishing, and All Tangled Up in Yarn

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today I have been baking some pumpkin pie to have for dessert tonight. I have also been busy working on assignments for my office administration courses that are due this week.

I am still working on finishing my 3timesChic sweater and have finished sewing up the seams on the sweater now. I have picked up the stitches along the back and front of the neck edges. I am going to knit two rows then bind of and I will be done. I will be posting a finished sweater on Thursday's post this week! I can't wait to be done!

The neck of the sweater, starting the neck edging

I did not really know what to do when buying a hank of yarn, how to undo it and properly roll it into a ball. Now the yarn is all jumbled up. I did watch a YouTube video on how to untie the ties around the yarn, then to find the end and beginning strands and start winding around into a ball, but all the yarn seemed to tangle up while I was doing that. So I will be spending a lot of time untangling the yarn and rolling it into a ball. It will be a while before I can start on the socks. Wish me luck!

Rolling this tangled web of yarn into a ball

I made some pumpkin pie for Halloween using E.D. Smith Pumpkin pie filling from the can and used Ready Krust Graham for the crust. It felt like it took forever and I was worried about the crust burning more so the pumpkin filling would cook. We will be eating this tonight after dinner as a Halloween treat.

Reading:
I started reading Not Workingby Lisa Owens yesterday. I have wanted to read this for over a year now when my mom told me about it. So far I like the protagonist, she is very relate-able and her struggles with job searching and other things remind me of my own situations I have gone through in the job search. I will be experiencing this myself this month when I begin applying to jobs. I was reading Mercy For Animals by Nathan Runkle, and My Not So Perfect Life: A Novel by Sophie Kinsella but my loan expired so I have requested it again.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AsKatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday.

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Have a great day and happy Halloween!

Sewing Sweater Seams, Searching Patterns, and Reading

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have been doing well, I have been mostly working on my courses and finishing assignments. I have also started getting into the Halloween Spirit by watching Hocus Pocus today while sewing up the seams on my sweater. I got to the end of the second side of the sweater today, then realized one side of the sweater seam was longer than the other so I had to frog back the sewing I had done on part of the sweater. I was really hoping that today I would be able to tell you that I was finished sewing the sweater seams but this happens. My next goal is to be done the sweater next week and show you the finished sweater in next week's blog post.

Sweater in progress

I started looking for a sock pattern on Ravelry to knit with the yarn I bought from the Milton farm craft fair. I found a pattern on Ravelry and I think they will be wonderful socks when completed using the yarn I bought. The pattern is for vanilla socks with toe-up and afterthought heel by Carle' Dehning. I am excited to try the toe-up method of knitting socks because I have never tried it and I am not too much a fan of the having to do the Kitchener stitch at the end of knitting socks.

Yarn for my next sock project

I need to start knitting more Christmas gifts soon as it is getting closer (61 days away!). I am thinking of taking a trip to Michael's shortly to pick up some yarn for these projects. I will probably only share the yarn I purchase, then leave photos of projects until after the gifts are given. I will also be starting the second stocking really soon once I am finished the sweater.

I am still reading Mercy For Animals by Nathan Runkle and it is so good but also very sad to read because of the uncovering of the treatment of farm animals. It is important to know the truth of how animals are treated and bring light to this important issue. I look forward to reading on and finishing this book this week.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AsKatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday, and The Little Room of Rachell for Yarning Along.

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Have a great day!

Finished Knitted Bat, Decorating for Halloween, and Reading On

Hello friends,

I hope you are doing well. This weekend, I spent time with my family, and catching up and going for a birthday dinner since my birthday was at Thanksgiving and we get busy with having the holiday dinner.

I have finished knitting this little bat for Halloween. I used a pattern that I found on Ravelry called Violet the Little Bat. It is a very simple pattern, and great for beginner knitters too! I wanted a quick and fun project for Halloween and it was the perfect project for me right now and so adorable.

First, I knitted the body and head by knitting in the round and increasing stitches, then decreasing stitches when getting to the bat's head. Then I moved onto the ears which were also knitted in the round to make the ears fuller. I did not add stuffing to the ears though as it is not requested in the pattern. Then for the wings, I still used the circular needles but did not knit in the round for the pattern. I added the eyes with some gray yarn sewn on with my darning needle. You can make your eyes using a different color and knit the body a different color from the wings if you prefer. There are many possibilities with making this project your own and being creative.

Bat hanging up on wall. I used one of the ends of yarn from sewing the wings on the body to create a loop to hang the bat.

I have been continuing to work on sewing the 3timesChic sweater seams as well. I am working on sewing the second side now and then I will be working on the neck edging. If you would like to read the entries I have written over the year about knitting my first sweater, please click here.

Sweater in progress

I decorated the apartment for Halloween and fall today. I had a few out already but it takes a little bit more time to take them all out and put them around. I just kept the decorating to our living room and put a few of my favorites on shelves. I don't really have a lot of decorations right now with little storage space.

Below are two pumpkins from Michael's that I bought last year, and the cat with a sign saying "trick or Treat" from the Milton farm craft fair a couple of years ago.

Pumpkin patch

I knitted the pumpkin below last year and it was really fun to knit up! You can see last year's post and how to make the pumpkin here.

Squishy pumpkin

This is my favorite Halloween decoration I own. I have had this small haunted house since I was a child. I am pretty sure I bought it from the dollar store but it is still in good shape other than the one ghost missing a head! But I guess that can make it even spookier! I like how it opens up to show inside the house as well, these are so fun for kids and adults too.

Haunted house, opens up to show many spooky inhabitants

I enjoy decorating for each holiday and it adds to the fun of celebrating. Will you be decorating your home for Halloween this year? And what are your favourites?

I am still reading My Not so Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella and Mercy for Animals by Nathan Runkle on my online Overdrive account. I have been reading them on my phone, which makes them easier to bring them along with me wherever I go and have some time to read. The books I am reading are both so interesting and I will be trying to read more of them before they both are due very soon and will go back to their lengthy hold lists.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AskatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday, and The Little Room of Rachael for Yarning Along.  What are you working on and reading this week?

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Have a great day!

Knitting a Bat for Halloween and Got a Wool and the Gang Kit!

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend visiting my family and my boyfriend's family. It was my birthday yesterday and I enjoyed going for lunch with a friend, face timing with family, and going for dinner with my boyfriend. I am now only one year away from thirty years old and thinking I really want to make it a good year! A lot will be happening and I am looking forward to the year ahead. 

Knitting
I have been busy with different knitting projects lately. I have been working on sewing the seams on the sweater. I now have one sleeve and side sewn and working on the second this week and knitting the neck edging. It has been slow progress for me, I am thinking that I am not a fan of sewing seams after this experience like many of you said you were not when I started knitting all the pieces for the sweater.  I am looking forward to finally being done though. 

I started knitting a bat for Halloween over the weekend and using a pattern from Ravelry called Violet the Little Bat. It is a simple pattern and I am enjoying it so far. I have knitted the body/head and ears and going to start working on the wings. I would recommend this pattern if you still don't have a project for Halloween and are looking for something quick to knit up.

Knitting bat, done the body and ears, working on knitting the first wing

I received this Wool and the Gang kit from my sister for my birthday. It is the Farrah top in the billie jean color. I am so excited to start knitting this tank top once I am finished more of my current projects. I have been looking at all their amazing projects on Instagram for over a year now and think it will be a lot of fun to try one out!

The Wool and the Gang bag for the kit

Kit contents: four balls of up-cycled yarn, pattern, and a needle

Reading
I am reading My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella. I had started reading this book earlier this year, then I ran out of time on my loan from the library, and because there are so many holds on it,  I only got it back a couple of weeks ago. I am really enjoying it again and love this easy read. I was reading Love the Wine You're With but I was not getting into it as easily and still debating whether I will continue with reading it. I also got my loan recently from the library which downloaded online for Mercy for Animals by Nathan Runkle and I have been glued to this book ever since. In this autobiography, Nathan discusses starting the organization Mercy for Animals and sneaking into factory farms to expose them for their maltreatment of animals. I have my hands full with all this reading but I think I will read through them fast since I am really enjoying the books right now.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AsKatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday, and The Little Room of Rachell for Yarning Along.

Thank you for visiting and if you would like to keep updated on when I post blog entries, please follow me on Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can subscribe by email at the top right of this page. 

Have a great day!

Knitted Jumbo Christmas Stocking

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have had a good weekend, went to another wedding dress appointment for my sister. She is getting married about a year from now. She did find a dress and I am so happy for her, it is beautiful. I also did some shopping and caught up with my mom and sister for lunch with her friends who came to the dress appointment. I am happy it is feeling cooler now, and I am looking forward to upcoming holidays, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas.
Speaking of Christmas, I have just completed one of the Christmas stockings way ahead of time. The pattern I used was from Ravelry called Jumbo Christmas Stocking in a Jiffy - Striped by Jennifer Jackson. I am so happy to be done knitting the first stocking, now I can start the next one and have them both finished in time for Christmas.

Knitting the loop

To make the loop to hang the stocking, I casted on three stitches, then knit until the piece was 14 inches long, then just looped it into the back of the top of the stocking once I folded the top over.

Knitted loop to hang the stocking 3 stitches for 14 inches

What knitting projects are you working on? I am thinking of knitting something for Halloween coming up, since it has gotten cooler out I feel more inspired.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On

Thank you for visiting! if you would like to keep updated on when I post, please follow me through Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can also subscribe  by entering your email at the top right of my blog.

Have a great day!