SHETLAND WOOL WEEK // MY SHWOOK HAT

You guys, fair isle is THE BEST. I had so much fun working on this hat. Even though I had to do it twice (more about color issues and change of heart here). Picking colors is a lot more complicated than one would expect, not only do they need to go together but there is also contrast to consider, otherwise your pattern won't look much like a pattern at all! I ended up using a lot of blue, a touch of yellow to make it pop and some grey so it wouldn't pop too much. It's all about balance I guess. 

Fair isle can be quite impressive but knitting it isn't that complicated. You never work with more than two colors at once and except for a few tangles here and there it's just about following the pattern. Tension can be an issue, but that's what blocking is for right?

Honestly, there is only one thing I do not like about fair isle, and that is the gazillion ends one has to weave in at the end. Some more honesty? I still haven't woven them in… Won't stop me from wearing it though!

Yarn now! As you might know, fair isle comes from Scotland, it's actually the name of a small island near Shetland. So of course I had to use some scottish yarn! I went with Jamieson & Smith 100% Shetland wool. It's quite a rustic yarn, you can almost picture the sheep enjoying the Shetland lands and weathers! It comes in a lot of colors all very very gorgeous! It's quite nice to knit with, soft enough that your hands won't hurt, nicely elastic (always nice when working in fair isle!), it's quite shiny and blocks beautifully. Basically, I love it!! 

So, what next you ask? Well I have a few projects in mind :)

A cool sweater: Elementary, a cute hat & mitts combo, a magical cowl and a gorgeous cardigan!

Plus a few dozen more on my Ravelry fave ;)

1 PHOTO & 20 WORDS // SILENCE

Waiting for the sun to rise.

Silence is a blessing

For those not afraid of the dark.

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Joining in with Abi over at Creating Paper Dreams for A photo & 20 words. Sort of a day late, but let's ignore that fact. Also, she's awesome.

MORNING RITUALS aka I LOVE PORRIDGE

I love breakfast. Some say it is the most important meal of the day. I don't know if it's true but I do know that: I LOVE BREAKFAST. So obviously when I decided to cut back on gluten and dairy I knew I was in trouble. Because I did not quite realized it at the time but my breakfasts were made of 99% of gluten and dairy. Going salty was just not an option for me, I need sugar/sweets in the morning, eggs being the only exception. Sorry guys, I just don't see beans and sausage as something that is acceptable before noon ;) So I had to figure out what to do.

 August was sort of easy because you know in Summer you get hundreds of fruits available. So there was a lot of fruit salads going on. But it's now November and I'm just not going to eat an apple every single morning. But then I discovered porridge. Or oatmeal, whatever you call it. It's awesome, delicious, fun to make, and there's an infinite number of ways to costumize it! 

Because I also stopped dairy, I had to try a few things there too. I kind of like soy milk, but mostly with like a Starbucks, as in a drink. Then I discovered almond milk. Which might be my new favorite thing in the world (after porridge that is!). So that's what I use to cook the oats and what I add in my coffee every morning. I also buy a few gluten free products now and then such as bread and toast (so that i can spread my nutella on something mostly).
I now start my days with a warm, delicious and filling meal that doesn't make me feel like my stomach weighs more than the rest of my body and actually gives me enough energy to make it till lunch (no more 11am "is it lunch yet??" syndrome). It's a big win if you ask me!

Top 5 Porridge toppings!

Honey + Banana

Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam

Apple, cinnamon and nuts

Nutella

Berries. Black, red, whatever you fancy

MY CUP OF TEA // OCTOBER SOCKS

I finished my October pair of socks you guys! They are called My Cup of Tea socks and I never want to take them off! I used Oh Loops yarn in their Expelliarmus colorway. The yarn is a 80% superwash merino 20% nylon blend and it became the softest, prettiest thing ever after blocking! So glad I have two more skeins of that mix to knit with! The pattern is free on Ravelry and was pretty simple to memorize. The socks were knitted cuff down and I just followed the pattern for the heel and gusset, nothing fancy here (yet ;)). I'm quite proud of my toe, I'm getting way better at the kitchener stitch I think so, yay!

Monthly sock challenge 2 of 12 is thus completed! November now! I really really want to try toe up socks! But honestly a bit scared, they do seem way more complicated somehow. I do love the Leyburn socks though but the pattern isn't super generous in explaining the toe cast on and such so I have been digging the internet and youtube for tutorials and such, reading about the Judy's magic cast on a try! I however have quite a few things planned for November already so I think I might make the toe up my December socks using either the Leyburn or the Reasons to be cheerful pattern and go with a basic cuff down vanilla sock for November. I have a very fun multicolored skein of Oh Loops that would be perfect for it. Check my IG feed in the coming days to see what I decided ;) 

So, what are you guys doing for your November pair of socks?

let's talk PODCAST!

I love podcasts! Video podcast, audio podcast. Funny, informative. Perfect in every occasion! Long commute? Listen to a podcast! Want to listen to something while your hands are busing knitting/scrapbooking/sewing? Pick a podcast!

I listen podcasts almost on a daily basis, about a wide range of subjects. Here's my top 10, divided into two sections: audio and video.

TOP 5 AUDIO PODCAST

Ted Radio Hour. Ever heard of Ted talks? Well the Ted Radio Hours brings you the best of Ted Talks about basically every subject you can think of. A few of my favorites would be Simply Happy, Framing the story and The Hackers. Awesome, awesome podcast, super informating yet never boring!

Elise gets crafty. I'm a big fan of Elise. And was super excited when she decided to start podcasting. 30 episodes later and still super excited about it! It's all about creativity and the thousand subjects that revolve around it with awesome guests. 

Sunday Assembly. The Sunday Assembly is, in a few words, a godless congregation that celebrates life and community with awesome pop songs. And they also have a podcast! It's super funny, with a new guest every time telling its story. Love it

 Knit.fm This is actually the only audio knitting podcast that I listen to. The two ladies behind it work for Quince & Co and their podcast in super informative, in a very cool way. They've done episode about design principles, blocking, sweater making, colors… Very very cool podcast ideal if you want to learn more about techniques, yarn and design

PomCast. Do you know PomPom, the knitting pattern magazine? I'm a huge fan! And the girls behind it also have a podcast! It's AWESOME. And very very fun to listen to. Seriously, check it out!

me, unaware I'll have to rip back soon because I was so
into the podcast and laughing that I missed a yarn over ;)

TOP 5 VIDEO PODCAST

note: all those podcasts are knitting podcast. I might be slightly obsessed with knitting podcast right now :)

A Homespun House. Molly is just the sweetest! Her podcast is funny, very very inspiring and basically just a pleasure to watch. Highly highly recommend it!

MustStash Podcast. Those girls are the best. Also, queens of socks! I get a lot of my projects inspiration from their podcast, they are crazy productive so their podcast is always full of new sweaters and gorgeous new yarns. 

Fiber Trek. Sarah lives in Maine and not only does she love knitting but she loves everything that goes with it. The fibers, the sheeps, the history of knitting and crafts in general. And she is very very good at sharing all that love. Her podcast is very sweet and special and I always feel like she is telling us a story while I watch it!

OhLoops. Sarah and Lydia are the two girls behind the Oh Loops! brand. They hand dye their own yarn (which I've already talked about a bit here), are starting to design their own patterns, have awesome themed knit along (right now is Harry Potter!). And they also have a podcast!! Check out their Ravelry group, it's where the fun happens!

In a Sknit. Kristi and Sarah's podcast is the coolest, those girls are super fun to listen to and also very productive so you get a lot of inspiration while laughing way too much with them!

So, what about you? Any podcast you love? One always has time for new podcasts right!