Simply Handmade-along | June Simplicity & Giveaway

Life has been crazy here lately so the new project for our wee 'along' for has been delayed, but the wait is over! 

JUNE | Leafy and Ballband Washcloths | THROUGH July 10th

Leafy Washcloth by Tricksy Knitter

Ballband Dishcloth from Mason Dixon Knitting

With how busy things have been for our little family, I can only imagine that we're not alone in the chaos as of late and I hope that the simplicity of wash/dishcloths is welcome. I wanted something low-stress, fun, small, and quick to knit. Also, we desperately need some new wash/dishcloths.

I'm planning on using some of ourlovely Blue Sky Fibers Worsted Cotton for mine (especially great for face and body cloths and babies because it's SO soft). Of course, traditional kitchen cotton (Sugar n Cream, Peaches n Cream...) are great for kitchen dishcloths, so I might end up stash diving for kitchen dishcloths, but we'll see. Both patterns are available for free on ravelry and I'm guessing you can't just make one. *wink*

If you'd like to join me in using the Blue Sky Fibers Worsted Cotton, Firefly Fibers is offering 15% OFF all solid colors of Worsted Cotton through Sunday, June 19th with discount code 'HandmadeJune'!

And... as promised, it's almost giveaway time! Since I've been absent, we're going to extend the giveaway through the end of this project (July 10th) - yes, that means you can knit cloths to your hearts content this month and have even more chances to win! Here's a peek at what you could win...

To be entered, just make sure you've signed up officially here and shared your WIP either in our ravelry group or tagged your photos with #handmadealong on social media to be eligible (you don't have to finish, but we love seeing your FOs). Good luck!

Thanks so much to everyone that's been participating and I hope you'll join again to knit some cloths with me over the next few weeks!

Cheers!

Wedding, Washcloths, and Giggles

As I was settling in to write a blog post today, I noticed my last post was quite some time ago (20 days to be exact). There's been a lot going on and as fall is settling into the air, hopefully things will settle down just a wee bit. This last weekend a dear friend got married (the one I knit the shawl for). She's amazing. Her new husband is amazing. They're amazing together. Pretty amazing all the way around, really.

I snapped a quick phone pic of the wedding location as soon as I arrived at The Brillion Nature Center. Pretty, right?

It was a beautiful day and the wedding was as amazing and unique as the happy couple. I can't wait to sort through photos on the camera.

The wedding was on Saturday so hubby took on the role of Mr. Firefly at Firefly Fibers for the day. The ceremony was out of town and close to my sister-in-law, so I stayed with her the night before and Mike met me at the reception after closing the shop. It was a grand time - thank you so much to my husband for helping out so I could be at the wedding and my sister-in-law for the slumber party.

In my typical style, I couldn't handle taking only a store bought gift to the wedding (obviously knitting a lace shawl for the bride wasn't sufficient in my mind - photos of that are coming soon), so I quickly cast on some washcloths last week to include in our gift. It was a close call with weaving in the ends on the morning of the wedding. I hope they love them - I know I do.

Pattern: New Log Cabin Washcloths by Purl Soho

Yarn: Skinny Cotton by Blue Sky Alpacas

Raveled: Wedding Log Cabin Washcloths

Two funny things from my time knitting these washcloths:

• I am a hopeless blocker. I block everything. It may be an illness. Obviously there wasn't time for a full washing and drying and I was without an iron the morning of the wedding, but there was a spray bottle and a flat iron for straightening hair. What was suggested as what I believe was a joke, worked marvelously. Take that MacGyver!
• Then, the night before the wedding at my slumber party, I was clicking away with my lovely company and this happened:

The cat failed at catching the annoying fly (not for lack of trying) and my glass of wine succeeded. Trying to snap a picture while giggling like mad as 'Isn't it Ironic' ran through my head was challenging. Actually, I'm still giggling and I hope you are, too.

Cheers!