Off the Needles | A super awesome green sweater!

This last spring, Woolstok arrived at Firefly Fibers and I didn't even consider casting on a small project, I knew I wanted to knit a sweater - sometimes the yarn just tells you what it wants to be. After much debate, I settled on Pink Memories by Isabell Kraemer and named my version, Green Mountains (shockingly, it's even updated on Ravelry page) because I was going to have it done in time for my family trip to Grand Lake, Colorado in mid-June. I'm nothing, if not optimistic, about the time it takes to knit an entire sweater.

I cast on June 10th and I was leaving on the 22nd, so I knew this was a VERY ambitious goal, but Isabell's sweaters are enjoyable knits that seem to fly off the needles. I spent every waking moment away from work knitting on this sweater and I set my goal for a week. It even went to a Horicon, WI park with me for a special Canyon Spells show.

But, alas... even with taking this with me everywhere I went for almost 2 weeks before my trip, it wasn't done in time. So, I took it on my trip with me and it was awesome to be sitting on the deck at our Colorado cabin knitting away with this amazing scenery. Maybe it's more special to have a little it of my home state knit into it?

So, even though I was actually binding off the last sleeve on the plane on the way back to Wisconsin, knitting this gorgeous sweater in 17 days, really wasn't so bad. I love it even more than I thought and would and when I think of the places it went with me, I love it even more!

It was much too warm to wear it upon my return (we had a crazy hot summer), so it was displayed at the shop for a few months and finally came home with me the beginning of October just in time for Kraut Day! 

I'm now on my 3rd Woolstok sweater and I might need an intervention, because more are planned in my head. 

CHEERS!

Leisure Time | Kraut Day

It might be hard to believe, but my family has an annual Kraut Day. What is Kraut Day, you ask? It's the day that we get together with Mr. Yarnista's family and make sauerkraut. It's a really awesome thing. There was some debate at this year's gathering about what year this was and (thanks to my ridiculous skills for keeping track of things), 2016 marked the 6th Annual Kraut Day!

Mr. Yarnista shows off his coordinated Port Huron Brewery attire and beer, while holding a 10lb head of cabbage (and this was one of the smaller ones).

 It's a day that we very much look forward to and, either others were simply curious or we made it sound like loads of fun, because this year, we had 18 family members attend! The OKT (Original Kraut Team) formed in 2012 with 5 members and has grown a bit each year, but the 18 attendees this year, made it clear that this really is a thing (or maybe we're just really popular). 

So, how do you make kraut, you ask? First you need a 5 gallon bucket, then you need cabbage, pickling salt, and a food processor. Oh, and beer. Kraut cannot be made without a beer in the hand. Optional items are: rubber gloves, carpet square (for the knees), and knee pads.

Once you have all your supplies, you'll shred cabbage and begin layering cabbage and salt in your (super fancy) bucket. With each layer, you'll do a bit of smushing so the cabbage releases water. You'll continue repeating this layering process until your bucket is full'ish and then top it off with a bag of water to seal things up while the fermentation is in process. Kraut Day is early in October and the kraut should be ready for canning or freezing at the end of the year. It's SO good!

See, it's all very fancy and scientific. 

If you want to try making your own sauerkraut, thekitchn.com has a recipe for a smaller batch in a mason jar - I realized that not everyone is crazy about kraut and "needs" a 5 gallon bucket of it. I love fermenting in small batches and currently have a jar of homemade kimchi in process - I tried a new recipe this time and I'll share that once I can test it out for taste. 

Do you ferment? If so, what's your favorite to make?

This year's Kraut Day was October 1st and it was cool enough for me to wear a new sweater. The light rain gave way to a beautifully sunny afternoon, so I'll have FO pics of my new sweater to share with you next time...

CHEERS!

SIMPLY HANDMADE-ALONG | October Creativity

I’m going to be honest… I have TOO many projects on the needles (and other creative endeavors in progress). As I lug around my TWO knitting bags (each with several WIPs) and look at my creative studio with an almost finished dress, I only want to cast on or start working on something new. Really, I know this is ridiculous, but I can’t help myself. Am I alone here?

As I was deciding on this month’s Simply Handmade-along project, I thought maybe you were feeling the same, so…

OCTOBER | CREATIVITY | THROUGH NOVEMBER 7TH

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve realized that I’m not the only one succumbing to the casting on of “all of the things” – this has been a common theme at the shop and amongst my friends. (Please note… we admit this to each other because we live together in this crazy world of yarn/fiber/creativity, but I know admitting it to anyone else would result in us being carted off to a padded room. So no need to worry, I respect your confidentiality and will not divulge names.)

I think we all understand that it’s totally counterproductive to create more work, when you already have more than enough, but we can’t help ourselves. Yes, I’m feeling overwhelmed and although I’d like to blame the chill of the autumnal air (I might have already, at least once), or the pretty new yarn that arrived at Firefly Fibers (it really WAS talking to me like a lost puppy, so it had to come home), but I’m not so foolish that I don’t know that I only have myself to blame.

As I’ve been resisting new projects (with rare exception for work-related ones) and thinking about why this happens (to me at least) and it’s simply because I don’t make time for creativity. Maybe it’s different for you, but my (ridiculously obvious) revelation is one that had me thinking that this month’s project should be making time to be creative.

I’m a firm believer that knitting and creativity in general are good for the mind and soul. Yet, it seems that more often than not, one busy day turns into two, three, or four days, or even an entire week since I’ve done anything creative. Then when I have time to finally sit down, I feel like I “deserve” or “need” a shiny new project as a reward. How does that make any sort of rational sense?

Now, I’m not saying that I won’t cast on anything new (I know I will and I have plans for that this weekend), but my hope with making time to work on projects will have me confidently starting something new because I've been finishing projects. It seems like a win-win to me.

Where am I going to find the time and how am I going to do this? I have a rough idea and I’ll share that with you, but I’m also curious about how you will (or already do) make time to be creative and how we can learn from each other…

So, I've started a new thread here in our Ravelry group for us to share our goals, processes, and our progress so we can learn, encourage, inspire and celebrate together over the next 4 weeks. As always, I’ll be checking into our Ravelry group and sharing photos on Instagram, and I hope you'll share, too! I’d love to see what you’re working on, so please use hashtag #simplycreative2016 so we can all celebrate making time to be creative.

Are you in? I hope so! Let’s get creating!

CHEERS!