*Insert big girly scream here*

I recently got engaged to a very awesome man. I'm so lucky, and very excited! To make for an interesting story to tell people a postal worker stole my engagement rings out of the mail. I decided to use the incident as an excuse to knit (because I really need a reason...). Until the new rings arrive (sometime in October hopefully), I knitted myself a placeholder. I used Habu textiles %100 Ramie, and 0000 needles.

Above are the rings we're waiting on. The Garnet is my engagement ring and the Onyx one is for funsies. We ordered the ring in the inset image later to stack next to the garnet, to make it asymmetrical. They were designed by Blanca Monrós Gómez, a designer I've admired from a far for a while. She has been really great through the whole ordeal. She FedExed James the wax molds and sent an image of the rings she had taken prior to shipping, for him to have something to propose with.

Berry Hats

This pattern is a mash up of Michele Sabatier's Berry Baby Hat and the Greenleaf Baby Hat, by Evelyn Uyemura. The purple one is toddler size and the pink one is for a newborn.

To combine the patterns I used the instructions for the Berry Baby Hat up to the last 4 stitches. Before I started the icord, I K2tog one more time to end with 3 stitches on the needle. Then I proceeded with the 1/2 inch icord and the greenleaf pattern to finish. Voila!

For the new Veselka

Finally, something knitted on my knitting blog... This is a blanket for my cousin's new baby. I found the pattern, by Genia Panck, on Ravelry. The yarn is Lion Brand Cotton-Ease which is a poly-cotton blend that is machine washable and dryable. The final measurement is about 36" in diameter. This project would be great for a newbie knitter if they could get a little help with the first few rows. The blanket is a cinch to knit from there.

The border is 2 rows of seed stitch then a row of YO, k2tog. Then 2 more rows of seed stitch and binding off in pattern.

It was a busy Christmas

The "Mustard Scarf" by Jane Richmond was a gift for James mother. It was a fun project and quick to knit up and I used Malabrigo kettle dyed wool. The hats are the "Really warm hat" by Melissa LaBarre. These were also a simple project that were fun to knit up.

For some of our friends we made a mulled wine mix based on a recipe by Ina Garten and, tied it to a bottle of wine. These were easy and created the need to buy a Clover pom pom maker. I now have one in almost every size. Pom Pom makers are easy enough to create at home with some cardboard, but I felt for the quantities I was making the store bought version were worth the extra cost to save a little time.

When we watched the Family Guy rendition of Star Wars with my sister she found Cleveland's character R2-D2 particularly entertaining. So for Christmas I embroidered her this picture and stretched it over a canvas to make a wall hanging. My favorite part was creating his 'fro out of french knots. I used a screen shot from the movie, traced it and transferred it on to the fabric using a heat transfer pencil then retraced it with a fabric marker.

Socks rock!

This is my first pair of socks to knit. I finished them in January and I love them more than I thought it possible to love a pair of socks. I never had the need for socks and didn't understand the obsession with knitting them until I moved to a city that has a decent public transportation system, and weather that requires them.

Although there were a few bumps in the beginning of the project*, I really enjoyed this pattern overall. They fit so well I will probably knit another pair using it.

*A note about the pattern: there are some pretty significant changes which caught me off guard and caused some frogging. Check the pattern corrections online before you start.

Comfy Socks by:Ulli S. Shibuya

French Press Cozy

This is currently keeping my coffee very warm. I used buttons I had lying around to fasten it, but I would like to put some chunky dark wooden buttons on when I get around to it. I like the fact that the stripes are so close together in color. I think I will try that again somewhere else.

French Press Cozy by:Derek & Lauren