Lately…
Things have been quiet around The Crafty Minimalist lately, and it’s because I was soaking in some quality family time over summer vacation. I reveled in the early morning walks with my daughter, ate popsicles, watched Murder, She Wrote (strangely enough, I find that show like a warm hug - happy memories of watching it as a child combined with my undying fierce love of Angela Lansbury), and did quite a lot of knitting. We took time out to do some small activities - some required like the dentist and school shopping - and some just for fun like mini golf and go-karting. Generally, it felt like a very restorative and precious time for me.
But… we’ve had a few weeks to get back into the school groove, and I’m back to it! There are a lot of EXCITING things coming to this space soon and I cannot wait to show it to you! But in the meantime, since I have taken a criminally small number of photos this summer, I’ll share with you some of my recent FOs.
First off, I have Alaska Gnome. Now, Alaska Gnome was not made with yarn from Alaska, nor made while we were on our Alaskan cruise. However, my daughter did pick out the colors in Indiana to be indicative of the Alaskan landscape before we left. And then I knit him once we were home. But what makes him special is he was made exclusively during Thor movies. Lol. We met Thor on the Disney Cruise and that is how my daughter decided to tie Alaska Gnome to Alaska. Works for me!
Anyway, he turned out adorable. I made him with two “sassy stash” mini skeins I bought at the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival from Created 4 U By Laura in Mt. Aqua and Blues - S. My daughter wanted it to be a “hand-held” - one she can easily grasp in her hand - but wanted it to be bigger than the first gnome I ever made her. That would be Galaxy, who I made from the ornament option of Never Not Gnoming. So basically, I made the medium gnome (that has a more distinct bottom than the ornament) and added one row to each time the pattern called for a series of plain rows (with no increases or decreases). Here Alaska Gnome is pictured with Galaxy for your reference in size difference.
Next up is my Halloween hat. I have been eyeing this pattern for at least a year, and finally decided it was time to make it! This one is just for me. :-) This is the Spooky Hat by Rosie Posie Knit Co. You may have seen me debating on background colors on Instagram, and navy won over gray. I’m so glad it did. It looks so good! I pretty much banged this out in 2-3 days because I was so excited about it. Perhaps most exciting is that I won yarn chicken! Thank goodness that I removed 4 rows of ribbing that the pattern called for way back at the beginning of the pattern (I don’t love ribbing, so I usually make it minimal on all my hats). See how much yarn is left?
The other exciting thing is that the orange for the pumpkins is actually leftover from my very favorite pair of fingerless mitts and I can’t wait to wear them together. I will look so chic taking my daughter trick-or-treating! It still needs a pom-pom. I have made a cute yellow one, but haven’t attached it. It’s on my list.
I’ve actually knit several other things since I blogged last, and made new products for the shop, but those will all have to come for a later post. It’s time for bed!