Dishcloths and Jam

Blog? Hunh? What's a blog? Wait, I have a blog??

Oh yeah. ... totally forgot about that one.

Just joking. But it's been so long since I've blogged that it feels like I've forgotten about it. I have the general excuses of being busy. (My go to excuse...) But so many things have been keeping me busy and not blogging. Things like CAMPING! So much fun!! :) Things like my garden. Things like soccer 4 nights a week most of the time. Things like having a TON of tiny homegrown pears to use up. (Well, grandma-grown pears.)

I used some of those pears to make jam:

The pear jam is the one on the left. Doesn't it look yummy? It is! I'm so proud of it!! It's cinnamon/ginger pear jam. And once I was done my mom took the spatula to the pot and cleaned out every last drop. She loved it too!

So the jam above is for the Steph Chows 2nd Annual Jam exchange. Yay! I love jam exchanges. :) I'm sending Pear jam, peach jam, blueberry jam and cucumber sula. (Cucumber Sula is a family recipe that makes a relish. I don't love it, but the rest of my family does...)

And I'm also sending two granny square dishcloths. Com'on. I can't not send something I knit.

Not the cutest thing ever, but I thought they were cute in the simple old-fashioned I-just-made-jam sort of a way. Right? Plus, SUPER simple to make. I'm still liking simple these days.

So hopefully my jam exchange buddy enjoys my jam. Can't wait to see what I get! :)

Easy is good

In case y'all hadn't noticed... I've kinda been in a crafting slump of late. That's why it took me a month to finish this bolero! I just haven't felt inspired to knit or craft recently. Maybe it's because it's SUMMER. Or maybe because I'm so busy with a super secret project. Or because I play soccer 3 times a week. Or perhaps it's because I'm turning !30! . Um... no. I don't think that last one is it...

What ever the reason, I figured I'd do the only sensible thing there is to do. Go back to basics.

Garter Stitch!

I decided to make some dishcloths. You can't get more easy than that! Good thing they are super cute!!

But be prepared to see a lot of simple little projects over the next little while. I'm hoping they will pump me up and inspire me to do more exciting stuff!

That's Hew to you

I'm finally done! This bolero/shrug thing has taken me a month, but it's worth it. I think I love it!

I made a few modifications that I'm not sure I'd do again. I slipped the first stitch at the start of every row on both the body and the collar. I thought on the body that would make it easier to pick up one stitch while adding the collar. It didn't really. For the collar I thought it would make the edge smoother and lie flat. The jury is still out on that one.

The thing I like the least about this sweater is my fault too. From reading other people's notes, I added 12 sts under the arms. Big mistake. The sweater is bulky there now and you can see the shirt underneath. See. -->

So next time I won't add so many stitches, and then I think it'll be perfect! Now I have to block it. But first I'm going to wear it.