Psychic Knitter

Working on knitting projects for various charities is part of my crafting hobby. To save on costs I almost always use Red Heart yarn. I like the wide variety of colors they offer and the fact that the yarn is acrylic makes it a very good choice as well because most projects require the use of a machine washable yarn. When I was out shopping last week I came across Red heart Eco-Ways yarn which is a recycled blend of yarn. The color selection was limited and it was a little more expensive than the regular Red Heart, but it was still a good price. It seems to be a bit softer than the regular Red Heart yarn as well. I'm planning to use these two balls for a square with a two color pattern. I can't wait!

As winter finally reached Colorado these last couple of weeks, I hunkered down to knit by the warmth of my fireplace, flanked as usual, by my old black cat,Sam. I have discovered that I love knitting cables and showcasing a design on a tarot bag. The bags are fun to design. I love the primitive look of them. I am now working on one that I hope will become my Dancing Irish Fairy bag. We shall see what the fairy folk have in mind as the piece progresses. :)

Since my last posting I have opened up a shop on Etsy called Toad Werks. I have branched off from my knitting a bit and into some sewn items and different types of prayer beads. My shop is an off shoot of my main business which is tarot readings. I am not an expert crafter, but I do enjoy doing crafty things and thought it might be fun to put some items up for sale; particularly tarot related things. I like to use tarot cloths because they protect my cards and because they are so much fun. Even more fun is to match them to the different decks I have. I find that expressing my creativity, the natural outlet for a magical life. Cheers!

I finished my second tea cozy Sunday night which called for a Martini! (what else?) I really like this one and doubt I will be able to part with it. I can see this is going to be a problem indeed. The picture doesn't do the colors justice try though I did to get a good shot. I love the simple mock weaving technique although it is a bit time consuming.I call this one Mad Hatter tea cozy but honestly I picked up some yarn yesterday that may make this one look a lot less crazy. I am currently working on a mute multi-color cozy that has a retro feel to it with cocoa, pink and green. At this point it is going to have buttons all over it which should be interesting. My little pink retro cozy is very sweet but photographs poorly so it will probably forever be mine. I was thinking if I get tired of making tea cozies I could always make a Martini Shaker cozy. You know, to protect one's fingers from freezing while shake. Oh yeah, I'm onto something now.......

As 2009 was beginning to fizzle, my knitting was beginning to sizzle due in part to the holiday gifts I had to finish at the last minute. Once the gifts were finished (which were all scarves) I was anxious to start a new project and take on a new knitting challenge. I pulled out my two books on tea cozies and began the search for my next project. I think tea cozies came to mind because I've been drinking a lot more tea now that winter has fully arrived here in Colorado. To me, tea seems ever so much cozier than a cup of a coffee on a cold snowy day. I dug my way through my enormous stash of yarn and chose a very inexpensive retro looking pink yarn. And so it began, my first tea cozy. I am now on my second cozy and am using Red Heart yarn this time. What a lot of knitters don't like about Red Heart is the stiffness of it. This otherwise annoying quality actually works well with a tea cozy because it will almost stand by itself which is a good quality for a tea cozy. It is my hope to finish three of them and post them for sale on my tarot website sashastearoom.com I am hoping that when I add the additional tag to my site it will help me to drum up more business for my site. Since just before the holidays I have been PLURKING my hobby woes. It's somehow comforting to be able to sound off a bit while working on the seemingly endless knitting project. If you plurk come join me and we can share our woes and maybe a martini.Cheers!

Friday was one of those perfect summer days. I decided to take advantage of it and so I grabbed my knitting bag and headed out to the back yard. Once I spread my beach towels out I let the four fur devils out to romp around. For sanity purposes I chose to knit some squares I am making for a retro colored afghan I have in mind. The simplicity of the pattern on the squares makes it perfect for the many times I had to get up and chase after one of the cats who were getting too close to jumping the fence. Luna likes to run across the yard to me and climb all over me and let me know how much fun she is having while I am trying to make sure she gets untangled from my yarn. At one point Sasha was being groomed by her new little brother Merlin and as I watched I knew that there was no more perfect time than that moment. If the weather cooperates, I hope I can venture out again today with my shawl project and maybe a pitcher of martinis!

I'm just now getting over the post holiday shock. It's not that my life during the holidays is so hectic, but rather it was all of the last minute knitted holiday gifts I felt I just had to make that has caused my left eye to have a permanent twitch. As luck would have it I failed to take pictures of the items I lovingly knit for people. I say lovingly because after a few martinis everything seems wonderful as you knit. My most memorable piece was the knitted coin purse I made for one of my closest friends. I was knitting the thing until 2:30 in the morning the night before we were going to exchange gifts. Honoring the true spirit of the season, I made her promise before opening my gift, that her gift was equally worthy since I had put a lot of sweat equity into making it. Yep, we're still friends. After 15 years she's quite used to my quirky sense of humor.

Since the end of the holidays I have made my first ever hat using the dreaded double pointed needles. It was a helmet liner project for the troops. Mine was turquoise. Interesting color choice I know, but details were never my forte. I also made myself a mini coin type purse, finished a pink scarf that has been on the needles forever and am continually knitting squares for afghans. The newest project sponsored by The Recycles Lamb(now on Ravelry!) is for Family Tree which is a non profit organization helping women and children escaping domestic violence. The plan is to have 10 afghans completed by Easter. Ackkk!

On a more technical note, I have finally broken down and joined Facebook. I needed one more distraction in my day I suppose. Happily a lot of my knitting friends are on it and now I actually know their first and last names! I am also trying to wean myself off of AOL and save myself a bit of money each month. I don't really need it as a web browser.

My new kitten Merlin is a frustrated knitter. The little guy will grab the entire ball of yarn (needles and all) and make a run for it. So much for leaving stash around the house.

Speaking of stash, mine has been slowing increasing. It's mostly the Red Heart yarn that I have been using to make my squares and cat blankets for the shelters. Because of the price and variety of color, Red Heart is a great choice for charity knitting. This week I got a retro looking skein of theirs called "Cherry Chip". It's reds and browns. Really fun.

If you notice that I don't post a lot on this blog you are correct. I do most of my postings on myspace under sashastearoom. This too may change in the near year as I am becoming quite the wild and crazy computer girl.

Wow, is it time for a martini yet?