You know when it happens...

If you have ever knitted, or crocheted or sewn, or let's face it...glued something together sometimes there comes a moment. It's a sneaky little moment that happens that second right before you slab on the superglue, right before you turn a corner in your crocheted item. It's the moment when you inexplicably know that something is wrong. You know that you've dropped a stitch, you've sewn the fronts together or you've mismeasured. So, you count, you look, you search for that mistake. You check your pattern, you look your instructions over, you even do the unthinkable and put the project down. Step away and give it time to be alone. You come back and count and search and check and still...nothing. No mistake to be found. No error in judgment, glue or stitching.

You forge on. You knit and purl. You double crochet til the end. You glue and sew and surge forward.

BUT, you still have that feeling. That twinge in the bottom of your stomach that tells you something is off. You tell yourself that you counted. You tell yourself that everything has to be fine and that this Nervous Nelly feeling is just silly. You get done with your project and you take a moment to look at your work and evaluate.

It's at this moment that something just doesn't look right. Did I miss something? you ask. You take one final look at your pattern. One final look at the stitching. This is the moment when you realize you worked the entire hat with the wrong size needles. Instead of a 5mm needle, you used a US #5. If you're a knitter, you know my mistake. You know that these are definitely not the same and you curse the difference with me. I have told myself that I'm not the only one who has made this mistake and that I'll certainly not be the last. Even with all this telling myself this or that, that hat still isn't going to fit right.

There's always Christmas presents to give out though...pictures to come on Wednesday.

-Allie

Friday Finds

Today I give you a few of lovely blogs that have served me well as a source of inspiration or creativity. I hope you enjoy.

Gussy Sews: Maggie is a wonderful seamstress with a big heart. You will love her blog in an instant!

Elise Blaha. enJOY it: Elise gives us an inside peek at her project-filled life. Get ready to be busy, because this girl makes you want to round up the projects for sure.

Yarn Harlot: The very first knitting blog I followed. Stephanie is truly an inspiration to any aspiring knitter or writer. 

The Pleated Poppy: Another small business owner that gives us a peek into her creative atmosphere. 

These are just a few of the blogs I look for updates on. I hope you find something you can enjoy with each of them!

On the Needles

Because life didn't go as planned today, I wasn't able to take pictures of some of my current projects. Call it poor planning, call it bad luck...either way, no pics.

So to move on in life (and not disappoint the masses obviously), I formulated a new plan. Both of my current projects are ones that I have found patterns for online. So pictures have been posted there and I was able to snag some there. I hope that soon I will either have photos of my own progress or finished object pics. Keep your fingers crossed.

Project #1: Braided Homegirl by Roxanne Villemaire. This pattern is available for free on Ravelry. That's also where I snagged the picture from. I love the evergreen color, but I had none of that vibrant jeweled color in my stash and so I am using a Violet Purple in Caron Simply Soft. It's knitting up beautifully so far. It's a super easy pattern and I am appreciative of this as this is only my third attempt at knitting a hat.

Project #2: Big Herringbone Cowl from the Purl Bee. This project is also free on the Purl Bee website. I have been working on this project off and on for a long time, but can't seem to finish it. I started it a little late in the season last winter and didn't finish before the weather changed. I picked it back up this fall and have been working on it here and there. I am anxious to get this project OFF the needles! Mainly because I want to snuggle up with it this winter. I would have loved to have used the yarn suggested, but that would have cost about $80. I love me some scarfs, but that's a lot of love. I'm using a lovely shade of light grey from a Martha Stewart yarn. It's luxuriously soft and a wonderful color.

Come back and see my next week on Wednesday for an update on my latest projects and see if I made any progress!

-Allie

About Allie.

Have you ever tried to describe yourself to complete strangers? I can tell you now there are easier things to do in life...

I just turned 25 in May and I'm still learning what that means besides that I'm normally in a different age bracket on questionnaires now. I was married in June to a wonderful man whom I love dearly. I have known him since I was a little kid. His sister has been my best friend since we were in Kindergarten together. No, this isn't one of those sweet stories about we always knew we were meant for each other and we were high school sweethearts. I'm not going to lie, it would be better if it were. We were always friends, but never more than that until a couple years ago. It was like we just realized that we were allowed to date and it might be a good idea.

Up until recently I worked for a group home for teenage males who are in state's custody. It was a hard job some days, but rewarding most of the time. My position was eliminated and now I am in search of an oh-so-perfect job. My aspiration is to one day be a counselor for youth and young adults. I love working with people and getting to know others. I can be a bit of a talker, but I am much better at listening.

 

I spend most of my time now reading, writing or crafting something. I love to do those things a great deal. I'm generally always busy doing something and because I have so many things I like to do I am rarely bored. This may be because I am very easily entertained and it doesn't take much to keep me going on a project. Watch out when I've had a bad day though because I'm likely to come home with a new hobby to take my mind off of things. I have recently started selling my crafty items at local barn and craft sales. I'll be sure and let you know where I will be next appearing!

 

I grew up in Tennessee and I still live here. I couldn't imagine calling anywhere else home. It has it's good and bad points, but it's home. I have a large family that I love to spend time with as often as possible and I'm blessed to have most of them less than two hours away.

I have been amazed with life so far and I don't intend to stop now. I try to view each day as a new adventure and I'm learning to try and take more risks. I'm just now realizing that so far I have lived a fairly safe life with no big risks and I'm finding that with few risks there are few possibilities. I want to spend time doing things that make me happy and a better person.

*Click HERE to be directed to MK Photography's facebook page. She did my wedding photos and I can't believe how amazing they are. No, I wasn't paid to say this. She is just a dear friend and deserves the recognition.

Friday Finds...

Good morning!

I wanted to start our first weekly feature this week. It's called "Friday Finds". Like most people these days I spent an inordinate amount of time on the internet. Whether it be over my phone or on the laptop, I run across so many things that I find interesting or inspiring or helpful or you get the idea.

Here I will link to all the things I have found that I think we can't live without seeing. It could be food, crafty stuff, something artsy, or a plethora of many other different things. Hopefully y'all will enjoy the finds on Friday and will possibly link up with me and share some of your own. I have a habit of finding new and improved ways of spending more time on the internet.

For the first ever Friday Finds, I have the following links to share with you!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

A fabulous looking recipe that I've decided I must try from "Jamie Cooks It Up". Click on the title for a link to the recipe and ENJOY!

Mason Jar full of Memories

I am thinking of trying to convince my husband to start this with me after the new year. You find a jar, fill it with memories throughout the year and then on new years you share them together. I think it's a sweet idea that I'm sure we would enjoy. Just think if you kept going and had jars for every year. You could reminisce about the year your first child was born or the year they left for kindergarten anytime just by pulling down a jar. *tears*

**Watch your childhood (or mine at least) flash before your eyes with this Harry Potter video.

**A few of my favorite books right now: The Night Circus, The Secrets of Mary Bowser, and The Fault In Our Stars. They are all fabulous and complete page turners!

Hope you enjoyed this edition of Friday Finds...come back to visit again!

-Allie

Hi!

Hey there. 

I'm so happy to meet you in the internet sense of I haven't actually met you. I have been reading blogs for a very long time and one day not so long ago I got the idea that I could do it too. So to get started I will do the obligatory post of telling you who I am and what I'm all about.

I'm Allie. I'm a 25 year old, southern girl. I am a newly wed to my amazing husband, Kenny. Crafts, writing, reading and projects take up a lot of my time. My husband can vouch for that. He likes to joke that I like my "pretty string" better than him. I like to say that it's mostly not true (Ha!). But there is something about my yarn and my knitting needles that's like nothing else. I can sit down with a freshly rolled skein and little sharp sticks and I can make something. It's a little like magic and I think that sometimes a lot of times life needs a little more magic. Now, I have to say that I haven't been knitting for all that long and sometimes it doesn't always end up like I think it should. We all have those projects that start out one way and end up somewhere totally different. Sometimes, we just don't think things through all the way. It happens. Life is a fickle thing.

Here you will hear about some of my current projects, interests and slight obsessions. In short, you'll hear about my life. The ups, downs and sideways jolts that happen along the way. I hope that we can be friends and talk about pretty things. I hope to introduce some daily and weekly features to keep you coming back and interested. I'll warn you now that some days I won't be here. I just told you I had a lot of hobbies and those hobbies take time...so yeah. I get busy and distracted sometimes. You'll forgive me right?

See you soon. :0)

-Allie
*Photo Source: http://thetruemeaningoflife.tumblr.com/