Wedding Weekend

Ryan and I just returned from Michigan, where we had been for a week to celebrate my little sister's wedding!!

Aren't they just the cutest!?

It was so much fun to celebrate with the entire family and be all together. The wedding was just beautiful and I cried a lot [surprise, surprise]. I'm so thankful for my new brother-in-law!

I just love my sisters!!!

And this dude is pretty okay too. We will celebrate our 3rd Annivesary in about 2 weeks...my how time flies! 

Happy almost weekend!! 

So much alpaca fleece!!!

It happened guys, alpaca fleece galore!

Beth and I each bought 3 small fleeces of our own, then we bought a few more to split. I'm researching drum carders and spinning wheels so I can start making this gorgeous fleece into yarn! I enjoy my drop spindle, but with this much fleece I would be spinning til the cows come home! Any carder or wheel recommendations?

I wish you could feel the fleeces...they are so so so soft.

Pure alpaca joy!

Simple Ribbon Headband Tutorial

It took me over a year, but I've finally put together a tutorial for the ribbon headbands! These are super simple and quick, and would be a great beginner sewing project. You can use any width of ribbon you'd like, depending on what kind of look you prefer.

I [obvoiusly] used Scandinavian ribbon. You can find a variety of Scandinavian-style ribbons on Etsy [TrimKo has quite a few options], or you can buy whatever type of ribbon you find cute at Michael's or Jo-Ann Fabrics.

You will need:

15 inches of ribbon (width of your choice)

15 inches corresponding width, backing ribbon (I used plain black/navy grosgrain)

5 inches of 1/4" thick black elastic

Scissors

Invisible thread (not pictured)

Note: These headbands are made "one size fits most". Shorten your elastic length if you are making a headband for a very small child.

To start, place the wrongsides of your main ribbon and backing ribbon together.

Fold under the end pieces of the ribbon 1/2", and tuck 1/2" of your elastic between the two ribbons. Secure with pins and sew back and forth over the elastic, using your invisible thread. You will want to make sure you do this around 4 times to ensure your elastic won't fall out.

Once your elastic is secured on one end, sew along the outside edge of both sides, sewing together the two pieces of ribbon. Leave a 1-inch gap at the end so you can fold under the ends. Repeat the folding and elastic sewing on the other end. Make sure your elastic isn't twisted before you sew the other end! I may or may not of sewed a couple with twisted elastic...oops! 

That's it - now you can wear your new headband or give it as a fun gift!

And if you aren't feeling very crafty, you can always purchase one from my Etsy shop here!

Who loves alpacas?!

Ever want to get your husband's attention? Tell him you want to buy an alpaca.

[source]

Long story short, I met a woman on the LA Yarn Crawl who owns 8 alpacas and she sells their fleece. My initial thought was, "I would love to have a herd of alpacas!". Turns out you don't even need to live on a farm to own alpacas - you can agist them at neighboring farms!

However, agistment is kinda pricey, and we don't live on a farm [yet]. So, I've decided to just buy a couple raw alapaca fleeces to process into roving and yarn. My friend, Beth, and I are going to try our hand at making our own drum carders so we can process the fleece quicker than using hand cards (which would take forevvvver with that much fiber). Then I'd love to try dying the white alpaca fibers with natural dyes, and eventually spin it into yarn. I have a drop spindle, but I have a feeling I'll be investing in a spinning wheel one of these days.

I'm going to buy one grey fleece and two white fleeces. Since I won't be buying an alapaca anytime soon, I've named the fleeces instead: Gandolf (the grey fleece), and Mary Kate and Ashley (the two white fleeces). I'm sure they'll keep me busy until I can someday have my very own alpacas. :)

Chicago Trip!

A couple weekends ago, Ryan and I ventured to Chicago for a quick trip for our friend's wedding [which was just beautiful!]. And while we were there, we got to stay with my sweet little sister and see my Dad for a day too!

After we arrived from our red-eye flight, we went straight to Andersonville once my Dad arrived and we got our fika.

 Naturally, we went to the Swedish American Bakery there for our fika. Back when I lived in Chicago, I lived in Andersonville, in walking distance to this bakery...dangerous!

 We got a marzipan frog, chocolate eclair, and some delicious almond tarts that I forgot to take a picture of.

 After our delicious fika, we walked around Andersonville for a while then went to Giordano's for lunch. We had to eat some Chicago pizza while we were there!

This crazy guy was very excited to try Giordano's.

 

And these crazy kids are getting married in less than two weeks!?!?! How is that possible?! My baby sister is all grown up. So excited to celebrate with them!

 And that was our weekend in a nutshell. Great times!

Yarn...and more yarn!

This may be last-minute, but better late than never! If you live in the Los Angeles area, you must go check out Itza Knitterie today before they close! It officially closes at the end of today (8pm I believe) and boy oh boy do they have some amazing deals going on.

See all this 100% Icelandic wool?! Each pack of 8 is $8 - only $1 per skein! It's the deal of a lifetime, folks.

Everything in the entire shop is 50% off, including these amazing handmade knitting needles in size US36! I've been wanting to make an oversize throw like this one for a while.

And I had to buy some of this baby llama yarn - so soft. I figured red and white are Scandinavian colors and I could make something Christmas-y with it.

I certainly have a lot of yarn right now. Many projects to come!