Working Out of Home

I still don't have access to my apartment since the ceiling is taking longer than expected to be repaired.  They found that pigeons were able to nest in the roof and when they opened the ceiling eveything fell in my living room.  I can just imagine them trying to get the pigeons onto the front balcony; it must have been hilarious.

The boyfriend leaves early for work so I thought I would do some updating to my Etsy shop from the McDonald's near work.  He has no Internet, so grabbing a cup of coffee and using their wifi seemed like a good idea. It's been two mornings in a row and I must tell you I prefer working from home.

First, I get to choose the choice of music or even that I don't want to listen to music.  Which is one thing I have noticed, I don't knit much with music in the background.  I much prefer watching episodes of M*A*S*H or watching a game of baseball or hockey than listening to music.

Second, at home I don't have to listen to people's one-sided conversations on their cell phones. This is one BIG pet peeve of mine and it's worse when trying to work.

I know lots of people love to work in coffee shops and such but give me my apartment any day.  Hopefully I should be able to return to it tonight.

So, do many of you actually enjoy working away from home in coffee shops and so on?  Can you please explain to me why?

Knits By Nat Etsy Shop is Three Years Old!

My shop is three years old today.  To celebrate you can enjoy 30% OFF every item in the shop by using the coupon code : THIRTYOFF.

I also have this video for you, hopefully you will enjoy it.

End of the Year Bowling Party

It's official bowling season is over.  Tuesday, May 1st was the last night we played but today was our end of the year party for the Tuesday night league.  It's a very small league with only 40 players and we have so much fun during the year!  We did sadly have one of our players die during the season.  She was such a lively person and is still dearly missed by us all.

The party was lots of fun with great music and good food.

As usual I came away with an individual prize and this year it was for the best game with my 2 perfect games of 300.  Here's the trophy acknowledging my feat. 

We also have an award given every year to the two top people male and female who play the most 69-169-269 over the season.  Every single time we play such a score anywhere during the game we pay 50 cents.  I have been known to play 69 and 169 in the same game and having to pay $1.00 then.  This year I really expected not to be anywhere near the top but I beat my own teammate.  She played 15 of them and I played 16.  Thankfully there is no "69" trophy for this award but I did win some money!

It's funny how much I enjoy playing bowling and it was after all the place I met my current boyfriend.

Is there a sport or hobby you now like to do which you never would have expected to like?

Simple Way to Store My Felt Flowers

A while back I ordered some non-wool eco friendly felt flowers from this shop on Etsy : ifeltsprightly http://www.etsy.com/shop/ifeltsprightly .  I just love them but still had them in their original plastic bags not knowing what to put them in.


Finally I thought of my button container :

 

So, I found another one and here's how my collection looks :

Now if I could only find something to put these bigger flowers in.  I haven't found a container yet big enough to fit them in.  The divisions are too small.

What are some neat ways you store your craft supplies?

Working on the Little Arrowhead Shawl

I have been wanting to knit shawls for a while now but somehow the construction of how they are knit was puzzling me, especially when it comes to lace patterns.  I have knit one which was basically rows of purl/knit and some eyelets but it wasn't a lace pattern per se.

So looking through Ravelry I found this basic Arrowhead pattern shawl and decided to knit it.  I have already knit a few scarves with this very lace pattern and realise how simple a lace pattern it is.  It's a pattern by Pam Allen and available at Interweave Knits : http://www.knittingdaily.com/free-lace-knitting-patterns-collection/

Here are some shots of my progress with the shawl.  Here's a few pictures of it in progress.

 

I am really enjoying knitting this shawl and already thinking of some wonderful lace patterns I can knit.  I am using Bernat Satin yarn and looking forward to see how it will block.

One of My Photos Used for a Yarn Sale Invitation

My photo of some cones of yarn I bought from La bobineuse de laine is being used for this yarn sale invitation.  It's happening today and tomorrow in Bruxelles.  If it was on this side of the ocean I would be there in a heartbeat.  So, if I have any readers in Belgium go for me and tell me all about it.

It's great having someone ask to use one of your photos.

Another Computer Crash and New Cowl

Yes, I have had my computer crash yet again.  This time I decided I needed a new one and bought one last Friday.  I love the new computer but still hope to be able to fix the old one.  I miss my big monitor and sadly I had not backed up my photos from 2011.  The rest were all copied on USB drives.  So, sadly all the new coffee cup cozies and the new cowl photos are not available; I had erased them from the camera memory card as well.

So, here is the new cowl pattern. The pictures I wanted to show you of it in progress are not available but here are the photos of the finished cowl.

The first one is knit with 100% acrylic yarn from La Bobineuse in colours of royal blue, green, grey, brown and taupe.

 

This second cowl is knit with 100% acrylic yarn in a blue-green colour.

The last one is knit with a mushroom coloured 100% acrylic yarn.  The stitch pattern used to knit these cowls is very lovely I find.  I like the fact it looks the same on both sides.