What have I been knitting on lately? I had several deadlines to knit for over the holiday season, and so it was a joy to get back to knitting what I enjoyed. In December, I cast on several things that I didn't give much focus until after the holidays. And then I had a sample knit in January. This month, I'm participating in some knitalongs. I'm really enjoying my knitting time.

FO: aangel shawl. I was swooning over a holiday colorway of Blue Moon Fiber Arts (pin) and my sweet friend Alicia sent it to me. it was a very angel-like thing to do, and it seemed perfect for the Be My Angel shawl by Martina Behm. I continued to participate in the Knitmore Girls behmalong with this project (following my Magrathea).

FO: Zaria shawl. When winter knitty 2013 came out, I loved the idea of Zaria by Shannon Squire of Portland's Twisted. I'd been trying to find the perfect pattern for some yarn my friend Erica dyed me, and this was perfect when held double. The yarn has burgundy, and a pinky red, and purple, and some blue in it, and it looks like the colors I put in my hair! I paired it with a coral that was sitting in my stash I was considering for an old project, and it is a little garish but an interesting combo. I realized after finishing the lace that I had changed which side of the shawl was increasing more quickly but I think it still works okay. The i-cord bind off really tied it all together nicely. Finished this for Finishuary with the Brass Needles podcast.

WIP: dubsteps. The Blurred Line socks by Megan Williams of Stockinette Zombies were on my mind since she first showed them off. When I managed to grab a destashing of my first Vesper sock from Meliabella, I knew they had to become this pattern. Since the yarn had no nylon, though, I decided to do them at a tighter gauge than my normal socks (down to size 0) and to reinforce the ball of the foot where I've been wearing socks out. These are coming along, I may have made them a touch big around but it think they'll be okay. I'm just slowly knitting on them between other stuff. These were named dubsteps because of the music name Megan had when naming the pattern and I've been enjoying dubstep-type music lately! These will be submitted for the Self-striping KAL for Stockinette Zombies.

WIP: Follow MY arrow. This is the mystery shawl from Ysolda Teague. I had never done a mystery shawl before and I was intrigued by the choose your own adventure style of the pattern. Every clue had two options to pick from. So far, I am in clue 4. I'm seeing the final clue on a few friends shawls, and it has me pausing to decide if I like it enough to finish. I could still unravel it (I didn't cut any of the yarn between color changes) and use it for a different purpose. Although it's a cool idea, I'm just unsure if it is one I will use a lot. If I do complete this, I'll submit it for Finishuary for Brass Needles and KnerdGirl Knits KAL. If I don't finish it, I may frog for Sassypantsknitter out with the old, in with the new KAL.

WIP: Crawling Roses. For the Rose City Yarn Crawl by Michele pdxknitterati, I wanted to participate in their mystery KAL and participate with my local yarn store's yarn choice. Pearl Fiber Arts was using a new-to-me yarn company, Thouroughly Thwacked, and I knew that would be fun to get to try something new. I picked two colors of reds and cast on right after the first clue came out. I got a little behind on clue 3, but saw a spoiler for a longer version from the designer, and I jumped on that idea but slightly different. I'm almost back to the end of clue 3. Knitting for the RCYC KAL and finishing for Finishuary with the Brass Needles podcast.

My wardrobe has changed an awful lot since last year at this time. Like almost entirely because of the difference in size. So I'm learning how to purchase pieces that can mix and match more easily. I have a limited number of winter wear, so I'm layering a lot. Instagram is getting to see a glimpse into some of my favorite #girly outfits, so I'll link a few of them below :)

Common themes: comfy and cozy. always at least one handknit. layered textures and prints. Kristine-colors. favorite jewelry.

Do any of them seem more "kristine-y" than others? :)

 

Last month, I wrote a spotlight on all the WIPs, FOs, and KALs I was knitting on. I enjoyed that little idea so much that I've been brewing a new update for you all.

KEY:
FO	Finished Object
WIP	Work in Progress
KAL	Knit A Long
queue	list of projects to knit on
stash	yarn on hand
frog	rip out a project.

I knit a lot. I have many brainstorms going through my head at any given time. This fall, my primary goal is to make myself some new things to wear. With my weight loss, I have no less than 15 hand-knit garments that are too big for me. That's a huge deal! (not to mention how much of my non-knit wardrobe had to be given away - almost all!). So while this may sound selfish that I'm knitting so much for ME, I'm trying to use the tools at my fingertips to re-clothe myself! :)

FO: Enchanting Temptress. This is the Tempted Cardigan from Knitty in Knit Picks Imagination, striping two colors of Enchanted Lake and Wicked Witch. it was modified to knit in one piece up to the armholes and then used Elizabeth Zimmerman's Set In sleeve method. There was a bit of engineering because I was doing it in one piece and EZ's instructions aren't straight forward either, but it all worked out in the end. This was actually a fun knit. I made a size down from my original plan, and I'm glad. I also choose to finish it off with a band but not buttons - I've worn it open or just with a barrette attaching it closed, and this looks really nice and gives it more versatility for me. I submitted this for 3 KALs: KnerdGirl Knits sweater KAL (FOs, ended 8/31), Yarniac's Colors of Fall KAL (FOs, Chatter, ended 9/22), and Down Cellar Studio's Fall Swearer KAL (FOs, Chatter, through 10/15).

FO: lucky13wren. This project has a great story. Aforementioned story and pictures to follow, after I'm happy with it :) It is finished and it may get overdyed. (Ok, this picture is me knitting on it during my anniversary trip!). I meant to finish this for the tvknittingpodcast KAL, and it was done in time, but I hadn't blocked or decided what I was going to do with it.

FO: Lichen Tide Cowl. finished using the rest of the yarn from my Lichen Tide cardigan for a cowl with the same lace pattern as the cardi. I actually wore this set together on our trip to the Maryhill Museum of Art and the Stonehenge replica in the gorge, both long and short by looping it around once or twice. When it was windy out there, my neck needed the coverage!

WIP: Happy Home. This is the Contented Cardi pattern by Hannah Fettig in Fibre Company's Canopy Worsted in the Paw Paw colorway. The story behind this cardigan is that Happy Knits in Portland had the knitbot trunk show (Hannah Fettig's line), and my friend Leslie and I got to see. That was late January, and I was still loosing weight, but I took a chance and tried on one of the sweaters. It fit perfectly, so pretty, and the yarn was just lovely. (the sample sweater was knit by cocoknits). I found the yarn on sale at Little Knits, and it seemed like kismet that it was the exact yarn in the sample knit with a colorway of name of Paw Paw. I grew up in Paw Paw, MI. So Happy (contented + happy knits) Home (for my hometown) seemed appropriate. Knitting wise, this yarn is a JOY to knit with. It's luxurious and has a lovely drape and even the edge is coming out flat and perfect. I'm knitting a size down from what I tried on, since my gauge swatch grew just a touch! and I'm a bit smaller than I was in January. But I am following the mod of the sample sweater and put the cables at the center of my lower back instead of upper back like the original. I did have to rip back 4-6" because of a color change issue that wasn't immediately noticeable. I'm happier for it, even though alternating skeins makes it a little less auto-pilot knitting. I may add this to my entry for the aforementioned Down Celler Studio KAL. I am almost to the final increase and then it will just increase on the beginning and end of the RS row until reaching the correct length.

WIP: new design project. Yarn by Yarn vs. Zombies. This is almost ready for test knitters!

When I was first starting on my knitting journey (fall of 2006!), I found a few podcasts. I was already pretty much of a big geek, and this seemed like a fun way to enjoy my new-found hobby by listening to others talk about it! I had just gotten my first iPod at the time, and learning how to use these audio files was great fun.

cartoon kristine: mascot of the Yarnings podcast!

Fast forward to a few years later, and podcasts were such a joy to me when I was mostly bed-bound from my illnesses. I started to interact with some of the podcasters on twitter and ravelry groups, and I got brave enough to meet a few of them at OFFF, and they encouraged me to start my own podcast (the currently inactive Yarnings Podcast, which I still think may come back some day). These lovely ladies and others I've met through podcasts are some of my dearest friends now, through the wonder of the internets to keep us connected.

Last year, I got an iPad, and was able to really explore videocasts in a bigger way. Between that and the boom of knitting friends on instagram, I was able to keep up with friends in a visual way, and I love that!

note the pink earbuds!

If I'm not listening to music at home, I'm listening to podcasts. If I'm out and about on my own, my pink earbuds are with me and I've got on something encouraging or entertaining. If I'm sitting in bed knitting, it's a regular feature in my instagram feed that you'll see what I'm knitting with my iPad featured with what I'm watching. So it's a pretty constant thing for me!

So without further ado, here are podcasts that I love and listen to/watch (links go to the podcast websites, where links can be found to download in a podcast app or listen directly from the site):

For non-knitting friends, the acronyms WIP, FO, and KAL might sound silly - they stand for "Work in Process", "Finished Project", and "Knit A Long" :) I've been knitting more the last few months, and it is making me super happy, and considering all these things. Ravelry is open in more browser tabs than I will admit most of the time! I've also been missing reporting on these things on my fairly defunct podcast, which may make a return someday.

FO: my On Caspertine, In Love socks is another attempt at a sock pattern I really loved and wore them out. I did a bit of math to make things work a little better this time around. And I used some yarn that reminds me of a movie which reminds me of love: Stardust, the airship's is Caspertine, and that's the colorway. Great movie, E and I watched it on our anniversary one year and so it will be forever linked with LOVE in my head. So the yarn colorway inspired the socks, which inspired picking a pattern with hearts that I loved, and it reminded me of love throughout! Yarn is from Toil and Trouble, with "bookishly inspired" colorways.

WIP: my Enchanting Temptress is the Tempting cardigan from Knitty in Knit Picks Imagination. It is a striped cardi that has been in my queue for years, and when this yarn was on sale, I picked these two, hoping they would go together for a steal. They most definitely do. current status: knit in one piece to the armholes, cast on for sleeves in the round, two at a time. need to buy buttons!

WIP: my lichen tide cowl is a long cowl using the lace pattern from the Low Tide cardigan I made earlier this summer. I cast on with JMCO and left those stitches live for easy grafting at the end. My friend Jennifer even knit a few repeats at coffee the other morning for me :) current status: I'm just knitting it until I run out of yarn! 17g of yarn left.

WIP: a re-knit of a pattern I designed several years back and haven't released yet. woot, I LOVE it, with Yarn Vs. Zombie yarn.

letting you in on some of my hopes and dreams and queuing it up in bite size chunks! If I had a podcast, these would be some of the things I shared ;)

next up, to watch: I just finished a complete re-watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I still have one season of Angel to go. Before next season, I'd like to get caught back up on the end of last season's Bones. And the next big thing I want to dig into with Eric is Supernatural. I still need to own Avengers so I can watch the specials!

next up, to read: We are slowly making our way through the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett (now on Soul Music, #16). I'm reading a wide variety of Health and Cookbooks from the library. And my next personal fiction listen will be Divergent by Veronica Roth. my goodreads profile

next up, podcasts: While the last few months have been super full, I've let the list of podcasts I was listening/watching get neglected. I'm working through back episodes of several of my favorites finally - I think I made it through 4 different shows this week that I really wanted to see the whole while-I-was-gone collection! There are others I'm going to have to declare podcast bankruptcy and mark as read and start from now!

next up, to knit: I've been collecting yarn and patterns to knit once I got closer to my goal weight. There are 6 contenders for the next sweater/top to cast on. All of these are in my stash, it's just time to figure out which is going to be the best one to have to wear next. And beyond that, there are the socks on the needles, a skein that needs to be turned into socks or a shawl for my anniversary trip. I also have several designs that need knitting/reknitting/test knitting, and a few things I set aside for a little while. my ravelry queue

pattern+yarn contenders 1

patterns+yarn contenders 2

 

next up, in the house: I'm doing a lot of deep cleaning. There are several closets that need a complete overhaul and several trips to goodwill. I need to determine what to do with the handknits that are too large for me. And I need to put a bunch of my stash up on ravelry as available to destash. I hope to "renovate" a drawer area to utilize for spices to free up another area of my countertop for useful tasks.

next up, in life: my anniversary is coming up soon :) Further out, I need to determine what the holiday season will look like and begin planning. My business will flourish, in the future. And I will keep working on my health very closely.

 

This is the coolest thing ever!  Amy (@amysnotdeadyet) turned me into a cartoon!  I'm a little weeble version of me.  I thought it would be lots of fun, so we did a trade - a cartoon for a shawl.  I made her a soft cotton version of the Wren Shawl in a beautiful purple-blackberry color.



Amy talks about her process in her blog post: Weeble Wednesday: Kristine Beeson

I took a few pictures wearing one of my favorite new outfits to give plenty of inspiration, wearing my own Wren Shawl to make it even more special and "me". 


Amy added a lot of features to really bring the drawing to life, like the iPhone that really is usually in my hand, and knitting needles, and of course the pinky-red streak in my hair and shiny shoes.

Cartoon-Kristine is now part of the design on the Yarnings Podcast site, where she greets you friendily from the sidebar.

Yesterday was November 1st, and it was a great day to refresh my sites and shop with everything new I've been working on lately.

Podcast is Live! After finishing recording my 3rd episode of the Yarnings Podcast, I decided to make it live to my main site and share it with my friends outside the knitting circle.  from the site: "The Yarnings Podcast is a new audio blog that talks about fibery/crafty projects with stories of cooking, geekyness, and more." 

kadyellebee patterns.  Even though I've been designing my own patterns for a while, I didn't have any live until yesterday.  The patterns site launches with the Wren Shawl, a knitted pattern for a round shawl designed to wrap around the wearer many ways.  This pattern itself has both charted and written instructions. 

kadyellebee on Etsy refresh.  3 new product lines were added to the kadyellebee shop, and all products got a retouch in their descriptions and keywords to make things easier to find.  The 3 new lines are the Wren Shawls, Rambaldi Scarves, and Woven Purses.  This is the culmination of hundreds of hours of designing, knitting/crocheting, and photoshoots!  

Three big things for a big day.  It is a great start to the holiday season, and makes me very excited for things to come :)

Over the last few months, I've been adding a few new podcasts to listen to.  I've been wanting to make a list to share of the ones I enjoy.  I'm currently tracking my podcasts on the blog on the craft column at kadyellebee.

• Knit Picks: the first podcast I listened to and it's consistently good with a nice mix of Knit Picks info, interviews, techniques, and lately we've heard more from other employees. podcast site, iTunes link, @KnitPicks
  
• Stash and Burn: found this before I started knitting because I worked with the husband of one of the hosts.  This is a great multiple-person podcast.  I have been introduced to a lot of new yarns and patterns here, in a pre-ravelry world!  They also have a love of similar TV to me, and so that adds a nice touch.   podcast site, iTunes link, @stashandburn
• Ready Set Knit: this is the podcast for the husband-wife owners of Webs, and it's an actual radio segment in their area.  It's nice and short and a nice little burst to keep me up on what is new in the yarn world.  The interviews are usually quite interesting without dragging because Kathy keeps them moving.  I'm not always as into Pixie's segment, but I'm sure it's helpful to some.  podcast site, iTunes link, @websyarnstore
  
• The Knitmore Girls: found this mother-daughter team at Sock Summit, and they are delightful.  They have a very nicely structured podcast, and they are passionate about their knitting and spinning.  They are in Southern CA and it's fun to hear the great places they go visit.  podcast site, iTunes link, @knitmoregirls
• Brass Needles: Miss Kalendar is not just a knitter, she's a scifi buff.  She's my first real introduction to steampunk and she does faires all dressed up. I first learned of Erin from The Knitmore Girls.  podcast site, @Miss_Kalendar
• The Manic Purl: Chrissy the great :)  Although her podcast is a little longer than I normally fit into my schedule, I find some great nuggets of info.  And it's fun to hear her Vancouver accent!  She has some Online Finds that she spotlights that are nice to explore.  podcast site, iTunes link, @manicpurl
• KIPing it Real: Jackie has a very nice voice to listen to.  She's from Missouri, and both knits and spins.  podcast site, iTunes link, blog, @KnitsAndWiggles
  
• Knitted Spoon: Knitting and vegetarian food and family.  Her husband joins her on occasion, and I enjoy that.  The Manic Purl podcast introduced me to her.  podcast site, iTunes link, @knittedspoon
• StitchIt!: Meghan is someone I've newly found, and even though she's on a sabbatical right now, her podcast was really interesting.  She had some really good thoughts for making 2010 be better for herself.  podcast site, iTunes link, @itsjustmeghan
• KnitCents: KIPing it Real introduced me to this new podcast.  Rachel gives tips for making your knitting budget count. podcast site, iTunes link, @Roue0824
• Periodically, I watch some video podcasts like CRAFT podcast, Etsy, and Let's Knit Together
  

If you are interested in following all of these people at once on Twitter, I have a podcast list with them all.

I've been looking for a knitting bag for a while now.  Can you help weigh in on my ideas?

I had already been kinda looking when Sock Summit came around, so that was a good chance to scope things out.  I came away with a little more knowledge, and a great project bag from JessaLu.  I also have several smaller project bags from Ravelry (one I purchased, one was from the meetup).  These are all great for taking for something small to work on, or to tuck into a bigger bag to bring when going elsewhere.

But I still need a real bag, a sturdy something I can carry multiple projects and all the other things I like having with me on a Knitting night, or even on a flight.  Coming up soon, we'll take a 10-day trip to CA, and I want something that can always be close at hand.  I've been using a free-with-purchase bag from Bath and Body Works, and it works, but it's getting worn out.  Plus, it's very summery, with pink and orange stripes: I think it was meant to be a beach bag.  I also have a laptop bag from when I was working, but it's heavy even when it doesn't have anything in it, so that's cumbersome.

Must have: a good shape.  Sturdy.  Fairly lightweight. Should have: Velcro is bad on yarn.  Pretty color.  A way to wear across the body as well as over one shoulder.  Would like: a coordinating small bag or wallet.  Lots of pockets.  A place for my water bottle?

Here's a few I've looked at so far:

Queen Bee
The Trucker bag in Jade is a favorite. I saw them at the Sock Summit, but they didn't have this model available yet.  I like how sturdy they feel, and when I put it on across my body, it felt nice to carry.  I'm unsure if it will be as "pocket-y" as I see in other knitting bags.  The coordinating wallets are adorable.  I love the stitching and how unique they are.  And they get huge bonus points for being made locally, in Portland.

Namaste
Well known as super knitting bags, the Laguna bag in Eggplant (or Hollywood Pink) is the known commodity.  I've gotten to hold my friend Eileen's, and it's sturdy.  The shape of the Laguna is a little wider than the Queen Bee, and the pockets look handy.  There's a strap for going across the body.  I like that it has metal feet, those seem nice.  I am concerned if this will be too nice for me.  I tend to be a little hard on bags I love, because I want to take them everywhere. The Hollywood Pink is tempting, but I really think a purple bag would suit me well and be less obtrusive.  Plus, the accessories are stunning, mini clutches and buddy cases.  I could order from theloopyewe and support them.

Lexie Barnes
People rave about these bags, and the patterns of fabric that come out each new batch. This is the Lady B in Deliliah.  I haven't seen as many pictures of the inside of these bags.  There's other bags from LB that are also nice - one that's billed as a diaper bag might actually fit more things including a water bottle.  The fabric is pretty, but perhaps not as much me?  I'd like to be able to physically touch one to know more.

TotalTote from Knit Picks
I'd probably get the TotalTote in Chocolate.  This is an interesting shape and possibly lighter than the others. The harder walls look like they would hold up to a lot.  But it's smallish, and wouldn't work as well for holding all my stuff on a trip.

So with all that in mind, do you have any suggestions for me? I think I'm really wavering between the local/unique feel of Queen Bee and the super-pockets of the Namaste. Feel free to reply here or on facebook.