Adventures in Red Hair

I've been so terrible about posting lately.

The weather has been all over the place (warm, cool, warm, cool, warmwarmwarm) which discourages me from dressing up in lovely fall outfits and blogging about them, and I've learned from almost three years of outfit-posting that if I'm just not in the mood I shouldn't try to force it. But! I took these photos last week and even though I look kind of weird (apparently I've forgotten how to not look so awkward) I wanted to discuss my redhead situation!

I'm still looking for the perfect red color. This is the second time I've dyed it since the original-- it looks bright in the photos but it's faded quite a lot since then, and I think I like the way this one is fading so far. The first color went brownish pretty quickly and this one (by Ion) is going more auburn. My goal is to have a natural, orangey-auburn color, but right now it's still uneven which is driving me nuts. I think I'm going to do a color remover this weekend and see if I can remove the dye from the ends, which are darker, and then try the whole thing again.

F21 sweaters
Thrifted skirt
Chinese Laundry sweater tights
Thrifted vintage boots (I've been wearing these every day. Love!)
Bow and bag made by me

Holiday Knitting Favorites

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! Time to start frantically marathon-knitting in order to get everything done before Christmas, while watching episode after episode of something. Last year I had a Joss Whedon marathon and rewatched Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse; this year I might do it again, but I'm probably just going to start over with Doctor Who, because I am predictable.

I have a long queue on Ravelry full of quick projects that I'm about to start for friends, so I thought I would share a few of my favorites. Handmade gifts are by far my favorite thing to give/receive, and I stand by the belief that people who don't like handmade presents are terrible and unworthy of my hard work and friendship in general. So! A list:

1. Mittens! I love everything by SpillyJane-- she wrote the pattern for last year's Piggy Mittens, which were ridiculously simple and crazy adorable. I don't know anyone who wouldn't be thrilled with a pair of handknit mittens.

Gnomes



Piggies



Swedish Fish



Persnickety

(All images except the piggies via SpillyJane Knits)



Also, these cat mittens via Jorid's Pattern Shop are gorgeous!

2. Reading Accessories

Okay, this is sort of an oddly-specific category, but if you have a friend who loves Doctor Who and has a kindle/nook/whatever, this is an awesome gift. I recently made this one for a friend away in Africa with the Peace Corps, and the little reminder of his favorite show was much appreciated! Although if you don't like Doctor Who (pfft) the basic pattern can easily be used with different colors.

TARDIS Kindle Case

3. Slippers

I have a sort of hate-hate relationship with actual socks. I've only made one pair, and they took forever and turned out pretty sad-looking. Slippers are another story! I made this pair last year for my mom-- she loved them and they only took an evening to finish.

Mary Jane Slippers (these are crochet!)

4. Baby Things/Adorable Toys!

If you're about my age, it probably seems like everyone either has a baby or is about to have one. This is GOOD NEWS for knitters! Baby knitting is quite possibly the best thing ever, because there are so many options and everything can be made relatively quickly. My favorite thing to make are hats and toys, although everyone should appreciate receiving a socktopus.

I just made this Cheery Scrap Cap for my nephew and it was super quick. The color changes are fun and it really does use up your scraps-- you can use small amounts of anything you have sitting around.

Obviously my love of the Socktopus is well documented, but I'll just leave this here because ADORABLE.

Elijah the Elephant and Dudley the Dinosaur (crochet) have also been pretty big hits!

Curly Purly Pattern (image via CurlyPurlyMarnie)

This is another super-specific pattern, but if you have friends who cloth diaper, wool soakers are a quick and easy gift that are worth doing a little research about. Wool has antibacterial properties and can absorb more than 1/3 of its weight before starting to feel damp, which makes them great for overnight.

Send me a link if you decide to make any of these!

House Updates

Just a few photos via my new friend Instagram..

We finally figured out a window-covering situation for the living room: bamboo shades! I love these things, they're so pretty with the wall color. They aren't super private at night, though, so we had to leave up the aluminum blinds (you can't see them behind the shades, so no big deal).



Various bookcase-things in my room .

Vintage salt & pepper shakers + spoons in the kitchen.

Porch!

Obviously we've been taking this whole home-design thing slowly-- we still haven't done anything to the bedroom and I have unfinished projects laying around everywhere. But! It's been lovely and I have no desire to rush through it.

Next up: a huge DIY chalkboard for the kitchen. Ahh!