Good afternoon, my blogging friends. It is cold where I am and there is about 5 inches of snow on the ground from a weekend storm. I should be cleaning the house and taking down what little decorations I put up for the holidays. But instead, I have decided to hide out in my craft room for a bit. There is quite a mess on my desks, so blogging it is! I want to catch up on my projects from the last couple of months.
About mid November I received my advent package from Speckled Finch Studios. All of those cute little numbered bags; Each containing a mini skein; begging me to open them all! But I refrained.
It was so hard waiting for December 1 to roll around so I could open that first bag containing a surprise mini skein of yarny goodness! But I was a good girl. I did open the large skein as it was not part of the advent, but an added goody with the cost of my advent. There was also a yummy candle and handmade bar of soap for wool washing.
The yarn is so beautiful! It is called Winter Wonderland and is pretty perfect for what I am seeing out of my window today. The candle smells so delicious! I’m not sure if I like the bar of soap. It has a very strong odor, but may not be so when it is used to wash a knitted garment. I also received the Ravelry code to download the advent project; The Margot Wrap by Yvonne Poon. And I love how she made the photo black and white so she would not spoil what the yarns look like. So I gathered all of my supplies to get started; pattern, needles, stitch marker, progress marker, post it notes and highlighting tape. On December 1st, I opened bag #1 and instantly fell in love with the beautiful pastel mint green color! So I rolled it into a ball and settled in to knit.
I spent each day of December opening the appropriate bag, ooohing and aaahhhing at the beautiful skein, winding it into a ball and knitting that day’s section. I knitted most mornings, but some evenings were spent catching up on the days rows. I love each and every skein and added surprise that I opened.
The pattern was so relaxing and a joy to knit. There were 2 rows that were “criss cross” rows that were a little nerve racking, but I soon became quicker at them. They look a bit wonky and loose, but I am sure they will be great with blocking.
I love how all of the colors look together and do hope that I get to see some of them in full skeins in the future.
The wrap continued to grow everyday and each day I loved the new color and looked forward to seeing what color would be added next.
There are so many beautiful colors that I just can’t pick a favorite! I want them all!
Even the yellow skein is so beautiful! So far I have to say that day #19 and day #20 are my absolute favorites together. They are the teal and tan/brown colors below the top yellow color in the photo above. I am calling them Sand and Sea; you know, for the mermaids 😉 On December 25, 2021 I finished the wrap, ending with the first color.
Wow! What a beautiful wrap! I love it! I still need to block it and weave in the ends. Hopefully I can get Christmas put away and pull a table out to block it on. It is quite long and I can’t wait to block out those Criss Crosses. And I have a quite a bit of yarn leftover to do something with in the future. Maybe a thinner scarf, maybe additions to a scrapghan someday. Who knows. Whatever I use them for, they will be perfect. This was a wonderful advent and I am so happy I purchased it and I am proud of myself for keeping up with it every day. I LOVE Speckled Finch Studio yarns. You can find them Here The shop is not open util later this month, but there is a link there to her Instagram so you can see some of her scrumptious yarns! I will post pictures of my wrap when it is blocked. I can’t wait to wear it!
Well, that was my big project for December. Come back soon to see another big project that I finished as well as some little in between projects. What have you been up to? I’d love to hear about your projects.
Ginny
My Time Stitching 
Those yarns are all so pretty, & your wrap is gorgeous!
What great yarn surprises.
I am kitting up a few, just a few new cross stitch projects for the new year.
Marilyn
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Thank you, Marilyn. It was so fun opening a little yarn package every day. I look forward to seeing what you stitch this year.
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Beautiful yarns. What a fun advent for a crafter. I think getting to knit a gorgeous warm wrap out of them is a special extra joy. You knit beautifully.
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It did bring me so much joy everyday. I looked forward to opening each bag everyday. I miss it, but don’t know if I could have kept up if it was much longer. I am glad to have the knitting done. Just need to get it blocked. Then I can wear it! Thank you for your sweet comment ❤
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That’s a lovely wrap, Ginny, and a lovely collection of yarn! I think the criss-cross sections will look great with blocking (as will the rest of the wrap.) I also see that one of your Clevergirl Designs bags is being put to good use. 🙂
By the way, for a second, I thought your pastel mint green picture was also a monochrome pic, lol! I love the color.
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You are right, Anita. The photo does look like it’s black and white. I guess I didn’t get a good picture of the beautiful green with my phone. It is a cool picture though. I can’t wait to get it blocked. Hopefully next week some time. I am still dragging my feet about getting Christmas taken down.
The Clevergirl bag served me well and those cute little gnomes made me smile every day 😉
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Thank you for sharing your advent calendar and project. I keep thinking I want to get one but I’m a control freak. Not sure I’d like the colors provided leaving me with lots of yarn that I don’t know what to do with (that’s what happened with the calendar I bought in 2020). I also don’t need cowls, shawls, hats, etc since I winter in the south. But I appreciate getting to see you calendar and associated project as I decide what to do for advent 2022.
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Deciding on an Advent is a big risk. I typically like a pattern for how it is represented including the colors and yarn. So I rarely change things. This advent was only the second advent I had done, and I am quite pleased with both of them. I love almost all the yarns that Speckled Finch dyes, so I knew that she would do an awesome job with the advent. I do know that some people open all of the yarns at once to see if they like the colors and or want to rearrange them in a different order. If you don’t care for the pattern (if it is shown up front), you can always go to Ravelry and find something there. Mini skeins are great for adding stripes to a favorite sweater pattern or making embellishments to dress up a sweater or jacket. If you are a member of Ravelry, plug in all the information about the yarn that you have from your 2020 advent and see what patterns pop up. If you are not a member of Raverly, go and check it out. Thousands and thousands of patterns there.
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Yes I use Ravelry almost daily. But I will try your suggestion to search on the yarn to see if it pops us suggestions I like.
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