Happy Crafty Valentine's Day!

In the middle of dreary winter I always enjoy the bright spot that is Valentine's Day (the holiday's red, pink and lavender is so cheery, and of course, there's always the chocolate!).

Another especially fun part of Valentine's Day for me this year was participating in a secret handmade gift exchange with other readers of Sanae Ishida's lovely blog. 

Sanae and reader friend Ute Stampfer put together a Valentine's version of the Scandinavian Julklapp Christmas secret Santa idea. The main stipulations were that the gifts should be small in order to fit into a mailing envelope, and that they should be handmade (I'm afraid I did not get photos of the Lavande I knitted, or the chocolates I cooked up, for the pal I was gifting). 

After I'd mailed off my package, I could hardly wait to see who my exchange pal would be, and was practically hyperventilating when I saw the name on the return address of the package - it was from Ute in Germany!! Ute wrapped the inside package in beautiful pink paper with an adorable heart garland that now adorns my living room.

If you check out Ute's incredible sewing and other crafts you will see why I was so excited. WOW, Ute is extraordinarily talented at many crafts, most especially her sewing. Ute insisted in her note that her knitting skills were limited but I think from looking at some of her projects that she was being overly modest.  

My secret pal sent me not only a gorgeous tote (made for me in my favorite large size and grey colors), but also a matching zip case, a fabulous bar of imported, organic chocolate (swoon!) and one of the most darling and thoughtful handmade cards I've ever received. The whole thing brought tears to my eyes.
 

The attention to detail Ute puts into her work is amazing. 

I LOVE this beautiful gift and the thoughtfulness behind it. Thank you Ute, for making my Valentine's Day terrific! 

And thank you, my reader friends, for stopping by my virtual studio today, I wish you a very 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

and much happy stitching! 

A Special Note From Me to You...
Since the day I started this blog I've enjoyed using it as a journal of my life as well as a place to share my knitting, crocheting, spinning and other fiber adventures. I've been determined to keep it a positive, happy place, sharing only good things. But I know that some of my readers have noticed that my knitting, designing, and blogging have tapered off since last year, so I'm going to make a very small exception to my own rule. I promise I will not dwell in this place, nor post about it very often, and I do hope to knit loads and design much, much more in the future!! However, last year I became very sick - including being in the hospital three times within six weeks during the holidays. Unfortunately, although my condition has a very high cure rate and good outlook, it requires months of difficult chemotherapy treatment.

Everything, including work, knitting, daily chores, and even time spent online, has become a huge challenge as I deal with illness and incredible fatigue. Some days I feel like I am walking in slow motion, and every step is hard. Other days it is not so bad. In any case, I am looking forward to the day - hopefully this spring if everything goes as planned - that I will have my last chemo treatment and will come out on the other side feeling well and energetic again. Until then, I hope to keep knitting and posting as much as I can about all the fun crafts we enjoy. I am so thankful for the friendship and encouragement I've received, it means so much to me!

Happy Valentine's Day!

On this day when love is celebrated, I celebrate more than romance. I love many things - knitting (and many other arts), my husband, family, friends, my dog, God, chocolate - although not necessarily in that order, lol! To mark the occasion, I've collected a few quotations about love, I hope you enjoy them. photo vintagerosebrocante.tumblr.com

"Every gift, though it be small, is in reality great if given with affection"

- Pindar, ancient Greek poet

“Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away.”

- Elbert Hubbard, American author

"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love."

- Mother Teresa  

Happy Valentine's Day!

PS - Today is the last day to post a comment in my free knitting pattern, yarn and bag giveaway (posted here), I'll be drawing the winner and posting later this week!!

Have a Heart - Valentine Knits & More

 photo Interweave Press

Hearts have always had a special place in my, er, heart, perhaps because of my Scandinavian heritage? I don't know. But Valentine's Day is a great excuse to indulge in a little heart crafting.

Of course, there's always traditional paper cards, but for fiber enthusiasts, the options are so much more plentiful. Whether you want to make a valentine for a loved-one or just a little treat for yourself, you might consider some of these cute patterns.

The Felted Heart Milagros by Mags Kandis (shown in photo above) would make nice sachets for a yarn stash or dresser drawer if stuffed with fragrant, moth-repellant herbs. 

Garter stitch hearts with tiny messages, from Flax & Twine are delightful. photo Flaxandtwine.com

The heart cables in Melissa Morgan Oakes' Be Mine sock pattern, knit in a favorite color, would be a fun secret love token for your sweetie. photo Ravelry.com

If you like lace, the Heart of Winter mittens by Lalla Pohjanpalomight might be just your thing. photo Ravelry.com

Stranded knitting lovers should check out the new Knitty Winter Bis issue that includes the Freja mitten pattern by Emmy Petersson. photo Knitty.com

For smaller hands, you might like Babyvotter by Lilia Mankk. photo Ravelry.com

Crocheters may wish to try their hooks on this Love Hearts pattern by June Gilbank; stitching two together back-to-back would make a simple sachet. photo Ravelry.com

If you want to make a small item but are short on time, this stitchy card tutorial from Red Bird Crafts is fast, easy and makes use of yarn scraps (always a good thing!). It's also a fun craft for kids. photo Redbirdcrafts.com

There are so many creative ways to make valentines, I may try to share a few more before Valentine's Day. But why wait until a special day to tell someone you love them anyway? Today is a great day to do pick up the phone, send a text, an email or a note, or give a hug to a lover, friend, family member or pet. It only takes a moment but the effects linger. 

And don't forget about my giveaway contest that ends on February 14th, details to enter can be found here. 

That's it for now, thanks for stopping by and happy stitching!

TRU Love

Since today is St. Valentine's Day, I want to send everyone sweet valentine wishes, and I couldn't resist a play on words of my Ravelry user name - Truknit!  TRU is sort of an acronym of my name, and both my husband and I use it for different stuff.  

It seems everyone nowadays is shortening words and this magazine advertisement certainly caught my eye.

In honor of the day I started thinking about all the knitting and crochet projects I've loved making over the years, especially those in my favorite pink, lavender and red.  

The project shown in the top photo is one of my most favorite projects, the Little Arrowhead Shawl by Pam Allen from Interweave Knits.  

If you've never knitted a lace shawl before, I recommend this as a good one to start with.  

I enjoyed knitting it in this rich, deep red Plymouth Suri Merino wool/ alpaca blend.  OK, ok, I know this is an old project - although it hasn't been posted to my blog yet - but I think it's cool how if you look at the picture just right, the shape of the shawl looks like a heart! 

 I used a stretchy bind-off for the edging and adapted the last row to add a bit more 'give' and depth to the points.  You can read my notes on my Ravelry page here.

To my way of thinking, Valentine's Day is not just an occasion to celebrate romance, but to celebrate all kinds of love, whether it be for significant others, family, friends, God, pets and (it's a stretch here, but humor me) hobbies.

I love to knit!  And spin, and crochet, and lots of other artsy things.  And I recently read an article relating the feeling we get from knitting to some of the same feelings we have in relationships as a result of brain chemicals called endorphins.  

According to Dr. Herbert Benson, a physician and author of Relaxing Revolution, knitting reduces stress hormones and releases endorphins that make you happy.  So that 'love'  feeling that makes you just want to knit, knit, knit, is a valid one!  

I promised a rundown of our trip to northern Michigan earlier this month, and I thought I'd start today with a quick mention of our stop en route at a fiber shop called The Spinning Loft in Howell, Michigan.

This shop has a nice selection of rovings and processed fiber, 

spinning wheels, looms, bags, drop spindles, and whole fleeces.

Owner Beth Smith wields her wheel here in the back room, where classes are held. She is sporting magenta-hued hair, a la Lucy Neatby...

The Spinning Loft regularly hosts spinning, knitting and weaving classes and workshops, including an upcoming one with Stephanie Pearl McPhee, so if you are in the area, check them out.

I'll have more shops and luscious yarn to show in upcoming posts.

And speaking of luscious, If you like to bake like I do, you might want to check out the Bettycrocker.com website for loads of ideas, recipes and meal planning tips.  I found this photo and a delicious recipe for their Traditional Glazed Brownie Hearts, here.

Hope everyone has a wonderful valentine's day, celebrating the thing in life that really matters - love in every fashion.