Must.Knit.Faster

February CAL- Fairy Princess Daisy Chain Crown!

Miss Becca — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:31:26 +0000

Happy February all!!! It’s time for a Crochet-a-Long featuring my Fairy Princess Daisy Chain Crown pattern. You can download the pattern as a pdf HERE on Ravelry for free, or you can just use the directions below. Enjoy, and Im looking forward to seeing all of your projects on your own blogs!

You can join in the CAL fun on Ravelry at the Must.Knit.Faster group, too!

Happy crafting!

Materials:
Patons Classic Merino Wool in Leaf Green, Winter White, and a small amount of Yellow.
Size F Crochet Hook
Tapestry needle
Measuring tape

Pattern:
Measure the head to determine how long to chain for the crown portion. Using the Green yarn, chain to desired length. Once you’ve reached the desired length, with chain still on the hook, insert the hook through the foundation of the chain, sc to secure the end of the chain to the beginning, and bind off. Weave in the ends.

Flowers: (Make 10)
*Chain 7, insert hook into foundation and sc. This new stitch will be the new foundation for the next petal. * Repeat from * to * until there are 5 petals. At the end of the 5th petal, insert hook into foundation of the first petal and secure. Weave in ends. To connect to flowers to the crown chain, place the flower where you would like it on the chain and using the tapestry needle and a small amount of yellow yarn, insert the needle into the back of the flower (through the chain) and tie a French knot for the center of the flower. Do this for each flower.

It’s a Fairy Princess-palooza!

Miss Becca — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:17:22 +0000

Well, maybe less of a -palooza and more of a crochet-a-long, but a good time nonetheless!

Last week, I was approached by a fellow Raveler who asked if I would be interested in being a guest blogger in a series she was calling “Think Happy Thoughts” where she was hoping to feature my crochet pattern, Fairy Princess Daisy Chain Crown. After perusing her blog and getting lost in its whimsical, fun content, I jumped at the opportunity. Today she posted my guest blog, and you can find that here.

Her request give me the idea to do a February Crochet-a-Long (CAL) featuring the Fairy Princess Daisy Chain Crown. I will be hosting the CAL at my Ravelry group, Must.Knit.Faster, but will share the pattern here for those of you not on Ravelry.

The CAL will begin tomorrow, when I will post the pattern here on the blog, or you can download that pattern as a pdf on Ravelry here for free!

Must Have Monday- Preita Salyer Designs!

Miss Becca — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:07:45 +0000

Must Have Monday is back this week with an old favorite, and a definite must have- the designs of Preita Salyer of Mr. Poopers Day Out!

I first became enthralled with Preita’s designs back in 2009 when I knit her Hawk Hat design which was intended to warm my own noggin, but instead was claimed as a birthday gift when my friend Joan saw me wearing it and promptly swiped it right off my head.

Her pattern was extremely well written, and very clear which seems to be a continuing trend in her pattern writing.

One of the things that I appreciate the most about Preita’s designs is that even while she is releasing more complex and detailed designs such as Weave it!, and her English Garden Cardigan, she maintains and continues to release quick and simple, yet equally gorgeous, designs for new knitters or knitters desiring a instant gratification project such as her Perfection Cowl and her Outlaw Cowl.

Behold- some pattern-y goodness designed by Preita Salyer:

Cherry Surprise Shawl- FREE on Ravelry

Rough Sea Shawl- FREE on Ravelry!

Zag Hat- FREE on Ravelry!

Channel Islands Shawl- $7 on Ravelry!

Pix Shawl- $6 on Ravelry!

Weave it!- $6 on Ravelry!

And finally, her newest design, Outlaw- $7 on Ravelry!

And while Preita’s designs are amazing in themselves, her blog nearly deserves it’s own featured Must Have Monday. Mr. Poopers Day Out features not only knitting fun, but also fun pictures of her life on her farm, including hats on goats (it’s worth the blog visit, trust me!). So check out Preitas designs and blogs today and tell me what you think!

New Free Pattern: Wee Toshettes

Miss Becca — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:40:37 +0000

With all of the stress of the past month, I had not found the time to introduce my newest pattern, Wee Toshettes.

After many requests for a child-size version of my popular Toshette pattern, I was finally able to sit down and design a quickly knit version of the original. These are knit in bulky weight yarn (as seen in the purple version) or worsted held doubled (as seen in the yellow version) and you can easily knit a pair in a weekend. A pdf of the pattern is available here on Ravelry free, so check it out and let me know what you think!

E.R.B.

Miss Becca — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:58:46 +0000

Last year the United States Navy, faced with increasingly overmanned ratings with fewer people getting out of the Navy, implemented the Enlisted Retention Board. The Navy set parameters for whos records would be reviewed by this board for involuntary discharge from the Navy. We were told that while my Husband fell into the catergories for record review, he had only a slim to none chance of actually being involuntarily discharged. He has a spotless record, and ZERO of the people in his rate were slated for discharge. “Only the real douche bags with DUI’s and additudes will go.” they said. In November 2011, the Enlisted Retention Boards decisions of who to involuntarily seperate were released. Sadly, my Husband was not selected for retention and is slated to be released from the United States Navy 1 September 2012. We were shell shocked to say the least. How could this happen? My Husband has never in his 13.5 years of honorable Navy service failed a physical readiness test, been reprimanded for his weight, been on the recieving end of any kind of disciplinary action- AND is in a rate that was supposed to have ZERO discharges. His evaluations have always been top notch, and he has always been a dedicated leader. And yet, he was told that his service was coming to an end- his dream to retire from the US Navy as a Chief was not going to become a reality because someone made such a terrible decision.

How do you mend a broken spirit? How do you look my Husband in the eye and tell him that it is going to be ok? That the past 13.5 years were not in vain and that someone is going to hire him straight out of the Navy. That he IS worth a damn and that this decision was just a number pulled from a hat, and not a reflection of him as a construction professional. That our family will survive this.

How can the big Navy decision makers live with this terrible decision? Would it not have been a better option to put out a letter to everyone who was eligible for the board that they were looking for volunteers to voluntarily end their contracts, recieve a seperation package, resume and job finding assistance? Tell me that they couldn’t fill their quotas that way.

But here we are. Facing a new life after the Navy. Facing uprooting our children for the last time, finding a new career for my Husband, and trying to find the positive in all of this. My military “friends” have already begun the shunning, claiming that they just dont know what to say. Really? I hate to be all uppity, but someday this will be you too. The military isn’t forever, and maybe this is just fate giving us a head start.

Aequus Nox- Now Available!

Miss Becca — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:13:26 +0000

Aequus Nox is now available for $3.00 on Ravelry!
Buy it now!

Neptunes Net- Available Now!

Miss Becca — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:06:01 +0000

My latest pattern, Neptunes Net, is available NOW on Ravelry!
buy now

Black Friday thru Cyber Monday Sale!!!

Miss Becca — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 05:12:12 +0000

Now through Monday November 28th, save 25% on ALL of my patterns! The sale includes Honey, Sequoia, Red Tide, Pacific Pine, Marine Layer*, and even the entire Left Coast Knits ebook!

*For Marine Layer to qualify for the discount, it must be purchased and downloaded from Ravelry. I can not offer the discount for patterns downloaded from Knitpicks.com.

To use this discount, use coupon code mustknitfaster2011 during checkout. No restrictions, just happy knitting )

MustKnitFaster Group on Ravelry!

Miss Becca — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:45:03 +0000

Must.Knit.Faster now has a group on Ravelry!

I look forward to sharing updates on patterns and other information with you there, as well!
Feel free to join us at www.ravelry.com/groups/mustknitfaster

Wednesday already?

Miss Becca — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:12:49 +0000

It seems as if Monday and Tuesday just sort of flew by- well, in retrospect anyhow. I find it funny that days can seem to stretch on forever in the midst of dishes, laundry, clutter cleanup, cooking, and child rearing, but when you look back, it really seems to have flown by. Alot has gone on in the past two days, actually. After 2 months of focused designing, knitting and then knitting again, and furiously jabbing a calculator, Im pleased to announce that I have completed my very first shawl(ette) design! I will be releasing it soon, possibly by the end of the month. I need to get the pattern transferred from my messy jumble of a notebook to a well-written and easy to understand pattern format. That could take a while. While I understand what I mean by “pull the yarn in that direction to make it do that one thing”, I understand that that might not come off well in a pattern. It might confuse…

Monday found myself and my lovely Daughters doing our Thanksgiving grocery trip. While we were planning on going home to spend Thanksgiving with my Family, we’ve come to the conclusion that we just cant afford it right now. So we’ve reverted to our original plan of hosting some people in Dean’s command, which is always fun. The Holidays are the only time of the year when I am allowed to have a houseful of single sailors! But I digress. While out on our grocery trip, I found one of my absolute favorite holiday treats.

Yummy Candy Cane Kisses! I love white chocolate and these are such a delicious treat. I also bought a pack of Holiday Oreo’s, and as you can see, Violet really enjoyed those:

Yes- red Oreo frosting all over the tile floors and white cabinets. Fun, right? Festive? THAT was fun to clean up, let me tell you.

Aside from the snacking on unhealthy treats, and cleaning red frosting off of grout, I’ve actually been quite productive. Im working on a Super Surprise of Super Awesome Awesomeness for my Swap on a Budget spoilee. I chose Malabrigo Rios yarn to knit it with and I am in LOVE with this yarn! While I love Malabrigo Worsted, I find that the single-ply felts entirely too easily. But the Rios is a 10-ply worsted weight, still 100% Merino, and amazingly soft! It is kettle dyed, but the colors have not pooled once. Im using the colorway Azul Profundo, which is a beautiful blue yarn which goes from a deep, lovely sapphire, to a stunning sky blue. It’s not at all dramatic color change- but just enough.

I’ve also finished my Son’s mitts that he requested. He loves them and really enjoyed wearing them to school Monday morning and showing them off to his friends. Despite the fact that it was nearly 75 degrees when he came home from school that day, he was still wearing them and they were pilling like mad. I suppose a pill shaver is in my near future.

Have a wonderful day!