handknit latte sweaters revisited

happy thanksgiving!



now that the holiday shopping season is officially upon us, i would like to reintroduce the latte sweater as a marvelous little gift idea. i was amazed at how quickly these little beauties were snapped up at last weekends handmade market, so as i sit here, knitting some more, i thought i would remind everyone that these exist.







if you have a friend or co-worker or someone that is a regular coffee drinker who often uses take-out cups, you might consider giving them a handknit latte sweater to re-use instead of throwing away cardboard sleeves or double-cupping. i knit these with little bits of handspun and other bright, colorful yarns, and dress them up like little tea bags. see?

they dont have to be for lattes, just any warm drink, like hot chocolate or apple cider. they will keep your hand burn-free, are helpful for distinguishing which cup belongs to whom, and would make great little stocking stuffers =)

i love how they look in their little display box!

coffee cup cozy, anyone?

my fondness for all things coffee related intensified until i found myself watching youtube videos of amazing baristas who create latte art. i decided then and there that i wanted to work a little side job at a coffee shop until i could rightfully add "barista" to my list of skillz.

of course, being around all of that delicious smelling espresso makes me daydream of crafty things like coffee cup cozies, which are more sustainable than throwing away cardboard sleeves which people use to protect their hands from the hot hot coffee. i started knitting a batch of cup cozies with some of the handspun yarn that etsy spinstress banadura spun for me a few months ago. i am super happy with how cute they have come out and am slowly adding them to my etsy shop.

p.s. i do not work for caribou or starbucks, just for the record. i work for a small independently owned shop on the west side and everyone there is wonderful! i did, however, cheat on them today and go to a chain for a campfire mocha. shhh! don't tell!

I hope this doesn't ruin the suprise...

Hi again. Here is a quick update on things I have been working on.

I finished the purple scarf I was knitting as a suprise for Shellie. I had planned on taking it with me to give her in person since I thought I was going to zip off to Los Angeles for the weekend - however - my little dog got sick and after a late night emergency trip to the vet, I decided to stay home and keep and eye on her. So, I finished up the scarf, snapped some photos, and will be posting them to my ravelry notebook shortly [so many things to do this busy Monday afternoon!]. I dropped it in the mail on Friday, so I hope she gets some use out of it before it goes back to the tropical California gorgeousness that they have practically year round. And in case you were wondering, Heidi is all better - I babied her quite a bit and I'm sure she adored it.

I did a lot of sewing over the weekend, and added squash and zucchini to my vegetable line of kids toys. I also made up a few more baskets, which I will be listing throughout the week.

finished projects

I finished the black scarf I was working on.


I also finished the fun fur scarflette. I added the bright blue button and I think it works well with the colors and is easy to find when trying to button and unbutton it.




I have been reading a bunch of tutorials about using Kool-aid to dye your own wool/cotton yarn, so I will be trying that next!

I learned to knit from this guy.

I knitted my first scarf over the weekend. I have made several failed attempts to learn how to knit in the past, but the other day I was determined, and learned from a You Tube video that this guy posted. Was it the combination of orange yarn and teal needles? Perhaps.

I watched it several times, and his second video, and then I finally got it.

At this point, I can only garter stitch, so I was pretty limited as far as patterns go. I went with this pattern, and used black super thick wool yarn and size 17 needles. It came out pretty well, though I only used one skein and so it is not very long. It is pretty stretchy and soft, so I think it will make a nice gift for my dad.

I also knitted a scarflette for his wife, using a blue yarn and a novely fun fur yarn together. I still have to sew the buttons on, but it came out looking really fun and different, which is what I wanted!

I haven't stopped there, either. I knit a headband type of thing that will felt when I wash it. I fell in love with the colors of the yarn, so I needed to see it as something, anything.

Ditto with this gorgeous shades of blue, white, and purple "licorice" yarn that I have started knitting a thinner scarf for myself with.

I need to learn another stitch, quick!