Shelbell's World

I'm not gonna lie, the last few years have been tough as hormones kick in - or perhaps leave me is the better description! Perimenapause has hit me hard, as it has much of my generation. This has impacted me both personally and professionally. I've never been huge on new years resolutions or picking a word of the year. But I discovered Little Words Project last year and fell in love.   While on my extended Christmas break from work I did some thinking about how to start 2026 on the right foot. How to set some intentions and stick to them. I noticed some new bracelets on the Little Words Project website and decided to place an order with key words to represent my 2026 intentions with a plan to wear them as a visual reminder.  What words did I go with you may ask?  Breathe   Strength   Grateful   Balance   Unafraid - the 2026 LWP Word of the Year   and a little bonus for fun: Book Lover Do I think it’s working? Maybe! I definitely apprec...

Wow its been a while. Life sure is different these days! I barely knit due to a crazy puppy - well she's 3 but you get the idea. My pets are different than last I was here. My home and state are different. My whole life is different! Anyone still out there reading?? Thinking about getting this going again.....

So this weekend is Stitches East . In all my years in Harrisburg I never made it down to Baltimore for Stitches. But then it moved to Hartford just before I did, so I went to market place last year, and plan to go to marketplace this year. This brings something to mind. I do believe I've failed miserably on my 2011 plans to control increases to my STASH! In 2011 there were a few large contributors to this - two of them heavily tied to Ravelry. 1. Twisted Limone on etsy. I think I first saw TL looking at a friends activity on Ravelry . Its really pretty ironic because she was talking about how she loves striping sock yarn, and I was a bit appalled. But as I looked, some of these gorgeous striping yarns, like the TL, are VERY different from the self striping yarns I would see early on in my knitting life. And they are BEAUTIFUL! I've gotten several stripes from a few different yarn companies, but the major increase in my stash in the form of self striping yarn has been Twist...

So earlier this year I was really feeling like I had lost my knitting mojo. I know if you read some current posts you may ask "really?". But really!!!! I wasn't all that motivated. I think in part its because I was working on things that were taking so much time I wasn't having much fun. Plus as much as I said I wanted to curb the casting on of new projects - that is part of what keeps me motivated! My mojo started to return when when I knit up a couple of sweaters for Elphaba. They were small projects that I could start and finish in a matter of a few hours. That had me feeling like I could ACCOMPLISH something again! Next, I signed up for Camp Loopy with The Loopy Ewe . Camp Loopy is a series of one month long knit alongs. The first was June 15 to July 15. We had to knit a scarf or shawl - something to keep us warm at night. I went with a heavier weight yarn because I was terrified of not finishing in time. And I decided to knit Terra by Brooklyn Tweed. Can I ju...

As part of my sock craze of late, I've designed my first sock pattern! I needed something with cables for a knit a long I was in. But I still wanted something simple and quick. The answer: my Orchid Cabled Yumminess! Okay, so the pattern itself I'm just calling Cabled Yumminess. The Orchid comes from the Sundown Orchid Dream in Color Smooshy I used. Here's a picture. I'm hoping to get a few people to do a test knit for me and then to publish the pattern!

I've seriously been a sock knitting fool lately! I've always enjoyed socks. And did have a January back around 2007 where I made 2 pairs in a month. But now I've made three pairs in three weeks. And I need to cast on my Camp Loopy #2 project - which may well be socks (need to hurry and decide since I need to get knitting!). So why is it I've been knitting so many socks so quickly? That crazy afterthought heel makes it super easy. And the striped yarn makes it fun looking without the added work of the cable or lace patterns I've been doing. Not much to remember on the afterthought heel. Just knit! Here's pair number 1. These were knit up in knit picks felici in the "Goth" colorway. Less than $10 for a pair of socks! I made these a touch longer than I probably should have for my legs - at least without doing increases to accomodate my calves. But they are gorgeous. These babies are what I worked on from June 25 to July 2. Pair number 2. Also kni...