Two years and some erratic postings

It is hard to believe that I started this blog two years ago, and yet as of next month, that will be exactly the situation.

Admittedly there has been a great reduction in posting here, and over at my regular blog as well. I have my reasons but they sound suspiciously like excuses when put to paper or else wise shared, so I will keep them safe and strong in my mind.

I have been knitting.
Really!

When I haven't been doing other things.

I think that I am having an issue of only knitting for other people right now, having really large UFO's and not knowing what I would knit for myself if I was going to.

I did finish the purse. When last you heard of it the knitting was done and the sewing had yet to be started. Last month I cut the fabric. Last week I did the sewing and attached the handle (incorrectly, it turns out). Then, having decided that 1.5 skeins of left over Rowan Summer Tweed was a bit much, I decided to make an accessory. So I made a simple necklace. I might still make a bracelet, we shall see.


I am happy to report that the mittens got made and, while huge amounts of unwanted snowfall prevented the hand delivery, they did make it to my friend's mom. Thrumming was easy enough, though there was a bit of a learning curve before I found how I wanted to stick the thrum into the stitch. Plenty of online sources about how to make thrums, but until you do it yourself it is just a vague bit of fiddly pictures and words.

Shortly after the gloves I made the matching hat. I can post a picture of the scarf that the hat matches, but not the hat as I have unfortunately developed the habit of giving away the finished product without taking pictures. In most cases I have been able to arrange a photo later, like the situation with the purple scarf for my other friend. (See, I have more than one!)

In even older knitting news, the Surprise Stuff Toy is down to the body section which requires making more stitches and therefore more knitting than just what is there. The airy scarf and the drop stitch scarf are unmoved from their current stage. I think the airy scarf may have frogged itself, but I haven't gone looking for them and they haven't come looking for me and that is just how it is with them right now.
The Icarus shawl received a bit of attention back in February, but then I realized I had no idea where I was in the pattern and I am going to have to rip back so that I can move forward. This idea is not pleasant and as such the shawl is being treated to the silent treatment until we can get some couples counseling going on.

In the meantime I have been working on a stripped scarf for a coworker. He picked out his colors and said he wanted stripping that wasn't too plain. So I worked out to vary the stripes in a spectrum style. It is over half way done and if I really put myself into I could get it down this week or next. The scarf has the advantage of being sized to take to work and be knit. The Surprise Stuffed Toy is very large and the stuffing has a tendency to make fly aways that spread like milkweed seeds upon the breeze. This would not be appreciated in the office.

I have been able to maintain not buying more/new yarns. Excepting of course the $60 skien of light fingering weight silk in gorgeous colors of purple, gold and green. That totally doesn't count.

So, that is our catch up for today.
See you again next post (which hopefully will be sooner than later this time).

Knitting, where have you been?

The surprise stuffed toy, the blanket, the airy scarf and the drop stitch scarf which is awaiting a decision about the stitch pattern and the possibility of frogging for a different pattern, are still in the same stages that they were back in July.

The Icarus Shawl has been going along pretty well and I restarted my toe up socks for tension reasons.

Then I had several projects to knit for the classes, which ended up being this month instead of last month.

The entrelac class went fairly well. No one quit and every one seemed quite happy with my offer of continued assistance if needed.
The MultiDirectional Scarf (pattern by Ann Norling) class started last week and concludes this next Tuesday. This one is going even better, mostly because it is a bit easier of a technique.

I have finished my knitting for classes, but now I have knitting for family. I have a pillow front (in entrelac) and a purse/clutch.

After that I hope to get some Me knitting in, but let us not hold our breath yet. We are coming up on the holiday seasons and I still have a hat to knit to match a scarf I already did. Oh, and a summer weight willy warmer. And I have a stuffed toy to complete.

Good thing colder weather is coming on!

Random bits about my yarn....

Right now I am more interested in yarn than in knitting.

It is a good thing I am on a stash diet right now, or else I would be in trouble. This is the kind of mood that leads a person to buying a bunch of single skeins of yarn that don't go together and have no immediate projects to pair with.

It is precisely this mood that got me with the stash I have now.

Ravelry shows me at 109 currently stashed yarns, but Ravelry doesn't know about the 6 unlisted yarns that are arrayed beside me. Nor the bags of unidentified yarns from other people destashing label-less fibers.

Since my roomie is an artist and I have taught him to knit, I think I shall eventually spread out those yarns (after locking up the cats for the duration) and play a game of Mix and Match the Yarn!(ntm) to see what we can come up with.

--

I cast on for the Windmill Bag, as mentioned on my twitter feed, and am almost done. Mostly this has been an at work project.
New trick learned with this project: I-cord bind off
New lesson (re)learned with this project: Sometimes 20 stitches of one yarn is wider than 20 stitches of another yarn.

The good news is that this project totally counts as destashing! I am using up yarns that I have had lying around. They are mostly partial skeins and at one point I ran out of yarn for one panel, so I had to frog a finished knit to reclaim the yarn. It was painless since the finished item in question was a limited use single mitten to go over a wrist cast for my roomie. He certainly did not mind the deconstruction.

--

I still have not quite decided what to make with my 100% Alpaca yarns. I bought the two skeins together, a perfect pairing of color and weight, and every time I think I know what to make with them I think of something else.
They are so soft and cuddly that I want to make a pillow from them, but then I think a cowl would be better since the weight is light enough, yet if I make gloves I will have them on my hands and rub them against my face anytime I want! Oh, the possibilities!
It can be hard to have such nice yarns, le sigh.

--

The secret surprise knitted stuffed toy has stalled yet again. It has grown to an awkward and bulky size, and I really just need to admit to myself that it is not going to get less awkward and bulky as I reach the body area and then the legs. It will always be awkward to knit, but that is part of the challenge. I should embrace this fact and knit on. Really I should. But wouldn't it be easier just to knit some nice lightweight lace?
At this rate, my friend will be getting this gift in time for Christmas. Gah!

--

A while ago I tried laying out my stash and sorting it by color. I then packed it pretty much away in the color groups. While I can appreciate art and make correct suggestions about colors, I do not yet grasp the color wheel theory. Re-organizing my stash was a step in this direction. Baby steps, Bob, baby steps.

--

I am still trying to work out a way to store and display my yarn on my walls without having to make a bunch of holes. I am thinking of trying to find some of those coffee cup wall racks, replacing the posts with thinner and more fragrant woods so that I can ball yarn and stick them there.

I think it would work really well.
Where do you find those racks now-a-days?

--

I actually have not gotten my spinning wheel out yet since MSW. I know, bad me. It is just that I have been so busy or cranky (and we know we shouldn't spin when cranky) or feeling too self conscious to spin in front of my roomie.

I will get the wheel out today. I promise. If only for a little bit. I was doing good last time and I intend to keep up that progress! I will not hold myself back any longer!
Just as soon as I finish this post.
And catch up on some blogs.
Oh, and there is an Indian Fest going on down the road....

An End & A Beginning

It was a seven month journey.




Even longer if you count the time spent trying to get the recipient to select a yarn.






It was an on again, off again project. Months of work and months of not touching the yarn, the needles or even the measurements.




There were highs, when precious stitches were saved and new techniques learned, and there were lows, when inches of ribbing were ripped back and stitches were left hanging in the air and needles snapped in my hands.






Was the journey worth the effort?

Perhaps.


So far my roommate seems happy with his new socks.


(Of course that might be because I have made it clear that he will be happy with them or else.) (The kitten thinks she has a new something to chew holes into.)



- - - - - -



A few days ago, in a fit of "it would work if I knit it this way", I cast on for a new stuffed toy.

This one is a secret surprise for a friend of mine who happens to like pink birds.

Can you guess what it is?