2011 Project #1

My crafting is getting off to a great start. I have completed two triangle shawl/scarves. This one is for me. The bright one is for my older sister. I am going to start on one for my younger sister later today. I wear min as a triangle scarf, but they are also perfect for wearing as shawls.





These are quick projects that really only take 2-3 days to complete. Not only am I on a crochet kick but I’m also on a never ending quest to cut down my stash. I did a pretty good job of it this past year but a trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and a visit to Webs in Northampton, Mass derailed me a bit.

But this year, I am tackling it with a greater desire for organized storage space. I am starting the year off with a total of 75 yarns in my stash as listed in Ravelry. All of my yarns are listed there with the exception of the cotton I purchased during the holidays. Some of the 75 yarns are single skeins. Some are 10 skeins or more. The stash number only decreases when all skeins of a particular yarn have been used or given away or in some other way out of my hands. I still have more of the JoJo Land yarn used to make my scarf, but the yarn used to make my sister’s was just one skein of Noro sock yarn. So, I’m down to 74. We’ll see how things go in the new year.

How are you all doing on your stash?

Yay! It Works

Looks like I’ve got my mobile blogging set and ready to go. Let’s see how it acts with a bit of knitting.

This is the Manitou Passage Scarf that I have been working on. The yarn is Cascade Sierra and I’m happy with how it is turning out right now. The dye bleeds a bit but I can live with that after a quick post-knit wash​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.

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I am using MacJournal to do off-lne blogging which I can then upload directly to my existing blog account. The set-up took a bit of time but that may have been because of me and not the software. Okay, it’s completely my fault. I can admit it. I’m testing the software for 15 days but if all continues to go well, this is a definite buy. I will give a more affirmative recommendation after a little more testing.

Glad to be back with you all. YAY!

I've been doing lots and lots of knitting since my last post and I am happy to say that I am down to 75 yarns in my stash.  I've done more projects for the head-2 Calorimetries and the Felicity hat.  

This weekend I was hit with the fun fur bug and knit three scarves for my niece out of the fun fur mixed with solid color yarns. 

They will be given to her as a part of her high school graduation gift so next fall she will have plenty of girly accessories to show off.  Okay I'm off to clean and hopefully knit some more.

Take care out there!

Just Me Again

Wearing the scarf from the last post. I really love this scarf.  I think it's because I like the color green so much.

The Weekend Scarf

I started this one on Friday and finished on Sunday.  Very quick knit and it used 3 skeins/balls of yarn and allowed me to knock one more yarn from my stash list.  Eighty one yarns to go.

Knitting and Books

I did a lot of knitting this weekend while listening to an audiobook.  The book was The Mistress' Daughter. I first heard about this book some time ago and was really interested in the story. It is a memoir of the author's life and deal with finding out that her birth mother was the mistress of a married man.  The book starts off very good but just past the middle of the book she starts repeating things as it's five to seven years later and her character is flashing back to things that happened in the beginning of the book. If I were reading the book rather than listening to it, I may not have been so annoyed with it but when you are dealing with audio you tend to remember more and not need to be reminded of the past that just happened two hours ago.  Part of the book discusses people she found during the search of her genealogy. It got really bad as she was discussing dead people that really didn't add any interest or purpose to the story.  And some of these dead people weren't even related to her.  She just wanted someone to remember them so she threw them in.  Towards the end of the book, she lists a bunch of questions that she would ask her father if she had him sitting down for a deposition.  Those questions went on for more than half an hour.  Just question after question.  No conversation.  Just questions.  I fast forwarded through this as once again as this added nothing to the story and repeated things in question form that had happened in the book.  Sadly, I would not recommend this book to anyone.  If you read it, the first and last bits are lovely.  The bit in the middle, not so much.  I considered reading more books from the author (A. M. Homes) when I was enjoying the book but I'll have to really think about that considering the outcome.

Okay, on to the knitting.  

Using some leftover wool yarn, I made the coaster that I need for my bedside table.  I had a little bit of three colors left so I striped them.  I very happy with how it turned out.  Now I can set a glass of ice by the bed at night and not have to worry about a puddle forming during the night.  And since I still have some of the purple yarn left (this stuff refuses to die!), I will probably do a smaller one for my desk.

I managed to finish another one of the burp cloths for my friend Ching Sia.  I still need to get the applique sewn on.  So this makes six of the seven.  I will cast the last on some time this week and hopefully be ready to mail this weekend.  It took over a month to finish this one.  Let this be a sign to all of you.  If you think it's a good idea to knit a whole week of something, it's not. You will get bored long before you finish.

The procrastination scarf is finished.  I decided not to do a super long scarf because I think this is the perfect scarf for wearing with a blazer.  I'm not entirely happy with this as that means I'm left with one ball of the gray Geode and quite a bit left of the red Cascade 220 which may become another coaster.  For close up pictures of the scarf, check out my Ravely project page or my Flickr pictures.

I saw some really miserable looking people out Christmas shopping in Kohls this weekend.  The holiday season has barely started and already the unhappiness is surfacing.  I'm wishing all of you a very happy holiday season.  I don't want to see you looking unhappy walking through the mall spending way too much money for a bunch of people that may not appreciate it anyway.  Just my thought.  Be blessed.

Inside Outside Procrastination

When I am stressed and need to get things done, I tend to procrastinate.  And I'm talking really bad procrastination.  I am so behind on a project at work and this thing is not going away.  It refuses to leave my desk.  I even brought it home tonight to work on it and what have I been doing?  Washing dishes, folding laundry, watching television and knitting.  And don't forget blogging.  But this is my last act of rebellion--okay, next to last.  I'm going to walk on the treadmill before giving in to working.

For the most part, today's procrastination is brought to you by the Inside Outside Scarf which was introduced to me during Stitches East 2008. 

It is a free patten that XRX is giving away to promote the new Knit One Below book.  If you have not yet seen this book, check it out.  It is amazing!  The technique takes a little thought but once you get it, it's super easy.  For this first project I've decided to use two completely contrasting yarns as it's a little difficult to see the pattern with just the gray yarn pulled from the inside and outside of the ball.  Here's a close up of the pattern.

 It makes a really nice and impressive looking color-work fabric.  the back also looks nice.

Okay, I'm off to the treadmill now.  Good night.

Knitting, Sewing and Kindergarten

Storm weather is rolling in so I am going to try to get this done before the DSL start acting funny. DirecTV is already flickering.

First, an update on my knitting. It's been awhile since I've done a project update. I'm still working on socks (of course!!). I have two that I'm actively working on right now, the Noro spiral socks and the Hourglass socks in Collinette Jitterbug. The Hourglass socks are giving me problems. For some reason I keep losing my stitch count and have to tink back and start over. I've done this 3 times now and it's getting irritating. I'm excited to be getting the 2nd sock of the Noro set done. The first sock turned out better than I thought and it fits better than I thought it would. I can't wait to see how they feel when they are washed.

It's pouring outside now but the rain smells delightful. I've got all my windows up so I can get a good breeze through the house.

I've been on an entrelac kick. I was talking to a friend on the phone and we both mentioned wanting to learn entrelac. I looked around on the e-net and found a couple of tutorials and decided to use some washcloth yarn to try it out. It turned out great. I did two washcloths in the tan and white and then couldn't stop there. I did another washcloth using the cotton leftovers I've had laying around the house. But that wasn't enough. I've had some Shaeffer yarn laying around waiting to become a wrap but after seeing the entrelac washcloths, it decided it wanted to be a Lady Eleanor Stole. I've listened to it and gave in and the results so far are beautiful.



AmandaH and I are still working on our sew-a-long. Both of us are a little behind on our goals but we've both made some progress. I had two bags on my agenda and I did finish one of them but the unfinished one is a gift for a friend so you would think I would have gotten that one done first. You would think!

My greatest accomplishment though is the pin cushion that I made. You step on only so many straight pins before you find a place to put them.





Tomorrow is the last day of school for most of the kids in our county and I volunteered to help out a kindergarten teacher I know finish up with her end of year activities. I always love hanging out with her kids. They are so honest and cute at that age and they love having visitors. It's so nice. When you walk into the room, there are always two or three that run up and hug you. And they love to tell you what's going on in their lives. And despite the fact that they are little people, they do have fascinating lives. And I will be writing more about them in the near future.

Consider volunteering at your local schools. The little ones love having people come read to them.

Rain has stopped although I don't think this is the end of the stormy weather. I'm off to drink a cup of tea and finish my sewing and knitting.

Knitting the Blues Away

First of all, thank you to all of you that have sent encouraging words regarding the job. I am still employed with my company but I'm trying to find a new job with the quickness. I'll be submitting on-line applications tonight for at least four jobs I've seen so far. My goal is to actively look in town before branching out to jobs that may require me to move.

So, to keep the stress down (as usual), I have been knitting. The local LYS had a 75% off sale on the clearance bins so I went and bought some yarn for a baby blanket and some yarn that looks like it might make a nice tank.

I cast on for the baby blanket immediately and finished it up in no time. I used a simple diagonal patten and I think it turned out quite lovely. It's 100% acrylic so it can be abused and washed but still feel quite lovely. Can you believe it on cost $9.06 pre-tax. Regular price would have been $36.25 pre-tax.

I also finished a really long scarf that I've been working on. It's the My So Called Scarf pattern that I found though Ravelry and it knits up quickly but make a mistake and you will pay dearly. I've still got to weave in the ends. I think I'm also going to line the back of it because this thing rolls like crazy. It is beautiful though and the yarn makes it extra special.But the biggest and best achievement of all is my sock!! This is my first adult sock. I did a pair for my nephew when he was a few months old but they were different sizes and not so good. So I wasn't too enthused going into the adult socks, but finally I GOT IT! I knit this toe up using the magic cast on and magic loop knitting. It took about a week of working off and on and that's mainly because I did make a few mistakes and need to tink a bit. But now that I've got it, the next one should go super fast. I'm going to cast on for it tomorrow. It's 100% Merino wool and it feels fantastic! I can't believe how warm they feel compared to the regular store bought socks that I have. Oh the joy of hand knit socks!

What's on my needles?

I'm glad you asked!

At the moment I am knitting several projects. I alternate between them depending on the kind of mood I am in. If my week has been stressful, I try to put a little more time on the weekends into my knitting. This week was a doozie!

I've been working on the Isabeau purse for my little sister. Part of her growing but late birthday gift.
I've finally started one of the Schaefer scarves that I purchased yarn for. I think I will gift this to my older sister when I'm done. Her birthday is in 3 days. I think this will make a good, light scarf that can be warn throughout the spring. It will be pretty with a coordinating Easter outfit.



Two projects that I want to finish but I'm not necessarily enthused to knit are the knitted bag from Last Minute Gifts and some hats that I'm knitting up for charity. I pick these up when I'm wanting to keep my hands busy but I don't want to have to think about the stitches. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the bag when it's done.
My intent is to do at least nine of the charity hats, but I will go until I run out of wool. I think this will strictly be stash busting. If I go out to buy more yarn, I may go overboard and buy too much.

My absolute favorite but LONG project going at the moment is the simple cable hat and scarf sets from cables untangled. The hats are done and one scarf is still in the beginning stages as you can see. I figured out I could knit them both at the same time so I got the new one on the same pattern row as the one in progress, put them on the same needles and off I went. I'm not sure how long they'll both be when finished. I'm just going to keep going till I use up all the yarn that I have. They are knit with this very soft and luscious Malabrigo yarn.