Nennie Knits

Parker's Blanket

2012-02-16T20:22:00.005-05:00

It's done! It's done! It's DONE! Parker's blanket is done... nearly 3 months to the day AFTER he was born. But still... focus on the positive. IT'S DONE.

Pattern: Baby Bricks by Kay Meadors.

Needle: US 7

Yarn: Berroco Vintage in 51103 (Green), 51104 (Teal), 5103 (Brown), 5113 (Light Blue), 5100 (White)

Notes: I have made this blanket twice before and so I obviously like the pattern. What I appreciate is that it always looks stunning no matter what you do for a color scheme, and it's simple. It's also simply deceptive because people always think it's harder than it looks. (It's not hard!)

And now GLAMOUR SHOTS... because dammit you deserve it for waiting so long!

Look how nicely it matches the nursery bedding!

Look how nice the back looks!

Look how nice it looks with an ACTUAL BABY!!! (I keep staring at him and thinking "How did I end up with such a cute kid?!")

Okay- this blog post is getting too exciting... let's all take a moment to collect ourselves. How about something more somber? A sock in progress?

Hey is that leg nearly finished? Why yes, it IS nearly finished. I'd really like to finish this bad boy for February and move on to the next project that needs to get off the needles. It feels good to wrap some of these items up!

I feel I need to wrap this post up with a bit of an explanation...

The good news: Parker is essentially sleeping through the night. (10 pm - 6 am!)

The bad news: Parker hates to nap. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATES to nap- meaning while I am getting a great 8 hours of sleep, I cannot put him down long enough during the day to knit my single row. (Or for that matter write a blog post, write the thank you cards, order the pictures or the 98 zillion other things that I have not accomplished on my "to do" list.) Progress has slowed to a pace best described as "snail". So your continued patience is most appreciated!

2 Down!

2012-02-05T12:49:00.002-05:00

Okay, so it's not the end of January as I originally hoped to finish Parker's blanket but it's close and I'll take the win!

Parker's blanket is currently blocking and should be ready for a few glamour photos later this week. (Bonus... the baby will model it!) Special thanks to MiL, who came over Wednesday afternoon to hold the baby so I could get a little uninterrupted knitting time. Then she brilliantly suggested that if I could finish it (I made it to the border) by Saturday we could block it at her place when I was there for lunch. BRILLIANT. And so, with special thanks to MiL and cousin Kim I now have blanket pinned and drying!

Saturday was also awesome as FiL was looking for a little baby time while we were visiting- so HE held the baby (and expertly put him to sleep might I add) and I got to pick up project #3 in the finishing pile. Remember the Nebula socks?

I'm so excited to get back to working on these- they are just STUNNING, plus I want something small to knit for a change. (Extra bonus- it's Wollmeise!) I'm hoping that I can finish these in February and tackle the very daunting sweater next.

I must admit there's a little part of me that wants to abandon the finishing plan, pull out the sock yarn and have a sock knitting marathon- yesterday's knitting session was just so SATISFYING. But... this is the year to get some things off the unfinished object pile and feel good.

Finishing feels SO GOOD people! Stay tuned for glamour shots coming soon.

It's Something

2012-01-25T17:05:00.003-05:00

Good news... there is progress!

Because the weather was so cold here my lovely knitting group made a last minute location change and came to my house to knit, and meet the baby. They held the baby and my fingers flew- cramming in as much knitting time as I could muster- hence the progress we see today.

What's funny is that I am DYING to work on something new, but I have to finish this first. Next I'm going to pick up the sock since all I want to do is start a million socks. BUT, finishing is the name of the game and so, instead of being all willy nilly- I'm going to stick to finishing what I need to finish. I'm hoping and praying to the patron saint of knitting that I can get this blanket done before the end of January so we can begin February with something much more interesting!

Because there really isn't much else to show you, I will placate you with a smiley pic of my kiddo... which I'm hoping will gloss over the fact that there isn't much else to show you. SO BEHOLD... my happy kiddo! (Who you are welcome to come and hold if you will let me knit ;-0)

Progressions

2012-01-15T18:31:00.003-05:00

With the Teddy blanket off the needles I'm moved my devotion and attention to getting Parker's blanket done next. However it kind of looks the same as it always has since progress is quite slow. SO, in order to convey some sense of completion and because some days it IS just a row done- I've decided to snap photos with a tape measure so we can at least that there is some progression. (This is as much for me as anyone.) So here we go- 24" on Parker's blanket. I will either knit to 40" or until I run out of yarn, whatever happens first.

Also- because there are looky-loo's who like this sort of thing, my yarn gifted to me from my inlaws arrived this week and it is lovely. OH so lovely. Behold- Madelintosh Tosh Sock in "Logwood". It's this lovely light purple color and I am just itching ITCHING to work on it. (But NO... I am being strict with myself, there are items that need to be finished first!)

So that's what happening around here this week- slow and steady progress on the blanket for the baby. SPEAKING of the baby... I thought we could all enjoy this cute photo of him. My cutie smiles and "talks" a lot more these days... charming the pants off of everyone he meets. Tell me- can you resist this face?

I cannot... which is why progress is happening at snail's pace. But at least it's some progress and we'll take it.

A New Year... New Challenge

2012-01-03T18:29:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!!

I'll be honest, I did my damnedest to finish the Teddy Blanket for 2011... there was crocheting an hour before the clock told us it was the new year, but I also had a fussy baby (booo exczema!!!) who wanted my attention more. Alas- Teddy was not finished for 2011. However, fear not because I did finish it for 2012!

Pattern: Teddy Bear Baby Blanket by Barbara Breiter

Yarn: Mission Falls 136 Merino Superwash in colorway 006 (Discontinued yarn)

Needles: US 6

Thoughts: This pattern was actually inspired by a Ravelry member's project AleNochka (Rav link)- when I saw what she had done I decided to use her same modifications and knit a version myself. It's not a thrilling pattern but it did knit quickly and it was ideal to haul around with me when I just needed something easy and quick to pick up and knit. (Other projects aren't as simple.)

You'll note I sucked it up and crocheted (yuck) a border. God help me, but I actually enjoyed my crochet time! (Sensitive knitters will want to pass over the next photo as it's an extreme CROCHET CLOSEUP... I'm getting a lot better at crochet!)

So with Teddy off the needles it's time for me to take stock and plan for the New Year. The truth is, I have a lot of unfinished things that need to be cleaned up. A lot of projects that got abandoned last year for one reason or another. They kind of hang over my head reminding me that I need to "close a few circles" and move forward. So, without further ado I present to you my New Years knitting resolutions.

1) Parker's Blanket

I started this on mat leave and had the delusional idea that I could knit it in a week before Parker's arrival. This is just a little over half finished and I want to get it done for my kiddo.

2) Pink Baby Dots

I still love this blanket a lot- but it's not an easy one to cart around- it's a strictly "at home" project.

3) Nebula Socks

I have a metric butt load of sock yarn and recent stash acquisitions mandate that 2012 be about knitting socks, meaning I need to get Nebula off the needles and on my feet!

4) Kevin's Sweater (Now known as Project Kevin & Kristian)

Remember when I was knitting a dog sweater for a friend? I hardly do... and for some reason I abandoned this project when I was so close to being done. Poor Kevin is still cold! Thankfully it's been a mild winter so far! Kevin's mom recently had a baby (Christmas day) and I think it would be funny for Kevin and baby to have matching sweaters. So- Kevin's sweater needs to be done and a little baby sweater needs to be made in order to consider this finished.

5) Fireside Sweater

I abandoned this project when I found out I was pregnant because it felt futile to knit a sweater that I wouldn't be able to wear as I got bigger and bigger. I'm so close with this one... SO CLOSE. It needs to be done and now that I'll fit it again it REALLY needs to be done. So finish it I will.

These are all diverse projects in all various states of completion. There's enough representation here that if I bore of one project I can move on to something completely different, but still focus on finishing. As the baby gets a little bit bigger and begins to find a more regular schedule (patterns are emerging!) I should find a few more minutes and opportunities to pick up the needles. So that's what you have to look forward to this year.

Once these are finished (hopefully in the first 6 months) then I'm going to move my focus to small projects. Baby sweaters... socks... little items that have a short completion time. Should be a good year! Thanks for sticking with me despite the light blog posts this year- I'm still here, I'm still knitting and will hopefully I'll keep finding the time to talk about it!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Round Up

2011-12-27T16:26:00.004-05:00

There are some Christmas traditions that you just don't mess with. Certain music albums, baking items, silly things just have to occur on Christmas... they may be modified if you have, say a 6 week old who takes up a lot of time, but you still do them. This Christmas is no different. Thanks to some challenges early on in our attempts at nursing (resolved for the most part now... whew!)- my boy takes a bottle which means mommy can slip away for an hour or so if the opportunity arises. Thus, I was able to observe the Boxing Day tradition I have had with my Mother in Law for the last few years- and hit up the yarn sales at the local shops. Behold the spoils!

Lana Grossa's "Meilenweit Men" sock yarn from Pudding and Colinette's "Iona" from the Loop. The Loop was a last minute addition and had me very impressed... I'd hit their sale again. We decided to skip Gina Brown's this year, as it's usually MOBBED and we never get there in time for the really good sale stuff. (Nor do I have the patience to wait in the never-ending line up.)

In general this was a very good yarn year for me, as many family members decided to spoil me with yarn. Both the inlaws and husband bought me lovely colorways of Madelintosh Tosh Sock and my brother in law also got me some great sock yarns, a self striping I wanted and some Jitterbug that I've had my eye on for awhile. Rounding out the knitting related gifts I also went home with two books I had put on my list.

Lest you worry about my stash growing again, there have been a few more stitches knit. In fact- enough to get one blanket off the needles. Teddy is ready to be blocked, and then it will receive a crochet (yuck) border to help keep it's shape.

My goal is to get this blanket done prior to 2012 (even if it means at 11:59 on Dec 31st I am crocheting with one hand and feeding a baby with another). Progress does happen, even if it's 2 rows a day, I am trying to fit a little bit of knitting in- just so I don't go crazy. (I love my kid to pieces, but mommy is beginning to miss her knitting time... so I'm trying to get at least one row in a day. Even if it's just ONE row, I still feel like I've accomplished something.

I've also been meaning to show this off prior to Parker's arrival- the "Waiting for Duane" dishcloths for 2011. I leave a dishcloth at the front door so I can just pick up and knit a few rows while I wait for the husband in the am. This year I managed to knit 6 cloths waiting for him!

And lastly- it's not knitting, but I thought you might like to see- here's my "little" guy at 6 weeks. His last weigh on the 23rd he was 12 lbs 4 oz... so let's all use the term "little" loosely. :-)

Good Excuses

2011-12-14T21:04:00.002-05:00

So- last we left this blog post I announced that I became a mom to an adorable little boy and that I planned to continue to knit.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

It's funny to think that I thought I could squeeze in some knitting during this time. I have knit exactly 2 rows on the Teddy Bear Blanket. 2!! Otherwise my life has been very busy looking after my little man.

I do think the knitting will return- daddy will be home over Christmas and I see the makings of a routine coming to life, and soon I will pick up the needles and rejoin the knitting world. (The last of my worlds to return... welcome back pre-maternity pants! How I missed you!!)

In the mean time, lest you think I'm just twiddling my thumbs over here- I've got a few photos of my little guy to share. My big boy continues to get big... or rather HUGE. (And no, for those of you who have suggested I knit while I nurse, I cannot- he moves his arms and head so much that I need both hands to keep him focused on the task at hand)

(Most of these photos are iPhone or Blackberry shots)

At 2 weeks...

Barely fitting his "crabby outfit"

3 weeks... and ready to shave!

Christmas outfit- 4 weeks (or 94 years?)

I think he's pretty cute... but then I again I tend to be bit a biased on this one.

Finished Object Update

2011-11-17T14:34:00.003-05:00

I made this on November 12, 2011 at 10:31 pm.

Meet Parker Andrew- all 9 pounds 11 ounces of him. We had no idea there was such a big baby in there and ended up having a c-section. There's much to tell (and not much knitting content unfortunately) but well... I'm kind of preoccupied at the moment.

Just know that I'm doing very well, daddy is amazing and both of us are over the moon with our little guy.

I'll be back soon.

Now We're Cooking With Fire!

2011-11-08T11:08:00.003-05:00

Firstly, thank you to all of those who chose to vote on the blankets from last week. There was an overwhelming load of input and such a diverse cross-section of opinions. As you can see by the results on the last blog post, a decision wasn't really conclusive... opinions where divided and stretched across 3 patterns in particular.

After seeing there wasn't a clear "winner" out of the group- I decided to go ahead and go with gut and cast on the Baby Bricks pattern. Yes I've knit it several times already, but the results are always astounding and I'm always quite pleased with the finished results.

Here it is- over a 1/4 of the way into the process. The lovely thing about this pattern is that it knits FAST. I've been wholly devoted to this project since I cast it on, but progress has moved along swimmingly. Rules to this blanket are simple- after 4 pattern repeats (one of each color) I have to weave in the ends before moving forward to the next section. It's the only way I know I can stay on top of the end weaving.

We managed to skip the Oct 31 birthday this year- and now that my due date is tomorrow I'm getting a tad impatient to meet who's been kicking and elbowing me these past few months. Truthfully I'm now focused on having him on 11.11.11 which I think would be a pretty cool birthday- so if you have some mojo to spare... can you mojo him to come out for that birthday?

And- a request came through on the comments to link up to the patterns that I was thinking about knitting in my previous post. I'll do my best to acomodate that- but in some cases, you'll have to find the book/magazine.

1.) Baby Dots and Baby Bricks- pattern can be found from the Leisure Arts "Soft & Sweet Baby Afghans" (this is probably one of my favorite baby blanket "books"). However- you can also modify the "Ball Band Dishcloth" pattern found here (scroll down) for baby bricks and come up with something similar. (Yay free pattern!)

2) Different Take on Classic Stripes or "Gillian's Blanket"- free pattern can be found on Ravelry here. (I really like the simplicity of this pattern... don't be surprised to see this pop up in a finished project pile for me someday!)

3) Princess Squares- can be found in the Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2010 issue. (I don't believe they have the pattern in the shop, so you'll have to procure a past copy of the issue.) Preview can be found here.

4) New Life Baby Blanket - check out this link for the free pattern!

Happy Knitting Y'all!

Lost

2011-10-31T09:02:00.004-05:00

So knitting time, despite being on mat leave, is still kind of scarce. I've decided to stop worrying about it so much. Afterall- this is my HOBBY and something I supposedly enjoy doing... so I need stop treating it like my job, where I'll get fired if I don't knit.

I've finished the first color block on Jr's blanket and I have concerns. A lot of concerns. I don't think the owls are showing up. And so it just looks like bumpy squares with a white border. Here's the pic.... what do you think?

It's just not showing up well- is it?

I think it's time to admit defeat, frog this and start again, with a less ambitious "design" and going with an existing pattern, still using the yarn colors. It'll still be a beautiful blanket- but maybe a little less themey? If I do- I'm looking for suggestions. So far I'm hovering over these ideas: (Vote for your favorites!!)

1) Baby Dots

2) Baby Bricks

3) Doing a different take on classic stripes

4) Princess Squares (or in this case... PRINCE squares)

5) New Life Baby Blanket

My ennui with the current blanket status means that I've been picking up the easier project to knit on it and attempt progress. Without meaning too- I'm actually pretty deeply into the Teddy Bear blanket... might even finish that one soon! (It helps that it's all one color and it goes FAST!) Oh well- blankets in the "ready to go" bin are NEVER a bad thing!!

Progress has been slow because Halloween distracted me a bit this year. We had a Halloween party to go to on Saturday night and I needed the right costume for the baby belleh I'm carrying around these days. So, putting the needles down, I hunted down a cheap blanket outfit and cracked out the fabric paint and made me a costume!

Before you give me any credit for being clever... I blatantly ripped this idea off from elsewhere on the internet. (Done much better here) It's a rougher, less detailed idea- but it turned out pretty cute and I got a lot of compliments at the party. (But maybe that's just because people were scared my water was going to break on them!)

And... because my dear husband was suddenly struck with the need to "capture the belly" before the baby comes out... I'm also including a picture of me, on Friday night. This is me 38.5 weeks pregnant in case you were curious....

I'll be spending the rest of the day crossing my legs now- willing this kid to stay in for one more day. (I just don't want him to have to share his birthday with Halloween and Trick or Treating.) So- any mojo you can spare my way, about keeping Jr. away from Oct 31 birthday would be most appreciated!

**Poll closes Nov 3- so vote now... invite your friends to vote too! I need to know what direction to go in next ASAP!**

Blocking Unblock

2011-10-21T11:04:00.002-05:00

An intervention was held. MiL stepped in and saved me, and my sanity. The blankets are blocked and are finally, READY to be admired by the public!

Behold... the Welsh Blanket

Pattern: Welsh Blanket by Debbie Bliss

Yarn: Berroco Comfort Solids and Heathers in navy (9763) and white (9702)

Needle: US Size 7

Notes: This is a stunner! The actual knitting part isn't difficult, but it does require careful attention to be paid to the pattern, as reading the wrong row could really mess up your pattern. (Ask me how I learned that lesson?) I found it helpful to retype out the pattern on my computer, highlighting every other row so that I didn't mix them up. That tended to keep me on the straight and narrow.

The yarn was a PERFECT choice for the pattern as it really made everything pop quite nicely!

I had hoped this would have been my Stampede entry this year, but instead it's going to go to some little person born this winter. (One of the many little persons being born this winter!)

This last photo is a shot showing how the blanket looks from behind. The yarn carries over lovely in the back and didn't require a backing at all. Make this project if you're looking to impress anyone!

Behold Also... Moving Mountains

Pattern: Moving Mountains Baby Blanket by Aimee Alexander

Yarn: Rowan RYC Cotton Jeans in "Batik"

Needle: US 8

Notes: Another great baby blanket pattern, this one had the added benefit of being FAST. It would be a great project to knit if you were looking to whip something up in a hurry! What was even better is that I used just about every last drop of this yarn, completely clearing it out of my stash.

When I first bought this yarn I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but the color was lovely and the price was right (thank you Pudding sale) but now, it is also going in the pile for all the expected little ones popping out this fall.

Just another glam shot... because I can.

I couldn't believe how quickly the blocking process went when MiL was here. In just a short time we had both projects laid out, pinned and wet. I would have never done this had she not helped me, so thank you x a million to Phyllis!!

Not only did she help me move past these projects, she also got me on the road to a new one, but winding all of the yarn I'd need for Junior's blanket. I've still been pretty errand-y/busy this week, despite being on mat leave, but I was finally able to at least start this project with her help.

That is one snazzy border... isn't it?

This means that all other blanket projects are on hold, until this one gets some progress. I'm doubtful that I'll finish this project prior to Junior's arrival, my schedule seems to be fuller than I thought it would be on mat leave, but getting a good chunk of it done is probably doable.

Are you as relieved as I am about FINALLY having these done?!

THIS JUST IN...

2011-10-18T18:21:00.001-05:00

... GUESS WHAT IS CURRENTLY BLOCKING RIGHT NOW!?

Stay tuned people... it's finally going to happen- FINISHED OBJECTS coming your way very soon!

(Millions of thanks to the Mother in Law for getting me over this block!)

Finishing Up

2011-10-17T10:24:00.002-05:00

Firstly, you'll be happy to know that MiL is staging an intervention on the blocking process. Maybe it's because she wants her blocking board back (:-)) but we've planned a day this week to stay in and knit, watch Pride and Prejudice and she's going to help me block those blankets. I think I speak for everyone when I say "THANK YOU PHYLLIS".

From my obvious break again, you can probably tell I've been quite busy. Baby is due in just 23 days (I will now write the rest of this blog hyperventilating into a paper bag) and we've really amped up the "get ready" process- which has left me with drastically little knitting time. When there's such little knitting time, one can only make progress on little things.

Little thing #1: Final December Hat

I thought it would be best to get my knitting obligations out of the way before baby, so here we have the final hat in the "One Hat A Month" pact I made with my knitting group. I had a lot of purple yarn to use up this year, so these 12 little hats did a good job at stashing down.

Little Things #2: Hat and Socks for my Kid to Come Home In

In the strangest turn of events ever... up until last week I had not knit anything for my impending arrival. I know... it's silly... I've knit for a million and one babies but not my own. I've received some unbearably adorable things, but I did want Jr. to come home in something his mama made him and this seemed like the right choice.

Hat Details

Pattern: Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat by Keri McKiernan

Yarn: Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk 4 Ply in "cream" (or dyelot 0005)

Needles: US 2

Notes: I wanted just a simple roll brim on this hat with a short little "umbilical chord" at the top. I'm a little worried that the hat is going to be too wide for Jr. right after he's born, but I guess we'll see.

Sock Details

Pattern: Garter Stripe Baby Socks by Jennifer Hoel

Yarn: Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk 4 Ply in cream (0005- see above for link)

Needles: US 0

Notes: It is impossible for these to be cuter. IMPOSSIBLE. I can't wait to put his little cashmere sockies on his little feet!!

Bigger Thing... and Possibly a Reason to Stage Yet Another Intervention....

I also bought yarn and swatched for Jr'.s blanket.

As of today, I am on maternity leave. And, aside from impatiently waiting for my nursery furniture to arrive, (*commence hyperventilating again*), I have somehow decided that with perseverance I could probably crank out, or come close to finishing a blanket for Jr. I'm sure I'm essentially I'm delusional at this point.

I swatched the pattern in white so it doesn't show up very well in this photo, but I'm confident that once it's knit in a darker color and blocked, you'll see the owl very well. (Pattern is "Whoooo Loves Ya? Baby Cloth" by Elaine Fitzpatrick, the same woman who also designed the cow pattern from my much loved "Baby Beef" blanket.)

Yes, this means that other blankets and fancy sock will go in the "waiting" bin, as this project will take precedent. BUT, it's my own kid, I think I'm probably allowed to make the exception. The good news is that I might update here a little more so you can see how my "madly knitting" is progressing.

Stay tuned.... it's about to get REAL interesting over here. :-)

Busy Busy Busy Busy

2011-10-04T18:40:00.006-05:00

Oh blog, I feel so guilty when time stretches more than 7 days from my last post. But it just can't seem to be helped anymore. Knitting and blog time is being eaten up running errands, pre-natal yoga classes, birth and babies classes and training my replacement at work. I wish I could tell you that there was a reprieve from all of this but when Jr. arrives there are probably going to be more gaps here. Please stick with me! I know that my life seems to be insanely busy but I do hope to keep this blog up- even after I have my little someone.

Progress is slow because knitting time is limited. (And don't get me started on the guilt I have over not even starting anything for my little guy yet!! Thank god I have knitting friends and MiL who's knitting up a storm!) The good news is that there is progress and mat leave approach-eth, and I hope to squeeze in some last few hours of uninterrupted knitting time before SOMEONE makes their appearance. (Oh please give mommy at least one week of mat leave before you come.)

So where am I at these days??

Pink Baby Dots is just at the half way mark. I'm still totally charmed by this project and I'm not even bored by the simple pattern. It's a great project to just pick up and knit.... hopefully I can get it done before baby arrives.

Teddy Bears is also seeing slow but steady progress, another row of bears is just starting to end and open itself up for a whole bunch of seed stitch again.

And, I've even squeezed in some "quickie" projects to take advantage of the "I've only got 10 minutes" times.

I've got the November hat knit up- and just have to knit one for December and my hat commitment will come to an end. (You bet your butt I will be dropping that I knit those hats when I deliver at Rockyview... I'm totally wearing my "100 Volunteer Hour" pin to the hospital in hopes that maybe I get "private room priority". I doubt it- but why not try for that angle at least!? I might have to call MiL in to flaunt her 300 hour pin!! haha)

And- if that weren't enough, I also squeezed in a side project for a friend who will absolutely have her baby before Halloween.

It wouldn't be right to be a knitter and NOT knit her little one a pumpkin hat. I think pumpkin hats are a right of passage for all knitters who know babies born close to Halloween. (I'm tempted to knit my own pumpkin with the leftovers.... just in case I also have a pre-Halloween baby.)

So yup- still knitting... just not as much thanks to the many distractions going on. I had my shower on the weekend and was "showered" with many great handmade items and purchased items. It was nice to be reminded how lucky I am to have such amazing friends- I felt very blessed. (I only hope that I can keep up with my own hand knit giving once I have a baby!)

Thanks for hanging in there with me, and I promise to try an update a little more.

PS- it's probably best NOT to ask about how I'm doing on the whole blocking thing. FAIL.

Swatch Watch

2011-09-20T19:19:00.005-05:00

I got a message on Ravelry the other day from frequent blog reader MarDe1234 (Ravelry link) wondering just how I was able to adapt my blankets from dishcloths or change the suggested yarn weights in blankets and still come up with a good size. And so, inspired, I decided to let you glimpse into my muddled 'ole brain and see my process to making the blankets and projects you see on this blog.

The answers are all in the swatch. I know what a lot of you are thinking right now. "Oh boo.... a lecture on swatches...." and I know. I get you. It's a tedious task. Often we are INSPIRED! RIGHT! NOW! and don't want to take the time to plan the swatch. But people- swatching has saved me enormous heartache. While a swatch is simple... the process is not always that.

Firstly- I find it hilarious that although my swatch will turn into nothing useful once I have extracted measurements from it that I still keep most of them. Behold- the Ziploc bag of swatches!? (Do you think Ziploc has any idea just how much they mean to the knitting community!? I keep everything in Ziploc bags!!)

This here is a whole lotta swatches. I'm showing you this so you don't think that I'm just blowing smoke on this whole "you gotta swatch" thing. I swatch. A lot. (And apparently I don't throw the swatches out.) But I like to get a good idea about what things are going to look like. I break the swatching process down into 3 categories.

1) The "Traditional Swatch"

These are the swatches that you typically knit in stocking stitch that usually turn into 4" squares. These are necessary to make sure that you're knitting at the same tension with your yarn and needles that the designer intended. Often times you can predict how your project is going to turn out based on your gauge swatch. Sometimes the designer even asks you to swatch something other than stocking stitch but the traditional swatch is your lifeline to make sure your garmet is going to fit.

2) The "Play Swatch"

These are the swatches that I knit, still in small format, when I want to play around with a particular stitch pattern or am trying to get an idea about what I want to knit. I also use it to knit swatches of upcoming projects so that I can get an idea of how large a pattern repeat will be with similar yarn in order for me to cast on a project. This way I can get an idea of size based on an entirely different yarn than the pattern calls for. (Which I do a lot- I rarely use the recommended yarn size!)

3) The "Big Swatch"

I usually reserve the bigger swatch for when I'm attempting a project out of dishcloth or something that requires me to get an idea of how big a particular section is going to knit up, in order to get a really good idea of how many repeats I need, how much yarn I'll need or any other detail. The bigger swatches really help me get a good idea of what I'm about to dive into and if the yarn I've chosen is conducive to that. Yeah- it's tedious to knit a big swatch sometimes, but in the long run it's usually the most effective way to get a clear picture if the dishcloth thing is going to work. (In the case of that boat swatch I decided I hated the yarn I had chosen for the pattern (it was a different color than the yellow) and opted to skip it.)

You'll notice on those swatches that I don't always do a full border... sometimes swatches don't need a full border, sometimes I'll do one sided borders only so that I get an idea how some of the border measures but I'm able to calculate from there. (No need to do unnecessary knitting!)

So that's my "swatch process"- and proof that I do tend to knit swatches! (Some people preach the importance of swatching but don't actually do it themselves. I've learned the hard way that the swatch is a critical piece of knitting!)

I'll be honest- talking about swatches was a great topic for today because it can detract from the fact that progress on my other projects is slow.

In fact, besides 2 hats

(hello September and October hat!) most of the other things that I'm knitting still look relatively the same from last time. Oh, there's progress, just nothing I can really tangibly show you. So instead.... I'm boring you with swatches!

Plugging Away

2011-09-13T19:05:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile since the last blog post but I'm happy to say that's because I have been busy. (I have been REALLY busy.) (Haha I accidentally typed "busty"... and well, I suppose that too right now.) The one hour commitment to the various projects have seen slow but steady progress.

Pink baby dots is already 15" in length!

The Teddy Bear blanket is also seeing an end to it's first section.

Even the Nebula socks have seen progress!

I wish I could brag about the progress I've made on the blocking of the blankets- but I can't really speak to that. BUT, the good news is that the blocking board is in my house and the guilt about just finishing these projects is becoming overwhelming! (haha)

So that's where we're at this week! Things are happening but just at a slow (but steady) pace. I'd really like to get the pink dots and the sock done by the end of this month so we'll hope that the productivity plan stays on track!

Blocking Block

2011-09-01T18:59:00.003-05:00

Who wants to volunteer to come over to my house and kick me squarely in the a$$? It seems like that's the only thing that will motivate me to block the two otherwise completed baby blankets that are just waiting for their moment alone with the blocking pins. (Which I still have not located.)

MiL did generously offer to block the Welsh blanket for me- but I said no. Because GOSH DARN IT, being a knitter means finishing stuff to completion and that means blocking. But GAH I just can't motivate myself to it! This is probably because I've already moved on to a whole new set of fun projects!

Blocking inhibitor #1: Baby Dots

I am still so thoroughly, and completely and absolutely charmed by this project that I just want to knit it ALL. THE. TIME. It's simple to do and each repeat comes out more charming than the last. Someone has to have a baby girl because this has to be wrapped up in adorable little one STAT.

Blocking inhibitor #2: Teddy Bear Blanket

Did I show you when the swatch I knit last week looked all wonky?

Well I was finally able to at least block the swatch- and thankfully I did because size changed a lot after the initial soak.

So, a few short measurements later and hopefully a clear idea of where I want this project to end up- I was able to cast it on and have another "to go" project to haul around with me.

Blocking inhibitor #3: Nebula Brain Bender Socks

We went to Toronto last weekend for a wedding and I decided to only take this project, therefore FORCING me to actually work on the sock and give it some love. Numerous false starts later, (all knitter error, not designer) I was able to get going and well, this is going to be an impressive little number.

(I also managed to squeeze in a visit to the charming and famous (the Harlot's LYS) Lettuce Knit while in Toronto. While I behaved myself and didn't buy anything, it was nice to put a store picture to the name, since it is mentioned so often on Stephanie's blog.)

I can see it now- you're rolling your eyes... thinking "here we go again- Jen has over cast on and now she'll finish nothing." But I'm telling you, this time I'm ready. I have a PLAN. In order to ensure that each project gets to see some progress- I have instituted the 1 hour rule. The 1 hour rule allows me 1 hour to dedicate to a project. When that hour is up- I have to move on to something else... and so on. Once all three projects have seen a minimum of one hour each, I can go back to whatever I'm charmed by in that moment and give it more knitting attention. But this way each project is going to see some action. (Rule does not apply when I am away from my house knitting- I will take whatever is most portable in that moment with me.)

Tomorrow is my last Friday afternoon off this summer. (A nice little employer perk to the summer months.) I am planning an afternoon of utter irresponsibility. I'm not doing laundry, or housework, or anything that would distract me- tomorrow afternoon is all about me, an audio book and the knitting. It'll be good to see what I can come up with some dedicated knitting time.

Who knows- maybe I'll even BLOCK THE BLANKETS!?!?!? (*laughs meniacally because I know I won't.)

Solid D+

2011-08-22T19:25:00.004-05:00

Thanks to all who voted with confidence in me this weekend!! You're all so sweet to believe that I can achieve! That's why it pains me to tell you that I didn't achieve. In fact, I barely passed.

If you recall my goals were these:

1) Block the Welsh Blanket
2) Finish Moving Mountains and weave in all ends
3) Knit a baby hat for August
4) Swatch and cast on for next "portable blanket" project

At the end of the weekend here's where I ended up.

1) Block the Welsh Blanket : 0/1
Didn't happen. For one, I'm having second thoughts on blocking it- the ends might just ruffle despite blocking... but I feel like that's the lazy in me talking and not necessarily the practical side of me. I don't really enjoy the blocking process so I'm trying to come up with excuses to not do it. When I went to block something else today though I also discovered a problem. I have no idea where my bloody blocking pins are!! I have looked everywhere. TWICE. It appears a trip to a sewing shop is in my future.

2) Finish Moving Mountains and weave in all the ends: 1/2

Okay some progress here. The blanket is off the needles and it's completed. I used 9.5 balls of yarn so I'm satisfied with the stash down. This is a photo of the wrong side of the project and as you can see I failed to finish weaving in my ends. I'd like to get that done this week.

3) Knit a baby hat for August: 1/1

YEAH I accomplished a whole goal. August hat is donezo! (And if you're wondering "what's up with all the purple?" lately- I just have a lot leftover I want to use up and out of my stash.)

4) Swatch and cast on for next "portable blanket" project: 1/2

Swatch is done- but cast on is not. It became apparent last night while I was frantically knitting this swatch that it's going to need to be blocked before I can get an idea of what the measurements will be. I'm actually blocking that right now (with safety pins... I need to find those blocking needles!) and I'm glad I waited. The yarn grows. A lot. I need to let the swatch dry before I can adequately determine how many stitches I need to cast on to get a satisfactory sized blanket out of this pattern.

So there you have it. Three out of six things I had hoped to accomplish- or just barely a pass, a solid D+ showing. Contributing to my non-success was an exceptionally hot and beautiful weekend that I spent a few moments just basking in. It was officially too hot to knit outside. (At least blankets) I also spent the weekend girl bonding with my sister and the dogs- and well, sometimes you just need to put down the needles and give them a little attention too. I'm not too heavily disappointed that I couldn't get everything done I had set out to do- but I do feel the urgency to declare these two blankets finished- so hopefully will get them out of the way prior to the long weekend.

On the upside it appears that I have fixed the blog again- the poll was sized to large- throwing all my sidebar stuff to the bottom of the page. A little google search later and I was able to figure out what to do.

For those of you who have been asking- the blankets completed so far are not for my impending little one. Neither is baby dots... it's the wrong colors.... (there's a not so subtle hint for you on the sex of Jr.). I know at least 4 people having babies in and around the arrival of my own and I've told myself I can knit for all of them, including mine. This is probably exceptionally delusional of me- but we'll blame it on pregnancy hormones! (Whoo boy those have kicked in this week. Look out EVERYONE! I will either yell or cry at you- please ignore me.)

Setting Goals

2011-08-16T19:26:00.005-05:00

Right. An update is owed.

I'd love to post an update on the states of "Moving Mountains" and "Welsh Blanket" but they would look pretty much the exact same from what they looked like last blog post. So, in the interest of time, just go to my last blog post here and refresh yourself with the state of things. (Progress is occurring, but nothing that would look different from last time.)

I did, however, cast on something new, to make up for the absence on my couch of the last "un-portable" blanket. (Welsh) I started a new "un-portable" blanket! Meet Baby Dots and OH is this one pretty!

SO pretty! But also? SO not able to travel. Check out this delightful yarn ball shmozzle of potential "yarn knot disaster".

I'm staring down a weekend where I'm hoping relaxation is the primary goal and I get to sneak in a whole bunch of knitting progress. Since setting a weekend goal was fairly successful last time when I did it, I give you my weekend goals for this weekend.

Block the Welsh Blanket (Ends are woven in, I just need to take the final step to "glamour photo" this project for the blog. I can just imagine this blanket saying "I'm ready for my Close up Mr. DeMille".)

Finish Moving Mountains and weave in all ends (I'm on ball 7/10 now)

Knit a baby hat for August

Swatch and cast on for next "portable blanket" project

If, and when, I accomplish these things I will allow myself to work on Baby Dots- which I am SO enamored with right now, I would knit it and only it. But, I can only work on this project if the list gets completed first. (That's knitting tough love right there.)

So- whaddya think? Think I can accomplish these goals? Place your votes below (poll closes on Sunday at midnight) and I'll try and update you as to where I got after the weekend!

Can't Talk... Must Keep Knitting

2011-08-07T17:32:00.002-05:00

As predicted, August is shaping up to be a month for finished things to show you. I have been a machine (yeah mojo return!)- trying my best to whip through and bust down as much stash as I can. Why? I have four other friends other than myself expecting babies this fall and early winter and I have it in my head that I can get blankets done for everyone. (Ambitious much?) But as this blog title suggest... less blather, more knitting.

This weekend I got the Welsh Blanket off the needles. I really wanted to be sure that I knit the right number of rows on the ends so that the border looked cohesive the whole way around. That's why I provisionally cast on, I wanted to be save the borders until the end. On Saturday morning I got the main section of the pattern done.

By Sunday, I cast off the project in a satisfying swoop. Yes... there is still work to be done on this.

The next few morning while I "patiently" wait for my husband I will forgo the dishcloth knitting and instead will be weaving in ends on this blanket. I decided to reward myself with the actual "being done with it" part and set it aside for the rest of the weekend. End weaving needs to happen and a good hard blocking process needs to occur.

Finishing that blanket also means that I could work more on "Moving Mountains" which is also creeping up to the finish line. Here it is at about 6 out of 10 balls in.

This thing knits FAST and I'm hoping to "crush it" when I visit my grandmother this next weekend.

But since Mountains is so portable, I decided that it was okay to go ahead and bust some stash and begin another project- the Baby Dots Blanket, which is going to be a whole let less portable.

Here's the initial swatching stage completed. Don't get attached to these colors, this is just some Bernat Softee I had lying around in order to perserve the white stash I do have. I won't give away what I'm doing until there's a good picture to show you but I think this one is going to be quite smashing.

So yes- quite the busy place around here knitting wise. Hopefully the knitting time keeps falling into my lap and I can keep up with my goal of having some finished stuff to show you this August.

Keeping on Track

2011-07-24T11:44:00.003-05:00

Just thought I'd stop by here quickly to update you on the progress over here at Casa de Nennie. (I'll be quick this week!)

The July hat is done- and I am still on track for my hat-a-month pact with my knitting group.

I'm also making progress on both blankets- although I'm giving much more devoted time to the Welsh Blanket.

I will admit that I am just starting to feel the strains of "blah" with the Welsh blanket. My brain is starting to feel like it's kind of over the whole "look how cool the pattern looks" and is more like "are we there yet?" for the border add on. Blanket measures approximately 23" so far, so I figure about 10 more inches and I will indulge myself to begin the borders. I'm trying to get at least 16 rows done a day. That doesn't always happen, but I find little short term goals like this help to break down the monotony once a project hits that "I'm over it stage."

I had been thinking this blanket would be for my little one... but husband and I have been discussing nursery themes and I'm already indulging delusions of grandeur of another magnum opus. The bigger factor at this point is time. IS THERE TIME to do anything else?

The Moving Mountains blanket is also proving to be a worthy and very quick distraction. (Yay!) It's great to just pull it out when I need to take something along and quickly move along on making progress. I think that once I'm able to devote myself to it completely it will probably finish quite quickly. (Personal rule: can't even work on Mountains until Welsh Blanket has seen at LEAST 16 rows... 32 rows a day on a weekend.)

I keep telling myself to focus on the tasks at hand... FOCUS, because I'm just itching... DYING to cast on the socks all of a sudden. The good news is that there are a few airplane trips in my future and I will allow myself a sock indulgence for those, but not until those come up. I know that focusing on the two tasks at hand here will ultimately result in 2 finished blankets, which is what I need more than a pair of socks at the moment.

So that's what's happening. Progress continues... but there's nothing I can really show off yet. Hang in there- I feel like August is certainly going to be a month for finished stuff!

Back in the Saddle

2011-07-16T10:36:00.002-05:00

As Stampede draws to a close tomorrow, I thought the best way to break the good news to you was using a western themed blog title.

I. AM. BACK.

After nearly two months of "meh" progress- this July I feel like the old knitting me has returned! Baby is growing and healthy, but thankfully not sapping my energy anymore and I am squeezing in the time to knit again! The Welsh blanket is coming along at a lovely (although admittedly, a little boring) pace!

Not only that, pressed both to have a project that's a little more portable (Welsh blanket is pretty but not easily portable) and having a little stash guilt, I cast on another blanket that I decided to take around with me when I go out.

Meet "Moving Mountains"- a blanket that will probably be a little bit smaller than my regular sized blankets, but is using up some cotton yarn that I got on a mega sale this Christmas. The pattern is simple enough to move quickly but interesting enough not to be entirely boring. This blanket is my "portable" project until I wrap my head around a pair of socks to throw in my purse!

With my mojo back- I'm feeling antsy to get things done and move on to more knitting projects. I've been dialed into Ravelry all week, scouring cute project ideas and trying to think of the perfect "coming home" sweater for our little one. I've seen some good possibilities but I'm having trouble selecting just the right one. My favorites folder are getting a heck of a lot fuller- that's for sure!

I need to also congratulate my Mother in Law, for her Stampede success this year. While I am still feeling a little sad that I wasn't able to participate this year, I was heartily cheered up when I found out how well MiL did with her entries. She placed 3rd in the lace shawl category, (sorry I don't have a photo) and 1st in the cable category. Not only did she get her first red ribbon- but she did it with a BANG- placing second over all in the entire knitting section!

I'm so proud of her! Clearly my family is a knitting force to be reckoned with. Look out next year Phyllis... I'm coming for ya! ;-)

Oops

2011-07-09T10:17:00.003-05:00

So, it turns out that if you actually spend time knitting, you make progress! (Who knew?!) Progress on the Welsh Blanket is actually moving along at a (gasp!) NORMAL PACE. (Is there someone who can throw confetti in the air to celebrate?)

It's actually quite satisfying to see that I'm getting somewhere on this project. This picture is 10 inches in. You'll notice I did not begin with knitting a border this time, but there's a lovely pink acrylic bordering this blanket. I opted to provisionally cast on for this project because I worried (correctly) that the garter stitch border would be taller than the actual pattern. Since it's shaping up to look that way, I can fudge the borders on this blanket at the end, to try and get a better "lie flat" look to the whole thing. I will say that the Berroco Comfort yarn is proving to be an excellent choice for this project and in general I'm quite proud of myself to getting back in the saddle with this.

The one problem I have with this blanket is that it doesn't exactly lend itself to "social knitting". I can listen to a book, or watch TV while I knit, but I'm it's harder to participate in a conversation and follow the pattern. I'm heavily debating casting on another, very simple blanket (I have so many babies other than my own due this fall!), to drag around with me to other people's houses.

This last comment about needing to make an easier blanket helps me open the door to my little confession. I had a falling down recently at a yarn store.

Maybe "falling down" isn't the right phrase? I had a "falling down into a black hole where I could not be stopped" is probably a little more accurate. It turns out that Mission Falls is going the way of the discontinued yarn. And my favorite little yarn shop, (Pudding Yarn) put it's stash of it on it's sale rack and included it in it's 75% off sale that is holds annually at Stampede. What if I told you I bought all of this yarn (21 balls) for LESS than $40. It's MERINO Superwash! It's a deal. I don't even feel the usual guilt about buying it!!

I'm thinking the Navy/Red would lend itself to a beautiful, simply striped stocking stitch blanket and the Beige would be a really cute blanket too. So I'll be on Ravelry all afternoon doing a little research on that.

Anyways, thought you'd like to see that I'm holding true to last post's promise that I would be back more regularly and that I'm knitting again. Thank you all so much for your kind comments on our exciting new. We're equal parts thrilled and absolutely terrified- but I will admit I can't wait to meet this little person and see how they're going to grow up. (And people... knitting upside, I figure I will have a cute little knitting model to show off all sorts of cute things!)

FO's and WIPs*

2011-07-02T10:40:00.004-05:00

Woah. A month. That was a little bit longer absence than I was planning. But I have to tell you- June was absolutely CHAOS. With our house still being rennovated it was hard to do anything. Then, the day after the renno's were done we packed our bags and went to Italy for two weeks- and well, I didn't feel right announcing that on the blog so unfortunately regular posting here just kind of went sideways.

The good news is that I'm still a knitter- and now that my house is back in a state of where I can function, I anticipate this to be a very progress focused summer! So let's just dive right in and I will tell you what exactly is going on! (Brace yourselves, this is going to be long!)

First up- Some finished stuff to show you!

You may remember before I left I mentioned that I had finished the Pointelle socks but was unable to block them. My very sweet MiL stepped in and saved the day, and kindly finished them for me! (Now I need to figure out a way to get her to weave in my ends ;-0)

Pattern: Pointelle by Cookie A from her "Knit, Sock, Love" book.

Yarn: Madelintosh Tosh Sock in "Window Pane"

Needles: US 1.5 dpn's

Thoughts: This pattern was actually a pretty easy pattern to knit once you got into it. Don't let the charts scare you! The only thing I wish was that I went up to a US size 2 since the cuff is a little tight. I need to remember with Cookie socks, I tend to knit them fairly tightly and need to allow for that. I should also note that the Madelintosh was pretty swoon worthy to knit with- it just jumped around my needles so gracefully!

I also completed the easy peasy rainbow socks while on my trip to Italy!

Pattern: A Sock Recipe: A Good Plain Sock by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee from "Knitting Rules"

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in "Rainbow"

Needles: US 1.5

Reading: (I've really lost track of what I have and haven't read in all this) "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin and "The Chosen One" by Carol Lynch Williams. The Chosen One was especially fantastic and a great audio read- I highly recommend!

Thoughts: I love self striping yarn, that's no secret. This Knit Picks stuff is AWESOME. I would absolutely knit with it again. I did take special care to ensure the stripes were all the same size, which means I actually added more ends to weave (I apparently like pain) by cutting in longer sections after the heel, where the stripes tend to get smaller with the added number of stitches to decrease, but it was well worth the effort. I am very pleased with these!

I hope my sister likes 'em as much as I do- they're for her!

I even managed to squeeze out a June hat when I got home so that I'd stay on track for my one hat a month commitment!

That's not all! I also have stuff that I'm working on again too! (It's amazing how quickly your desire to knit returns when your house isn't in a mass state of chaos!) Yesterday I picked up something I had begun back in May, but just couldn't seem to wrap my head around it with everything going on.

It's the Welsh Blanket by Debbie Bliss- and I had originally intended to knit this as my Stampede submission this year, but I just couldn't get on it and get it done. I'm actually pretty meloncholy that I don't I have any entries in Stampede this year, but I've really struggled getting projects done this year and I just couldn't get something I deemed worthy to enter.

That leads me into telling you about another work in progress I have going on right now. I apologize blog land but I haven't been entirely honest with you. Yes- my mojo died this spring- but for good reason. Instead of coming home and knitting like a demon after work and enjoying my time, I was coming home and sleeping. A LOT. That's because I was making this....

... and that made me tired and just sucked the motivation out of me. Yup! I'm pregnant! Now that the announcement is official and I am well into my 2nd trimester (21 weeks this week, over half way) and not needing long naps to function, I'm finding the mojo is BACK and the desire to knit this little bambino something is great! I'm due on November 9th, (MiL's birthday- look how well I planned that!?!) and aside from the all encompassing sleepiness, I've felt really good. (No morning sickness... feel free to send me hate mail!)

So yes- there's a LOT going on here these days. I will hopefully post some renno "after" photos here in a while, but for now- just know I'm back... I'm knitting and there shouldn't be any more long blog pauses like that for awhile!

I will be back... SOON!

*For those of your unfamiliar with the "knitting community vernacular a FO= Finished Object and WIP= Work in Progress*

Chaos

2011-05-29T10:54:00.002-05:00

Well- after the contractor essentially FORCED me to knit, I’ve been working on the sock pretty steadily. In fact, steadily enough that it’s now off the needles! Sadly I can’t show you a picture of it in it’s lovely blocked and complete and final state because that would require my finding my sock blockers which um, I can’t. You will see blocked state at some point- for now, you’ll have to settle for “scrunchy finished” state.

I have discovered that with all the chaos in my life- attempting to knit anything remotely complicated was futile. My brain would look at a cable sweater, or a lovely motif on a blanket and it would just implode. In fact- it would look a lot like this.

This is my guest room. We have "oh so carefully" piled a bunch of stuff on the bed and the contractor covered it all plastic to protect it from dust. My stash is in this mess somewhere. I can’t even show you the bedroom, the only “functioning” room that we’re living out of, because it’s so messy, it’s the very definition of implode and rather shameful.

So with all of this chaos, my brain just can’t handle sweaters, or blankets, or anything that isn’t essentially stocking stitch. So, I switched it in different gear, squeezed past the junk, did a quick stash dive and pulled out the Felici self striping yarn. A mere 2 hours later I was fully engrossed into my self striping sock.

This is more my speed. This may help me regain my mojo during this time. (What is it with me and rainbows this year? It’s rainbow EVERYTHING on this blog lately!) I can’t help but love a self striping yarn, I find it highly addicting to see when the next stripe will come in and what the sock will look like. Here's what it looks like by Saturday night.

I had also intended to knit a baby hat for May, especially since I swiped some cute yarn from my MiL the last time I was there. BUT- that too turned out to be futile. It turns out that I did such a good job protecting my needles from dust/destruction that even I can’t find them. I’ve hunted under dust blankets and gone through various piles and keep coming up short. No “hat” needles to be found. Or “needles” in general. (How does one find anything in this mess?)

Thankfully, I did make it to the MiL’s this weekend and was able to borrow her needles and finally “crank” out a hat (and avoid the hat police who will come after me if I don't knit a hat for May).

The good news is that the tile is done- and it looks fabulous.

And while chaos is annoying, it’s been well worth it, as our renno is moving swiftly along. Paint begins on Thursday and countertops go in on Wednesday and hopefully, very soon, our lives will return to normal, the chaos will slow down, and I’ll get the mojo back to keep making stuff that looks cool. In the mean time- let’s all pretend that a plain stocking stitch sock is really, REALLY exciting.

*as before- forgive the iphone pics…. Camera is in a pile… somewhere.*

Distraction

2011-05-15T20:47:00.008-05:00

Good news- my house is in complete chaos! That means that rennos have started and we have finally, FINALLY, after years about talking about doing it, FINALLY have started our rennos at the house. Here is my kitchen in chaos.

My living room, where I do most of my knitting, is under plastic and unusable.

Rennos are going well and we're impressed so far on the progress we've seen. We are living in our bedroom during this process. And when the guest bathroom and guest bedroom are back to functional status, we'll move in there while our bedroom and bath get finished up. I'll do a lovely post with before and after photos once this process is settled and you can see what we're up to.

The bad news is that the rennovation process sucks out your will to knit. (Mostly because it sucks out your will to be at home, so we're enjoying late dinners out and taking advantage of the movie theaters.) Big projects (like the blanket and sweater) are safely tucked away into bags, protected from the epic amount of dust and my motivation to pull them out is just not there.

Before we all start sending hate mail to my contractor (who is great!) about killing my desire to knit, you should think about thanking him. I came home to my front door looking like this on Friday. (This is international contractor language for "do not come in right now or you will mess things up!)

They had ripped the tile off the kitchen/foyer floor and had laid a new subfloor, but it was still wet and I wasn't able to get in yet. THANK GOD I HAD A SOCK IN MY PURSE. THANK GOD! My contractor, (or more accurately, his tile guy) essentially FORCED me to knit.

I turned around- heading to the coffee shop around the corner and settled in there with a tea and my sock and got in some quality sock time.

I was reminded how small and compact socks are, and how they aren't that hard to knit when your bed is acting as your bed/couch/sometimes kitchen table. So maybe during this process I'm going to let the sweater and the blanket wait. I might hit the stash up for sock yarn and enact the KISS mentality. (KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid) (Lest you be worried for the safety of the stash, we have it stowed away in a manner that protects it, but also allows me access to it if I need it. Not to worry, the Wollmeise is safe!)

I was able to get back into the house an hour later when we confirmed that it was in fact safe to walk on the floor. This instance is enough to scare me into always keeping my sock along with me. I have, up until recently been leaving my sock at home, and I cannot even bring myself to think about what that Friday would have been like had I NOT had knitting with me. *shudder* Believe me when I say, I will not be without something to knit ever again!

So bear with me. Progress sucks. That seems to be a 2011 theme. I'm sorry. But I'm hoping once this house is back in shape, I'll be so happy to spend time there that I won't want to leave... and well, knitting time and progress resumes it's regular scheduled programming.

(Please forgive the iphone pics- they're what I'm relying on right now while the camera is somewhere, in a pile of things being protected from dust.)

Turtles, Snails, Sloths, Molasses in January...

2011-05-04T19:04:00.005-05:00

I think the title of this post adequately sums up my progress lately.

There are times when I can knit for hours uninterrupted. Days of sitting in my spot quietly knitting and churning out project after project. I am a knitting machine. It feels like those days are over for the moment. Life has once again gotten away of knitting time and I have never been so behind on things in my life! Apparently a part of being a "responsible, mature" adult (let's use those descriptors loosely, shall we?), means doing "responsible, mature" adult things and not just sitting around and letting my poor husband do all the work. Life is busy at our house these days.

There is progress- but it's so miniscule I am almost embarressed to show it off. Here is the sweater- about 5 inches longer than last you saw it.

Here is the sock- which is lucky if it sees an hour a week, instead of the hour a day I have vowed myself to.

I am hoping to cast off the toe tonight. But... that feels like an idle threat at this point.

I also have a charity blanket that needs a section knit for it (when!?) and I've only got a swatch for my Stampede blanket,

which may not happen for Stampede this year.

On the upside my rennovations, which have been sucking my time dry, will begin next week. Our new couches, as part of our "BUY GROWN UP FURNITURE" resolution for the new year, have arrived. I am hoping against hope that I will get to host a knitting night with the KnitWits this summer and show off my "new and improved" home. (Now with more seating!) Things are getting done around here- actually a LOT of things are getting done around her, sadly very little of it is knitting progress.

I'm still a Knitter. I still want to knit. I still carry needles and a sock in my purse on the off chance that there are a few spare minutes I can "whip out the sock" for. I read Ravelry everyday, stalk the Loopy Ewe frequently and swing by yarn shops. But right now- it's a slower progression for me than usual. Hang in there- I'm sure before you know it, I will be back to my "whip it off my needles in no time" stage again soon.

Slow But Steady....

2011-04-23T10:17:00.004-05:00

Well- as me and sweaters usually go- progress is moving slowly. BUT there is progress to share so it was time to update you on where I was at with this sweater.

Viola! Two fronts and just under half a back! NOT BAD. I would really like to capitalize on the long weekend (as I have thus far) and finish the back soon. I am beginning to get antsy about yarn amounts, as usual, right now I'm knitting on ball 6 out of 10. I imagine I will have to crack into ball 7 before the back is done- which could or could not leave me enough for sleeves.

I'm quite charmed with the decreases in the back and the way the cable starting curving together.

Yeah for interesting pattern writing!

But that's not all on the needles! I got around to knitting my April hat for the Knit Wits Hat Pact- and I thought it turned out pretty cute and springy!

And, if that wasn't enough to show for, I've also invested myself in the sock.

My lunch time knitting dates with Merlperp (and special guest KnittingWater and adorable Althea!) have picked back up again and when I pulled out the neglected purse sock- I realized that I actually really liked the project. So, in effort to not give up on socks entirely- I have committed to one hour a day to knit the sock. Sure, this is going to slow up the sweater progress a little- but one hour does see a lot of progress in the sock. PLUS- if I'm ever going to get through my sock yarn stash I need to make a time commitment or it will just grow and never shrink.

Speaking of stash- I'm happy to report that after getting out six balls, thus far, of wool out of the bin- the drawer now opens easily and without challenge. I still have a ways to go for stashing down- but knowing I'm one drawer with a smooth open, helps keep motivate to continue to stash down!

Hope your Easter's are just as productive as mine!

I See Progress!

2011-04-11T17:57:00.008-05:00

It was like the universe wanted me to blog today. Work wasn't busy so I got to leave early, the sun was shining when I get home so I could take pictures and there was, afterall SOMETHING to show you.

Fireside progress continues. Not a break neck pace mind you... but it continues.

That is a lovely right front side of the sweater. There is a newly inspired motivation to move along with this project as I want to start something else. (SHOCKING!) I bought the yarn for my Stampede Project this year and I want to get that under way.

BUT, as a motivational tool, I'm not allowed to even LOOK at the yarn or the pattern until I have a right side, left side and a back side of a sweater completed. Since my fingers are itching to cast on... I'm hoping that's the kind of motivation I need to devote any and all non-work hours to this project! (It helps that hockey playoffs start on Wed and we'll be hanging around the old tube to see what happens there anyways.)

I also did my section for the WCOBB blankets this weekend. This blanket has a special theme- Super Heroes! We collectively decided to do the "Justice League" and so I knit my section- BATMAN.

Not bad eh? (Although it is evident that my intarsia skills leave much to be desired. I'm hoping whatever kid gets this doesn't look up at his mom and say "mom- this lady's intarsia skills aren't all that great!)

Since the only reason that I'm off early is that I'll have to work later tonight (*sigh*) I'm going to quit gabbing on here and get back to knitting on a right side of a sweater! Ciao!

Snow Day

2011-04-05T18:15:00.010-05:00

When last we left our fearless knitting Heroine (me), I confessed to you a loss of mojo. A rather "meh" feeling about my knitting. And, quite frankly, I didn't know when it would return.

And then, on Friday, as a cruel NON April Fool's joke, the weather man broke the bad news. Snow. A lot of snow. A METRIC BUTT LOAD OF SNOW. The kind of snow you just stay home in. We planned carefully Friday, buying our groceries for the weekend and then we waited. Saturday we woke up and it was gross. Any snow in spring is gross... but this was really gross. There was so much snow. It's like spring regressed into winter. (Not that it's acted much like spring anyways.)

I tried to capture what it's like to wake up to a metric butt load of snow but this picture does not do it justice. This is halfway to the 25 cm of snow we got. (25 cm = metric butt load) There was a lot of snow.

As good Canadians do, we just bunkered down and stayed home. There was absolutely no reason to drive in this weather- so we didn't. We stayed in our pajamas. We ate junk foods that I lie to my doctor and tell her I don't eat. (If she ever asks... tell her I only snack on veggies.) We watched movies. We maybe didn't shower....

The point is we were homebound. It was ideal "forced knitting time". At first, I will admit I just wanted to lie on the couch and watch the movies, but I forced my hands to knit. And soon, like an old friend, knitting came back to me. There is nothing, NOTHING more cozy than wrapping yourself in a blanket, in your "jammies", knitting in your lap listening to Jane Austen being read to you while the snow falls, (admittedly beautiful) outside your window as you watch from your cozy spot. And thus... mojo engaged again and a left hand size of a sweater was born. VIOLA.

This kills me to say. K.I.L.L.S ME- but thank you snow day. I think I kind of needed you.

Missing Mojo

2011-03-30T18:17:00.005-05:00

I got an email from faithful blog reader and fellow Knitwit Mary today- wondering if I was ok, because the blog had gone a little silent there for a bit. With the blankets off the needles and a new sweater to tempt me- you should have been seeing nearly daily updates of me excitedly telling you about what was new.

But... you haven't. And as I told Mary, I have no excuse. Life is not inordinately busy, there is nothing keeping me from getting my knitting hours in. Nothing keeping me, but ME. Folks we have a case of missing knit mojo here. I just don't feel like knitting.

I KNOW!?!?! I'm just as upset about it as you are! Maybe it's all the blankets, or the books don't have me as glued to my seat or something or this odd bright thing in the sky people are calling the sun?!? I just don't know. I'm just not feeling it. Last night I watched television without knitting. I will say that again so you understand the severity of the situation. I. WATCHED. TELEVISION. AND. DID. NOT. KNIT. I cannot remember a time when I have done this.

There is very small progress to show you. The hat for March is complete as part of the hat pact:

And the left front of the Fireside sweater has seen progress.

(Although over-achiever me has decided to add considerable length to this sweater so we should expect a freak out in the next month or so when I run out of yarn thanks to this decision.)

What really frightens me is that it's the end of March. It's the end of March and I've not completed one project for Stampede this year. I had planned to enter 2. At the moment I will be lucky if I enter 1! Not to mention I'm going to lose 2 weeks prior to Stampede when we go to Italy (!!!!!!!!!!!) which we just booked today. So what I'm really saying here is I need my mojo back. ASAP.

So- if you see my knitting mojo lying around, give it a swift kick and tell it to mosey on back over my way. I need it to get this sweater done. I need it to get ANYTHING done. I just need it back.

Rainbow Connection

2011-03-19T10:21:00.004-05:00

Every once in a while I knit something that even exceeds my expectations for it. I have learned that it's not only just how stunning the project is, but a project is also made by the colors you select for it and the yarn you choose.

In this case- I chose well.

Pattern: Classic Ripples by Meredith Montross
Yarn: White- Sirdar Snuggly DK (0251), Red- Sirdar Snuggly DK (86532), Orange- SR Kertzer Northern Sport (140), Yellow- Schachenmayr Nomotta Brava Baby (57135), Green- Sirdar Snuggly DK (414), Blue- Sirdar Snuggly DK (0415), Navy- Sirdar Snuggly DK (0224)
Needles: US 6
Listened To: The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.
Notes: I've made this before but this time this project just blew my mind. I was so pleased with how it turned out and how relatively fast it came off my needles.

It even looks good on the WRONG side!

The whole time I knit this project, and even as I admire it now- I fully admit I had this song in my head. (It's a personal favorite.) I can think of worse things than having Kermit sing along to your knitting! :-)

You would think that with this off the needles and myself experiencing a little blanket reprieve that I would be all over my other projects. You'd be wrong. I'm not sure quite what's with me but I hardly knit a stitch with this off the needles. The good news (if you look at this way), is there a massive snow dump (*sobs*) forcasted for this weekend and I foresee some forced knitting time coming my way. Hopefully it bring a little progress along with it. In the mean time I might pull this out and look at the cheerful colors again.

Sweaters for Everyone!

2011-03-13T13:30:00.006-05:00

As we all patiently wait for the Rainbow Ripples blanket to get off the blocking board so that I may take glamorous photos of it, you are instead treated to a post about something that does NOT include a baby blanket. (I KNOW! So exciting right?)

I think we all needed a break from the baby blanket deluge, me especially, and since I seem to be caught up to the demand, I can now, turn my attention to sweaters. I appreciate it is entirely too late to be thinking about warm sweaters given that spring is technically upon us, but alas, I want to make sweaters, so sweaters shall be made!

First I started with a quick little distraction.

This is a dog sweater for Kevin. Kevin is a co-woker's dog, who is a super skinny Italian Greyhound. Needless to say, this cold Calgary winter has been really tough on Kevin, who doesn't want to go outside (who can blame him?) and do his business. Sadly he's choosing to do his business inside... which is where I can hopefully help. I told Kevin's mom, when he was a wee tiny puppy that I'd knit him a sweater when he was more full grown. Well- the time has come, and hopefully this cute little sweater will be just what Kevin needs to WANT to go outside again.

Second up is a sweater I've been wanting to make for a long time. LONG time. Finally, FINALLY the Fireside sweater is at gauge swatching stages. I have the right yarn now, and I decided that NOW is the time to make this cozy, lovely sweater. I even got gauge on the swatch! So, there's nothing stopping me from casting on and making some room in the stash!

So that's what I've been up to lately. A little bit different from the regular parade of blankets I seem to have been working on.

*Can I get a big "YEAH" for daylight savings time? Now that the sun will still be out when I get home from work- blog posting and picture taking should become MUCH easier. Let's all cross our fingers!

Uncle

2011-03-03T19:37:00.002-05:00

Sometimes you just need to leave well enough alone.

The football blanket has been done for weeks. Ends woven in, blocked to a lovely degree of flatness and just sitting here. I mentioned here that I wasn't happy with the size of the blanket, it turning out to be smaller than the usual blankets I make. But, after looking at this for weeks and not being able to marry the idea of adding on a border to this blanket, I've decided to cry "Uncle" on the whole project and leave well enough alone.

SO- Football blanket is DONE. (It also helps that I have met wee Zachary and he is such a tiny little man I do not think he or his mama are going to take issue with the blanket measuring at 26" tall.)

Pattern: I adapted Lisa Vienneau's football pattern and decided to go with simple blue squares. The "Z" is my own graph handy work.
Yarn: Berrocco Comfort Solids & Heathers in "Blue" (9707) and "Brown" (9720) {purchased locally at Gina Brown's!}
Needles: I wanna say US 8's, but I can't be certain, I didn't write it down! (But I did use my lovely, LOVELY Addi Turbo Clicks needles. Which I cannot say enough positive things about.)
Listened To: "A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick (which I HATED.... so depressing) and "Looking For Alaska" by John Green (which I really liked).

The footballs- look like footballs:

The "Z" looks like a Z (although careful to self, because on the wrong angle is also looks like a good "N")

And the Blue squares of happy, simple stocking stitch- well they look right too.

Finito!

Progress on the rainbow blanket also continues a break neck pace.

This too, will be shorter than I'd like, but only because I do not have enough color leftovers to do another repeat. I'm hoping by the end of this week- this will be on the blocking board too, and up for show and tell in the next blog post. I'm loving this blanket a lot, it's a show stopper, but I'm ready for something new! and! exciting! to cast on.

Rainbow of Happiness

2011-02-22T23:46:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I'm saying this out loud, but I can barely tear myself away from knitting the Rainbow Ripples blanket to stop in and blog about it. I am LOVING this project.

It seems like only last year when I was here, knitting this very pattern and lamenting and agonizing about how bloody bored I was. I thought I'd never finish. Now, here I am, same pattern, similar yarns and I do not want to put this baby down. Maybe it's because it looks spectacular.

SEE!?! It looks spectacular!! I attended the Gilli Hook knitting guild meeting with this blanket and lovely women, complete strangers, came up to me to tell me how gorgeous this blanket was. Even my own sister, a non-knitter, gasped when I showed it to her. She loved it. I'm clearly on to something here.

Maybe it's the change in colors? Even the massive amount of end weaving can't make me love this project less. I'm going to have a hard time parting with this project, so I'm going to need you to tell me to cut the chord when the time comes. (What does a childless woman need with THREE baby blankets? This is getting ridiculous!)

I was hardly able to rip myself away from the project last week, where I set goals of turning the heel on my sock and blocking my blanket. None of that happened, too enchanted was I with the color progression on my rainbow masterpiece. This weekend I couldn't allow myself the same inactivity... and so I quickly whipped up a February hat for the hat pact

and also a section for the WCOBB blanket "Spring Flowers".

(You can tell how distracted I was because I knit garter ridges.... only because it was fast and I could get back to my and only true love, Rainbow Ripples.)

I keep waiting for the novelty to wear off. To wake up one morning and feel this overwhelming sense of gloom over having to knit one more stupid row, of a stupid 2 row repeat pattern. But it doesn't happen. I actually wonder how early I would have to get up to sneak in a row or two before work. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE TO SLEEP AND HOW I WOULD NEVER DREAM OF SACRIFICING ANY OF THAT TIME? The sheer fact that I am thinking of committing the unspeakable act of getting up early to knit this speaks volumes about my enchantment with this project!!! (I suppose we could credit it in part to listening to "The Hunger Games" which has also gripped me recently...)

The one little thing that worries me- that sits in my brain reminding me that I am only a mere mortal, and despite my knitting a little piece of magic, I worry it's going to be short. I'm looking at how much yarn I have left in the colors and I don't think I could pull off another repeat. So that leaves me a little nervous. Hopefully next blog post won't be me here wailing to you here about just how short it is. BUT- this week we focus on the positive and talk less and knit more.

Back to the blanket....

Slow Progress

2011-02-12T13:05:00.003-05:00

Blog fodder has been hard to come by lately- there really isn't anything super exciting to talk about. Also, progress has been slow, mostly because husband and I have shifted our weekend focus to finally getting furniture for our house. It means Sat and Sun day long sojurns to various furniture places in Calgary, but eats knitting time like crazy.

Fear not, there are some things to discuss!

The Football blanket is OFF the needles, but I have discovered a rather unsettling problem. It's too small.

My calculations and gauge (DESPITE A MASSIVE GAUGE SWATCH... grrr) are off- and this blanket is considerably smaller than what I normally give to friends.

Adding an extra batch of squares would throw off the Z in the middle pattern and most borders with crochet seem to be better suited to little girls. I think I've decided to do a similar border to what I did with the white blanket; wherein I pick up stitches along the various edges and add some length. I'm still not sure what stich pattern will compliment, but I really neeed to get this thing cased. My goal this weekend is to weave in the remaining ends and block the blanket, so I know exactly what size I'm working with.

Making it hard to focus on finishing up the football blanket is the fact that in a fit of starteritis, I cast on a new blanket. Rainbow Ripples, which blessedly uses STASH leftover from the last rainbow adventure, could not wait to get going. It started like this last Monday:

And by this Saturday it looks like this:

I've knit this pattern before and while I found it rather boring, it does go rather quickly. The only downside (and it's huge) is that it leaves a mess of end weaving to get done.

*sigh* I need to make a friend who's only joy in life is to weave in ends. That way I can just hand off that duty to them! Second goal for the weekend is to get the first color reapeat on this donezo and weave in the ends. I refuse to allow myself to start knitting the next red row until the ends are woven on the first section of colors.

I even found a little time to get some purse sock progress this last week- thanks to a glorious few days at my parents while I was taking a course. (I am moving back home. Being an adult is a total scam. It's much better when you're parents insist on catering to your every need! *Thanks mom and dad!)

This little pattern is really great- it looks complicated but it's relatively simple. I'd love to have a cute pair of socks to model for you eventually. (Do you like how I've NOT committed myself to a timeline here?) The other goal for the weekend is to get the heal flap finished and the heel turn done.

I know that slow and steady wins the race, even though my progress is slowed by the distraction of other things going on in my life, by setting these small and acheivable goals, I should have something finished to show off here eventually. The greater goal is for March 1, to cast on my first Stampede project of the year. I need to start or I'm not going to get 2 out the door. It's easy to focus on a project when there isn't the distraction of other things guilting you into knitting. I just need to sit down and hopefully find the time to get a couple of things finished.

So to recap, the weekend goals are:

1) Weave in the ends to the football blanket and block it
2) Get a whole "rainbow" repeat done and woven in on the new blanket
3) Knit the heel flap and turn the heel on the Pointelle socks.

Think I can do it?

Getting Organized

2011-01-30T15:33:00.003-05:00

(Pour yourself some tea/wine, this is a long post.)

I have been a knitter for approximately 10 years, give or take a few months here or there. In that ten years I have knit all kinds of various things. I have also amassed a yarn stash. The fact that there is a stash is not really a surprise to anyone- (except to my husband, who has been around for the same amount of time but continues to be shocked at stash enhancement)- but it still warrants a discussion.

This was my stash management system this morning at 10:00 am. (The light in this room is awful... brace yourself for not so great photos today.)

This has been my main system for the ten years that I've been knitting. Adding boxes and filling them up. The three largest boxes broke down into acrylics, sport/worsted natural fibers, sock yarn. The various other boxes contains scraps, pieces, full skeins etc. When you put out all of those boxes it looks like this:

Needless to say, this is a highly inefficient system because it requires digging and rearranging on any given day. I probably access my stash at least once a week and the system in place requires more time than necessary to get to certain spots. Hence, my yarn stash started getting stuffed into various spots in my house because it just took too much time getting into the boxes and organzing and looking for more shoeboxes to stuff things in. Aside from the stash, it sat,unslightly, in various locations; by the couch, (WARNING: EXTREME UNTIDY PHOTOS FOLLOW! I am generally a neat person, but things have gotten messy. If you are senstive to mess of any kind (MOM) you may want to scroll ahead quickly.)

on our office on a desk.

It takes waaaay less time to just dump the stash in these locations versus digging to China in the stash management system I had in place

Finally I had enough. I'm not entirely sure what's gotten into me lately- but I am on a purge/clean/organize kick. This week the linen closet became an example to what other linen closets aspire to be. Same with my kitchen cabinets- and I knew the yarn stash was next. First up was convincing the husband that I needed storage.

The husband has always been resistant to a more permanent, refined storage system, I think because he feared that it would encourage me to fill it up the bins. Buying stash storage means acknowleding that there is stash to be stored, and he wasn't particularly a fan of this concept. However, after a somewhat civil disussion, we agreed that getting something was a good idea.

Enter- this baby, from Walmart that ultimately looked like it would fit the stash. (It would be appropriate to look at this and have the Hallejuah Chorus playing in your mind...)

I assembled it giddily and went to work culling and organizing. (Husband took this action photo... not my sexiest look...)

I did manage to get everything that counted as a full/mostly full skein into the drawers... barely. Just barely. I kept the same system, acrlyic on the bottom, worsted/sport natural fiber in the middle, sock yarn on top. I am not going to lie to you- these drawer open, but only after I do some maneouvering. They are full to the point where they don't open easily.

I was still left with a million odds and ends I couldn't part with which require more jamming items into drawers and ultimately admitting defeat and adding back in the plastic bin/shoe boxes.

Here you see on the right, my Knit Picks Comfy leftovers from various blankets and on the left, yarn left overs that I cannot part with even though I have no idea what I'm going to make with them. I absolutely need to get over my fear of running out of yarn. Absolutely- because this amount of leftovers is completely unnecessary. GAH... more yarn!

So when all was said and done- I went from this: (GAH!)

To This! (Sorry for the lighting)

You'll see that the large bing of leftovers is on the bottome, but since I don't get into there very often, that's okay. The drawers are neat and organized.

On the top I have an additional bin for needles, all DPNs (why do I have 5 pairs of US size 2 bamboo needles?), circulars, and crochet (boo!) hooks. I also have a shoebox of notions- like ribbons, buttons, and various other things that I rarely use, but needed to keep around.

It's considerably more organized and I feel A LOT better about things going forward.

The piling has tidied up considerably- here's the same spot by the couch, only containing the yarn that's up "on deck" for the next project. (You'll hopefully be meeting this blanket next week!)

I'm feeling a LOT better about this system, and also less guilty now that my house is less engulfed by stash piles. This little project does, however allow me a little perspective. There is still a lot of stash in there. I am motivated! Here's my goal: cull the stash down to the three drawers. Get rid of the bottom leftover box and be able to fit those in the drawers. My ultimate goal is to have those drawers open easily. That's attainable right? I need to knit at least one sweater from the wool box and one blanket from the acrylic box and this could happen for drawers 1 and 2. Drawer 3 may need a "summer of socks" to get it going, but I can do this. I can be efficient. I am motivated!

White Blanket

2011-01-23T18:34:00.002-05:00

It's done! It's done! It's done! Say hello to the white blanket. (Which was technically done (blocked) on Jan 16, but I'm finally getting around to telling you about it!)

Pattern: Baby Blanket by Sirdar Spinning Ltd (1600)
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Sport in white
Needles: US 6
Notes: Pretty simple pattern, but quite pretty results. This definately benefits from the border, which just completes the overall look of the project.
Listening To: Replay by Ken Grimwood

Getting this blanket off the needles freed me up to work on some new stuff. Firstly, the football blanket is well under way and moving along progress wise.

It's probably not going to be as large as the blankets I regularly make, but I still think it's going to be cozy and cute. And just knowing that I'll be able to finish it in reasonable time, has helped move me along. Oddly enough I'm really inspired to knit other blankets right now, (WHAT!? I know... I don't get it either), so getting this out the door will allow me to move onto another project. There is, afterall, another baby due in April.

In other project news, a few ladies in my Knit Wits group have entered a "Hat Pact" where we've committed ourselves to knitting one hat a month. It's a change from my hat a week project that I didn't participate in last year but I felt that one hat a month was certainly something I could maintain and would get me back into the volunteer ring at Rockeyview hospital. SO, with that in mind- meet the January hat.

Other than that- since the knitting on the football blanket is rather mundane (but cute all the same) my brain had begun brainstorming on ideas for my Stampede entry this year. I have a few ideas in mind, and we'll see how that pans out as my time frees up after the blanket. I need to get this blanket out of the way before I can really allow myself time to daydream what's next.

Intervention

2011-01-17T19:53:00.003-05:00

My cries for help have been answered. And, without even reading my blog, my husband has staged an intervention on the blanket.

I’ve spoken here a few times how I’m very fortunate to have a husband that, while he does not knit or express any interest in learning, takes a keen interest in what I’m doing and offers thoughtful and helpful suggestions when asked. He knows the difference between garter stitch and stocking stitch and has given me thoughtful knitting gifts such as the Addi Clicks I got this Christmas and the much coveted Signature Needles DPN’s from last year. This is a man who once spent an entire New Years helping me create a graph for a Chinese symbol for the family, so that I could knit a blanket for friend’s new baby.

He has also, from time to time, been the voice of reason when I’m trying to convince myself there isn’t a problem, by gently, but firmly, confirming my worst nightmare that something is in fact wrong. I trust my husband’s opinion, and while there are going to be times we don’t agree, I value the input he injects into my projects. The husband has impeccable taste (*insert “he married me” joke here*), and so his comments are taken with every bit of consideration that they deserve and often times he gets me thinking in a new, and often better direction.

I got up early on Sunday am and I began swatching the Rider symbol, and found myself sorely disappointed with the results. I was utterly frustrated, because I didn’t know how to improve upon it and I didn’t want to waste a bunch of time “designing”. (I just need to knit the damn thing.) I stared at the Stapms chart for a long time and my brain couldn't figure out what I needed to do to reverse the logo. At this point husband felt it was safe to speak up; “I think you’re over-complicating it with the Stamps and Riders logos- what’s wrong with footballs and the baby’s initials?”

The answer is nothing. Nothing is wrong with that idea. He even went further to suggest color choices and wouldn't you know it, that afternoon I found myself in Gina Brown's, buying Berroco's cotton/nylon blend yarn and by the end of the night cast on to begin.

It'll be pretty, but simple. The brown squares will have footballs, the middle square will have a "Z" for Zachary and the blue squares will be simple, plain, (FAST!) stocking stitch. It might not be as big as the usual blankets but it will still look great. I'm beginning to suspect that his announcements about "not knowing anything about knitting" are a ruse. This is someone who is learning a lot about the craft through osmosis. Who knows- maybe by the time we retire he'll have his very own pattern book out and we'll all be swooning over his patterns!?

... um, maybe not. But- it's nice to know that I've married someone who is a) not afraid to speak up in the face of sheer lunacy and b) someone who has a great eye and insightful ideas.

Thanks for the intervention babe- I'm feeling a little more saner than I was this weekend! :-)

What is Wrong With Me?!

2011-01-14T19:29:00.002-05:00

Remember all the agonizing I went through when designing Baby Beef and the Magnum Opus? Remember all the whining and moaning about not knowing what I was doing and the ripping back I had to do because it was a pattern I was adapting on my own and I wasn’t sure what was what?

Why in the hell am I thinking, seriously, about doing it again instead of choosing a beautiful, EXISTING pattern, that is so much easier to knit?

Seriously. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?

When I search Ravelry for “blanket” I’m given approximately 9,600 patterns to choose from. NINE. THOUSAND. SIX. HUNDRED. patterns. And of those NINE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED patterns, I, apparently, am completely unsatisfied with my options, all nine thousand six hundred of them. What in the what!?!?!?

Is this a knitting sickness I don’t know about? This isn’t starteritis, nor is it second sock syndrome; this is it’s own particular brand of lunacy. Delusions of grandeur maybe?

I have 3 babies on the “blanket radar” right now. I have 1 blanket ready to go, should I ever get around to blocking it. Baby one was born early this year, and HE is throwing a wrench into my plans. I kind of thought HE, was going to be a SHE. Suddenly the white blanket isn’t quite “he” worthy. (Let’s not discuss how I’m gender stereotyping- I am. I’m not sorry.) In the back of my head I selected this particular pattern just in case “he” was not a “she” and I could give it to the guaranteed “she” being born later this month. (Surprise Anne?) That leaves me blanket-less for a good friend who had the audacity to have the wrong sexed baby. (HOLLY!!!!)

Selecting a blanket can go two very different paths for me. Sometimes I see a pattern and am wholly consumed. I must knit that pattern and nothing will stop me. I can usually adapt it for the mom I’m knitting for and away I go. This was the case for the Rainbow Squares (of never ending garter stitch), the Leafy Blanket, the More Than I Can Chew Blanket and even Pink Insanity. I got the yarn and I got down to business. Easy peasy.

But other times my brain just goes completely off the rails. And nothing, absolutely NOTHING is right- and I choose to adapt (usually dishcloths) a pattern. Suddenly this new little mister needs a football blanket and no one has had the good sense to design something that incorporates mom and dad’s favorite teams; the Stamps and the Roughriders. WHAT!? WHY HAS NO ONE DONE THIS!? MUST I DO EVERYTHING MYSELF!?

Apparently the answer to that is yes. I must do this myself. Thankfully I’m not feeling as ambitious as I was with the Magnum Opus. I’ve found a football pattern (Rav link), a Z for the baby and even a mustang (Rav link), that if I reverse it (because why make it easy on myself?) looks like the Stampeders logo. I’ve even found a kind soul in Saskatchewan somewhere who charted out the Roughrider logo (Rav link), so I can play around and make it work for me. (I’m sure with calamitous results the first 22 times I attempt this.) I’m thinking every other square will be lovely, easy, simple stocking stitch. All I need is the yarn and a color inspiration. (And on this rant tangent: WHY is it in my head the color inspiration is BROWN?! A new cute little baby boy DOES NOT EQUAL POO COLORED BROWN. Actually… scratch that, I think that’s actually all they do for the first 3 months….)

I am left with no choice but to traipse over to the yarn shops this weekend and buy me an unknown quantity of block-able yarn in poo brown, hopefully at a price that does not cause me a further conniption.

Next week, when I’m on the blog telling you my envitable sob tale of failure, I want you to give me no sympathy. I want you to remind me that I brought this on myself. There are NINE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED other options that I could have gone with, and instead I went this route. I need a little tough love right now…

… and maybe a doctor because there needs to be a cure for this problem. And fast.

(here we go again...)

Catching Up to 2011!

2011-01-10T19:18:00.002-05:00

Whew... that was a long time between blog posts! Sorry about that folks- we were in the coldest place on the planet (or so it seemed) for New Years, (Regina), and then immediately after we hopped on a plane to warm up in Maui for a week. Since I'm not particularly keen on advertising my holidays on the blog- you were left with some prolonged radio silence. BUT... never fear! New year, and there's lot to share! (And yes, potential house robbers WE ARE HOME NOW... sorry to disappoint. I know you're eyeing up my Wollmeise stash!)

WHERE to start? Let's start on something easy, Dishcloths.

I've been knitting these dishcloths several weekday mornings, while I "patiently" wait for my husband, who is usually about 10 minutes behind me in the morning. Instead of nagging him to "HURRY IT UP"- I've been knitting these. Simple, easy, and easy to pick up or put down that doesn't require much in the way of thinking. There will be more of these in the new year- although I've made quite a dent in my dishcloth cotton stash... which I suppose was the point.

Pattern: Ballband Dishcloth (Made famous everywhere, but mostly in Mason Dixon Knitting. I've linked to a free pattern though, that is the same thing.)
Yarn: Lily Sugar and Cream Cotton- (which I seem to have a decent stash of)
Needles: US size 7
Notes: I LOVE THIS PATTERN. It's easy to remember and to knit and the results are always smashing. These will be for my baby sister, who desperately needs to replace the old ones I made her.

Oh but that's not all friends! Before the new year was out I finished the Cashmere Therapy shawl. It is beautiful. It is soft and it is heavenly and OH I couldn't be more happy with it.

Pattern: #24 Lace Stole by Erica Schlueter (Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2010)
Yarn: JoJoland Cashmere- 2 skeins So SOFT- I just want to smush my face in it ALL the time.

Needles: US 9 for the cast on, cast off and US 4 for the pattern
Notes: So simple. It's a great pattern to try out lace knitting and not get overwhelmed.
Listened To: Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland, Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Schteyngart and Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

I also squeezed in a little time to keep working on the insufferably adorable Willie Sweater.

AND started a new 2011 project, Pointelle, from Cookie A's new book.

Speaking of Cookie A's new book... guess what I got for Christmas this year?

Once again, family members have out done themelve in the SPOIL department and I am flush with lots of inspiration, knitting needles AND Loopy Ewe gift Certificates. I can't wait to dig in and try out my Addi Clicks! Also... did I mention that I got the new Cookie A book, Knit. Sock. Love.? Did I also mention that MiL had it SIGNED for me? NO?

That was pretty awesome. My parents and my sister also helped round out my collection of Vogue Knitting books- that I always look to when I'm in need of inspiration.

WHOOPS- almost forgot to tell you I hit the Boxing Day Yarn Sale again this year at Pudding! A usual, had a great time with my fellow yarn salers, and walked away with some yarn for a new baby due in April. (It. Never. Ends.)

10 skeins of Rowan RYC Cotton Jeans in "Batik". (Yeah 75% off!!)

So yes, you could say I'm pretty set for 2011. I'll try and do a stash photo shoot sometime this month so we can look ahead and start planning projects for the new year. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

******

Also- there's going to be changes on this here blog for the next little while. MiL & FiL also got me a book on google blogger and I will hopefully be able to burn through that and pick up some tips to make this thing a little more "me".

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

2010-12-24T11:06:00.004-05:00

'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even my spouse.
The presents were wrapped and all the chores equaled none,
it was time to sit down and get a blog done!
Somehow, despite all the distractions this week,
I got in some knitting and thought I'd give you a peek.
It's a Cashmere shawl! And it's off the needle!

Now to block over the holiday, if MiL's blocking board I can wheedle!
But that isn't it, there's more, keep on sittin'
For I even finished a cute pair of mittens!

Where did I find the time for this? I don't really know,
But I woke up one morning with progress to show!
If that wasn't enough, there was even more,
Even the white blanket isn't as much of a snore!
Just a few border rows left to pick up and knit,
And before New Years I should be finished with it!

And because I needed a project that was easy to carry,
I cast on a sweater I love so much I might marry!
Everyone, meet Willie, and isn't it cute?
A friend's litte girl, I think it will suit!

I'm just using stash yarn to knit this one up,
And I'm so completely charmed by that cute little pup!
I've got some time off now, so I expect much more to see.
Perhaps I will even start something for me!
Now to do yarn "research" for the boxing day sale,
Missing yarn at a discount would make any knitter wail!
So back to my knitting, with relaxing in sight!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

****************************************************************

Mitten Details:
Pattern: Fletcher Mittens by Amy Swenson
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden (worsted) 292 and 264
Needles: US size 6
Listening To: Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shyteyngart
Notes: The pattern was great and easy to follow- it's a good download I'd recommend it to anyone. However I HATED the yarn. HATED it. The colors are lovely, and it compliments the pattern perfectly, but it kept breaking and ripping and I had so many ends to weave in at the end I was completly in full HATE mode for the yarn. BOOOOOO NORO. (What I don't get it is that so many people love that yarn and I can't for the life of me figure out why. I will not be buying Noro again!)

In Which I've Learned Nothing

2010-12-13T17:50:00.003-05:00

Apologies for brief blog intervals. This December has been chock full of Christmas events to attend. Sadly, these events leave very little room for actual knitting time, not to mention even less time for blogs. Thankfully, we had an early dismissal today for our company Christmas party, (yes, it's on a Monday... don't ask) so I managed to squeeze in a little post here.

Hey?! Remeber that time I decided that I had too many things on the needles and I needed to close some circles? Well, apparently I've didn't learn anything from that... because I cast on a pair of mittens, simply because I could not wait to to do so any longer.

I just wanted a small project to tote around with me since the other projects have gotten quite huge. These are going to be the Fletcher Mittens when they're done- and I'm hoping to also make a matching ear muff warmer thingy. (I think that's the technical term for those.)

I felt slightly less guilty than I normally do when I cast on a project admist other projects, because a large portion of the white blanket (OF NEVER ENDING MONOTONY) is actually finished. I've cast this blanket off and the ends are woven in. (Apologies for these photos... it's December in Canada, we're lucky to have 10 minutes of natural light!)

Now all that means is picking up the stitches for the edging to make the edges look less frightful than they do currently.

YIKES! Those are some ugly borders right now! I'd love to finish this blanket before 2010... it needs to be finito, because I want to make January the month for a big squishy sweater.

So yes, there is still knitting to be had around these parts, even though it happens less often than normal. Not to worry- I have 2 weeks off over Christmas, I'm hoping that things will be flying off the needles then!

Hoping your Christmas schedules are allowing you some time to knit too....

Oh Hai Blog!

2010-11-30T20:54:00.002-05:00

Sometimes it's tough to blog about my knitting.

Firstly, if your me, and you have projects that you're working on, but they look essentially the same since the last time you posted photos of them, well, it doesn't make for very interesting blog fodder. The white blanket looks the same as it did last time... only longer. Except, not long enough to tell you what the next step is or something interesting about it, just long enough for me to know I've made progress but not really talk about it.

Secondly, it's dark out. And as you've probably already noticed- it's tough to take photos in sunlight, when there's little of it. (I have tried, for the most part, to take my photos in natural sunlight so you can see essentially true colors etc.) It's dark when I go to work in the morning and it's dark when I get home. My office lighting is ATROCIOUS. So, if I'm inspired to do something, like for example rip out a scarf that's been languishing in my unished object pile because I'm inspired to knit these mittens instead, you have to hope that I can catch a sprinkling of sun on a weekend to take a photo.

Bye bye scarf of many colors... back to the stash you go. (Side note- ripping out Noro Silk Garden after it's been sitting in a knit state for over 2 years isn't pretty- I'm happy I was able to salvage most of it...)

Thirdly, I've been increasingly frustrated by my Blogger skills. I am very, VERY basic. I know this looks flashy and exciting to some of you- but this is very low level, goofing off and hoping it works kind of layout and format. What I find INFINTATELY frustrating is that lately I've been receiving comments and questions on the blog from strangers and for some reason I have been unable to respond to commentors. If you have left a comment on this blog- and do not leave an email or a Ravelry name, or a blog you're with, I have NO WAY to respond to you. I don't even know how to find out who you are. I AM NOT TRYING TO IGNORE YOU or keep all the knitting secrets to myself! I just have no way to respond. I AM REALLY SORRY. I swear I'm not an a big jerk who doesn't want to respond. I DO! BADLY! I just don't know how.

What I need is a "blog person." Someone who I can pay for their time who will sit down and a) build this site into something palatable and viewable and b) set it up so that I can post photos, text and respond to comments and make it my little space on the internet but also something that is easy for my lame-o computer skills to manage. (Hello birthday gift idea!!)

So there you have it. I'm hoping for a flurry of excitment/progress here soon. I also know that 'tis the season for doing 96 gazillion different Christmas events that suck on knitting time. So cross your fingers I'm able to survive with a little knitting along the way.

Too Much White

2010-11-20T13:56:00.002-05:00

Blog posts have been less than my regular frequency lately, because I'm kind of in a state of knitting ennui. I did liberate myself from all the unfinished items hanging over my head, shaming me- but the projects that remain aren't exactly thrilling me either.

Maybe it's because they are all the same color.

Behold- the latest baby blanket, where progress is made, but there isn't much to say about it. (At least it's a very VERY simple knit.)

Behold the backup project- a pretty shawl... also white. (But cashmere... mmmmm)

Making this whole "meh" feeling worse? I can't get away from white stuff. BEHOLD- the view outside. (At my sister's house.)

At least this view is doing one thing, it's so cold to do anything else I'm essentially home bound and left with only an option to knit. So that is what I'll do- hopefully there will be some interesting stuff happening around these parts again soon! Next project will be colorful- promise!!

Closing Some Circles

2010-11-07T11:34:00.002-05:00

Sylvia in my KnitWits group told us a story last knitting night that kind of struck home. She was unsatisfied with a few things in her life and it was stressing her out. Her doctor gave her some very sage advice- "close your circles Slyvia". It turns out that there were unfinished things in Sylvia's life and when she starting finishing them, she found that she started feeling better.

As you can tell from my last post, there are a lot of open circles in my life right now. The sheer idea that there were so many projects in various states of completion was stressing me out, I didn't want to knit because it was so overwhelming to figure out what I should work on- so I decided to take the advice and close a few of my own circles.

Firstly, I had to admit defeat. I could not finish all of the projects on the needles and so I had to let some projects move to the frog pile. It's not to say I won't ever attempt these again, but they are no longer weighing on my concience.

Goodbye Doggy Mittens

Goodbye Charade Socks

Getting those two projects off the needles was oddly relieving. Now I can knit knowing that they aren't there, wondering why I haven't worked on them. With those off the needles I'm able to better focus on the projects I do have on hand.

Knitting Therapy, which is delightfully simple to knit, and I love feeling the soft cashmere. Progress is slow but steady, and it's looking like this these days.

I did also start the knee socks that I discussed in my last post. They're a rather slow process also, but I will admit that the colors are tremendously fun. And once I get the calf shaping figured out, I'm on easy street with the rest of the knitting.

AND, yes, I did cast on a new blanket. The baby is due at the end of December and the pattern is also very simple to knit, so I cast on, ready to face the challenges.

Not all my circles are closed, but it feels like my "circle count" is more manageable these days. The sheer act of letting some project go has lifted the weight of my current "to finish pile" and I find myself considerably less overwhelmed with what I do have to knit. (It helps that what I'm knitting is all very simple.) Hopefully this is the sign that projects will again begin flying off my needles and I can stop regaling you with stories of my distraction!

Knitting ADD

2010-10-27T20:11:00.002-05:00

I have been known, from time to time, to flit around from project to project, trying to see what feels right and what I want to work on. When I have a big project, like a blanket, I’m usually pretty devoted to that project, dreaming about other things, smaller, that I could be knitting. BUT, when I allow myself the time to work on “fun” small projects, it feels as though I have the attention span of a gnat, casting on a few stitches here, then ten seconds later, “OOOOH SHINY”, and I’m distracted to something else.

I have the most crippling case of Knitting ADD (KNAD) right now. I can’t allow myself to cast on anything new. I just can’t- because there are SO MANY things on needles right now that need to be finished. SO many. So instead, I’m so overwhelmed by my projects, I haven’t been knitting at all, just casting a trillion things on and then losing love with them 43.5 seconds later.

Exhibit A: the Charade Socks
At one time- they looked like this.

Then I fooled myself into thinking that I knew how to do an after thought toe and all hell, broke loose, resulting in this.

Now I can’t get the pooling to go as snazzy as it did the first time and so instead I just keep ignoring them. To frog or not to frog…. that is the question?

Exhibit B: the Doggy Mitts of EPIC GAUGE FAIL

I don’t think I have a needle I haven’t knit these with. Finding it too painful to rip out- I upped the needle to US 4 and knit them to this. (How sad that these recommend a US 1… and I keep going up needle sizes!)

Except I know that I’m still kidding myself and these are the tightest mittens knit in the history of faire isle. Any tighter and they’d be bullet proof. They have to be ripped. Again. And instead of facing this reality, I just leave them on the needles, waiting for them to magically correct themselves.

I can’t decide if thicker yarn is going to fix my issues or if I just need to admit defeat.

Exhibit C: Cashmere Therapy

Oh yes, it’s lovely- and this is one of the few projects that I haven’t made an error on. It’s just… well… I’m bored. And every time I knit this (and we’re on skein #2 now so it’s not like I’m not making any progress), I just want to knit something else. I’m also deathly afraid of blocking this, because I have a feeing it’s going to be tricky.

Instead of fighting that urge to cast some thing else on while knitting this shawl- I’m suddenly impulsive.

Exhibit D: Rainbow Socks

Because rainbow plain vanilla socks are more fun than a cashmere shawl apparently. Truthfully I wanted something very, VERY easy to knit while I went on a road trip with the super fun Jocelyn and Anne- so I pulled these out of stash, cast on and made immediate, satisfying progress.

Except my sister mentioned that she wants knee socks (not in reference to these socks, just in general) and now all I can focus on is my OVERWHELMING NEED to rip these out and turn them into knee socks.

Not to mention Exhibit E (Noro Scarf), Exhibit F (Argyle socks) and Exhibit G (Silk Scarf) that have been around so long, I’ve actually gotten used to ignoring them!

I’m also mildly entertaining about throwing an "Exhibit H" into the mix and casting on the next blanket this weekend for a friend due after Christmas.

Why is it when I have a big project I can “buckle down” and be monogamous? But, when it comes to little projects- I’m all over the place? I can't see to pay attention to anything longer than a minute! If you're wondering why blog posts have been light- it's because I'm sitting here in a pile of "Works in Progress" and wondering why I did this to myself!

I blame Ravelry. I wouldn't have this problem of "OOOH shiny! Look at that" if Ravelry didn't tempt me with lovely projects. So with this ranting, I'm off to knit some stuff. What? I don't know- but I have to knit SOMETHING.

Thank Goodness

2010-10-17T20:58:00.002-05:00

If it seems that the knitting progress has been slow this fall, that's because it has! We were in Chicago over the Thanksgiving weekend (where I visited the lovely Nina shop- so cute!) and I've had some furry friends over providing a cute distraction.

Seriously- how can anyone get anything done with these two around? On the left is Jennie (La Clune) and the right is Miss Etta. Two cute girls who make it hard to knit, because you just want to pet and love them.

But, I did have one and only goal for the weekend. FINISH GOODALE. Thank goodness I had some success!

Pattern: Goodale Cardigan by Cecily Glowick MacDonald
Yarn: Louisa Harding Albero in colorway 4
Needles: US 7
Listening To: (What did I NOT listen too!? Most recently it's been "Room With a View by EM Forrester.)
Notes: I love top down design because you can get the right length in a sweater. I tried this on where the pattern told me to stop for the length and it wasn't long enough for my long torso. SO, I added several rows more to make it longer.

Turned out pretty cute eh? (Please pardon the non-exciting background. The sunlight hours are much shorter these days and this was the best light we could get- in our condo. Also? I hate having my photo taken- so I look glaringly awkward in all of these!)

I'm especially fond of the pockets....

AND the buttons!

(Sheesh.... if you want to see "good photos"... visit the lovely Mags' website. Someday she will come to Calgary and I will make her take photos of everything I have ever knit. I swear!)

You'll notice that I'm only talking about the sweater and not the mittens? The mittens and I have agreed to disagree. And they're currently in time out thinking about all that they've put me through. When they decide to meet gauge and write "I am sorry for causing Jen great distress" 1000 times, I will think about knitting them again.

It's nice to finally, (FINALLY!) have this off the needles and feel like I actually knit something else, without this in the back of my mind going "Jennnnnnn you need to finish your Gooooooooodale!...... And to that? I say Thank Goodness!

Knit Therapy

2010-10-08T10:56:00.002-05:00

Well, the exam is done. Was it done well? Um… I guess we find out on Dec 2, but in all honesty, I’m not all that hopeful. That exam was HARD y’all. HARD.

So hard that, after a few errands, I went home and knit silently on the lace (very very easy lace DO NOT BE IMPRESSED!) shawl. The simple act of knitting reminded me that while in that exam, I felt like I knew nothing, I am not an idiot all the time. I’ve managed to get pretty good at this little craft. Anyways, I found the simple act of knitting an easy pattern very enjoyable. My shoulders relaxed, my brain cleared and I just got in a zen state of knitting each row the way it’s supposed to be. This process was made even more pleasurable and more therapeutic by the fact that the yarn is cashmere. It’s so soft people. So very very very VERY soft. Every so often I’ll run my hand over it, feeling the softness. I can’t wait to wear this around my neck!

Also, as a reward for all the self knitting denial and studying I did, I also let myself start a pair of mittens. I was CHOMPING at the bit to knit these. I actually picked up the yarn and held in my hands a few times during the studying, while I fought my brain trying to coax me by saying “just a few rows”… “just a few rows”. (Haha- now I know how Lindsay Lohan feels.) With the exam over with- I cast on with a fervor.

(It took me 2 days to figure out the Latvian Braid- but I did, finally!) And then ripped it back and went up a needle size.

And then ripped that back and went up another needle size.

And then ripped back the TWICE RIPPED BACK mittens to go up yet another needle size.

And…. I may need to go up again. (On the upside I am a "Latvian Braid MASTER" now.) *sobs* I am DETERMINED to knit these, because once I figure out the right gauge (it might be best not to remind me about gauge swatching right now because I’m feeling a little fragile) these are going to be stunners.

For right now thought, I need to go back to the easy cashmere shawl, I need a little detox from the mittens and that brief little reminder again, that I am capable. (I just have momentary lapses.)

Oh Cashmere shawl… you’re better than any therapist!

Field Trip!

2010-09-26T11:51:00.003-05:00

(Make yourself a cup of tea, this is going to be a long, but interesting post!)

Last Friday I took the day off, and MiL and I drove out to Carstairs to check out Custom Woolen Mills. It was a lovely way to spend a day off and a really interesting little trip, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Firstly, I have to admit that the trip did not start off on the right foot. Carstairs is about an hour outside of Calgary, and as we turned off on to a lovely paved highway, we passed a semi, which left us this souvenir of our trip...

Yes. That's an enormous rock chip, that was flung at the car my husband nearly loves as much as he loves me. If one looks on the bright side in these situations, one will be thankful for the fact that the enormous (it was HUGE) rock did not go through the window... taking out my Mother in Law and the fact that it did not bounce off any other part of the car damaging the body.*

We did not let this set back deter our interst in seeing the wool, so we forged ahead- I suppose if something is going to happen to your BMW, the best witness to your innocence in the situation is your Mother in Law!

Driving up on the property we stopped in the shop, where we were told to check out the washing/spinning first. And so, we stepped into the barn with a very SHEEPY smell and checked out the raw wool being washed.

This is not the most beautiful of operating plants I've seen, but it certainly is efficient! The fleece (on the right) is fed into the red machine, and then taken for a very hot steamy, gentle bath throught a long trough. This way the veg matter is mostly washed out and the fleece is cleaned.

Mmmmm clean, wet fleece. The fleece is then dried and moved over to the carding machine to comb it out and create bats.

Don't you just want to jump into that fluffy pile of clean fleece? Look at the fibers in the top right hand corner hanging off the lamp! That cracked both MiL and I up, fiber must get kicked up over time and collect on the lights. (Although one can't help but wonder if that's a fire hazard?) Once the fleece is carded, it's ready for spinning.

MiL and I are not spinners... but you can't help but appreciate the grand scale to which this is done! On the left there are many spools unto which the yarn (looks like it's blue) is spun. Down the middle the spun yarn is then spun into it's weight, the strands joined in double, triple, quatruple etc to make yarn. It's quite the operation.

We also stopped into to check out the sock knitting process. Custom Woolen Mills makes a bunch of machine knit, wool socks for customers. The gentleman demonstrating this showed us the sock knitting machine.

This machine cranks out a long tube of socks that look like this.

My understanding that these machines, when working properly (they apparently tend to break down reasonably often) can crank out up to 200 socks a day. That left both MiL and I feeling highly inadequate in our sock knitting skills! The gentleman in the "Mind Closed Until Further Notice" t-shirt then seperates the socks and sews up the toes and gets them ready for packaging.

After inhaling sheep fumes and getting a really good understanding of what goes into producing yarn, we enjoyed the RARE sunshine outside to check out the barn area and all the fleeces that are waiting to be processed.

There are a lot of fleeces!! These are seperated into different sheep categories like romney, merino etc. ("Insul" is crappy wool that doesn't make nice yarn, so they sell it for insulation.) This wool is labelled with information about where it's from etc. This one in particular caught our attention.

One can't help but wonder what exactly is meant by "Felted Horror" but it certainly made us giggle. I was also particularly compelled to steal this particular bundle.

Newby alpaca. *slobber* It reminds me of the time I knit those alpaca mittens for my father in law and how very soft the yarn was!

We also had a chance to touch and feel various raw fleeces that were there. I have to admit, I love the feel of a raw fleece. All that lovely lanolin in it, it immediately makes your fingers feel so soft to touch. We learned about the different "crimps" in wool and got to feel the difference between a "good fleece" and a "bad fleece".

Rounding out our visist, we also got to step into the store, to be tempted by the various wools they had spun.

I was going to allow myself a purchase, however I had a very specific need in mind. I want to make some cute dog walking mittens for my sister and needed fingering weight yarn. Sadly Custom Woolen Mills didn't have any in that weight- so both MiL and I walked away unscathed.

We had a great time at Custom, despite the "rocky" start. (Bad pun alert!) I think we both found the operation fascinating, and it kind of personalizes the yarn you are buying a little more.

I did end up buying the yarn for my sister's mittens at an impromtu stop at Pudding last Friday. But we can discuss that another day. There has also been knitting progress here at Chateau Nennie.

The Goodale sweater is ready for blocking today, and after I post this, I will be pinning that up! There isn't much left after the blocking, but a Sept finish is looking unlikely. I'm still proud of myself though, I made room for plenty of new fall project beginnings this month and it feels good to be looking forward to something new.

I also started a lace shawl, which I know was against the rules for Sept, but this last Wednesday was just an all round, utterly CRAP day. The only way I could turn the day around was to pull out the cashmere and knit it. Some days are only fixable with the addition of cashmere. That was Wed!

Progress and the opportunity to cast on new projects will be on hold this week, as I prepare to write the CHRP exam. All knitting time will be devoted to studying (SOBS UNCONTROLLABLY). I will not allow myself swatches or ANYTHING for projects I want to cast on for the fall, until after the morning of Oct 2. If you think about it.... send me a little luck that day okay?

*Husband must be credited for handling the news as well as he did. Was he happy? No. But he did not get angry with me, understanding it was not my fault and also choosing to look on the bright side that no one was hurt and that no other part of the car suffered injury. On the downside- the windshield is not repairable- and will need to be replaced.

Rain Delay

2010-09-16T18:59:00.003-05:00

**Is your name SarahDobbs? See the PS BELOW!**

As promised from before, September is a month to finish things... and true to my word, I've got another "thing" to show you.

Truthfully, I've been trying to show you these since Sept 10th, when they were actually finished but the weather, which can only be described as utterly DISMAL, has been so overcast, and so DARK, that I couldn't get home in time to take a picture in natural light. THERE HAS BEEN NO LIGHT, for so many days.

Thankfully- I have the relief of a finished item distracting me from all the gloomy skies outside!

Pattern: Ellington Socks by Cookie A
Yarn: Estelle Arequipa in colorway 213 Pale Pink
Needles: US 2
Listening To: These have been on the needles since April 11th (!!!), mostly living in my purse. So these socks have listened to a lot of lunch banter between Anne, Mel and myself. But for the final knitting push to finish these, I listened to my latest audio book: One Day by David Nicholls. (PS- I'm Loving It!)
Notes: I knit the "Medium" size for this pattern. They fit well in the leg, but go high up the calves and fit fairly tight. Were I to do it all again- I'd go up a needle size for the cuff, just for extra stretchy room. Also, this pattern is not for the faint of heart. I had more than one "frogging" sessions of "rip it rip it" when it came to this pattern. Cookie's patterns are GREAT, there is nothing wrong with what you purchase, but she sure isn't afraid to challenge you with a big chart or several decreases.

The fronts of these socks are stunners!

And it seems almost criminal to cover up the toes! And well, I have to admit, almost makes me think "I think I'm ok at this knitting thing!"

Lest you should think that the rain delay has delayed any other knitting, Goodale is seeing some healthy progress and maybe, just maybe, starting to inch toward the finished line also!

Hopefully I won't have to wait EIGHT days for a flicker of sunshine to poke through to show you it when it's finished.

Must get back to knitting away furiously to finish up my projects. MiL and I are heading out to Custom Woolen Mills tomorrow for a little field trip and I worry that I could fall off the yarn buying wagon again!

PS- Sarahdobbs, who left me a comment on my blog regarding my leaf blanket, I don't have a way (email, or a blog link) to respond to you! Anyways, on the off chance that you're reading this- I cast on 161 stitches for the blanket in order to do an extra row of leaf repeats. Hope that helps!

Nennie For the Win!

2010-09-08T21:53:00.002-05:00

So. It’s done. The last end is woven in and contrary to popular belief, I did not DIE from having to weave in all those ends. In fact, I didn’t even break out in a rash… although my brain may have attempted to go on strike a few dozen times. And, despite the ends, I’m still really pleased with this blanket.

Pattern: Princess Squares Blanket by Pam Allen
Yarn: Navy (Sirdar Snuggly DK 0224)
Red (Sirdar Snuggly DK 0242)
Orange (S.R. Kertzer Northern Sport 950109)
Yellow (Schachenmayr Nomatta Bravo Baby 122)
Green (Sirdar Snuggly DK 414)
Blue (Sirdar Snuggly DK 415)
Purple (unknown something I picked up at Pudding)
Needles: US 7
Listened To: Craftlit’s Persuasion by Jane Austen and The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Notes: Knit 2 extra panels of this blanket to make it more the standard size I like. This yarn was fine to knit with- but it’s not my favorite acrylic in the world, I’m not sure I would use it again.
Made For: The Adorable Owen.

I was amazed how quick this project knit and the fact that not once was I bored by the endless garter stitching. I’ll say that again- I didn’t tire of knitting every stitch. I think that says something about how I needed a brain break from all the blankets I knit for Stampede!! If I do this again, I’d think harder and longer about how I could do this with less ends to weave in because…

DAMN people, that was at lot of ends. (Yes, this is the remains of every end I sewed in on that blanket… it’s okay to be wowed by my awesome-ness.) It was a lot. It was more than I thought and I’m proud of myself for instituting the “must weave in the ends after each panel now” rule. If I had to weave in all the ends at the end- I wouldn’t have finished. I would have put this blanket somewhere in a box and never looked at it again. I need to move past the ends… it’s time to let it go.

And, since I’m the kind of person who always wonders when I see other photos of these kinds of projects- here’s a pic of what the blanket looks like on the other side.

I was concerned it might be too bumpy, but the ridges (from picking up the stitches) don’t actually stick out that much and this blanket thankfully didn’t need a back sewn on.

One more shot of this lovely project, with it’s bright and cheerful colors and I’m ready to move on!

What’s next? Well, as mentioned previously there are some summer projects that need tying up. I’m aiming for a September finish-a-thon, and hope that each week I can show you another project off the needles, clearing up the queue for October. And then, it’s smooth sailing! There are 2 more blankets I’d like to get going, but I’m less in “panic” mode for those- but starting new projects is SO exciting and I’m looking forward to a little selfish knitting in Oct.

What are you “finishing” this September?

The Final Stretch

2010-08-31T18:31:00.002-05:00

If this were a race, the announcer would be excitedly telling you that I'm rounding the track, coming down the home stretch with only a few hurdles remaining. He could also tell you that I'm ahead of the race... but that's because I like to win!

That's me, starting the 8th panel on this surprisingly quick knit! It seems like I set myself, determined to make this, and loads of quick garter stitch later- I'm nearly done. I'd like to knit 10 panels and then do a (*gasp) crochet border to finish up the edges.

The hurdles the announcer is telling you about are the ends. UGH. Do I ever hate weaving in ends. BUT, I'm forgoing my dislike of such a miserable task because I care very much about Miss Melly and her very handsome Mr. Owen, and well, the "ends" justify the means in this case. (Someone arrest me for making a really bad pun... that kind of thing shouldn't be allowed!)

If the knit gods smile on me in just the right way this weekend, I should have this project off the needles and be able to switch my focus back to the other projects I've sort of ignored this summer. Remember Ellington, Goodale, Charade? HA... neither do I! I'd love to make September all about wiping the Works in Progress slate clean, so that when the cool chill of October hits- I can actually sink my teeth into some really satisfying fall projects, like mittens, hats and even a sweater!

And so I forge ahead, finishing up this blanket race in the hopes that I will be able to present to it Owen at his shower. I hope to hear you cheering for me in the stands!

Garter Stitch = Awesome

2010-08-21T20:43:00.002-05:00

I remember a knitting event I attended a few years ago where someone referred to Elizabeth Zimmerman (patron saint of knitting) as hating purl stitch. Maybe she didn't HATE purling as much as she loved the knit stitch? Either way they used the fact that much of her work was done in the round or used garter stitch to back up their claim.

You know EZ was on to something I think- this garter stitch thing knits up fast! Endless rows of knitting, knitting, knitting actually go by very quickly!

I had originally planned not to discuss this project and leave it a surprise for my friend Mel*, but, uh... then this blog would be silent for the next month and you wouldn't get to hear how much I'm loving it.

Day 1 (Aug 11) it looked like this:

Last Saturday it looked like this (Aug 14):

And before you know it, this afternoon (Aug 21) it looks like this:

This project is all mitered squares, knit one after the other in blessed garter stitch. My original goal was to knit 2 squares a day, but these little square so fast I'm more than likely to eek out at least FOUR if not more. At this rate the blanket is moving a long at a steady pace and I might, MIGHT just be able to have this done for Miss Mel's baby shower on Sept 18. MIGHT. (I promise nothing.)

As you can see the blanket is quite cute and is going to be a stunner when it's done. The downside? The number of ends to weave in. OH this blanket has so many endless ends to weave in. BUT, even the ends can't seem to deter me from loving this little project (so far) and I've made a personal rule to weave in the ends after each row of squares so that I don't feel overwhelmed at the end of this project.

Garter stitch- I think I love you!!!

*(Hey Melly, I know you said no blankets but I really wanted to make you one- I've made one for all my close friends and I wanted you to have one from me too. Please forgive? I figured you were trying to save me some blanket agony after watching me knit so many- but I wanted to make one for you!)

What's This Summer You're All Talking About?

2010-08-11T19:01:00.003-05:00

Here’s a secret confession I’m only going to admit to you, my closest of knitting friends.

I kind of miss fall.

I say this for a few reasons:

1) The weather has been so spectacularly dour this summer that we can’t call it “summer”. Calling this weather “summer” is an insult to summer weather everywhere. I am now accepting suggestions for a name for this crappy season we experience between May and September, formerly known as "summer" that expresses how it feels to know it will rain every day and the lack warm sun in the sky. (Is this our “Vancouver season”?)

2) There seems to be a lot of plans this “summer” that involve my being away from my knitting, which has, as you’ve probably noticed, slowed the parade of finished objects being displayed here, not to mention blog posting frequency. The mere fact that I have so many things that I want to be knitting but cannot seem to be getting at is making me twitchy. If the weather was cold and “icky” (more so than now), we’d be staying in a lot more and I’d be knitting and finishing stuff.

This is not to say that there hasn’t been progress... or procurement, it’s just been less than I wanted.

Firstly- the Toe Up experiment is complete.

Pattern: Wendy’s Short Row Toe & Heel Basic Socks
Yarn: S.R. Kertzer On Your Toes Bamboo in 184 (pink, yellow, white)
Needles: US 1
Thoughts: Toe up was considerably less hard than I had believed it to be. Will it be the primary way I knit socks? Probably not. But I’m not NOT going to knit a sock now because it’s constructed toe up. I will tackle it with good faith and crossed fingers.

Perhaps it’s because it’s my novice try, but I am not happy with the short-row heel turn and connection to the rest of the sock. **warning, this photo contains imperfect knitting and sensitive knitters may want to look away**

Ugh. That’s all I have to say about that.

Other than that I’ve got some other socks that haven’t seen much progress and the Goodale cardigan that looks about the same since the last time you saw it so no sense in re-posting photos.

Sadly these are still not very likely to see much progress as there’s now a pressing project on the horizon. Miss Melly had a baby. (And WHAT a baby… that little guy made his appearance in the 10 pound category!) I’ve got plans for Miss Melly- but since she reads this blog- updates on that particular project are going to be scarce or rather cryptic looking. (Although my excitement for this project is quite high- so who knows… I may just throw caution to the wind, do the big reveal and then make Miss Melly monitor my completion.)

Here’s the teaser.

Peaked your interest didn’t I?

I can’t say anymore- but I will tell you that I’m stopping this post now to cast on. Can’t wait!

Old Dog... New Tricks

2010-08-03T18:39:00.002-05:00

I have been knitting for almost as long as I've known my husband. (10 years!) Of that time, I have been a "serious" knitter for about 6 of those years... looking to make new things and challenge myself. When I first began knitting I set one objective for myself: with every project, I had to learn something new. Be it an ssk, a k2tog or some other technique that pushes us past our comfort zone, I wanted to learn something new.

It's been harder to grab on to a new technique after you've been knitting for quite awhile, either because you have projects you like to return to (socks), or projects that you must knit (baby blankets). But every now and again I still find myself pondering over a new technique.

This summer I challeged the MiL with something neither of us had done before... toe up socks. Are you shocked? I have NEVER knitted a sock from the toe up prior to 2 Friday ago! I don't know how much success I would have had, had it not been for Cat Bordhi's videos.

We chose the famous Wendy D Johnson's toe up instructions and away we went.

First hurdle? Judy's Magic Cast On. (video link) This video is worth watching for Cat Bordhi's instruction, whether you ever intend to knit toe up socks or not. Cat's description on what to do is HILARIOUS (4:14 and beyond)... and you're certain not to forget what she's trying to show you.

That Judy. She knows WHAT the heck she's doing. And, yes, it is kind of like magic.

Next up... Wendy told me to knit the toe. So, a couple of make 1's later, my toe looked like this:

Why yes... it DOES look like a sock toe! Thanks for noticing.

The foot part was easy, it's just knitting round and round and round and round, until, as Wendy reminded me, I was 2.5 inches short of my heel.

Then I had to turn back to Cat's sage and hilarious videos once again to figure out the instructions for the short row heel wraps. (As usual, Cat cracks me up!)

It's not perfect... but I am still quite please that it looks like a heel! With the short row heel out of the way, it was more of knitting round and round and round and round... until it came time to bind off my 10 rows of ribbing.

Sometimes when you bind off in ribbing, you can lose the elasticity of the ribbing by binding off too tightly. NO MORE, with Jeny's Surpsingly Stretchy Bind Off, it's well, surprisingly stretchy. You can watch more Cat Bordhi here, and she'll show it to you in lovely video detail!

Yup. It looks like a sock!! (Yardage is light on this yarn... so these will be shorter socks.)

I had so much fun knitting this sock and learning new techniques I even immediately cast on for sock #2. Suck it second sock syndrome!

Learning toe up has opened a huge door of sock options I'd previously gazed lovingly at, but dismissed as not for me, given their construction. But I fear the toe up NO MORE and as a result, you're probably going to be seeing even more socks around here in the next while.

PS- What would I have EVER done without the internet and knitting videos? Let's not think about it, shall we?

Strong Am I With the Force

2010-07-24T13:52:00.003-05:00

My parents recently invested in a security system for my sister, to replace the table leg with giant screw poking out of it she had, affectionately remembered as "Spike".

Yes, that's an aluminum bat, sometimes the "classics" are the best in home security. My sister, who lives alone and just feels better with this addition kicking around her house, was please that she was able to find a Spike replacement. Except, cozying up to an aluminum bat at night just isn't the warm fuzzy feeling she was looking for. So, knowing I cannot resist any requests from her regarding knitted items, she called me.

Her: "Can you make me a bat cozy?"
Me: "Huh!?"
Her: "The bat mom and dad bought me is ugly, it needs something, think you could knit it a cozy?"
Me: "Sure!"

This last week, while on her vacation, I knit my sister's baseball bat a cozy. (I tend to knit the crazinest stuff while she's on vacation!) Here's the challenge; since the bat would be used as a weapon of self defensive, I couldn't just knit it a cozy, your grandma makes for toliet paper covers. This cozy needed a certain level of "bad ass-ness" that says "DO NOT MESS WITH ME" but is also cuddly enough to sleep next to at night.

Obviously Yoda is the only answer here. (It also helps if you and your sister are MASSIVE Star Wars nerds.)

Pattern: Yoda Golf Club Cover by Tracey Rediker
Yarn: Various acrylics kicking around the leftovers in my and MiL's stashes
Needles: US size 7 DPN's
Notes: This pattern is modified to accomodate the bat. I cast on 28 stitches and periodically tried the tube on around the bat, modifying instructions to fit the bat snuggly. The bottom stretches enough to get over the top of the bat, so my sister can remove the cozy if she feels the need to really, REALLY hurt someone. (Hopefully this bat will only ever serve to look cute in her bedroom and won't be something she ever needs.)

The geek in me could not help but love this project, and while there seems to be a never ending supply of projects in various states of completetion waiting to be finished around here, I couldn't prevent myself from taking a quick time out to knit this. So- for geeks everywhere, I think it's important to remember, Strong Am I with the (knitting) Force!

New Hampshire Yarn Shopping!

2010-07-19T18:56:00.004-05:00

Sheesh! Sorry, I’ve been an absent blogger. Stampede ended up occupying my knitting time this last week- and I was a busy girl, donning my cowboy boots and doing my part to enjoy a few corporate parties. Sadly, donning my cowboy boots meant neglecting my knitting and neglecting it even longer because we jetted off to New Hampshire to take in a wedding over the weekend. Not such a productive week on the knitting front.

On the other hand the YARN SHOPPING was divine.

Here’s the thing: New England and area is a yarn shop Mecca. If you wanted to travel around and visit stictly yarn shops? I'd tell you to look in to New England and skip everywhere else. They are EVERYWHERE. When we lived in Connecticut I was surrounded by truly awesome, large, gorgeous, fabulous, mind blowing yarn shops. (Yes those link to different shops that were close by and I'd visit frequently!) And don’t even get me started on NYC, and how often I’ve blown my vows “just to look, not buy” in Purl or School Products. Oi.

When the husband announced he was going to be golfing on Saturday morning, I immediately began mapping out yarn shops in the vicinity of Lake Winnipesaukee. 2 choices immediately popped up so I plugged them into the yahoo maps and away I went on Sat morning.

Patternworks was a dream- made even more euphoric by having a SALE while I was there. I always have the best intentions of taking pictures in the store, and then I get there and I totally chicken out. I chickend out again- but people, the store was lovely. Spacious, but not too big and crammed with lovely, lovely yarns. And the staff? Very sweet and helpful! When my eyes noticed this JoJoland Cashmere on SALE (400 yards for $18.99!)

I HAD to buy it. HAD TO. I’m pretty sure every knitter alive would disown me for leaving that kind of deal behind. Cheap Cashmere is the kind of things that only happens in fairy tales! (There are actually 2 skeins of this now, as this morning, back in Calgary, I called them and bought the last one so I had enough to make a shawl out of this.)

I also scored some lovely Regia Silk in "marine" (also on sale)- because Regia makes some perfect socks for the cold footed men in my life.

Patternworks is in a very charming building that also has a needlepoint shop and quilt store. (The nicest quilt store I have ever seen.) I was VERY greatful that I had not taken up quilting, because I would have spent EVERY. LAST. CENT. WE. HAVE. on fabric. Oh the fabrics there were so nice- they made me, a non-quilter, desperate to quilt! The selection was enough to make even the strongest willed crafter cry with joy!

After geeking out in the quilt shop and slinking around like I had stolen the cashmere (I didn’t MOM(s)- I swear I paid… it just felt like stealing with that deal!) I got back in my car and mosied on over to Lamb’s Ear’s yarns in Gilford, NH.

Lamb’s Ear is small but quaint. (That’s the unofficial motto of New England: “Small… but quaint!”) It was funny to go from MEGA selection at Patternworks, to teeny selection at Lamb's Ear. There was still some nice stuff there, but nothing I couldn’t get at home. (My unofficial yarn shopping rules- only stuff I can't get at home or on super deal.) I did, however, score some US 1 & 2 straight needles (I've had a very hard timing trying to find these) and a row counter which I was quite pleased about.

I did manage to make a little progress on the flight home on my long suffering purse sock- which really needs to be finished already!

Things should be relatively settled down now as far as my travel, which means there should be plenty of time to jump back into the knitting. There are lots of projects to look forward to in the next couple of months including; a finished Goodale sweater, 2 charity blankets I have here right now, my first toe up socks and maybe my first lace shawl. I'm hoping this summer is going to be rife with blog fodder and finished projects! Stay tuned!

The Results Are In!

2010-07-09T19:57:00.004-05:00

I was full of anxious energy this week, dying to know what the results were for the Western Showcase this year! I even asked anyone going down to the Stampede grounds for the "sneak peek" night to keep it a surprise. Then, today at work took 40 zillion hours to get to 12:00, when I could leave and finally see the results for myself!

But, oh, it was worth the wait because I'm very pleased with the results. TWO FIRST PLACE finishes in their respective categories!

Textured Stitches (ie Cable Pattern)- Home Decor 1023

AND Stockinette & Garter Stitch- Home Decor 1033

My mother in law also did well in her category, placing SECOND in Stockinette & Garter- Accessory 1032.

Both of us are very proud of our ribbons! Sadly my pieces did not place in the overall section winners class this year, (last year's socks got 2nd in the section and a cash prize!) but the winners of those were very worthy pieces. I'd have to say in general the caliber of pieces submitted this year was higher than even last year- and so it feels so good to be deemed worthy against such stiff competition. The fierce compeitor in me is already wracking my brain to dream up submissions for next year- because I want to do better and keep pushing myself. But you'll get a brief reprieve form my obsessing for a little bit anyways.

My wee break (only "wee" as baby announcements keep tumbling in), from blanket knitting has seen some progress on Goodale.

Hey that almost looks like a sweater! It's a great project for tv watching and passing the time aimlessly. I'm hoping to be modeling it here soon.

And, I even managed to do a section (the light brown at the top) of the latest WCOBB blanket, "Dessert Before Dinner".

So yes, always a busy hive of knitting around here- but at least it's nice to know that I just might be "on to something" with this whole knitting thing! :-)

Congratulations to the many other winners this year- your submissions were great (WHOO BOY was that lace competition fierce... I pity the judges on that one), and you deserve your accolades!

Happy Stampede everyone!

Ready For My Close Up

2010-06-29T22:07:00.003-05:00

Well... I'm ready.

Or at least I'm ready as I'll ever be. Above are my Stampede 2010 submissions for this year. I finished the blue twisted cable blanket just in the nick of time. It's out of the blocking pins TODAY, which is a relief, because I need to take it to the grounds for judging TOMORROW.

Whew! That was down to the wire.

Pattern: Textured Knots by Norah Gaughan

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Bachelor Button

Needles: US 6 for the ribbing at the ends and US 8 for the body

Notes: It's a lovely pattern. It's classy and gorgeous! The yarn really makes the pattern pop, but I'll be honest, this blanket weighs a TONNE. I liked the yarn well enough* but if I were to knit this again, I wouldn't use this weight. The blanket is heavy. Also? If you knit this- blow up the chart on a photocopier and COLOR CODE your cables. I would never have knit this successfully without a color coded cable chart. It just makes it so much easier!

Listening To: Craft Lit's Little Women and the Scarlett Letter and Selden Edwards The Little Book.

So- with Textured Knots off the needles I gave myself a little reprieve. I should have been pulling out the various socks in progress and finishing them up.

Instead?

I fell off the wagon. (Oops!) So elated with the joy of being done the blankets, I was instantly inspired by the cute little Goodale cardigan and just decided that I deserved a pleasure project. I used my Christmas gift cards from family members (thanks Moms & Dads!) and bought this LOVELY Louisa Harding "Albero" in colorway 4. I think it's perfect for this cardigan and who knows- maybe I'll have another finished object to show off soon?

Cross your fingers for me- the projects leave for the Stampede tomorrow... we'll see how I measure up!

*Knit Picks has served me well and seen me successfully complete many projects this last year, I just wish they tried harder to prevent knots in their balls of yarns. Too many knots this time! It was frustrating and all too common.

Word of the Day: LOVELY

2010-06-21T18:45:00.002-05:00

Pink Insanity is finished.

And OH, is it lovely.

OH OH OH OHhhhhhhh so lovely. It went from crumpled mess, to such a lovely flat project. I actually finished this blanket a long time ago- I cast off the final stitch- blocked the blanket- stood back and took it all in….

… aaaaaaaaaaaand hated it. Something was wrong. The blanket was lovely, but the ends… OH the ends were bothering me. The pattern called for a crochet border, but even the crochet border couldn’t save the ends. My issue was that the pattern just ended. The sides are lovely- with the lovely diamond lace pattern, but the ends just felt too abrupt. It’s like your eyes take in the lovely patterning and just when you’re about to exclaim “oh that is just lovely”, you stop because the ends just look unfinished and incomplete. Instead of the “oh that’s lovely” you immediately want to tell me you’re ideas on what I could do to spiff up the ends. In short, the ends needed something, otherwise the blanket just didn’t look finished.

And so I did what I do when I’m forced to decide upon something, I asked EVERY PERSON I KNOW how to fix it. There were some excellent suggestions, particularly from Sylvia in my knitting group, who suggested I pick up the stitches and knit diamonds across. Great idea, but when it came to execution, I failed. Miserably.

And then, I was overcome with madness. MADNESS I say! Because I decided the most viable solution was to undo the cast off and cast ON edges, pick up the stitches and knit in a picot border. Unraveling the cast off edge was a walk in the park- I caught the stitches and knit me a picot border to fold over and stitch. Unraveling the cast ON edge was significantly more tricky, but after some wine and chanting “you can do this, you can do this” to myself, I was able to muster the courage, CUT into the knitting and attempt the impossible.

It didn’t turn out too badly either. The stitching isn’t perfect. If I was able to add the picot at the beginning it would be smooth and beautiful- but instead I was forced t fold the stitches over and sew them down. It’s not exactly how I’d like it to look, but it does finish the blanket nicely and is a vast improvement from where I was.

So there you have it. After all that belly aching, moaning and near tears, this blanket is finished and it is just lovely. (The only thing I could say when I knit this was "lovely"… hence the over-use of that term here.)

Pattern: 0612-1 Hjertesett found in Sandes Lanett 0612 Baby 0-4 booklet
Yarn: Shepherd Baby Wool 3 Ply in Pink (0333) (6.5 skeins)
Needles: US 2.5 or 3 mm (!!!!!)
Notes: I skipped the crochet picot border and instead knit in my own picot border. If I were to do this again, I would not do the picot as an afterthought. This blanket blocks beautifully and in general is a very satisfying finished project. I did, however, have to blow up the charts to a size way bigger, or I would have gone crosseyed!
Listening To: (This is going to be a new section on the blog as I’ve discovered the joys of audio-books and Craft Lit. I thought I’d let you know what I “read” while knitting my project.) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (courtesy of Craft Lit) and The Little Book by Selden Edwards. (ha…. Apparently I like books with “Little” in the title!) Both were excellent, I love Little Women so much that I burned through that book pretty quickly. The Little Book was also excellent, although it took a few weird turns about midway through that left me going “huh?”.

Where can you see this lovely project to which my pictures do it absolutely no justice? Check out the Western Showcase at the Stampede, where I’ve entered it as one of my entries to be judged.

PS. To my husband, who had nicknamed this project my "Stampede 2012" project because he didn’t believe I could finish it. I think you owe me an apology honey!

PPS. This project took me a little over 4 months to complete! Wow. No wonder I was sick of it!

New Look... Same Old Nennie

2010-06-14T19:32:00.004-05:00

I came to look at the blog and suddenly was hit with an overwhelming desire to update it a little. I reserve the right to wake up tomorrow and hate the whole thing and revert back to the old format. In the mean time let me know if something isn't quite right. (For example if your eyes can't read my font, in the new colors, LET ME KNOW.)

All this exciting formatting is here to cover up the fact that there isn't all that much new in my knitting world. I'm still slogging away. The pink blanket is done- but waiting a proper photo session, so nothing to tell you there. (Although YAY I like it again.)

The blue blanket is still a work in progress... I'm just a little over the half way mark.

I've decided to enter it in the Stampede this year instead of the pink sock of "meh". (Ellingtons- which have seen little in the way of progress.) I've got to take my stuff in to be judged on the 30th of June, so I need to get my butt in gear if I'm going to submit a finished entry!

In other knit news- I'm sure I drove several friends and MiL around the bend last week, obsessing over WHAT to knit on my looooong car trip to Saskatchewan this last weekend. I had originally planned to make a log cabin blanket with several odds and ends of acrylic I have in pinks. I thought it was the perfect car trip knitting since it is essentially all garter stitch. Row after blessed row of knit stitch. However the one color I needed to complete my vision didn't show up. So I flushed Log Cabin down the toliet.

This created a great conundrum because I wanted a simple small project and my brain couldn't let the garter stitch blanket idea go. SO, instead of inwardly fretting about this like a normal sane person- I basically whined to anyone with ears about my great knitting dilema about what the heck I should knit on the long road trip. Everyone kept saying "sock" and I kept fighting it.

Thankfully everyone knew what's best for me- and ultimately, I chose to knit the sock. I had planned a great photo journal where you could see the sock in progress along various roadside attractions, but forgot the general rule Husband makes on road trips- "no stopping for photos of your sock in progress". Or something along those lines. Anyways- you'll have to suffice to see what I knit there and back over the weekend instead.

This is the beginnings of the Charade (Rav link) sock. This yarn (Zen Yarn Garden In-Sock Yarns in "Passion Guava") surprised me by self striping. I was so charmed by the lovely striping effect I even decided to do an after thought heel, so I don't interrupt the loveliness of the pattern. (And I don't normally like to knit that kind of heel!!) It was perfect mindless knitting- and it thankfully entertained me on the trip.

ALL THAT AGONIZING, (literally 2 days of non-stop whining), and I ended up a cute sock anyways.

Well, I've procrastinated enough. I've spiffed up the blog, and yammered on for too long. I need to get that blanket out the door. Look for a good photo essay of the pink insanity blanket coming to a cute purple blog near you!

Lost in Slog...

2010-06-03T18:30:00.002-05:00

Whoops… life and knitting got in the way of blogging. Plus, if I’m being honest, there really isn’t that much to show for on the knitting front. I'm in full knitting slog.

When we left off- I was full of hope and promise to finish the ends of the pink blanket. (Which I’ve gone from loving to loathing!) I undid the cast off and cast on (eek!) rows and picked up the stitches and failed with the great plan hatched at my last knitting night. After more brainstorming and an idea came to me. “PICOT”. Said the voice. “You must PICOT”. Thankfully that voice is a GENIUS and picot is in fact, the right call. Just slow going... and tedious.. and well... my ambition is rather on the “meh” end of things. My goal is to have it finished for Tuesday when I’m back at Knit night with the girls. I’m so close. I just need to be done already!

Before all this pink blanket distraction, I started a lovely little baby blanket full of delightful cables.

This is it at the half way point. Progress? Yes. I had hoped to be here telling you today that I had finished this project, especially since little Blake, who it’s going meant for, was born a bit early. But alas, the pink blanket is slowing my progress (and SUCKING MY SOUL), and well everything suffers.

Motivating me only slightly to get these done already is the rainbow sock yarn from Knit Picks- which I ordered more of, taking me up to 6 skeins. (Seemed to be the right call too… it looks like it’s close to selling out on the website!)

Aren’t the colors pretty? The yarn is soft and I’m just DYING get at this already. I’m hoping this yarn will be my first pair of toe up socks… I think the striping will be perfect and a fun way to learn this new technique. (That’s the summer challenge for the MiL and I this year… learn “toe up”.)

Anyways- I’m keeping this blog short… less blather more “get at ‘er” and I'm going to try and squeeze out the last few picot stitches. I can't wait for something new...

Might Be A Bit Longer Actually...

2010-05-16T11:19:00.002-05:00

Pink Insanity blocked beautifully. BEAUTIFULLY... except something didn't feel right. The ends were wrong. The sides were lovely, the ends were all wrong. And the crochet didn't cut it. I couldn't put my finger on it, so I took it to the ladies at my knit group to see what they say. Sylvia saved the day. She made a suggestion that is absolutely the right one- I just have to do it. (And yay, it's not hard!) The only problem is that I'm really not that motivated to work on it. So- um... you're still waiting to see it in it's final glory. Stay tuned.

I did, however, finish Baby Manda Ruth.

Pattern: Manda Ruth by Jane Richmond (Ravelry Link)
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy in Marlin (leftovers from blanket disaster)
Needles: US 8
Notes: Cute Pattern, but I really hated the shoulder/arm increases. I know there's no real way to avoid screwing up the stitch pattern by making the increases, but it bothered the OCD in me. Other than that, the pattern is painfully simple and requires very little seaming, which is HUGE benefit.

I also finished the April Dishcloth Mystery:

Pattern: April KAL by KrisKnits
Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream Solids in "Hot Green"
Needles: US 3
Notes: I still like not having any idea of what the pattern will be when it's done, but this design in particular didn't exactly thrill me.

Also distracting me from making a finished item out of Pink Insanity is that I got my Knit Picks order the other day and immediately was inspired. Say hello to the beginning of Twisted Knots...

You'll notice that I've highlighted all the cables a different color in the chart. I had to do this, or I would have gone cross eyed. There's a lot of cabling action going on and I knew that color coding them was going to save me some real heartache later. I already love this project. It's going to be a stunning. And since it's new and exciting, I'm already completely head first into getting it worked up.

I also got some Rainbow striping sock yarn (Felici). I don't know why, but the colors in this THRILL me. They stripe as a rainbow and the yarn is so soft and I couldn't resist and I bought 4 more skeins on Friday. I don't know why, I just wanted to be sure I didn't run out of it. I have lots of plans for this yarn- so prepare yourselves for a plethora of rainbow socks this year.

So as usual, I'm distracted away from the task at hand and you'll have to wait just a little bit longer to see the final product on Pink Insanity, but trust me, it's going to be worth the wait!

Won't Be Long Now...

2010-05-07T19:10:00.004-05:00

"Won't be long now..." said the monkey with his tail caught in the lawnmower.

(Thanks to my dad who always used to say this... I can never hear someone say the first part of the phrase without thinking the last part.)

Progress on the pink insanity blanket is beginning to finally, FINALLY, to really churn slowly towards the finish line. It went from this crumply mess last weekend...

To looking like a blanket voodoo doll with all those blocking pins this Friday...

(Perhaps the art of blocking is in fact so you can get a little revenge on the project that has tortured you for so long? Sticking pins in the project gives a whole new meaning!!)

Do not rejoice for me just yet. There is one element on this blanket that remains. A familiar foe...

So we meet again crochet! SO WE MEET AGAIN!! Pink Insanity needs a super cute picot crochet border and so I must take up with the most hated hook and crochet me a border. *sigh* Who will win the epic battle of Jen vs. the crochet hook? Stay tuned....

Truthfully, since I seem to be putting a lot of crochet borders on my blankets these days, the actual crocheting part isn't all that daunting. It's nothing I haven't done before. It's just more the fact that I want this project DONE already- that has me feeling a little meloncholy.

Keeping me busy while the blanket is drying is the Ellington socks, which are starting to show actual progress!

I'm midway down the foot now and feeling, truthfully, a little bored. It's going to be a lovely project when it's finished. Hopefully a real show stopper. BUT, my brain just wants a mindless project. Honestly? I think it's just all the pink I'm knitting with. I want to knit with another color and just get out of this Pepto Bismal funk!

Thankfully there's another baby blanket that's sitting in the queue that is NOT pink. (Yarn is in transit to me!) Hopefully you'll be seeing my version of this real soon! Say hello to "Twisted Knots"!

Do You Have A Favorite?

2010-04-24T14:14:00.004-05:00

After the massive argument I had with knitting last week, you'd think I'd break up with my beloved hobby, but you'd be wrong. Thankfully, shortly after my post the issues began resolving.

Firstly, Webs yarn store was VERY gracious and helpful and wanted to rectify my issue very quickly.. Even though I was past their 60 day return policy they took my yarn back and offered to pay my shipping out to them. That? Is good customer service and I am very greatful that they admitted that it was their error and they wanted to fix it. So everybody- shop at WEBS... okay? (Also shop at the Loopy Ewe they are the gold standard in customer service....)

I also finished the baby sweater I've had sitting around here for the last month.

Pattern: Baby Poonam by Norah Gaughn

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Sport in "ivory" (left over from Baby Beef blanket)

Needles: US 4 (ribbing) and US 6 (body & sleeves)

Notes: This turned out really cute, and I very much liked the idea of the buttons at one side of the neck, making the neck opening bigger. (Very practical) However, this pattern was not great to work with. There's a discrepancy in the measurements on the schematic and the pattern itself. (I followed the schematic.) I knit to gauge and things didn't line up properly. This pattern would be very challenging for a beginner or someone not familiar with basic sweater construction. Cute results, but kind of a pain to knit!

Other than that- it's mostly works in progress (wips) around here.

The current baby blanket that feels like it's never going to end is on panel 7 and I think I will knit one more before I consider it close to finished and ready to block.

Since there isn't much more exciting to say about the current blanket- I thought I'd discuss a couple of past blankets and get your input on them. I have three blankets on Ravelry that inter-change as being my most popular project with other knitters.

1) Baby Beef

2) The Green Leaf Blanket

3) The Watermelon Blanket

So, I thought I'd ask- What's your favorite?

*sigh* back to knitting the current blanket. Who knows- maybe this is going to be the new favorite project?! (If I ever finish it!)

It's 1:49 AM

2010-04-18T02:49:00.002-05:00

It's 1:49 in the am and I can't sleep. WHY? Knitting and I had a big, BIG fight tonight and I'm totally mad at it. (There are no pictures to post because my hands are shaking too much in sheer rage.)

Honestly how can a craft I love so much be so BLOODY infuriating!!??

It began simply enough. I knit the remaining 12 rows on my blanket and met my "1 panel a week" deadline. Thrilled that it was only Saturday and that I had a day and a half of "fun knitting" ahead of me I began some other projects.

First I knit the first clue in the Mystery April Dishcloth. That went fine... and fast. What will it be? I don't know. But it will be green.

I finished up the dishcloth and decided to work on the leg of my Ellington sock. Despite the complexity of this pattern- I am L O V I N G it. And readers, this is going to be simply SMASHING when it's done. The yarn suits the pattern beautifully and GAH... there isn't enough good things to say....

... which is why I'll stop saying them. After devoting an approximate 4 hours of dedicated and concentrated knitting the little nagging voice in the back of my head got louder and louder.... "It's too small, you need to go about a size." Instead of listening to this voice, I proceeded to knit further and further down the leg. Then, 15 stitches from being done (this is a LOOOONG leg 90+ rows), the nagging voice wins out. I finagle the needles over my heel and pull the sock leg up and I am BARELY able to get it on. *Sigh* The ribbing was stretched so tight I bet my blood could hardly circulate. The pattern was stretched so thin it went from "HOT DAMN that is amazing" to "HOT DAMN YOU HAVE FAT CALVES". (For what it's worth, and because my mother reads this blog and worries about these types of comments, no, I don't think I have fat calves. The sock made it look like I had fat calves.)

This I could handle. Yes it's disappointing to get so far along on a sock and realize that you're in trouble. I've ripped back much further. So, without a slight sigh of anguish I ripped the thing out and started again. I both went up to the medium size and went a .25 needle up. I knit about 8 rows of the ribbing and the nagging came back, "now it's too big". (Please picture the nagging voice to sound like the really crazy side of Gollum.) I ignored it. And when the cuff was finished I felt like the once delicate pattern was going to look sloppy. I was also worried about having enough yarn. So I ripped it out again.

At this point I knew it was time to give Ellington a time out. Sometimes when I'm mad at a project- I put it in a corner and let it think about what it's done. Usually after a day or two we get back together and move along at a happy pace. I've decided to go back to the needles I was using before and count on the fact that I've added 8 more stitches. I think the 8 more stitches outta make a big difference.

With Ellington in timeout and feeling a little dejected by my knitting, I pulled out some yarn that's been calling to me in my stash and decided to swatch it for the glorious Fireside Sweater. A fun swatch to knit on big needles that will hopefully be a little less finicky than my other current projects.

I knit the gauge swatch and was mildly disappointed to discover that I'm about .5 stitches over gauge. Now, I know I tend to knit tightly, but I usually can knit to gauge... (and yes I swatched for those socks up above... I don't know what happened there except to tell you that swatches are BIG FAT LIARS!)

I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting gauge. As I always do now, in the face of a new project- I went to Ravelry to read the pattern notes other Ravelers have made. (One of the 90 zillion BRILLIANT features on Ravelry.) I read the notes along and noticed that two people, who are used the same yarn I was planning to use noted that WEBS, the yarn store where I also ordered the yarn from, sent them the "Bulky" version of the yarn instead of the heavy worsted version and were getting curiosly the same gauge as me. (Berkshire not Berkshire Bulky- I'll admit the naming is easy to screw up.)

I had a sick feeling in my stomach when I read that. I'm not a huge fan of big bulky knits. I far prefer the smaller, fine stitches in a project. This project already has the makings of being reasonable bulky, without the addition of super bulky yarn. Sure enough I read the label and the sick feeling washed over me- I had Berkshire BULKY... not the regular Berkshire.

*Sigh*

At this point I just wanted to give up knitting, light my entire stash on fire (yes even the Wollmeise) {My MIL just gasped at that} and run screaming down the street in agony. Deciding that it would be expensive for my husband to bail me out of the looney bin, trying to explain to the cops "her knitting gets her a little worked up sometimes", I Instead just said a bunch of words that I'm pretty sure my mother would faint upon hearing and sat and seethed about being such an idiot for ordering the wrong yarn.

The thing is, I'm usually pretty meticulous about my yarn orders- wanting to avoid this very feeling. So while I sat seething and telling myself that I shouldn't be allowed to buy anything without supervision again, another little voice creeped into my head, "what if this wasn't your fault?" Hmmmm... interesting.

So I logged into my account and found the online receipts of purchase and it turns out that I didn't order the Bulky... but the regular Berkshire. I'm not the big idiot I thought I am. The thing is- I bought that yarn waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in November and have just noticed today, that I was sent the wrong item.

Now before we send a bunch of hate mail to Webs I feel it's only fair to defend them. I have only had very positive experiences in the past with Webs. Their staff is friendly and helpful and they made a mistake. Mistakes happen. I make mistakes too. Thankfully, nobody died, there are just some nervous looking skeins of Wollmeise in my stash. I plan to call Webs on Monday and explain the situation. It is my fault for not confirming my order when I received it. To be fair, upon a glance you would think that my order was correct. The very slight difference in this yarn name is why I didn't notice and why there was probably an error in the first place.

I'm going to find out if there's away to send back 9 out of the 10 skeins. (I knit the swatch, cut and washed it from one skein, so I know I can't return it.) I might just ask for a credit as I find their shipping rates to Canada a little ridiculous. Then, next trip down to the US, I'll order again- hopefully with better results. This is not a big hate on Webs.... we'll chat on Monday and see if we can come to some mutally agreeable solution. Please send me good vibes when I chat with the staff on Monday that they're agreeable about sending it back. (My idea is that I send it back... at my cost- get a credit for the 9 skeins and the next order I place they send to me- and not charge me shipping. I think that's fair?)

In the mean time- I can't sleep because I feel like an epic knitting failure and that everything I touch turns into crap. I have my knitting class tomorrow and I only hope that my bad knitting juju from today will be replaced with "ALL POWERFUL MOJO" tomorrow and that I don't turn into a lunatic, mistake their stock yarn for my stash and light the whole thing up.

I'm going to try to sleep now. I'll probably have dreams that I'm knitting Ellington out of Berkshire Bulky....

Cheap Thrills

2010-04-12T21:44:00.003-05:00

Thanks to another thrilling Masters tournament, (yay Phil!) I can once again bring you a thrilling blog post with ACTUAL FINISHED ITEMS! (Be still our hearts!) Aren’t you, well… thrilled?

First off the needles on Friday, I finished clue 6 of the Mystery Knit Along (KAL) hosted by Kris Knits. I noticed the always inspiring mags had signed up to do this and decided “what the heck! I have cotton, I have the needles, I can handle this.” And so- I finished the March dishcloth to discover it was a bunny and easter eggs in a basket.

Pattern: March KAL by Kris Knits
Yarn: Lily Sugar and Cream in "Cornflower Blue"
Needles: US 3
Notes: It’s oddly thrilling to not know what you’re knitting and just TRUST the pattern and the designer. (Plus it’s also thrilling to know you’re using up stash yarn that’s been sitting around the house collecting dust.)

With the dishcloth off the needles I knew that I wanted to get something else off the needles, namely my Maelstrom socks that have been in my purse and slowly seeing progress since January. (I’m pretty sure my regular lunch time knitting crew were preparing to abandon me due to being SICK to death of looking at the socks.)

Pattern: Maelstrom by Cookie A (I've been on a Cookie A kick lately… the last few socks I’ve made; Monkey, Marlene have all been Cookie A incarnations and the newest purse sock is also a Cookie A.)
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in “Autumn Wine” (Color made special for the M1 Fall retreat in 2008)
Needles: US 1.5
Notes: This is a lovely pattern that is actually deceptively simple to knit. (Seems to be the way of Cookie A… looks challenging but it really a simple pattern easy to memorize.) It looks stunning in plain yarns, but also can be worked in variegated. I’m less and less in love with verigated yarns these days as my eye far prefers the even nature of lightly variegated or straight colors. But, the pooling isn’t too awful in this yarn, so I’ll let myself enjoy these.

(Color most accurate in this photo)

With that purse sock finished- I cast on a new Cookie A pattern: Ellington. I don’t have photos of my progress yet, but this is proving to be considerably more challenging than Cookie’s of the past. I'm hoping that a finish to the current baby blanket is coming swiftly, so that I'm able to take a wee break and actually knit these up in between. I'm thinking they have the potential to contend as entry #2 at the Stampede.

The thrills didn't stop at the socks- oh no! I finished all the pieces of the Baby Poonam sweater I'm working on. (Ugh, the less said about the actualy pattern the better... it's not very well written at all.)

I knit this so that I can have a sweater, WITH shoulder seams, to take to my finishing class on Sunday. (Whoops, that's coming up this week, not last Sunday! Thanks to eagle eye Mary for catching that one!) The yarn actually worked out great with the sweater and I have enough that I might even attempt a cute little matching cable hat.

And it doesn't just stop there! I also kept on track and finished panel #5 of my baby blanket of the MOST TINY YARN EVER. (Okay... not really the tiniest yarn ever, but I have days when my brain is just like "WHY ARE YOU KNITTING SUCH A FINE GAUGE YARN?? YOU WILL NEVER FINISH THIS- EVER!!!)

Truth be told, despite my doubts, and okay, BOREDOM, this project is actually moving along at a decent pace. I have decided to knit more than the 6 panel repeats, as I want the blanket to be a longer size- but I can't commit to how many more repeats, that will all depend on the yarn I have remaining. I'm still on pace of knitting one panel a week. I'm anxious to put this blanket out to pasture and knit with a yarn that isn't teeny tiny.

So yes? Pretty thrilling weekend? I was able to cram a lot of progress into my weekend, and with any luck we'll continue on the streak of finished knits next week. Stay tuned....

Good Friday... For Knitting

2010-04-02T09:34:00.002-05:00

There are so many things to tell you about here at La Maison du Nennie, that I'm not even sure really where to begin. I think it's maybe best to celebrate the season by showing you what captured my imagination this week and became a week long obsession.

Bunny Nuggets!!

Pattern: Bunny Nuggets by Rebecca Danger (free pattern link!)
Yarn: Various scraps of DK and worsted that I had lying around
Needles: US 4
Notes: OH MY GOD CUTE!! I had them in my office this week and every person who came in couldn't help by squeal over the cute. Even the men. This pattern is really easy and fast to knit up- and they don't have to be perfect. In fact the less perfect you make them, the more adorable the results!!

Not convinced that I have made something adorable? This will put you over the edge...

I told you!! CUTE!

The blanket is chugging along at it's regular pace, and I'm hoping by Sunday that I will have the 4th panel done. I'm still surprised at how quickly the teeny tiny yarn is knitting up, but I suppose that's a good thing so I won't complain. I'm already thinking ahead to the next blanket I need to work on for a baby due in June. It's for a boy and requires sail boats. Any suggestions??

Also on the needles and getting some attention this week... a cute baby sweater knit up in some leftover yarn from the Baby Beef blanket.

MiL and I are taking a finishing your knits class next week and I want to learn to set in sleeves. I decided to forgo knitting an adult sweater (there's not enough time!) and knit a baby sweater. I can't decide what else I want to learn- although I'm wondering if I can skip the blocking part on this sweater?

Rounding out my exciting week- guess what I got in the mail yesterday?

WOLLMEISE!! (SQUEE!!!) Yes, the most impossible yarn to get two fingers on! I had twitter open 2 weeks ago at work and noticed a note about wollmeise being available at the Loopy Ewe. (For those not in the know, that stuff can sell out in as fast as 2 minutes. It is impossible to buy without resorting to stalking!)

I know I said I wouldn't be buying more yarn but I did make an exception for Wollmeise. (See the exception at the bottom of this post.) Why are knitters going crazy for this yarn?? I can't speak for the community as a whole, but I can tell you why I love this stuff. 1) Color saturation. Claudia, (the woman responsible for Wollmeise) is able to get the most amazing colors on her yarn. The pictures don't do it justice. They're just vibrant, and multi-dimensional and gorgeous. She excels in jewel tones and I can't help myself... I just want more! 2) Her base yarn. I appreciate that she isn't specifically responsible for this- she buys base yarn from a supplier and colors it. Her source for base yarns is lovely. The yarn knits up beautifully, it's smooth and soft and knitting the wollmeise is almost as fun as looking at it. Now to find some "wollmeise worthy" projects. (You can't just knit any old project with the wollmeise, I want to make something special with such special yarn!)

Speaking of finding "wollmeise worthy projects", pretty sure I can find something in the new issue of Twist Collective. Stop whatever you're doing and go flip through the new issue. I have never seen an issue where I have wanted to knit so many different projects. EVERYTHING on there is lovely and gorgeous and I WANT TO MAKE IT ALL NOW! (Particularly loving Celandine, Anney (mom get better at knitting fast, you have to make this), Sally Rand, Kadril, Goose Rocks (this has my sister's name all over it), Timpani (OMG love!), and Amaranth (MiL you must make these! I decree it!)

I'm planning on spending th entire weekend making progress on the needles. I'm ready to cast on new projects, but need to clear out the old first!

Something New to Obsess Over!

2010-03-22T18:49:00.002-05:00

The Magnum Opus is done y'all! I've been sitting back and enjoying the feeling of knowing that there is nothing else that needs to be done on that blanket. In fact it's so done it's not even in my house anymore. It's on it's way to a special little girl- and well, I'm relieved.

Magnum Opus took a lot of me!

Being the process knitter I am though, I couldn't just leave the blankets alone, I bit into my next big challenge. The "Pink Insanity" blanket. Why did I give it that woeful sounding title? Simple- when I started I thought I must be INSANE to knit a blanket on yarn with such a small guage.

In fact when I first did this gauge swatch my rational brain said "NO. This is not going to be the project you recover on. NO NO NO NO NO NO." Thankfully I rarely listen to the rational side of my brain and I cast pink insanity on.

It turns out that even though this is knit in the finest, most whispy of yarns, I actually really sunk my teeth into the project. And despite thinking that it would take an eternity to knit... it actually starting moving a long really fast.

A week later from that photo? I was nearly halfway!

My pattern notes suggest that I need 6 "panel rows" of patterns. I'm nearly done 3. I think we can safely assume that I'm going to finish this for Stampede this year. So, as long as I stay focused, and committed to not making errors, (because there has been some unpleasant ripping back sessions already), this blanket is turning out to be quite a great little project!

Maybe I should listen to my irrational side more often?

Dear Sophie

2010-03-16T22:20:00.004-05:00

Dear Sophie,

We haven't met yet- but I already know how special you are. You see, I know your mom and she's a very special person to me. In fact, I consider her and your aunty Renell as special members of my own family. I have been waiting rather impatiently to meet you because I'm convinced that I'm already going to love you. (Yes, even if you barf on me when we meet. You and your cousin Ky are one of the few people I will make this exception for.) When I found out that you were going to join us I wanted to do something really special to welcome you into this world.

You've probably figured this out pretty quickly, but your mom and dad really love you. I hope you've also already noticed that they really love each other too. Your mom and dad have a great story before you came along, and I thought maybe I could tell you that story since I'm one of the few people who knew your parents when they first met.

Because you're small, I thought you'd prefer a picture story instead of one with many words. This is the story of your parents and how you came to be in this world.

The blanket reads like most stories- and starts at the beginning. Once upon a time there were two people, one named Brandy and one named Blaine; you know them better as "mommy" and "daddy".

Mommy and daddy grew up in different towns, but when they were old enough to leave home, they moved to Saskatoon to go to university. It was at the University of Saskatchewan where they met each other for the very first time. (I know how much you like puppies, isn't it neat that the U of S mascot is a husky??)

Your daddy REALLY liked you mommy when he first met her. A LOT. He used to tell me all the time how much he liked your mom. And, when I was spending time with your mom, I would tell her how pretty your dad would say she was. Very soon your dad got the courage to ask your mom on a date. Your dad, who, whether he'll admit it or not, is a big romantic, took your mom to the symphony for their first date.

That first date must have been pretty great because soon your mom and dad were spending lots and lots of time with each other. And, when you spend lots of time with someone you get to know each other pretty well. Your dad learned that your mom was not only very pretty on the outside, but also on the inside. Your mom learned that your dad was a very special person who cared very deeply about life. Before they knew it, you mom and dad fell in love.

Your mom and dad were in love for a really loooooooong time. They loved each other so much that even when they were apart, everyone around them knew that they really wanted to be together. One day your dad surprised your mom with a trip to Mexico where it's nice and warm. (Your dad loves surprises.) That was a really a great surprise... but an even bigger surprise is that he also asked your mom to marry him on that trip!

As you've probably already figured out, your mom said "yes" to you dad. And, on September 25, 2004 on a beautiful fall day in Saskatoon, the city where your parents met, your mom and dad got married.

After your mom and dad got married, they went back to Toronto where they set up their new life together as man and wife.

Because your mom and dad have so much love to give to others, they adopted your furry friends, Benny and Teddy who brought lots of excitement to your mom and dad's lives.

Even with your puppy friends adding some excitement to your family the story wasn't complete. Your mom and dad loved each other so much, that they decided to make you. (Please, please, PLEASE don't ever ask me to tell you how.... unitl you're maybe 46 years old!) And, on a crsip late November day, you were born and everyone was so excited that we couldn't stop smiling and being happy.

While the blanket stops here, I can tell you that the story doesn't, it just begins a new chapter. There are so many people; aunts, uncles, friends and family who love you and will be there for you whenever you need it. On top of all this love and support, you are so lucky to have such great parents who love each other so much and love you because you represent their love together. I hope this blanket wraps you up in the love that I'm sending you, but also serves as a lifelong reminder about the two people who brought you here.

I can't wait to meet you Sophie and tell you this story in person- but for now, just feel the love I'm sending with this blanket and know that I'm so excited to welcome you to this world!

Love,

Aunty Jen

(PS... please come for a visit really soon, I'm really impatient to meet you!)

*************************************************************************
For the knitters reading this- blanket details as follows:

Pattern: Story by Blaine & Brandy, concept and math by me, all dishclothes (except stork) by Lisa Millan (Digknitty Designs) and stork by Lisa Vienneau and Allison Barrett. (Dishcloth details and patterns are listed on Ravelry)
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy in "ivory", "flamingo" and "lilac mist"
Needles: US size 6
Notes: Special thanks to Lisa Millan, who upon reading my idea for this project was immediately supportive. Not only did she modify the design for the first square to reflect new names, but she also designed, from the ground up, the Toronto square. Without her help, I wouldn't have been able to complete this project and tell the story.

Here We Go Again

2010-03-10T20:29:00.002-05:00

With the excitement of the Olympic knitting over and the shakes from Olympic watching withdrawl subsiding, it's time to turn my focus back on the regularly scheduled knitting.

First up, Brandy's blanket aka "the Magnum Opus". It was off the needles before I left for Hawaii, but everyone who saw it agreed that it needed a border. The first thing I did upon casting off Grandma's socks, was pick the blanket up and weave in all the ends. (Ugh... is there ANYONE who actually LIKES weaving in ends out there?) And then- I faced a familiar foe- crochet.

I spent the entire weekend this last week fighting with crochet. I OWNED the hdc (half double crochet) and I fear that I can actually read a crochet pattern now. (I'll try and forget that knowledge asap.) Sunday evening the border looked like this:

I decided NOT to do the second color border, as I think the first color finishes this off nicely. The blanket is going to be blocked, heavily, and hopefully next week I'll show you the finished product and have it in the mail to my very patient friend.

With the blanket essentially done, I picked up a project I have been practically chomping at the bit to start. Behold! I give you "Pink Insanity!"- hopefully my entry for Stampede this year!

Doesn't look like much does it? Perhaps that's because I have chosen the tiniest yarn and the tiniest needles to knit it with. (Hence the reference to insanity, because I am clearly insane to attempt this.) I'm knitting this blanket on fingering weight yarn and size US 2 (3 mm) needles. To give you an idea of how tiny the stitches are, I took this photo.

Why yes, I am crazy. Thanks for asking!

The husband keeps calling this project my "Stampede 2012" project after seeing the tiny needles and stitches and doing the math on how long this could potentially take. Despite all of his doubts, and quite frankly mine, I have taken on this challenge with great enthusiasm. I'm so excited about knitting this project, and if everything goes as planned, this going to be a BEAUTIFUL blanket when it's done. I'm projecting, and aiming for an 8 week finish. I know I can do this!

Cross your fingers. (And maybe have the men in white coats on stand by... this could be a slightly bumpy ride.)

Gold Medal for Canada!

2010-03-01T19:39:00.003-05:00

Guess what world?

That’s right- I’m a gold medalist! I knit 2 pairs of socks in two weeks and I just managed to finish on time! Knitters participating in the Olympics were asked to select something that would challenge them. You’ve seen me knit countless pairs of socks, but the challenge I knew would be time.

AND HOO BOY, it was close. I finished Sunday, the 28^th, around noon. (Thank goodness because there’s no way I would have knit a stitch during that hockey game nail biter.) Time was even more of a challenge than I thought. I didn’t really start until the Sunday I got back from Maui (Feb 14^th). I jumped right in, knitting Grandpa’s socks first- and man they were huge! Unfortunately I was presented with a challenge when I got back to work. There was a tsunami, (because tidal wave is just not adequate to express the size) of work waiting for me. There were late nights at work that took away sock knitting time. And yet, somehow I finished Grandpa’s socks in a flurry of efficiency.

Just when I thought I could manage Grandma’s socks, because I had caught up with work, life threw me another obstacle- namely a nasty cold. I knew that the end of my week I’d be helping my sister with her move, so I had planned for efficient knitting in the earlier parts of the week. Except I became a one man snot factory and when I wasn’t blowing my nose, I was feeling too tired to think about knitting. (The fear of another work tsunami kept me in the office, but I won’t lie, I wasn’t an A+ employee last week, I was working on a C average.) And yet, with maybe a few late nights thrown in, I did manage to finish grandma’s socks.

Pattern: Nutkin by Beth Lapensee

Yarn: OnLine Supersocke 100 – Florida Color in “1131” (Gah, I hate when yarn doesn’t have names!)

Needles: US 2, I purposely made sure to knit these a little bigger since I knit rather tightly and really wanted these to fit on Grandma’s legs!

Thoughts: I modified this pattern quite a bit- and outlined the changes here on Ravelry. I just did a ribbed cuff, heel flap and a regular toe instead of the pattern’s changes. Nutkin is a ridiculously easy pattern to memorize and I know why a lot of people have knit this one! I'd recommend it to beginners- but with my modifications.

I’d like to thank my sister for allowing me to sneak a few rows in while I was helping her move and my husband, the supplier of Kleenx, for his patience in not making any plans on the weekend so I could knit. I’d also like to thank my country, and the team I knit for, Canada, because you put on one hell of a great show. Today is the first day I haven’t watched Olympic coverage on television. For the last two weeks I have been RIVOTED to my television, jonesing for “hit” after “hit” of Olympic coverage.

I cheered with Alexandre Bilodeau who seemed so deserving of the status of being the Olympian who won the first gold on Canadian soil. And I cried like a big sap when he hugged this brother. I cheered, (and cried again), when the Canadian ladies of the speed skating track brought in their medals. I cried for Jeremy Wotherspoon who just wanted a medal so badly, and deserved it, and walked away empty handed. I cheered through every Canadian hockey game, I celebrated the Virtue and Moir skate, I cried at Joannie Rochette and didn’t breathe during the entire third period of that last hockey game. (Sydney Crosby for Prime Minister!) I watched everything there was to watch! I have cheered harder and cried more during these games than I have ever before. I am just so proud of my country and how we presented ourselves and who knew it would make me so emotional!? Anyways- thanks Canada, it was fun to be on your team, even if you haven’t recognized the knitting “sport”… yet.

I’m so proud of my "Bob" from the Ravelympics:

AND, my medal from the Yarn Harlot:

*In all fairness to myself in this photo- my sinuses are still kinda swollen!

Gold Medal Pace

2010-02-22T00:20:00.004-05:00

Firstly... National Post readers... did you see this?!! National coverage of the knitting Olympics! I feel so legit!

Good news readers- I am on my desired gold medal pace! Grandpa's socks are done! Done! Done!

Pattern: Mr. Pitt's Socks by Kaitlyn Wong

Yarn: Schachenmayr nomatta Regia Tweed 4-fadig/4 ply

Needles: US 1 (I used my fancy new Signature needles and they are SO. WORTH. THE. MONEY.)

Thoughts: I didn't love the yarn. The slubs of color aren't spun tightly enough for me into the wool. You can pull out the slubs very easily, which is highly disappointing.

Yarn aside, this is the perfect sock pattern for a man. It's simple and easy (man requirement), and is very straight forward to knit. Hopefully next time Grandpa is faced with a blizzard and a subsequent 55 hour power outage with no heat (!!), he will have something to keep his feet warm! This sock is a monster to knit! Grandpa's feet are 10.5" inches heel to toe and it's a 9" leg. At the end I felt as though I had been knitting this sock forever!

Don't start crying for my time on the podium yet, I'm only halfway to my gold medal in knitting. As the rules suggest, the knitter is to challenge themselves with a project/projects. I decided my challenge would be time, and chose to commit myself to 2 pairs of socks. (Oh did I ever pick the right challenge for me. Work has been an absolute circus- and I had to work a lot of over time last week, nearly killing 2 days of knitting progress!)

I cast on sock #2 for Grandma (how fair would it be to give Grandpa sock for the Saskatchewan winter and ignore Grandma's toes?)* this morning and have half the leg done this evening. The sock looked like this around 3:00 today:

It's nice to be knitting something with more of a pattern again! I see more Olympic watching and knitting in my future this week. Hopefully work will be a little more normal and I'll be able to squeak in a few extra hours of knitting. Maybe I should print out that National Post article I mentioned above and post it on my door to let people know I need to focus on my knitting?

Back to knitting- GO TEAM CANADA!

* I suppose in this same logic I shouldn't be leaving my other grandma out! Hmmmm... Grandma Prince, we might have to look at some potential spring socks for you!

Cheering for Canadian Gold

2010-02-18T20:13:00.002-05:00

Firstly I apologize that this update comes so much later in my quest for knitting gold . I had hoped to keep you updated more frequently on my Olympic sock progress. That plan was derailed by the heavy work load I've had since my return from Hawaii. Actually, my heavy workload has also derailed my knitting progress too! I've only managed to knit 20 rows in the last 2 days. I'm hoping that I have gotten caught up enough at work that I can pull out a "win" on these socks.

My original strategy was to be finished pair #1 by Saturday afternoon/evening and cast on pair #2 over the weekend. I'm hoping I can still stick to the schedule, even if it means pulling a late nighter on Friday. Grandpa's socks are quite a bit larger- so it should, in theory, take me less time to knit Grandma's.

Here's what sock 1 of Grandpa's socks looked like last Sunday. (I've been so busy at work I haven't had a chance to take any other pictures!)

I cast off the toe on Tuesday and cast on for pair 2 and quickly made work of the cuff. Then work dominated my life and I was unable to get much progress in.

The medal is feeling a little bit off in the distance at the moment, just because I have concerns about more work hindering my progress. (Can I get a written note or something to excuse me from being busy until after the Olympics?) I must say though- despite my concerns, I've been having a BLAST watching team Canada representing my country. Today's gold medal win in Speed skating is the right motivation to get me motivated to win my knitting gold!

And, in an entirely unrelated note, but it was too great not to share- this had me laughing my butt off at work today. The right thing to lighten my mood. A little knitting humor for ya!

Winter Olympic Start and Goals

2010-02-12T14:09:00.006-05:00

Who are you cheering for this winter Olympics!?

That's right! I had so much fun during the 2008 Summer Olympics, I had to participate in the Ravelympics for Winter... especially since my country is the host country. (I'm "jennipoo" on Ravlery... not nennieknits, just in case you wondering who the heck this "jennipo" was.)

I've decided to challenge myself this year, and knit TWO pairs of socks, since last time around, I finished my Olympic sock with time to spare. When Grandpa Johnson called this Christmas to wonder "where the heck are my socks", I thought I'd knit he and Grandma socks for my challenge this year. Both patterns are relatively simple, (especially since the last socks I knit for them, (here and here) they deemed "too fancy" to wear.)

For Grandpa I'm knitting Mr. Pitt's socks again- they're simple enough that he should wear them. For Grandma, (who's a knitter so I had to do something a little more interesting), I'm going to make the Nutkin socks. Will I be able to complete both on time? Adding a slightly more difficult element to my plan- (and the reason for my silence this week), is that I'm not currently home. I'm on vacation somewhere tropical- and well, my desire to knit anything is greatly diminished. On the upside, we return soon- and I will throw myself into the knitting.

I also made progress on the blanket before I left, getting it cast off the needles. It still requires a border to finish it off, (unofficial goal to also finish during the Olympics), but I'm quite pleased with the results.

Representing the beginning of the "story"- I put the knit the parent's names at the beginning:

Representing where the couple met- the Husky, the University of Saskatchewan's mascot.

Representing their first date to the symphony, a violin and bow:

The blanket is definately coming along- let's hope I can find some time to get this project out the door to my friend at the end of February!

I'm so excited for these Olympics- I can't wait to get started!!

Setting the Pace

2010-02-01T19:18:00.004-05:00

Well, that looks considerably more like a palm tree! Knit to represent the couple's engagement in Mexico, I was so happy when transposing the pattern finally clicked and the palm tree did in fact look like a palm tree.

Just to be safe- the heart?

Looked like a heart. (Representing "they fell in love".)

And the "They got married"?

That looks right too!

All together, it looks like this blanket is coming together, finally.

It is AMAZING what stepping away from a project and rethinking things will do to your motivation! My unofficial goal is to have this off the needles by Friday, which means instead of going on and on at length on the blog- I need to shut up and get back to the knitting!

One more thing- This blanket needs a border. I have NO IDEA what to do for it. Any suggestions you make (could you attach a link with a photo so I can see it?) would be most appreciated!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

2010-01-27T20:48:00.003-05:00

I put this project in a time out over December- and then, kept using the yarn order, (that was quite late), as my excuse not to pick up the needles and try again. I then got the late yarn order and still couldn't get myself to frog the old blanket and begin again.

But, then, the husband watched Batman Begins one Saturday afternoon- and it all changed.

At one point in the movie Alfred asks Bruce Wayne (Batman) "Why do we fall?" and Bruce dutifully responds "So we can get back up" and I felt like the universe was sending me a message.

Why do we fall? So we can get back up.

We've been here before, however there are a few key changes:

1) The color is a vast improvement for a little girl. Pink and purple and GIRLIE. I feel 90% better about this blanket based on the change in colors.
2) I figured out where I went wrong.

I sat down and I looked long and hard at that palm tree pattern. I matched things- and I was still coming up short. I then decided to ask Lisa at DigKnitty if she could send me a chart. Lisa came through in a heartbeat and sent the chart instantly. (Have I mentioned how awesome she is? Let's get back to that. BUY FROM LISA!) The chart made it all make sense and I figured out where I was going wrong! I even figured out that I had made a drastic error transposing the square next to the palm tree too! SO, feeling a lot more confident, I am ready to accept the challenge to move past this project.

So hang on to your hats... here we go again!

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

2010-01-19T23:17:00.002-05:00

It started like this:

A few hours later it looked like this:

A few days later it looked like this:

Pattern: Honey Bunny by Yvonne Boucher

Yarn: Bernat Satin in "camel" and a little left over white

Needles: US 3

Thoughts: I love knitting this pattern! The results are immediate and it's just SO. CUTE. It's a great last minute present that knits up quick.

I thought it might be a good idea to knit a few quick little baby gifts and try and get ahead of the "TSUNAMI of BABIES" that tends to interrupt my planned knitting. Especially since I was waiting for the new yarn to arrive to make the blanket that shall not be named. (Yes, we're returning to the horror next week.) This little project doesn't have a home yet, but I'm sure some little girl will be happy to give her a cuddle.

The End. :-) (Can you handle the tail? I can hardly handle the adorable wrapped up in that tail!)

A Little Birdy Told Me...

2010-01-12T19:24:00.003-05:00

A little birdy told me if I didn’t finish my mittens with the birdy embroidery it would bother me forever… and so, I did what the birdy told me and finished them up.

In my opinion the Birds make the mittens! Aren’t they cute?

A little birdy also told me that it’s about time I showed you a picture of the Plain A$$ socks since they were finished a long time ago.

Pattern: Sock Recipe: A Good Plain Sock by Stephanie Pearl McPhee aka "The Yarn Harlot"

Yarn: OnLine Supersocke Cotton Beach Colour in colorway 945

Needles: US 2

Notes: My gauge is looser it seems these days, and the US 2 wasn’t the best of choices. Mental note to self- go down a size for a tighter fit. I knit these so fast I impressed myself! It took me 2.5 days to get both socks off the needles and on the blockers. Impressive!

I love being able to just knit, aimlessly without thinking. This was a great distraction. Even the pattern lines up beautifully- and the anal retentive in me enjoys that everything is asymmetrical and looks the same.

I’ve obeyed the little birdy about showing you the mittens and the socks, but it wanted me to show you something else too. I’m hesitant to do this, scared to be honest with you and myself, but I’ve decided to put it out there publicly.

The little birdy wanted me to show you MOST of my stash.

Sock & Fingering Weight Yarn

DK & Worsted Weight Yarn

(The little birdy was thoughtful enough to not make me show you my acrylic stash and leftovers that sit in the box without a project on the horizon. That’s my “shame” stash that only I am privy too.)

It’s time to admit to myself how much there is and to set some goals in dealing with it.

This is the stash that I’ve collected that needs to get smaller. I’m not suggesting that it needs to disappear overnight- but I will not get a new box for stash. I love this yarn. It is time that I knit with it. Current stash storage is tight. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to fit in that box right now. I chose not to knit hats this year so that I may, instead, focus on stash busting a little more.

If you double click on the photos above, I’ve added some notes that will show up on the flickr page when you hover over stash items. Some plans for the stash are revealed there. My goal is to whittle this down by half. I will show you these pictures again, sometime in the summer with the used yarn blurred out, and again in December, so I can publicly assess what I’ve used up.

If, and when I’ve made room in the boxes, I can add back to the pile**… specifically I will buy the Rowan Lima yarn that I have not stopped obsessing about and make something beautiful with… but only, after there is some stash down progress here.

I’m looking forward to making some beautiful projects this year, with yarn from my stash!

As for that little birdy, he wanted me to show you two other things I’ve gotten around to starting, but I told him to take a hike. Birdies have gotten so demanding! (We’ll discuss on the next blog).

** as always exceptions to the rules will be made. There will and always will be room in my stash for Wollmeise. If I stumble over a Loopy Ewe update, I’m scooping that stuff up! Also- baby blanket yarn won’t count, because there will be a little bit of that too this year.