Idea

This blog has been a little boring lately- so I'm struck with an interesting idea to jazz it up a little.  I have a whole laundry list of tasks that I'm supposed to be doing that are knitting related this week.  Why don't I list them here and when I complete the task I'll update the post with a picture of the completed item?  Let's see how many of these items I can get done!

1) Charity Oddball Blanket Section (Tis the Season)

2) Charity OddballBlanket Section (Chocolate Indulgence)

3) 2 Baby Hats from "the big ball"

4) Block the Umaro Blanket

5) Knit swatches for the "25 Tricks" Class

6) Knit swatches for the "Fantastic Finishing" class

7) Begin charting out Stampede Project (sorry no pictures, I gotta keep this a surprise for a while)

Olympic Nail Biter

Well, I finished.  I would have posted this yesterday to commemorate the end of the actual Olympics, except that I was really REALLY tired from getting up and watching TEAM CANADA WIN HOCKEY GOLD!!  (Obviously pretty happy about it!)  I'm lucky enough to have a toddler who sleeps late (8:00 am) so getting up at 5 was a foreign concept... but worth it in the end.

I actually finished Umaro late Friday night, much to my relief.  A) I was getting sick of the pattern.  Umaro is a great blanket there is nothing wrong with the pattern, but as usual I just hit that ennui part of the knitting and my mind starts going "let's make something else that's not this."  B) I was cutting it close to having enough yarn.  My goal was to use as MUCH as the yarn as possible, and so I did my best to work down every skein as well as I could.  At the end I wasn't sure I was going to have enough to get through my border and cast off.

I was looking at this ball of yarn and going- "can I get 21 rows out of this?"

Nothing motivates quite like panicking if you have enough yarn to actually finish your project.  Here we are with just the border remaining and my heart is really pounding.  In my head I'm thinking "that isn't enough.... that ISN'T ENOUGH".

I start telling myself that if need be I can use the small leftovers that I had from each ball because they wouldn't actually knit up a full row.  "There will be a lot of ends to weave in" I tell myself, but I'm really pretty sure at this point I'm screwed.

Except that I wasn't.  I finished with just that much yarn above to spare.  WHEW.  I wove in the ends and declared myself finished!

I didn't include blocking the blanket as part as being done- so that will need to be done this week so that I can take some glamour photos of the blanket and post it here.

Looking ahead this is going to be a busy week of little things.  I'm finishing up a section on a WCOBB charity blanket and have another blanket expecting to show up soon as well.  Also, I want to knit 2 hats, to stay ahead of my hat project.  And, most importantly, I need to knit several swatches for my Vogue Knitting classes that I signed up for.  On top of that, I'd really like to kickstart my Stampede project, which I'm doing from scratch- I need to chart out my design and begin thinking about what I'm going to do there as well.

The next few weeks will be busy, but it feels good to just revel in the fact that I'm done this big project!

Sochi Knitter

Well, progress is progress- it's somewhat hard to see that I'm progressing and I'm really over this pattern.  (Typical pattern ennui.)

 It's a little hard to feel like this is Olympic knitting, because when I knit, the Olympics are airing repeats, as most of the events of the day have already happened and I know the results.  I usually knit in the afternoons and evenings when my little "big guy" is sleeping.  I really haven't actually watched any Olympics and knit at the same time.

I've been really proud of Canada so far- we've done really well.  Although, there's a little part of me would like us to pick up the medal winning pace again.  ;-)  Hopefully we'll add another medal today in figure skating.  NO PRESSURE Patrick Chan.... except.... PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE.

I really regret not noting how far I was prior to the Olympics on this blanket.  But Progress is being made.

Here's BEFORE the start....

Earlier this week.....

And Yesterday....

I'm at about 22" into this project.  I started with 6 balls of yarn to work through, and am down to 3.5 remaining.  I'm working at a decent pace but will need to continue knitting furiously if I hope to have a gold medal finish.

You can keep updated on my progress at this link, which gets updated earlier than this blog.  (Sorry- need to knit frequently, so updates are going to be brief.)

GO CANADA GO!

Late Breaking Olympic Update

I hmmm'd and haaaa'd a bit over what my Olympic entry would be this time around, and even gave serious consideration to not entering anything.  BUT, I decided I still wanted to compete, I just had to be realistic about what I was doing.  I knew I could not knit a whole baby blanket in 2 weeks, I KNEW that.  But I also wanted to finish the one I had and move on to other things and so... without further ado, I'm happy to announce:

I'll be participating win WiP* Dancing at the Ravellenic Games on Team Canada.  I'll be taking a project that I began PRIOR to the Olympics and setting my goal to finish it during the Olympics.

Hear that Umaro blanket?  I'm going to try to finish you.  This isn't an easy challenge, but I'm hoping that it's something I can do.  Watch here for daily updates during the Olympics as well as blog posts that will update you as to how I'm doing.



_______________________________________
*Works in Progress

Further notes: I will consider a gold medal finish if I use up all of my yarn and weave in the ends.  I am not going to count blocking as part of a "finish".  Blocking can occur after the Olympics, but the most important thing is that the yarn is all used up and the ends are all woven in.

Still Here, Still Knitting

Oh Hi!  You may have wondered where I was, or if I had gone over to the dark side after the quiet book and become a full time felt crafter.  (HA)  Not to worry... this little hiatus was much more relaxing.

Our annual trip to Maui warmed me up for 10 days and reminded me what a warm sun feels like.  Sadly the weather wasn't as perfect as it sometimes is, (always a risk going in January),  and we had a few rainy days that forced me inside and kept me knitting.  I always lament that I never knit on vacation, well, this time I did!  (It probably helps that MiL was there and was also knitting so she sort of "put me in the mood" to pick up the needles.)

(Blurry sock, clear view... sorry about that!)  It's not a tonne of progress, but it's just enough of progress to make me feel like I did something crafty while I was there.  I ventured off the course of just a "plain Jane sock" this time and decided to do the "Vanilla Bean Striped Sock" just to add a little bit of interest to the game.

Before we left, I wasn't able to squeeze in another blog post but there was some knit "excitement" here.

My beautiful Wollmeise arrived, even after I swore I wouldn't order anymore.  (I was weak!  It was my birthday... it was like a sign that I had to just order the damn thing!)  The color, as always is beautiful and I hope that I actually knit with it.  To be honest though, I'm kicking myself a little because this is very close to another Wollmeise color I already have... and I should have maybe thought my purchase through a little more.  Oh well... one can never really have enough red so I'll make due!

I also, on a whim, decided to squeeze in another little hat to add to the collection, I just made up the pattern as I went.

Now that I'm home, I've dived back into the Umaro blanket, which I can work on again without any distractions.  Progress is moving along at a decent pace, but I'm already finding myself thinking about other things to knit instead.  (I have the attention span of a gnat apparently.)  I'm liking the pattern, but I had a better idea of something to knit for my friend this was intended for and now I'm feeling less inspired by what I'm doing.  (Friend is pregnant with their "flood baby" [they were flooded out and "consoled each other" - 9 months later flood baby is set to make it's arrival] and I kind of wish I had done a water themed blanket for them.  I'm toying with the idea of changing up my project mid knitting here.... but I'm not sure it's the best idea.  I want to be cheeky, not insensitive... they are still not back in their home and likely won't be for at least the remainder of this year, that's a TOUGH pill to swallow for anyone.  I can't decide it will be funny, or SO NOT FUNNY.)

I need to decide what I'm doing- by TOMORROW at NOON at the latest.  I have yet to commit to something on the Ravellenic Games (knitting challenge during the Olympics).  I'm smart enough to realize that I can't knit a blanket in 2 weeks.  I just can't.  It's not even ok for me to think that it could be a possibility.  I'm fast... but I'm not insanely fast.  But truthfully, starting another sock, or a pair of mittens when I have a large number of babies coming up isn't practical.  I need to knit blankets.  I just do.  So I think what I'll do is set a certain "inches" goal instead.  Like I need to be 30 inches on the Umaro blanket or if I DO change my plans mid knitting here, a certain number of inches on the new blanket.  (Am I insane to even be considering this?)  I'll let you know next week what I decide.

In the mean time- I thought I'd catch you up on the goings on here and assure you, I'm still here and I'm still knitting.

It's Not Knitting - and It's SUPER Nerdy

As mentioned a few days ago what I've been working on as of late, is NOT a knitting project.  That is highly, HIGHLY unusual for me.  My sister and I began this project when I was pregnant, thinking we'd have lots of time to finish it and have Parker enjoy it.  Of course, once my little man came, I was just greatful to squeeze any craft time in and often times knitting took priority.  Lately though, I catch myself thinking he'd REALLY enjoy this book and actually get a lot out of it.  And finally I just decided to stop everything else and finish this project.

Guys, I couldn't be more happy with the results.  It's very rare that I diverge from the knitting, but this was so delightfully nerdy and awesome, I was happy to change up the routine.  Before I show you this, I should probably out myself; I am a die hard, unapologetic, geek to the nth degree.  I have no shame.  There is a very special place in my heart for Star Wars.  I love those movies.  LOVE THEM.  I make no apologies for loving them.  When I saw this project I just knew, KNEW, Parker HAD to have this.

Without further ado- I give you, the JEDI QUIET BOOK.  (Designed by the brilliant Julie Gillrie who is a far, FAR better and more patient embroidery person than I'll ever be.)

Page 1: Title Page!  (Done by my sister!)

Page 2: What a perfect, PERFECT beginning to a movie, and a Quiet Book!

Page 3: Save your friends from the death star.... just looks like an ordinary, (badly embroidered), death start right?

NOPE.

Your friends, who happen to be finger puppets, are inside!  (The pattern had Yoda, not Chewy on this page, and as the designer noted, Yoda was never on the death star.  Since I believe everything in life is improved with addition of a Wookiee, I improvised a little and made the Chewy puppet up.)  I may, or may not make the Han and Leia puppets kiss all the time.

Page 4: Sadly this does not fit my hand.... but it fits Parker's!

Page 5: This is going to be Parker's FAVORITE page, I can tell you this already.  He is OBSESSED with zippers.  My mom helped my sew this in (zippers + me = tragedy) so it should stand up to sturdy play.

Page 6: Thankfully Julie thought to PG up Leia's slave girl outfit.  She's still cute!

Page 7: Ooo look!  More bad embroidery!  (But I think you can still get the idea!)

Page 8: Here's where I diverged from the pattern a little bit.  I like the idea of learning different skills with a quiet book, and I saw a few page ideas with spelling kids names.  I decided to use Julie's pattern for Luke, but come up with my own activity instead.  I even downloaded a Star Wars font to use to get the "Parker" to look just right.

Page 9: Again here's where I completely did my own thing.  Parker is really into counting right now.  These little grey blobs, (which are supposed to be Millennium Falcons), can be matched up to the right star system.  Thinking about it in hindsight I wonder if I should have mixed up the numbers- but I guess it's too late for that now.

Page 10: The original pattern called for just "The End"- I took a little creative liscense and took it a bit further.

So there you have it.  I'm really, REALLY pleased with how this turned out, despite my poor embroidery skills.  I'd like to thank: my mom, who sewed up the pages for me, installed the zipper and did a bit of the title page embroidery.  My sister who cut out a tonne of felt pieces and helped me get this finished, despite how much she HATES crafting.  Also my glue gun, because if I have to sew as much as this book called for, I'd be on the floor weeping right now.

And now... NOW- I can get back to my knitting!!

Bi-Craftual

Knitting content is extremely light this week, simply because I've been distracted, frantically trying to finish another project.  I've looked back in my blog posts in 2011, thinking I may have mentioned it previously, but it appears I didn't.

Before Parker was born, my sister and I spent a weekend making a Quiet Book for him.  Specifically, I bought the pattern for this quiet book.  I stupidly thought we could "bang this out" in a weekend.  WHOO BOY was I wrong.  We spent a good/whole weekend, crafting this project and only got about 4 pages done.  My mom swooped in and did some embroidery for me.  We always said we'd spend more rainy/snowy weekends finishing it, but we never have.  Recently I've often thought about the book and how much Parker would enjoy it right now.  Well, eventually, my guilt got the best of me and I decided enough was enough, I was going to finish the damn book.

I'm close too.  Sister came back for a day and contributed to another page and I've been sacrificing knitting nap times in the name of working with felt.  I've nearly got all the move-able activities done.  (One more page!)  All that remains is the dreaded embroidery and sewing.  Oh guys, I am SO. SO. SOOOOOO. bad at embroidery.  Like SHOCKINGLY bad at it.  I promise to show you all the work I've been putting into this book just as soon as it's finished, but in the mean time here's an "overall" work in progress shot.

That's not to say I've completely ignored the knitting.  I managed to knit 2 sections on a charity blanket (STASH BUSTING YAY!) and get it out the door!  (WCOBB called Stripey Bits)

I also managed to cast on Umaro and get the first ball out the door.  Umaro is a lovely pattern, but does require some attention to be paid, so it's going to be slower moving that I had hoped.

I apologize that we're kind of light on knitting content this week- I've been very very busy, just not as much as I'd like with the yarn.  I'm hoping to finish this book next weekend, and then, back to knitting!  There will hopefully a big post after the weekend showing you the finished book.  It's actually pretty awesome... if you can overlook the really crap embroidery skills.

Annual Stash Analysis

In what has become a somewhat yearly event in January for me, I spent the morning "being one" with my stash.  In fact I got in there, cleaned some things up, threw some junk/paper out and, in one case, frogged an item that had been nearly knit but neglected for the last 2 years.  (Thanks to MiL and FiL who have taken the toddler for the day- I could never do this in just a nap time... I need a lot of time to just get organized and plan my knitting.)

I find going through my stash a really REALLY productive and helpful activity.  It helps me come to terms with what's in the stash, (a lot of times I forget!) and helpful for me to plan on getting things out.  I really would like to whittle my stash down to the point where I have one drawer of things I've purchased for "last minute" knitting projects ideas but the rest I buy, as needed, on a project by project basis.  Last year I focused heavily on getting rid of my acrylic stash and beginning to tackle the leftovers and I was actually pretty successful.

To see my stash "before" photos you'll need to revist this post from last year here.  Let's see what I knit out of there, and what's in there for this year, shall we?  (Pictures will show 2013 first, and then 2014 second to work on as a comparison)

1) Sock Yarn Fingering Weight Stash

Well... I didn't really do much here, did I?  If anything this stash has grown, especially in the self striping department.

I don't even know what to say about this- because honestly, I don't have great big plans to knit a lot of socks this year.  I'm thinking about possibly knitting something rainbow-y (socks?) for the Olympics, just to make a mini statement on my disagreement of their {Russia} unfair/unjust laws relating to homosexuals.  But other than that- I'm not sure this stash is going to get much smaller.  (And quite frankly, it's not the priority this year.)

2) The Natural Sport/Worsted/Thick Yarns

Another stash where I failed at really doing much in the way of denting it's size.  I'd really like to see some movement in this stash this year.  I'm hoping to focus on projects that will eliminate 50% of these yarns.  (I know!  Ambitious!)

The grey balls, (new thanks to Boxing day) are hopefully going to be gone soon, as they become Umaro.  And maybe a nice beige Alpaca sweater for Vogue knitting?  And maybe I'll finally get a jump on that purple-y blanket?  There's a lot of stash in here.... and truthfully I could probably throw together at least one more baby blanket, if not 2 out of this stash without buying more yarn for it.  Just typing this makes me think I need to re-think my planned blankets for 2014.  (Did I mention I have to knit 3 so far?)

3) The Cotton Collection

Remains essentially the same.  I'm actually not as fussed about this stash size.  Dishcloths are perfect distraction/last minute gift ideas.  I don't mind there be options in this stash and as long as I'm not really adding more, I probably can relax about what's there to be knit.

4) Stash of Immense Shame (Acrylics)

You know, I'm actually pretty proud of the work I did in this stash this year.  I volunteered for a LOT of charity blankets.  (6!!)  But the end result means that I actually got this stash to a spot where I'm not as deeply ashamed about how much I have anymore.  Can more go?!  YES!  But, I think I can get it out of the way with just a few more charity projects this year- and so I will continue to be apart of that.

The red ball is already essentially spoken for, I'm just waiting for my turn to knit on the blanket with it.  Same goes for the big brown ball and I'm thinking I'll start my own project and donate the two matching whites as a part of a charity project. Plus the giant ball will be hats- as part of the hat agreement. Beyond that, as long as this stash doesn't grow, I'm sort of at peace, finally, with it's size.  I'd like a lot of it to be gone, but it's not going to be the main focus this year.

5) Leftovers

I didn't do too badly this year on this- but it will again, be a focus in this upcoming year.  There's just too much of it.  I can't throw it out, but I can't necessarily knit one project out of it, and so I need to keep being creative with what I do with it.

This year I actually broke the leftovers out into 2 piles, worsted and fingering weight leftovers.  Since it's really hard to combine the two into one project, it's probably better to get a handle on what's in each pile.

(Worsted)

(Fingering)

Mother in Law and I are planning a day where we go through our fingering weight leftovers and come up with a "scrap blanket" plan by combining similar colorways.  These blankets are SUCH good leftover projects, my goal is to knit one scrap blanket.  (I have SO. MUCH. off white in this pile... clearly off white is going to be in a project!)

So there you have it- everything that's in my stash for 2014.  I'm going to need to be focused!  This year's priority is leftovers/natural sport+ weight piles, to whittle those away and make room.  I'm hoping this exercise will stay in the back of my mind in March, while I'm at the Vogue Knitting Marketplace.  There is a lot of yarn/knitting related items for sale at these things.  I'm going to try to be restrained.  BUT, faced with all kinds of yarns that I don't normally see in my local shops, or have easy access too, I could get carried away.  I'm not going to commit to not buying anything (that's just CRAZINESS) but I'm going to re-read this post at least 4 times prior to going.  I need to see what's in my stash and remind myself of all the great things to knit with, before I buy a bunch more.

Now I'm going to hit up Ravelry and try and plan blankets for my current stash, to work down those piles!

Last Time for 2013

As promised, I wanted to get just one more blog post in before the new year, and I'm really cutting it down to the wire!  We'll talk about what I want to accomplish in the new year and how I did stash wise in 2014... but since this is the last day for 2013, I need to tie up one final loose end.

Yeah... I finished the blanket.  I'm going into 2014 without any projects that need to be finished.  I'm pretty proud of myself!

Pattern: 3-D Argyle Blanket by Regina Fulton

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima in "Sky Blue"

Needle: US 6 (doh!  I didn't write down the crochet hook size!)

Notes: Great pattern.  This knit quickly and rather painlessly.  Even the crochet was really easy.  (I know!  Crochet and I have made our peace with one another I think.) The only thing I did was create a smaller crochet border around the whole thing.  I had every intention of crocheting the full border, but I found the edges ruffling and it took away from the simple elegance of the blanket, and so, I ripped it back and stuck to a simple finish.

   

I'm glad I took the time to find a yarn with lots of sheen.  Sadly the light hasn't been great for picture taking so you don't really see it here, but the pattern has subtle differences that you wouldn't catch unless you had a yarn that had a bit of shininess to it.

Overall I'm very happy with this pattern and am very pleased that I finished before baby decided to make it's appearance.  Tomorrow is this little guy's due date- so for now I bask in knowing that I'm ready for it!

Also, just because I had the time to actually do it- I've gotten a jump start on 2014 hats.  Normally I'm not the biggest fan of acrylic, but I'm actually quite liking how this baby yarn knits up.  Who knows, if I'm not completely sick of the colorway by the end of the year, I might attempt a nice and easy baby blanket for someone who needs to keep it really simple on the washing instructions.

 

And before I forget, I need to recap the Christmas "haul" and Boxing day shopping, MiL and my yearly attempt at boxing day shopping.

Christmas this year was lighter (but I'm just as greatful) on knitted items.  The Mostly Mittens is really there to continue to feed my obsessive mitten habit I seem to develop and the Pudding gift cards are always, ALWAYS appreciated.

The bigger (and not pictured) item from husband was a suggestion that we go, as a family, to Seattle so that I may attend Vogue Knitting Live (while he and my toddler explore the fun things to do in Seattle).  I. am. pumped.  I am pumped because I've always wanted to go to Seattle (I hear they have great yarn shops!)  I am pumped because I miss interacting with knitters and taking fun courses.  (So many to choose from!)  I am pumped because I'm going to meet Reebecki Supergirl who I've gotten to know through Twitter because she has a little girl 2 weeks younger than my little guy.  (Plus- a super cute newborn!)  There are so many reasons to be excited about this and I'm touched that my husband recognizes that knitting is an important part of my life and wants me to get to interact with that side of myself.

As if all of these gifts weren't enough, I also got to do my annual boxing day sale shopping with Mother in Law again this year.  (Last year we skipped due to a funeral, and I missed it!)  We had decided that we'd definately "hit" Pudding yarn this year and also stop to check out the further deals at Make 1 Yarn Studio.  (They're moving and don't want to pack)  At the last minute we panicked and also added The Loop and Gina Brown's to the list.  (What if there was a super deal and we missed it!  GAH!?  Cannot take the risk!)

We're remarkably more restrained that we've been in years past... I had a list of things I wanted to purchase, knowing that the first part of this year is going to be dedicated to baby blanket making again. 

 

I walked away with Diamond Luxury collections Supermerino Superwash, which will hopefully be cast on very soon as Umaro.  I also picked up two colors of Cascade 220 Sport to make some Dr. Who mittens for a friend.  I've been looking at my stash, (in preparation for a big stash update post), and I really need to whittle down what's in the sock yarn and wool parts of the stash in 2014.

So that should catch you up and tie up 2013 in a nice, neat little bow.  Happy New Year everyone!  Thanks for coming here to read what I have to say and being so supportive to vote on my little knitting polls!  2013 was an okay year, but I'm looking forward to bigger and better things in 2014.  Stay safe out there tonight!

No More Mysteries Part 2

Yesterday I revealed Christmas mystery #1.  Now it's time to tell you about #2 and #3.

My husband surprised us all this year with an early Christmas list- once I had gotten over that shock, I moved on to the next one.  On his list were knit mittens.  Well, they were the Paul Smith mittens for Movember.

I looked at these for several minutes with my mouth agape.  The husband, while very supportive of my knitting habit, has firmly expressed his disinterest in receiving knitted items from me and others.  But here were mittens I could make.  WITH MY HANDS.  I actually called him once I received his list to shout in the phone "YOU DO KNOW I COULD MAKE YOU THESE!??"  He didn't really say much.  But I was armed with a plan.  I was going to knit these mittens.  These were the mittens that were going to change his feelings about knitted gifts.

Perhaps I should have just left well enough alone.  There were false starts.  There was half a mitten knit before I knew that the yarn was all wrong.  (Husband likes things in a very certain way and the way the stripes were occurring on this mitten, he would have not liked them.)  Armed with a new, better, and more even striping yarn, I began again.  I got reasonably far...

... but just couldn't convince myself that these were the mittens that were going to change his mind about me making him knitted items.  And so I abandoned all hope and stopped and let Christmas mystery #2 die.  I will show him the mittens and he can decided if I should proceed.  Let's just say, I'm not going to hold my breath.

Meanwhile... I began to feel really guilty that my sister and my dad were receiving knitted items from me for Christmas but not my mom.  (Dad got the socks I finished in January and featured in the Stampede.)  Mom had dropped a few, (maybe a little less than subtle) hints about wanting a pair of mittens after she saw what I had knit for my MiL.  Inspired by how well my sister's mittens were coming, Christmas mystery #3 was born.

Pattern: Elise Mitten by Johanne Landin
Yarn: Pink- Regia 4 fadig - 4ply (pilfered from MiL's stash!) Off White- Filatura Di Crosa Zarina
Needles: 3mm
Notes: My only complaint on this pattern is the chart.  It's amazing I'm not permanently cross eyed from this chart.  Its comes on one page and is minniscule and difficult to read.  Otherwise, the pattern itself is very straightforward to follow.

   

Mom, like my sister, was pleased as punch to open these on Christmas morning.  She knew about my sister's mittens, but nothing about mittens that were also in progress for her.  I know they match her off white coat- and I hope she likes the color of pink I chose.  (They HAD to be pink... that is HER color.)

   

And that solves all of our Christmas mysteries!  Thanks for your patience this December while I didn't have much to talk about or show you.  Like I promised- post-Christmas was going to be post heavy.  We still need to talk about the Christmas presents and tomorrow is our annual boxing day shopping extravaganza!  I still have more to tell you- but right now, I need to go to bed to be up and ready to throw elbows at the Pudding Yarns sale bin.  ;-)