Knitting the Blues

And For The Tenth Year In A Row.......

This post was penned, if you can call it such, as there was never a pen involved and yet it sounds so much better than typed or clicked or tapped out. Well. Tapped out isn't so bad. Anyway, this post was put on paper....um, no, but you get it, I came up with it last weekend. I thought I'd come back to edit it and maybe add a photo within a reasonable amount of time, but I literally forgot I wrote it until I read Carole's post and WHAM! I remembered...that I forgot about the post that I wrote about forgetting my blogiversary. And it was a big on. The big ONE-OH!

I get an 'A' in forgetting. It's really good to know your strengths.

I've missed my blogiversary.

Usually it is March or so when I figure it out, but this year I read this post by Stephanie and went to check to see when my 10 year mark would be (we started blogging in the same year), thinking that it was coming up! I'm not going to miss it this time! only to find out that Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! I'd already missed it. Why change a tradition, right?

This would be the space where I reflect on my blogging life and how it has added loving, lovable, loved, and valued friends to my life, introduced me to a community of people with similar passions to mine (after a lifetime of feeling somewhat alone in my house knitting like what others saw as a crazy lady), introduced me to new things like spinning and a much wider creative network. I'd talk about the friends I've made, the traveling I've done, the things I've learned not only about the craft, but about people in general-mostly good, but not always. I might mention how this internet thing has opened up the availability of great designers, yarn dyers, fibers, and ways to shop for everything. I'd have to follow that up with the amount of money I might have saved if it never had happened, but really. It's all enriching, right?

Then there is the idea that I have been able to help others through this venue. I've been a knitter for 43 years, a blogger for 10. It is only in the 10 that I have felt that the knowledge and advanced skill I have for the craft is real. Before that I was a knitter to my friends and family, but it was just knitting to most of them. This community has opened my horizons and I now teach and share with others what experience has taught me over the years. The self confidence gained and the solidifying of my detail driven perfectionist tendencies are a by-product of the connections made, virtual and real.

And here I could talk about how the internet has changed and grown in ten years and the time wasted spent poring over blogs, online shopping sites, ravelry (ravelry! probably the greatest resource that internet has given knitters) and NOT actually knitting. That's right. Or sewing, quilting, needlepointing, spinning....... too long a list, really. So while the blogging/internet thing has certainly contributed to my fiber life, it has stolen a lot of productivity time as well. I'm still working on how to find a balance, but let's be honest. I get an 'A' in distractibility.

I believe that it is good for my brain to spin the negatives in a positive way.

Anyway, those posts have been written by me and others many times and you've likely read them and I'm not sure I have anything unique to add to them, so next time you read a post like that know that yep, that's what I mean. I thank all of you for sharing your lives with me and caring enough to hang around for the sometimes informative, sometimes fun, sometimes crazy that happens around here, even if it has gotten sparse (I love that word).

So at ten years my brain feels a little mushy, but I blame it totally on the 'knit-for-hire' that I'm working on. Women's sweater, fingering weight, garter stitch, size three needles. (I just repeated that last sentence in my head, but screaming at the top of my mind's ear's lungs.) Twelve rows to the inch. (Again with the screaming.) Today I get an 'A' for just plugging away, thank the heavens for other technology such as  audiobooks (The Goldfinch, 32 hours of it should get me through a few inches or so), all the different ways you can stream and watch movies and 50 bajillion seasons of almost any old television show, and music-millions of songs at the click of a button.

And it's grey. So much grey.

Five. I'm also giving myself an 'A' in stick to-itiveness. Usually I'll have another, more pleasing to me, project in the works, and Lord knows I have so many little baby things that I'd rather be knitting, but this time it is all garter stitch all the time. I am determined to finish this thing and get it out of my house asap. Report card for today: Straight As!!!

Eye Candy FridayThe NaKniSweMo and NaBloPoMo Wrap Up

Whew! Here we are at November 30th. I may or may not make it through to NaBloPoMo. I have three days to put content into and if I do that by the end of the night, great. If not, well, that is great, too. To tell the truth, considering that I am operating under less than optimal conditions for blogging and posting and reading blogs or any of that, I am thrilled that I got this far and am only three days down. Technically I could just.......wait. I think I have an idea forming in this tiny little skull of mine. We'll see if it works out.

On to.......

Did she or didn't she knit 50,000 stitches in the month of November? Well my friends, there were many stitches knitted, many stitches unknitted and frogged and ripped out. Unfortunately the number of stitches pulled out do not count to the final total. Interestingly, I have never kept track of how many stitches that were in any knitted object and frankly the numbers stunned me. I did complete two sweaters, the second one is blocking right now.

The first sweater totalled 52,349 sts. Give or take. By totalled I mean there are that many stitches in the finished item, but in the entire process of knitting that sweater there were 59,203. Yep, more than 6,000 stitches were unknitted and reknitted in the process. Here is the real shocker:  I usually rip and reknit a much greater percentage of a garment when I am knitting it. Just my M.O. I try to explain this to my students everytime I encourage them to rip something out to fix an error or just to make something better and they believe that a sign of a good knitter is not having to rip out. OH! how they complain they are just NEVER going to be a good knitter! I rip out way more than I even encourage them to and now I have the numbers to prove it! The second sweater was a whopping 26,806 stitches. Not as many, but the yarn gave it challenges of its own.

So, I am giving thanks at the end of the month of Thankgiving that my hands held out, my sanity remained just as shaky as ever and I have two new sweaters to wear.  Actually, three. I am still needing to put buttons on this one, but I have worn it already, I love the way it drapes when it is open. My fingers are twitching to cast on right.now! Oh, what will be the next knit?

So, if you made it through the merry-go-round of links and make-up posts you may have noticed that I need just.one.more.post.

2012. I made it! Did you? It does seem a little crazy to hang on to this blog for a one month tradition......

And Here We Are.....

At the point of every project whenI knit like a mad woman to get it finished start obsessing and planning for the next project and spend way too much on ravelry and combing through my stash and living in indecision and never ending options. In short, I am neither knitting or deciding.

While I should be knitting this last bit of sleeve.......

I'm obsessing over how to turn my worsted/aran weight yarn into this bulky weight sweater.

Oh, and there is more to obsess on with this one. First, swatching in the round. UGH! Second, to pullover or to cardiganize.

Maybe I'll go knit a few rounds, check raverly, no. Knit a few rounds.

2012. Thirty-five. Does anyone hate knitting sleeves in the round from the top down as much as I do. No wonder I prefer planning my next project.

It Isn't Chronological, But It Is MyFINAL NABLOPOMO POST!!

This is an oldie, but a goodie. I don't have a lot to write about it actually. Mostly because it is a knit that I finished over two years ago, but haven't marked it finished on raverly yet, so I don't remember much more than I had a button that I wanted and drove far and searched wide before I found it, but find it I did.

• Pattern: Ondule by Knitspot, Anne Hanson
• Yarn: The Woolen Rabbit Oasis in Forever In Blue Jeans
• Needles:  US size 2.5
• Cast On:  March 4, 2010
• Bound Off:  March 24, 2012
• All Seamed and Blocked: April 1, 2010
• Finally Found Buttons:  July 19, 2010

 

There are plenty of notes on my ravelry project page, but it might not say that this is one of my favorite sweaters EVER! The yarn is fabulous, the color my absolute favorite, the design is great, it fits well......

I love it!!!

I'm contemplating how much I love it. And how much better my hair will look in 2012. And those jeans! UGH!

This reminds me about the button ordeal. I posted about it here and then when I found them a few months later, here. That was back when Erin and I watched Project Runway together and shopping at Mood is a huge part of that show. She was on a tour of Europe at the time, but when I got there I texted her that I was AT MOOD! you know, thinking she would be a little bit excited about it. She's so cute. She texted me right back: Great! I'm in SWITZERLAND!!!

Brat. She wasn't my favorite that day, Gillian took over for the week. It's a transitory honor in my heart.

2012. My final, out of order post for NaBloPoMo. I DID IT FOR REAL!

Eye Candy FridayWait.....WHAT?!

Did you just come here from next week's Eye Candy Friday post?  Or yesterday's (ahem) Thanksgiving, not really post? It's like Back To The Future or something. How on EARTH did that happen? If you didn't, well. You started in the wrong place! Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.

So. After knitting my required 50,000+ stitches by the 20th I might have given up on NaKniSweMo, but that is just not Terry C. Nope. I really did end up knitting both sweaters that I spoke of in this post. Crazy, right? Yes, I am! I guess I cannot truly cop to maturing or learning anything.*

Although it is still blocking, all of the knitting and end weaving in is complete. Because knitting the Peace Fleece wasn't the easiest thing for my hands I did alternate for a bit between this sweater and Rene. That worked out mostly well, I liked that my hands totally felt the difference between the two yarns. Knitting TWR Grace felt heavenly as a balance.

While I will reserve my usual finished object post until this is off the blocking board I will say that I CANNOT WAIT! to knit this sweater again. Not in Peace Fleece, of course, but I love this pattern. It is Romy by ANKESTRICK (emphasis hers, not mine) and is knitted in a contiguous manner meaning that the entire sweater is knitted from the top down with no seaming anywhere.

And did you notice? Don't those look like set-in sleeves? Not the usual raglan at all. It is genius! The pattern starts with some short rows to shape the neck and then there are increases to shape the shoulder, then increases to shape the sleeve cap and body. It is pretty much fully customizable to any size. The pattern isn't written as most American patterns are traditionally formatted, but as long as you pay attention and LOOK AHEAD! (I can't emphasize that enough) it isn't difficult to follow. I made a change or two and all of my notes are on my ravelry project page. There a couple of bonus in-progress photos there as well. Woo-hoo!

Again, wish the color was closer here.

I've even got buttons already! Well, they may be temporary, but I kind of like them and if I get them on there it is pretty likely that they will stay. Probably. Actually, the odds are very much in favor of it, but you never know.

Not exciting, but I like them.

That sweater is going to take a week to dry. At least. Maybe if I go blow on it the drying will speed along....

2012. *I have learned a thing or two along the way. Like, you'll never hear me say, "I'll just hold it until I get home....."

 

Thanksgiving.Ummmm, maybe not...

Hey! Thanks for popping over! I'm assuming you got here from this post, but maybe this one came up in your feed first. No matter. This is the news here:

This is the first sweater I knitted in November.The photos are crap and I have yet to find a button I like for it. Well. I did, but there weren't enough at the shop. I think I have lived this story before, so instead of buying some and trying to match them and driving myself insane until I go to NYC and find them there, I am just still on a local search. I swear. Going forward I think I need to find the buttons first and either match the yarn or change my mind and make a pullover if I can't find any that go well. So, this is what you get:

• Pattern:  Rene (ravelry link) Knitspot
• Yarn:  The Woolen Rabbit Grace in Man Cave Blue
• Needles: sizes 4 and 6
• Cast On: November 1, 2012
• Bound Off:  November 20, 2012

I wish I had a photo that captured the great color. I have knitted a lot of garments in superwash wool lately and the difference between that and this........... HUGE!

It is well known around these parts that I am NOT A FAN of superwash yarns. I hate them. They go into the water and you pull out a lump of overcooked, limp noodles. I had grown so used to it that when I soaked the pieces of this sweater to block and they felt like nice, sturdy, squooshy, solid wool that was holding its shape even while blooming out I was surprised. OH! I remember that feel. That is the reason I love blocking and finishing. Well one of them anyway.

This yarn was easy to knit, slid through my fingers and created perfect definition in the fabric. As usual Anne did a great job with the pattern. I have knitted something like four or five of her creations and have never been disappointed. My only changes are usually due to my row gauge being different and I am in the habit of rewriting shoulder cap instructions to suit my specs. This is entirely suitable to an adventurous beginner who can follow what turns out to be an easily memorizable stitch pattern.

This photo comes only a teensy bit closer to the true color, but does show the crispness of the fabric. For me this was the perfect balance of pattern simplicity and complexity. There are times when I am happy to be married to a chart and working complex stitch patterns, and other when stockinette stitch is just what the doctor ordered. This stitch pattern fell right in between, as I said, easy to remember and enough action to keep my attention.

UGH! I wish I had better photos. I'll get modeled shots when I finally find buttons, someone requested a pool shot after all. So, this sweater got me comfortably into the required stitch count for NaKniSweMo. 52,349 stitches reside in the finished sweater. 6,854 sts were ripped and reknitted. For a peak into my usual process in a sweater, and maybe a chuckle, click over to my ravelry project page for the break down.

2012. That's not all! I didn't give up on the 20th! I knitted and entire 'nother sweater before the month ended! Check it out.

Weekending

Never knowing when the dreaded # sign is going to take over the machine I'm going to make it quick!

My weekend included lots of yarn, different yarns, different projects.

I just love when, like puzzle pieces, the individual parts start coming together and the picture begins to emerge.

Weekending along with Amanda of The Habit of Being.

2012.Twenty-nine. And yes, I am perfectly fine with macro-photos of my seaming! Can I finish a second sweater for NaKniSweMo? I don't think this has been entertaining enough. Where has the crazy been?

NaKniSweMo Update

Wool. It does a body good.

I'm not sure I'll be able to complete NaBloPoMo. My laptop continues to decline and the funds are not available at the moment to replace it. I know there are less expensive ways to get back up and running, but I really want to stick with a Mac. My photo editor is not working anymore, I tried to adjust the color of the photo above online, but that was frustrating and I'm only kinda not close at all. Or maybe I'm closer than I think, hard to tell. I'll keep posting for as long as I can, though! And then I'll put up a few from my phone, because that is fun! fun! fun!

I might actually finish that sweater for a successful NaKniSweMo. It might not reach the 50,000 stitch minimum, but to be honest I don't really give a sh....., ooops, care. Heh. I just wanted a new sweater. I have that other sweater that still needs buttons, I hope to have that ready to wear this weekend as well. There may be another one on the way, too!

2012. Twenty-five. Well, there it is. Knitting in progress. Beautiful, crisp stitches crafted in wool. I could look at that all day long.

WordlessY WednesdayThe One Where I Show Glimpses of Learning From My Past

This post has been in progress since the first of the month and I always find a reason not to post it. Today, I don't have anything for Wordless Wednesday so bring on Wordy Wednesday. I just might have a Wordless Wednesday post later on today. Or maybe I'll save it for next week. Or Eye Candy Friday. Or for No Reason Thursday.....

I don't always consider myself a fully realized, mature adult. I mean, in some ways I am so there, life has done whatever it does to grow me up in some ways, like it or not. On the other hand, the universe often sends me messages to which something in my personality responds while stomping my feet, "You can't tell me what to do! You're NOT the BOSS of me!" like a stubborn toddler.

Stop laughing.

There is the time I climbed Mt. Washington. The time I hemorrhaged for days because I was too busy to slow down. Almost dying has a way of slowing you down. There was that time that I saw the cutest little sweatshirt at a craft fair, it had a heart shaped doily on it with ribbon roses and ribbon bows and I wanted it so bad for my girls, but the price? Out of my range. This was pre-internet and something I thought I would be able to buy at a local craft store was not to be found. Anywhere. I get a little tenacious in the face of these setbacks and I managed, by searching the ads in the back of magazines and making a lot of phone calls over days, to find them and make my vision a reality. I will drive anywhere, spend what I need to (okay, within some reason), pressure family, endure pain, start, stop, restart..... I don't stop. My husband no longer questions trips far and wide or my tunnel vision when it comes to something I've decided I am doing or need to have.

So what does this have to do with any sign of maturing? I suppose on the one hand there is a comment Laurie left for me on facebook recently, "Experience is defined as recognizing the same mistake when you make it again." In many cases I am even a little closer in that I often recognize those same mistakes as I am plowing my way right into them. Oh wait, what is that thing they say about trying the same thing over and over expecting different results? Hmm...

That brings me to NaKniSweMo. I really want this sweater. I mean, WAAAANNNNNTTTT! that sweater! I envision it as being the perfect 'grab on the way out the door' sweater that I'll throw on over everything. I've already written its story in my head. I'm not even kidding, in my daydreams this sweater was knitted with this yarn (a little heavy, but exactly what I was going for), washed and blocked into a slightly fulled and soft fabric, adorned with the perfect button, worn on every errand, apple picking, visiting the vendors at the sheep and wool festivals, snow-shoeing, apres-ski, spinning around on a snow dotted mountain peak, it's spring in Austria and the grass is coming up and the birds, the sweater and I are breaking out in song......... always maintaining a casual, cozy chic that only the best sweaters can manage, all the while being my constant cold weather companion and over the years becoming slightly pilled and worn, earning elbow patches and when it finally gives up the ghost would be much mourned. Except that it would never die because I envisioned this sweater in Peace Fleece from my stash, which would never wear out. In my dream, sentimentality would have my daughters fighting over it after I am gone (and of course only one of them has short enough arms and would totally win it).

So I swatched the Peace Fleece.

This is where my vision started losing its dreamy glow. Knitting this yarn is not easy for my hands. There wasn't a smooth motion of needle sliding in and stitch sliding off, it was a struggle.  I inserted mental earplugs to the niggling little voice telling me that this might not be a good idea, ignored the pain brought on by the hard work and kept knitting away. The pre-washed swatch was stiff, but I have experience with Peace Fleece and know what a good bath does to the fabric. And it did. OH! My dream was starting to brighten again!

Meanwhile, I decided to swatch for another sweater with another yarn. I have really wanted this sweater and while my daydreams for it aren't as full blown and technicolor-ed in my mind, it is one that will fit nicely into my life. With the first row everything was easier. The action of knitting was smooth and comfortable. I was far off of the gauge, but it blocked out to nearly the gauge and a beautiful fabric.

The Woolen Rabbit Grace
Rene by Knitspot

You know what happens next, right?

Color not even close
Memories of Indigo Ripple Skirt
Yikes!

I spent nearly two hours to get that much knitting done, playing my vision and dream over and over as all of my joints from the shoulders down started to hurt and the going was s-l-o-w. I kept seeing myself in this sweater, knowing it would be worth all of the knitting time, planning that I would knit both sweaters at the same time so I could give myself a break from the hard knitting and since it was a lot of stockinette stitch, it would get easier, right? The love I would have for it would outweigh any issues in the creation, right? The ribbing, it was hard. I started to feel tingling in my fingers and was stopping to massage my forearms often. And with every difficult stitch I started to think wisely. I started to mentally shop my stash for another yarn that might be appropriate. I started to mentally shop yarn stores for even more yarns. Throughout it all the brightness of the recurring dream was dimming and with regret I set the knitting aside. I haven't removed the needles and pulled it out yet. That will be the final sign of maturity and I haven't quite gotten there. Yet. In my mind I am still the opposite of gotten there.

2012. Oh, COME ON! You totally write musical romantic comedies for your knitted items! I'm not the only one, that is for sure!

Weekending

Most people who have attempted to keep up a blog would have to cop to the fact that coming up with something to write, especially something to put on the blog every day, can sometimes be the toughest thing. Repeated weekly themes help give structure and focus to the thinking process and in the past I have participated in a few. Weekending, which Amanda of Habit of Being started, is the perfect way to start off the week and to keep you looking for blog-able moments during the weekend. Well, I wasn't that good at that, but I can share a little about my weekend with some photos.

It was button obsession weekend. There were trips for buttons, one of them longer than most would go just to look at buttons, but it was to the Fiber Festival of New England, so I got to look at other things, too. I may have left with other things as well, or may not have.....(Okay, I did, but there is a crop of new babies that need sweaters!)

I blocked a sweater this weekend, and as the actual knitting was coming to an end I started the search for buttons. Many buttons have been chosen as 'the button' and rejected and as it stands right now the sweater might never be worn because I cannot settle on a button. Oh well. It was a fun knit.

I spent entirely too much time placing, removing and replacing the current finalists.

  Wooden, Blue buttons

 
Pretty gradient blue buttons

Ball and Skein Beach Stone Buttons

A couple of random silver buttons

I've decided which button I am going to use...........

About twenty times. Every time I am firm in my decision, I take another look and change my mind.

So, to distract myself from that I have been obsessing over my knitting. My current knitting (NaKniSweMo dontcha know), my future knitting, knitting I wish I could make work.... I am overwhelming myself with all of the knitting! I had better live a loooonnnnggg time.

A few other weekend details:

• Birthday dinner for the daughter's boyfriend was fun
• Experimenting with Apple Martini recipes.
• Very successful.
• The drive out to The Big E to look at pretty things and see some lovely fiber people
• Looking at you Judy!
• and you Heather!
• Listening to this and, while enjoying would be the wrong word for a book like this, I am finding it an interesting and compelling read.
• And Carole, between you and me, there may have been some lolling around.

2012. Fourteen. I would have done one of those survey thingies for the buttons, but since I have about sixteen readers at this point (neglect the blog and you know what happens....) it hardly seems worth it. Feel free to leave every opinion you have. About the buttons, that is. ONLY THE BUTTONS! During this particular week it is important to be clear on that. Know that I am sure to go with popular opinion do whatever I want anyway. If I can decide what it actually is that I want.

It's November!And you know what that means......

It's NaKniSweMo and NoBloPoMo season!

Swatching, casting on, posting to blog. Done.

 

 

2012. Ten. Cue hysterical laughter.

WeekendingDay Twenty-eight

Thanksgiving weekend.

• Turkey day.
• The girls are all home.
• Prep and a run.
• Lots of family coming and going all day long. It feels chaotic, but somehow controlled.
• I didn't overeat at the meal, but my gluten-free, vegan pumpkin pie went down well and often.
• So did some other pies.
• I look forward to sitting and knitting at the end of the day and when I finally get to sit I am too tired to lift my knitting.
• No Black Friday shopping.
• They could be giving it away.......
• Friday afternoon is spent at Cyndi's with extended family and if I thought my house was chaotic, this puts it all in perspective.
• It's an awesome chaos.
• Started the holiday movie/show watching with Elf and Love Actually.
• I love both of those films.
• Saturday is spent knitting and going for a run.
• Saturday night is Sushi Night at Cyndi's again. So.Much.Fun.
• Sunday is knitting and football and I get my crafty side on and create my Advent Wreath.
• Wishing I had remembered to take one photo of anything I did.

Knitting progress. I didn't knit as much as I might have liked over the weekend. It looks like NaKniSweMo won't be happening for me. There has been progress since this photo was taken and in my mind I can totally finish this in time! A sleeve and a half plus the shawl collar and wide button band? No problem! If I don't sleep and quit my jobs.

Along with my Christmas music coming out for the season, my collection of mugs followed along. The first one I pulled out was my favorite, the other side depicts Santa's sleigh flying across the sky. Doesn't Santa look adorable?

There is also amaryllis progress. THAT is not the amaryllis that I have been showing so far this fall. I purchased that one yesterday when I got the greens for my Advent Wreath (no I didn't hike through the woods for them, and for what I needed it is crazy that I purchased them at my local garden center, but that's just how this year rolled.

The amaryllis that I have been showing is on time-out in the garage. I thought we had fruit flies and I couldn't figure out where they were coming from and then Pete noticed them on the amaryllis soil. Turns out they were fungus gnats (EEWWWWW!) and until I have time to get some insecticide and clean off the top layer of soil and cover with rocks that amaryllis lives in the garage to keep the gnats from spreading to my two other amaryllises. Thank goodness it is warmish.

Here is a better photo of my Advent Wreath. The wreath form, the greens, some floral wire and a hot glue gun was all it took. My girls even commented on how talented I am. They really did! Something along the lines of wondering if there is anything I can't do when it comes to being crafty. Awww. Again, I was totally surprised at the outcome. It isn't perfect, but it is perfectly me.

Because the cables are just so pretty. I have mixed feelings about moving onto the sleeves. On the one hand I am closer to the end, on the other I am finished knitting those cables and they were fun. This is really one of those projects that I will be happy and sad that I am finishing. The yarn and design are perfect together and I am enjoying every second of the knitting.

Now for the Christmas song of the day. This one is only here as a nod to my childhood. Pure nostalgia. Funny, it is the same song, but on my cd there is a clip-clopping (like an actual horse) with the percussion and as kids we would do that click-clock thing with our tongues. With exaggerated mouth movements. I don't hear it as well in this audio.

2011. Forty-nine. $3.00. So, you should really listen to this one as well. Still the Tijuana Brass playing Tijuana Christmas. I love it, so dated, so kitchy, so fun! I mean, my head just bobs and nods through the whole thing. I LOVE IT!!!!! Total nostalgia for me.

NaKniSweMoDay Ten

It seems like a good time to check in on my NaKniSweMo progress:

Uh-Oh!

2011. Thirty-one. $5.00. So, while I am dragging on the daily posting it appears I am at a dead stop on the sweater knitting. Bummer.

Yarn Along

It started with Weekending on Monday.  Ooops, found a new blog to read.  Love her photography.  Now there is the Wednesday Yarn Along on Small Things, a blog authored by Ginny.  No, Ginny isn't a friend or acquaintance of mine, but I just found her blog and love the Yarn Along idea.....

Swamplandia! is my current read/listen.  I'm attempting to read/listen through the nominations for the Orange Prize for Fiction.  Very few of them are available in audio format, so I may be actually reading some of them.  I wish I could recommend the current selection and probably would if I was reading it, not listening to it.  I admit to having high expectations when I listen to a book.  The audio version of Swamplandia! is poorly narrated by one of the readers.  It is unfortunate because while I am drawn in to the story, the young girl reading is distractingly bad.  When I find myself repeating sentences and phrases in my head using more appropriate inflections or to pronounce words correctly I get irritated at the interrupted flow of the story.  Why on earth would they hire a young teen to read a book?  There are many talented adult narrators that sound young and have worked for young characters before.  I will probably read this book on paper so I can get a better feel for the story which I am actually enjoying despite the issues of the audio version.

(See my nifty Woolen Rabbit Wee Bunny knitting bag?  Rumor has it that she is planning a website update of more bags soon.  Yay!)

2011. Nine.  $27.00.  What are your current "yarns"?  I can see my bloglines list growing from just the list of Yarn Alongers.  I was going to blog about bloglines today, but I'll save that for another post.   

 

Weekending!?

Have you heard of this great idea?  A quick Monday morning recap of the weekend in list or photo form or whatever you want.  Poetry?  Haiku?  Headline format?  It's great to have a jumping off focus when blogging regularly.  A few years ago I committed to blogging every day for a year and during that time I used specific themes for different days so that each week I wouldn't have to come up with an entire idea for a blog post, just something to fit the focus for that day.  Blue Monday used to be the jumping off point for the beginning of the week and this post fits that as well.  Having committed to blogging at least 135 days this year, having some theme days will certainly keep me going.

So this is an idea swiped from Margene who got the idea from Carole who points back to the originator, the author of The Habit of Being.

• Currently free of any contractual or commitment knitting, my fiber pursuits were relaxed and somewhat self-indulgent.
• Friday saw the drop spindles come out from hiding and instead of packing my wheel up to go to spinning group, I lugged (ha!  because there is so much lugging with drop spindles!) them with me and actually used them!
• I had brought knitting as well and really thought that I would do that, but suddenly became inspired to spin some fiber that has long been in the works.
• I'm very close to the end, then more plying and then KNITTING!
• I hope I'm creating some sustained momentum.
• Saturday saw me at my favorite quilt shop and lunching with Kim. 
• Margene said it, weekends spent with grrrlfriends......
• Then there was swatching and thinking about swatching.
• This is a post in itself, but I've decided that the swatch gets a bad rap in general, being accused of lying and all that.
• I am of the opinion that the swatches are tellers of truth and that the knitters are lying to the swatches, but more about that on another day.
• On to the swatches!

• Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Baltic.  Wish I could capture the color better, it is gorgeous.
• Candelia (ravelry link) is the pattern I am swatching that yarn for, a great little sweater for spring and cool summer nights. 
• Yes, I am looking forward to those.

• The Fibre Company's Road To China Light, a blend of alpaca, camel, cashmere and silk.
• In Sapphire.
• This is a yarn to live for to knit.
• I know, forget I typed that last sentence.
• Touching that yarn removes all conscious thought from my head and sends me into a wordless tactile bliss.
• I'm looking forward to knitting that yarn into another of Winged Knits patterns, Lavaliere.
• Cecily Glowick MacDonald of Winged Knits is having a pattern sale.
• Oh, I may have stopped by that sale this weekend as well.

 

• There wasn't only planning, I actually cast on for Candelia!
• Twice, because I swatched, was happy with the second needle size, cast on, and didn't get the same gauge as my swatch.
• It was not the swatch it was me.
• I have a tendency to knit tighter after casting on.
• I lie to my swatches.
• I also spent a lot of time this weekend photographing and then trying to get the colors of these yarns closer to what they are in real life.
• I have failed miserably so you will just have to trust me when I say they are stunning.

2011.  Eight.  $33.75.  Well, would you looky there.  A post about knitting on a knitting blog.  THIS knitting blog.  What did you do this weekend?

Blue MondayThe Button, Button, I'VE GOT THE BUTTONS! Edition

If you read this post, then this picture speaks a thousand words.  Or whoopies!!!

Thanks, Sally for hosting Blue Monday!

2010.  Sixty-three.  Okay, a few more words.  It was the first store I checked, which was good because I didn't want to buy any fabric and if I had to shop around I am sure I wouldn't have been able to resist.  And Mood is awesome!  I texted Erin (a Project Runway fan who is traveling in Europe at the moment):  I am at Mood!  Her text response to me was:  I'm in Switzerland!

Brat.

Wanna see them again?

Blue MondayThe Button, Button, Who's Got a Button?(Hopefully Hanging Out in Their Button Box Waiting To Be On My Sweater....)

Long time no Blue Monday!  Don't take offense Blue Monday people, I haven't been blogging at all.  Just the way I ride sometimes.

This week Blue Monday is coinciding with my frustration in finding buttons for a sweater that has been knitted and blocked and sewn together and sitting in a heap in a knitting bag since the beginning of April and now needs re-blocking because I just cannot find buttons for it.  While I know I am picky, this truly has been a challenge.  Even when other people are shopping with me they can't find something to settle on.  That is when I know it isn't me.

One of the biggest problems is that I found a button for it.  Two buttons, actually.  I found them in my button collection and while I must have purchased them at some time in the past for something, I can't remember what that was.  A sewing project, perhaps?  Probably, I think I would remember if it was for a knitting project, but there are no guarantees of that.  If I could remember I would have ripped the buttons off of that item for sure!  Now that I have those two buttons in hand, no other button is really matching the perfection that they are.  At least for this sweater.

This is where my plea comes in.  I'm inviting you to join me in my Quest For The Button!  Search your buttons stashes, if you have friends that sew or craft in any way and have buttons stashed away, send them to look over here and check their buttons.  I'm willing to trade, barter, pay for and of course pay for shipping to have them sent to me.  The more the merrier!  I have a blouse cut out and those buttons would be perfect for that as well!  Wouldn't it be awesome if I got enough!?

The buttons are blue (duh), vary in the marbled effect and measure about 5/8". 

Thanks in advance for looking!

2010.  Fifty-nine.  Thanks to Sally for hosting Blue Monday! 

Blue MondayThe Blue Button Edition

The BLUE BUTTON EDITION?!  You heard it right peeps, blue buttons.  I know, you are thinking, "cop outter!"  But really, this is how it went down, straight from the WIPs Dancing Venue.  I had finally decided that to make me happy (and drive me crazy) I would have to do the nine button option, even if it did look like a lot of buttons, but my perfectionist self had to go with it.  So there I was, Thursday night before the end of the Olympics, hand-sewing the ribbon backing on the buttonhole band for the third time (first time, too short.  Second time, too long, oops, I meant too short again, third time.....), watching the Ladies' Figure Skating Long Program and Skyping with Gillian.  As I sat there, needle and thread in hand a thought came across me that hadn't occurred to me before.  Why not ask GILLIAN what she thought of the button situation.  So I did.  I mean, the sweater was for HER after all, and she didn't even know it so I knew she would just give an unbiased opinion.  And she did.  And then I said, "So, if the sweater was for you and you were going to wear it, you like the five blue button version best?"  And she said, "Yes."  While she liked the Celtic knot buttons, she didn't like them for that sweater and she liked the blue ones better.

WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!  No ribbon sewing, no buttonholes, no more thought on the subject.  The blue buttons were on toot.sweet.  Gold medal, won!

• Pattern: Retro-Prep Cardigan by Maggie Shepherd, IK Fall, 2002
• Yarn: Peace Fleece DK Sport in Kamchatka Seamoss
• Needles: size 5
• Cast On: April, 2004
• Bound Off: and completed: February 26, 2010.

So this is an Olympic finish and a huge SMACK!down to the WIPs in my stash.  w00t!  That makes three complete finishes for the Olympics and the SMACK!down.  I'll show the bag as soon as I get photos with the handles, which are attached and the bag is totally, completely finished.  Yay!

Thanks to Sally for hosting Blue Monday!  The best blogging idea ever!

2010.  Thirty-eight.  Confession:  My current project is neither a stash or WIP SMACK!down, seeing as I purchased the yarn and pattern within the last ten days.  It will be fine if I can just make sure the yarn doesn't see the stash and the sweater doesn't become a UFO.  Fingers crossed!

Medal Ceremony........Delayed

Posting has taken a back seat to Olympic finishing and frogging, but I got a lot done (sweater, tea cozy, felted bag, frogged sweater) and can claim medals.  Tonight I am just too tired to post it all so you'll have to trust me and wait until Monday for the details.  I didn't accomplish what some did, but I am psyched about what I did get finished and can't wait to share. 

Here's a sneak peak, no judging.  I had been wearing the sweater all day before this photo was taken by a less than happily cooperative photographer after I drove home from Maine.

This is what Erin looks like when I make her leave the comfort of a heated home to go out into the cold to take a photograph:

2010.  Thirty-four.  Actually, that is what Erin looks like much of the time. ;)

Back To The WIPs Dancing Venue......

Bob Costas:  The hold up in Olympic knitting continues in the WIPs Dancing competition.  Teresa C. of Knitting the Blues is suffering a type of mental paralysis over the Retro-Prep Cardigan.  While it seemed she was just on the cusp of a completion, her momentary inablity to count has held her up.  Caught in a lucid moment, she explains the decisions she has made and the ones still eluding her.

Teresa C:  Well.  As reported earlier, I was on such a roll with this sweater.  For me, the great thing about having a challenge like this is that it encourages me to take these projects that I have sitting around in various stages of completion and overcome whatever mind blocks that I had set up.  I make decisions more quickly and stick with them.  It is a pattern that is on the one hand exhilarating and on the other exhausting. 

Then there are those times when I am seemingly on a roll and I get a SMACK!down from the universe.  Celebrating too early came back to bite me in the, ummm.  Well, you know.  While working on the next project I did make one decision.  I will not be removing and re-knitting that button band.   Which leaves me with other decisions to make.

Five navy buttons? (click for a closer button view)

Five light blue/green buttons?
 

Five Celtic Knot buttons?

There are two other ideas that have been floating around in my head.  First, I could use my sewing machine to add four more buttonholes and make it a nine Celtic Knot or a nine light blue/green button sweater.  It might not look altogether normal when the sweater is unbuttoned, but I could work a buttonhole around the existing buttonholes.  Or second, I could sew seven buttons to the buttonhole side of the sweater and snaps or hooks and eyes on the inside.  I kind of love and hate that idea.  Maybe more hate.  Maybe.

I don't really know who will be wearing this sweater, it certainly won't be me as the sleeves are too long and may not be the person I knit it for because her skin is so ultra-sensitive, I'm not sure I'm all that emotionally invested in getting perfect.  Not as much as I am getting it finished.  I KNOW IT!!!!!  Who invaded this body and what have they done with ME?

Bob Costas:  Well, that's the latest from the Republic of Knitting the Blues.  We'll be checking back in with her to see her overcome this obstacle.  We'd love to hear your views on it.  Go to Knitting the Blues and leave your thoughts in the comment section.  We now return you to the curling competion where the Americans are making things rough for the team from Denmark.  Hope this takes a while, I need to work on keeping this fire behind me burning.

2010.  Thirty-one. I'd love it if these photos were a correct representation of the color of this sweater.  You get the idea, though.  I totally want to try curling.  Pitching that stone is like dance, dontcha think?

I Guess This Will Count As A BronzeUUGGGHHHH!

Matt Lauer:  And good morning, we're at the venue for the WIPs Dancing Competition where the competition has been fierce.

Meredith Vierra:  Yes Matt, it is a marathon type event, some competitors have a longer way to go than others, but each has their own mental block to overcome in completing their individual performance.

Al Roker:  Hope they have plenty of brownies for energy. (chuckle)

Matt:  Oh, Al. Heh, heh. 

Meredith:  Matt, we should explain what some of these athletes are up against.  Take, for instance, Teresa C. from the Republic of Knitting the Blues.  She entered this event with confidence, but with a project that she just had let sit to the point of creating a major mind block. 

Matt:  Yes, Meredith, this sweater was started in 2004 and the majority of it had been completed for years.  All it needed was to have the neckband knitted in, a steek marked and cut, the button bands added, the steek facings tacked down, a blocking and buttons sewn on.  Let's take a quick look.

Al:  And here's what's happening in your neck of the woods! (big grin)

Matt:  Not now, Al!

Meredith: Teresa had a lot of momentum, showing great skill and perseverance.  Knitting, steeking, and putting in bands like a mad woman.

Al:  And you think that's tough, she did it without the aid of liquid encouragement.

Matt:  (elbowing Al in the ribs) That's right Meredith.  There is just no accounting for what happened next.  She clearly had the number seven in her head.  Even as she knit those buttonholes in, the number seven was in her head.  As she pinned it out to block and went to purchase buttons, she knew it was seven.  Seven, seven. 

Meredith:  Yes Matt, this is what separates the real athletes from the also-rans.  Right up to the point of pulling out the pins and removing the sweater from the blocking board she was celebrating her victory.  But much like the snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis, the celebration was premature. 

Al:  Should have had that shot of vodka, T!

Matt:  It looked great until she realized that she had only put in five buttonholes. 

Meredith:  And the steeks are all sewn in.

Al:  And the ends are all woven in.  You could say there is not one piece of tail to be found.  Heh.

Matt and Meredith:  AL!!

Meredith:  Well, Teresa has a history of overthinking these things, but there isn't much time.  If she wants to be on that podium she will either have to

Al:  Sh*t or get off the pot! HAHAHAHA!

Matt: (hissing) Get him out of here.

Meredith (laughing her *ss off).  I'm sorry, I know.  Okay (composing herself), it remains to be seen.  Will those buttons go on?  Will she un-sew the steeks, pull out the band and re-do it all? 

Matt:  Or will Teresa's Olympic dreams be put on hold yet again.  At 47, this could be her last Olympic games. 

Al:  Should be yours, Matt!  Maybe Teresa will knit a hat to cover that hairless dome you call a head for the next Olympics.  AHAHAHAHAHA!

Meredith:  I think she will make the right choice and will have a medal around her neck.  She is the hope of fans of Knitting the Blues, I don't think she'll let them down.

Matt:  Good luck, Teresa.  After the break, the controversy behind the stitches.  Did Knitter X cast on before the opening ceremonies, giving her unfair advantage?  You'll be surprised where our hidden cameras were.....

Al:  Whoa!  Any tail in that video?  HEH HEH!

2010.  Thirty.  Teresa declined interviews for this segment, but if you listen closely you can hear the hysterical laughter in the backround.

Just When It Looked Like This Was Turning Into A Quilting and Sewing Blog....

I have real knitting to show you!  Whoo-Hoo!

 

• Pattern:  Sirdar Design F Baby/Child Cabled Coat (ravelry link), or as I like to call it A Cardigan for Ben
• Yarn:  J Knits Superwash Me DK in Boston
• Needles:  size 5
• Cast On:  December 19, 2008
• Bound Off:  Hmmm....It was in February.  I think.  The date on the photo is March 13, so I know it was before that.

The problems with not blogging these things right when you finish them are:  First, you lose your enthusiasm for the story and second, you forget most of it.  This yarn, always destined for Ben had started as another sweater.  As I was knitting that pattern it just didn't say Ben to me.  The more I knit the more I knew it wasn't going to work and there were changes I wanted to make in that pattern anyway so after I got a significant amount of it done I frogged the entire thing and looked long and hard for something with cables and when I found this it was almost perfect, but it had a hood that I eliminated in favor of a collar.  No regrets.  Well, except that the yardage amounts were different and of course I did not have enough yarn.  Knowing it might be close I knitted the fronts and sleeves first just in case I had to use something different on the back.  I called the yarn store where I bought the yarn and they had some, but they thought it probably wasn't the same dye lot (this hand dyer doesn't do dye lots), but I figured I could work with that and got two more skeins. 

Now, the label said Superwash Me DK, truly it did.  I started knitting with the new yarn, knit several inches and all the while it just didn't feel right.  I had knit many yards of the yarn already and this was not the same yarn.  Checking my gauge I found that it was waaaay off.  I remember at the time I compared the wraps per inch of both yarns and found them to be significantly different, the second yarn is truly more a fingering or sock weight.  Color being off I could fudge, this I could not.  I was not happy, because that yarn color was really close to the yarn I had been using.  I went to my lys and got two skeins of what they had of Superwashme DK, the weight was right and the color was really pretty far off, and they didn't have enough for the entire back, so I was going to have to either break it up in the middle or stripe them.  In the end I think it was as good as it could be.

 

And in the end I had just enough yarn, barely a scrap left over.  I remember the buttons being a big deal, I really wanted a cute little boy button and just could not find one that fit the sweater.  The buttons I ended up with are so plain and normal, but on Ben they are so cute!  They make him look like a little man.  Wanna see what Ben looked like in the sweater?  Well, this is what it was like getting a photo of the always moving Ben.  His mom has to be tired at the end of the day.

It was definitely an action packed photo shoot.

One hundred nineteen. Or day TWENTY! This doesn't prove that I have knit anything lately though, does it?

I Said I Finished Something.....

Pattern: Helena (ravelry link) by Alison Green-Will for Knitty
Yarn:  Queensland Collection Rustic DK
Needles:  Sizes 2 and 5
Cast On:  January 5, 2009
Bound Off:  February 2, 2009

I loved knitting this sweater.  Every stitch was a pleasure, the pattern was easy and well written.   I finished it so long ago, it seems, that I barely remember what the heck I thought as I was knitting it.  I don't think I made any changes to the pattern except to make buttonholes instead of ties.  I love buttons and was thrilled to find these fun and funky ones to put on.  The yarn isn't bad, for a superwash.  It knit smoothly and didn't lose too much of the drape and body after washing.  We'll see how it holds up. 

Ingrid, who was jumping the summer gun by playing Jasmine in her bathing suit on Friday, seemed pleased.  The sweater just fits, so I think I'll be knitting another for her soon, hopefully this one gets her through the spring.  All action, this is all I could get for photos.  Just wait until you see my attempts with her brother Ben and  his sweater!

You Can Learn A Lot From A Swatch

Not all of which what you expected.  So, what happened with the Koigu swatch?  I cast on with excitement, intending to knit a square with one color of the Koigu and get all the stitch and row information I would need to cast on and make a Tempest for myself.  In my anticipation to see the colorways together I decided to make a striped swatch. 

<Insert deafening silence here.>

"What stripes?" you ask.  I know it!  And, oh by the way, where is the blue?!  This photo, even after white-box shot and manipulation in my photo editor doesn't show just how purple it is, but dang it!  It is PURPLE!  Why didn't I see how purple it was in the skein?  Well, I did see it, but I think I just wanted to see blue.  And while I wanted the stripes to be subtle, I wanted to see them! 

I'm thinking a couple of things.  First, over a whole side of a sweater the stripes will probably be more obvious, you can't really tell that from a 4" swatch.  Or, I have enough of both colors to make the sweater in one color, but I kind of wanted the stripes.  (Yes, I am whining.)  BUT, and this is the thing, I do.not. see myself in purple.  Periwinkle?  Yes, but purple?  What if I finish this and decide that I really cannot wear this purple?  While I decide whether or not to cast on for a front and see what the effect is on a larger canvas, this project is in time out.

So I swatched again for another project and while debating the pros and cons of purple I decided to knit this:

That is the start of Helena (ravelry link) in Queensland Collection Rustic Wool DK. I am loving this.

Eight.  Who knows?  Maybe knitting purple for somebody else will bring me around to liking it for myself.

What Do You Get When You Have A Back, Two Fronts and Two Sleeves?

 You get the blocking board out, that's what you get!

Four. I like this counting up thing. How high will I go? (NO! That is NOT a challenge for myself.)