All Purpose

So I know the posting around here has been pretty sparse. I’ve been thinking about this blog and trying to figure out how to either maintain two blogs (one for crafty stuff, one for everything else) or how to better make this a blog about me and not just my knitting. So I’ll be working on that over the next month or so because I’m leaning towards changing the name of the blog, maybe freshening up the look too.

So even though this is not JUST a knitting blog I do want to spend some time recapping my knitting accomplishments from 2008. I had a really productive year. I finished 15 things in 2008, and of the things I started in 2008 I only have 4 WIPs left. I have a total of 3 UFOs (2 were started in 2008) and 5 WIPs (2 were started in 2008). That’s not bad. My biggest regret of 2008 is that I only finished one sweater. I would really like to increase that number this year.

I didn’t really decrease my stash in 2008, I actually grew it a little bit overall, but I’m ok with that. I ended up having a total of 30334.8 yards in my stash at the end of the year (yes I did go on kind of a binge at the end), with 25961.5 yards being the actual working stash (4373.3 yards are up for sale or trade). I have weeded out the things I don’t like as much and what I have left I either really like OR it’s a great standard yarn that is good to have on hand. I, of course, fantasy yarn shop still but since M and I are trying to pay off all our credit card debit this year (w00t) I will be living on a strict monthly allowance. So I’m making no promises not to buy yarn, I just have to live within my means.

So since sock clubs were such a big temptation in 2008 I finally joined one for 2009. I joined Three Irish Girls Sock Yarnista Club. It’s great because you can do month to month and you get a choice between two yarns every month plus a pattern and goodies. I’ll be getting my first package this week I think. So that’s awesome.

I learned a lot of new stuff in 2008. I learned sock knitting, magic loop, kitchner (or is it kitchener) stitch, figure 8 cast on, magic cast on and knitting sweaters in the round. I hope to continue this year and get more comfortable with adapting patterns to fit me, to be knit in the round (because that is just so awesome), and I’m kind of getting a lace bug.

I totally discovered knitting podcasts in 2008 and now I have a list of regular listens which keep me inspired to keep knitting and to blog more. I have added a list of my regulars in the sidebar.

No Comments | In: crochet, finished object, knitting, stash, work in progress | tags: 2008, finished object, work in progress, yarn. | #

So. I finally totally finished Ella’s blanket. I’m very disappointed in how this project turned out. It’s a little sad because I put so much into that project and I basically didn’t really think the use of cotton + wool together through. I also got lazy at the end and threw the blanket in the wash (cold water, gentle cycle, low spin) but it kinda roughed up the wool and it didn’t help the cotton shrink back. So I feel like this is a failed project. My sister wants me to give it to Ella anyway though because she’ll like the textures, so I guess I will. I also have that crochet blanket I will finish soon that I can give her, but that feel so…I dunno I guess because it’s acrylic I’m a little embarrassed by it, but hey I got plenty of acrylic blankets in my closet from both my grandmother and one of my great-grandmothers so I guess it’s not the end of the world.

So, I did some work on that acrylic, aka striped, blanket and I’m not sure now if I can really finish it this month. My neck is killing me lately and I’m trying some new techniques for knitting/crocheting, but I’m slow right now. I also think I have more to finish than I originally thought. I guess we’ll see.

I’m rocking along on the Koigu socks, and should finish one this week so those shouldn’t be a problem. Since I think I’ll finish these pretty quickly I’m thinking of doing a Calorimetry for my sister for our Alaska trip and a scarf for my Mom. I just got some pretty Araucania Ranco Multy from a Ravelry purchase (for socks, but then got a better yarn in a swap) that would probably make a good Lace Ribbon Scarf. I think I’ll use some leftover sock yarn to make the Calorimetry.

I also got some Fleece Artist Sea Wool for socks (I have 2 pairs of socks that don’t really fit into my knitting schedule so I’m buying yarn as I can for those two and will knit when I have time).

I also traded my Araucania Nature Cotton in purple for 4 skeins of sock yarn. I know. I got a skein of Tofutsies, a skein of Regia Color 4-ply and 2 skeins of Wildfoote from Brown Sheep. The Tofutsies is for a pair of xmas socks and the rest are just for the stash for now.

I also ordered 2 skeins of Lamb’s Pride Superwash Bulky so I can do a City Shawl for myself for the Alaska trip, my last personal yarn splurge (besides the Noro I’ve budgeted) until December.

I’ll be getting all this stuff this week and I’ll post pics soon.

No Comments | In: crochet, finished object, gifts, knitting, ravelry, stash, work in progress | tags: blanket, gifts, ravelry, socks, stash, xmas, yarn. | #

So I did manage to finish one thing in June (w00t).

I give you my Charade socks

Pattern: Charade by Sandra Park
Yarn: Claudia Handpainted Yarns Fingering in Plumlicious
Needles: US 1 40″ circulars (Magic Loop)
Notes: These took me forever to get started, which is why it took me about 2.5 months to actually finish them. I kept making mistakes when casting on and doing the first bits of the first sock. Once I got going though they went pretty fast and the pattern is easy to follow. The yarn was nice. It was a little splitty, but not horribly so. I think the colors are nice and it definitely pools a lot less than everything else I’ve used so far. So thumb’s up on the Claudia’s Handpainted Fingering. These are destined to be a xmas gift for someone.

So other than that nothing done. I did get VERY close to finishing Ella’s blanket. I have about 5 inches of the last piece of trim and then seaming the trim on and I’m done! I will definitely finish that in the next week (I hope). I am also aiming to complete that striped crochet blanket this month as well (it would knock 4840 yards out of the stash!) as well as a pair of xmas socks. I am also swatching for the the Ribs and Lace Tank and really hope to get cracking on that.

No Comments | In: crochet, finished object, gifts, knitting, stash, work in progress | tags: blanket, finished object, gifts, planned projects, socks, stash, tank, work in progress, xmas. | #

So not much knitting in May. I didn’t finish anything at all. I started the Charade socks (like 5 times) and a crochet shrug, but other than that not much movement.

I did manage to get my garden started in May though and now I’m ready to really start busting out the knitting/crochet projects.

I have no idea why the Charade (Rav link) socks are taking me so long, except that my iPod died last month so no more podcasts. I got a new nano last week though so I’m hoping that will motivate me to get moving on the knitting. I am almost done with the leg portion of my first Charade and I’m hoping once I move past that I’ll be back into sock utopia knitting.

I have made decent progress on the shrug (Rav link), I’m starting the repeat for the back. I had been planning to buy yarn for a summer project, like a tank or something. But now I’m not sure if I’ll do that or just try to finish some of my larger projects, like the Ella blanket and the crochet blanket, and bust out some xmas socks. I do not want to be knitting socks feverishly the entire month of December.

No Comments | In: crochet, garden, gifts, knitting, work in progress | tags: crochet, garden, gifts, ipod, knitting, socks, work in progress. | #

So here’s my rehash of the April knitting, it’ll be short, and my update on life in general.

I only finished one project in April, the Monkey socks (Rav link), which used about 286.5 yards of yarn not from my stash really since I bought it in March for these socks as a gift.

The gift was a little late. I spent the last week of April caring for my stepmom (my sister and I both did actually) and she died May 3rd (Saturday). I saw and experienced a lot in the last two weeks and I think eventually I will post about those experiences, but not right now.

I did start 2 new projects before I left to take care of Linda. I started Charade and a shrug (Rav links). I didn’t get very far with either one, but hope to finish both in May if gardening doesn’t completely take over.

1 Comment | In: crochet, finished object, knitting, life, work in progress | tags: cancer, death, finished object, shrug, socks, work in progress; knitting; crochet. | #

I could do something in crochet instead. I really hadn’t thought about that, but there are a couple of patterns I found on Ravelry that might work for either my Louet (I’ll have leftovers from the $1.50 Cardi anyway) or the Tilli Tomas. First, there’s Short and Sweet from Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker, which might be good for the silk. I’d probably still need to make it for my sis, but I think the color would be great on her anyway so…

Then there’s the Cap Sleeve Summer Cardigan which is cute. I might make it a little longer but I think I could maybe make this AND the $1.50 cardigan with the Louet I have or I’m sure I can find another project for the Louet that doesn’t require quite as much yarn.

Finally there is the Lacy Days of Summer which would is very cute as just a top if you made it shorter. I’d have to track down the magazine though, and while I really want to knit or crochet an empire waist top for summer I’m not sure this is the one.

Can you tell I’m not getting much done at work today?

No Comments | In: crochet, fever | tags: crochet, project fantasy life. | #

First things first: the hat situation…So I talked with my sis on Friday and she told me that if I made something handwash it wasn’t a big deal. She also said she didn’t think something covering her ears would be practical. I’m still making the Earhart hat anyway though-to give her options. I also made a crochet hat out of some of my Malabrigo Chunky and that was FAST, so it’s ready to go.

The Earhart hat is a little over halfway done (only have a pic of the start of it though).

I went to the sweater workshop yesterday and realized after seaming my shoulders and starting my collar that the neck BO is way too tight. I know I said I was going to fix that last week, but I didn’t and I should have. Ended up unseaming the shoulders and ripping back and redoing the bind off on the back and one side. I’ll do the other side tonight and reseam the shoulders and try the collar again. I’m really shooting to get this done pronto even though I have until March 30th. I really want to start a new sweater (the $1.50 Cardigan) that’s more for the spring. I might even join the Knit Along, we’ll see.

I also have to finish Linda’s hat and decide if I want to start her socks or finish mine first. I talked with my sweater teacher and she helped me figure out where I went wrong. She said for Magic Loop and using 2 circulars you basically do the decreases at the beginning and end of each half. I had them messed up because I was following the DPN instructions and so one of them was in the middle. Anyway, I’m going to rip back and try again I think. So I may finish my socks then start a pair for Linda. I’m, I guess, a little nervous that she won’t like the hats. It’s ridiculous really, but I figure I need to finish my socks anyway for the practice so that hers will be even better than mine. Maybe I could be ready to start her socks this weekend while we’re visiting, or maybe not considering how much else I need to do.

The one thing I have totally noticed since I started Ravelry is that my knitting is not only more organized but I really have started taking more of a project management approach to the whole thing. I feel like I definitely work on my knitting more, I definitely think about it more and I’m definitely finishing a lot more. I have even been planning some spring/summer project, which I have never done before. I just realized I could be working on tanks and socks this summer and I could make socks my present de l’année. So anyway, I’ve been combing back through my old mags for tank patterns and bought some newer Spring/Summer issues of IK that I was missing and now my queue is exploding with projects.

But I am not buying yarn (or anything else I don’t absolutely need) for the next 3 months. If I make it then I can buy myself a skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk for the Montego Bay scarf to test it. I love the idea of knitting that Cobweb wrap from the new IK in Sea Silk, but it would be very expensive (over $100 I think) so I’d want to try it out first I think.

No Comments | In: crochet, finished object, gifts, knitting, ravelry, work in progress | tags: binding off, cardigan, collar, crochet, gifts, hat, interweave knits, knitting, lace, ravelry, sea silk, shoulder seam, socks, sweater, wrap. | #

I finished my little glovettes. They came out a little big even though I did the small size, but then again I can barely grasp gauge in knitting, much less crochet.

I finished another blanket square and started a sixth one…

I bought my yarn for the upcoming sweater workshop:

In other news my neck is hurting a lot, not sure if it’s all the knitting, the data entry at work or what but it’s putting a bit of a damper on my knitting fever.

I <3 Ravelry. I’ve found so many cool patterns, forums, blogs, yarn on there that it’s not even funny. Please never leave me Ravelry.

No Comments | In: crochet, finished object, knitting, ravelry, work in progress | tags: crochet, fingerless gloves, finished object, knit, ravlery, work in progress, yarn. | #

Ok, so I got one of my Harmony Guides yesterday and while I didn’t find the exact stitch I was looking for I did figure it out with the help of looking at the diagrams and then trying to diagram/chart out my pattern. After reading it, crocheting the first row and paying attention to what my stitches looked like the directions for the second row finally clicked. It’s moving along swimmingly now:

I finished my wonderful Malabrigo purple scarf last week. It’s so freakin soft and snuggly I want to keep it wrapped around my face at all times. It would look a little weird though.

I’m also progressing nicely on my blanket for Ella, here’s the proof:

I also un-hibernated my Noro throw project just because I need variety in my knitting/crocheting so I don’t get bored or frustrated with any one project.

So a pretty good week of knitting, though not nearly as productive as I would like. I start my Sweater Workshop in like 10 days and I need to get a little further with the blanket and maybe finish the gloves by then.

In other news, I attended the HCW “blow-out” sale and was able to save almost $50 on the yarn for my sweater project. My yarn was not specially discounted but it was 20% off which is nice.

No Comments | In: crochet, finished object, knitting, work in progress | tags: blanket, crochet, finished object, gloves, knit, malabrigo, scarf, throw, work in progress. | #

Hmm, so I’m working on this new project (fingerless gloves) in crochet and I seriously don’t think I’m doing it right. Check it out:

It’s done in blossom stitch and it just doesn’t look right. I think I don’t really understand what I’m doing and none of my crochet books has blossom stitch so I’m kind of at a loss. I guess I’ll work on it a bit more then try to get to HCW’s or a book store to find a good crochet resource to help.

In other news, I’m almost done with scarf 7, yes I got scarves 1-6 done on time and 7 is my LAST ONE. Yay!

I’m making good progress on my scarf and I’ll be starting my sweater workshop pretty soon, I’m very excited about that.

No Comments | In: crochet, knitting, work in progress | tags: crochet, finished object, gloves, knit, scarf, work in progress. | #