Yarn Along - Jan. 30

Someone turns into a little ham when the camera comes out.  He knows to say "Cheese" and look at that casual way of posing. Like he doesn't really care if he's in the shot or not.  Silly boy.  Anyway, I've had a fairly productive week. I am just about at the end of Season to Taste - I have really enjoyed reading this and I have been trying to pay more attention to my sense of smell as I go about the day.  My mittens are so close to being done! I have one more thumb to go. Figures that they are ready when we are having a bizarre January thaw - it is in the 50s today! Like most places I have been like the saying goes, I'll just wait five minutes and the weather is sure to change.


I also finished this sample knit.  This v-neck pullover is for Good Karma Farm, knit in their Texas Green colorway, which really is a most perfect hunter green. I love this yarn - good thing, because when you knit an XL size in that much stockinette you had better love it! This is more than just a sample sweater though - it is a gift for one of the owners! After I knit the Charleston Tea sweater for Amy she asked me to knit a sweater for her husband!

It feels good to be getting things done! Of course I still have plenty of WIPs that are giving me the eye and projects I really want to work on, along with the next sample knit that needs swatching.  I also need to decide on the next book to read! What are you getting done this week?

Yarn Along - January 23

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ small things



      My goodness it has been a while.  At this moment, we are all more healthy than not - in the last few weeks we've all had some sort of cold (maybe a mild touch of flu?) and have passed about a stomach bug. I am pretty sure somehow I pulled a rib muscle, so I'm achy still, but I'll take it - we're all eating and fussiness is at a minimum. I've been knitting away on the sleeves of this sample sweater and I'm in the home stretch now - it needs to be done and in Monday's mail (if not sooner!).  I feel good about it and it really has been a joy to knit even with all that stockinette! I finished the body of one mitten and am antsy to start the second, but the sweater has to take priority. We are in the midst of a rather wicked cold snap - I could use those mittens! I'm dreaming of a new hat for me, but I was pleased this morning that I was able to pull out a wool sweater, pair of socks, pair of mitts and my Calorimetry to bundle up this morning!

I finished up Pippi Longstocking and have moved on to Season to Taste, which is about a gal who lost her sense of smell after a massive trauma accident. Interesting to read while you are stuffed up with a cold / sinus issues and not really interested in eating! So far I am enjoying it. I'm looking forward to reading how she deals with the loss of that particular sense - smells are so intriguing! I find it fascinating how tied to memory they are as well.  Back when I was a chemistry grad student, I was TA-ing in a lab and there was a bottle of ammonia in a fume hood. The bottle was not capped properly, and even though it was under a running fume hood, I got hit with the vapors up my nose so much it was almost blinding and made my eyes water. I can tell that my own sense of smell has changed but one day I was unpacking items that belonged in my grandmother's house and WHAM! The scent on those items (not a bad scent in any way) took me right back to her house!

What's your favorite smell? I love the smell of ground beef browning on the stove-top, with a little bit of garlic and onion! Bacon, too. The Lorax told me she loved the way the bathroom smelled after I cleaned it with some bleach containing cleaners (following our stomach bug incident) - I think (hope!) it was just because it was a novelty to her. Generally I avoid all those chemical cleaners and stick with vinegar the chemical cleaners give me a headache now!

Sluggish.

Mondays have their own special feeling, don't they? Actually I tend to look forward to Mondays.  My house is quiet again after a busy weekend with everyone home. Today though is a rough one following a very rough weekend.  3 out of the 4 of us have been sick all weekend - 2 colds & 1 stomach bug. Currently, Nate's got it.  I've got little sleep, a very fussy little one, and a to-do list a mile long, of course.

Today also starts the Slug-a-long, a Fresh Stitches CAL, which I am very excited about. I think I have decided on my yarn (Tahki Cotton Classic, for a bit of sheen that slugs have!) but still need to pick a color.






I hope your week is starting out on the right foot!

Yarn Along - January 9

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ yarn along





This week I have been reading Pippi Longstocking. For whatever reason, I could not stop thinking about this book, so I borrowed it from the library.  I couldn't remember if I had read it as a kid, but now that I am halfway through I think I did; so much of it is familiar and enjoyable. This was a good way to get back into the reading groove! I've been working on several things.  The Snuggly Monster buddy is ready for eyes, ears & limbs.  The belly is done in yellow and the eyepatch is on the needles. I think the ears / limbs will be solid teal and solid lime green.  I hope to get this done in the next day or two so that it can be given to a brand new baby! On the right is a sample sweater. The same sweater on which I already broke two needles! Knock wood, so far so good and my new needle set arrived today.  In the middle is my current "ooh shiny!" project.  I found the NaKnitMittMo group on Ravelry and immediately had to start a pair of mittens for me.  That didn't take long at all! I pulled out my Cast On, Cast Off book to try the "Provisional Tubular Cast On" for a stretchy cuff. It was a bit fiddly, but not terrible once I got going!

Needled

How was your weekend? This happened:


I snapped one of my needle tips off at the join while knitting on my current sample knitting job.  It figures. I probably should not be entirely surprised - I've used this particular set of interchangeable needles near daily for the last 3-4 years. As I have been working on this sweater I noticed I frequently had to stop to twist the needle tip back onto the cord. I was so fed up with it that I actually indulged in a bit of online shopping to order a new (different brand) of interchangeable needles, and then hours later, this happened!



 
I like the interchangeable needle sets because my circular needles tend to look like this most days:

A massive jumble.  I have tried needle cases before and I can't find one that I like. My needles always seem to end up back in this jumble.  Have you found a system that works?





I replaced my needle so I could keep knitting while I wait for the new set to arrive. Guess what? It happened again! Different brand of fixed circular needle.  ARGH! I'm stepping away from this sweater for a few hours.  It is a plain stockinette sweater using worsted weight wool! I think I have just developed super knitting strength, which is obviously not what you think it will be. 

FO Friday - A Hat

I feel like a terrible knitter sometimes. All of a sudden, winter weather is coming on strong and my kids still did not have proper winter hats! I did make the Lorax a hat back in November with sparkly purple yarn she chose (Kollage Glisten), but I was impatient in getting to the crown decreases. The result was a hat that really didn't fit. See?








She did wear it outside for some snow action last week, so I'm pleased that she actually wore it, but it wasn't going to cut it. Winter is here for the next few months. I can do better!
Hey look, there's the Regular Guy Beanie I made Dan - also in action!










A bit of stash diving turned up a magenta skein of Vicki Howell's Sheep(ish) yarn, one of the Lorax's favorite colors. A bit of searching on Ravelry brought me to the Heel Stitch Hat, a free pattern from the Purl Bee.   The two played very nicely together I think. It fits, it's warm, and when we arrived at school one of the first things she said to a classmate was "Look at my new hat my mom knit for me!" Be still my heart. A picture of my child in something I knit and she's not in tears? AND she spoke of it with pride to another kid? Wow. This may be a turning point, but I won't hold my breath. Cheers to the first FO of 2013!

In addition to my other resolutions, I'm going to try and get this blog back on track with the link ups and such. Today, it's FO Fridays with Tami's Amis!

Resolutions & Intentions

Source: etsy.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

All week I keep thinking about resolutions / intentions.  I've been reading other people's blogs, lurking in groups on Ravelry (almost dreaming that I was one of those knitters - 13 socks/shawls/mitts in 2013, all the -alongs: block of the month along, knit all the patterns from XYZ book, knit your queue, etc), and while I think it's become obvious over time on my blog, I don't do so well with -alongs. I love the idea of them, but my follow through tends to be lacking.  I get antsy and am easily distracted by the new and shiny.  And yet, I still feel compelled to put it down in writing on this blog my plans for the year. So, here are more of my specifics:

• Knit / Crochet at least 13 skeins that have been stashed before 1/1/12 (inspired by the Use It or Lose It thread in the Stash & Burn podcast group)
• Knit / Crochet at least 13 items queued before 1/1/12 
• Knit / Crochet at least 13 items as samples / knit-for-hire 
• Knit / Crochet at least 13 hats for PatPatsHats
• Pie in the sky - can I knit / crochet at least 13 new-to-me techniques? (Socks) Sweet Tomato Heel, unusual construction, stripes, 2-at-a-time / Colorwork / Adding shaping / my own design of something?

I am not limiting myself to this - it's a baseline.  And there is plenty of wiggle room for overlap. I know I have stash yarn that I have in mind for queued projects (both pre-2012) and stash yarn that will totally work for charity hats. It does make me feel a bit better though - there is the intention to use what I have, there is the intention to try new things, and yet I can still indulge now and again.  Let's face it - there will always be something new and shiny!

Source: tickingandtoile.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Yarn Along - January 2

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ Yarn Along

I was very excited to unwrap "Knit A Monster Nursery" this Christmas! I am a big fan of Rebecca Danger and with recent news of new babies arriving in 2013 I am sure I will be pulling this off the shelves frequently! In the lower left corner is the start of a Snuggly Monster Blanket Friend from the book. I'm holding two strands of Tahki Cotton Classic together; the body is done - about 11" square.  I'm thinking yellow might be a fun color for the eye patches, stomach, and limbs.  The magenta blob on the right is a new hat for the Lorax.  She finally put on the last hat I made her in November and that one does not fit right. We recently had a snowstorm and this week promises true winter weather and freezing temperatures, so a new hat is a must! This is the Heel Stitch Hat from the Purl Bee, and the yarn is Vickie Howell's Sheep(ish).  

Read more.  An ever present resolution if there ever was one! I never finished "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" - I like to think I will go back to it someday, but in the meantime I'm looking to Goodreads again.  I noticed one of my knitting pals posted her self-challenge from Goodreads (to read 75 books this year! Holy Smokes! I think she'll do it too!). Ever the joiner, I thought I would sign up for it as well.  I was so surprised to see when I logged in to the site that it said I read 1 book in 2012.  That's not right.  I know I didn't read a lot, but not that little! I did slack off on utilizing Goodreads, so I have downloaded the app and have been browsing lists again (Hello, Rory Gilmore Reading List!).  I've decided to challenge myself to read 13 books this year. It's a trade off - knitting time or reading time. I may have to do more with audio books or have the kindle read to me!

 

   

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Begin at the Beginning

Hello 2013! This new year was welcomed in quietly - we're finally recovering from a month's worth of germs.

For me, 2012 on the whole was a good year, but not an easy one. So much has changed with my children and I started working from home (in the yarn industry - I'm still pinching myself on that one). I'm quite pleased with my knitting and crochet projects this year. Even with the shift (and struggles) for available time for projects, in 2012 I finished 76 items. That includes 14 hats, 3 cowls, 1 pair of socks, 1 single sock, a snowman, a pair of baby booties, 1 shawl, 1 sweater for me, 1 sweater for Nate, 2 monsters, a Holy Handgrenade, 4 mermaids, 3 pandas, 2 zombie eyes, 1 cuff, 20 hexiflats and 17 samples! 76 is certainly a respectable number of items - not my best, not my worst. A personal resolution I made last year was to challenge myself to have a paid knitting job (preferably paid in money, but yarn is ok too!) each month - I met that goal in October!

I am unsettled and undecided yet as to what I really want to focus on in 2013. I had big plans to make it a very selfish knitting year as I really want new socks, a sweater, hat, and armwarmers, but life sometimes has other plans. I've already got a pile of UFOs to take care of and new items to plan for. The usual "knit the stash / work the queue" are in there as well. I also have several other intentions for the year. I know that I rarely stick to resolutions, so I'm choosing intentions - I mean well!