Productivity

Lately, it feels like I haven't been very productive with my knitting.  I started to count up my recent projects and it's not too bad.  It would have been better if I could have taken some sort of knitting device when I had jury duty for 2 days.  But that's another story.

Ok, here's my round up for the past few months.  Keep in mind most of it was done during my lunch hours.

These are some items for lil miss Amelia Bleck.   They are my first attempts at non-sock knitting in the round.  I found that the hats were really fun to do.  The yarn is Cascade fixation.  I got the basis of the pattern from Stephanie Pearl-Mc Phee's Knitting Rules!

This is the beginning of a sleeping pillow for Wicca.  She getting up there in years, nearly 12, and needs a soft place to sleep that is not my bed behind my legs.  It is all single crochet in the Lion Brand chenille and Suede lines ( now discontinued).   I've finished one side and have begun the other.  I should have just enough left.

The current pair of socks are in Cascade fixation.  They are cotton and lil miss Emma can't say that they are itchy.  Now that it is summer she is in a state of "no socks, mommy!"  When fall hits I think I can get her to wear them at least once.  I just reached the cuff on the second sock. I should be done in a few days.

My last project is finally getting to the weaving in on my pair of Fixation socks.  They are in my lunch project bag and I'm not bringing anything else until they are done.  I hope to have a pic of those on my feet soon.  Very soon.

Earth Day

This Earth Day weekend I feel pretty good about what I personally have accomplished and what I've seen accomplished.

In general, I see less disdain for things like recycling. Ok, the hubby groans less when I ask him to take a can out to the bin.  The city has finally included steel cans into the pick up recycling options.  The Orange Box has really embraced it this year for a week long sale and celebration.  In the past they gave away stuff like cfl light bulbs and water saving faucet aerators.  This year there are 2 eco gardening workshops and many things in the store reducing water and energy consumption.  And surprisingly enough I'm seeing the transition of gas guzzling vehicles into more streamline, slightly less gas guzzling vehicles.  Now that gas is getting near or past the $4 someone is realizing that alot of people can't afford to fill the tanks of those big cars.

On a personal level it feels like I'm getting there as well.  I remember to take out the recycling. I'm in my second year of having a compost bin.  I have a good start on my herb and vegetable garden.  I have a couple of heirloom tomato plants from work and some mesclun greens in the ground.  I was very please to see my sage survived from last year.  I'm trying really hard not to use the ac in the house.  We'll see how it goes when we start getting into the 90's.  And best of all... yesterday, I made my first ball of tarn.

I have a lot of t-shirts left over from travels and shows that I've done.  When I say I have a lot.  It's relative.  I don't have anywhere near as many as some of my friends who are still in the business.  But they are overflowing my closet and I truly don't wear half of them any more as I can't wear t-shirts to work.  I went through my shirts and took photos of the ones that have memories and I'll put them together in some format of a memory book.  They will be transformed into something that I will use every day and make me happy to reminisce. I really need some dish cloths. 

Here is a link to a tutorial that I used to make the tarn.  It is on the Craft Passion blog.

The Ever Changing Project

My blanket plan didn't work out.  I'm not ambitious enough to really hunt down the rest of the yarn to complete it.  I did have a bit of inspiration the other day when the cat decided that my Wonder Woman pillow would make a good bed.  Madame Wicca needs her own pillow bed.

 This is the beginning of Madame's pillow bed.  It's black and primary red.  It really seems to glow in this pic.  It's not this harsh in real life and it goes well with the decor in the room.

As for my winter snugly, t.v. watching blanket for the cold months will have to be re-thought. Hmmm time for some Ravelry surfing. :)

My First Hat

I've been reading "Knitting Rules!" by Stephanie Pearl-Mc Phee and in it she has a chapter on the "No Pattern Hat."  I love it because she gives a basic set of guidelines to make hats, socks, shawls.  She also gives variations on a theme.  I'm not very good at following patterns. I get lost very easily especially if it's a repeat of more the 6 or 7 lines.  When I do try to follow a pattern I have to write it out myself to make sure I understand it. I get lost less frequently.

The yarn is Cascade Fixation, yet again.  This is a challenging yarn for me because of the elastic.  I'm starting to get really good with getting tension right and consistent.  I did the math based on the gauge but it still ended up small.  I compared it to a newborn hat and it was really small.  And so, dolly gets a new hat.  I knew this day would come. I think I need to work my way to knitting Barbie clothes though.  That is becoming my child's new obsession.

The next project is to re-do my black and red afgan. I was not very good at the tension in this crochet project and I got random loops sticking out.  It bothered the crap out of me.  I just finished frogging it and have started with a smaller hook and am using a single crochet instead of a half double.  I want something dense and warm for my lap in winter.  I've also changed the red yarn.  I went from Lion Brand Chenille which has a spicy brown kinda red to the Suede line which has a more primary red. I'm only using it as a small accent as the gauge is very differnet. It should be interesting as both have been discontinued. Time to start scouring the discount bins

Weaving In

If you ask any knitter what the most boring part of a project is. The most common answer you are likely to get it is, "weaving in the ends."  I have a few of those projects.  During our big snow storm this winter I decided it was high time to get on a few of those things.  Having them stare me in the face for 3 straight days while I frantically search for something to keep myself and child entertained was the inspiration.

Item #1  Diagonal lace shawl

It's a larger version of my first lace project. I'm using Caron Simply Soft again in black. This one didn't block quite as large as I hoped.  I still haven't quite figured out blocking yet. The scarf seemed to stretch more than this leaving great open spaces in it. The only difference between the two is that I used a clothing steamer instead of an iron for steam.  I'm going to block it again and try just a wet block.  I've sent and email off to Caron asking them what the recommended blocking technique is for this yarn.

Item #2  Cascade fixation Socks (for me)

This is my first pair of socks for myself and gods help me I love stripes.  It's a ten row stripe which means lots and lots of weaving in. I got some done during the snow storm but the fates and children were against me.  I'm going to get back to it. No, really, I am... I need to wear these socks.  I just have to finish off a slightly secret project.  

Spring is coming and a lot of gardening is looming. Between my lunch breaks and quiet evenings I'm hoping to get quite a bit done this year.

Hand Me down knits

A couple of summers ago my sent a bunch of stuff from her house. She was moving out and it was time to clear out my stuff. In the shipment were her dolly clothes from when she and I were little girls. I played with them too. I had forgotten how much crochet wear there was.

I pulled it all out and gently hand washed it in Eucalan wool wash. For the most part everything came out all right. There were a few undyed wool pieces that disintegrated. Sixty plus years can do that.

Here are some shots. I did my best with the styling of the dolls but Em had an opinion too.

Book Review--Knitting Rules!

Knitting Rules! is written by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.  She is a writer from Toronto who is all about the knitting.  She is also known as the Yarn Harlot and has a blog where she posts about her knittting exploits. She just completed her self-imposed sock club.  Where she combined patterns and yarn to stash bust/christmas present prep.  I only mention this as I really want to do this, but ummm ... well this is another post.

If there is one thing that knitting rules is not, it is a pattern book.  Sure, she give some basic instructions on how to make socks, a hat, a shawl. I'm really not very good at following patterns.  It's not just that I lose my place, and I do, it's that I'm picky. I like lace, but not too frilly. I like cables but not too complicated.  I like stripes but not too many ends to weave in.  I don't really expect that one to keep me from doing stripes. I just had to put it out there.

The book is really about using commonsense when doing these things with a healthy dose of a sense of humor.  Honestly, when trying to learn to knit one really needs a sense of humor.  I know there are moments when I think my head will explode when I just can't figure out the math or I have ripped something back for the tenth time.

My favorite part is the lists. "Ten Times When You Should Worry About Gauge"


1. If you want your work to be exactly the same (or as close as possible, considering you that you changed the neckline, the yarn, and the cable pattern) as the sweater in the picture of your pattern.


2.  If your bust is 36 inches and you'd like the sweater to be related to that fact in any kind of way.


For the rest you need to get the book. :)

In a way she reminds me of Alton Brown on his show "Good Eats."  He breaks cooking down to the basics making sure you understand how food is put together.  And he's a big goof ball to boot which makes it entertaining.  The Yarn Harlot is a writer and doesn't get to use the cool props but her sense of humor and knowledge of knitting really comes through.  Let's have her explain.  Follow the link below--

Yarn Harlot@ Full Thread Ahead