Where Have I Been/

Wow...where the heck have I been? August was the last post? Yikes!

Totally bombed out on the Ravelolympics. Didn't get a thing done for that.

Knitting and crocheting..when I get the chance. Hats, socks, a couple of sweaters, three large dolls for Christmas, washclothes and other things. Been busy with other things too. Just haven't had the urge to keep this blog up-to-date. Gotta fix that!

Ravelympics 2008

Ravelympics has started! Think a few thousand people who partake in the grand craft of fiber, creating items during the Olympics.

So many Events to enter! Holiday Handball, Sock Put, Vest Vault, Baby Dressage and Afghan Marathon are a few of the 31 Events listed to join. You could be on a team or go solo.

I entered 11 projects in 5 Events...Amigurumi Toys Toss, Hat Dash, Sweater Sprint and WIP (Work in Progress) Wrestling. Trying to get all of them done by the last day of the Olympics. I have a few things in the WIP Wrestling that I needed the extra push to finish up. Seems to be a big thing for me lately; not getting things finished - made up. Pieces of a complete project just sitting around waiting to be made into the final item. This will get those projects done!

So the competition begins! Going off to the Hat Dash and work on my new hat!

Spinning the Knitting Needles Wheels

The needles are in action whenever I get the chance, yet I seem not to have much to show for those minutes and hours knitting. I keep working on the Traditional Danish Shawl. 8 yarn overs every other row as increases...that makes approximately 608 stitches when I cast-off. That explains that projects "spinning wheels".

The socks I worked on - got one done and I love it! Now to cast on the other one.

Slipper socks - 1/2 of the 1st one is done. These are fast as I just use a basic sock recipe, bulky yarn and size 5 double pointed needles. A row here and there is making them go on forever though.

So many works-in-progress (WIPs) and I just can't seem to get anything done. Bouncing around from this project to that project when I get bored doesn't help that's for sure. Faithful to the project of the day isn't me and I have the large number of WIPs as proof!

I use stitch holders when I need a break from a current project. That way I have the needles available for something new! Just looking at my list of projects makes me realize I need to get some of these WIPs to become Finished Objects - FOs. I tend to have a lot of stitch holders!

Such lofty goals...hey look 10 fleeces for me to prep and spin...two Shetland sheep, 4 llama, and 4 angora goats...oh a new knitting magazine came today...oh where's my yarn winder? I have 3 projects I want to frog out!

Get off the blog and hit the needles lady!

Mama got run over by a llama and other things

Yes, I got run over by a llama. It wasn't his fault. Zorro got spooked and well, ran me over. Zorro is one of the llamas I helped rescue in January. He's 100lbs heavier now. He was going to his new home. Ready to get him in his halter...donkey sent up a racket, dogs barked, Zorro spooked. Down in the mud and other things, over goes Zorro and Donny (one of the people helping) and ouch! Bruises and a couple of cracked ribs. What a way to start April! Yiha!!!! Hey, it was funny! Mud 6" deep, cold mud for that matter, llama runs me down and over and the rest is history. A couple of shots of whiskey later I was fine...until I turned around in the car to leave. Double ouch! Hospital visit and yup, cracked ribs. I swear the doctor on duty didn't believe me and thought my husband had done it. I had a footprint on my collar bone of the critter in question! The jokes have been flying around. I'm glad I can be of some use!

Have been knitting/crocheting up a storm. What the heck else can I do when I'm not allowed to do much else? Sweaters, scrubbies, pot holders, socks been knitting it. The knitting mojo I lost is definately back!!!

Jessie's Legacy

I remember watching my mom knitting. She had could work the patterns without looking at the pattern repeatedly. Mom would make sweaters with cables, honeycombs, bobbles: definately Aran. Mom never seemed to settle for stockinette. I would watch her knitting the current sweater and told myself I could never do the patterns she did. I was always amazed at the finished project. I have one of the last sweaters my mom made. It rests on my spinning wheel that she gave me. The sweater is a source of inspiration when I see it.

Mom taught me to knit and crochet when I was eight. I loved them both; but the aluminum needles she taught me on drove me nuts. I crocheted more than knit. I learned to spin when I was 16 but again didn't do much until now with spinning either. I still loved to watch Mom knit. She loved to use solids for her work and let the patterns tell her story.

I found the love of knitting when I was pregnant with my son at age 4o and was put on light bedrest. One can only crochet so much before one goes loopy - (yes the pun is necessary). Maybe it was the pregnancy. Maybe it was the fact that I was a grandmother 8 months before my son was born. Maybe it was all the books, magazines, afgans, and such that made me pick up a set of sticks and string. Knitting a sweater for the granddaughter caused me to knit things for "Bug" as he is called. Which lead to hats. Which lead to more needles. More patterns. More yarn...the circle goes round and round. Whatever it was I was hooked! I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!

I have yet to make a sweater like those my mom made. I find I let the yarn tell the story more than the pattern. Yet the desire is growing to knit a sweater - "just like mom". The sweater I'll make is for Tim. He deserves a sweater like that. He does so much for his family! He keeps me in fiber too!

I love the fiber, the tools of the trade, the patterns, the people that share my passion. My wooden/bamboo needles are my favorites. The yarn, whether it it's arcrylic, cotton, bamboo, silk or wonderful wools - llama, alpaca, sheep or angora goat or any other combo out there, or my own homespun: has such a hold of me that I knit/crochet and repeat daily!

To you, Mom, thank you!

Knitting Mojo

Knitting mojo...sometimes ya have it...sometimes ya don't.

Been knitting like a fiend. With knitting only from the stash. Knitting hats for mariners. Finishing works-in-progress - WIPs of knitting. I have spent anytime sitting down to knitting. If I'm sitting in the living room, I'm knitting.

The last two days I rarely picked up my sticks and strings. When I have knitted: I made tons of mistakes and that's not easy to do on a 2x2 rib. Not when you have made 14 hats in that pattern. Just can't get the groove going. I swear my "mojo" has upped and run off. I don't have an insane need to accomplish 2-3 inches in any given day. And that's a low estimate on the yardage I've knit.

It amazes me sometimes how I am so driven to knit and then like a switch, I'm not knitting. I'm thinking of patterns, reading how-tos, and even learning a new technique but not project knitting.

Hope to get the needles burning again so I can get these projects done, stash used up and be able to cast on a few projects I am itching to do. Yet, until the stash is down to a small tote and the WIPs are done, I won't start new projects. That is where my knitting mojo went. It's getting bored with what I'm doing I guess. Maybe casting on a totally new project would get me knitting like a crazed woman again. I tend to not "have fun" until the "chores" are done. Currently that is getting the acrylics for hats GONE, the WIPs put in the finished catagory, a large part of the stash used up I won't let myself play. Get a grip and cast on that Alpaca, that elastic yarn, that fantastic silk I'm wanting to be knit into a shrug.

Need to get the mojo back! Cast on and play!!!!

Knitting...Knitting...Knitting

Haven't post anything to the blog for awhile....been knittin' and knittin' and knittin'



Hats for Mariners and family...14 total.



Minimalist Sweater w/ Noro Silk Garden #87...back and both sleeves done.



Sweater for Bug...blocking so I can knit the collar!



Starting a Zeebee hat...having alot of fun with that! Great look and a great way to use up some yarn! Check it out http://schmeebot.com/nid ...it has a pattern generator. Just plunk in a few numbers and bingo your pattern for your yarn and measurements are done!



When I haven't been knitting, I'm looking for new patterns to use up some more of this stash! Want the yarn gone! If I have any small amount of a skein left I roll it into a ball and drop it in my basket of yarn bits.

All this knitting is causing the stash to go down. The projects I have been wanting to do actually get done! Space is showing in all containers and the shelf!

Back to the hat!

Knitting for Lent

Knitting for Lent. 40+ days of knitting hats for mariners. Any yarn that I have that is "girly" will be knit into other things. That's what small projects are for, using up yarn!

I usually give something up for Lent; TV, chocolate, pop, chips. The past few years though I have been adding something to my life. Be it reading books instead of tv watching. Exercise - daily and such. But this year I'm giving of my time and yarn and helping to make 4,000 hats in 40 days for the Mariners. I am joining other Episcopalians in the knitting of the hats! It's a win-win situation! Mariners get hats and I use up some stash!

I have my favorite hat pattern that was a big hit with the sons-in-law, so I know it'll be fine for this too! Manly colors all the way! My goal? 40 hats for the 40 days of Lent! That is another reason my favorite hat pattern will work. It's a quick knit!

Today is Ash Wednesday. Time of prayer, and preparation .The roads are bad due to a snow storm so getting to church is not going to happen. But casting on will! Knitting my hats will be done the same way I knit Prayer Shawls! Quiet, prayers, cup of tea and maybe quiet music.

To the hats!

41 Days

It happened. I knew it would. I went 41 days without a new skein coming into my hands. 41 days of knitting what I have either in current projects or ones about to be On The Needles (ONTs). Seems like a long time but when you are rescueing llamas and fighting the flu you lose a couple of weeks of knitting time....went two weeks without picking up the sticks and string.

I needed to buy yarn for my son's sweater. It was just a couple of skeins of Magallanes #307 colorway - honest. Oh that and one more skein of Noro's Silk Garden for a cardigan. And a doll kit. I've been waiting for the kits to go on sale and 40% off is a good deal! Yes, the kit is a yarn doll kit so the skeins count. These were all planned purchases before I started my Stash Diet. I'm not counting the individual skeins in the kit though. Too afraid of the number!

I'm not the type to buy yarn just because I fell in love with a skein, or the color, or the feel of it. I don't work that way. I do buy for a project. Then it sits there waiting to become something. It helps to have your knitting journal with you when you go to your LYS. The future projects have everything all written down. Yarn, yardage needed, needle size, embellishments, - it's all there so when a sale comes up..you are all set! Never leave home without your journal!

Oh just a note: fleece that hasn't been spun into yarn does not count as stash! It's not yarn yet! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Stash Bustin' the Journey

Yarn sitting around not being used. Yarn that is acrylic and definitely not my favorites. Still hanging around like a hungry cat waiting to be turned into something other than an unused skein.

Became a member of the http://www.ravlery.com/ community. I've logged most my yarn 'cept for the unwanted acrylics. Became a member of the Burnin' Up The Stash 2008. Seemed like a great way to get my needles in gear and use up the stash. But what to make?

Enter Knit 4 Lent ~ 4,000 hats in 40 days. I had decided to make up some hats and now I have the place to send them! Plus it's a neat way to spend Lent! Still making nothing but hats could make me sane so found Snuggles Project group. Making mats and such for critters in shelters! Yes! I have been a foster for the Boxer Breed and helped to move some llamas that needed to be moved ASAP. Making snuggles for critters makes sense! Check out http://www.snuggles.org/ for patterns and such.

Now I have a plan of action. I have a mission! I will use up all the yarn that will drive me nuts by moving it over and over again and never get it made into anything.....hats and mats they will become! I will put a counter for both so check back to see how many I get done! Goal? Until the yarn that has been sitting around waiting to be made into something is gone! To the needles!

End Date - Easter 2008!

In Search of the Perfect Knitting Bag

My ideal knitting bag...has yet to find it. Used the one from Simply Knitting magazine - their freebie. Loved the shape - a tall rectangle but it wasn't tall enough for my straight needles. No shoulder strap.

Made a felted bag. Love it! Turned out better than I thought it would! Light, easy to carry and not a single needle breaks through! This bag is great but it too doesn't fit the straights. They keep leaping out at the Dojo my son is at and I just don't want a student to step on a wayward needle in bare feet. Ouch! Maybe a button closer? It needs pockets too! Could add some...have to think about that one! Hmm...pockets...It is also a great conversation starter too! Then I can start talking knitting! Could always knit and felt another bag couldn't I?

Moved to a large zippered bag. A few pockets and a zippered pocket on the inside. Haven't lost a needle who wanted to go exploring the world. It does have two handles and a shoulder strap. It's does the job but it's big - bigger than I'd like.

What do I want in the perfect knitting bag?

• Size- It has to be able to handle up to 14" needles. I usually have at least one sweater OTNs. Yet not to big I look like I'm carrying a suitcase. I'm short what else can I say?
• Pockets - Yes pockets, to hold pencils, small scissors with a lanyard, measuring tape,
  needles I need for the current project. A large pocket to hold a copy of the pattern and
  a few extra pockets. I will find something to put in them. A few outside pockets would
  be handy too.
• Handles and a shoulder strap. Shoulder strap is a must. It's amazing how much you can
  carry when you use shoulder straps!
• A zipper to close it. Can you see velcro in a knitting bag? Didn't think so!
• Made of something soft and durable....did I mention shoulder straps? It can bounce on
  the leg and not leave a bruise. A big plus! The durable is for the amount of use this bag
  will see! My knitting bag goes with me everywhere!
• A color that doesn't make me cringe everytime I see it! Which counts out tapestry, paisley, and ugly fabric choices. Nothing light either. With a six yr. old of my own, my
  granddaughters and the dogs....light pink is out!
  

Another knitter bemoaning the desire for a perfect knitting bag. It's out there waiting to be found! Until then where are my sticks and string?

They Want More Hats

The sons-in-law loved their hats I knitted them for Christmas. The fact was solidified when both of them came out into the living room wearing their hats! They loved them so much they requested a couple more! "Can I have one in black?" or "Could you make another one in the tan camo?". Of course I had to ask if they wanted a pink one...no way! I had hoped they would like them enough to at least wear them in the dark. But to have them request more? They just blew my mind away!

They were just basic 2x2 ribbed hats. Made in Bernat's Camouflage -Outback -tan/black and Renegade - green/black. Stitch 'n Bitch pg 162, Hot Head by Alex Zorn. No brim to roll up. No ear flaps. Just a nice head hugging cap. Short and sweet and to the point to make. Sometimes the best things are simple in design! Since both the guys are hunters, camo seemed like a good idea.


Have one of the requested hats on-the-needles but I modified the hat to work with a circular needle instead of straights. Using a smaller gauge needle too, a size 8, so cast-on is a larger number. That's 96 stitches The rows will need to be increased too. That works out to be 43. Using a decrease every 8 stitches....knit two together, knit 6 stitches. Next row decrease and knit 5...Not doing a knit everyother row w/o a decrease. I will keep working the hat in rib pattern during the decreases. I don't have to sew a seam!!!! That way there won't be "wrong side" to the hat! Now to the hats!

P.S. I am still smiling at the fact that the hats were a hit!

I Wish You Enough

For the New Year I wish you enough!

I am on www.ravelry.com and a member of a few groups. One is an Episcopal group and in the forum was this wonderful link! http://www.bobperks.com/wish.htm

After reading Bob Perks' wonderful post, I wanted to begin doing the same.

So to you,

I wish you enough yarn to finish the project
I wish you enough mistakes so you learn to improve your craft
I wish you enough happiness on a finished project that turned out the way you dreamed it would
I wish you enough fiber friends to share your truimphs and disasters without their eyes glazing over
I wish you enough UnFinished Projects that need your attention
I wish yo enough Finished Projects so you can cast-on without guilt

To you I wish you enough!