Knitting Vampires

It really doesn't matter what your craft is - sewing, knitting, crochet, weaving, scrapbook, jewelry: we all have one, or three, okay maybe six projects that are in the "never to see the light of day things". Those projects that were fun to create, from picking out the pattern, yarn and needles to the last making-up stitch. Then you realize that, well, it just doesn't work for ya. Whether it's the fit, the yarn you choose, or just the "yuck" feeling when you wear the finished piece. So ya toss it into the corner. Then a moment of clarity and you put the rejected project into a tote - (just because you won't wear it doesn't mean you should let it be a free meal for moths).

Every time you go near your stash, you feel the nagging feeling of those projects just sitting there. You have that excited, heady feeling of starting a new project. Finding the pattern that you really, really want to make. Next, the yarn: did you find the perfect yarn in your stash or do you need to make a run to your LYS? While looking for the yarn you bump the tote/box/plastic bag of "rejects" and you feel guilty. You cringe as you feel the excitement being drained from you.

Knitting Vampires...what the heck is that? Vampires who love creating knitted items? Can you just picture vampires having a knitting circle? Or would that be "Knitted Vampires"? That gives the image of a pile of knitted vampire dolls. I love calling the "rejects": "vampires"!

So what Knitting Vampires do I have that keep sucking the knitting mojo from me?


"If you pick out yarn I'll make you a sweater" said to my then-5-yr-old son. Well, he has since outgrown the sweater so it sits in the "frog-it" pile. I loved knitting the sweater. The boy did say it was "itchy" so a turtle neck was worn underneath.

It is Araucania Magallanes #307. A thick/thin yarn that is 100% wool. I'm thinking of making felted mittens.



Next project: a wrap with sleeves in Lily Chin's Nolita in white. A bulky yarn of, 48% Nylon, 26% Wool, 21% Acrylic, 5% Rayon. Similar to mohair, so frogging it is going to be a pain. My choice to frog, so I guess I better not complain.

The wrap with sleeves was going great. Got to the second sleeve and bingo: needed one more skein to finish the sleeve. If I ripped it back on the wrap part I would have to rip 3/4s of it out to the before the first armhole so both ends from arm to arm would be the same length.

Found a really nice hoodie sweater that is done in a larger than usual gauge so it has an airy type of effect. That is going well! I guess this one is really in the remake category, as I'm already frogging and getting "new" skeins, and on-the-needles!



Number 3 in my frog-it pile: This bolero. Enough said on that one! Don't know what I was thinking when I bought that yarn. It was 2 Hobby Lobby yarns. Have no idea what I'll make next with these yarns. No idea at all!









Number 4 in the pile is this wonderful little number. Sleeveless turtleneck out of Lion Brand Homespun - too bulky for me to be a top. Cardigan yes. A shawl - another yes. A couple of scarves - maybe.






The last item in my pile is this sweater. Lion Brand Jiffy in blue. Nice, warm and a great shade for me. It's the sleeves and neck that get me. I have redone all 3 at least 3 times. I guess llama wrangling, sheep wrestling and general farm things have given me more muscles in my arms that this sweater has stitches for. The neck is at that perfect place. You know the place, where it rides or hits that slowly drives you insane.





That's my group? Flock? Bundle? Of knitting vampires...watch out they like to grab at your ankles to keep you close! If you have wooden needles like me, you could always drive it into the project like wooden stakes in vampires. At least there is less mess!

That's it Stash...I'm Taking You Down!

Dear Stash,
It's time we had a talk. You are getting bigger than I like. You are taking up too much space. I need to get working on you and reducing you to a nice small pile! I keep looking at you and shaking my head at the size of you. How did I let this happen to you? I wasn't paying enough attention to your size and have been adding to your girth. I have a ton of patterns, quite a few people who would love something knitted and I will make the time to work you into a much leaner stash. I'm sorry I was lazy about working on one project in - one project out. No more waiting! Projects out - no new yarn in!

I love this time of year! Just love it. I get energized and want to get things done. Who needs New Year's Day, I have Fall. Happy I am, as I organize, organize, organize! Putting up the gifts from the garden into the freezer and jars. Clearing out paperwork, clothes and anything that is hanging around that we don't use anymore...then I look at my stash. It's contained in boxes - by fiber. In a tote for the things I want to make for Christmas this year. A few clear zipper bags hold projects that are hibernating and a few skeins are just hanging out.

I do not need to add to this stash. I've even gone into my favorite yarn shop and walked back out without a single skein of yarn following me home for 3 shopping trips! Enter the Mary Maxim Tent Sale. Came out of there with 2 new book - Son Of Stitch 'N Bitch by Debbie Stoller, and Knits for Children & Their Teddies by Fiona McTague and 2 count that just two skeins of Mary Maxim Aloe Sock Yarn in Sandstone...come on give me a break - they were $1.97 each. A pair of socks for $4? Of course I'll buy a couple!

Then, there in the back of the Patons Shetland Chunky: a fantastic dark blue, a wonderful deep red and a happy dark green skeins...I could have sworn I heard them call my name. Been looking for a sale on Shetland Chunky to make my hubby and his best friend, Joe, a sweater each. Gonna take hubby this weekend to pick which of the three colorways will be for Joe and which will be hubby's. Once I buy the yarn for those sweaters I'm on a serious yarn diet.

Oh, yeah, that's right, I was talking about my taking my stash DOWN! I buy yarn for a specific purpose...(see paragraph about) even when the yarn is on sale. If I don't have a project in mind I don't buy it regardless of the price. Looking at what I have on hand, I'll be happy knitting away this Fall. Sitting outside in the early morning and knitting. In the evening, sitting outside knitting. In the house knittin'. I have too many projects I want to do. Instead of buying yarn on sale for a project I had better work on my projects I already have waiting. To me my stash is huge...to a yarn stasher elite, my stash is very small...it's all in how you see it.

One. Two. Three...jumping into my stash...if I don't come up for air soon send some chocolate!

August

Don't know what it is about August. The sun has shifted a little south. Fair is a done deal. Still going through stuff: cleaning, oiling, restocking the tack box and the like. School for the boy starts soon - sure am gonna miss having him around all day. Cleaning, organizing, rearranging, going through my queues on Ravelry and my "what to knit next" notebook. Tidying up things in general.

I look forward to the fun, lazy last days of summer. It's my recharging time I guess. Some use New Year's Day for a fresh start...I use August/September as the start of my "new year". Maybe it's a carry-over from the anticipation of all things new at the start of the new school year. Really should have become a teacher.

I find myself re-accessing my knitting project list: finding different patterns for the yarn I have and really want to use up. The yarn that was started in a sweater for Bailey is being re-knitted in a Wonderful Wallaby for Sophie.








Bailey's new sweater will be in a turquoise, black and white colorway into a Wonderful Wallaby too.The reindeer seem to like it too.


The sweater made for Jolie is now going to Zoe. I am finding a combo of yarns to make Jolie another sweater. Looking at my stash I feel the need to organize, organize, organize it! So stash diving I go: I may not come out for months so send chocolate and hot, sweet tea!

The "Duh" Moments

The "Duh" Moments hit most unexpectedly. While in the middle of the row. When someone calls. When you're watching the news. Or while you are ripping out a project to fix the same mistake you've made 3 times already.

"Duh" 1 - While counting the 5 stitches at the start of the 40th row on the on Wonderful Wallaby..."duh" you have stitch markers - use them and there is no more counting the 5 stitches at the beginning and ending of each row.

"Duh" 2 - Can't read the chart for colorwork? Ummm - enlarge the graph on your 3-in-1-printer. See that was easy!

"Duh" 3 - If at 1st - 10th or even the 15th time you've cast-on and work on a project and no matter how you read the pattern there is a definite mistake - "duh" the pattern has a mistake and it's not your knitting!

"Duh" 4 - Post-it notes were made for a reason. You have them in your knitting kit. You could place the Post-it where you stopped in the pattern or write a quick note as to where you're at. Trusting your memory just isn't gonna work when the grand kids, the boy, dogs, goats or others need your attention and it's days before you pick the project back up to work on it.

"Duh" 5 - Getting gauge? NO? Did ya ever think to go up or down a needle size?

"Duh" 6 - No matter what: you'll get a smack in the back of your head and many more "duhs" while working with fiber!

The Heather Hoodie KAL Saga Continues

And the deadline for finishing the Heather Hoodie KAL was two day's ago. I just finished the back on the hoodie. That's right the back is done. That leaves the two fronts, the cap sleeves and the hood to finish. Heck, I have to cast on first!

I guess goats kidding (1st doe had a doe and a buck), gone to Kansas for 5 days (packed socks to knit on the plane), being hit with a Fibromyalgia flare and life in general, I didn't stay on track for knitting this hoodie and getting it done!

Knitting Daily just announced another KAL. Of course I voted! The Minimalist Cardigan by Ruthie Nussbaum is the one for me as I have plans on knitting this cardi anyways.! Sad to say I don't have a yarn in my stash for it yet. Decisions, decisions: yarn shop here I come!

A Knit-a-long, I'm So Far Behind I'll Never Knit Up!

Had the yarn and needles all ready to go. A couple of extra skeins as I was still torn between a hoodie or the Heather Hoodie Vest. Then I found out that Knitting Daily was having a Knit-a-Long (KAL) of the Heather Hoodie Vest. Decision made, I'm going with the Vest!

I found out that the KAL had already started. Yikes! Let's see:

January 11 - January 25: We were supposed to make a gauge swatch and knit the back of the sweater. (I had cast on February 1st.)

January 25 -February 15: Cast on and knit the fronts. (hey, wait I'm still working on the back)

February 15 - February 22: Knit the hood and the front and sleeve bands. (I'm headed to Kansas for a few days...finally got the back done and the left front cast on - I'll pick it back up when I get home)

February 22 - March 1: Finish the sweater and post pics....(I will still be knitting).

While many others are staying on schedule, I'll be knitting when I can but like I said...I'll never "Knit" up! With baby goats being born, bringing in some new angoras and an alpaca and a new llama, I'll be lucky if I get done by April Fool's Day!

Hand me that needle, I have to knit like crazy!

New Year, New Resolutions - NOT!

Doesn't time fly by when you are doing other things than blogging?

A new year: time for reflection, dreaming, goal setting and making changes. Not me! I don't due the resolution thing. Setting myself up for more stress, frustration and possible failure. Why even bother? Okay, maybe a few modifications would be fine.

Enter my yarn stash. It's small by many standards. Just stash looking on Ravelry proves that there are many stashes much larger than mine!!!!

Back to the stash; it was in great need of a new storing system. Clear zipper bags, extra-large to small where I could see all the yarn all the time seemed to work. It actually lulled me into a false sense of organization. I started dumping partial skeins of yarn in one bag, of course the end result was one too many yarn searches and it became a tangled mess. The rest of the skeins looked at me from the shelves (one unit by-the-way) calling, wanting to be made into something. The skeins were bought for a project and I would just place them in any bag that was handy. The day after Christmas, I had had it with the storage system.

I attacked the stash, grabbing boxes with lids, setting them on the floor, table, where ever there was space. Grabbed the 1st bag, playing "basketball" sorting the yarns by type, cotton, wool, acrylic and a few weird novelity yarns. Grabbed a marker and labeled what was in each box. Then up on a shelf the boxes went!

The mixed up bag I brought downstairs and untangled all the yarn and placed it in yet another box. This box is full of all the acrylic yarns, made into balls and ready for a toy making binge. Amigurumi - crochet or knit - I swing both ways!

The result? I feel more organized then ever. I know what is where and can grab the next project in seconds. It's funny how hiding the yarn in cardboard boxes resulted in a more peaceful stash.
I don't walk into my office/craft room and feel overwhelmed with all the clear bags and yarn, the boxes are perfect! Funny - I had to hide the stash to be more productive - who knew.

So, I guess that's my knitting resolution: reorganizing the stash and knitting box by box!