Crafting Retreat 2011

Knit Along yarn

Beginning of October was the annual crafting retreat with Mom, Charlene and Rosie.  We wanted to have a longer retreat this year so started things on Wednesday.  Our first stop was at Herrschner's on the way up.  Didn't find much that tempted me but did find an adorable stamp for making cards.

insert picture of stamp

We arrived at our cabin around mid afternoon, while the cabin was nice, wasn't quite what we wanted as it wasn't right close to the water though you could see it (what a bunch of ingrates!).  After we got our gear in the cabin we went to St. Germaine to buy our groceries.  After dinner, we spent the evening working on our projects and watching a movie.

Charlene reading the paper

Thursday was really low key, for the most part.  During the day we watched movies, I went to Sutter's Goldn' Fleece for a little shopping.  Pictured is one of the yarns that I purchased.  It is for a knit along the store is participating in run by Knit Purl Hunter. January will be the start of the third knit along and I haven't even started the project for this yarn, guess I better get cracking on these projects!!

After lunch we went for a work down to the end of our lane to explore a bit.  Charlene had promised to bring back some leaves for one of her coworkers so we had fun looking for different leaves.

Mid afternoon we lost our electricity due to high winds.  Apparently out in the backwoods when the wind is really gusty power outages are common.  Thankfully we had a fireplace in our cabin though we never got a good blaze going that first night as the wood was damp from the drizzle that had been going on and off during the day (hmm note to self always bring in wood when you have a fireplace).  Very glad we had some heat from the fireplace and plenty of layers of clothes/blankets. Mom, Rosie and I slept in the living room tending to the fire during the night and Charlene was bundled under blankets.

Great source of heat if you have dry wood!

Friday morning we still didn't have power but this was fine as this was our planned exploring day.  Before heading out for breakfast, we brought in wood just in case the power didn't come back on while we were out.  The hope was maybe the wood could dry up a little (or at least wouldn't be in the damp pile outside).  Once this was accomplished, we started off with breakfast at a local diner that was super busy.  Which was easily understood as the food was very tasty!  We then went to Eagle River to pick up a distant cousin of my Dad's who had lived most of her live up in the Eagle River (believe she is in her late 80's).  As Mary does't walk that well, we drove enjoying the fall colors and her showing us different places she had lived/places she thought were interesting.

After our day visiting with Mary, we went back to the cabin.  Thankfully the power was back on so we had constant heat from the furnace instead of having to worry about our fire making efforts.  But wouldn't you know it, now when we didn't need the fire we were suddenly a bunch of pyromaniacs (or maybe it had something to do with the wood being inside instead of the damp cold outside?)

Mom working on her plastic canvas

Saturday morning was spent working on our projects out on the deck.  After lunch, we went into St. Germaine for a little shopping (not many shops) and some ice cream.  The evening was spent watching movies and working on our projects.  Before going to bed, Mom and I rearranged the furniture in the living room.  We had done a little rearranging when the electricity went out so we could share the lantern/be closer to the fireplace.  We had liked the coziness of this that we never changed it; hopefully we put things back in their correct spots.

Didn't take very long to clean up things and get the van loaded for the return trip home.  All in all a very lovely retreat once again.

Rosie checking the outdoors

Completed Christmas Gift!!

It's not much but it is part my brother and sister-in-law's Christmas gift.  What do you think??

Fiber Event Catch Up #2: Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival

Last year was my first time attending Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival and this year went in for the full effect.  Things started before the actual event as I signed up for two classes (Thrum Mittens and weaving on rigid heddle loom), signed up for the Ravelry Unwind party, and planned on camping at the event.  Since it had been a while since we (my Mom was my camping buddy) had camped, thought it would be a good idea to get out our camping gear and make sure we had everything/knew how to put things together.  While we didn't set up the tent, we did set up my cot (a monstrous thing from Cabela's) and made sure we had all the parts for Mom's air mattress (it's this really nice high one).

Friday we started off with breakfast at McDonald's, a traveling tradition for us and since we thought we had time actually dined in instead of doing drive through.  As we were leaving, we saw my Mom's sister so we sat and talked for a bit until my Uncle came back from dropping off their car for an oil change (or something).  We then continued on to Jefferson, picked up or campsite post and picked out our spot.  Having only camped in state parks, how Jefferson Fairgrounds did things seemed very loose.  They have a general area for people to camp with the only restriction is that the areas near electric plug-ins were for those who paid extra.  After a bit of debate on how to set up the tent, we got everything arranged in camp and had a quick lunch and then I was off to class. But wait I had forgotten to bring yarn for class, so I stopped at Mo's booth (owned by one of the owners of The Cat and Crow and her sheep/yarn business if called Four Crow's) and bought some handspun for class.  We won't discuss how I was cutting it super close on getting to class on time or maybe it was fashionably late?

Once at class, quickly realized that I missed the part about your yarn needing to be in two balls if you wanted to do two mittens at once so I purchased a kit from Liz (class was taught by Liz Sutter of Sutter's Goldn' Fleece fame).  Had a great time learning the technique and while I know they are going to be extremely warm mittens, I need to sit down and work on them and finish them soon!  After class I did do a bit of shopping as I wanted to get some yarn from Sun Valley Fibers that I have been lusting after.  Last year by the time I made it back around they had sold out of it and same story when they were a vendor at knitting guild.  Was able to pickup two skeins of the Oriole colorway.  Oriole is this wonderful black and orange yarn that is a great color combo for someone who counts Halloween as one of her favorite holidays and school colors were black and orange.  The plan is to make Stephen West's Daybreak with this yarn (picked up the contrasting color called Kent from Sun Valley as well).

Mom and I planned on eating all of our meals at either the vendors on the fairgrounds or going to restaurants so we didn't have to lug around ALL the camping gear, trust me we had more than enough as we do not pack lightly!  Supper was at a bar that served pizza.  While the pizza was good, the bar was a bit noisy as there were young kids running around amok and doing things like spilling their soda on the pool table.  Once back to the peace and quiet of our campsite we worked on our respective projects, Mom plastic canvas and me the mittens (never did touch my other projects the entire weekend).

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the activity center and then on to shopping.  Did I mention that we/I tend to overpack?  Well I brought along my backpack and after one vendor asked me to please take off my pack as I was bumping into things, Mom held onto my pack when I went in a booth until I found the green bag in the right hand corner of the picture.  It is the perfect project bag holding the yarn necessary for a smaller project like a scarf or mitten (though with my two different skeins of yarn for the thrummed mittens plus roving it did get a little tight in there).  Missing from the picture of my purchases is some Miss Bab's yarn that goes with the yarn in the center of the photo.  I'm going to make a tweed jacket with the two yarns.

Things are fuzzy (it has been over two months) but I do know that we were at the Miss Bab's booth, LOVE her colors, when Erica and Branden caught up with us.  They had come up from Chicago and set up camp next to us.  We had a bit to eat and then I went to Mo's booth to help her family while she was teaching a class.  Think Mom hung out by the food vendors waiting for our friend Walker.  He had planned on arriving earlier but his house guests were slow starters so that delayed his morning. Walker and Mom spent time together while I tended booth but when things slowed down at the booth, I was able to catch up with Walker & Mom (who had been watching the auction) and Erica & Branden (who did shopping), for sundaes.

I had registered Mom and I to attend the Ravelry Unwind party long before I knew that Erica and Branden would be camping by us and since our supper was paid, we put in an appearance.  I think we were one of the firsts to leave but as it was crowded and loud in there, I for one didn't feel too badly leaving.  We spent the remainder of the night having an enjoyable time talking with Erica and Branden and leaning about geocaching from Branden.  

  

Sunday was taken up with the weaving class and me taking down the tent after class.  Dad had come to pick up Mom so they could attend an annual picnic that his job hosts every year.  I know I know not very chatty but figured I've bored you enough with the details of the weekend so I will leave you with a pictures of my weaving.

Fiber Event Catch Up #1: Stitches Midwest

Since I last wrote, there have been several fiber events that I've gone to. The first being Stitches Midwest. The easiest way for me to give non-knitters an idea about the size and hype of Stitches is in sporting terms. I would equate Stitches to either a playoff game or the world series/super bowl (leaning towards the latter).

My friend Erica and her husband, Branden, moved to Maywood (Chicago suburb) in July and she invited me to their place as their new home was only 40 minutes away from where Stitches Midwest was being held.

I drove down Friday night and was at their place around 9 pm. After a tour of their house, we had tea and knitted for a bit before going to bed. Saturday morning we had breakfast of frittata which I'd never had before but really liked! We then went to a farmers market in Oak Park which was way smaller than Madison's, made a quick stop back at the house to drop off goodies from the market and Erica to make something for her lunch and we were on our way.

After one wrong turn, we knew we were heading in the right direction when we saw this.

Once inside there were rows and rows of vendors.  Erica's method for such events is to tour the entire show making notes and then going back to select booths to make purchases.  I really like this method because you never know what the next booth or row will be and there is less chance of buyer's remorse. We made it almost way through but I needed a break due to low blood sugar so around 1 pm (or it could have been later), we stopped and had lunch.  Continued on after lunch and I did pretty well budget-wise until I made my purchase at Miss Bab's (but I'll go into that a bit later).  Here are my purchases, not including the BIG red hat I had to purchased to protect my delicate skin (part of the curse being of Anglo-Saxen descent with red hair) and the shawl kit I purchased from Just Our Yarn.

The green yarn (Miss Bab's color way Spearmint Tea) in the upper lefthand corner is going to become the A-line cardigan from Cabin Fever (pictured).  Also from Miss Bab's was the green and black yarn (Franken Sock), the orange (French Marigold), and the purple/green/orange (Ghoul Friend).

After Stitches, we went back to Erica's, knit/spin/had supper (I highly recommend Trader Joe's pizza crust - its already made up just have to roll/push it into shape), maybe not in that order but after two months you can understand why the details may be a little fuzzy.

Sunday was breakfast of homemade gluten free muffins that Erica made (delicious!) and more spinning though if memory serves, Erica had fiber that she was carding.  I made progress with my drop spindle. Enough so that my spindle is no longer in danger of rolling out the of the basket, it now has a place to nest in my spinning basket. My departure was delayed as I had a try at Erica's spinning wheel.  'm definitely going to work on my drafting and at some point I would like to try out more wheels so I can get a wheel of my own.  But first I have to complete a few dozen projects to make room for a wheel!

Moving on

Mid July saw my parents moving to a 55+ apartment (which they are loving) and my elder brother and I are renting their house with plans on purchasing the house if everyone likes the new living arrangement.  The week that my parents moved out was the hottest week (hopefully of the summer) and it was not so much fun. 

Earlier this week, had the realization that I may need to down size my craft belongings since my stuff will be living downstairs in the main part of the house and there are no lovely closets to stash things.  Currently have my yarn stashed in two chests plus one flat tote underneath the futon all in the living room, two cupboards in the dining room and in plastic totes underneath my bed (mind you there is still enough room for Rosie to hide out underneath the bed).  Still need to move down all the beading, sewing, stamping and scrapbooking supplies. 

While showing my cousin, who is an art teacher, my "new" living space, I asked her if she could use certain items from my crafting supplies.  She was very receptive to taking anything so there will be some purging of supplies going on over the next month or so and then I'll have her over to "shop" for things. 

This move has me seriously examining the items that I purchase and bring into the house because no matter how many bookcases, cupboards, etc you install it is nothing like a closet and if you don't have that space you need to either get very creative in how you store things, reduce what you purchase, use what you have, give some things up or in my case a combination of all of these!

The one that got away

Almost two months since my last post but I have written posts just never published them.  Here is my July 4th post...

Last weekend thought I had made headway on the Audubon shrug for my Mom (for me if it is too big for her).  It was rather nice outside so I was knitting out on the deck Sunday morning and had finished the first section of the back, and was ready to start sleeve one.  All I did was put the needle down on the metal table (prior to casting on) to do something and it slide off the table, down to the deck and poof! Went directly through a crack between two boards!!

Didn't mind so much loosing the needle, what I minded was that I had neglected to note what size needle I used to obtain gauge and had no clue so guessed that it was the size 7 the pattern called for (why I would think that have no clue as I NEVER use the needle size that patterns call for, my gauge is way different).

Well guess what?  Tuesday night was feeling the fabric of the back and comparing it to the sleeve.  That's right,  it wasn't a size 7 that fell through the crack.  Ripped out the sleeve (was almost to the 2nd increase) and restarted it using an 8 and will see how that feels.

In the meantime, if you want a free Addi Turbo probable size 8 US, all you have to do is figure out how to retrieve it (without removing any boards from the deck)!!

Happy Father's Day!

Today we (Dad, Mom & oldest brother) celebrated Father's Day by cleaning out the refrigerator in the office, had lunch at Outback, did a little shopping at Shopko, and then helped my brother move some boxes from his place to our garage.

After that, Rosie's swimming pool was brought out for a little "swimming" (it's a small kiddie swimming pool but I'm thinking of upgrading to a larger one).  Mom and I soaked our feet and for some reason, Rosie didn't want to go into the pool but since she has no qualms about going into the duck/goose swimming pool at the Chicken Ranch (our friend's farm) or the river at the dog park, I don't think it was because of our stinky feet.

So while Rosie was lounging around on the deck, Mom and I worked on projects.  Mom worked on an organizational project and I worked on the second hat for Mauricio (which would be his first now, right?).  It isn't as intricate as the Herringbone Tweed (though I will take another stab at the Herringbone at a later date) so there is a pretty good chance this hat will be completed early this week.  Would have stayed outside longer but it felt like it was sprinkling so we packed things up and went inside.

Sometime while I was folding the fabric I washed yesterday and vacuuming, it rained which may have put a damper on the next item on my to-do list but the porch was relatively dry, though it was extremely humid outside.  So while the light was still good, I took pictures of the most recent stash acquisitions and hope to have everything posted on Ravelry and put away sometime later this week.

After supper, registered for two classes at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in September.  First class is Friday afternoon and the second is an all day class on Sunday. There were more classes that I would like to sign up but want to leave Saturday free so I can go shopping with friends and hang out with Mom who will be camping with me that weekend at the festival.

That's enough of this, now back to Lord of the Rings and knitting.

Happy Father's Day to All!

And the right hand is holding?

Last week I had made significant headway (snicker) on Mauricio's hat.  On Thursday, there were five of seven repeats completed and the biggest concern I had was if there would be enough yarn remaining.  There was a second skein of the green on hold at yarn shop in case this happened but as it turned out there was enough (for this particular hat).

Can you see where I changed hands with the green/brown?

This is the first two-stranded knitting that I have done and have learned why it is important to keep track which color is in which hand (and the importance of doing your gauge swatch in the color work AND making sure the gauge/final desired outcome coincide).  I am doing color work with the double knit mittens, that are currently off in UFO-land, but they don't count in my head since they seem to be a different type of critter.

When I started the hat, must have held the brown in my right hand and the green in my left. Two weeks ago while at The Cat and Crow, I switched to green in my right and brown in my left.  It is not so visible to the untrained eye (at least I hope so) from the front, but when Rebecca turned the hat inside out it became obvious that I had changed gears.  Had asked her to look at my stranding as I was worried I may be knitting too tightly, which I'm not.

If you look closely at the first picture, you can tell where I switched colors which has given me a very good knitting tip to pass on to you.  When doing a color piece, swatch a portion, making note which color is in which hand, and then switch. This way you can see if the appearance of the item will be altered any.  When I look at the hat, the brown yarn in right-hand appears more subdued and the right-hand held green pops more. 

Last Friday was my last Furlough day and I had hoped to complete the hat then. Unfortunately ran into some issues with loosing track of where I was on the charts so had a major visit to the Frog Pond not once but twice over the weekend.  Had most of the hat completed Wednesday night before leaving The Cat and Crow (didn't go Tuesday as had a belated pedicure and haircut - short hair requires constant cuts). Stayed up until the wee hours (okay was done by midnight but it felt like the wee hours since I was extremely tired and wanted to go to bed) and finished the knitting.  I left the yarns attached and ran a safety pin through the live stitches as I wanted to see how it fit Mauricio and THIS is how it fitted.

To quote Charlier Brown "Aarrgh!!" While I did have gauge with plain stockinette (like the pattern called for), this again shows why you should do your gauge swatch in the actual color work so you know how much it will suck up and you can compensate accordingly.  Will weave in the ends, and with any luck, blocking will make it big enough to fit either an adult with an extremely small head or a child.  Regardless of who receives the hat, I still need to make a hat to fit Mauricio's noggin (must remember to bring tape measure to work on Monday).  After I have his head dimension, will peruse the stash and see what I can turn up for Mauricio's Hat v2.0.

FO to report!

The FO (finished object) I have to report is the baby afghan I was working on.  At work, we refer to the folks who work in our immediate area as our office family (let's face it, the people you work with are like family, at least you see them more than your own family.  The shower was for a new office family member and on Saturday, was the shower for her and her partner.  The ladies received a lot of really nice things for the baby and more importantly, to me at least, I think they both liked my afghan.

While I hate working against a deadline (did I forget to mention that the afghan was finished with a day to spare, not bad eh?!?), I have two more projects with a deadline. The first is a hat for guy at work who is leaving at the end of June (such is academia). The next project is for my cousin who has commissioned me to make an afghan for his daughter who is moving away from home. The afghan will have an intarsia center, using a picture of their dog who is similar in appearance to Zeus pictured here. Surrounding the center will be a double crochet border.

Well need to get cracking on the hat so bye for now!

Dog Sitting & Knitting

House/Dog sitting for friends who are on vacation in Hawaii.  I only brought one project, the Lace Sampler Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits.  The reason for one project is that its for a baby shower at the end of the month.

Did some calculations on the number of rows in the project and I need to complete 74.25 per week, ending on Saturdays, because lets face it, you know I'll be probably be working on this up till the very start of the shower. Here is my progress so far.

Have 4 repeats done which puts me behind for Week 2 by 40.07 rows.  Should be able to make significant headway on this as I have today off and working on the blanket and listening to podcasts.  I'm currently 2 episodes behind on KnitCents, all caught up on Cast On and I'm now listening to the Knitmore Girls.  This one will take a while to get caught up on as I'm just starting to listen to it and currently on Episode 30 out of 149.

Going to go grab my shawl (think I'm coming down with a cold), a little more to drink, and settle back in for more knitting.  Here are some pictures of the dogs and kids (I don't have to take care of the outdoor critters but its fun to check them out).

Thumbless Mitten: Part 2 and Steel Hooks

Back on September 22, I posted about my thumbless mittens. Well today, I don't have a thumbless mitten but it soon will be! Was walking to my car after work and I always keep my thumb wrapped around the strap of my bag. Today I felt more bag and less mitten with my thumb.

The thumb is at the top of my to do list AFTER I liberate my size 6 lace needle from the cowl that has been patiently waiting to be bound off with beads. The size 6 is one of the needle sizes recommended for lace knitting class I'm taking tomorrow night (I know, I know how long have I known about the class??).  Last night went looking for a small steel crochet to get the beads onto the knitting but alas all of mine have gone on walkabout.

I'm trying to keep my money local by purchasing items from local businesses when possible and avoiding box stores. I called around to knitting shops I could make it to before they closed, but unfortunately they didn't have any small enough hooks.  Called Hobby Lobby and yes they had it but as I was hanging up with them, I recalled Wisconsin Craft Market. For those not familiar with Madison area, WCM is a locally owned craft store. Not only did I find the steel hook, also found the same yarn the mitten is made out of (yarn was included in class and don't remember if there was any left and if there was, where I stashed it), blocking mats and two pattern books PLUS if you check out their website they usually have a coupon.  Today's coupon was 25% everything excluding orange tagged items (which the yarn was), not bad, huh?

The first book was Perfectly Plus: featuring the knit-to-fit workbook for the full-figured woman and the other was Plus Size Fashions. While I know there is more to me, I really wish folks wouldn't single out one demographic based on their size. Do you see any books entitled Fashions for Anorexics and Waifs? How about a title of Fashions for Real Women? This would be more statistically accurate, at least in the U.S.

Day Seven: Your knitting and crochet time

Today is the last day of the daily blogging and having daily topics has been very helpful.  My hat is off to those who do this on a daily basis as I found it challenging to get things in every day.    If I were to do this on my own, chances are very strong that I would loose my one follower.

Knitting time is divided into three distinct times.  At home, at work and at a knit shop.  When I am knitting at home, it is usually for a couple of hours on the weekend and would like to do a couple of hours during the week but there is usually something else I'm trying to get done or going to.

To give you an idea of my environment, look at the pictures from last Saturday and Day 3.  There is the work basket at the foot of the daybed.  Next to that is my chair.  The chair was purchased at Good Will and it looks like the type of chair you would have found as a visitor chair in an office about 20 years ago.  Nothing glamorous and I really need to made a cushion for it but knowing me, if it was cushy like a chair you would expect to find in someones living room, I would probably fall asleep and no knitting would get done.

In front of the chair is a TV tray that has an Ott light and usually my iPad which contains patterns and current books I'm listening to while I knit.  There is a TV/DVD in the room and I occasionally watch movies but if I watch a movie, my attention falters as I get into the movie and not my knitting.  Listening to books or podcasts enables my mind to form the pictures of the surroundings and watch my knitting.

At work, I knit during lunch.  Monday through Thursday, how much knitting I get done during lunch depends on whether or not I eat at my desk or go to the cafeteria, whether or not I brought a lunch or have to get something from the cafeteria and if I eat lunch at my desk how many times people walk up and ask questions (even though they can clearly see you are at lunch).  I'm trying to get away from my desk more for lunch and if I do stay at my desk, have resolved not to answer the phone.

Friday is the big knitting day at work as I take an hour and I get together with other knitters I met at Guild (Hi Erica and Mary).  Due to the longer lunch on Friday, I'm able to get in a solid 30 minutes of knitting time which makes up for the other four days.

Last there is the knit shop knitting.  I'm trying to go to one shop on Tuesdays and the other on Wednesdays but sadly enough, it seems like there is always something going on that makes this difficult to do on a weekly basis.  When I'm at either one, there is a fair amount of knitting that I get done, and perhaps some stash enhancement, but this will need to be curtailed if I ever want to save money and not have a room that is so well insulated with wool, that I'm roasting in the winter.

Day Six: Something to aspire to

Sorry was so busy getting things done yesterday that I forgot to blog.  Made a deal with myself that if I made my card for the shoebox swap had with my Mom, Aunt and cousins, posted the printer I would like to sell on Craigslist and posted the remainder of the yarn that I took photos of earlier in the week on Ravelry, I could go to Lakeside Fibers.  

LF is the first yarn shop I started going to when I learned how to knit.  Over the years it has changed appearance and ownership, but it is still a cool yarn shop.  Yesterday they had a book signing for Sheryl Theis' new book Get Hooked on Tunisian Crochet.  Tunisian crochet, also known as afghan crochet, is a cross between crochet and knitting.  Previously I have made a rug and mat though the mat has a "few" ends to be woven in and is on my short to do list as a project to complete this year. 

A year or so ago in a fit of organizing and downsizing, I gave to charity all of my Tunisian hooks and books so now I'm going to start all over with the supplies.  Part of me is sad about this because of spending money on things I had in the past.  But a bigger part of me is happy because there are now some really yummy looking hooks and the books now have things like hats, bags, sweaters, shawls, and oh yeah afghans and mats, but definitely much different than 15 years ago when I made my two projects.  So this is definitely something that I will give a whirl this year.  

Something else I would like to learn in the next year would be darning.  I currently have four pairs of socks and two of them are awaiting darning and a third is close to needing a little TLC.  There are techniques a plenty that I would like to learn but darning would be darn useful to know :)

Day Five: And now for something completely different!

Day Four: Where are they now?

This was the topic I seriously considered using the wild card on but will give it a try.  Have no particular projects to mention but rather what my family has done with the knitted offerings they have received over the years.

Let's start with my Dad. Dad does not do sweaters, mittens, handknit socks, scarves. the only thing I can make for him that he would wear are hats. He likes the hats I wear but he says it has to be super cold as they are so much warmer than a store bought hat. Maybe the adage about handknits are made with love and keep you warmer is true (but seeing as how is bald and I try to use really soft yarns not sure if I am buying the too warm story).

Mom, Mom pretty much loves anything I knit for her.  I have knitted her a hat which she loves (though it could be a tad bit longer, so much for making to the directions and not having the wearer try it on).  Last fall she gave me a request for purple socks which was great but rather disappointing as I had picked up some really cool red, white and blue yarn at the WI Sheep & Wool Festival a few days before.  But I made up for it, even though she doesn't know it and found a really cool purple sock yarn.  She luvs the knit socks in the winter, especially this winter as her feet have been colder, so I plan on giving her at least one pair for her birthday - good thing it is not until July.  She is also patiently waiting for a pair of double knit mittens that were started about 3-4 Christmas's ago and I really should get done this summer and give to her when we go on our 2011 fall crafting retreat.

Then there is my older brother Mike.  Mike is a wonderful guy to have come along with you when you are shopping for things as he really likes to shop and unlike our other brother, he can actually render excellent advice about why to use one item over another and color choices.  Case in point, Mike helped me pick out the yarn for my first cardigan (pink and black) which turned out very nicely for a first sweater.  When I lived with baby brother, I once made the mistake to ask him if what I was wearing looked ok/matched and lets just say lesson learned.  Mike has been patiently waiting for a vest and a cardigan for... well lets not talk about how long.  The yarn for the cardigan, I think its the cardigan but it could be the vest, is finally in the yarn basket.  I am going on the record here that I WILL HAVE the garment done for Christmas 2011 (please nudge me every once in a while to see how its coming along). Mike also loves handknit socks but they are not so fun to knit for him as he likes them really long aka knee high.  Though I did buy the kilt hose book with the express thought of knitting him a pair...

Now to my baby brother, Donny.  Excluding the socks I have given Donny, anything I given or his family, I have no idea what they've done with things or if it was given away.  With the socks, per his wife Michelle, Donny takes meticulous care of them and makes sure to lay them out flat to dry.  They have been gifted with various items i.e. scarves, sweater, shawl and there has never been a sighting on my part.  Oh well I will continue to make them things as that is what I prefer to give and if they don't like it then maybe they should put in a request so I make something they do want/would like.

Day Three: Tidy Mind, tidy stitches

This blog started as a method for me to be "honest" about my WIP, UFO, wishlist etc.  Don't think I have achieved any of these quite yet as I know there are UFOs and WIPs that are not on the sidebar.  But let me share what I do in terms of attempting to be organized.

First there is Ravelry (if you want to look me up, my user name is Knitasnoopy).  On Ravelry, I am attempting to keep my yarn stash and library up-to-date.  As I find patterns that I like, I add tags so they can, hopefully, be found easily.  Keeping the projects up-to-date is a current weakness but I believe my notebook (will talk about this in a bit) should be able to assist me if I ever get my act together and log projects on Ravelry.

Besides Ravelry, I keep a notebook that travels with the current project I'm working on (no Rosie is not always my book stand).  It is not too big and contains everything I need to know about the current project I'm working on i.e. pattern, yarn label & sample, needles used, notes about the project.  In the back of it I am also keeping business cards for various yarn shops that I stop at during my travels.

Next I have my knitting area in my bedroom.  In this cozy little space, I have a large work basket that was purchased last fall when we went up for the crafting weekend.  In it I keep UFOs, some yarn that I would like to start knitting on soon and the extra balls of yarn for projects I'm actively working on.  It is amazing how much this can hold and how much more room there is after you complete an afghan!

Didn't take a photo of the yarn stash as it can be seen in the photo from Saturday, when I reorganized the yarn stash and readjusted the books in my library as things were getting a bit tight.  My Dad made the awesome bookshelf that houses the majority of my library.  It was purposefully made narrow for two reasons.  First we were concerned that my books would really weigh a lot and over time put too much stress on the shelves (which is why they are thick and not simple sheets of something).  Second, as it was a custom job it was made to fit exactly in the space I had at the time.

All in all, don't think I do too badly in keeping things organized.  I actually enjoy organizing things and think others may agree somewhat with this.  Wonder if I could make this into a business?

Day Two: Skill +1UP

Can't say that I have challenged myself greatly in the past year until recently.  Last fall I took a moebius cowl with beads and a separate beading class that went over the different methods and when you would most likely want to use each method.  So far this year I have taken a drop spindle class and sweater design class.  On Tuesday, I'm taking a lace class and in a couple of weeks all of the Sally Melville classes.   Up until these classes probably the last time I took an official class was the toe up sock class.  Guess I'm making up for lost time?


To review some of my prior projects that were difficult.  

• I did an entrelac shawl and found several more entrelac projects I would like to do.  Though the next entrelac project, I will try my hand at reverse knitting (as opposed to turning the work back and forth constantly).  
• Currently working on two different cable projects (Every Way Wrap and sweater design class project).  Let me tell you knitting one day on one cable project and then the next switching to the other can confuse your mind!  Almost started doing the shawl cabling on the sweater.
• Two toe up socks at the same time.  Enjoyed how once you finished, you were done.  Only downfalls were having the two strands of yarn going at the same time and them twisting up and depending on how you worked your yarn, you either work from the center and the outside or guestimate where half of the skein would be and hope that you come up somewhat even.
• Have a pair of double knit mittens on the needles and I really would like to finish for next winter to give to Mom. Then I can start my own double knit mittens and have toasty warm fingers!
• The mobius cowl had a very interesting cast on (look up the Cat Bordhi moebius cast-on on Youtube) and definitely would like to do more of these.  Thinking would make a great gift for friends and family.

Goals for techniques/projects I would like to do in the next year are: 

1. Steeking
2. Fair Isle
3. Intarsia
4. Knit backwards
5. Master Norwegian purl
6. Tunisian crochet - did some long time ago see pumpkin mat from crafting retreat weekend

If I give a try at all of these techniques this year I will be doing very well indeed.  What sort of projects would you like to try this year?

Day One: A Tale of Two Yarns

Today's topic is pick two yarns that I have either used or are in my stash or which I yearn after and capture what it is I love or loathe about them.


This one is rather easy. I loath single ply yarns due to the fact that at lower weights (lower meaning anything below a super bulky) I tug, pull, whatever on the yarn too tightly and end up pulling it apart which causes excessive end weaving at the end of the project. The exception to this would have to be super bulky yarn that I knitted my green jacket with. That stuff was awesome! Lets hear it for Cascade Magnum!!


There are many yarns that I love but in the process of organizing my stash this past weekend, I realized that I have 3 skeins of Malabrigo and Prism that have very similar shading of purples with hints of green (note just a hint of green not primarily green) that I had purchased at 3 different shops/venues since November. What drew me to all of them was the colors and how incredibly soft the yarn is. 


To put it succinctly, what I love about a particular yarn is the color and then how it feels.  I have found that I have become a very tactile person both with fibers and with most things in life.  Wonder if this is true for all people who work with fiber and various other mediums?  


Until tomorrow...

Two Posts in One Day!!

Just before shutting down the computer checked the other blogs I read and Renee had a post about Knitting & Crochet Blog Week.  She got this from Eskimimi Knits.
I'm game for a challenge (maybe it will improve my skills).  My cousin Rachel is now on year 2 of a photo a day.  She has some really unique and creative photos that I use for my screen saver at work.  Anyway here are the details....


Day One: Monday, 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns

Part of any fiber enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

Tips: It is a good idea, if possible, to choose a yarn that you adore and a yarn that just didn’t work for you. You do not need to be critical of any yarn if you do not feel comfortable in doing so, but perhaps you came to realize that one yarn wasn’t suitable for a particular project, if possible you could blog about what you have come to learn about choosing the right yarn, or your love of experimenting with fibers.

Day Two: Tuesday, 29th March. Skill + 1UP
Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Tips: Don’t be abashed at admitting your own skill and progress. If possible, include pictures of projects that you gained new skills from.

Day Three: Wednesday, 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches
How do you keep your yarn wrangling organized? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organization exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organized at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organized, blog about an aspect of that organization process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organized stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

Tips: Many people use their blogs partly as an organizational tool – logging and cataloging projects and newly attained skills, projects and modifications. Did you bare this in mind when you began blogging?

Day Four: Thursday, 31st March. Where are they now?
Whatever happened to your __________?
Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.

How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which the then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the was in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support.

Tips: This topic is similar to one we used for the first Knitting and Crochet blog week. This is purposeful and is intended to help the blogger to reflect on past items and refer back to previous posts and projects once in a while.

Day Five: Friday, 1st April. And now for something completely different
This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.

There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog. This can take one of many forms, but here a few suggestions:

• Wordless, photographic post
• Video blog post
• Podcast
• Cartoon/sketch of an idea
• Write about a subject from a different perspective (for example, you could write about a day in the life of a knitted sock from the point of view of the sock).
• Interpretive modern dance (why does someone always suggest this?
• A poem or piece of rhyming verse
• Stop motion animation

Tips: The actual subject matter of the post might be quite dependent on the media method(s) you choose to use and as such there is no specific ‘topic’ to blog on. You could blog about a recently completed project, a knitting experience, a trip to the LYS or anything else that takes your fancy. The point behind this post is to get people thinking about using their blogs in different ways and pushing he boundaries of what they use their blogging platform for.

PS: Yes, it is April Fool’s Day, so have fun with the post.

Day six: Saturday, 2nd April. Something to aspire to
Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.

Tips: If you think you have learned all you ever want to in your craft then say so. Maybe you have been knitting for nearly 30 years and yet never learned to purl (many my think this is impossible, but I met a woman on the bus who told me exactly this once… Maybe she was following the E. Zimmerman school of thought to closely?).

Day seven: Sunday, 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time
Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

Tips: Last year we had a topic asking about the actual location of where you knit or craft, this is similar but not the same. Try and concentrate on all of the little aspects that make up your knitting time. Maybe you always head for for your Flaming Lips CD when taking on simple knitting but prefer a bit of Brahms when tackling more intricate work, or maybe you enjoy knitting with audiobooks or complete silence. Perhaps your crochet time is never complete without a cuddle from Tiddles the cat.

If you find yourself stumped by or otherwise unsuited to one of the above topics during Knitting and crochet blog week, you can choose to play the wild card.This alternative topic is provided to ensure that the blogger does not get stuck frustrated by blogging about something which is not appropriate to them.

Wildcard – Embellish the story
Embellishments come in all types and forms. Some are more than purely decorative and form a practical function – pretty buttons are as much part of holding a garment together as mere decoration, and some are just there to give a piece an extra ‘something’. Blog about an embellishment, be it a zipper, amigurumi eyes or applique patch which you are either saving to use or have in the past used to decorate a project with. Write about whether you are a very  minimalist kind of knitter with classic lines and timeless plain knits or whether you love all the bells and whistles or sticking sewing and otherwise attaching decoration to your pieces.

Use these topics and brief descriptions as a springboard for your posts and take them in whatever direction you fancy. If you are a Ravelry member and fancy chatting about what others are going to do to take part, then feel free to pop along to the Blog Hub group and find out what other folks are up to, or if you have any comments or questions please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below and I will be sure to get back to you ASAP.  Eskimimiknits

Updates

Since I last wrote, still haven't completed my brother and sister-in-law's hats but I have made progress on the sweater design class project (will try to get photo loaded next week).  Have to switch out the bag I keep it in as the current bag is getting crowded (made for smaller projects) and the sweater is my take every where project (probably the only good thing about living outside of a commuter bus area).  With the two swatches I did for this project, I decided to make all my swatches bigger and when have an adequate amount will make an afghan out of them.

In February, took a drop spindle class.  While I'm not ready to change my name to Spinasnoopy, think I could become addicted, but time will tell.  *Note to self see if can take a spinning (wheel) class at Sheep and Wool along with weaving class*.  Completed everything except weaving in the ties for hat I made for my first cousin once removed and FINALLY completed green afghan that Rosie is lying on or barely seen on bed below.

This weekend has been very productive organizationally.  Reorganized my yarn and while it is not all off of the floor (which has been my goal since inception of this blog and made more difficult by my ability to purchase yarns faster than I knit), I do feel better about where things are stashed.  Had an "a-ha!" moment when sitting on the floor Friday night.  I had taken the yarn out from underneath the day bed and was sorting out alpaca, super wash wool and hand wash, and lamenting over the fact that all my pretty Malabrigo, Koigu, Prism, etc was in the Piggly Wiggly bags (lime green bags in photo) and others that I use more often couldn't be seen/were difficult to get to.  I had just finished sorting things out and was cramming the bags back underneath the bed and looked up toward the open closet door and saw all of the acrylic and cotton yarns.  After so many years, it came to me, put these yarns under the bed and move the closet yarn to the chest and spill overs underneath the bed.  

Since it was rather late when this moment struck, reorganization had to wait till Saturday.  Knitting/crochet books also fell victim to reorganization, with the ones less frequently used (afghan/blanket books) moved to hallway bookshelf.

And yes, I actually did get some knitting done this weekend.  Have completed almost one repeat on green Every Way Wrap.  Taking me to almost having 11 of 16 repeats completed.  I so want to start another project but have way to many ongoing.  Have resolved that in 2011, I will:

1. Always have one afghan in the works (so I can use up the acrylic yarn).  No problem on this! Currently have two in the works, a flag and a whale intarsia along with the yo-yo afghan.  The yo-yo is going to take forever since it calls for a gazillion squares.
2. Weave in ends of projects for 1 hour each week.  This was how I managed to complete the green star afghan and have a feeling this is the only way the pumpkin mat will get done by end of September.
3. No purchasing e-books (which take time away from knitting and other crafts), until.... have to figure out what this part will be.  Probably some sort of reward for completing X number of projects whether it be knitting, crochet, beading, sewing, etc.  
4. Listen to books/participate in knit-alongs.  There are several groups on Ravelry that have interesting concepts (one is the project will always take 220 yards or less of yarn).  The 220 yard one will satisfy my wanting to start new projects, use my pretty yarns AND have gifts ready for Christmas or other occasions and the read-alongs will take care of the back log of started projects. 

Enough blogging for this week.  Now back to knitting for another hour or so.