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 :)