There I Go Again, Questioning my Own Sanity

There was at least twice over the past few days when I’ve questioned my sanity or specifically my knitting sanity. (I question my own real world sanity all the time. I think the fact that I am a little crazy makes me more charming and endearing.)

The first moment happened on Saturday and though I’ve hinted I’m not yet ready to share what lead to that. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it myself.

The second moment led to these. This tiny mitered squares are the beginning of the sock yarn afghan that I first wrote about many many months ago.

It also lead to the purchase of this little container from the Dollar Store, so that I have my sock ends in something cute and so they are easily accessible when the urge hits to work on the blanket.

I’m excited to finally have this on the needles and since I have no expectations of when it will be finished there’s no pressure. I can make squares whenever the urge strikes me and ignore it when I want. And, I don’t want to purchase any additional yarn for this project. Everything in this basket is ends from my own projects or ends that other knitters have shared with me. I realize that only using ends will increase how long the whole thing will take. But the frugal side of me is more than happy with that.
So I’ll update when things are moving along and if any of you do feel the urge to donate ends that are collecting dust I can assure you they will go to a good cause.

On My Needles & Between my Pages

On My Needles

This weekend coming is one of my favourite weekends of the year.  I get to hop in a car with some other knitters and we drive for a couple of hours out of the city and end up with a bunch of other knitters and we all sit around a knit and talk and eat and drink and knit.  We laugh a lot.  We knit a lot.  And since this little meet up is the brain child of Kim (a.k.a Indigodragonfly) she or more correctly her man brings up tons and tons or yarn and seasons of Buffy and whatever else 12 knitters in a huge “cabin” could need for the weekend.  And he’s close enough to be on call.

I am trying to be reasonable about the number of projects that come with me.  And I think I have it nailed down to three.  My flutter-by socks, the craziness that I cast on this weekend, (more about that tomorrow), and the Oeste by Stephen West.  For that one I will be using one of my skeins of “Now Accepting Application for Minions” and the two gorgeous skeins that were brought back for me when my BFF headed off to New Zealand last year.

 

I am hoping to get most of the socks and the scarf finished, but I do have this little tendency to be overly confident in my speed and knitting agility so I’ll just have to play that one by ear.

Between my pages

Not much of an update here.  Still reading the Worst Hard Time and have also started reading Purification, the third book in a zombie series that I started reading over the summer.  I would like to point out that my music library and my reading library have much in common.  Both are very diverse and a little eclectic..  Enjoying both books for different reasons and will post full reviews when they are finished.

For more great Wednesday stuff check out WIP Wednesday and the Yarn Along.

How Many Scarves Does One Person Need?

The other day I dropped into one of my Local Yarn Stores for a visit, and I was treated to being able to watch one of the gentlemen that is very active in the knitting community warping his new loom.  The loom is 12 inches wide and he had to use a good chunk of space in the store to warp it.  It’s also fully portable and folds down into something smaller than a lot of knitting bags that I have seen.  (I should have taken photos, but I was sort of mesmerized by the whole thing and it didn’t occur to me until after.)  It was fascinating and I asked a million questions and got a million answers.  I was told that a scarf made of lace weight would take about eight hours.  We can all agree that’s amazing.  I was invited to riffle through his bag to see his other scarf.  And it was beautiful and impressive and I loved it.  There was a quality about the whole exercise that reminded me of the meditative qualities of spinning and I realized very quickly that once the process of warping the loom was finished that it would be very peaceful and enjoyable to use and create with.

But here’s the one question I didn’t ask (although the woman who had been sitting beside me the whole time did lean over and very quietly ask me the question that I had been thinking of), which is how many scarves, table runners, and placemats does one person actually need?  I’m not trying to be sarcastic, I really don’t get it.

Knitting and crochet are very versatile.  Spinning creates something that you can knit, crochet, or even weave with.  But what does weaving create other than squares and rectangles of varying size?  And why would you buy a loom if that is all you can do with it?  I would love to rent a loom and try it out for a while because at some point I would get bored and the loom could be returned.  My hubby says I don’t understand because I don’t sew and that weaving creates fabric that can then be used for other things.  Is that what’s it’s for?  Do you then cut up your place-mats and table runners and use that fabric for other things?

I’m hoping that someone who reads this does in fact weave.  I am intrigued by the art form, but I just need a little more explanation please.

YOP Update Feb 19th

It’s been a very subdued week for finishes.  However, it doesn’t mean it’s been boring.  I have passed the half way mark in the socks that I am making for Nerd Wars and am hoping to have the heel on the second sock turned by the end of the day.  (The leg is mostly finished, so it’s not a huge stretch). Also, if I am very luck, I will also be able to finish the last few rows on my Arroway shawl.  (Though my shawl is lacking in the arrows, but that’s a comment for another blog post).  I’ve also decided to take a big step forward in becoming a better knitter. You’ll just have to bare with me for a few days.  I’m not quite ready to post about that yet as I don’t have all the details.

I did have a tiny hop off the wagon this week in the stash busting.  I was at one of my LYS’s and they had a great shade of blue in Hempathy that is perfect for the Angels have the Box dishcloth and a red cotton that I wanted for the maple leaf cloth I want to make.  So that’s two balls in,  but they will both get used up very soon.

Here’s my list and the Mr. Linky

 

WIPS:

• Clockwork (cast on June  &  part of the Knit-a-long of Doom) (Finished July 2011)
• Wallis Cardi (cast on August of last year)
• Rattlesnake Creek socks (cast on about 1 1/2 years ago)
• Noro Log Cabin Blanket (cast on in June & it’s Christmas Knitting)
• Toe Up Socks

Christmas:

• Super secret BFF gift (I know you read this.  No peeking, but you’ll like it.) (Finished Sept  2011)
• Super Secret Husband gift (He reads it too.) (Finished Dec 2011)
• Urbana  (Finished July 2011) (Dad)
• Podsters
• Saturday morning slippers x2 (FIL, mom)
• Minion (Teiff) (Finished October 2011)
• Gargoyle (Sean) (Finished October 2011))
• Strangling Vines scarf (Christine) (Finished Dec 2011)
• Windcheif hat (dad) (Finished November 2011)
• Cherie socks  (mom)(In Progress)
• AStericks (MIL) (Finished November 2011)
• Dog Chewie (Maggie) (Finished October 2011)
• Super Secret Little J gift (See first super secret gift.  That’s her mum.) (Finished Oct 2011)
• Kleenex covers x6 (Finished October)
• Algonquin (In Progress)
• Washcloth x2 ( I really thought I was finished with those!)  (Finished Sept 2011)

 

Shawls

• Flamboyan (Finished Jan 2012)
• Reunion Cowl (Finished Jan 2012)

Cardis

• Roam (In Progress)

Socks

• Lenore (The third) (Finished Dec 2011)
• Flaming Desire 
• Staked  
• Fishbone Gansey  (Part of the Knit-a-long of Doom) (Finished October 2011)
• Cut & Paste
• My Vampire Boyfriend (Part of Nerd Wars) (In Progress)
• Cauchy
• Masonic Lodge
• Flutter-by (In Progress)
• Aragorn
• Duckies  (Finished Aug 2011)

12 Shawls in 2012 (first 6)

• Herbivore
• Sharktooth (In Progress)
• Flavia (Finished Jan 2012)
• Stephen West Club shawl (January)
• Stephen West Club shawl (Feb)
• Walnut Grove

 Dishcloth Challenge (first 12)

• 5/12 complete

 

Newly added

• West Knits Mystery KAL (Finished Sept 2011)
• Julia
• Minion Army (Finished October 2011)
• Blue Whale shawl – replacement MIL Gift (Finished Dec 2011)

 

The running totals so far are:

22/46 complete

12/24  in progress

To try to have a better idea of what happens in my stash

Balls in/Balls out

0/11  (January)

2/2 (February)




That Didn’t Go Quite as Expected – A Dishcloth Update

Some of you may recall that last week I had stated that I had hoped to use up a good chunk of these ends to make a cute petal dishcloth. I knew that it was unlikely that I would get to the large end and that it was really there just for my piece of mind, since I was knitting outside the home and thus away from my stash. So I tossed all the ends in a bag and set off.

I settled in at my friend’s house and started knitting and a little while later I was finished this.

It is a successfully finished cloth with a little mistake.  I didn’t concern myself with the error as it is a cloth to use at home and it will serve it’s purpose.  But, the really observant among you will notice something.  The cloth is only two colours!  Those ends were a little bigger than I thought they were.  So this one is a partial success.  The cloth is finished.  The ends, not so much, and I will still have to find a way to get rid of them.  I guess it means looking up more patterns.

On My Needles & Between my Pages Feb 15, 2012

On my Needles

So I skipped last weeks post as  I realized it was going to read something like, “if you want to know what’s going on, here’s my post from the week before.”  It’s not that progress hadn’t been made, it’s just that not much had really changed.  This week I am pleased to say that the first half of the Algonquin scarf is finished.  Through there were moments when I felt like a turtle stoned on Valium would be able to knit this scarf faster than I could, it did eventually hit that magical sweet spot where I stopped arguing with every row and real progress was made.  I have also stopped referring to it as the “insert whatever nasty words you can think of here (and maybe make up a few new ones) scarf” enjoyed knitting it.  The second half has not yet been cast on as I got side tracked by my Flutter-by socks.  But, I know that a few days of a break will actually make the scarf happen faster in the long run.  I’m pleased with the scarf thus far and the yarn is super soft to knit with.  It’s  a pleasure to have in my hands.

Between My Pages

The Worst Hard Time is still holding my attention.  It is completely captivating.  Though I haven’t had the time to read more than a few pages at once, it is an absolutely engrossing read.  I am both shocked and intrigued by the conditions that people in North America lived in not so long ago.  The blatant level of government corruption is astounding and sadly not that dissimilar to what happens now.  However, the effects aren’t so directly visible.  The ability of Teddy Roosevelt to turn the tides of the depression is admirable and the history lesson that I am getting from this book is invaluable.  This book has yet to become boring or preachy and I am enjoying every page.  (Well, expect for the pages about the homesteaders having to sweep the centipedes and tarantulas out of there sod dugouts when the drought got really bad.  I didn’t enjoy that page much at all!)

For more great Wednesday stuff check out WIP Wednesday and the Yarn Along.

I Hate Knitting Indecision

I hate that moment as a knitter when you are sitting staring at your projects, and knowing that there are a few more in the bottom of the basket, and not wanting to knit any of them.  It happens to all of us from time to time.  We stare at the things that were started with the best of intentions, the things that once held our attention and think, ‘I just can’t pick that up’.  Or is some cases, ‘What was I thinking starting that in the first place?’  And that’s when you realize that your knitting Mojo has fled into the night faster than a teenage boy when his girlfriend’s father comes home.  It’s out in the pasture with the sheep munching the grass.  It’s left you up the creek without a knitting needle.

Sometimes you try on a few different projects, projects that worked just fine a day or two earlier, and realize that nothing fits.  It just feels wrong.  The yarn has magically become scratchy in your hands. The pattern seems to have somehow changed from your native tongue to some form of ancient language no one has spoken for hundreds of years.  All of the cable needles in your house are gone.  And worse, it’s happening to every single thing that you are trying to knit.  It sucks, plain and simple.  And (I’ve heard, ’cause this has never happened to me), that it leds to major cases of startitis with projects being cast on in a flurry until you find the one that fits.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen to me this time and the whole thing passed very quickly.  My Mojo came back and my projects and I are friends again.  But to all the knitters out there  that have lost your Mojo: Talk to someone.  We’ve all been there.  We can help you knit through it and get back to the yarn filled pastures.  Hang in there and I promise that one day soon, your projects will fit.  Your needles will glide through your projects and your hooks will never miss a stitch.  And, if it doesn’t come back, we can help you hunt it down.  We all carry pointy sticks.

YOP Update – Feb 12th

  I’ve been bit by the finishing bug, so it’s odd that the only thing that I actually finished this week was Clink the Robot for Nerd Wars who didn’t even appear on my list.  But, I have made great progress on a number of other things and am getting to the point where finishing items is in the near future.  I think that I have realized that finishing everything on the list is probably not going to happen, so I want to finish as many WIPS as possible to not have to carry things over to the next list so I really want to finish things that are already on the needles before casting on to many new things.  I think that this is a good sign an intend to run with it for as long as that feeling lasts!!! I also really want to get all the socks I have on the go finished.  It’s been a little challenge because I have sooooo many socks in various stages on the go and I’m not sure where to start.  But, I am confident that there will be at least one pair finished very soon.  Wish me luck.

Hope everyone else had a great week.

Mr. Linky is at the bottom.

 

WIPS:

• Clockwork (cast on June  &  part of the Knit-a-long of Doom) (Finished July 2011)
• Wallis Cardi (cast on August of last year)
• Rattlesnake Creek socks (cast on about 1 1/2 years ago)
• Noro Log Cabin Blanket (cast on in June & it’s Christmas Knitting)
• Toe Up Socks

Christmas:

• Super secret BFF gift (I know you read this.  No peeking, but you’ll like it.) (Finished Sept  2011)
• Super Secret Husband gift (He reads it too.) (Finished Dec 2011)
• Urbana  (Finished July 2011) (Dad)
• Podsters
• Saturday morning slippers x2 (FIL, mom)
• Minion (Teiff) (Finished October 2011)
• Gargoyle (Sean) (Finished October 2011))
• Strangling Vines scarf (Christine) (Finished Dec 2011)
• Windcheif hat (dad) (Finished November 2011)
• Cherie socks  (mom)(In Progress)
• AStericks (MIL) (Finished November 2011)
• Dog Chewie (Maggie) (Finished October 2011)
• Super Secret Little J gift (See first super secret gift.  That’s her mum.) (Finished Oct 2011)
• Kleenex covers x6 (Finished October)
• Algonquin (In Progress)
• Washcloth x2 ( I really thought I was finished with those!)  (Finished Sept 2011)

 

Shawls

• Flamboyan (Finished Jan 2012)
• Reunion Cowl (Finished Jan 2012)

Cardis

• Roam (In Progress)

Socks

• Lenore (The third) (Finished Dec 2011)
• Flaming Desire 
• Staked  
• Fishbone Gansey  (Part of the Knit-a-long of Doom) (Finished October 2011)
• Cut & Paste
• My Vampire Boyfriend (Part of Nerd Wars) (In Progress)
• Cauchy
• Masonic Lodge
• Flutter-by (In Progress)
• Aragorn
• Duckies  (Finished Aug 2011)

12 Shawls in 2012 (first 6)

• Herbivore
• Sharktooth (In Progress)
• Flavia (Finished Jan 2012)
• Stephen West Club shawl (January)
• Stephen West Club shawl (Feb)
• Walnut Grove

 Dishcloth Challenge (first 12)

• 5/12 complete

 

Newly added

• West Knits Mystery KAL (Finished Sept 2011)
• Julia
• Minion Army (Finished October 2011)
• Blue Whale shawl – replacement MIL Gift (Finished Dec 2011)

 

The running totals so far are:

22/46 complete

12/24  in progress

To try to have a better idea of what happens in my stash

Balls in/Balls out

0/11  (January)

0/2 (February)

The Dishcloth Challenge Continues

I am having a wonderful time with my personal dishcloth challenge.  I love the instant gratification and my little stack of handknit cloths makes me smile whenever I look at them.

 

 

I am having a blast knitting things that show up in some of my favourite tv shows.  While I would never want to knit a full size Tardis or a  Buffy doll, wiping up a little cloth that allows me to be a fan of something without looking like a crazy stalker is a lot of fun.

With the addition of my Batty cloth, a Nerd Wars entry commemorating the historic moment when Buffy meets Dracula,  my completed total has risen to four.

So far we haven’t used any of the new cloths, but I have assured my husband that they are for use.  I’m certainly not knitting them so that they can sit around and collect dust!

But there is more to accomplish with this challenge than finishing 24 cute little cloths.  My current goal is to condense both of these containers into one.  I don’t need two containers of cotton.  I really don’t knit with it all that often.  And when it comes right down to it, knitting anything larger than a dishcloth out of cotton is not something that I enjoy enough to want to do.  Cotton is just not my thing.

So the next step is to turn this pile of ends into a petal cloth.

The big one is just for backup. Hoping to use up all the small ends first.

These cloths are my favourite to knit.  They are fast, cute, and have amazing durability.  I’ve knit many and currently the cloth in use in my kitchen is one of them.  I’m not sure what the ends are any more, but they are all the same brand and it’s the kind of cotton that cost $1 a ball and that you can find in a craft store instead of a yarn store.   And, it makes great cloths. (Even if the colours do fade really quickly).  But, I have cloths that have been in constant use for almost two years out of this brand and aside from being stained new and interesting colours (I  don’t bother trying to get stains out of cloths, they just get tossed in the washer and then back in the dirty dishes anyway), they are all still in prefect shape.   Which is good, because there is a Micheal’s opening up within walking distance of my house and I can always get more there.  But, if I want to keep the cotton contained to one basket, these ends really need to go.

For more dishcloth mania check out

Ruth  the women responsible for this fibre filled madness and Kim who is has also joined in the fun.

Join our Ravelry Group! 

Don’t Fear Your Robot Master

So today’s post was supposed to be final photos of my last two shawls, but I finished Clink for Nerd Wars and I think he’s just too darn cute not too share.  He marks my third entry this round and completed the Geek Culture challenge.  Fans of Buffy know that there is a Buffy Bot that makes an appearance a few times in the series and I envision this little guy being her bff.  Sure, he might be all old school robot style, but with those big eyes and squishiness, how could it not work out!

I will guard the knitting books!!!

I see you!!!!

Do I blend in?

For more Friday knitting check out FO Fridays, Creative Friday, Fiber Arts Friday, and Fibers on Friday