22 posts tagged “knitting”
Oh if only I can make a decision...
You know that saying that goes, "Man makes plans and God laughs at them"? (Or something to that effect.) That's how I feel right now. I was at the home stretch of finishing my SIL's Gretel hat when my mom called. We spoke for awhile and she said, "Your brother called me from Texas. He and [SIL] are visiting her family and they will come back on January 2nd." WTF? No one told me! I thought -- and here I was rushing to get this hat (and soon, a scarf) done in time for Christmas. Because of that, I have put the hat down for awhile, and have started to dream about other knitting projects. Still, I am almost done with it, and I really should finish it this week so I can get started on that dang scarf. I wish someone told me so I wouldn't feel like I'm in a rush all the time.
So often I realize I don't knit fast enough to produce the kind of clothing I think I need/want for a particular season. Since the fall here in the Atlanta area is more like spring, I can still get away with wearing short-sleeved tops. So I think I should have knit one by now (but haven't). Then again, some mornings are more chilly than others, and I feel like I should knit something for the cooler weather. (That one's a bit easier to work on.) The latest obsession of my project lust is the Imogen cardi by the lady at Fleece Artist. Or her sister. I forget. I bought the pattern before I went to NYC for my friend's baby shower. Now that I'm back, I'm thinking about this cardi more and more. I'm even thinking of ripping out the pinwheel blanket that I started awhile back and using the yarn for that, because really, do you want to handwash a blanket? (The blanket's yarn is a 50/50 blend of alpaca and merino. Very soft.) I'm not very far in it anyway. Will get back to this idea later...
In other news, I am feeling a bit lost with my knitting/crocheting in general. I kinda feel like I have no plan or no direction as far as what to make next, because there seem to be way too many things that I want to knit/crochet. I don't know if it's confusion. Or maybe just information overload. This brings me to my new dilemma...
I just started a shawl. Do I dare to continue? I am obviously a glutton for punishment because I started another shawl. I think this is my 3rd or 4th shawl which I have attempted in my knitting lifetime. I have never completed a shawl because for whatever reason or another, I made some mistake which I couldn't fix at all without ripping the whole thing. Restarting a project like that is very discouraging so I avoid it. Still, I want to make a shawl, so I started one: Heartland Lace by the awesome Evelyn Clark. I have pretty good yarn for it, as well. So far it's going well but I am just really scared I will get too confident about it and then mess up and then rip it back. My heart sinks at that thought. However, I feel like I should continue anyway, just coz. I will definitely be using lifelines on this project. To be continued...
Actually I was thinking how I haven't written in this blog for a long time, and I realize that one of the main reasons I haven't written was because I was just avoiding posting about my lack of completed projects. Somewhat embarrassing for me, you know. At the top of my project/UFO list is a baby sweater that I have been working on since August 30th. I was supposed to have it finished before October 4th for my friend's baby shower which was the next day. I never finished it in time, of course, and I ended up buying her two huge boxes of diapers from Diapers.com. I was thinking why I hadn't finished it, and I realized that it was mainly because of the yarn. I am using Pakucho Organic Cotton, which, in itself, is perfectly lovely. I had cast on with it using my trusty Addi Turbos and for whatever reason, the combination of that yarn and my supposedly slick Addis was not a good one. The cotton actually stuck and it was just awful. So I switched to KnitPicks Harmony interchangables and surprisingly, the dryness of the wood helped me knit a little faster! So I was OK there. The second hurdle I had to go through was the cables. Can I just say how much the cables slowed me down? (I like the look of cables but I avoid them most of the time -- and yes, I did try cabling without a cable needle. Doesn't work as well with cotton as with wool.) Every 6 rows, a right-twist and a left twist cable. It was painfully slow on the cotton. I was thinking if I had done this project in wool, the elasticity might have helped in that department. I think, subconsciously, I was hating so many things about this project subconsciously that I was just really unwittingly staying away from it, even though I had intended to knit it by a deadline. Anyway, all of that thinking made me make a conscious decision to be a better, more picky yarn shopper. When I look at my stash I realize there are many yarns I could have done without -- not because of the money that was spent on them, but because of their lack of versatility. Fun Fur can only be used for certain things, you know. Also, a lot of the colors would work well only on certain people. I could probably wear magenta, but my sister-in-law couldn't, if I were making her something. I just really need to be more choosy with the yarn I buy, so I just don't have a bunch of yarn that doesn't have a project because it's too specific or too unusual or something like that. I should probably be sticking to darks, tweeds and/or natural colors, versus brights. Might help, I'm sure. Oh well. Back to knitting my overdue baby sweater...
I just discovered a new knitting blog this morning, and I love it already. The projects are beautiful and the photography is awesome. I'm soooo jealous. (I don't want to link the blog here, as I don't want the owner to link back and see my sorry ass blog and unfinished projects!) I was going through the blogger's projects and reading the little tidbits about her life and so forth, and I thought, how does she do it? How does she knit such beautiful and complicated projects and take care of her two kids and learn to ride a bike for the first time and take care of everything else? Today my youngest son is sick and I am feeling antsy because I really want to work on a gift for my friend's baby shower, but can't leave him in his crib to sleep. He wants to be attached at the hip -- my hip -- 24/7. I want to be able to take great pictures and knit beautiful things. I guess for now I will take OK (sometimes just good) pictures, and knit alright things. Ah well.
This train of thought brings me to an interview with the designer Kate Gilbert, which I heard on the WEBS podcast. She is also the brains behind Twist Collective, which I am in love with. She was saying (and I'm paraphrasing here) that there wasn't any knitting magazine out there that she wanted to read -- not that the others weren't good, but I get the impression that she was looking for a particular format, which, back then, was not available in any of the other mags, online and print. So she went out and made her own damn magazine! Good for her, I say. Oh yes, I am jealous. I want to do something as cool as that. And as cool as the blogger I discovered this morning. Wah!
In the mean time, I leave you with the beginnings of my baby shower gift project. Ah well.
I never realized how difficult getting back to real life was after the death of a loved one. After all, is there a certain amount of time that's supposed to pass before you get back to the regular grind of daily life? It's been a little over two weeks since my dad died, and I feel like I should be getting out and talking to people. The thing is, I am afraid of looking too "normal" after coming off the death of my dad. I feel like people expect me to be sadder, or something. Maybe it's just my imagination. I don't know. In truth, I feel just OK, as of late. OK enough to move on wtih my life, that's for sure. I guess the only differences (other than not having a male parent anymore) are: I don't eat as much as I used to, I spend a heck of a lot more time on Ravelry as of late, and I feel more tired as of late, too. Strange but true. I don't know if these things are somehow related to my dad's death, but they definitely coincided with it. I will just continue to move on, and write about whatever strikes me.
One thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is my knitting projects. Too much thinking and not enough doing. I couldn't really knit that much when I was at my parents' house (entertaining guests, cleaning up, organizing my dad's stuff), so the thinking time increased quite a bit. Right now I have 4 official WIPs on my Ravelry page, which are:
(1) Conwy Socks from Nancy's Bush's Knitting on the Road, (2) Cabled sweater #3 from Rebecca Baby & Kids #6,
(3) Pinwheel Blanket from KnitList and (4) Cardi #5 from Phildar Irlandais (2004 I think) -- check it out!
In yarn-related news, I just made way too many yarn-related purchases in the past 2 days. I don't want to write about it here yet. I don't want to perjure myself just yet. Maybe later. But yeah, anyway, more about all that stuff (and other things) later.
So I've been working on the Monkey socks from knitty.com. I've been using Bearfoot yarn from deep inside my stash and it's knitting up lovely so far, but I am getting a little bit bored with the pattern already. Still, I will continue to knit with it because I would just hate to have another UFO.
...I am sick as a dog! All I wanted to do was sleep all day, but of course I can't do that because of the kids. Just wanted to show off some of the neat stuff I got in the mail yesterday:
Second, samples from Artfibers. I have heard nice things about Artfibers from the chicks from the Stash and Burn podcast, so I was inspired to order some knittable samples. They are between 10-15 yards each, depending on the thickness of the yarn, I think. I'm glad I ordered them because I was thinking of buying certain yarns for certain projects and now after seeing them in person I have different ideas for the yarn. I will have to knit these up and think about what I'd like to do with them. My favorite is the Alfabeto sample in color 02. I don't know what I'd use that yarn for -- maybe a scarf or a small shawl. I also liked the Nirvana sample. I think it would be lovely to use for Henley Perfected.
Well, that'll have to be it for now. My nose is kickin' and my head aches. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.
Just some random stuff that's been on my mind lately...
My September socks for Sock Knitters Anonymous are on hold! One of my darling children broke one of the needles I was using, and it'll be awhile before I can buy a new pair. Also, one of the munchkins stole my set (yes, the container and all) of Chibi needles which I needed to graft the toe part. I've looked everywhere around the house -- even their toybox, but to no avail. Needless to say, I'm pretty bummed. I'm not sure how I'm going to get them done if I am not able to visit one of my LYSs soon.
November always seems to be the start of "open enrollment" for health insurance at my hubby's work. He totally wants to change our health insurance to a different carrier, which I am totally OK with since it'll be much cheaper than our current insurance. This, however, means that we have to change speech therapists for my son, since I'm pretty sure this therapist doesn't participate in what could be our new plan. His current therapist doesn't recommend changing insurance, however, it's all the same to me. I do admit that my boy has developed a good rapport with his current therapist. He seems to like her pretty well and is pretty comfortable with her. I don't know how difficult it would be to change in January (which is when our new insurance kicks in). I can only remain positive for now and say that as long as his speech continues to get worked on, he should be good. I guess the only reason I would really want to change therapists is that she recommended occupational therapy, and although that seems like it could be a good idea, I am kinda skeptical about her suggestion for it. To me, physically, my son doesn't seem to need help doing everyday tasks. Granted, you definitely have to make him do certain tasks, but making him do those tasks is totally different from not being able to do them at all, and it sounds to me like she thinks he can't do them at all. I admit, I have been lazy in teaching him how to do certain things, like how to use a spoon for example, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the ability to do it. I haven't tried to teach him, after all. The other issue about the whole occupational therapy thing is that there's some conflicting information from our current insurance company whether we are totally covered for that (as we are with the speech therapy) or not. I know with our new insurance company we would be covered for that, totally. So there's another vote for new therapists and insurance. Well, we'll see how it pans out in the next few weeks. I am hoping that my son really doesn't need occupational therapy, but if he does, at least I know he can get it if we do end up changing insurance.
I started two (non-sock) projects recently. A sweater which I think will go to my mom -- I say I *think* because I'm not sure about the sizing; also, a sweater (a belted oversized cardi from an old Phildar pattern) that's most definitely for me to hopefully finish before I have to check into the hospital to give birth. I just remember being in the hospital with my son and I was cold all the time because the A/C was always on full blast for some reason. Well I'm not going to suffer through that again! A new hospital calls for a new sweater. (And the hospital I'm giving birth at this time around is sorta "new" in that they are almost finished with their renovations. I went for a tour last weekend and it looked pretty nice from what I saw. Hopefully they will be completely finished by the time baby arrives.
One more thing...the hubby and I finally figured out a name for our baby! Of course I'm not posting it until the little bugger arrives, so you'll have to wait a little while longer. ;-)
Here's one of my favorite videos of the Yarn Harlot (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee) at Full Thread Ahead. Sucks that I missed her when she was here in Atlanta!
