18 posts tagged “projects”
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.
I am almost done with Gretel! I hope SIL likes it!
(Well, technically it's not today but today I am willing to admit this!)
...I bought Noro Silk Garden -- again. I had so much trouble with my first sweater in Silk Garden that I had said somewhere (in a forum or a blog post or something) that I would not use Silk Garden again. Then came the WEBS closeout sale. Man, can I be a sucker for a yarn sale or what? I have this beautiful pattern from Perl Grey called Imogen, and I thought, why not buy yarn for that? So 12 skeins later (of discontinued color 47), I am ready to use it again. So yes, I am eating humble pie/putting my foot in my mouth because I am taking the plunge again. Hopefully it's a nicer experience this time around than last. It should be. Last time, I ignored knitting a gauge swatch and the first sweater came out too small. This time, I may do Imogen, or I may do Poppy from the Yarn Play book. Whatever it'll be, I'm sure it'll be a lot better than my first Silk Garden attempt. BTW, that first sweater? I had such a hard time with it, I nicknamed it "Stupid Sweater."
It’s true. I always think about the weekend when there are a lot of things I’d like to get done and I’ve done few or none of them. This weekend I may not get much done because I’m thinking of going to SAFF. Actually I’m leaning towards “definitely going”. Last year we went, and it was pretty good. The kiddies liked the animals, and I got some decent yarn. This year, I don’t know if hubby and the kids are interested in going, so I could totally go on the charter bus arranged by one of the local yarn stores here. He expressed interest in mowing the lawn this weekend, so I don’t know if that means he wants to go or stay at home. It’s not too bad a trip — 3 hours and 15 minutes drive. We’ll see. You’ll find out if I went if you see pictures the next week.
Project update. Well, I started a crocheted scarf last week, and am half way done with it this week. I am, however thinking of ripping it out to a certain point, first, because I made a booboo, and second, because I want to do one row in a different color than what it is. Here's the pix before I rip it out. Laura Rintala's Crocus Scarf from IC Spring 2007.
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...
You know how you go to your parents' home after a long absence and look through your old stuff and you find things that you hadn't seen in years? Well this sweater is one of them. When I first made it, I was really proud of it and liked it. When I looked at it a couple of years ago, I was sorta embarrassed by it. Nowadays when I look at it, I am proud of it -- not because it's particularly pretty, but more so because it would be more than 10 years after making this sweater that I would make another one. As dated and acrylic-y as it is, I'm glad I made it, because I've learned a lot since then...which brings me to my next topic:
I am totally avoiding my baby shower project. Not for my baby shower, of course, but for my good friend whose baby shower I will attend next month. I am attempting to make a baby set which includes a cabled sweater, pants, a hat, and booties. I will settle for a sweater and pants if I run out of time, but so far, it's kicking my butt. It's not that it's difficult to knit, but I would say the yarn isn't the easiest to work with, especially if you're doing cables. Also, for some reason, I am making lots of mistakes I normally wouldn't make. (Or maybe I would, and I'm just remembering myself in a better light. Either way, I'm making too many mistakes which I end up frogging.) I might have done better with a stockinette stitch or garter stitch outfit. Oh well. No turning back now -- I have gone too far. I am just hoping it turns out decently.
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.
