Thursday, April 17, 2014

YOP #40-41 or One more down and pictures speak louder


I finished another item this past week. The second dog of three. I managed to drop off the first two while I start on the 3rd one. I may have misplaced a needle.... It has been found though. As celebration, I took a lot of pictures of things I've finished since the start of 2014 to show off.

Here Fishy, Fishy the Second


Grandma Tam: Blocking and Post Blocking









Matching Neck Hugger
 

Alpaca Tam: At an auction



Trip



Gilligan



There are currently only 2 WIPs in my midst. I'm actually making progress on the TARDIS shawl. I'm nearly done with the heel for the pair of socks I'm working on, which is my first sock design (and really, my first knitting design). Now if only spring would come....

Finished Objects

Works in Progress

 


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Monday, March 31, 2014

YOP #39 or Finding the Gold Vein in the Rubble

This past week should have been fired except it managed to redeem itself at the end. It seemed to be a week full of slip-ups, fires and forgetfulness. I managed to forget over the course of several days the following:
  • Music for a rehearsal
  • Keys for work
  • Camera to document work
  • Double pointed needles to finish hat
On top of that, the apartment building that my bonus kids live in with their mother caught on fire. The apartment two floors above theirs to be specific. That led to dashing about trying to rescue a hedgehog (I knew they weren't going to let us near the building let alone inside but if I drove the teenager down there, I knew she wouldn't be able to just try to run past the police). The hedgehog was rescued by a building caretaker and came to stay with us for part of the week, so that at least worked out. There was also teenager drama (trying to establish boundaries with teenagers who aren't use to them is fun, really). So by yesterday, I was definitely going to fire the week. But then something amazing happened yesterday.

I started to think of all the good things that had happened.

Earlier in the week, after the last post I wrote, I went and looked at my TARDIS shawl. I think I may actually know where I am! I've been so intimidated by it, that I haven't even bothered to look. Feeling frustrated (and a bit flippant about the project), I pulled it out and looked at it. I could clearly see where the increase ended, so it was just a matter of counting. It's actually a fairly easy pattern once I looked at it again. It's intimidating because it's lace and there's so much of it and it looks all the same. I blame my desire to get my craft room clean again as the culprit. This desire forced me to actually look at the project again.

I finished another project this week. The gray alpaca tam is finished. It's the one that I was hoping to donate to my church for a fundraiser. They needed it yesterday but I didn't finish it until last night. I emailed the person in charge of donations and said I could bring it by today. I'm sure I'll hear something either way at some point today.

It's finally starting to warm up, though it did snow on Friday. I wore my Blood Orange Newtons to try to keep the snow away. Someone who I told this to commented that at least the snow wasn't sticking.

Possibly the most comfortable socks I've made for myself to date.

I'm hoping that this week I'll finally get to taking pictures of things that I haven't documented yet. Perhaps even today. Rumor has it that it's suppose to get up to 60 F. 

Instead of casting on another Cookie A pattern (I might as well wait; I believe I've got another week until the next patterns are released), I've cast on what was going to be just a Plain Vanilla Sock. I got done with the cuff and realized I'd go cross-eyed in the brain if I did that, so I've added an eyelet pattern. This would be my first sock design. If I like it, I'm going to write it up and have the pattern tested.

There were other amazing things that happened yesterday and actually earlier in the week that are related to work (I got to hear Osmo Vanka, former conductor of Minnesota Orchestra, play clarinet yesterday) but the thing that really pushed my mind back into a happy place was something written on the sidewalk in chalk on the University of Minnesota campus. It simply said "You're Amazing". That little innocent street writing changed my outlook for the entire day. Husband doesn't know that yet (he will once he reads this post) but I'm sure he'll appreciate knowing that something helped my spirits when it was such a hard week.

Finished Objects

Works in Progress


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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

YOP #38 or Progress Equals Happiness

I may have delayed this post by a couple of days just so I could say I had finished something. No pictures of anything yet that has been finished during the last month or so but that will happen soon (I hope).

Much thanks to everyone who cheered my up with last week's entry. It's very easy to be hard on myself, which I believe is true for everyone. It's much harder to look at the things I've accomplished or to give myself a break because it's been busy at work and home. There is such as a thing as too exhausted to knit.

Last night I finished my Blood Orange Newtons. They are very lovely. I can't wait to take some nice pictures of them to show off. I'm very proud of them. It's also the 4th Cookie A 2013 Sock Club pattern that I've finished. I can't decide if I should wait and see what the second set of 2014 patterns look like (it's only a week or so away I believe) before casting on a new pair of socks or just cast something on and knit them. I want to use this yarn the bonus kids got me as a Christmas gift but I think it's going to be best suited for plain vanilla socks due to the way it's been dyed. In theory, that shouldn't take me too long to make. I don't know if it's yarn that I could do intentional pooling on or not. I can no longer remember what it looked like in skein form though I believe the color repeats would be rather short. It's also 100% wool, which I read a lot of people will avoid making socks out of as they are prone to wearing out faster.

I cast on another of Grandma's Tams. This one is double stranded fingering weight alpaca. Should I get it done in time, I'm going to donate it as a silent auction item for a fundraiser at church. If it doesn't get done in time, I guess it'll become the start of my stock for selling. I'm about halfway done with it and I'm very happy with how it's turning out and with how quickly I'm making progress on it.

The shawl is still...stuck. I did realize that I can probably figure out where I am by counting the rows past the decrease. It just doesn't sound very pleasant. Nor do I think it's something I can do with bonus kids around who are on their spring break (and therefore, apparently, must be entertained. It's cute how they think Husband and I shouldn't work so that we can spend time with them).

There is progress on the second dog, Trip. Pointers apparently have very long necks and bodies. Sewing on the belly is easier now that I've done one but still taking forever since it's so long. I think the order I've done the dogs in has been the correct one. At least I hope so. There is still a Beagle to make and I hope that it will easier. If nothing else, there should be less stranded knitting on that one.

The goal for next week is to have pictures of everything that I've yet to take pictures of and post them here. And maybe to have one or two more finished objects.

Finished Objects

Works in Progress

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Monday, March 17, 2014

YOP #35-37 or Finding it Hard to Care

Lately, things have been tough for me. I'm going to blame the Eternal Winter. I'm feeling frustrated because all of my current projects are more complicated ones. That being said, when I don't update every week (this is partially because I just don't want to sit down and write. I don't know why. Once again, I blame Eternal Winter), I do end up with some finished objects. Eventually I'll take pictures and post those but for now, the list.

I finished my first tam based off Grandma's pattern. I haven't responded yet but to those who left such wonderful comments on my last post, thank you for those. It's been a bit of an emotional process to make the hat. I also want to make more hats except I don't need more hats. This has led to the idea that maybe I could sell hats online. Mom and Grandma had a hat business when I was younger and it seems a little odd to me that now I want to make and sell hats but I'm sure it actually makes sense. I'm thinking that they'll end up on Etsy eventually once I figure out pricing (when you buy yarn at retail prices, it kind of screws up the price for the finished item) and have enough of an inventory to sell. The tam only took about 1/2 a skein of yarn so I made a matching neck warmer. It's a ridiculously simple pattern and it made Husband happy that my cowl and hat matched. He may have twitched when he saw the hat with my previous cowl and mittens. None of the colors matched, which is par for the course with me. I've never really been into matching things.

I have finished one of the Blood Orange Newton socks and I've nearly finished the second one. It's still amusing to me that a year ago I was terrified of these socks. No, seriously, I didn't want to make them. There was a chart and it's a lace pattern. I'm glad I didn't attempt it last year because I don't think it would look as lovely. My skills have definitely improved over the last year.

I'm working on my second dog for my friend. While the patterns are essentially easy and kind of quick, I do feel a bit overwhelmed by them. My dogs aren't looking much like the ones in the book. I'm hoping to have the one I'm currently working on done sometime today. That leaves one more to make and it will hopefully be quicker as it's a smaller dog breed.

My TARDIS shawl hasn't been touched in ages. I had been using a counter on my phone to keep track of where I was and of how many repeats I had done. My phone had been acting up so I called tech support and they had me to a factory reset. My contacts and texts were backed up but my counter information wasn't. I didn't think about this until after I had done the reset. I really don't want to frog it but I'm not entirely sure how to count the lace rows to figure out where I am.
Current progress on the TARDIS shawl















Close up of the lace pattern.




























































So until I figure out how to count it (or a dear friend of mine who I sent these photos too manages to figure out where I am), this project seems to be on hiatus.

I think this is leading to some anguish (Husband's word) over my knitting. I don't feel like I'm making enough things. Husband suggested that I sell some of the yarn especially since I keep getting more yarn from the clubs I'm in. I feel behind in my knitting but it's not as though there is an actual schedule. There are people in the Cookie A club, for instance, who have yet to knit a single one of the patterns. I had to tell Husband last night that it wasn't about the nail.




He did eventually hear me after coming up with a few different ways to sell the yarn. I don't want to sell the yarn though. I want to make things out of it. I think it's because all 3 of my current projects are very detailed that I don't feel like I'm making any progress. I don't have a mindless knit that I can just sit down and knit with. There have been a few times in the last few weeks in which I haven't even wanted to knit at all. Husband asked if I was dying. This Eternal Winter thing is what I'm blaming. Funny as you would think more cold and snow would make me want to knit lots of warm things but all it really is making me want to do is curl up and hide under the covers until the Real Spring comes. I recently saw a meme using a picture from the Fellowship of the Ring movie in which the Hobbits are explaining about Second Winter and they don't think Aragorn is aware of Second Winter or all the other things that are to follow before Spring really comes. Hopefully things will get better soon and I'll actually post on Sunday.


Finished Objects

Works in Progress

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Sunday, February 23, 2014

YOP #32-34 or is Ravellenic a real word?

It has been a quick three weeks. So quick, in fact, that I thought there had only been two of them but it appears I've missed two weeks instead of the one I thought I'd missed. Oops. One of the goals for myself is to do the weekly update on time. This is not happening for several reasons. The biggest one is that I'm not sitting in front of the computer a lot. To be fair, I've probably spent the last 30 minutes doing anything other than blogging because I needed to get something out of my system before I started writing. I think it was some excess energy about work and I didn't want to go too much into that. The biggest plus side to work is that when there are shows, I get a lot of knitting down.

Earlier in February, the Lunar New Year was celebrated. Every year, the Vietnamese Student group puts together a show. It is always entertaining for several reasons. Another plus is that there's enough down time for me to work on my knitting. This means I made a ton of progress on the Blood Orange Newton sock. I managed to get onto the foot. Of course, I've not touched it since then. For this, I blame the Olympics.

On Ravelry, there is a group that hosts the Ravellenic Games. It's all about personal challenges during the course of the Olympic Games. This is honestly the first time I've cared anything about the Olympic Games since some time in the 1990s. I usually find the theatrics of the opening ceremonies interesting (though never enough to actually watch them; I read about them later and how they did things) but it's hard for me to get into the sports competitions these days. It was a good motivator to finish Husband's socks.

I had started the Angels Have the Police Box socks back in October. I hadn't touched them since.....December 1st.  The next step was to sew up the cuff and then pick up stitches for the leg. I remember this step being amazingly tedious and annoying and I hadn't wanted to do it. I love the look of the cuff but I really don't like picking up stitches along the edge. I don't know if it was because the yarn was wanting to split on me or the color but it wasn't fun to do. Once I got that part started (which I did while helping to navigate to Madison, WI), it was a piece of cake. Picking up stitches and navigating is a talent and a skill though and I don't recommend it lightly. I did manage to finish them though it was a doozy. Husband's feet are large for his frame but they are big feet. That's the part where I get hung up because I want to be done. Part of me also finds is a little sad how much bigger the foot of the sock is when compared with the leg of it. It's a decent leg length though. The best part is that Husband likes the socks. They were finished last night and he wore them today. The cuff is a little tight going over his heel but once they are on, they look beautiful.

Since I last wrote, I've started a new hat. I had hoped to have it finished by the time we got to Madison but I needed larger needles, which weren't in the car. Many years ago (the late 1980s), my mom had a hat business. She made machine knit hats and her mom would make hand knit hats. I'm sure my mom made some of these hats as well but I mostly remember Grandma making them. It's actually one of the reasons I didn't like knitting for the longest time. I've always been one who likes to talk but Grandma would get annoyed if I tried to have a conversation with her (or just talk at her) if she was knitting because I always seemed to pick the moment that she was counting stitches.

This March it will have been 15 years since Grandma passed away. I still have a hat she knit for me but I think wool moths have gotten into it and it needs to be replaced. I wanted to use the same pattern so I asked mom for it. This pattern that I'm using is one that Grandma figured out on her own. I believe it's based on a pattern she saw in a book but she didn't like the way it looked so she changed it. The pattern, which I happened to find over the week of Christmas while organizing mom's needles (she has her needles, Grandma's needles and my Great-Aunt's needles; and I simply sorted them by needle type so it would help her narrow down her search), is written on an old yellow post-it note. There was a modification for the pattern for different yarns on another scarp of paper but that was it. And the directions assume the person making the hat knows what you're doing. For the increase of the crown, it simply says "increase to 119 stitches". I'm use to patterns that tell me exactly where to increase. This increase isn't a simply every other or every third either. I've sat down and figured out where the increases need to go so that it's even and have written it out. I asked mom if I could write it up and put it on Ravelry for others to make and she's okay with it.  I'm in the process of making the hat (just started decreasing) and then I need to write it out and get it tested. In some ways, I think I want to do this so something of Grandma will still exist. It's also a way to thank her for making 100s of these hats and, in some way, to express gratitude that she figured out this pattern. She started to knit again after I was born. Her knitting (and that of my Great-Aunt) got my mom to knit, which has led to me knitting. It's a gift that has managed to be passed on even though I didn't learn until after Grandma had died. I feel like it's a way to reconnect to my past while moving into my future.

Finished Objects

Works in Progress

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Sunday, February 2, 2014

YOP #31 or 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Yesterday, I finished my fifth project of 2014. I'm ridiculously excited about this. My knitting skills have definitely leveled up. Since last week, I've finished my sister's hat and the knitted dog. Last week I wanted to have both of these finished and I did it! I set a goal and it was actually achievable. There are two more dogs to knit but I'm very excited that I've finished one. It probably helped that I had a big show on Thursday. It was a crazy morning but once the show started (two performances), I literally had nothing to do but sit there and make sure the building didn't fall apart. So I sat there backstage and worked on the hat. I finished the hat within 15 minutes of the second performance.

I then pulled out the Newton socks. Almost a year ago I got this pattern. I remember being completely intimidated by it. It's lacy and there was a chart. How could anyone make these socks? Well, a year later, and less than a week after starting them, I'm already at the heel. And instead of doing the heel flap, I'm using Ann Budd's short row heel. The Sweet Georgia yarn is so soft and lovely. I can't wait to get them onto my feet.

Tomorrow I should have the newest Cookie A yarn and I will definitely have the patterns. I'm excited about getting it. I've been a little "meh" the last few months as I didn't feel very inspired by the patterns. I'm hoping that I'm back on my sock knitting kick though.

Finished Objects

Works in Progress

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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Fuzzy Pattern

Now that Fuzzy is off needles and in the arms of a toddler to be loved, here is the pattern. It hasn't been tested by anyone, so I'm sure there's something that doesn't make sense. I also purled my stitches backwards, which I don't recommend. Gauge really doesn't matter. I knit with needles 4 or 5 sizes larger than the recommended needle size on the yarn. The final blanket was about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long and had 21 repeats of the 6 row pattern.

Cast on 113 stitches.

Knit 20 rows.

Repeat following pattern to desired length.

Rows 1, 2, 5 & 6: K10, [P5, (K1, P1)x6]x2, P25, [(K1, P1)x6, P5]x2, K10
Row 3: K10, [K1(M1, K1)x2 (K1, P1)x6]x2, K1, (M1, K1)x12, [(K1, P1)x6, K1(M1, K1)x2], K10
Row 4: K10, (P5, 12-st LC)x2, P25, (12-st LC, P5)x2, K10

When the blanket is at a length you like, knit 20 more rows and bind off.


Key:

K=Knit
P=Purl
M=Make a stitch by placing a backwards loop on the right needle
12-st LC=Slip first 6 stitches onto cable needle and hold in front, work next 6 stitches in pattern, work 6 stitches from cable needle
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