Friday Recap

Lately it seems that a recap is all I get accomplished in terms of blogging during the week. Really no excuse this week – so I will try to do better next week. Although, we are going away at the end of the week!!

Last weekend turned out differently than planned in terms of what I accomplished. I did a lot of work on the Spring Forward sock. I did the heel flap and turned the heel on Saturday. I figured on Sunday I would pick up the gusset stitches and work through the decreases, but the knitting fairies had other ideas for what should be knit on Sunday.

On Saturday, I had purchased some Noro Silk Garden to make a “Scarfy Come Home” scarf for a Christmas present. So Sunday was devoted to starting that scarf, as well as the scarf I need to make for my co-worker for Christmas. The Silk Garden is lovely to knit with and the pattern is great for mindless knitting. The Feather and Fan scarf for my co-worker is a pattern that I have made several times before and it is also a very easy knit. Both scarves are about 40 - 50% complete. It feels good to know that something is getting accomplished as far Christmas gifts are concerned.

So what does all this mean for the weekend ahead? Well, the debate all week has been whether to go to SAFF (Southeast Animal Fiber Festival in Ashville) or not. As much as I want to go, I am leaning toward staying closer to home – maybe go check out the new Charlotte Yarn store. The reality is I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE YARN!!!!!

If I was smart, I would stay home and get some more work done around the house, do some work on all of my many projects and save my $$$. I haven’t worked on Tribeca at all and I need to get going on my February Lady sweater if I want to wear it for Thanksgiving. Then there is the finishing of the two scarves and the two pair of socks currently on the needles. I think if I completed some of these smaller projects then I would feel like I could really get moving on these sweaters and my vest. Then there are my other Christmas gifts to make – Maine Morning Mitts and a matching scarf for someone. Then there is the possibility of the Hemlock Ring Blanket and the bags for my mom and it goes on and on and on!!

Next week should be a good knitting week. The kid doesn’t have any projects and I am off on Thursday and Friday for a long weekend trip to Pinehurst. Yeah. While the guys golf, I can knit, knit, knit!!!

Another Weekend is Upon Us!!

It should be another perfect knitting weekend. The weather is supposed to be in the 60’s and we have no specific plans! I will spend more time organizing my knitting/dining room area and get more of the house organized. Something about all the craziness in the world right now makes me want to get my personal life more ordered and less chaotic. I can live with a certain amount of disarray in my life, but I feel the need for some orderliness in hopes of creating a more tranquil home environment in contrast to the out of control environment in the world.

My knitting week has not gone exactly to plan which has me questioning why I put pressure on myself by having a plan in the first place! My life is unpredictable at times and I am a single mother so I am always taking care of the needs of others. My knitting is my relaxation. It is the one thing where I really find some enjoyment in doing something for me. It is not meant to be a “to do” item to be checked off some list. Knitting brings pleasure into my life so I don’t want to turn it into something that I have to do.

However, I have managed to make some real progress this week on the second Spring Forward sock. It is really a fun pattern and it works up so easily. I have half a repeat to go to get to the heel flap so I hope to get through all of that heel and gusset business this weekend. I also want to get working on the front of the One Cable Vest. I tried to get it started on Monday night, but there was an error in the pattern plus I am re-working the pattern so it will also be stockinette stitch on the front instead of reverse stockinette. I just thought it would look weird – so I am going to do 3 or 4 stitches of reverse stockinette on each side of the cable so it stands out. I also want to get the second half of Juno Regina started. We’ll see how things go and remember to enjoy the simple pleasure of creating something from sticks and string!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and your knitting brings you much enjoyment.

The One Where I Resisted Temptation

I had one of those days yesterday. Things started out beautifully. I had a beautiful ride through the NC and VA countryside on my way to photograph one of our projects. I took some really nice photos and was feeling pretty good, but then it went downhill like an avalanche. I went to copy the photos to my laptop and my photo card apparently corrupted itself and my 101 photos were gone! Thankfully I had my back-up camera, but it isn’t as good as the one I used to take the first set of pictures. So I had to re-photograph everything and hope that the second set of photos will be good enough for what I need. Between the hot weather and the equipment fiasco, it ended up being an exhausting experience. So last night I went to Knit Night thinking I needed a fix of fiber therapy. I looked around and realized that it wouldn’t make me feel any better to buy more yarn so I resisted temptation and just enjoyed the group and knit.

The Weekend Recap Several Days Too Late

The fall weather we've been having on the weekend has been fantastic. I feel so much more motivated when it isn’t 90 degrees outside. I am a 75 degree girl. If I could have 75 degrees everyday I would be a happy, probably more productive girl. I definitely do not do well with the 90’s or cold, winter weather anymore. Every year I debate which is worse – being too hot or too cold?

It was a great weekend of knitting. I got so much accomplished both in the actual process of knitting as well as in terms of organizing all of my stash. My bedroom and dining room had become overrun by bags and piles of yarn, but I can now say that my bedroom is yarn-clutter-free and the dining room looks a whole lot better, but still more to do in there.

On the actual knitting front, I finished the back of the Tribeca cardigan and I have cast on for the smaller front side. I know I took the easy road by casting on for the smaller side, but I wanted to feel like I was making some real progress on this sweater. I know I am going to like it when it is finished, but the moss stitch (or is it seed?) makes it harder to work on for longer periods of time. I also finished the back of the One Cable Vest and cast on for the front. I made excellent progress on the Magic Loop Sock. I did the heel flap, turned the heel and picked up the gusset stitches and did all of my decreases – so it is straight knitting until I get to the toe decreases. In honor of Socktober, I also cast on for my second Spring Forward sock and I have already made some decent progress on it. So you can see I was a busy girl. Still no work on finishing the old UFO’s, but I feel the need to get some of these current projects done and off the needles.

I am debating about making my former mother-in-law a Hemlock Ring Blanket for Christmas. Why, you ask? Well, the ex and I are spending a lot of time together again and I keep hoping that will move us toward better things and it wouldn’t hurt to have the M-I-L in a kinder mood when it comes to me. She doesn’t like me and as my son says, “everyone likes you mom – how can she not like you!” Thank god for that kid! I don’t know if I can take the time to do this project. I don’t foresee it being a big time project, but it takes away from everything I else I want to accomplish and I am beginning to wonder how I can get everything done. I want my February Lady sweater done for Thanksgiving (perfect color for Thanksgiving) and I want Tribeca done for Christmas (it is the perfect Christmas red). I have scarves that need knitting and mitts that I want to get done and on and on and on. This is why I don’t really knit for other people. Of course, there is still the stuff for my mom’s birthday. We’ll have to wait and see about the blanket.

Love what you currently have!

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Last week I had a big project due for work and there was no time for writing anything other than the writing needed to complete the project. This week has been consumed with the clean up of everything from last week that I couldn’t get done, but I am finally getting caught up and boy does it feel good!

Also on the good news front, we went to the mountains last weekend to meet my parents who were on their bi-annual trek between Maine and Florida. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend and while everyone else was off playing golf, I sat outside on the deck, enjoyed the scenery, listened to podcasts and got a lot of knitting done!

I am down to the neck shaping on the back of the Tribeca cardigan. I just have to finish the shoulder shaping on the back of the One Cable Vest and then it is on to the front. I have made it to the heel flap on my second Magic Loop sock and I also managed to cast on and do a couple of color changes on my Turn a Square hat. Not totally happy about this one yet, but I have decided that this will be my test hat to see how everything works and how much yarn each hat takes.

I look at all of my yarn and projects and I just long to have more time to accomplish more. I just love so much of what I have on the needles as well as so much of what I have waiting to get on next. It should be another productive knitting weekend and the kid is going to the Wake Forest vs. Clemson football game tonight, so I should have some good quality knitting time available to me.

Based on the economic events of the last couple of weeks, it would appear that my plan to work from my WIP and Stash would be a smart thing to do for the foreseeable future. I also want to be supportive of my local yarn stores during this time so that they can hang in there, but I look around my knitting room (really my formal dining room) and I don’t need to add anything to my stash for a long, long time. Sometimes that is harder than it should be, but the key is to love what you currently have available to you instead of lusting after some new project or yarn. Probably not bad advice for life either – be happy with what you currently have and don’t feel the need to add more material things!!