It has been very satisfying to work on finishing some old projects. As I knit the flowers for the Noni bag, I kept questioning why I waited so long to just sit and make them. It has been wonderful, easy knitting at a time when I have been worn out from other things. I have them all done and now it is just a waiting game until my yarn arrives for the center bobbles.
I took some time to look at the directions for my Denim and Roses Raglan and I came to the conclusion that I am just going to have to work through it. I am actually kind of psyched to get working on it and just get it done. I don’t believe that it will take all that long once I get to work and I just love the colors in this sweater. I don’t know if it will look good on me, but I love it for the moment and since I am in size reduction mode, hopefully it will just get better as the winter progresses. Speaking of size reduction, I have been thinking that just by losing weight I can significantly reduce my yarn expenditures. Does anyone think that will be strong enough motivation? I’ve been giving it some thought lately. Smaller size means less yarn and also the less time it will take to knit a whole sweater. Sounds good to me!
Another weekend is upon us and again I am psyched. There will be some more work on the house, but other than that it will be a fiber weekend and since it is freezing here that sounds like perfection to me!!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
How I Love the Weekends - Part 2
I started this blog as a way to document my journey as I work through my Wip and Stash as well as the journey of creating beautiful things in my favorite medium, knitting. I have not stuck to my original goals and I am not going to apologize or make excuses for that, but now it is time to get focused and this past weekend was a move in the right direction.
The weekend started with a day devoted primarily to cleaning. The house has gotten out of control with my fiber all over the place and I am a “piler”. I have piles of things all over the house because I always think I will want some piece of information and let’s not get started on the books. I love books and I have piles of them all around the living room and my bedroom. I have piles of knitting patterns in my dining room/knitting room as well as the living room and the breakfast room of my house. So by the end of Saturday, there was some semblance of improvement throughout the main level of my house, but there is still more to go.
On to the theme of the blog – knitting and a return to the WIP pile.
Sunday I picked up my Denim and Roses Raglan sweater and I figured out where I am, but I quickly realized that I need to sit down with this pattern and work out on paper how the rest of the sweater is worked because the directions are a little vague. I didn’t want to do that at that particular moment so I picked up another project from the pile, a Noni bag that has been sitting for maybe two years waiting for me to knit the camellia flowers that adorn the bag. I don’t know why I put it aside except that I had never knit flowers before and let me say…thank god for the internet because there were errors in the pattern and quite honestly I found the directions to be vague (what is it with vague directions!), but between the Noni site and Ravelry, 
I was able to get on track and I have already gotten two flowers knit (except for the centers – I have to wait for some yarn to arrive to finish those). I am supposed to knit 5 in total so my goal for this week is to get the 5 done. It is easy knitting now that I know what I am doing and I am psyched to get this project on its way to completion. I have not done any felting since I moved to my new house three years ago. So this coming weekend will be a felting weekend. I have a hat that I knit over three years ago that is just waiting to be felted and now I have the bag and flowers to felt. It’s always a little scary the first time around and I do have a different washing machine at this house, but all should be fine. I have never had a felting disaster yet so I have no reason to fear it this time around. So finally a return to what I am supposed to be accomplishing in my knitting world.
The weekend started with a day devoted primarily to cleaning. The house has gotten out of control with my fiber all over the place and I am a “piler”. I have piles of things all over the house because I always think I will want some piece of information and let’s not get started on the books. I love books and I have piles of them all around the living room and my bedroom. I have piles of knitting patterns in my dining room/knitting room as well as the living room and the breakfast room of my house. So by the end of Saturday, there was some semblance of improvement throughout the main level of my house, but there is still more to go.
On to the theme of the blog – knitting and a return to the WIP pile.
Sunday I picked up my Denim and Roses Raglan sweater and I figured out where I am, but I quickly realized that I need to sit down with this pattern and work out on paper how the rest of the sweater is worked because the directions are a little vague. I didn’t want to do that at that particular moment so I picked up another project from the pile, a Noni bag that has been sitting for maybe two years waiting for me to knit the camellia flowers that adorn the bag. I don’t know why I put it aside except that I had never knit flowers before and let me say…thank god for the internet because there were errors in the pattern and quite honestly I found the directions to be vague (what is it with vague directions!), but between the Noni site and Ravelry, 
I was able to get on track and I have already gotten two flowers knit (except for the centers – I have to wait for some yarn to arrive to finish those). I am supposed to knit 5 in total so my goal for this week is to get the 5 done. It is easy knitting now that I know what I am doing and I am psyched to get this project on its way to completion. I have not done any felting since I moved to my new house three years ago. So this coming weekend will be a felting weekend. I have a hat that I knit over three years ago that is just waiting to be felted and now I have the bag and flowers to felt. It’s always a little scary the first time around and I do have a different washing machine at this house, but all should be fine. I have never had a felting disaster yet so I have no reason to fear it this time around. So finally a return to what I am supposed to be accomplishing in my knitting world.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
How I Love the Weekends - a revisit to Weekends Past
Over the last month or so I have just loved my weekends. The weather has been perfect for knitting and with the cooler weather I am sleeping better and everything has just been really nice in my personal life. The weekend before last was no different. Yes, this should have been published last week, but what a week it turned out to be at work.
Last Saturday morning, I finished my two Noro scarves and that Sunday morning I finished my Spring Forward Socks! It feels so good to move things into the finished column. I know that I have probably diluted my efforts by having so many projects on the needles, but I am trying to get through them between now and the end of the year. The only new things that are going on the needles are small projects to do before Christmas.
Then last Saturday I went on my last knitting road trip of the year. After hearing that Charlotte Yarn had a new shipment of Malabrigo, I decided to take a road trip and check out the new store. The store is lovely – it’s a corner location with lots of windows so it feels bright and open and really shows off the beautiful array of yarn. They did not have as much Malabrigo as I would have liked, but I did pick up a couple of skeins of Malabrigo Lace in Pink Frost. Not sure what it will be, but it will be lovely. I also picked up a skein of Kidsilk Haze to make a Scaruffle from The Book of Yarn. On my way back from Charlotte, I stopped at one of my local yarn stores and bought another skein of Kidsilk Haze and some more yarn for one more feather and fan scarf. And then, when I arrived home and checked the mail, I found my order from WEBS which included a skein of Malabrigo Sock. You want to talk heaven! I can’t wait to cast on and the sock of choice for the Malabrigo is Cookie A.’s Maelstrom. I have been eying that pattern since Twist Collective hit the net and I’ve kept my eye open for the right yarn and when I saw the Impressionist Sky colorway in the Malabrigo Sock, I knew I had found the right yarn.
Last but not least, last weekend saw a return to Tribeca. It will be a very nice sweater once it is done, but all that moss stitch!! It does add wonderful texture to the Cascade 220. It will be perfect for Christmas if I can get my act in gear. I haven’t touched the Lady since our trip to Pinehurst so I am not sure if that will be done for Thanksgiving, but that will be OK since it will be a very low-key Thanksgiving in our world this year.
Last Saturday morning, I finished my two Noro scarves and that Sunday morning I finished my Spring Forward Socks! It feels so good to move things into the finished column. I know that I have probably diluted my efforts by having so many projects on the needles, but I am trying to get through them between now and the end of the year. The only new things that are going on the needles are small projects to do before Christmas.
Then last Saturday I went on my last knitting road trip of the year. After hearing that Charlotte Yarn had a new shipment of Malabrigo, I decided to take a road trip and check out the new store. The store is lovely – it’s a corner location with lots of windows so it feels bright and open and really shows off the beautiful array of yarn. They did not have as much Malabrigo as I would have liked, but I did pick up a couple of skeins of Malabrigo Lace in Pink Frost. Not sure what it will be, but it will be lovely. I also picked up a skein of Kidsilk Haze to make a Scaruffle from The Book of Yarn. On my way back from Charlotte, I stopped at one of my local yarn stores and bought another skein of Kidsilk Haze and some more yarn for one more feather and fan scarf. And then, when I arrived home and checked the mail, I found my order from WEBS which included a skein of Malabrigo Sock. You want to talk heaven! I can’t wait to cast on and the sock of choice for the Malabrigo is Cookie A.’s Maelstrom. I have been eying that pattern since Twist Collective hit the net and I’ve kept my eye open for the right yarn and when I saw the Impressionist Sky colorway in the Malabrigo Sock, I knew I had found the right yarn.
Last but not least, last weekend saw a return to Tribeca. It will be a very nice sweater once it is done, but all that moss stitch!! It does add wonderful texture to the Cascade 220. It will be perfect for Christmas if I can get my act in gear. I haven’t touched the Lady since our trip to Pinehurst so I am not sure if that will be done for Thanksgiving, but that will be OK since it will be a very low-key Thanksgiving in our world this year.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
NOROvember
A new group on Ravelry has sprung up for NOROvember. Now anyone who looks at my WIP list will find that several of my unfinished projects are Noro sweaters. I love Noro yarns and I have enjoyed making these sweaters. I just haven’t finished them. So I am going to get back into participating in the One Day a Week for UFO’s group and use that as a chance to get some of these Noro projects done this month. One day a week won’t totally keep me from finishing my other items that I am currently working on and maybe just maybe the month of November will be the month that some projects finally make it into the finished column.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
What a Difference a Week Makes!
And not in the best way! A week ago I was here at the office energetically getting ready to take a couple of days off. Now this week, it is just life as usual which is not nearly as exciting. We had a wonderful trip with beautiful weather, good golf courses for the guys to play and a nice treat for me.
I had researched yarn stores before we left and I found that there was one store in Southern Pines called Bella Filati. I wasn’t sure whether I would go or not for a couple of reasons, but while we were driving around on Thursday night we did a drive-by to see where it was and it was in the quaintest section of Southern Pines. We had never seen this side of Southern Pines and it was basically their historic district with all kinds of shops and restaurants. The next morning I dropped the guys off for golf and I went to Pinehurst to decide what my day would hold. I was sitting and knitting in this café called Poppy’s when a gentleman approached me and asked me about my interest in knitting and whether I knew about this yarn store in Southern Pines…turns out his wife works at Bella Filati. Well, I had to go after that and I was not disappointed.
It is a beautiful store with a friendly and knowledgeable staff. Their selection of yarn was exceptional and they had a wall of Malabrigo! It was the best thing to be able to see so many of the Malabrigo colors in person. I bought two skeins and I am debating what to make with it. Last night I queued several options in Ravelry. I also bought some pretty pink yarn to make a smoke ring.
I bought some lace weight merino in a pretty purple colorway and when I went back the next day to purchase the pattern for the smoke ring, I also bought some heathered purple Ella Rae in a worsted weight. I didn’t really need it, but the color was lovely and the price was right. I really enjoyed my time at Bella Filati and I hope that we will be returning to Southern Pines from time to time so that I can go back.
On the knitting front, I didn’t get as much knitting done on our trip as I had hoped which was OK because I was spending quality time with the guys, but I am almost done with my second Magic Loop sock. I have made quite a bit of progress on the foot of my second Spring Forward sock and I made some more progress on the Scarfy Come Home scarf and I just love the Noro Silk Garden. I did a little bit more on my February Lady Sweater. I am really enjoying it and I just hope that the size is going to be right.
Should be a good rest of the week for knitting and there are no major plans for the weekend so hopefully there will be some good progress because as much as I love all of my projects...I am drowning in yarn!!
I had researched yarn stores before we left and I found that there was one store in Southern Pines called Bella Filati. I wasn’t sure whether I would go or not for a couple of reasons, but while we were driving around on Thursday night we did a drive-by to see where it was and it was in the quaintest section of Southern Pines. We had never seen this side of Southern Pines and it was basically their historic district with all kinds of shops and restaurants. The next morning I dropped the guys off for golf and I went to Pinehurst to decide what my day would hold. I was sitting and knitting in this café called Poppy’s when a gentleman approached me and asked me about my interest in knitting and whether I knew about this yarn store in Southern Pines…turns out his wife works at Bella Filati. Well, I had to go after that and I was not disappointed.
It is a beautiful store with a friendly and knowledgeable staff. Their selection of yarn was exceptional and they had a wall of Malabrigo! It was the best thing to be able to see so many of the Malabrigo colors in person. I bought two skeins and I am debating what to make with it. Last night I queued several options in Ravelry. I also bought some pretty pink yarn to make a smoke ring.
I bought some lace weight merino in a pretty purple colorway and when I went back the next day to purchase the pattern for the smoke ring, I also bought some heathered purple Ella Rae in a worsted weight. I didn’t really need it, but the color was lovely and the price was right. I really enjoyed my time at Bella Filati and I hope that we will be returning to Southern Pines from time to time so that I can go back.On the knitting front, I didn’t get as much knitting done on our trip as I had hoped which was OK because I was spending quality time with the guys, but I am almost done with my second Magic Loop sock. I have made quite a bit of progress on the foot of my second Spring Forward sock and I made some more progress on the Scarfy Come Home scarf and I just love the Noro Silk Garden. I did a little bit more on my February Lady Sweater. I am really enjoying it and I just hope that the size is going to be right.
Should be a good rest of the week for knitting and there are no major plans for the weekend so hopefully there will be some good progress because as much as I love all of my projects...I am drowning in yarn!!
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