What a Week

Not sure how the week got away from me, but it sure did and now it is the weekend again as well as my birthday. Should be a potentially wonderful weekend and tops on the list besides celebrating my birthday and watching the Super Bowl – why knitting and cleaning.

I have to say that after outlining my new game plan for my knitting I feel really good about my decision. It feels right. I love sweaters and I am sure that at some point there will be sweater knitting – after all, it is inevitable, but in the meantime I am excited about starting or I should say continuing my accessories knitting. The Lime-n-Violet 2009 Sock Marathon begins on Sunday and I will be casting on finally for my Maelstroms. I can’t wait. The pattern appears to be interesting and I really want to work with the Malabrigo. I also think that it is time to start work on the Swirl Shawl. It’s the kind of project that can replace the Log Cabin Squares until I acquire some more Kureyon. I am sort of hoping that I can do one swirl in a sitting so that there can be steady progress. I also think that I will start my “Bird in Hand” mittens. I am awaiting the arrival of the book I ordered from Knit Picks on Colorwork techniques so it seems like the time is right. And I am ready to cast on for the Smoke Ring. So that is 4 projects on top of what I am already working on – phew! I am excited about all of these and I am ready to tackle the One Cable Vest this weekend and bring it to conclusion. I will make it work and at this point, I just want to get it done. I have learned a valuable lesson from this project and I will carry it forward as I move on to other projects.

This morning I have been listening to The Knitmoregirl’s latest podcast. The title thread of the podcast is “Own it and Be Proud.” Jasmin talks about one’s stash and says that for some knitters stash is akin to bulimia – you binge on buying and then claim that you have to purge yourself of your stash. Her thoughts are own it and be proud of it. For me, my stash reduction is not so much about purging as it is about creating with it. I bought it to be used and I love my stash, but the individual yarns need to realize their full potential and become the beautiful objects that they are meant to be.

So the stash will start to get a workout over the next few weeks and I am very happy and excited about what I have planned. I wish you all a great weekend and see you on Monday.

Frustrations and a Plan

It was a weekend of frustrations on the knitting front and on the home front, but since this is a knitting blog, let’s start with the knitting frustrations. I spent a good deal of time working on the One Cable Vest and got to the armhole bind offs and something was off on my gauge so currently my pieces are not matching. I am going to try and solve the problem with blocking and easing the stitches in when I seam, but was I pissed. I keep having various issues on projects and it is getting a little old. I think it is a lesson learned that you risk success when you don’t make a project all at once or if you don’t take lots of notes about what you have done. I thought I had my act together, but maybe not. So that was episode one of my frustrations. The other frustration I encountered was when I picked up Juno Regina. I got to the end of my third row and something was off! How does that happen? So I need to tink back to the first row of the chart. I just didn’t have the heart to do it at the time. So what does a girl do when her knitting is failing her? She goes to a project that hardly ever disappoints. I am on to block 6 for the Log Cabin blanket. I also found another skein of Kureyon so after this one I can make two more before I have to buy more yarn.

I am debating taking a break from sweaters. There are too many variables that can doom a project and since I am in weight loss mode again, I think I will work on finishing up all of the accessories in my stash and queue. I am going to participate in the Lime-n-Violet Sock Marathon. I have picked out 6 sock patterns to make with a couple of alternates. The marathon lasts six months so I should be able to get six pairs made and that would clear up a decent segment of my stash. I have 3 skeins of Kidsilk Haze for scarves. I have yarn to make a lovely Smoke Ring. I have yarn for the Bird in Hand mittens. I have yarn to make the Jared Flood cover mittens from Vogue Fall 2008 and I want to make some more mitts with some of my stash yarn. So after I finish the One Cable Vest, I am going to concentrate on some accessories for a while. And there are babies to knit for!! A couple of co-workers are having babies and I have yarn in the stash meant for baby projects. And I have a bunch of yarn taking up space that was meant for charity hats. So maybe this is the best way to clear out some of the stash for the next couple of months and during that time I can try and finish up some of the sweater WIPs before I begin any new sweater projects. OK so I said I would have a plan and here it is hot off the presses.

Another Time Around the Block

Instead of working on the One Cable Vest, this week I made another Kureyon Log Cabin square. I finished it this morning before heading to work. This makes 5 complete and I think I have yarn in the stash for at least one more. I am finding that these squares are good projects during the week. Now that it is the weekend again I will be concentrating on the One Cable Vest. I am not sure if it will get finished this weekend, but it will be fairly close.

I know I have mentioned this already, but I keep trying to make a plan of attack. January is just shy of a week from being over and although I got several squares made, I did not accomplish as much as I should have in terms of other projects. Sure I finished Just Enough Ruffles and Argosy, but the vest should be done and Tribeca should be back in the daily knitting rotation. What projects do I need to have finished to feel in control of my knitting WIP and stash?

I think in the major sense, if I could get the vest and Tribeca complete and get Juno Regina to the point where I am doing the long middle sections that would be good. In the lesser sense I hate that my corkscrew scarf is just waiting for the corkscrews to be sewn on and that I have a cardigan that just needs new buttons sewn on and the hat that just needs to be felted and the bag that is almost done. These things keep lingering and it is stupid that they are not done. This does not even begin to address all the other WIP’s, but it does address the most current things I have been working on. So with all of that stated, what should the plan be?

I am itching to get back to having a sock in my rotation and I really should get the Bird in Hand mittens done that have been sitting in my stash since last winter. Okay enough waxing poetic. When I return on Monday, I will have a plan. I read something somewhere the other day that if you work your plan then you will succeed in reaching your goals.

Happy weekend everyone and see you on Monday.

Missing Knit Night

Another cold day and not a single one of my handknits is adorning my being today except…the Maine Morning Mitts. Yesterday I realized that I have some odd skeins yarn in the stash that might be good for mitts. I need to investigate! It is always great when I make that connection where I realize that there is something in the stash to work with on a potential project. Today is day 21 of the new year and there have been no yarn purchases even though I keep thinking about how I am going to acquire more Kureyon for my Log Cabin blanket.

I miss going to Knit Night. I can’t go due to a conflict with the O&O’s schedule. It is important that he keep doing what he does on Wednesday nights so some day I will make it back. There is another group I could start going to at a different shop that meets on Thursday nights, but then I have also been thinking about starting a group that could meet on the weekends… something to think about.

Hope for the Future...Hope for Projects Old and New

The weekend saw my return to the One Cable Vest and I managed to get it back to the place where I had to RIP from while we were in Florida. I really like the cable and it is an easy one to work with and it is looking really nice in the Malabrigo. I have to think that it is possible that I could finish the front by the end of the upcoming weekend. Wouldn’t that be nice! In the interim, I found another ball of Kureyon in my stash and I began another Log Cabin square. They are addictive and they offer such wonderful, mindless knitting as I have mentioned before. There is hope for getting my projects over the finish line because what I realize is that I really enjoy my handknit masterpieces.


We had snow last night and today I am wearing an old Classic Elite sweater that I made back in the late 80’s. I don’t get to wear it very often here because it is a heavy yet warm sweater and we don’t have a lot of weather cold enough for this kind of sweater. I am enjoying the light blanket of snow covering our landscape and a chance to enjoy this old knit.

Happy Inauguration Day – no matter what your political affiliation may be, I think today is a day that all Americans can be proud. There is hope for the future and as our new President articulated today "there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

Baby It's Cold Outside...and, I've Got Knits

The arctic cold made its way to North Carolina by last night. It was 23 when I drove home from the ExH’s house and this morning it was a chilly 12 degrees. We are experiencing the coldest weather we have had here in our area of North Carolina in four years. One of the nicest things about living in North Carolina is that we get a taste of all four seasons and as a girl who grew up in the Northeast, I appreciate a taste of winter from time to time and the one thing you can hold onto here is that it never lasts all that long. As a knitter, a little cold weather gives me an opportunity to bring out the Knits. Yesterday Argosy got her first debut along with the matching Maine Morning Mitts I got done in December. This morning, Just Enough Ruffles is enjoying her first debut. I just love the Malabrigo and the color is a good one for me. Everyone has loved my work and a couple of the girls yesterday just went gaga over my mitts. I love them, but the colors are not ideal for my wardrobe. When I started them I had no idea how much yarn they would take and I thought more of the colors in the Kureyon colorway would come into play, but in reality only two gradients of the teal color and two of the olive green color were used – not the best to compliment my wardrobe. So I have three more skeins of Kureyon and I think there will be another pair of mitts in my future and some other scarf either another Argosy or Multi-directional scarf.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I was working on an application deadline. I was at work late on Wednesday night and back in very early on Thursday morning ready for the big push to get the application out the door in time for the last UPS pick up at 9pm. Well around 9am the affiliate responsible for the project found out that the city was pulling their support – so no more application. When I found out I was aggravated and then the air literally just came out of my sails and I was beat the rest of the day. The one highlight…I was able to take the O&O to the orthodontist and I got in some knitting time while waiting which made things better.

It’s the weekend again and it will be all about knitting and working on improving our home environment. Between the cold temperatures and a desire to nest, I am going to try and stay close to home this weekend. I want to get the One Cable Vest going again and do some more stash organizing while working on improving the home environment. I hope all of you have a happy and productive weekend.

Moments of Peace

Work be damned! If only it were that easy. Work is getting in the way of this week’s knitting. We are in the midst of another week consumed by getting out another application – this time to the state of Indiana, a state we have never applied in before. So…the next couple of nights will be late ones. I did take a couple of minutes this morning to finish the last three rows of my third Kureyon Log Cabin Square. The project is the perfect mix of simplicity and interest. The changes in color and creating the strips of the Log Cabin keep the project moving along and I don’t have to think too much about what I am doing and it is knitting that I can do without even having to look at what I am doing. Sometimes this is just the kind of project that we need when we want to find some moments of peace during a crazy time and the feel of wool and the rhythm of needles can do that for us. So during these next few crazy days I hope that I can take a moment here and there to find that peace.