First planned project of the new year

Knitting is still hot, just check out the amazing site Ravelry if you don't believe me. Cowls are the new black. Super cool and chic. For my 2013 crafting kickoff, I thought I'd whip (haha) something just for moi. I plan to make the Honey Cowl and keeping with my ongoing commitment to be frugal in my crafting, I'm going to find some yarn from my stash that will work. I'm sure I have something. I'm thinking something in green, wouldn't that be fun and unexpected?

The Knitter's Almanac

I love a project and learning new things. I've had this book for a while, but never got around to really making much from it. I've decided that I will spend the next year making the projects and building up my knitting skills. Want to knit along with me?

Hello Lady!!!

I fancy myself a knitter, but I rarely knit much beyond socks, dishcloths and scarves. I decided after scoring a gorg shade of green wool yarn on clearance I should make myself something. Now granted it will probably be next year before I finish, but I'm going for it. I've decided to make myself the February Lady Sweater. I love the description from the designer. It's a sweater meant for a grown ass woman, lol. That's me! I've already cast on and started on the collar. I'm really going to have to pay attention and perhaps take notes or something, because I have a bad habit of stopping a project for an extended period and forgetting where I am. I'll share my progress along the way. Wish me luck!

Yoga mat for a yogi

So, my little fellow E. likes to practice yoga with me. He takes it very seriously and he's really good at it. Whenever I'd roll out my mat, he'd run and get a large bath towel. Well, I had an epiphany, I could make him a yoga mat. I had tons of cotton yarn I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with (got suckered in by a good sale!) but it was perfect for a sturdy mat. The pattern is my own and by all means nothing fancy. I just used 2 skeins double stranded and cast on, I think 70 stitches and then knitted it until I got it to length I thought was big enough, wove in the ends and finito. Easy Peasy. E. loves it and can't wait to get to practicing his poses. Oh and his brother M. thought of another use for it, "a flying carpet". Gotta love a child's imagination.

Work on it Wednesday

True to form I started off with a bang and then lost my steam. What am I referring to you ask? Well, I'm participating in a swap on Ravelry and I have yet to finish my swap item. I was super excited and began working diligently on my swap item in the summer, but I lost interest and it's sat incomplete. Well, the week of Thanksgiving is when we're suppose to have these in the mail. Panic time! Actually, not to be too hard on myself, I did finish the original item I had planned to swap. I was just not thrilled with it and I started a second item. It was going along swimmingly until I lost my mojo for it. But, a fire has been lite under my butt because yesterday I got my swap package from my partner and not only was it the loveliest hand knitted shawl, but she included so many other items that I'm ashamed to send her my poorly knitted attempt. However, I can sew and I have some sewn items that I'm sending her and I hope they will overshadow and make up for my knitting. I will be in high gear over the next few days to get this stuff in the mail by Wednesday. When will I ever learn?

I heart this!

It's a yarntrainer! Ain't it nifty? I am currently knitting a little hoodie for O. using some stashed yarn I've had forever. I think it's some Bernat I got from A.C. Moore, it's at least a pound and it's super soft. It kept losing it's shape and becoming a tangled mess even though I had it crammed inside a ziploc bag. So remembered that I had seen these before. I trotted off to JoAnn's coupon in hand and scored one for $5. Best $5 I've spent in a long time. Oh and while I was there I picked up the latest issue of SewHip (also using a coupon, $4, woohoo!). Anyways, I'm loving the yarntainer so I thought I'd pass on the recommendation. Go out and get one!

I'm going to do it!

I've said before that I'm not a great knitter, but I do so enjoy it and in any craft I enjoy I endeavor to try and challenge myself. Recently I've been working on a simple garter lace shawl for a swap. I'm getting more comfortable with the process and I've decided to make a Clapotis. I've wanted to make one forever but was intimidated by the thought of it. But I have some great charts and there's a forum on Ravelry completely dedicated to Clapotis so I'm going to go for it. I have some yarn I bought many months ago from Tuesday Morning. It's Araucania Atacama and it's just gorgeous. In fact it was that yarn that pushed me into getting a ballwinder and swift since the yarn comes in hanks and needs to be wound into a center pull ball for me to work with it (just ask me how I found out). I can't wait to get started but first I need to finish my current shawl project. It's for a holiday prayer shawl swap I'm participating in. I'm a bit nervous to subject my knitting to someone I don't know, but it's all with good intentions so I'm trying to do a good job on it. Here's a picture of my current shawl project in progress. At the rate I knit I probably have about 3 more weeks of knitting at least. But it's getting there. The pattern is from a book I got from the library, I think it was called "Traditional Knitted Lace" and the pattern is a simple garter knitted shawl. It's a very versatile pattern and simple to memorize. I'm sure I will make it again. It would look fabulous with a really funky sock yarn. That would really show off the open pattern of the lace.

Sock love!

I finished this awesome pair of red socks for myself. I say awesome because they are really warm and comfortable. Although I'm not an excellent knitter and they look exactly like they were knitted by a not so excellent knitter I'm still pleased as punch and ready to start on my next pair. They fit and that's the important thing since I'm super lax about doing a gauge swatch (I know, I know, I'll be sorry some day, but not today). This was my test pair. I made them out of worsted weight Plymouth Encore yarn so no fear of shrinkage or fading here. The yarn did pill and split a bit, but who cares since it's for socks I'll wear bumming around the house. My next pair will be made with exquisite Lorna's Lace sock yarn that I purchased ages ago at my LYS. I'm going to try toe up, two at a time on 2 circs. How's that for fun times, it should probably take me until Halloween to finish them, lol.

It's finished

I just finished my first prayer shawl. It's not the LaLa Shawl that I'm also working on (this is why it's good to have lots of knitting needles so you can have lots of project in progress, lol) but one that I made as a gift. There were tons of mistakes, but I can say that boucle is quite forgiving and I went in and tightened up a few places. I don't know if you're actually suppose to do it that way, but it worked. I just need to block it and then get it in the mail. I think I like shawl knitting even more than sock.knitting. It was so relaxing and not too complicated, well the pattern I did which was K3P3 isn't complicated. It's the beginner standard shawl pattern from the very cool and worthy organization called Prayer Shawl Ministry, It's a faith based organization that makes shawls to donate to those who need them. You can read more about them and maybe pick up some knitting needles or a crochet hook to join in. Next I'm going back to the LaLa Shawl. I feel like a total slacker since I only have about 2 rows done and many in the KAL are already finished...but it wasn't a race, right? I'm also going to finish some socks that I had put aside. I'm to the heel. I'm knitting them 2 at a time on 2 circulars, which I can say I really like doing as opposed to dpn. Those pesky dpn gave me nothing but grief! I'm just not a good enough knitter to not get frustrated when I lose a bunch of stitches off my needles, in fact it put me over the edge!
Anyways, I promised myself I would be better about taking pictures. So I tried to photograph the shawl which proved somewhat challenging with me wearing it. Hopefully you'll get the gist of it.

Holiday Gift Planning

It's know it's only April, but my abundance of yarn and fabric, along with the sage words of my dear friend Linda have inspired me to do handmade gifts for the majority of gifts I will be giving this year. I have been carefully considering all the people in my life and what would be the perfect gift for them. I've scoured magazine, my patterns (both knitting and sewing), looked through my abundant stash and I think I'm ready to begin. I have some birthday presents that I need to get done and then it's full steam ahead for Christmas sewing/knitting. It's kind of exciting and a real challenge to myself to endeavor to gift handmade. I'm not the fastest knitter in the world and while I can sew quite well, finding the time and motivation to do so isn't always a reality. I hope others will join in and try to gift more handmade items, even if you didn't make them yourself. I think it's wonderful to support the artisans in our communities.
What will I be making you ask? Well, I can't tell you now can I, or it wouldn't be surprise.

Prayer Shawl KAL

I'm a very novice knitter, which isn't exactly the same thing as a new knitter. I actually learned the rudimentary stitches for knitting in my teens, revisiting them again in my twenties until I finally said...hey, I actually want to learn to make something in my thirties. Fast forward, a couple of classes, countless hours on knitty and knittinghelp, hundreds of dollars in yarn and knitting needles and I'm addicted. However, I'm by no means a fast or even a good knitter, but nonetheless I do enjoy it. I like to challenge myself a bit from time to time. I mean how many scarves do you really need? So, I've learned to knit socks using both dpn and two circulars and now I thought I should step beyond knitting and purling. So, I've joined a KAL (knit along) on ravelry to knit a prayer shawl. I plan to gift this one to someone special...can't say who though, it's a secret. I've decided to do LaLa Simple Shawl. I wanted to put this out there so that my dear blogging sisters will keep me on task. Ask me about the shawl from time to time so I don't fade as I've been known to do. It started yesterday, but I'm going to cast on today since I was caught up in the Family Night Festivities yesterday.
I'm thinking I'm going to use some yarn from my stash in worsted weight or perhaps I will use this KP shine I have and double strand it to give it a bit more body. I'll try and post some WIP pix from time to time.

Zen and the art of knitting

I have come to realize that I'm a process knitter. I'd like to say I'm highly productive and I have a lot to show for the amount of money I've spent on my yarn stash...but I don't. I don't really produce very much at all if I'm honest with myself. I knit quite a bit though. I like starting something and trying out new techniques, then when I get bored or want to try something else...I rip it out. When I knit, however poorly, the rhythmic action of working with my hands, yarn and a set of needles takes me to another place. It's really is kind of zen experience for me. I can lose myself in the knitting, in the intricate patterns that are produced from a seemingly simple pattern of loops and knots. I think about how for centuries women (and men too) have taken needles and fiber in hand and created. It makes me feel connected to the past through this simple craft. I think that might be why knitting is such the craze. It really is a simple thing too. Aren't we all just looking for a simple way to quiet our souls?

Can you have too many?

Well the Olympics are over and I've had to return to regular life. Which means back to cooking, cleaning...oh and crafting too. I'm hard at work on my socks for O. I finished my sock class last night, it was helpful to learn to use dpn...but honestly I think I could have figured the same stuff out with some good internet searches. Ah well...now that I'm beyond the classes that my LYS offers, I'm going to just have to dive in and learn new skills on my own with the help of my friend Net (you get it? interNET?). And sewing...I have quite a bit on my "to sew" list. S. wants a tshirt and some lounge pants. I have to do a few things for O. including her lunch box and I'd like to do some things for me too. But, back to the question...can you have too many? I'm referring to patterns. I have a lot of sewing patterns...last I counted I had over 300, but that was months ago and I've added many more. Some have been gifted to me, but the vast majority I purchased. I'm an equal opportunity pattern lover too. I love the Big 4 companies just as well as the more exclusive (and need I add expensive) boutique lines. In fact I think I love the Big 4 more. I like that they bring sewing to the masses, they have their finger on the pulse of fashion and let's face it, they're affordable and easily obtained. I love that! My friend D. calls me a patternwhore. I have to admit I actually love patterns more than fabric and I do love some fabric. And yet...I wonder, do I have too many...when is enough, enough? I mean there's really only so many designs out there, right? Well...I haven't been able to answer that question for myself yet, but I'll let you know when I figure it out In the mean time I think someone is having a sale on patterns.

WooHoo! Yarn Love!

I got my knitpicks order the other day and in addition to some knifty new needles I got gads of wonderfully soft yarn. I'm no connusieur but I love their yarn and the price is so right. I can't wait to get started making some fun projects. I will start my sock class in 2 weeks and my knitting group is starting a KAL for a really great, yet easy sweater in September. I have to start looking for the yarn for it...uh oh, does that mean I need to place another knitpicks. order?

A new addiction...eh...illness

I've been bitten by the knitting bug. It's as bad as sewing in terms of expenditures, worst even, remember the $30 socks? But, oh the yarns are so pretty and soft and I just want to turn them in to something beautiful. I've been on a little shopping spree as of late. I just purchased yarn to make 2 moderne baby blankets, one for my niece and one for O. Again...not cheap, each blanket required about $50 worth of yarn and that was getting the yarn on sale. I also am still in search of the perfect needles to round out my collection so I've ordered some knitpicks nickel, harmony woods and dpn to try out. Today I bought a pair of Susan Bates Velocity from A.C. Moore to check out. I read on Ravelry that the cables are just like knitpicks and the tips seem like Addi's. The price is slightly less than addi's so that is nice (about $5 less) and I was able to use a coupon (woohoo!) so while not a bargain, they won't break the bank. I knitted a few rows on them tonight and I like them. I have a confession though, I don't think I have very discriminating taste when it comes to knitting needles. I like them all and I guess since I haven't worked with a huge variety of yarns I can't really tell the difference.


learning to knit in the round on two circs. A hat in progress on 2 size 8 addi turbos.


yarn for O.'s baby moderne blanket

I finished my first knit project

I finished my first project, a simple scarf knitted with a really fun and soft novelty yarn in garter stitch. It came out pretty well and I learned a lot about picking up stitches and correcting twisted stitches too. Now I've started back on my sweater for O.. I had stopped for a bit to do something quick that I could finish and have that sense of accomplishment. I've also started on some more Christmas presents, but sshhhss...it's a secret. Oh and I signed up for a sock class that starts in a month. I can't wait. I'm really jazzed about learning to knit socks.

Christmas in July

So...in case you haven't noticed I do like a good craft. So, I've decided that this year I will do even more gifts for Christmas handmade. I've already started working on them. I can't say who's getting what since my family reads this blog...but just know it's going to be awesome (lol) and created with love. Hopefully if I work hard, a little at time I will finish and not feel the pressure the holidays can bring. I know my kids don't read this blog, so I can tell you what I plan to make for them. I want to do socks for everyone, a skywalker cape for E., doll clothes for her waldorf doll for O., a big bag to carry all his train stuff, boxers and lounge pants for S. and perhaps a few other things I'm still tossing around. My children are really blessed with a lot of material things, so I want Christmas to be special...but not about the material or over the top. We did well last year with a scaled down holiday and I think everyone enjoyed it and didn't miss the over the top commericial holiday haul. So, that's what I've working on. Planning, cutting, shopping my stash and working just like a little elf to get ready for the holidays.

Knit and Learn

Ugh! I should so know better. I like to knit late at night while lying in bed watching tv (I know, multi-tasker) and sometimes leave my in progress work on my bedside table. Well...my kids (remember how I said I never finished anything before because my kids always pull it out. Well, I go walking in my bedroom and my little darlings have not only pulled off at least a weeks worth of my hard work, but also unrolled my ball of yarn. I was so upset. Now, it's only taken me three days, a look at knittinghelp, a trip to the library to check out a book on fixing knitting mishaps, and about a hundred rows put on my needles only to realize that I had been purling when I should have been knitting. Finally today, a breakthrough. I finally ripped it out (isn't the term frogged) down to where I thought it looked right (way, way, way down...oh I will never finish this sweater) and started again, for the millionth time. I thought about what it said in that very helpful library book...and low and behold...it looks right. Now, I had planned to do some sewing this evening, but I think I will knit, knit, knit...oh wait, I'm should be purling some too. Ah...kids, gotta love them or else you just might have to kill them.

Lookie, lookie at what I made

You know I'm trying to get my knit on. Well...I have collected a ton of needles from thrift stores and ebay (I know I probably should come off some money and get really great needles...but these are actually ok, I checked out the different brand feedback before purchasing on a bunch of knitting websites).
I have a ton of flannel from the annual JA's $.99 sale. Can I tell you while they have the best prints, I have come to realize that I absolutely hate flannel. Well, I should say I don't know what to do with it. My kids don't like it and we live in a moderate climate that you don't really have the opportunity to need flannel clothing. I've made some lounge pants and bags, but still the flannel will just not die! So...I thought, hmmm...I'll make a knit roll for my needles. So, that's just what I did. I should have paid more attention to what I was doing since I should have stitched the pockets before attaching them to the outer fabric. Oh well...it's utilitarian although far from perfect...sort of like me. Oh...and here's a picture of my progress so far on the sweater I'm working on. I'm knitting on my size 8 addi turbos. I'm digging them. I actually feel like a real knitter using them, lol. I might just finish this sweater before Christmas.

I knit!

I really do. I've never actually finished anything,lol...but I've knitted a lot, I just usually rip it out or the kids get a hold off it and do it for me. But, I signed up for a class and last night was the first class. It's a beginning sweater class and I'm going to make a sweater for O. I tried to be conservative and I picked a yarn that wasn't way out of control in terms of cost. I only needed 3 skeins which was a good thing. Some of the other ladies are making things that take 7 and 8 skeins of yarn and if you pay $10+/skein that begins to be a pretty pricey sweater. It's funny, when I pick a hobby...I don't ever seem to find something budget friendly do I? Oh well...I'm really excited about it.
I plan to work on it a bunch between now and the next class. Tonight we just talked about our different experiences...everyone has been knitting for 1-3 years so I don't feel like a total newbie. I think I'll be able to finish the sweater by the time the weather is cool enough for her to wear it. Keep an eye out for the finished project pictures