Yarn Diet

Not all I had planned for the week, but...

2012-01-29T22:23:00.003-05:00

We have all heard the saying "The best laid plans of mice and men." I had several of them this past week, but to even hint at how things really turned out you need to know just a little more about me.

It is a sad truth that I hate doing laundry.
Absolutely, positively, there is not a word strong enough for it, HATE laundry.
No matter how much you do, or how organized you think you are it is truly one chore that is never ending. There you stand, seeing empty hampers, or baskets, clean clothing neatly stowed in drawers, closets or wardrobes and what happens? You go to bed and suddenly there is more to do!

I don't know much, but I do know that to conquer the dreaded "wash day blues" there is only one thing to do. Make sure the pile of dirty things to wash never exceeds you ability to face them. In order to do that I have a plan that has worked very well for me for years, and years. Even when I had someone who kindly came to my house each day to watch my children, and while she was here took care of many chores, she too bought into my insanity of : Do a freaking load of laundry every day! Now obviously on sheet changing day, or towel washing day, there is more than one load in a family of four, but as a general rule I do one load each day before I go to work and can face the idea of two or three on Saturday or Sunday when I am not working quite so many hours.

My plans were derailed this week when the latch assembly on my front load washer broke! I knew at 6:30 am we had this problem, by 6:45 I thought I had ordered the right parts and would be ready to install the following day (an eleven dollar part that cost more than twice that to ship, but I wanted the part RIGHT NOW!) As it turned out I was a little off the mark and needed another part as well, so another full day and a bit of waiting.....Four days where I could not do laundry.

Much to the amusement of the people who know me, calling a repairman was never top of my list of ways to deal with the washer issue. My feeling was that I would try on my own, and only if I failed would I call in a professional, and after all how hard could it be to fix something that took just a couple of parts, one of which was eleven dollars! Turns out it was the right decision. Although I admit I had the machine apart as far as I needed to before I got the pieces to put in it, but putting the new ones in took less time than making coffee and that included re-seating the gasket that keeps the water the right side of the washing machine door!

Guess what I was doing all weekend?

Well, I suppose not all I was doing there might have been some of this......

Don't be too impressed, I have been working on this one since September of last year and it is only 125 rows big...yeah I know it looks bigger, that is because I took a doily pattern and worked it in fingering weight yarn with needles that were significantly larger than you would expect!
Stats: Stor Lysedug, from a Danish website, translated into English so I could knit it.
Bernat Baby Yarn in Antique White
Needles 3 through 8 (US)
Mods : I did not do the crochet bind off, just a simple knit two, *slide back to left hand needle and knit together through back loops, knit one* and so on and so on ad infinitum!

Non-knitters, and even knitters who do no work things that need serious blocking, have no idea how long it takes to pin out some of the lace pieces that I knit, especially when I plan on killing (scroll down to Lesson: Blocking Lace) an acrylic to make a soft drapey piece. First I washed it, then I started pinning it, then had to hunt up a spray bottle because it was drying faster than I could pin, followed by a nice sauna with a steam cleaner. Total time : most of the afternoon and early evening with occasional breaks to swap laundry, fold laundry, make and eat dinner!

TDQ had her birthday somewhere in the middle of the week, complete with her ramen noodles, and hand knit gifts. Some you still can't see, no pictures to share, but she does have a (now scrunched up from wearing it as the photos came days after gifting it) little neck scarf to go with some fingerless gloves.

You saw this earlier before it was complete, not much in the way of stats for it, other than to say that the yarn I got for Christmas has thus far turned into : long fingerless gloves, foot ovens, that neck warmer....

This neck warmer (for me!) and another pair of fingerless gloves to match it (still on the needles.) With an entire ball of yarn left to knit! Nothing like stretching out a present, and if I have calculated correctly the non-knitter that gave those four balls of yarn to me will also be able to get a scarf and mitts...she asked me to knit something for myself and TDQ from this batch of yarn and suggested a scarf if there was enough, I think I am following the letter (if not the intent) of her instructions, we each have a scarf now! LOL.

I am way behind on my Sugar Plum Fairy, still have over half of Chart 3 to go before I can catch up to last weeks Chart 4.

And no, I did not work on my mystery socks at all this week!

~M

I saw this and just had to steal it

2012-01-26T19:27:00.000-05:00

And still she dazzles with the lack of knitting!

2012-01-22T18:28:00.002-05:00

Before we talk about knitting, what to me was a funny story from earlier today. It is TDQ's birthday in just a few short days and I was asking her what she wanted for her birthday dinner. You know that sly look that only teenage girls can get? Well she got it and peering at me through those sly little eyes asked "Are birthday's ten percent days?" (We eat really healthy food 90% of the time, the other 10% if we want pancakes with syrup for dinner or a hot dog at a sporting event, I am good with that, but the "junk" food days cannot exceed 10% of our eating.) I replied that of course birthdays are ten percent days expecting to hear some kind of fast food or apple pie as the request, instead I got. "Can we have those Ramen noodles with veggies added?" Not that noodles are the healthiest thing on the menu, but I think she missed the point of our ten percent rule!

But on to knitting, or lack thereof.

First up, a project that has been on my needles since September of 2011 is almost finished! And not because it was complex, or particularly big, just got shoved to the bottom of the WIP pile as the baby it is intended for shouldn't arrive for another couple of months!

Stor Lysedug is actually a doily pattern from Yarn Over, translated from a Danish pattern.
I am nearly, oh so very nearly, done with the knitting but then I will need to wash, pin and kill the acrylic so not something that can truly be finished until next weekend.

Halfway through casting off there! I did play fast and loose with the materials, going for a fingering weight yarn rather than thread and ever increasing needle sizes to get something that was big enough for a baby rather than a side table!

Next up....

Chart 2 of Sugar Plum Fairy This is the full circle version, but already too many stitches to spread it out so you can see the whole thing...at least on these needles!

Third up is the beginnings of a scarf thing for TDQ, I plan on making it just long enough to wrap around her neck and button there.

(Along with the cup rings from earlier can you ignore the left over splaters of paste I didn't notice until I took this picture? It may sound like fun to make your own pinata but TDQ needs to learn to keep the paste where it belongs!)

Judging by how far this yarn has gone so far I should be able to get myself a small scarf out of it too, this one is to go with the fingerless gloves for a certain girl's birthday.

Fail of the week was my mystery socks, I never did get the heels knit and today the last section of the pattern was published. Drat, I could have had them done in time for that birthday!

So what is on your needles?

~M

In which the knitter dazzles you with the lack of knitting she got done!

2012-01-15T18:27:00.001-05:00

For someone who had several finished objects in the first week of the year, and has had a serious case of startitis, there doesn't seem to be a lot in the way of finished objects to show you!

I don't even know what to truly blame. We got some snow (hardly any) and I have been hobbling around like a little old lady who lost her cane, but that shouldn't have slowed me down in my knitting.

As of now, not only the second but the third charts of Sugar Plum Fairy have been published and I haven't even picked that project up since the last photo you saw! So it certainly wasn't a lack of things to work on.

All I have to show for the week is two finished legs on socks....

These are the mystery socks on SKA on Ravelry and the next section is out ready to knit.

And some super quick I need something that I don't really have to pay attention to while waiting for kids to get done at the library Foot Ovens.

In case you are interested the Foot Ovens are in Berocco Ultra Alpaca Tonal and Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran both held double throughout and worked on US 8 needles. That makes the second project from my Christmas yarn, I still have a couple of balls left and am solidly determined to come up with something that the non-knitter would like and use!

Now which to knit on, SPF1, SPF2 or the mystery socks? Or maybe, cast on another project?

~M

And some more....

2012-01-10T19:40:00.000-05:00

So the time has come to add some details to the pictures from yesterday and that other one that snuck in above!

SugarPlumFairy by Bad Cat Designs. If you belong to Ravelry you really should take a look at some of the fabulous projects that have been started, and not just the SPF Shawls that are starting to appear. As is usual, Andrea - the brains behind BadCatDesigns- has offered up a side project, that for once I have not cast on for!

My versions of the shawl are both knit in ColourMart 2/30 Merino, above the semi-circle is knit in violet and the one from yesterday is in pale slate. The pictures are both under artificial light and really do not accurately represent the true colors I am knitting in.

I still haven't picked up the mystery sock, plenty of time before Sunday to get them knit, right?

Not to mention a lovely bank holiday coming up, I might just have to cast on for the Foot Oven's that TDQ thinks will look and feel lovely in the yarn I got for Christmas!

~M

A little bit more.....

2012-01-09T21:19:00.000-05:00

SugarPlumFairy and Double Braided Mitts, details to follow another time. It has been one of those days, but I felt compelled to show you some bragging photos!

~M

Bet you expected more!

2012-01-08T18:39:00.000-05:00

After all those finished objects in rapid succession, I am sure you expected more than one half a pair of fingerless gloves from me today! Truth be told, there has been some knitting, of the hidden variety, and some not knitting, of the collecting up stuff we don't use any more variety, and lots of working, at the paying job variety. There has been some swatching and some early nights when the drugs of the make you stop shaking variety kicked in with a vengeance. (There is good news on that front, I picked up some lace weight today and didn't drop it! Cast on for something even!)

For Christmas I got some Berocco Ultra Alpaca Tonal (Colorway Ura) in a box marked Mandarin Orange Segments! The non-knitter who gave it to me even had it wound up into balls. After a brief discussion about how she didn't want or need anything from it I went to work to figure out how to get as many things out of this yarn as possible (That way TDQ and I would get something like the non-knitter wanted and the non-knitter could get a surprise too!) First up some really warm fingerless mitts for TDQ. I am making up the pattern as I go along, maybe I will write it down when I am finished if you are interested in knitting some for yourself. :)

So, not even really a finished object to show you...but stay tuned, the second clue of the mystery sock is out, I just haven't knit it yet because more importantly the first charts to Sugar Plum Fairy are out too! My first lace project in months and I can't wait to be finished the chart to share with you! If you haven't joined the party there is still time, many people in the group are still waiting for yarn or beads to arrive and anyway, knowing me, if you are late to the party and want someone to knit with you I might just have to cast on another one so I can join you.

In the meantime, I have some lace knitting to do, lace knitting that is making me happy!

~M

Quickie

2012-01-02T18:13:00.000-05:00

Here we are on day two of 2012 and I already had the cuff of my mystery socks done, on both socks no less, and now I have another Quickie that jumped on and off my needles.

It snowed today and the boy that keeps saying he doesn't need a new hat, suddenly decided he did!
Leftover yarn from his striped hoodie, ~125 yards and a free pattern from Ravelry and my afternoon was filled with knitterly goodness.

~M

The Year that was

2012-01-01T16:54:00.000-05:00

2011 certainly was not my best year ever, there were family issues, my own health issues, more family issues, kids needing minor surgery, knitting that went awry or got abandoned when my hands would not cooperate with me...all in all it is one year that I am glad to say is over, done and gone!

But, there were things that worked out during the year. My professional life seemed to work out pretty good, even if it got a bit hairy in the middle when our staffing went south in a big way. Friends had babies that were all born healthy and happy, ten fingers and ten toes each. TDQ (The Drama Queen) moved onto her second year of high school and made honor roll, TFB (The First Brother) discovered that math really isn't so hard and has exceeded my meager abilities at algebra, TOB (The Other Brother) attempted to learn how to knit socks, and even though it didn't go particularly well he keeps going back to it.

Scrolling through my Ravelry notebook I completed 33 knitted projects, not a record by any stretch, but most of them were "bigguns". There are three adult bed blankets, one not on Ravelry yet, several baby blankets both as part of my baby blankets through time project and for gifting, 8 adult sized sweaters, a giant shawl and more. I may have felt like my knitting life fell off the wagon, but I seem to have got a few things done.

The last two projects of 2011 got finished up yesterday, right at the end of the year.

Monster Man Socks

They used just about every scrap of two balls of Kroy Sock Yarn in Denim with some left over cream for the afterthought heels and toes. This will never be my favorite heel technique but was certainly useful for these socks where I wanted to give him as much sock as I could. No pattern to speak of, just cast on 72 stitches with size 1(US) needles and knit a few rows of ribbing followed by many rows of knit every round! He says he likes them, and I hope he does, this is the man that sent me an entire set of Signature Arts circular needles when I was feeling in a particularly dark place.

TDQ's Hoodie was finished just before 10:30 on New Years Eve, well I am calling it finished even though it still needs to have a zipper installed!

Like her mismatched socks? She does that intentionally!
This time around the stripes were in groups of three stripes of three rows each, with larger swatches of light grey in between. To keep things moderately interesting all the shaping was worked on the wrong side of the knitting (so purl row decreases and increases) and it has extra big pockets for putting things in. Again I dipped into Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn (its washable, cheap when bought online and I needed an awful lot of it to knit three kids sweaters!) on size 7 (US) needles.

I still might knit another hoodie, this one for myself maybe in the light grey and dark grey or maybe with single stripes of all the kids colors, but for today...

Clue One of a mystery sock from SKA on Ravelry. Three guesses who they will be for?

Now to wait until the next clue comes out next week. In the meantime, I should answer my own question for earlier.....On and off my needles this year? More baby blankets through time, I had to raid that stash for a quick baby shower present, maybe even start my Christmas 2012 knitting a little earlier and get one thing done a month so that mad panic the last few weeks is not quite so mad?!? Mostly though, I think that my knitting plan is going to be, find a pattern I like and knit it.

Happy New Year, here's hoping this one is healthier, more productive and more enjoyable than any that has come before.

~M

Things unblogged

2011-12-30T11:17:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, in the course of knitting projects, they seem to fall by the roadside and never get blogged about. I don't know why that seems to happen with some of them, with others I know that it is because the pattern isn't ready to share, or is waiting for a publish date....and it takes a long time to go from pattern creation through knitting, through marketing and then on to the publishing.

This winter BadCat Designs, or Andrea, had a pattern in Vogue Holiday Knitting. This pattern!

Here are my versions (yes two!)

I call them Queen of Hearts and Through the Looking Glass. Mostly the difference is in the edging, one with and one without the scallops and ten million beads in the cast off edge!

It is almost time to start planning 2012 projects, what do you want to have on and off your needles in the coming year?

~M