Inspiration

Knitting hasn't been meeting my needs lately. I haven't thought much about it, haven't been scanning Ravelry, and just haven't been knitting. I think it's lots of things - the move, the new lifestyle, the new schedule. I haven't been able to effectively fit the knitting in, and haven't really made it a priority.

I had a little chat with J. the other day and that seemed to help the spark a little bit. Then yesterday I came home, and I went to the stash. I just looked. And moved it around. And put matching colours together. And smelled it. And tried to see what called my name (well, it all did, but what called it the loudest).

I pulled out a couple skeins. One new and one that has been lingering around. They screamed the loudest. I wound them up and have cast on something new. I want to knit it. It is sitting there right now, and rather than chatting with someone from home online, I want to knit. I want to knit rather than falling asleep (again) on the couch. It feels good.

It almost makes it feel like home.

Conversation at T's House Today

My Big Boy: Mom, what did you do at work today?


Me: Well Buddy, I did some teaching.


My Big Boy: Did you teach knitting???


Me: No Buddy, it was pharmacy stuff.


My Big Boy: Oh, pharmacy stuff.


Me: Unfortunately Buddy - that's what pays the bills.


If only I could get paid for this knittin' thing. It's a heck of a lot more entertaining than pharmacy stuff.

Things I Should Do and Things I Shouldn't Do - The Knitting Version

Things I should do....


1. Finish my Rowena Cardigan (ok - I won't really wear it till winter, so it maybe shouldn't be #1 but it has been on the needles the longest. I'm done the back, 2 fronts and part of one sleeve. I really should finish this one).



2. Finish JW's (That's my husband) father's day present (ok - I'm not even done 1, and I have to make another one. I have turned the heel on that first one, but given the size of the appendage it's meant to be for - no nasty comments J. - I still have a lot of knitting. I really need to finish this).



3. Weave in the ends on my god-daughter's birthday presnt (well it's done, for the most part. And her birthday isn't till July 2 - should really get this finished).



4. Finish my monkey socks. I am supposed to be doing a knit-a-long with J., but she's FAR more 'a-long' than I am. (ok these are probably going to be a Christmas present for a dear friend who specifically asked for hand knit socks - I've knit her kids some but never her, so she'll be pumped. But given the timelines, I got lots of time to work on these).



Things I should NOT do....



1. I should NOT cast on my Tuscany shawl with my Sangria Seasilk (confession - already did this. J. was going on and on about how great the yarn is and I had finished winding it and it was really calling my name and well.....you know....)



2. I should NOT buy the Hempathy yarn required to make the Hip in Hemp skirt from the new Knitty, even though J. found some online for a totally reasonable price and free shipping (I have nothing to confess here -- I haven't bought it....yet....)



3. I should NOT return to the yarn store just to pick up more DPNs ( we all know how well that would go....there would be more than just needles purchased....it's inevitable).



4. I should NOT wind up my KPPPM just because it's a good, brainless activity to do while watching TV (there is NO way I could just leave that newly wound ball alone in my knitting basket. Seriously, I have a 'casting-on' problem).

I really need help....

Getting Long in the Tooth

I don't usually think of myself as being "old". I'm not, really I'm not. But there are certain things in your life that make you realize you're not getting any younger.





On the weekend we went to my sister's for a BBQ. My 9-year old nephew was very excited to lend me a book of his that he'd finished reading. My nephew and I are sharing books. I remember my wedding day when he was still in-utero -- 2 weeks from being born. And now, we're sharing books.



My first big knitting project was for my nephew. A navy blue gansey knit out of Butterfly Super 10 (which is still my favorite yarn). At the time, I didn't know you were supposed to wind up the hank, so my first ball got so rottenly tangled that I had to get more. I wasn't aware that there was such a thing a lot numbers so that odd ball I ran back and got is a different lot. If you look close enough at the sweater, you can see the difference.



That sweater has now been passed on to my boys. I'm waiting for my oldest to be able to wear it. I'm sure my nephew wore it when he was two, but my guy is not quite as big as his cousin. And the great thing is, I have 2 boys who'll get to wear it. This sweater reminds me of my old apartment, my nephew as a little boy and my early knitting projects. It also makes me think of getting on in life -- when I knit this sweater I was a newlywed, we were DINKS (dual-income, no kids) and life was good.





Now, life is better: one-income, two kids, and we're busier than we ever thought possible.




Speaking of one-income, I'm actually going back to work in 2 sleeps. I'm excited, nervous and sad. How can I leave these two guys?

The Love Affair is Over

It didn't last long -- sometimes things just aren't meant to be. I don't think it was me, but Lace has decided to make things difficult. Not sure what the downfall was. I need to cotemplate a little longer as to why things didn't work out.

Things began well enough. It took a little work to get started (recall the 1 K of yarn winding), but once that rough patch was over, things were looking up. We started out together on the path to Tuscany. We didn't make it too far along the path before I realized things weren't working out. So we started over, and then started over again and again. After many, many tries, I realized this was really not meant to be.

This is the after picture of the yarn. Innocent enough, right? Now take a closer look.........

See that big mess of yarn at the front - that's from being frogged about 15 times. Who knew you could split lace yarn and drop stitches and lose track of where you were 15 times. Honestly, it's over.

On the brighter side, I ran my "big race" today - thanks to J. She had to kick my a$% a few times along the way, but I did it. I had a minor (well more like Major) panic attack at the 8K mark when I looked up and all I saw was uphill back to the finish line. J. should seriously consider a job in motivational speaking, or cheerleading. She's THAT good.

Here we are at the finishing line (I'm the tall one - J.'s the athletic-looking one).

J. waited for me at the bottom of the last bit of trail so that we could run it in! She ran the whole way with me and talked the entire time to keep me distracted (not really that hard to believe if you know J.). She's the best!

Random Thoughts

Taking a page out of the Yarn Harlot's book and I'm just going to be putting down random thoughts today.

1. My husband has confiscated the camera - he keeps taking it to 'work'. Not sure if this is actually true or if he is trying to curb my blogging. Therefore, no camera, and again no pics from me.

2. I am doing my first big run on Sunday - 10K. I've never ran a race longer than 5K - I'm nervous and excited. If there was only a way I could combine knitting with running - however, think it's far too dangerous. Will just keep listening to knitting podcasts instead. Cast-on got me through Sunday's 8.5K.

3. Had to frog my husband's Father's day gift. Two mistakes in cabling. The one I could have lived with (twisted cable) but then I lost my spot and started on the wrong row - couldn't live with that. So, starting that over.

4. Finally finished winding up my yarn for the Tuscany shawl. All 1000m of it (or as my husband kept saying "you have to wind up 1K full of yarn???"). Then J. reminded me that not only was I winding a kilometre of yarn, but I'd knit a kilometre of yarn. Then it got me thinking of how many kilometres of yarn I've used in my life....scary....

5. Going back to work soon - so will need to come up with some good transportable projects to take for lunch (can you say socks!). I've never really knit at work, but think I'm going to start. Might help keep me sane (or at least on the train to the village of Sanity).

Think that's it - nothing of importance but all important to me.

The Lure of Lace

I wouldn't call myself an experienced knitter or an advanced knitter. I can do a few nifty tricks like cable, but haven't knit a lot with seriously difficult patterns. But lately I've got this urge to knit lace. Not sure where it came from. I'm not a girly girl and I don't normally run around in lacely, Victorian-like clothes, but I have this need to knit some.

For mother's day I received a copy of No Sheep for You and there is an AMAZING shawl called Tuscany. It is beautiful and I think it will be my first major lace project (other than socks, but those don't really count). I've never worn a shawl and can't say I can see wearing one in the near future but this pattern is so beautiful I can't help but make it. There are some pics of finished ones on the No Sheep Knit-a-long. VERY nice. I bought some red merino lace weight (lost the ball band already...par for the course) to knit it up. A little bit of a lighter weight yarn than what it was originally knit with but I wanted to try lace weight. It's taking forever to wind up into a ball (I have a swift, manufactured by J. and her sister-in-law) but not a ball winder - can see know why you should have both.

Once it's wound I will start. Therefore I need to get a lot of other things off the needles first - like a birthday sweater for my god-daughter and a father's day present for my husband (not saying what, as he is likely lurking....). I know once I start the Tuscany I won't be able to stop, so it's not a bad thing it's taking so long to wind the yarn up.

Will keep you posted with the Tuscany progress....

Managing the Stash

I love buying yarn - yep, shocking for a knitter to say. The feel of new yarn, the thought of what it will be turned into - all very exciting to me. Even though I love buying yarn, I do not have a stash that is overwhelming. My stash primarily takes up about 3 large baskets in my coffee table. A lot of it is yarn left over from previous projects, some of it is sock yarn as socks are my go-to project, and some of it is planned for new projects. Typical I would think of many knitters. What I don't have a lot of is "yarn with no plan" (except the sock thing, but it'll be socks one day - just not sure for whom or what pattern).







For example, this (Knit Picks Cotlin in Coral)....

....is destined for this.

This (Lorna's Laces in Envy)...

...is destined for this (who loves Cookie A??).

And my newest addition (and my first ever Koigu)....

....I think will be a Chevron scarf.

Maybe if I had unlimited amounts of disposable cash (is any cash really "disposable"??) I would have a larger stash. But, then again maybe not. I think the main reason I don't have a large stash of unspoken-for yarn is that it would burn a hole in my knitting basket - I wouldn't be able to let it sit there without a purpose. I would hunt tirelessly for a pattern, a purpose to give this yarn. I wouldn't be able to work on my other projects until it was cast on. Once cast on I could finally rest knowing that it would be happy now that the yarn had a reason.

The Knitting of Auntie J.

J. taught me to knit. I'm not even really sure when. I remember going to the book store with her and buying Debbie Bliss's How to Knit. I remember going with her to get the yellow cotton yarn and 4mm needles to start the first project (a garter stitch bag). That's how J.'s knitting started permeating my household.

It has progressed from there. J. usually knits me something for Christmas and my birthday (a big feat given that she knits a lot of Christmas presents and she has a lot of birthdays, including mine, in the 2 months post-Christmas). I have accumulated a lot of J.'s originals.

And she doesn't just knit for me. Both my boys were recipients of knitting ensembles brought to the hospital after they were born (one was a bear and one was a lab-rat; sounds crazy but fits our family). They also have matching hats. Even my husband has a hat knit by J. (it matches the boys...too cute or what).

And of course socks.

As I was getting dressed today and put on my pair of Baudelaire's from this year's birthday present, and then got my baby dressed and put on his pair of Auntie J.'s originals, I realized what an impact J. and her knitting have had on my family. Every piece special to us - and from one knitter to another, knowing what work is involved with each stitch. Thanks J.

Knitting as Anarchy

So, I got some new yarn the other day from KnitPicks. Never ordered from them before, and J. and I were intrigued by some of their yarn so we sent in an order. We both ordered some CotLin (at $2.49/ball we had to try it). J. has great things destined for her yarn (she's attempting to create a pattern...very exciting). I ordered 2 balls to do a hand towel set for my mom. J. had knit me some lovely handtowels for Christmas and I was inspired - what a great gift idea. You don't need to worry about size (and therefore gauge, which as previously discussed I'm opposed to) or colour because they won't be worn.


I took out my newly borrowed copy of Stitchionary from Vogue Knitting (J. has it on hold from our library and was surprised to see it on my coffee table...are we on the same wavelength or what???). There are MANY fun stitch designs in there. I started off with a fancy garter rib, but after a couple of attempts frogged it. It just didn't look nice with the garter stitch border, which is necessary to keep the towels lying flat on the towel holder. Also it required a whole row of K2tog which kind of annoyed me ... for no particular reason other than it seemed like a lot of work. So I decided to move on. Now I'm trying a different stitch repeat (small mock brocade pleats). Seems a bit better, but looks a little 70's-ish to me. Any thoughts from anyone else??

As my first real attempt at designing something myself, it's a good project to start with. I've only frogged it twice and it is knitting up quickly.

The traditionalists (or the good knitters) out there may suggest I should have gauged it first and that would help with deciding what to do. J. suggested that I was swatching, which I balked at. No way, me swatch?? Honestly. So why am I so anti-swatching? I am not really sure. I know there are no "knitting police" (as the Yarn Harlot specifies quite nicely in "Knitting Rules") making me swatch. I know that even if you do swatch, the pattern may not work out for a variety of other reasons. I know that swatching can save you time in the end, even though it takes more time up-front. I know that swatching can help you to better understand your knitting style. Still, I don't know why I'm so anti-swatching. I think it may symbolize to me a knitting rule. Something that should be followed by every good knitter (or at least by knitters who make wearable objects). I think that there are so many other "rules" in my life that I don't want to have to follow any in my knitting. Knitting is the one thing that is total anarchy in my life (some may argue this....after meeting my 3 year old....); and I like that.