Sometimes knitting makes we want to cry.

For whatever reason I became completely obsessed with making this Vesper sweater:

Flickr Photo used with permission of pipibird

I bought this Linen Isle on clearance with absolutely no idea what I was going to do with it.

This yarn/pattern combination kept haunting me so I decided to go for it. I printed out the pattern, got out my yarn & needles, & knit a swatch. So far so good. Then I started reading the pattern. Cast on 432 stitches. Wow. And one Ravelry user had done some mods that I wanted to incorporate which called for that to be a provisional cast on. Wow. I almost just put the whole thing down & said forget it right there. But you know, I'm supposed to be pushing myself to learn new things this year, so I wanted to just go for it. I found a video at the Knitting at Knoon website & decided that was the easiest way for me. I sat through a 2 hour movie and STILL hadn't cast on all of those stitches. I just went with it until it was over & you know, it wasn't all that bad. This is definitely an easier method than other things I have tried. Now the issue is that I had 432 stitches on my needles & other than some short rows, I needed to knit all 432 of those stitches for quite while. So I did. And then I realized that I made a ridiculous stupid mistake - I hadn't done my short rows long enough & it wasn't going to be right. I re-read the pattern shaking my head wondering how in the world I didn't see the obvious instructions on that piece of paper!

There are 2 schools of thought on making a knitting project. Some people think you should read through each detail of the pattern & know what you are doing. Some people think you should never read ahead because it will just confuse you & you have to trust the process. I had read nothing but great things about how clever this pattern was so when I read ahead a little & it made no sense, I didn't trust myself. I told myself to just trust the process & when I got to the next part it would make sense. You know what? I'm a pretty smart cookie & I should have known. I should have trusted my gut when it looked like something was wrong. No, the pattern wasn't wrong, but the next step didn't match up with my fabric. Because I SCREWED UP THE KNITTING PART. One day I'm going to believe that I do kinda know what I'm doing & not continue down the path that leads to frogging all of my work!

I ripped back 10 inches of knitting 432 stitches & started over. Now I'm about 3 inches from being done with the body, I need to add a little length to the sleeves, and then knit the pleats around the neckline. I am really really hoping to have this finished so I can wear it to Disneyworld when I go on April 5th. I'd love to have a picture with Mickey and/or Minnie wearing something I knitted! How cool would that be?

Stay tuned.

Contest Time Q&A - Headquarters & up to date prizes HERE.

A few people have asked me some questions about the contest so I thought I'd put them here. I'm also going to keep listing the up-to-date prizes on this post, so check back often - I keep getting new stuff!

Tell me the details again, please.
Knit chemo caps in any child's size to be donated to Children's Hospital in New Orleans in memory of Adrianna Cavanaugh. Email me at bijouxmasteratgmaildotcom & I will send you an address to mail your finished hats. Your name will go into a drawing for each hat donated. Drawing will be held May 30, 2010.

Do I have to use one of the patterns from your queue?
Absolutely not! Use whatever pattern you want or make up your own. I just know I get stuck sometimes & need a push in the right direction.

I'm not a knitter, I'm a crocheter. Will you accept crocheted hats?
Yes, please crochet some adorable hats.

What kind of yarn should I use?
Again, I really don't care what kind of yarn you use, but it needs to be something really soft & preferably machine washable. Some yarns that I like for this purpose (but you don't have to use these!):
Berroco Comfort
Rowan Calmer
Caron Simply Soft
Berroco Pure Merino or Pure Merino DK
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in any weight
Fiesta Yarns Boomerang
Rowan Classic Cashsoft - any weight
Lorna's Laces Worsted or DK
This is just an example of yarns I had in my stash that would work.

What are you going to do with the hats if you get more than Children's Hospital in New Orleans needs?
Well, I hope I have this problem. If I do, I will check withe Sloan Kettering which is another hospital where Adrianna spent a good deal of her time after her diagnosis. If I have more than they need, then I will check with local hospitals here in the Dallas area or send them to St. Jude - another favorite charity of mine. They will be distributed wherever there is a need! Send them on & I'll be sure they are put to good use.

Can I podcast / blog / post in my Rav group about your contest?
Yes, please do! The more the merrier - I'd love to be swamped with hats. You can email me or leave me a comment if you do just because I'm curious & will go check it out.

I really don't like to knit hats. Do I have to knit something to win?
Well, I thought about this one & you know what? If you'd prefer to make a donation to one of the charities that are special to the Cavanaugh family, I'm good with that. Your name will go into the drawing for every $10 donation you make to one of the following organizations:
http://www.bandofparents.org/
Band of Parents Foundation
PO Box 335
Dewittville, NY 14728

or to
Children's Hospital, New Orleans, LA
Forward your receipt to my email & I will put your name in the hat. So to speak.

Are you knitting hats too?
Yes, in between all my other knitting I will be knitting as many as I can crank out. And for those of you that know me best - no, I'm not going to put my name in the drawing, though I'd like to because my prizes rock. (you know you were wondering!)

What can I win?
The ever changing prize corner

Wollmeise in the Vroni colorway


OR

Brooks Farms Acero in this great color - 2 skeins.


OR

My sweet friend Dawn (of Knit Naturally Podcast fame & texaspurlgurl on Ravelry) has generously donated a Scentsy Full Sized System - you get a full sized warmer of your choice & 3 Scentsy bars. If you haven't tried Scentsy yet, it is a wickless candle system & I love mine to pieces. Go check it out.

OR

Handgefaerbt Merino Extra Fine Superwash in Lord of the Vampires

Graciously donated by Liz (aka happytexan) & I seriously want to steal this one, but I won't. I mean, she won't give it to me. LOL

OR

Yarn Pirate in Hawt Pink

Graciously donated by Dawn (aka texaspurlgurl)

OR

A Verb For Keeping Warm Organic Worsted Merino

Graciously donated by my friend Lyn (aka downwarddogfbrs)

OR

Brooks Farm Primero

Graciously donated by my friend Lyn (aka downwarddogfbrs)

OR
Prism Custom Dyed Lace Wool

Generously donated by Sherilyn aka Sherilyn on Ravelry.

OR
Madeline Tosh, Tosh sock in Fjord. Yum. Bought this at The Loopy Ewe this weekend.


I will be giving them all away to different people based on a random number generator.

If you have any other questions, email me or put it in the comments.
Knit on!

Contest time!

I'm having a contest!
Want to know what you are going to win? Well, YARN of course. Some fantabulous yarn. There will be as many drawings as I have prizes for and I can't give you a final number because no telling what I'll come up with by the deadline. These will be given away for sure.

Wollmeise in the Vroni colorway


Brooks Farms Acero in this great color - 2 skeins.

(my disclaimer is that I am only giving this up because I will see them in April & this gives me a good excuse to buy more. Because I LOVE LOVE LOVE this yarn. Just sayin.)

My sweet friend Dawn (of Knit Naturally fame & texaspurlgurl on Ravelry) has generously donated a Scentsy Full Sized System - you get a full sized warmer of your choice & 3 Scentsy bars. If you haven't tried Scentsy yet, it is a wickless candle system & I love mine to pieces. Go check it out.

Here's what I want you to do. I am collecting chemo caps to send to Childrens Hospital in New Orleans in honor of my cousin's daughter Adrianna. You can read her story HERE. Bring your kleenex if you want to visit the site, but it really is an amazing story & this little girl touched so many lives in her short stay on this earth that it's unbelievable. That's really all I want to say about that.

I will be focusing on toddler sized caps, but you are welcome to knit any size hat that would be useful at a children's hospital. If you aren't sure what to knit & want some ideas, you can visit my Ravelry queue & I have a tab labeled "adrianna" with 20ish patterns in there (Tasha's queue). I link that but I don't want to hear any crap about how many patterns I have queued OR how anal I am about organizing it. Incidentally, I also have a tab labeled "chemo" if you ever want to stalk my queue for chemo caps in general. Or any other category, really.

What do you need to do? You can email me at bijouxmasteratgmaildotcom & let me know that you have hats to donate. I will send you an address to mail them to. Then, on May 30, 2010 I will have a drawing . Your name will go into a drawing for every hat you send me between now & then.

That's about it! You can email me questions or leave them in the comments. Get to knitting!

ETA: Just visited the site to make sure the link is working & realized that the day I posted this is exactly to the day 1 year since Adrianna was admitted to the hospital & they discovered her Neuroblastoma. This was pure accident if you believe in coincidence I suppose.

Olympic Fail - kinda

I had really high hopes for the Knitting Olympics this year.  For those of you who don't know, Knitting Olympics or Ravelympics is an event started by the Yarn Harlot for the 2006 Olympic games.  The premise is to chose a challenging project, cast on during the opening ceremonies, finish before the end of the 17 days of the Winter Olympics.
This year I decided to work on my languishing Works in Progress because well, I had a pile of them, as you know since I bared my soul last month.  In the meantime I dealt with a bunch of them, but I wanted to work on a few of them using a "balls to the wall" approach.  Sigh.  My plans have been foiled once again & I'll tell you why.

Triple S Shawl
I'm using this yarn:

My intention when I chose these colors was to go against what are really safe color combinations for me.  This was a stretch but I really like it & I was excited to see how it turned out.  I finished one strip of the shawl & I just have to say it - I don't like the brown & green skein mixed into the shawl.  It actually has some orange tones in it & I really really don't care for orange.  Everyone who has seen it assures me it is pretty so I thought I could push through.  I got about six more squares in & just came to the point where I know I won't be happy with it.  Brooks Farm will be at DFW Fiber Fest in April, so I figured I'll bring what I have up there & try to find another color that I'll be happy with it.  I put it to rest so guess what?  Disqualified.  No medal.

Noni Adventure Bag

This stupid bag.  I put this down sometime in 2007 because my yarn was all tangled up.  What a wimp!  I literally only had to knit the i-cord handle, felt the thing, then do the finishing.  I finished the handle in like an hour on the first day of the olympics.  I needed to do the felting & have read that you really should put it in a zippered pillow case so that your washer doesn't get clogged up.  I wanted to take that step because well, I can't really have my washer screwed up right now.  So it took me about a week to get around to going to Big Lots & finding a washable sham that would work.  Have I felted it yet?  Hell no.  Don't ask me why - it's like I have a huge mental block about this.  Check with me in a few years - maybe I'll have it done by then.  (or maybe after the olympics as I seem to be rebelling against the deadline).  Disqualified.  No medal. 

Not So Striped Tee
This is the best picture I have of the way the yarn was knitting up. 

I put this down because I was honestly just bored.  I picked it back up & knit about 4 rows on it then decided I needed to have a little talk with myself.  Would I honestly wear this sweater?  I like the sweater.  I like the yarn.  I wasn't really a fan of them together.  The yarn was striping a little more than I wanted it to, and I seriously don't need any horizontal stripes across my stomach area.  This yarn is great & I love it, but I think it is better suited for a shawl in this colorway.

This is actually how far along I was on it - sorry for the crappy photo.  I couldn't find my camera when I decided to tear it out but needed to click a quick picture for the committee. 


So I tore it out & ended up with this:


I really consider this a fail because I didn't end up with a sweater.  BUT......it did qualify for the Aerial Unwind event in the Ravelympics, so the act of tearing it out earned me this:

HOORAY!  I love a semi-happy ending.



Ophelia
This was a sweater that I started in March 2008.  I never thought I would wear this the way it was written since I'm not much of a vest-ish person.  I figured I could just add some sleeves & it would be a great spring sweater to wear over sun dresses & such (you know, since I wear sun dresses so often).  Well, I finished the sweater nearly as written.  The only change I made when I was knitting the body was to not do the gathered shoulder - I just did a 3 needle bind off which made the shoulder seam pretty long.  To be honest, I just didn't know how to approach adding sleeves.  I got stuck & put it down for nearly 2 years.  There really was not much actual knitting left to do, it was just a matter of sitting down with it & figuring out how to add some type of sleeve that would look good.  And I needed to do something about the fronts that were curling like crazy. 

I brought my problem child to the smartest woman I know, Alissa Barton (aka Knitting Fairy) and she helped me out.  For the curling she had me crochet all the way around the front & when that didn't fix it, I did a reverse double crochet around again.  That took for-freakin-ever because I'm a sucky & slow crocheter.  She also gave me some advice on picking up for the sleeves.  Well, let me tell you, that crocheting was a cake walk compared to the trouble I had with the sleeves.  I pulled them out..oh, I don't know...probably 3 times?  It was like Goldilocks - too many stitches, not enough stitches, just right stitches but the pattern looked like ass.  I finally settled on stockinette sleeves edged with the lace rib pattern that is at the bottom of the sweater.

I'm not entirely happy with the sleeve length - I had hoped that there was enough yarn for me to do do 3/4 length of long sleeves.  Somewhere in the past 2 years I wised  up to the fact that I likely won't be throwing this on over a sun dress & that a cotton long sleeve sweater in Texas would be useful.  I went so far as to weigh the yarn I had left & figured I would knit sleeve #1 until I was half way, then knit the other.  It hits me right below the elbow, which I suppose is acceptable, but I'd still prefer it to be longer.  Here she is in all her glory:

I thought about adding one button at the bust, but for now I'm going to operate under the assumption that I can use a sweater clip to keep it closed.
Ophelia earned me this medal:


After I realized that some of my projects weren't working out, it seemed that I was going to have more time to work on a new project.  I had been really stalking these colorwork mittens:
Deep in the Forest Mittens
I had some yarn in my stash that I thought would work for them

Well, as it turns out, that ivory yarn was too thick.  I also had some ivory cashmere in my stash & I tried to use that.  Yeah, that didn't work out either.  So new last minute entry: Disqualified.  No medal.

What I learned about myself is really what I already knew.  I really don't like knitting on a deadline & I rebel against time lines.  This is my hobby & is supposed to be fun - this go round I wasn't having fun.  I did start something new I'll talk about another day & I'm happy to say that I only spent about a week in no-fun knitting land.  It's good to be back to normal.

We interupt this knitting blog....

to bring a cute baby picture.


This is where I'll be this week - in Austin visiting my friend Suzanne & her baby Annabelle.  This is a shrug that I made for her & proof of why I'll knit her anything her heart desires.  A fun baby knit, an appreciative mom & a cute baby to show it off.  Win win win.

How I Got My Sock Mojo Back

I have 5 drawers like this. This one is full (except for that one sock in the very bottom right hand corner that we aren't going to talk about). I think it's so pretty. Is it wrong that I'm on a mission to fill my lingerie drawers with hand knitted socks?

What?

I DO NOT have socks just like these that I'm making. Why do people keep asking me that?



Clearly they are very different.

All About Kay

Last year I knit the Autumn Pi Shawl for my mother in law for her birthday.



Dawn found it from new patterns on Ravelry & it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. A pi shawl, leaves, pretty. I was the first project on Ravelry other than the designer and I will admit that made me very nervous. I usually like for many other people to knit a pattern first so they can work out the kinks in it before I jump in. But I was knitting on a deadline for a gift & I couldn't find anything else that fit the bill as nicely as this one. I jumped in with both feet & despite some issues with my yarn (that Dream in Color sure is pretty stuff but NO dye lots & much variation between skeins), I knit this sucker up & could barely wait the month or so I had to for it to be her birthday. She absolutely loved it, cried when I gave it to her & hey, to me, that's an appropriate response for this shawl. I almost cried when I gave it to her too.

You know how sometimes you knit a pattern & you just "get it"? I love when I click with a designer's pattern writing style & can follow where they are going with it. That's what happened to me with this pattern. I was really impressed with the well written directions (both charted & written) & I started chatting with the designer, Kay Meadors, online. She was absolutely lovely & I started following her designs. I immediately put a few more in my ever growing queue - not the least of which is A Piece of Pi. Looks easy, fun, very pretty, extremely wearable. So much so that I cast on for it this week.

So imagine my excitement when Kay contacted me last week to see if I was interested in test knitting her new design, Notes of Lyra. She let me steal this picture from her:



You can see more about it in this blog post.

I'm making the larger size with beads. In the spirit of my "don't save the good yarn for the pope" rule for 2010, I'm using this Madeline Tosh silk. Yum.


I'll let you know how it goes. So far I knit about 17 rows & don't really love the needles I'm using, so I'm off to get some Addi lace needles today & I think I'm going to start over. More time spent with this yarn will not hurt my feelings.

A Sad Tale of Woe

or....that seriously didn't just happen, did it? It's been over a month & I've just gotten to the point that I can talk about this. At the beginning of October I cast on for the Featherweight Cardigan. I knit it in black Malabrigo lace weight. Just to get this straight, that is a full grown, not so small woman sized sweater knit in lace weight yarn. That's itty bitty yarn for those of you who don't know. Black is also notoriously the hardest to work with because it's really difficult to see & read your stitches. I honestly didn't know what the big deal with the black yarn was until I knit this sweater, then I totally got it.

I am in a group on Ravelry that challenges you to finish projects in a certain time frame & I entered this project into that challenge. One of my worst qualities as a knitter is that if I get bored I often stop knitting on that project & it goes into that graveyard I showed you a few weeks ago. I figured this was a perfect candidate for that fate because the knitting was totally boring & there was A LOT of it. I was really proud of myself because I pushed through so that I could finish in time & I only knitted on this thing off & on for 2 months. I took a terrible cell phone photo to prove I finished it for my challenge:


I know that picture is crappy, but it was perfect. Classic. Black. Boring. I could see myself grabbing it up on my way out the door many, many days. It was literally the first sweater that I put on after I was done & immediately loved it. I usually am so sick of looking at a sweater that I made that it takes me until the next season to really like it.

It really did need to be washed & blocked to some extent so I put it to the side to do that whenever I got around to it.

Fast forward a few weeks as I'm packing for Christmas. I was doing laundry & needed my black pants, a black sweater, etc etc. So I went around the house & gathered all of the blacks clothes that needed to be washed....do you see where this is going? After the washer stopped I was pulling clothes out to put them in the dryer & my hand hit....my featherweight sweater. I knew it the second I touched it but I couldn't believe it was true. I pulled it out & kept trying to get my brain to register what I had just done. no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no. Oh yeah. I did wash it in cold water but with all of the other clothes in there, it just wasn't good. I put it on thinking maybe it wasn't that bad. Patrick said it now looked like a stripper sweater. The fronts shrunk quite a bit in width & the length, which I had made purposely longer but was still a little too short, shrunk bunches. I know directions for felting claim that you need heat AND friction, but I'm here to tell you that in this case friction was all it took. I knew the whole time I was knitting it that if I made a mistake there was no way to tear it out because this yarn REALLY likes itself. When I was picking up the stitches for the button band it had kind of felted together a little & I had to pull it apart. So it didn't take much for it to felt I guess.

This all happened 2 days before I left for the holidays & vacation, so I honestly haven't looked at the damage at any length. It's just....too painful. I loved it & I want another one, but it's going to have to wait until I can bear to think about it. Even though I loved the fabric the Malabrigo made (not to mention how reasonably priced it was), I think it's too prone to felting for me to do it in that yarn again back to back. Maybe a silk blend or something.

May this be a lesson to you all so you don't have to go through that!

Most Used Objects of 2009

Since I figured out how to make shawls work in my normal wardrobe this year, I thought I'd tell you about the things I made this year that have gotten a lot of wear & why.

Pattern: Simple Yet Effective Shawl
Yarn: 2 skeins of Noro Kuyeron Sock yarn

This shawl is hands down my most worn item. I guess it's no wonder that I accidentally chose yarn that goes with every single thing in my closet. It looks great with brown, any shade of green, aqua, pink, purple....yeah, about everything I wear except red or black. The pattern only calls for one ball but I did use two. My friend Dawn made one with one skein & I just didn't think it was big enough for me. I prefer for a shawl to actually cover parts of my arms, not just drape over my shoulders. This one fits the bill and I can either just let it drape, pin it with a shawl pin, or tie the ends to keep it on. Since it's wool it actually is warm - perfect for a little chill in the air or a breeze. I also wore it as a scarf over my outerwear & it worked well for that as well. Are you sold? You must make one right now.

Recently I was wearing mine and my 10 year old niece asked me if she could have it. I felt really bad about telling her no, but dude, it's 2 skeins of Noro & has to be hand washed. I did make her one of her very own though out of one big skein of James Brett Marble Chunky. She was especially happy that it matched her Christmas dress.


The other shawl that I have been using to death is my Clapotis.


I had been leaving it at work to throw on if my office was chilly, but I've carried it home a few times because it also matches a ton of stuff in my closet. The object itself is very versatile - it can turn into a shawl or scarf depending on what you are needing at that moment. I will admit the yarn choice is also key because these colors really work for me (Brooks Farms Solo). I don't think I'd get as much use out of the same shawl knit in orange, yellow, and puke green yarn. The unwritten rules of yarn buying pretty much eliminate this from happening as I'd never actually BUY orange, yellow, and puke green yarn. Naturally, no offense intended if that is your favorite color combination - I eliminated some buying competition for you.

My most used scarf so far this winter has been the Lace Ribbon Scarf. Again, the color choice made the difference on this one because I can put it on with literally anything I have on & that color is in this yarn. It's made from Misti Alpaca Handpainted Sock yarn in the colorway Bird of Paradise & that alpaca content makes it very warm. I also made it really long like the pattern calls for (which meant using 2 skeins of yarn), so I can wrap it as little or as much as I want. I love it!


I haven't gotten as much use out of my sweaters this year & I'm not sure why. I have a few that I really do like but I guess it's more about the weather. Either it hasn't been cold enough to need one or it's been so cold that I need more than just a cardigan. I hate having to pull a big coat over layers of clothes - it's just not the Texas (or Louisiana) way. My favorite sweaters are also admittedly not in the most neutral colors. My Central Park Hoodie is peacock / aqua & my Fylingdales is maroon colored. What I really need is a black, brown, or gray sweater since that is what I grab toward when I'm in a hurry.

What this post has taught me is that color / yarn choice really is key to a successful project. In the past I've knit objects out of curiosity and I've finally gotten to the point that I need to know it will be usefulness going in. I realize that sounds ridiculous, particularly to non-knitters, but it's true. As much as I like to knit interesting patterns that make the actual process of knitting more fun, in the end I'm more likely to use something that is boring to knit - particularly in the sweater arena. Sad, but true.

What is your most used knitted object?

But did I do what I said I was going to do?

I set my knitting goals for 2010 but I haven't bothered to look back to 2009 & see if I did what I said I wanted to do. Let's see....

* Knit from books: I made 7 projects from books and 2 projects from my magazines, which I have never done ever!
That's less that I did the year before but the truth is, if I used any of my books & especially my magazines, I'm feeling a little victorious about that.

* Some sort of stranded knitting: This year I made the Opus Spicatum hat. I had taken an ambidextrous class with Lucy Neatby this year & I was determined to use those skills. I did enjoy it & I need to do more of it in the new year.


* Do more charity knitting: You know, I really didn't do much charity knitting. I did knit some chemo caps this year, but I pretty much fell down on this one.

* Do more baby knitting: Perhaps this is why I didn't do much charity knitting! I had several friends having babies so I did a fair bit of baby knitting. That is going to continue this year too. The Mom of one of those babies has already put in a request, so I guess the few things I made for her were a hit. She is also appreciative, so hey, I'm game for knitting for a Mom that appreciates it! This is a sampling of my baby knitting which means it's the photos I found most easily.




* Blog more: Yeah. Haven't done that obviously. I have started a write up about several subjects, including Stitches East. I still plan to publish that, I just can't seem to do it without telling every single detail. That takes a really really long time to write up!

* More sweaters: I knit 3 sweaters for myself this year & 2 of those were disasters in their own way. That situation deserves its own post.

* Complete The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee: Fail. I actually just got the needles that I need to that in the mail on Monday & have have my yarn pull out of the stash. I've been reading through the instructions & I have already learned some stuff, so I'm anxious to put yarn to needles & get it going.

* Yarn: I wanted to focus on some of my stash yarn & I did do that this year. That doesn't change the fact that despite all the knitting I did, I still have more yarn that I did at the beginning of the year. What that means in case you haven't caught on yet is that I bought more than I knit. Sigh. Sue me.

Finish It Already!

I don't think I'm alone when I say that sometimes, I just get bored with what I'm working on. I honestly don't know what happens in my brain. I get very excited about a new project & work on it like wild fire, then sometimes I lose interest completely. The situations are always different. Sometimes it's just that it's so dang boring. Sometimes I just don't know what I'm doing & I hate being lost - this is supposed to be FUN. Sometimes a new & shiny pattern / yarn comes along & has such a pull on my attention that the old projects gets dropped like a hot potato. Over time this pile just keeps bigger & bigger & bigger & bigger. This year I'm going to change all of that. I have heard some people make goals of finishing one UFO per month. That seems fair except...well...there aren't enough months in the year for that to finish mine up. I've heard some people say they aren't going to cast on anything new until all of their UFOs are done - dude, don't be ridiculous! I am all for goal setting, but this is knitting after all. It's not like I'm going to set unreasonable knitting goals & run my blood pressure up. It just seems silly to me. Everyone works differently, but that's not my style.

My Mom's number one marriage advice is this: when you are not liking your spouse so much, you have to think back to why you married them in the first place. What did you like about him? What attracted you? What qualities did he have that you admired? Well, that's what I am going to do with these projects. Try to remember what attracted me to them in the first place. Maybe I will be able to rekindle the love. For the projects - Patrick's still good in my book.

Are you ready for this? I'm about to show you my underwear drawer. I don't mean that literally, of course, but this is likely more embarrassing. I'm starting with the oldest first. Deep breath.

Noni Adventure Bag - Cast on March 2007

This is my oldest UFO on record. I put this down because the yarn was knotted. Yes, I know. I have since straightened it out & I only need to knit the strap & felt the stupid bag.

Trellis Shawl - August 2007 (photo for this link found on flickr taken by heywu)

Sigh. I want to knit this on larger needles but I don't want to frog it with the double strand & Kid Silk Haze going on in there. Ick.

Ophelia - Cast on March 2008
I don't actually have a picture of this is progress. I mostly stopped taking pictures in between because, well, I don't really care to see someone else's half way finished crap & I figure neither do you. I literally am finished this pattern but I don't like the fact that there isn't much of a sleeve on it. I want to add some sleeves but this is a perfect case of I don't know how. Well, that's not entirely true. I have some idea how but I'm scared it won't work out & then I'll be pissed & it will never become a real sweater. Stupid, right?

Misty Ike Socks - Cast on September 2008

I knit this one sock at a Knitting Fairy sock retreat. I then lost my sock mojo & it's been missing ever since.

Handspun Diagonal - Cast on November 2008

This is some great handspun made just for me by Kristina (and this is a terrible picture of it). The thing that I love about handspun in general is that it's pretty organic, not exactly the same all the way through. I knit this yarn straight from the 3 balls I had & didn't really mix it. I think it would look better if I mixed it up a little bit, so I am planning to pull it out & knit it over to do it justice. This yarn was so fun to work with I won't mind one bit having to knit it over. (Update - frogged 1/10/10)


Fit & Float - Cast on March 2009

I knit this to use try knitting actual lace with actual lace weight yarn that was gifted to me. I finished everything but the bind off. Seriously. I just don't want to do it because it's a picot bind off & it is going to take forever. So it's been sitting on my needles for nearly a year. Lame, right? (UPDATE: bound off 1/13/10. It needs a major blocking, but it's done.)

Not So Striped Tshirt - Cast on April 2009

This is a tshirt out of the Spring/Summer 2009 Knit Simple magazine. I wanted to use up this cool bamboo yarn (Brooks Farms Willow) & I think this is a great use of it, I'm just bored bored bored with it - I'm a little bit further than half way through. It would be nice to finish this up before the weather warms up again.

Liesl - Cast on April 2009

I really want this sweater. I have tried twice & I can't get it. I'd like to think I'm a pretty good knitter. Other knitters have whipped this thing off the needles in 2 weeks. I still can't get it right & I'm going to frog this again. The really crappy part is that this pattern doesn't take much yarn so I don't have enough of it to make a different sweater. We'll see.

Triple S Shawl - Cast on May 2009

I love this but it got a little crazy with multiple needles & holders & cables. I need to get a grip on it because it's fun & goes really really fast. Plus it has a ton of my size 8 needles all tied up!

Happy Harlot Socks - Cast on May 2009


I started these to have something mindless to knit during the Yarn Harlot. I have stopped carrying them around with me & I'm not sure why because they were going really quickly. I think it's because I got to the heel flap & needed to think for a minute. They are also really cute & I want these socks. (Update - got these past the decreases so it's back to easy knitting/carry in my purse status) further update - finished knitting & bound off the full pair 1/13/10

Lace Sampler ala Franklin

After taking Franklin's lace class I went & bought this absolutely divine cashmere & started a lace sampler. It's a lot of fun but I also think it's going to be a long term thing. I picked it up between projects & I think that's it's place in my knitting life, it's just gotten lost in the shuffle. It's one of those yarns I never want to run out of because it's that nice to work with. And I will admit the "random" nature of this pattern goes against every fiber of my being. I'm trying though.


My So Called Hat - Cast on September 2009
I finished the band, I just have to knit the cap part. I haven't because Patrick said it looks better as a headband & I should just leave it alone. I just don't know. I really don't look that great in a hat, but when will I ever use a headband & matching scarf?

Colonnade Shawl - Cast on September 2009

I didn't care of the two toned nature of this pattern so I started knitting it in a great variegated yarn that I had in stash. I am honestly not sure if I like it, that's why I put it down. I still don't know.

Moss Grid Handtowel - Cast on November 20009

Don't really like the fabric this is creating. I might go to the frog pond. (Update - frogged 1/10/10)

Lucy Again

This is my focus right now because I'd really like a brown sweater.

And then we aren't going to go to the place that I have bags that are finished & just need to be lined. Because that's just too much for me to talk about. This also doesn't include my 2 long term projects - my sock yarn blanket or my shawl that is made up of a trillion individually knit circles (really about 50 but it seems like a trillion).

Wow - that was really overwhelming. And I don't know where to start.

Ten for 2010

As I've said in the past, I really don't believe in traditional New Years Resolutions. In my knitting life, though, I do like to try to push myself to try some new things & not get stuck in the same old rut.

There has been a lot of talk about making a list of 10 things you'd like to try, learn, accomplish in 2010. Here is my list:

1) One project from Selbuvotter
2) Make an Elizabeth Zimmermann percentage sweater or design your own raglan from the workshop I took with the Knitting Fairy
3) Last year one of my goals was to do the Sweater Workshop from the book by Jacqueline Fee & it fell to the wayside. This should help with #2 as well.
4) My super sweet husband got me a share in Jacob's Reward Farm & part of that share includes a spindle. I want to learn to use it so that by the time I get my fiber I will be able to do it justice. If not, I will send it off to a fiber mill. I will say that this one scares the ever loving shit out of me. I really don't want to go down the spinning rabbit hole but it may be inevitable.
5) Work on my UFOs (Unfinished Objects for you non knitter types). I have by last count about 17 hanging out. I want to reclaim my needles & project bags & space in my yarn room for goodness sakes! The only reason I actually think this might happen is that I am making it my project for the Knitting Olympics. I am pretty competitive with myself for reasons I'm sure only a therapist could explain & I refuse to pay one because I don't care that much.
6) Knit with my nicer yarn. I'm not saving it for the Pope. That's all I'm saying about that.
7) Knit at least 2 sweaters out of yarn in my stash. I usually go straight for new yarn when I pick a new sweater project & that is RIDICULOUS. I have some great yarn in my stash & it would feel great to put it to good use.
8) Knit more socks. I have completely lost my sock mojo. With the recent freezing cold weather here in Dallas, I have really enjoyed pulling out a pair of squishy, bright wool socks to wear with my Maryjanes or boots when it's cold. I'd like to have more. How do you find your mojo?
9) Steek. Even if it's just a swatch. This is high on the list of things that scare the bejesus out of me.
10) Illusion knitting. This one should be fairly simple since there are some dishcloths out there, but I've just never done it. A situation came up recently where my friends & I all agreed that illusion knitting would be cool but I honestly didn't know where to start.

There you have it. My top 10 things TO DO in 2010. Here are a few other things I'd like to work on so I thought I'd list them here - if for no other reason than a reference for my own use.

* Heavier weight shawls - I find I use them more frequently than the lace weight ones.
* Ongoing book project - USE YOUR BOOKS, YOU CRAZY GIRL
* Knit a Moebius. I particularly like this one
* Learn some new cast ons & bind offs. I have a pile of Lucy Neatby DVDs, I should probably use them. Plus I truly love her.
* Crochet. I'll put it on the list for the third year in a row & see what happens.
* More charity knitting. Or at least have some chemo caps on hand because sadly, I am asked for them more often than I wish to need them.
* I want to overdye some of my existing yarn that I have fallen out of love with.
* A project using the entrelac skills I learned several years ago at DFW Fiber Fest.

The other thing that really struck me this year was my friend Dawn relaying a conversation she had with another knitter we know. She said that she has built a great base of tools & supplies that she needs & next year she is spending her knitting dollars on classes & learning new techniques. I so love this idea. I am not stupid enough to believe that I won't buy yarn because that's just silly, but I'd love to be able to hit every class I want to go to without worrying about the budget. I also want to take some sewing classes, but we'll see where that leads. Much like the spinning, I am scared to get tied up in another hobby which leads to other stashes (fabric, raw fiber).


So do you have a plan for 2010?

Finished Projects in 2009

Every year I like to recap my projects from the year for my own reference. You are free to skip this post as I'm sure it's not interesting to anyone but myself.

January: 1 bag, 3 scarves, 2 hats
Tovesta Bag
Green Chunky Scarf
Asymmetrical Hat
Red Alpaca Hat
Alpaca Neckwarmer
Black seed stitch scarf

February: 2 baby sweaters, 1 adult sweater, 1 mini-scarf, 1 hat
Blue Kimono
Lily's Feb Baby Sweater
Rectangela Sweater
Flat Stanley Scarf
Le Slouch Black

March: 1 baby sweater, 1 pr booties, 1 pr socks, 2 shawls
Red Baby Sweater
Angora Baby Booties
Punk Rib Socks
Sunday Market Shawl
Simple Yet Effective Shawl

April: 2 hats
Lacy Pink hat
Pashmina Odessa

May: nothing!

June: 1 shawl, 1 baby dress, 1 pr booties
Felicia dress for Nadia
Sea Silk Aeolian
Pink Angora Booties

July: 1 shawl
Vortex Shawl

August: 2 shawls, 1 scarf
Wrap Me Up Shawl
Magic Shawl
Just Enough Pink Ruffles

September - 2 shawls, 1 hat
Flamenco
Autumn Leaf Pi Shawl
Opus Spicatum

October: 1 sweater
October Frost

November: 1 baby sweater, 1 hat
Little Frou Frou
Orvieto Hat

December: 1 sweater, 1 shawl
Simple Yet Effective Marble
Featherweight Cardigan

34 projects total. That is one more than I did last year, but I do know that this year I found myself knitting more difficult projects such as lace shawls. At the end of the year I'm always disappointed I didn't knit more sweaters, but man, they just take such a time commitment. Not to mention that this year I had issues with 2 out of 3 that I knit for myself. I also "got" the shawl thing & then was whipping them off the needles like nobody's business. I have been getting tons of use out of a few of them, so I'm really happy that I did.

Now on to the new year....