Wednesday, June 30, 2010

My Best WIP's


My best WIP's are now 13 and almost 11 years in the making. My 11 year old just graduated from 5th grade which ended the "elementary" years. I can't believe it went that fast. I've had 10 years of dance recitals, gymnastics, soccer, library story-times, softball, baseball, volleyball, piano, guitar, sleepovers, birthday parties, camps, American Heritage Girls, Girl Scouts, basketball, book fairs, school carnivals and fund raisers. I spent countless hours volunteering in the 4 different elementary schools we've attended in 3 states. Countless hours carpooling here and there. We've worn out one mini-van and bought another.It's been fun, trying, and tiring but I would do it all again if I could.

The middle school years are already upon us with my 13 year old. In fact the coming school year will be her last middle school year. I've already learned that middle schools don't need the help that the elementary schools do and I will have much more free time next year. However, middle school children need their parents more than ever. It's just a different adventure from here on out. Definitely more fun to do be had with my WIP's...

Friday, June 11, 2010

Late Friday FO's

Today I finished up a couple of items. It's good to get these off my plate. I've got so many more things I want to start and I don't want too many WIP's.


Pattern: Wollmeise Socks
Yarn: Hand+Notions Sock Merino/Nylon Sock
Needles: US 1

These are sample socks for Hand+Notions to use at shows. Aren't the colors amazing!?!


Pattern: Ginger
Yarn: Rowan Summer Tweed
Needles: US 8 and 9

Overall I'm not completely happy with this one. Shaping is wonky. I'm sure that was my doing in trying to length the torso. Because of this I cannot wear it with the v in back. Also, knitting with the Summer Tweed was tedious at best. Silk and Cotton equal no stretch at all. Had to take my time with it in order to keep stitches even and in order to give my hands a rest after knitting a bit. If I was to knit it again, I would definitely knit it in the round and maybe down a size for a more fitted knit.

However, I will be wearing it to my local Stitch n Pitch in a couple of weeks. Perfect garment for NC weather.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Thankful Thursday


A cold Corona, out on my deck in the evening, with my latest knitting....and no humidity. Priceless.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Dyeing is Fun!



Last night I dyed up the ugly shawl. It's actually the Milkweed Shawl knit in Sunkissed Sands BMFA Lightweight sock yarn. I loved the yarn in the skein but it was ugly knit up. So after months of procrastinating and obtaining supplies, I dyed up the shawl using an acid dye in the color chestnut. It turned out a lovely rich brown with red hues. The dye bath was not all used up when I pulled the shawl out so I threw in a skein of Knit Picks Bare worsted weight and I ended up with a beautiful muted pink. I love them both and now the shawl is no longer ugly and I have fresh new skein of yarn.


Dyeing was a lot of fun. I have dyed yarn before with the kids using Kool-Aid but the colors are pretty minimal and not really my style. The acid dyeing was easy and the colors so rich and beautiful. I could definitely enjoy experimenting with this and adding another hobby. At a minimum, I will no longer hide from an ugly yarn. If I don't like it, I'll change it.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Spreadsheet Fun

So just because I had nothing better to do while I was waiting for the painter to arrive, I decided to spreadsheet out my stash. Come to find out I am the proud owner of 37,800 yards of yarn. I wasn't sure how to feel about that number so I computed how many skeins of yarn I own. I have 200 skeins!

Now I have been actively trying to destash and I thought I was making some (not great) progress but didn't realize how much I was still sitting on. 200 seems high and so does 37,800. So I then calculated out how many yards I knit in 2009. That total came out to 13,000! So I essentially have about 3 years worth of knitting in my stash. Is that good or bad? Do I need 3 years worth? What if I only had one years worth? What if I want to buy more? Okay....now my head hurts. Conclusion: I basically need to keep destashing if I want more...I need to keep it under control. I'm sure that could be said for all aspects of life.

Well, I do have one FO for Friday. This was cute little knit and when I saw the sample at a LYS I thought I really had to make one. It was so soft and squishy. I was disappointed. It is soft and squishy but the yarn is extremely splitty (which I hate) and I did not have enough yarn in the skein to complete the pattern (pattern on skein wrap). I had to omit a row of bobbles and I ended up with only about 12 inches of yarn leftover. There was no gauge given for the pattern so I knit with the suggested needle size. I'm a tight knitter so I figured maybe the hat would be smaller but it wasn't. Finally, there was also a knot between every color change. Way too many issues for just one little skein of yarn.




Pattern: Sweetie Pie Hat
Yarn: Be Sweet Bambino Taffy
Needles: US 6
Size: 6-12 mo.