Sunday, October 31, 2004

Status

Since I'm trying to get my life in order, I must also get my knitting into order.

I've gone back to my spreadsheet and started updating the books and needles I own. I also thought it was high time I did an evalauation, an assessment, I suppose, of my current knitting projects.
  1. Fair Isle Sweater---UFO-ish, considering frogging to start over.
  2. FCEK Tie---UFO-ish, considering frogging to start over.
  3. DB Shoes/Booties---UFO, not quite sure why I stopped knitting them.
  4. Klaralund---WIP, still debating if I'm knitting the right size.
  5. Purse Slippers---Behind in KAL--haven't started these but supposedly they knit up quickly.
  6. DNA Scarf---Way Behind in KAL--supplies are waiting but I haven't found the time to start this project. I'm feeling ashamed.
  7. Baby Hats---yarn is waiting. Will probably start knitting and crocheting these within the next two days.
  8. Baby Blanket---Frogged, will start again after more crocheting practice.

I really wish I was a faster knitter. I haven't crocheted in a while so I can understand that not going as fast just yet.

I enjoy the knitting process but since I find so little time to actually knit, getting things done takes so much time. I guess I need to find more time to knit. The fifteen minutes is just not going to get a lot done.

Between fatigue, pain, work, household and family responsibilities, I'm really going to have to be creative about finding this time.

Finding some energy couldn't hurt either.

Got a little more done on my Klaralund sleeve. I'll post a picture on Monday just to show the pretty color progression.

Until then, I'm working on feeling better.

Friday, October 29, 2004

Pumpkins

I like the fall. The leaves are so pretty and the temperatures are so mild.

We went to pick out a pumpkin for my son today. The pumpkin quest was for fun. The pumpkin is not for carving or associations with anything other than fall, harvest, and the beauty of things God made. We even took a hay ride which is something I've never aspired to do.

I don't know what we'll do with the pumpkin but my little man enjoyed picking one.



I corrected semi-new errors in my Klaralund sleeve.


Then somewhere I dropped a stitch. Guess that's what I get for trying to knit without looking.

I'll be correcting that tonight.

At least I'm getting in my 15 minutes.

I found there are a few programs for homeless people here. I really thought t here would be more but maybe I haven't done enough research. Looks like a few organizations and a few churches. I guess that's something.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Giving

I really should be asleep.

I've had the maximum amount of pain reliever I'm allowed but I'm still in pain.

There is an overzealous owl outside of my house. If not, something that sounds like an owl is mocking the "Hooo" sound with great skill.

If I weren't so tired and irritable, I'd probably go outside to find out where the owl is. With safety as a consideration, considering my less than pleasant frame of mind, and since it's late in the evening, I'm staying inside. Maybe he/she will quiet down soon.

Hopefully, whatever it is, it's keeping the ducks away.

No, I don't hate ducks. I just don't want them on my property. They leave waste products almost like horses. Nuff said?

Anyway, I got a little knitting done at lunch today. I didn't take any pictures as I'm not sure how excited anyone really is to see my sleeve. Of course, I'm getting excited to see it grow. I'm also excited to see all the little color transformations. If only the Silk Garden didn't have my fingers itching.

In any event, I'm going to try to make a few hats instead of the blanket. I read the e-mail I sent in response to the request for items and I stated I would either make a blanket and a hat or I'd make at least two hats if I could not do a blanket in time.

Did I jinx myself? Did my stating that I "may not be able to make a blanket in time" help to create the situation? Is it my attitude? Nah!

I'm still going to make a blanket. I'm just not going to try to put myself on a November deadline for one. I'll brush up on the pattern reading and choose a simpler blanket. I really want to get my crocheting up-to-par, so just knitting a blanket won't help me. Besides, I know the Special Needs babies can use the hats. I see more requests for those than for blankets.

I'll crochet a blanket as I get better and then donate it when I finish. I'm sure there will still be a need.


***Warning--Non-Crafty posting ahead, possibly depressing...

Speaking of need, I was downtown in the city today. I was surprised by the number of people begging. It's awfully chilly here at night and it's only October. I guess I need to check to see what kind of programs we have here to help our homeless. I know there are con artists and people who just want money for drugs but I also know that some people don't have a lot of family or friends to assist them if they hit hard times.

I saw a man walking with a little girl that I assume was his daughter. They looked unhappy. They were dressed in what appeared to be "older" attire. They weren't begging or even loitering. I wondered if they were homeless too.

I can't save the world. I can't house all the homeless but surely there is something available.

People lost their homes last year in with the tropical storms. There have been all kinds of lay-offs.

We keep feeding and protecting people all over the world when there is so much despair here.

What are we giving our people? Am I just feeling guilty because I want to do more than I can?

Maybe the pain is just overwhelming me.

I'm taking my melancholy self to bed. I shall wake up tomorrow with a better attitude, a quest for information, and determination to try to do what I can and be realistic with my expectations.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Frogging freely



I'm pleased with the progress on my Klaralund sleeve. Considering I don't get much crafting time, any progress feels really good.

I dropped another stitch earlier in the week and ended up having to tink back AGAIN! I did that during lunch today and managed to recover the tinked rows plus a few more, so I don't feel like I've lost a lot in terms of rows knitted.

The colors look pretty good to me. I'm still waiting to get to the purple in the skein.



As a matter of fact, I'm almost finished with this skein and really surprised at the lack of purple. I love the colors but I'm yearning for purple these days. It makes me wonder how much purple is in the other skeins as well.

However much purple there is, the yarn is beautiful. Since my son picked it out, I can't help but love it.

The news is not as good on the crochet front.



I ended up frogging the project AGAIN!

I really can crochet.

Here's a picture of stitches I did a while back just to refresh myself to make sure I could still crochet. (It's a dark picture and the swatch is wrinkled due to being folded up for a while. Sorry about that.)



I didn't have any trouble with the pictured practice crocheting. I have no idea what's happening now. Maybe it really is misinterpretation of the pattern. Guess I'll make up my own or knit the blanket instead.

I should have started this blanket back in September. Oh well...

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

I think we have a problem

I crocheted happily for a little while last night. I didn't have a lot of time but I have my 15 minute allotment that I am trying to use everyday for crafting.

Let's just say, "Something went wrong."

I was crocheting merrily along. Things looked okay. Then I got to the next stitch pattern and skipped a part of it.

Next thing you know, I've got curls!


Looks like I'll be starting over.

If I can't get it right today, I may knit the blanket instead. I had no idea I had forgotten crochet basics. I may really need to practice a little more before I take on a real crochet project.

I'm just going to restart the project during lunch. Then I'll work on it for a while tonight.

If it doesn't come out right, I may just have to try another pattern, as I could just be misinterpreting this particular pattern, or I'll wait to crochet a project when I've had more practice.

I can always knit a little blanket for the charity. I just thought crocheting would be faster.

Guess it's only faster if you remember what you are doing.

Monday, October 25, 2004

A Start

I started the blanket for charity during my lunch break today.



I ended up chaining way more than I needed because I was too busy talking.

I'm a lot more rusty at crocheting than I thought.

This could take a while. Probably a good thing I didn't wait any longer.

We'll see what happens.


The Klaralund sleeve is still awaiting repair of the dropped stitch. I'll get to that tomorrow. Tonight, I want to try to make this crocheted pattern work.

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Wow--and set your alarms!

I've dropped another stitch on my sleeve. It's aggravating me enough that I don't want to go back and try to pull the stitch up. I just want to rip back. Do any of you ever feel that way?



I was hoping to knit this sleeve without incident for at least a few days since I really need to jump into my crocheted baby blanket.

I'm now trying to decide between the ABC blanket and the Sideways Shell Baby Afghan. There's one other pattern that's a possibility but I'm thinking it will end up being one of these two patterns. I had chosen another blanket before, but being as indecisive as I am, I questioned that decision and I'm back to trying to choose again. At this point, it's a matter of which one I think I can crochet the fastest.

The pain has come back again but so far it's manageable. I've been taking Tylenol­® which doesn't get all the pain but right now it's making things a little easier.

I guess things could be worse.

Read the article in the link below and ALWAYS SET YOUR ALARM WHEN YOU GO ON VACATION!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6307190/?GT1=5472

Thursday, October 21, 2004

I joined a Guild!


I'm hoping to get some knitting done on my Klaralund sleeve tonight. Even if it's just my 15 minutes, I'll be happy to get that.

I've made a little progress. I'm finally convinced that every little bit really does help.



In other yarn related and nonrelated news:
Yesterday was quite a day. We have one person out of the office, so it makes for a more hectic day.

To top it off, my son had a doctor's appointment.

Then, I found out that the Guild meeting I thought was on Thursdays was actually on Wednedsays.

After being in the doctor's office for two hours, YES TWO HOURS, I made the 30-some mile drive to the Guild Meeting.

When I walked into the meeting, I was nervous, curious, and excited.

There was a very long table with someone sitting in almost every chair. Had I not been distracted by all the faces, books, magazines, and such, I probably would have counted how many people were in attendance. I was, however, quite distracted from any such concept, but I believe there were about 20 people.

What a fun and friendly group! I sat down beside M who offered me a seat on either side of her. I took the chair to her right, directly in front of G and N. G and N were so sweet. The guild was having a sale of their library items, which I suppose, were not being checked-out very often. Magazines were twenty-five cents. Who can resist a twenty-five cent magazine? Not me!

I came home with twelve. One of them was the issue of Knitter's dedicated to Elizabeth Zimmerman!

The oldest magazine I purchased was a Cast-On from 1992. It included a beautiful pattern called Wedding Belles. For $.25, I just couldn't resist!


I also picked up Meg Swanson's tape (Knitting Vacations) for the Saddle Sleeve Sweater.


Everyone introduced themselves. During the "Show and Tell" period everyone showed WIP's or FO's. There was lots of variety. I showed my Klaralund sleeve beginning and felt just slightly silly since it was quite small.

The theme for this meeting was "Sit and Knit," so after introductions, New and Old Business, and the book, magazine tape sale, there was lots of knitting, chatting, and munching on goodies.

One member even brought in her crocheted blanket. It was lovely and there was none of that Knitter/Crocheter negativity that you sometimes see.

I was too nervous about dropping something somewhere so I passed on refreshments this time. I can just see me dumping punch, cake, or something else onto beautiful yarn, or my lap. That would not have made a good first impression.

While sitting and knitting, I did something weird. As I was trying to figure out what I had done and M came right to my rescue! I had planned to just tink back and reknit but I was curious as to what I had done wrong. I wanted to know so that I could avoid making the same error. M figured it out and had it undone in no time. I love friendly and helpful people!

One of the members, a new member, remembered seeing me in Knitting Sisters. She said that she had only been in there one time and remember talking with me there. She's only been knitting for two months but has made some very pretty things! She's self-taught, like me. It was so cool that she remembered me and even more impressive is that she took the time to come to me to talk and share with me that she remembered!

They have a newsletter and they conduct all sorts of workshops. The next meeting has a "Shawl" theme. I'm really excited about that.

I had a blast. I got a few rows of my sleeve done. I picked up some great patterns in my new magazine stash.

I'm an official member. Can't wait until the next meeting!

Monday, October 18, 2004

So far, so good

I managed to get in my 15 minutes of knitting last night. Actually, I managed to get in a little more than that.

It was wonderful and relaxing. I needed that knitting time.

Unfortunately, at some point, I dropped a stitch. It looks bad. This isn't a stitch I want to pick-up. I'm going to tink/unknit to the error and re-knit. Hopefully it will work well because the Silk Garden has broken on me twice while I was unraveling stitches.

I'm not sure if I'll get in 15 minutes tonight. It doesn't look good.

I'll try to enter a picture of the progress and error here tonight or tomorrow.

I still hear the blanket, hat, and DNA scarf calling me...not to mention socks and a little pair of slippers.

Guess I mentioned it, though.
That means I must find time for them.

***Picture of sleeve progress, as promised.



The Fashion Show

I enjoyed the Fashion Show, as I always do. Here's a little INFO if you think you may want to see a show.

Designers were American, British, Canadian, French, Italian, and Japanese. Models were from all over the US. There's one plus-sized model and there are two male models.

There are prizes given away at each event including a trip from American Airlines.

There were some wild outfits and some things I'd love to have.

There were several ponchos and sweaters. I could not hear very well which means I have no idea who the designers were for the items I really liked.

The shoes were by J. Reneé.

I'm having trouble finding good links but I really did enjoy myself.

I'll be hunting through the different designers to see more of what they have to offer.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Maybe next week

It's been a hectic week.

I'm thinking about making something purple when a few more WIP's and commitments are done.

One item waiting for me is a little shell. It's for summer wear, I guess, but it would still be okay under a business suit I think.



The yarn is sort of lavender. It looks more blue in this picture.

I'm not finding my 15 minutes but I guess that's because I'm still overwhelmed with other stuff. We've been short-handed at work so my 15 minute plan for walking and knitting during lunch has been postponed until next week.

I"m going to the Ebony Fashion Fair Fashion Show tonight, so I may not be able to get any knitting done at all. My guess, from a few pictures I've seen, is there will be some knitted garments in the show. If so, I'll try to see who makes/made them and I'll look for links to pictures.

I'm looking forward to a nice evening. I need one.

Sunday, October 10, 2004

15 Minutes A Day

It's been a good couple of weeks for knitting mail. I've received a few catalogs which always brings a smile to my face. Although my FCEK subscription seems to be messed up, I did acquire the new Holiday Edition.



In crochet news, I found the Simply Creative Crochet Magazine as well!



I did manage to finally get those five rows of the Klaralund sleeve knit. I had to roll the Silk Garden into a ball because it kept unwinding from the non-working end.



I'm trying to work on the sleeve for at least 15 minutes every day. That shouldn't be hard should it? Hoping to also start walking 15 minutes a day during my lunch break at work.

I'm trying not to work on another project until I finish this first sleeve but I really do need to start my DNA scarf and my charity projects.

My cup is quite full. At least my son hasn't puked in over 24 hours.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Inventory

A relative on my husband's side had a baby today. We thought she was due much later in the year or either the beginning of 2005. Obviously, we were wrong. Guess we should have verified.
It was my intention to make some items for the baby. I still may make a few things but I had really wanted the mother to have them BEFORE the baby was born.

In any event, I checked my inventory to make sure I had the right yarn for making baby items. It had occurred to me previously that there may not be enough of the yarn I wanted to use to make the baby blanket for charity. There is possibly enough in another yarn but it's a yarn I don't like using.

Unfortunately, there is definitely not enough to make both the blanket for charity and a gift for the new baby in our family. I'll be bargain hunting for soft washable yarn.

While checking out my inventory, I did notice a few books I had forgotten I had. I really need to update my spreadsheet that lists what books, supplies, and patterns I own. I also came across some yarn I purchased to make a shell. It's purpley goodness made me pick it up just to feel how soft it was.

I also noticed the yarn for my DNA scarf. It looked back at me as I looked at it. It begged me to cast-on already. I made a mental note that as soon as I get my other things in order, I will cast-on for the scarf.

I noticed a couple of patterns that I'm sorry I purchased. One pattern was just so simple I could have just figured it out and made the item myself. I guess I purchased it before I actually believed I could really figure out a pattern on my own. Don't get me wrong. I'm no designer. I've just realized that truly you basically need math, a little experience, a good grasp of gauge, and the ability to form the stitches in order to make whatever you want. Currently, I lack the experience for anything intricate but the item in question was a simple shawl.

Once I have a little more knitting under my belt, I'm going to jump in to the math game and use Elizabeth Zimmermann's formula to make a sweater.

I'm not ready yet...but some day I will be.

Nice to Meet You

I met another knitter yesterday.

I know some of you are saying, "Big Deal!" but this rarely happens for me. We talked at length. She was so very nice.

We talked about Elizabeth Zimmermann's recipe for knitting sweaters rather than using patterns. We talked about a Guild I considered joining. We talked about current and upcoming projects. We even discussed a sort-of-local shop we both love.

It was delightful.

I think I need to try to make it to the next Guild Meeting.

In case I ever refer to her again, she will hereafter be known as "V."

It was wonderful to meet you, V.

Saturday, October 02, 2004

When the Going Gets Tough

My son is sick. I kept him home from school yesterday. Although he's obviously ill, he's feeling much better than he did but now we're both worn out.

Between the ear infection, the coughing, the puking, and the cleaning up, neither of us has gotten quality sleep.

I’ve been contemplating a few projects, mostly the ones I’ve started but seem to have abandoned. I think about knitting and crocheting. I dream about knitting and crocheting. Trouble is, I still have trouble fitting either into my day.

I also haven’t been to my LYS in almost a month.

I’m stressed, not just because of the lack of knitting and crocheting, though.

I just need vacation, a real one. I also need to feel better. Pain and fatigue are not mood enhancers.

I’m still working part-time. I have no idea when that will end so I’m trying to make myself aware of other working options. With my son’s medical problems, I’m having concerns about things I can do. I need somewhere to work where I can have flexibility.

I’m still also purging things from the house. Part of me feels like I should just close my eyes and do it. With that method we’d have less stuff, of course, but I’d probably end up throwing away the very stuff we should keep.

Why does it take so long to purge enough to feel like you’ve made a difference? What causes people to accumulate so much stuff in the first place?

Blogger isn’t cooperating with my ISP either.

Five rows will be knit tonight. Five rows, not four, not three, not two, FIVE.