Something New!

Armed with my decision to rid myself of those annoying single and '+1' balls of yarn, I went home last night and opened the Pandora's boxes I call a stash. It's not that bad, really, I'm just being dramatic. Anyway, I pulled out all the yarn I want to get rid of and then went through my books. I have all these really lovely books, some of which I've never used for a project. FOR SHAME! From those books, I wrote down the patterns I love, some with interesting construction and some with techniques I haven't tried or would like to perfect and am now in the process of cross pollinating yarn to project. As we all know, however, it always doesn't work out perfectly. With some of the book patterns I just don't have the right yarn on hand. But between my Rav queue my list, I think I have more than enough pattern choices to make use of the 20ish yarns I pulled.

I'm really excited to start these projects. I think I've even decided what I'm going to make first. I'm going tackle a technique I've never done before. Knitting with beads. My choice of pattern is the Kim Hargreaves Flicker hat to be knitted in Berroco Ultra Alcapa Lite. My sister is an expert on bead knitting [she just recently completed the Shipwreck Shawl in which she used 4000+ beads]. She'll be an invaluable resource if I run into trouble.

And speaking of my invaluable sister, look at what she sent me for my birthday! My own labels! She had handmade me some for Christmas, which were super cool, but these take the ice cream and cake and cake! Ice cream and cake do the ice cream and cake!!!! I'm sooooo excited to use them! I feel like I've officially arrived as a knitter!

Looking Forward...

Thank you for all the compliments on my crochet trim maxi knock off. As you all know, I don't often colour outside the instructional lines, but it was a huge ego boost to have a project come out as well as that did. You guys rock! But on to the subject at hand...

So. I've been doing some contemplating.

It all started, like most knitterly things, with an email. This time from Phildar. Isn't this shawl delectable? So cozy. So warm. So snuggly. I want it. I could order the Phildar catalogue for just that one pattern, but maybe I could find a stitch dictionary that has this lovely bumpy stitch pattern. Who can save me and knows where I can find the stitch pattern?

Once I started obsessing about this lovely Phildar confection, I started thinking about all things Autumn. Scarves. Shawls. Hats. Gloves. How can I resist the call?

So I'm thinking that I'm going to put aside sweater knitting for a little while and start accessory knitting. I would love to get rid of all the onesy-twosy balls and decrease the stash to just yarn that I have at least a sweaters-worth.

Good golly. I'd really love that shawl. It's just so pretty. Any leads on the stitch pattern?

And you know, the holidays are coming up and I'd love to actually be prepared this time. Not only that, I was thinking that with smaller projects I can take on new techniques that I avoid. Like short rows. And steeking. And lace. I'm feeling somewhat adventurous, can you tell?

Anyway. That shawl above is incredible. So pretty. I just have to make it! If only I could figure out the stitch pattern. Any clues?

Back On That Seaming Horse...

Well, I've made some nice progress on the seaming of Glint. The neck band is on and the side and shoulder edges are together [why didn't anyone tell me that mattress stitch on reverse stockinette is a pain?]. Anyway, it's together and that's all that matters, right? I tried the body on this morning and it fits perfectly! YEAH!

Four more seams, a button and I'm done! I can't wait!

April To Do List

So here we are, April 1st. Already four months into 2009. I can't hardly believe it. With the onset of Spring I'm deciding to Spring Clean my knitting closet.

I have a few items to finish and a few more that need slight tweaking. No more avoidance. No MORE!

1. The Rebecca Coat #41
I finished this last year. I wore it once, decided it needed some tweaking and it's been sitting around ever since. At the time, I was running low and yarn so I knit both the bottom ribbing and the neckband short. Of course, that caused the problem you see the the left. I need to frog the bottom band, remove the cabled collar so I can add another new inches to it. Then reattach the neckband and reknit the bottom ribbing. Of course, I need more yarn. Maybe I can find a nice Raveler who will work out a deal for a hank...

2. Habu 74
Oh Habu, where did we go wrong? Oh yeah, you ran out of yarn then you were a pain to seam. I almost forgot. I think I'll have to take one weekend this month and dedicate it to seaming you up and finishing you off. I will take my fellow knitter's advice and give your edges a good block before I even think about seaming.

And maybe you'll be a good sweater and behave? I'd hate to have to throw you in the corner until next April.

3. Galaxy
The hold up on this baby is sewing the bias tape down so I can attach my cute crochet circles.

Well, I've moved the sewing machine to a more convenient locale so now there's no excuse.

It's going to be so cute. And the weather is warming up. I can't wait to wear this. It's going to be so cute. I can't wait! I can't stand it.

4. Cabled Coat
It's freezing in my office. When it's hot outside, the A/C kicks into high gear, so it's always the season for wool at work.

Like Habu, all the knitting is done, it's just a matter of blocking and making sure the pieces fit together. If you can remember, I decided to make a cropped version, so it's a gamble whether it will all fit together in the end. My fingers are crossed that I measured and figured correctly and it will be perfect. It could happen. Right?

5. Apricot
I finished this two years ago. I love it, but am so unhappy with my button/button hole placement . It's been bugging me for the longest! I've already started taking out the crochet edging, so it's just a matter of getting it all out then putting it right back on. I could have it done in an evening. It's just a matter of making myself do it.

The picture to the left is before I put the offending buttons on. And as you can see, I hate the button placement so much, I haven't even taken a picture with the buttons on!
Sad, but true!

So there you have it...I'm clearing out my knitting closet and exposing it all for the world to see. I think if I work on one of these each week, I can have them done by month's end and still have time for working on Helon and Dawn.

Maybe I can reward myself with something special if I complete it all...

What To Do? What To Do?

Life throws me lemons, I eat mini chocolate bundt cake.

Today hasn't been the greatest day at work but at least the shit that hit the fan wasn't mine. Ew. Bad visual.

So last night I took one step closer to a finished Patti. Since I wanted to get as much of the knitting done as possible, I decided to knit up the button bands pre-blocking. I used one ball for each side...so I can adjust the length and place the buttonholes accordingly.

Do you ever wonder when you're blogging if what you type makes sense?

Anyway...with Patti as completed as it could be, I decided to get ready for my next project. So I went into my stash and pulled out all the yarn that I would use for the first Project Spectrum element: Fire. Lovely reds, oranges and pinks. But what to make? Well, there were a few considerations besides Project Spectrum to consider. I decided that first and foremost I needed to knit something that would be gifted [per my Christmas-New Year's Resolution]. Also my hands and wrists have been telling me how much they have been disliking this long period of nothing but smaller needles, so it would have to be knit on size 7 [as the smallest] and/or be a crochet project. What to do?

Well the first thing that came to mind was using some stash pink and red yarn to make the Anouk dress for a friend's baby. I was able to get gauge, but I just wasn't excited about it. Then I had a brilliant idea...

SUPER HAPPY CROCHET CUTE!

Put my Christmas present to good use! I could make one for my friend's baby and one for her older son too! Oh I'm so excited!

But then I ran into a bit of a conundrum.

The author suggests using 100% acrylic for these projects as they have the least amount of give. That means buying yarn rather than stash busting. On the bright size, the acrylic is super cheap...it's not like I would be buying 8 balls of Calmer or anything.

So, do I buy some yarn to make something I'm excited about or do I make something I'm not excited about and stashbust?

Notebook of Doom

I'm still a little crestfallen about the Habu Sleeve Snafu. Nothing a lot of frogging couldn't fix...or make worse...

Once I frogged back 60+ rows, I did a stitch count...I was 4 short. That answers the question of why I added 4 extra repeats. The reason I was 4 short? Dropped stitches. I almost went blind trying to find them, as you can imagine. I did a quick fix and now all 62 stitches are on the needles. The gauge is a little tight where the stitches are picked up, but it's loose in other places, so I think it will work out evenly.

And now...

THE NOTEBOOK OF DOOM

In my continued effort to be an organized knitter this year, I thought it would be a good idea to keep all my evil plans in one location.

So I found a cute notebook and am using it to gather all of my queued patterns. I also printed up a copy of my Ravelry queue and stash listing for quick cross-referencing.

Now if I could only get Habu off the needles so I could start something new!

Planning Ahead

By nature, I'm not much of a planner. Unless we're talking what to wear for a night out. But as far as life is concerned, I'm not flighty but I tend to be pretty laid back about stuff.

That all changes this year.

With my stash and needles organized, I've looked for other places where I can streamline and do a little organization. That of course led me to my Ravelry queue. I tend to not keep a lot of items queued up...and generally it's a random smattering of what looks good on any given day. Well I decided to give it a good once over.

First off, I made sure that patterns with stash yarn waiting were on the list. Then I eliminated any patterns that were just too random to even be considered. Then, with the help of the Rowan magazines I brought with me to work and my thoroughly documented stash, I was able to match up a few more yarns to patterns. Following the sage advice of Gina, the patterns work on all fronts: will fill a void in my closet, will work with the yarn and color, and will work on me. And since most of these matches will be dependent on swatching, I'm trying not to have my heart set on any particular yarn/pattern match and have been making an effort to find multiple patterns that will work.

Still life: Rowan Magazine and a plan

My last bit of organization had to do with order. I mentioned earlier that I have joined Project Spectrum 3.0, which starts in February. So I made a list of items that need to be finished by the month's end...and it's actually manageable [especially since Patti can be counted as red for fire element]. Then I made a list of which yarns/patterns could be used to reflect the individual themes. And it looks pretty do-able. I'm excited to start, and the PS takes the pressure off me to decide which pattern to work on as time goes on.

Now I just need to take this organization and apply it to other parts of my life.

I'm hoping to make some serious progress on the Habu sleeve and get the whole thing back on the needles by week's end. The first major fo of 2008 is in the home stretch!

Organization In Full Effect

In the interest of starting the year off on the right foot, I took some time today to streamline my crafting life. Organized chaos was so 2007.

I wanted to find a way of keeping my many, many circular needles tidy, but don't really like the organizers I've seen nor did I want to use a huge cd case to hold them all. So, I took a trip over to my local Joann's store and found a really nifty canvas wall organizer for $8. There are 12 pockets, which are perfect for holding multiple circulars and dpns. I'll eventually label each pocket with the needle size and put a few nails in the closet so it can hang peacefully, out of the way.

Since cleaning up my needles was so quick, I decided to tackle the stash. I pulled my two bins out of the closet and into the middle of the living room. Gf seemed a bit surprised, but hid it well. "Um, where you gonna put all that?"
"Back in the closet."
She left me alone after that. I queued up Ravelry so I could make sure that I have a everything documented and got to work.

I then divided the stash into two groups.

The first group is Superstarra ME-ME-ME! This group consists of full projects worth of yarn, most of which already have an idea attached to them. Most of these projects...okay, all of these project are for me. There's some Rowan Summer Tweed, Noro Silk Garden Lite, GGH Bali and my fave Rowan All Seasons Cotton. Seeing it all again renewed my excitement...and reminded me that I've already spent a lot of good money on yarn and with at least 14 projects worth, I don't need to be purchasing any more.

The second group is Gifting Yarn. Now my two step plan for the year will have me crafting projects to give as gifts throughout the year. This is the bin for that. There's still some cool stuff in there, Rowan Cork, some RYC Cashsoft DK, some GGH Samoa [don't pay any attention to that bronze fun fur]. Leftovers from other projects will be added to this bin, so it will be a fairly renewable resource of inspired gift crafting. I'm excited to test the boundaries with this bin and get really creative.

And the one challenge of the day...
As you may or may not remember, my last harebrained scheme to use up left over yarn was to crochet the Babette Blanket. I love the pattern and would love to finish it. But a realization hit me about a day into it. With all the different yarns I was using [cotton, acrylic blends, 100% wool, etc]; washing would be an adventure and blocking a nightmare. Needless to say, I abandoned Babette. I think I will take the squares that I have made so far and use them for a cute granny square tote...something that doesn't have to be washed, for sure.

While I was marinating on the shrinkage factor, the yarn was sitting around getting tangled on itself. Above is one of the big knots I was having to deal with. I realized I was holding onto a lot of yarn that I didn't like and bits I hated the first time and threads of others. Needless to say, I salvaged what I could and tossed the rest. No use hanging on to the useless, right?

So, with my crafting life a little more organized and streamlined, I'm ready to take on the crafting challenges of 2008! I can feel it's going to be a good one!

Oh, and thanks for all the compliments on Notorious! Y'all are the best!!

3 Days In, So Far, So Good.

Well here we are, 3 days into 2008. Exciting stuff. So far, I've caught a cold, have a toothache and haven't made much effort to get to the gym...but am I they type of person to infect the world because I have fitness goals?

No, I certainly am not.

There are a few good things though! I finally finished the first Habu sleeve and will hopefully make short work of the second. Can I tell you how much I now hate knitting sleeves in the round? Talk about tedious! Especially on a thin mohair.
And the other good thing is that I have successfully willed one of my gray hairs to return to its natural black color...without the aid of hair dye. It was sheer willpower, people. Now if only I could convince the other 5 to do the same.

See what a relief it is once the holidays are over?

Along with my 2 step knitting goal for 2008, I've decided to follow in the footsteps of my friend Moni and join Project 365 on Flickr and Project Spectrum. I've enjoyed seeing everyone's Project Spectrum work and figure I can use it to inspire some photographs for Project 365. I'm looking forward to making 2008 a very creative year all around. The sky is the limit!

Just Under The Wire...or...Neglectful

It's been almost a month since I've posted. Not that y'all couldn't have figured that out.

Ugh. The Holidaze. Every year I recall Christmases of my youth. We kids would bounce around asking my mom:

'when are we getting a tree?'
'where are we celebrating this year?'
'can we put Christmas lights up?'

Most of the time my mom would ignore us or give us the crytic answer:

'one of these Christmases I'm just going to disappear...mumble mumble...'

She never did, but the threat was always there. I didn't get it until a few years ago.

The stress of holiday planning and shopping and weight-gain and wrapping and deciding who gets what gift and having a few extras on hand just in case we forgot Aunt Suzie and the obligation of who to visit on what day and at what time and we're not eating here, we are just stopping by to wish 'merry-merry' are just too much.

Add to that the self imposed stress of LET'S KNIT SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE!

I was about to jump off the proverbial ledge and not even Miss Poppy Sassypants could talk me down. Needless to say, this is the reason I've been so neglectful of my blog and blog-stalking and crafting. Last night was the first time I've picked up yarn and needles in about 3 weeks.

Isn't that a shame?

Yes, yes it is. Indeed. So now that the holidays are over and I've had some time to reflect on my failed attempt to make it a crafty holiday, I've had a Moment of Christmas Clarity.

So...starting January 2008, here's the plan.

1. Finish/Frog all my wips. Get them out of my hair. Cleanse My Crafting Chi.
2. Between each larger project, knit a smaller project.

Two steps. I can do this!
First off, gf has been more than patient waiting for the Habu sweater. So that's my first project I'll devote my time to. After that, I'll work on Patti and then the other unmentionable projects that are floating about. And since knitting projects for people last minute stresses me out, I'll spread the love over the entire year. I'll use my leftover and stash yarn to knit/crochet scarves, purses, mittens and dolls for gift giving! There are so many patterns for little projects...and for Christmas I received Knitting Little Luxuries, which has some really beautiful things that I would love to try. Sounds easy enough, right?

I guess we'll see!

Summer Knitting

Over the last few months my crafting goals have changed up a bit. Rather than making a long list of goals that I wanted to accomplish, I've been working on things that inspire me in the moment. Call it 'knitting by the seat of my pants'. I've also been trying to use up yarn that I already have as much as possible. I've kinda failed at this, but it's a work in progress, as we all know.

One thing about my stashette that is getting me down is the amount of bits and pieces of leftovers that I have. They take up an inordinate amount of space and some yarn I just get TIRED of looking at. So this morning when I saw Liz K spreading the word about the Summer of Stash, it seemed perfect.

My Summer of Stash plans will be primarily to get rid of all those little bits and pieces and odd balls that I can't stand seeing. But what to make? With my newfound crochet skills, granny squares keep coming to mind. Have you seen all the beautiful Babette Blankets? Not only will it use up all those annoying bits and pieces, granny squares are portable and the perfect summer project. YEAH! But unlike most of the ones in the Flickr group, I'm not going to limit myself with a planned color theme. I'm going to use it all! One of the coolest [and warmest] things my mom ever made were these heavy multi colored knitted block throws. Each block a willy-nilly color, in different knit swatches, all edged in black. You could guarantee that my dad would be wrapped up in one when he was sick. Best thing for a cold since chicken soup! I think that I'll rummage around today and see what I can come up with.

Don't worry, I do have some larger projects [that still involve stash diving] so you won't be bored with endless granny squares all summer.

Flighty.

How far are we into Spring?

Under normal circumstance, I would have a long list of projects and challenges for myself, but I'm just not feeling the list love right now. I've been a little flighty and feel like just working on what interests me at the moment...without any set goals. I'm looking forward to getting my current projects off the needles as soon as possible...if not sooner.

I guess if I have one goal, it would be to use as much yarn from my stash as possible. I have some decent stuff and I just need to make use of it! It's time to lighten my load a bit. Call it Spring Cleaning. And I'd also like to try a little more crochet...but I'm staying away from making lists, so I'll just keep myself open and let the projects come as they may.

I hope to have at least the Powder Jacket completed this week...it's only two sleeves...how long can that take? I think my right hand has had enough rest that getting the sleeves done should be a breeze. Wish me luck!

The Weather Is Screwing With Me

I don't know if I told y'all this, but the bi-annual Superstarra Family Reunion is this year.
In Virginia.
In mid-July.

Why am I thinking about this now? Well, I was working on the Butterfly Tank and thought that it would be the perfect little something to take with me [not to mention the fact that it's 80 degrees outside]. Light...airy...very fashionable. That lead me to think about other projects I'd want to take with me. Nothing too heavy...it is the South, after all. I'll probably start on the cute Rebecca Powder Jacket as soon as the yarn arrives [it will be nice for evening and time spent in the a/c] and I thought about making a little shoulder covering shawl. I have until July, right? I'm almost positive I swore off lace shawl knitting after my experience with the Kiri Shawl, but I've been making my peace with lace knitting while working on Butterfly. Of course, it only being a 2 pattern repeat doesn't hurt either. One of my knitting buddies [I can't remember who at the moment, sorry!] made a beautiful Icarus shawl from a past Interweaves issue and I think that I want one.

In other news, this is my last week temping here at the Tragic Kingdom. I'm actually very excited about it! I have a long list of the things I want to do and am looking forward to having my days free to accomplish them all. Yoo Hoo! Oh, am I still at work? I guess I better stop slacking off, huh?

But The Groundhog Didn't See His Shadow!

Remember my Fall/Winter Goals? Yeah, me too. They were lost, along with my old template, in the conversion from the old blogger to the new. And since I'm much to busy [lazy] to look them up, I'm letting them go. I know there was a skirt and some other lofty aspirations on there...but there's no use crying over spilt milk [and admitting that I didn't finish anything I had planned]. I think that I'm going to keep my goals as simple as finishing up what I've already started. I've got quite a few things on the needles at the moment. Although there is a really cute Rebeeca sweater that I fell in love with. I already have the yarn. And the buttons. And Spring is right around the corner, right? Lady Eleanor has my undivided at the moment, but I have some more ASC that is just perfect for this sweater. And you know how much I love the All Seasons Cotton.

Ok...focus, focus...time to frog...I mean finish a few things.