Monthly Archives: January 2023

Planning All The Things

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My new Knitters Planner arrived and I’m switching over from 2022 to 2023. This is my third or fourth year using this planner and I think I have perfected “system”.

First up, I have fully embraced frixion pens and markers so that I can always adjust my stuff. Secondly, all the color coding. It makes me feel more in control than I am. Next up I use the back of this planner to track my projects all year long. It really gives me an idea of how much or little I create.

I use the main body of the planner in weekly planning mode. I try to fill it out every Sunday or first thing Monday so I get a feel for my week. I keep track of some micro goals each week as well. I may or may not refer back to it during the week but the preparation alone feels good.

Do you have an organization strategy?

Gal’s Gifts

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I firmly hold that one’s “gals” give the best gifts. I had the good fortune to bond very deeply with a work colleague who moved on to another City. And we developed quite the group chat with one of her new coworkers because we missed hanging out. We all three enjoy crafty things and each other’s senses of humor.

This lovely box was delivered to me from those two gals. Without asking they know exactly what to gift me.

This box contained many yummy chocolates and two full sock sets from Amber Waves of Fiber. The color is called “Santa’s Workshop” and the content is 80% merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon. I have enough yarn for a large shawl or multiple socks. I need to meditate on what this yarn wants to grow up to be.

Happy Knitting!!

A Fine Finn Skein

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The Finn singles are plied an folded into a neat tidy skein. I need to wash and whack this yet but I couldn’t help but show it off.

This skein weighs about 85 grams so I didn’t lose much fiber during the spinning process. There is still a TON of veg matter spun up into this skein. I’m hoping that some of that falls out during washing. Pre-washing I think I have about 80 to 82 yards of yarn so this is Aran weight.

I will lose some yardage during washing as the yarn plumps up. But that’s normal. It will be an interesting experiment to see how much I lose. I am happy with the tight ply and the overall yarn is pretty consistent. Not too shabby!!

Happy Spinning!!

Plying And Picking

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All three bobbins of my Finn fiber are complete and I moved on to the plying stage!

Even with the fiber having been carded and the singles gone through the wheel once, I am still getting a lot of veg matter out of the fiber. My pants and black shirt were a little messy after my spinning session.

I did end up with a nice plump bobbin of a finished 3-ply. I will let this rest on the bobbin for a day or two and then I will give it a wash and whack to finish the process. I am predicting a nice heavy worsted to bulky finished yarn.

Happy Spinning!!

2021 Advent: Day 5

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My fingers are aching a little bit, but day five is complete from my 2021 Chromatic Yarns advent calendar. This color was called Merfolk and I think its a fitting name for this lovely blue.

I’m getting the pattern memorized into my brain. I still have to refer to the patterns for the heel turns but other than that I can cruise right along. I pulled some ribbon from my stash to determine if it was the right medium to hang my items. I think some experimentation is order as I’m not sure I found the right thing.

Now, on to day six! Happy Knitting!!

Time to Weave Ends

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All my blanket mojo means there are dozens and dozens of ends to weave in. Thus far I have been doing them few by few. But I let the blanket get away from me.

I took three HOURS and three episodes of Leverage: Redemption to weave and trim a whole a whole mess of ends. I was pretty proud of the ball I built.

Now with all the admin taken care of, I can get back to the knitting! Happy Knitting!!

Memory Mojo Unlocked

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My blanket mojo has fired up after the holiday haze has lifted. I have added NINE squares since last I showed this off last time.

I finished off an entire row and started a brand new one. This newest row is leftovers from my tiny sweaters and tiny socks from the 2021 Chromatic Yarns advent calendar. I still have a tiny nub of yarn leftover after I complete all three things. So those are going into my scrap stash.

I have 24 minis and 17 squares across, so when I hit the end of the row I will have to decide to go to another row or add an additional column. What do you think??

2021 Advents: Day 4

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A lazy day still neglecting to take down all of the Christmas decorations has brought to you a new tiny sweater and two new tiny socks.

This was day four of the 2021 Chromatic Yarns advent calendar. It was a beautiful golden rod color. This D&D inspired color was called Yochlol. I have not a stinking clue what that means as I don’t follow that genre but I can appreciate beauty in all forms.

On to day five! Happy Knitting!!!

Boxing Day Bonus

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I treated myself to a little yarn surprise as I really can’t 100% count on my family to sustain my yarn habit. This year my kids picked out beige towels and a bath mat. Perfectly lovely but not exactly crafy.

I snagged a skein of Chromatic yarns in Sturdy Sock called True Sight. Also a cute little puppy hand beaded stitch marker. Hannah also throws in a bag of bird and blend tea. This one was a fruit and custard herbal tea.

Zero clue what I will do with this yarn and so it will go into my Chromatic Yarns every growing stash. I feel like making another variegated shawl in this year. I have lots of blues and greens along this color scheme that would blend well. Maybe after I lose my mitred square blanket mojo?

Happy Knitting!!

Two Fine Bobbins

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The spinning has been slow and warm by the fire. I finished the second two ounces of Finn fiber. The bobbins look very similar and I hope this means the yardage is similar.

This fiber is really lovely to spin with. As long as it plies out nicely, I think I will be procuring more Finn from 14 Hands Ranch. Admittedly, I still have the third ball of two ounces to spin. Spinning has been my calm in the year end storm.