Can You Say Ambition?

Posted on June 18, 2020 by atangledyarn84

I took my kiddos to my parents house for a weekend respite. I may have over packed my knitting….

I pulled out my huge 31 tote and piled in the WIPs. It was hot as hades but I pulled a nice ice cold coca cola and worked on some of my projects. In this bag I had my:

One Perfect Skein Shawl

Rainbow Fluff Habitation Throw

PB’s Birthday Blanket

Retro Rainbow Vanilla Socks

I managed to put a little work on each of them and it was a very zen knitting session. It was a nice recharge to the dumpster fire that is 2020. I kind of like my big ole bag of WIPs. I’m choosing to see them as a big pile of untapped potential. Maybe it is too much ambition? But I’m excited to see what happens.

Happy Knitting!!

Lost Knitting Bag….Send Help

Posted on September 12, 2019 by atangledyarn84

My house is not cluttered and messy but relatively clean. Between a husband, dog and two kids I have given up temporarily the hopes of a tidy home. As long as it’s relatively germ free and I can occasionally see the carpet I’m calling it a win.

But last night I lose my sh*t. I had left a project bag with my Progression Shawl on the basement couch. Where no one but I rarely sit. And this morning it is magically gone. Like POOF and disappeared. No one is claiming to have seen or to have moved it.

I’ve looked in all the usual places and still cannot find it anywhere. It is literally giving me anxiety. Must have been the karmic balancing to my quiet self care night earlier this week. I have to get to work now so I can’t keep looking.

I’m not ready to call in the National Guard as its not a disaster. But momma ain’t happy!! I have a feeling the whole family is going to help organize the basement tonight after supper….

Project Of A Different Kind

Posted on July 23, 2019 by atangledyarn84

For about a year and a half now, my kitchen floor has needed some serious TLC. The tile was beautiful but multiple attempts at re-laying and re-grouting just didn’t’ work. The backing board was too water damaged and tile and grout were constantly coming loose. I just felt my kitchen and office were GROSS all the time.

Last fall, via my cousin’s lumberyard, we purchased some tile-ish looking waterproof laminate to replace the floor. And this summer finally came a time where I had the vacation time and my dad was available to help me. We ripped the tile, pulled backing board and million staples, scraped glue and mastic until we had blisters and then snapped together the new floor. All in all it took two and a half solid days of work. But oh my, I couldn’t be more pleased!

I am already in love with cooking on the new floor and being able to sweep and mop knowing I’m actually getting stuff clean. And I hope and pray that is the last time I have to deal with this silly floor!

Now back to knitting tomorrow!

Spring Cleaning

Posted on April 8, 2014 by atangledyarn84

After my hiatus from blogging/knitting the past couple of months, I haven’t been able to generate much interest in any of the WIPs I had on the needles. And I can’t knit something I don’t love, so I did some organizing!

2014 Stashbustin’ #11: Henry’s Sweater – FROGGED

Undated/Unnamed Baby Girl cotton baby blanket – FROGGED

2014 Stashbustin’ #5: Antrose – HYBERNATING

Calorimetry Headband – FROGGED

2014 Stashbustin’ #13: A Plain Rye Sock – ACTIVE WIP

Call it a Spring Clean! I just couldn’t bring myself to work on any of these so I made a frog-it or stash-it decision. Only my Antrose and Plain Rye Socks made it safely out of the frog pond. Antrose is great but it’s a lot more project than I want right now, so it’s safely tucked away! I’m hoping to start my second Plain Rye sock soon!

But all this begs an important question, what to do next? Pardon me, I’m off to peruse my Ravelry queue!

Knitting With Coworkers

Posted on June 24, 2013 by atangledyarn84

My endless days of knitting at lunch and wearing my FOs to work has taken a toll finally. I have had several coworkers ask if it would be hard to learn to knit. And not being one to stifle the urge to create and craft I have agreed to teach them.

There is another avid knitter that works with me that’s agreed to help me get them started. I’m envisioning a “Stitch N Bitch” or “Knit Night” style weekly gathering with snack and beverages of your choice. Maybe over a 4 to 5 week period depending on schedules in the fall?

My first dilemma is what to teach them? My first instinct was a ruffle scarf. They are easy, compact, and provide instant gratification.

But I have always wanted to do something for Project Linus. A simple blanket is a great way to learn to knit and giving a child the comfort of a homemade blanket is priceless. I thought the One Row Blanket de la Harlot would be great because its a one row pattern of 4 stitches repeated over and over. Not to mention its big yarn on big needles!

Not to mention the texture is fantastic on the FO and you look like a nifty knitter!

Or maybe do both and start with the scarf?

Has anyone else attempted this before? All comments and suggestions are welcome! I plan on picking a plan and doing up some basic instructions and diagrams along side the pattern so they have good visual aids in between meetings.

Oh boy, what have I gotten into?!

FO Friday: Memory Blanket

Posted on March 15, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I was cleaning out my knitting storage and came across a surprise, my memory blanket I made in 2011! By 2011 my knitting had progressed from scarves to many many garter stitch baby blankets. At the time I had a slew of family and friends all having babies. It seemed that they would never stop. I think I made like 8 or 9 blankets in 2011?

After all those projects I had a ton of random acrylic baby blanket yarn left over. It was all different colors and yarn weight and I didn’t really want to store it. So on a whim, I just cast on a whole bunch of stitches and started working. I knit until I ran out of one color and then started the next one. I finished the project shortly after Christmas. I distinctly remember sitting at my Grandma’s kitchen table playing dominos with the family and trying to knit the blanket at the same time because I didn’t want the project to run over into 2012.

It’s not the best or prettiest blanket I have ever made, but it’s special to me. I can look at the various stripes an see all the babies I had knit for: Sofia, Bentley, Devin, Jackson, Orion, and Ely. And it’s perfect blanket to throw on my bed on a cold night or cuddle on the couch with. Isn’t it cool when something you knit becomes more than just FO?

Happy Friday and Happy Knitting!!!

WIP Wednesday: Stockinette Baby Blanket

Posted on March 13, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Stashbustin’ #9

I have made some great progress on my Simple Stockinette Baby Blanket in Bernat Baby Blanket. Especially since I got snowed in at my parent’s house this past weekend and it’s the only project I took with me. The alterations I made in my previous post have really helped. It’s not the best blanket in the world, but I feel victorious for surviving thus far without incoherent babbling!!

Having said that…..I am improvising this pattern and I did not swatch for gauge. (Please see previous WIP post where I was bragging about swatching my cardi…) I do realize that gauge has significant implications but my knitterly brain just refused to accept that reality in some projects. The resulting WIP blanket is proving to be coming out enormously wide. My calculations have blanket coming out at 50 in long and 30 in wide or vice versa.

I have decided to roll with the punches and call this an “unintentional design feature”‘ I am on my second skein if yarn and I think I’m just going to knit until I get to the end of it. My mom took only look at my progress and declared I should use three. Sadly she is right and I know it. But I just can’t keep working on this hot mess of a project. Lesson learned: I shall not improvise a project without first checking gauge and dimension! I am just going to finish what I have (should even be able to cast off this project before the weekend) and move on!!

Anybody need a wonky shaped blanket? (I am the master of my own knitting, at least according to the Yarn Harlot!)

Happy Knitting!

Uh Oh #%36($ +>~ 42/;

Posted on January 8, 2013 by atangledyarn84

GASP…..THE HORROR……I RAN OUT OF YARN FOR MY PROJECT….

It’s 110% my fault. In my zeal to destash and cast on a project, I didn’t stop to calculate yarn yardage. I just grabbed stash yarn and went to town. See that small bundle at the top? Ya…that’s what I have left. Luckily I was able to source the necessary two additional skeins I need from the Internet for my Waves and Ripples blanket.

I’m bummed a little. The pattern is easy to memorize and the yarn is yummy. I’m sad that I can’t keep knitting as this bulky project is flying off my needles! And how amazing is the zig zag and the cream/white contrast!? Sigh, now I have to wait for my Knit Picks box to here…guess I’ll have to cast on another stashbustin’ project. Stay tuned tomorrow!