Socially Distant Crafting

It may be hot as Hades outside but my mom and I still managed some chatting and crafting time outdoors where we could social distance in the shade over the holiday weekend. Other than the humidity, it really was a beautiful day and my parents have the most beautiful deck and views.

I might have over-packed my WIPs again. I brought my Radiate sweater, Retro Rainbow Socks and the Rainbow Fluff Habitation Throw. I put a little work in on all of them while sipping a perfectly ice cold coca cola.

Happy Knitting!!

Carrot Knitting

At the moment within easy walking distance I have one adult sweater, one child sweater, a frogged shawl, a really close to be done pair of socks, a DK hat and the yarn to start another scrap blanket. I really could focus and finish the socks and child’s sweater soooo easily but my mojo for them isn’t there. All I REALLY want to knit right now is my memory blanket.

I finished the column I had started this summer. My blanket is now 13 squares wide by 11 rows long. It’s a nice one person lap blanket size now. I think I want to add two more columns in width and see how happy I am with that size. This for whatever reason has been balm for my tired mom soul that has battled pink eye, cold viruses, and rotovirus all since Christmas. It’s just so pretty and I love adding more and more color.

My knitter brain wants to clean up my WIP pile and have those FOs in my hot little hands. But my tired mom soul just can’t quite manage that, especially when she tells me to go to sleep at 8:30 pm right after the kids. I may make a deal with myself….knit on my WIPs for 30 min and then 30 mins on my blanket. Just to make my two halves happy. I mean a little carrot knitting didn’t hurt anyone right?

P.S. What you can’t see? I took this to work for a TWO HOUR long webex meeting and wove in all my ends. The back of this thing is pristine!

Happy Knitting!!

2013 Knitting Wrap Up

Being a consummate accountant and OCD organizer, I dearly love spread sheets and logging things. And thanks to the help of Ravelry and MS Excel I did a pretty good job of tracking my 2013 stashbustin’ efforts!

I didn’t set any goals or benchmarks. I simply knit what I needed to and wanted to. Then logged my activity. When it comes to knitting I have a hard time working on things that don’t speak to me or suit my mood. I don’t stick to deadlines or project lists very well when it comes to knitting. Hence my many cases of “start-itis” during the year.  Here is what I accomplished.

  • Attempted 59 Stashbustin’ projects total.
  • Completed 50 projects, frogged 3 projects, and sent 6 projects into hibernation/time out
  • Knit 20,287 yards, 60,860 feet, or 11.57 miles of yarn
  • Used up 148.63 skeins of yarn

Now on the flip side, I did add a little yarn to my stash…okay maybe a lot.

  • Purchased 19,992 yards, 59,976 feet, or 11.36 miles of yarn
  • Added 142 skeins of yarn

So I netted out 295 yards, 884 feet, or .21 miles down in “stash”. Roughly 6.63 skeins, lol! In my defense I really feel that over the past couple of years that as my skills have expanded, my taste in yarn has changed. I liken it to the drying of ones palette when you are a wine drinker. So even though I added back to my stash, I did so with better quality and finer yarns. I am getting rid of the “cheap” stuff and replacing it with “good” yarn.

How will I do in 2014? I don’t really know. And I don’t care, lol! I simply like to knit and just see what happens!!

Weekend Project Roundup

I read an interesting post by another blogger sometime last week about her love of bags and organization for her WIP and projects. I chuckled out loud reading because I have the same compulsion desire! And this weekend I did some cleaning in my craft room and I though I’d do a “bag/organization flash”

First up, here is a tote bag full of ruffle yarn destined to be tutus. I have the correct needle size and a laminated pattern in there as well.

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Next up, my Stashbustin’ #19 project. This is an active project for the Sage Yarn FAL. So it doesn’t have a bigger bag.  Just a plastic yarn case from Micheals to keep the dog hair off my skeins of yarn and to keep them from rolling around as I work.

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Next up, my Stashbustin’ #25 project, Baby Sophisticate! I haven’t actually cast on this as of yet. But I have the pattern marked up for the right size and the yarn is hanging out in the hand made yarn protector from my mother. I need to work up a gauge swatch….

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This is my Stashbustin’ #26, Bulky Garter Stitch Balacava. Nothing fancy here either. Just a plastic bag to keep dog hair off my yarn. I still need to measure my co-workers head/hat size before I mark up the pattern instructions.

 

And finally Stashbustin’ #24, Spiral Leg Warmers. I went all out for this one…yep that’s right that’s a zip lock bag holding my yarn. Not fancy but keeps thing dry and clean!

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And sometimes these smaller bags/projects get tossed into bigger bags. Here is a tote (also from Micheals)  that is currently holding my leg warmers, baby sophisticate, and balaclava. Not to mention two cases worth of needles, lots of notions, pens, and pencils.

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Sometimes just having things organized neatly makes all this work seem less daunting!  Plus I always have something I can grab when I’m on the go or need to travel with a project. Not to mention it keeps my projects out of reach from my puppy that likes to hibernate on them, lol!!

How do you store your projects?

WIPitis and Its Implications

I have had a well documented case of WIPitis lately. I have five projects currently in my WIP column and about 50 more projects queued up on Ravelry. To keep myself honest, I am reporting all my WIPs to you guys. I am going to call it a “WIP Flash”!!!

Stashbustin’ #2 – Waffle Blanket

Haven’t touched this since that progress report. It’s hibernating and it honestly doesn’t bother me….yet

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Stashbustin’ #9 – Simple Stockinette Baby Blanket

See yesterday’s post…it’s coming along! This project is now my bedtime knitting.

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Stashbustin’ #10 – Pink and White Chevron Blanket

Haven’t touched this one since the last update either. I’m waiting for it to “speak” to me before I pick it up again.

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Stashbustin’ #11 – Simple Raglan Cardi

I have made a little progress since Tuesday. I’m really trying to do this one right. And slow and steady wins the race! This is my current TV knitting on the couch. I haven’t snapped a recent photo, but I’ve completed at least 3 inches!

Purse Project

I always keep a small mindless project in my bag in case I get stuck somewhere in line or get bored at lunch. Right now I have a Cascading Ruffles Scarf in the most elegant and shiny purple I have ever seen. It’s about half done, which is impressive since I only work one or two rows at a time.

I’ve shown you mine….anybody want to tell me about theirs?

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting Problems

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I have a knitting problem, I want to KNIT ALL THE THINGS!

Everything I see I want to knit! Cute patterns on Ravelry, adorable photos on Pinterest, and even friends projects all compete for my attention. I want to learn socks, I want to do a bigger sweater, I want to knit cute baby things, and I want to knit trendy things for my craft shows.

Sadly my life does not afford me the time to do all if the above. Not even by a long shot, lol. I am accountant by day and knitter by night. I am jealous of other knitters who can knit on commute on mass transit (no good option where I live and I have a 30+ min drive), while in class, or on breaks at work.

Fall makes me yearn for falling snow outside while I am safely wrapped up inside working on hand knits. Some of my blogger friends even made knitting progress in the face of devastating Sandy. Glad they made it through safe and sound, and praying for all those affected!

Sooooo many patterns, so little time! Probably not a problem that I will ever solve. Here’s hoping for a few snow days this winter! So it’s time to just pick a pattern and dive in…..or learn to knit faster!

Happy Knitting!