Snowy Dragonfly Wings

I started this shawl for Jailgy last month and thought I would finish it while visiting her. I soon realized that knitting took second place next to her new quilting machine. We had so much fun! I think she said we finished five quilt tops altogether. I wish I had pics of them all but alas, I was only selfish enough to get one of mine.

This English paper piecing, basted on to a peach background and quilted on a electronic quilting machine.

When I got home I was able to finish her shawl but had trouble blocking it. I thought I could block it the usual way - the way I block wool. Get it wet, wring it out, pin it to a towel and wait for it to dry. Well, dry it did but when I unpinned it, it immediately curled. Grrr. I then remembered that that was not how you blocked acrylic! Silly me. What you are suppose to do is to pin your garment to the ironing board or some other smooth surface, hold the iron one to two inches above your work and steam away! And that, she said, worked. Voila!

When I Woke Up

This morning I wrote my list without even thinking. I wanted to get down as many things as I could think of before I forgot. Needless to say, most of these items will not get done. But I will try. So far, I've dropped off the vacuum hose to get fixed and expect to hear back from them later today. Good thing too since I'm expecting company. It never fails. Something goes wrong right before the company arrives. That's okay. This company really knows us and couldn't be bothered by such insignificant details as crumbs and cat hair on the floor.  Now, in the guest room I've had a shawl on the bed being blocked. (See number 10).In case you don't know, you use many straight pins to block a shawl unless you have blocking wires, which I do not. Hopefully, the company will not find any stray pins on their bed. Yikes! 

So this leaves me with an almost undone list and it's 3PM so I had better get busy. 

Winter Frost Not Snow

I may be repeating myself here. But bear with me as I get my blog in order and sort out the old drafts - culling, deleting and posting a few.

 We've had weird ground cover lately. It's almost as if it's trying to snow but not quite. That is frost, not snow. A closer look will reveal crystals unlike snow.

So I've been sitting by the fire enjoying working on my "Brick". It's so cozy inside the house - I don't want to leave. Not even to take a walk.

That's a good thing because I get a lot done. 

I'm not real happy about this sweater. There are at least three reasons but I'll chalk it up to a learning experience. First off, it's too big. I'm ok with that, I guess because then I can wear layers to keep warm. I can even roll up the sleeves. But still, I would like to someday make a sweater that actually fits. Second, the white yarn is gross. I don't like the feel of it. Even after a good wash it still feels pretty stiff. Also, the white should have been whiter. By that I mean the color, which is really cream, doesn't actually go with the grey. It looks ok on the computer monitor but in real life I don't like it. 

You would think I would have known this after putting together a quilt that mixed cream based and white base fabric. My sister fixed it by taking it all apart and separating the fabric into two piles - one white and one cream. This is what she did with the cream. Or was it the white? I'm not sure, but I guess I didn't learn.

She's really good with color. Me? I'm still learning,

So, I will knit.

At My Sister's House

One of the fun things about going to my sister's is that I get things done! Since I've been here I've worked on my slipped stitch socks and they are finished! They were my "car knitting"  project but I was getting tired of carrying them around the country (read: continent) and was glad when they finally came off the needles.

Heidi will be pleased!

I had been waiting a long time to finish this quilt. And when my sister told me she got a new (to her) quilting machine I asked if she needed another practice quilt. She did! We were both pleased with how it turned out.

The back is as pretty as the front! Maybe even more so. 

It only helps that my sister has a wonderful craft/sewing room. 

We come up early in the morning and only leave to eat and sleep. Well, maybe to quilt with the machine which is actually in the garage. What a great place to spend the day!

BTW, that's my finished quilt on the ironing board.

Autumn Socks

I like variegated yarn. I like it a lot. But it's usually when it's still in the skein that it's so appealing to me. Once I start to knit with it, I find it's not so pretty after all. There must be a trick to making it look as attractive in the project as it is in the skein. I'm wondering if that has to do with one of two things... or maybe both. The first may have to do with the actual stitch pattern. By that I mean some yarns fight with a pattern stitch and vise versa. A bobbly stitch does not look good in a variegated yarn. But if you do a plain stockinette stitch it will "pool" more often than not. And that's just plain ugly or homemade looking. The key is to find out the color repeat and find a project that corresponds to the number of stitches you have for a round or a row. If you can get the yarn to "stripe", you've won. I think I won.

Goals for 2016

So, no, I did not finish my temperature scarf. I really didn't even try. That was because I've been working feverishly on my "Brick" sweater.

It's almost done. All there is to do is to finish the first sleeve, work the second sleeve and finish off the collar. I'm still thinking about how to do the collar. I really don't like the look of the rib that the pattern suggest you do, so that's out. I've worked a single crochet on other sweaters and it's worked out fine. Another option is the seed stitch  - k1, p1 and alternate each row. That means where there is a knit stitch on the previous row, you do a purl stitch on the next row. And vise versa. Or I can do a garter row or two. Well, since it's easy to rip out I can try all three! There may be even a 4th option. I've got a book that has all kinds of ideas.

So that really brings me to my goals for 2016.

1. Love my children.

That's it! I don't want to set myself up for failure and I know I will always love them. Well, maybe I'll plan on finishing a few WIPs. Maybe.

I have a Goal

I had a conversation with myself. It's one I have a lot and it turns into an argument. At least, one side turns and walks away and doesn't want to discuss things anymore. The other side, well, let's just say, gets her way. And I know which side is winning the war. 

I start projects. I start many projects. I get going on something because I see someone else has made a beautiful object and I think, "I can do it too! In fact, I have just the yarn to do it." And off I go. Until the next project captures my attention. Meanwhile, the first project gets put aside in favor of the new. Then they all start to build up.

A year ago I bought a pattern and yarn to make the "Grace" sweater. Before I start that sweater (yes, I've held back!) I told myself that I needed to finish up a few WIPs. Well, a few WIPs turns into many as I clean out my cupboards and drawers. I said this year, 2015, would be a year of finishing. And it has been. I've finished socks, sweaters, cowls, mittens and scarves! Plural! Many! But there are still many more projects to finish. So it looks as if the year 2016 will be a year of finishing as well. I have the projects lined up on my Ravelry page with WIPs first. One by one they will be picked off. 

There are helps to this solution. In fact, I know exactly what to do.

1. Do not go into yarn stores or into the department of the store that sells yarn. 

2. Do not surf Ravelry. 

3. Stare at your WIPs listed on Ravelry 'til you get inspired. Yes, they will inspire you again as they once did long ago.

4. Delete all "friends" on Instagram that show pictures of finished and half finished projects. They are enablers. 

5. Pick up and finish a WIP UNTIL IT IS DONE!!!!

6. Knit 25 hours a day. I kid, but you know what I mean. 

The tide has turned in this war. 

In 2013 I started a "Temperature" Scarf where every row or two correlated to a day temperature wise. Every five degree increment was knit in a different color. Initially, I cast on about 45 stitches and knit two rows of garter for every day. 'Round about April I lost impetus. I hate garter stitch and this was going so slowly. I still kept track of the temperature in a little calendar I kept by my family room chair. At the end of the year the project had disappeared into the vast morass of my sewing and craft room. Two days ago I bought it out to the light and ripped it out! I decided I liked stockinette stitch better for this project and was going to make it work. So, in the last two days I've been able to work three and a half months worth of temperatures! Way to go! At this rate this should be done by the end of the week. Or year. Which ever comes first.

One down, 499 to go. Fingers crossed. 

Crazy Socks!!

These crazy socks may not be the prettiest but I think I'll love them because every stripe represent one of my sisters or one of my daughters. What's not to like? They are going pretty quickly too since they are knit with worsted weight and with size 6 needles. I like quick projects!

On the other hand I finally found a pattern that suits this yarn! I tried feather and fan. Too busy for the yarn. Or was the yarn too busy for the pattern? In any case I didn't like how it all went together and just ripped it out.  I then cast on for some plain stockinette mittens/socks. They were going to end up being too small so I ripped them out as well. In the meantime I came across a pattern that I thought would be perfect for this yarn. I tried it out and really, really like it.

Cuff Down Slipped Stitch Socks on #3 needles. Cast on 48.

Yarn is Mirasol Hecho in Sapphire Jade colorway 

"Why I Don't Like Variegated Yarn" or "Why Socks Are an Option"

December's Sweater

I liked it at the store while it was in the skein and when I started to knit with it but when I laid it out to take a picture I realized why I don't knit sweaters with variegated yarn. See if you agree. Firstly, the colors pooled. By that I mean instead of having the color evenly distributed throughout the garment the color all gathered in one spot. It makes the project look like something that was thrown together somehow. Secondly, it really does look homemade. Just like someone really didn't put much thought into the thing. And I didn't. At least it did a bit of striping and I like stripes. Just not jagged ones.

Now, look at the sleeves. They are not as bad looking as the body of the sweater. The number of stitches on the sleeves is about the same number that I would cast on for some Hiking Socks. So, maybe there is some redemption, after all. Make socks. Let that be a lesson learned. But for now, it goes into the cedar chest to await some "lucky" recipient because I'm sure not taking out or ripping back! Nope.

Cardigans and Pullovers

At the beginning of the year I thought I would try to get a sweater done every month. So I finished a wonderful wallaby for Hannah in January. And in February a simplest sweater got done. I almost completed leahs lovely cardigan (shown below) in March but missed it by two days. So that's April and there is no March. May and June saw a hiatus on the sweater knitting front as well since there were oodles of request for objects other than sweaters. Then there is July's project: another simplest-sweater. August and September saw a lot of socks instead since all the sisters got socks this year for birthdays and that's just where the birthdays fall. October was a sweet little cardigan for Camillia - daisy chain. And November was a central park hoodie.That one had been in hibernation for a long time with only part of a sleeve done but I'm glad I got it out and finished it. In December I mustered the energy to finish this little baby pullover. It's okay but I really don't like how the yarn pooled. 

 Now that it's December I realize that I needlessly put myself under pressure. I don't need pressure. Thank you very much. I've had enough of it. So much so that I now roll with the days and just make sure I get in a little knitting. After all, it really is therapy so why would I make it discipline?

At the neck and close to the end!

There's only one problem and I'm not sure I really want to tackle it. I made the body too long and am thinking about making it shorter. That's not as easy as it sounds since it entails taking off the button bands and unraveling about two or three inches from the bottom of the sweater and then reapplying (and re-knitting!) the button bands. See, not all projects work out as projected. Pardon.

With daughter #1

My Lists and Scrap Yarn

So I've made a list. I'm funny that way. Every morning I make a "to do" list of the things I want to accomplish that day. Mostly, I get through that list in good time. I'm funny that way. But the list I want to talk about now is the list that keeps getting longer every day and doesn't seem to shrink at all. In fact, it grows. It's the list of my knitting projects. That's okay though because I don't ever want to be at a loss for something to knit. And knit projects take longer than a day to complete. Since I've finished all the socks that I wanted to do for this year's birthdays, I thought I would try my hand at something I've seen floating around Instagram for a while to use up my left over yarn. And that is crazy socks! I haven't started yet but here are some of the colors I want to use:

If nothing else it will be fun to see how this works out. And at the least, I'll have used some of my scraps. Now how economical is that?

Mrs. Hunter's Cowl and Fingerless Mitts

The first yarn I tried for this cowl in Mrs. Hunter's stitch turned out really pretty. There was only one problem with it. The border had a tendency to curl. So I took it out and never restarted. I may go back and redo it now that I know how to make it stop curling. If I knit a round and then purl a round after the rib and before I start the "Mrs. Hunter's" pattern, it will stop the curling and rolling.

The next yarn I tried with this pattern told me that the yarn was too busy for the pattern so I took that out as well. Yet, notice how I learned how to stop the fabric from curling? Learning.

The yarn ended up being plain vanilla socks. Top down. To start: cast on 44. Knit two, purl two for the rib. And carry on until the heel. Comment if you need help from there. Or just go on-line and find a simple vanilla sock pattern.

And finally, I said to myself, "sink or swim. This last try is going down in the history books." And there you have it - a nice cowl and a pair of finger-less mitts. 

(Going to the cedar chest)

Two "Dragonfly Wings" Shawls and a Scrappy "Forever" Afghan

I had so much fun making the "Dragonfly Wings" shawl in Malabrigo Sock. It was actually a trial run for the shawl I'm making for Jailgy. It was a pattern we both liked so I made mine first to get all the "kinks" out before attempted to make "that perfect shawl". I was pleased how mine turned out and only hope hers will be as pretty.

"Dragonfly Wings" in Malabrigo Sock - Indiecita colorway

So, Jaigy wanted a white one and she picked out this yarn. So far, so good. It's fun to work on so I don't imagine it will take me long to finish it.

I've been working on this "Scrappy" afghan off and on for quite a while. It's something I keep by my chair in the family room with the purpose of working on it in between other projects. I'm not expecting to get it done in the near future but just want to keep it there by my side to have it handy for a quick row or two. It's a really good way to use up those scraps of acrylic yarn. I'm also thinking of making kid sweaters to send to South America. I've heard that the crazy/striped ones are the most popular. I think a little sweater made with scraps would be a good project to keep in the car. We'll see how that goes.