Thanks to those who still read my blog....

I've been a really bad blogger....and now I have more time than ever to blog. The company I was working for closed our branch and I've been without employment since mid-September. I've been trying to make ends meet with my fibery skills.

I have been knitting some the last year, but more so in the last few months. Here is some of what I've been doing since I've been absent:

I finished this Clapotis scarf (rav link) last year:

We bought a boat earlier in the year and spent all summer boating:

This is only the sleeve, but I'm nearly finished with this sweater; yarn is Madelinetosh:

I finished this scarf last month; yarn from twisted:

I've been sewing a bunch; this is a king size quilt I am working on. The top is about half finished.

The new kitten puts a twist in things; she needs to be sleeping for me to knit or spin:

Ah, spinning...I've missed you!

My handspun yarns are for sale at Starstruck Cat Design in Greenwood, IN:

So, that's pretty much what I've been doing recently....I've also been making knitting needle and crochet hook rolls and stitch markers, and of course Christmas knitting!

I Love Knitting Sweaters...

I'm so close to being done with my sweater for NaKniSweMo. Just a few more rows at the top and the button band. I just went shopping for my buttons at lunch today and I'm so happy with what I found. I wanted to make the button band a little bigger than the last of these sweaters and if I want it much bigger the new buttons probably won't work. We'll just have to see. I am very pleased with this sweater though..... I miss knitting sweaters and I'm going to have to get back in the groove.

My honey wants a sweater vest, so that may be my next project....

NaKniSweMo Progress

Both sleeves are done, have more than 10" of the body done. It's going good. Now if only I didn't have to work and I could just knit all day....

Oh well...there is always my lunch hour.

NaKniSweMo

I've joined the NaKniSweMo KAL on Ravelry along with my good friend Jennie. I haven't been knitting a lot lately..not very much at all actually. I moved in with my boyfriend at the end of October and I'm still transitioning. My knitting stuff is everywhere because I didn't prepare very well for the move and my knitting stuff was all over my apartment. It's all between about ten different boxes and bins and finding enough needles to actually start my sweater for the NaKniSweMo KAL was tough enough. Thankfully the yarn I chose for the sweater was already residing at my boyfriend's house... As for the pattern, well, I couldn't find my notes on the sweater anywhere. I've decided to reknit my Wine Sweater...So I took out the original sweater, sat down, and recreated it on paper. I did a pretty good job-jotting down the pattern in about an hour. Now to test out my ability to analyze my sweater and knit another from my improvised pattern. Once I've knit the sweater, I will sit down and write it up with different sizes and all and after a test knit, make it available on Ravelry.

So, back to the KAL info. I'm knitting the sweater, once again, with Cascade 220. This time I am using the Heathers in the color Dune. I cast on Monday night and knit about 5" of the first sleeve. I'm proud to say that I finished the first sleeve last night and will be (hopefully) casting on for the second sleeve tonight. If that goes just as fast as the first, then I could have this sweater done in little more time than the first time (granted it was in college, but I knit the sweater in less than a week)...it's a really easy knit. I'm so glad to have my sweater mojo back. I miss knitting sweaters. I love knitting sweaters. I think if I do finish this one pretty quick, I will probably knit another one.

Knitting and Friends

I met a good friend from my old job the other day for knitting and chatting. I taught her to knit last year and she's been doing great. She is knitting her first sweater and was having a little bit of trouble with knitting on cap sleeves. Let's just say I think she's conquered the wrap-and-turn concept. The sweater looks wonderful. She, of course, notices all her mistakes (we all do, don't we?) but it's still fantastic! I worked a little on my Clappy scarf from forever ago, maybe I will actually finish it before the fall. I am nearly complete with it; I've been knitting it for so long maybe I just don't WANT to finish it...? I cast on in the new yarn for the sweater I am designing. I'm so disappointed that I didn't have enough of the Interlacements yarn I was designing the sweater for. I bought that yarn years ago...and there is no way I could ever find anything to match it. The sweater would be beautiful in Dream in Color also, but I just don't have the funds to get any right now. Maybe I can convince the boyfriend to buy me some....after making saddles maybe he will oblige. We shall see.

I have jury duty this next week. I am not excited about it. I am going to try and take in some needles and yarn, but I'm not sure how well that will go over. Need to go to the bookstore just in case....

So, I'm not sure if I told you that my mom is getting married....two weeks from tomorrow. I am so happy for her! She deserves happiness and a man that loves her and worships her. I found the perfect dress for her wedding. Tonight, I am taking Olivia (my boyfriend's daughter) with me shoe shopping. This girl seriously loves shoes and I'm more than happy to have a shopping partner.

I was supposed to get my hair done last night as well. I didn't because my stylist's son got sick and she had to go. I haven't gotten my hair cut or colored in four months. I didn't want to spend the money while I didn't have a job. Now I just have to, especially for the wedding.

So, that's all I got. Not very exciting.

Julia's Cardi

I have an FO....I know, it's unbelievable. I can't remember the last time I showed an FO.

The pattern is Rocketry (rav link). It was a kit I bought at the Fiber Event in April. I hated the order of colors so I changed it up and I am soooo happy with it. I hope it's recipient is as happy with it as I am. The recipient, Mignon, just had a baby (whom I've yet to meet!!). I figured very little knitting is/has gotten done, if any, so I decided to make little Julia a sweater. I have never knit baby things before...but I'll tell you what....I wish I had a ton of babies to knit things for!!

The yarn is Dream in Color Classy (love this yarn). I changed the pattern up a little bit, not too much. It probably needs to be blocked, or at least that is what I have been told...but I don't block. Hopefully I can get this sent out soon, before the weekend would be nice.

Rocking It

Since I haven't taken pictures of my progress on the Rocketry sweater, I will show you pics from the very beginning of the sweater:

Isn't it gorgeous? I just love the colors...I put them in a different order than the pattern called for and I changed a couple other things in the pattern. I was surprised that I was even able to somewhat follow the pattern. It is extremely cute and I get compliments from everyone that sees it. And check out my new(ish) harmony interchangeable needles. They are NICE.

Stuck

There is much going on in my head and not much going on with the needles.

The sweater in which I am designing is still ongoing....while I know the direction I am going in, the motivation to knit the sleeves has waned to the point of no knitting...or knitting two rows and stopping. There is a reason I like to knit the sleeves first and this is why...no knitting gets done when they are done last. This one included, my last sweater progressed the same way. The body went reasonably quick, even designing as I went...the sleeves took 7 months (most of that time the project slept in a basket, forgotten or purposely forgotten).

I have been contemplating spinning, a lot. Along with the purchase of several braids of roving recently there is a fiber fest next weekend. Although I can swear that I won't buy a lot of fiber...I know the chances of me buying more fiber than I need are really high (cause I don't really need any). I just finished spinning a yarn in which, while intended to put a lot of twist in, too much twist was put on the yarn. Not even a good soaking will relax it and I don't know what to do at this point. The color is lovely and right now it just seems a waste to let it sit there, all twisted up. Help?

Along with my thoughts of spinning....a whole lot of llama fiber is on my mind. While in college, a friend of mine who wanted to borrow a very expensive book and knew of my fiberish creations mentioned that his grandpa owned llamas....and that when they were sheared the fiber was bagged and.......thrown...in...the...barn. WHAT?!? Um, give me some, PLEASE!! So, he brought me three garbage bags full-one brown/black, one white, and one mixed in exchange for said expensive book. I held on to the bags for about two years (not knowing how long it had been in the barn and fearing for infestation). When I determined that there was no infestation I took the bags with me to the Fiber Event one year and dropped them off with Wooly Knob to be processed. It took over 15 months to get it back, but I finally did get it back last summer. Since then, the gorgeous wonderfully soft llama has been sitting in a box in my closet. The three distinct colors are so gorgeously natural and would be perfect alone or used for colorwork. The only problem? I must actually spin it first.

Humpff....the only problem with wanting to spin the llama is the Fiber Event next weekend. I want so badly to spin so many rovings and fibers that I currently have and I also want so badly to purchase more... The obsession with finishing things unfinished and spinning current fiber stash has put such a halt on my motivation to do anything at all. Sad, I know.

What's a girl to do? Housework. I really need to do some housework. When I get home from work this evening, I won't turn on the television, I won't bother opening the laptop. I am heading straight for my closet and sorting out clothes...starting a donation pile (which will be huge, FYI). I entertain the idea that I will wear this or that at some point and I know deep down that I never will...and well, it's time to just let go. My hobbies and thus hobby supplies are more important than that Bob Marley tee mom bought me on vacation which the image came off in the first washing (sorry mom!) and countless other articles of clothing that I will NEVER WEAR AGAIN.

Just talking about it makes me feel like I've accomplished something. When the house is in order, I may even knit or spin something.

-OH! Did I mention that I found a box of blank yarn for dying too? It's amazing the things you let slip your mind...ah, dying, I've missed you.

Performing Surgery

I love to design sweaters. There is absolutely nothing that gives that feeling of accomplishment like working on and finishing a sweater that you've designed yourself. The only problem with me is....I can't work from patterns. I never follow them. I have issues when it comes to reading directions and sometimes I feel a lot like Stephanie; like I want to shoot my foot off rather than keep making the mistakes I am making.

Okay, here is the deal. Normally, when I design a sweater, I pick up needles and yarn, and just knit. I knit what my heart desires. Sure, there MAY be a sketch but there usually isn't a write up. I have gotten a lot of requests for certain patterns of mine and since I find it so difficult to write up a pattern after I've knit a piece I decided to write up the pattern (charts, etc.) before hand. The only problem with this is I CANNOT FOLLOW A PATTERN. Even though it is MY pattern, I cannot seem to follow it. I tend to do my own thing, and the only problem with that is figuring out what the hell I did after I've done it. So, instead of trying to figure out what I've done, I've been doing a bit of surgery. First I wanted to change a design element, without ripping-accomplished! Then, last night I realized that I crossed a cable the wrong way (on all three cables) so I wanted to fix it without ripping (and this was like 8 rows down with other crossovers in the mix)-accomplished! Finally, after fixing the cables, I realized that I screwed up something else in the cables (I should have learned to read the pattern I wrote by now) so I fixed two of the six mistakes this morning and hope to finish the other four at lunch and finally be able to make some more progress.....AND learn to read the charts I've made.

Did I mention that I love designing sweaters?

Things

I have been sick for well over a week. Not sick, sick. Just sick. Sick of things for one, yes, just things. One thing I AM happy about, though, is that I got the yarn I ordered last week:

The color isn't really actual in either of these. I did the best I could. It's Madelinetosh Worsted in Olivia. I love it. Unfortunately, I cannot start knitting with it yet. I have yet to make much progress on my in-design-AND-knitting-phase sweater...having had to change some of the design elements without ripping. I did a reasonable job doing so, it just took me a week to actually want to do it. So, now I am back to the point where I can knit away. And at some point I am actually going to do that.

I missed knit night last night. I'm not too happy about it, but sometimes you just have to take care of things. Things for me would be my personal life that is hanging on by a very thin and breakable thread. I'm doing what I can.

There will also be a mystery project I am going to start working on either tonight or tomorrow. I'm excited and yet scared of starting this mystery project. It means knitting when it might all be pointless. Taking time, money, and effort when it could all be for not. But, I am going to do it, if for nothing else than, to save my sanity. It will be worked on in tough times. It will be worked on instead of having nights like last night. And I'm hoping it doesn't get knit as fast as it seems it would for all the reasons I have to actually knit it. I will hopefully be able to post some progress on it, and maybe a small picture or two.

Workin' it Out

I was sick all weekend. Not sick in the way most people would think this time of year when they hear the word "sick." Many times over the last five days I have wished that I had just gotten the flu. I think I would have rather been bed ridden, vomiting, and unable to eat than what I had. I had a sore throat. I had a throat that was so sore it was bleeding. I couldn't stand the thought of swallowing. And, NO, I did not have strep throat. It started on Friday night with that feeling in your throat when you KNOW something is coming your way. By late morning Saturday, I knew I was going to be laying on my couch in sweats for the rest of the weekend. It was terrible. I'm still not at 100%, but I'm getting close.

Saturday morning I went to a "craft day" hosted by a woman who works in my office. She, as well as most of her friends, are quilters. Last craft day (over the summer) hanging out with the quilters and being the only knitter, I bought a quilt kit and started sewing my first quilt. Shortly after piecing my quilt, my machine died. Having not bought a new machine or getting the old one fixed, I brought my quilt along to use someone's machine. I got all the quilting done, all I have left to do now is the binding. But that won't get sewn on until I find someone's machine to borrow. But currently the quilt looks like this:

My friend Jennie (knitter, pictured right) came with me on Saturday and worked on her Malabrigo sweater. Since it's been a while since I have designed and knit a sweater I told her I was going to do so. And I actually did it. Because I was couch ridden (hehe) I spent the whole afternoon Sunday working out a design and casting on for a new sweater. I'm pretty excited about this one. When I am finished writing up the pattern Jennie is going to test knit it for me.

I am Lost Without You

O Phone, Phone! wherefore art thou Phone?

I lost my cell phone. Lost. Gone. Never to be seen again. Unless the snow melts and I miraculously find it (doubtful). I got to work yesterday morning and didn't have it on me. I thought maybe I just left it at home so I didn't bother looking in the parking lot for it. When I got home and couldn't find it, I was kicking myself. I had people call it, I stood outside my house and listened, hoping I would hear it vibrate (yes, it was on vibrate), no chance! It's gone. I have to come to terms with that. I have lost all my personal phone numbers. Oh, did I mention this was a company phone? Yeah, not fun. So, the company is working on getting me a loaner phone until I can get me one of those new Blackberry's with DC that the boytoy was going to get me. I'm still hoping that he will get it for me...but I'm thinking I'm going to be getting it for myself.

Oh well; such is life. Things happen.

On a lighter note, there has been more knitting. I am coming along on Clappy and by the end of the evening I should be at least, if not more, half way done with her. A friend is coming over this evening to knit. I'm excited as this will be only the second time we will have met. She's sweet and I hope we form a solid friendship.

I've also been talking about designing another sweater. I have at least five or six sweater's worth of yarn in the stash (and I'm talking the good stuff). I am going to come up with a design and then choose which yarn to use.

Edited to add: I just got a replacement phone....but I have no personal contacts :(

On Cloud 9 (and other projects)

I finished this sweater back in October. I just never got pictures taken. These two pictures aren't very good and you can't really see the sweater all that great but at least I can prove to you that I did it. The yarn is Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade.


I also started on Clapotis (Clappy). I'm further now than I am in the picture. I'm using lace weight on size 4 needles. I'm going more for a scarf effect rather than a wrap. This is the yarn the Jennie gave me and it is beautiful.





I knit this scarf a long time ago. It's silk garden in two contrasting colors. 4 skeins to make this simple entrelac scarf. It's very warm. I just wanted to show it off.




I've also done a little bit of spinning. This is just 38 yards of a bulky weight yarn. 50% merino 50% baby llama. It's very soft and the llama gave it a nice halo. It was just an experiment. I am going to (eventually) spin enough yarn for a matching hat, scarf, and mitten set. Hopefully I will get a jump on that this weekend if I don't spend too much time with Clappy.

Hump Day

I just love this sweater, so I thought I'd just post a pic of it. I have been knitting recently. I have half a scarf done but I've run out of yarn. I knew that ultimately I would need another ball....but still haven't purchased it. I started another pair of mitts (I need to stock up on these. My family likes to give them away to various people that express their *likes* of them on the street, in a store, etc.) so I figured I would just knit up a stock. I might as well go purchase the yarn I need for the scarf while I'm thinking about it.

Pictures to Come When Rain Stops

ATTENTION!!

Yes, I finished it! As I stated in my last post, I ran out of yarn. After calling every store within a fifty mile radius I was still unable to locate a skein of which I needed very little yarn. I ended up ordering the yarn online Thursday afternoon and had yarn in mail box on Saturday. Unfortunately I wasn't home much on Saturday or Sunday, or Monday for that matter and didn't get to work on the sweater. However, last night I was able to complete the last row and bind off of my button band (yes, that's all I needed that skein for-one row and bind off, ridiculous!). I sewed on the buttons, tried it on and..........wore it to work today! However, upon wearing it for a few hours decided it definitely needed a collar of some sort. So, I am going to ask a few people's opinions on the subject, take pictures and ask my fellow knitters for their opinions and we will go from there. So with that said, I sure hope it stops raining while it is still light out today so that I can take pictures at some point.

When Life Kicks You in the Butt

I was talking about knitting the button band the other day...did I mention how I thought I may not have enough yarn to finish? Well, I was right. I only finished nearly one row after making the button holes and I ran out. 3/4's of the button band is done and I'm out of yarn...that means that I have to get another skein. Which means a trip up to Westfield (a reasonably far distance from my house) just for one skein of yarn....hopefully they have it. If not, that means ordering online....I swear this sweater is never going to get finished!

In the mean time, I believe I will start another sweater with some beautiful Briar Rose yarn I bought this past spring at the Greencastle Fiber Event. The Briar Rose's intended purpose was a sweater vest for my sweetie, and perhaps it may still become that....I haven't decided. If I do decide to still make the vest for my sweetie...then I have some wonderful lusciously green Toasty Toes purchased at Stitches Midwest last year that I will knit a sweater out of.

Pics to come soon of almost-finished-but-needing-more-yarn sweater and of the two possible-sweater yarns.

Soon it Will be Buttons Away...

So...this may be a bad close up, but you get the idea, right?
Well, I finished the sleeves and got them connect to the rest of the body. (The body that has been knit for nearly a year)....but it's FINALLY getting there and I'm pretty excited about it. It's all downhill from this point--but downhill in a good way. The next pic I show you of this sweater will be buttons away from finished.

Trying to Finish an Old UFO

Sleeve one done, sleeve two started.

It's getting there!

Here is the quilt. I just have to add the border, quilt it, and bind it. I have to say, it's going very well! I just love all the colors. The border fabric isn't straight black. it has blue and green swirls with brown under tones. The border was not part of the pattern, but I think it will draw the eye to the center of the quilt and it just makes the colors pop!
Is this not just the coolest quilt you've ever seen? Leslie is a wonderful woman whom I recently taught to knit and whom has helped me get started quilting. She made this for me! She knew my love of frogs....and you know what the coolest thing about this quilt is? The line of fabrics feature knitting "stitches"!! How cool is that? She is really a great friend!

Here are some fat quarters I bought when I was buying my border fabric. I spotted these a few weeks ago at The Back Door and have been thinking about them ever since. Purple and gold look so great together! This is going to be an awesome quilt as well!
Here is my new sewing box. This is sooo me. I just had to show it off. I bought some other stuff as well, but I haven't taken pictures yet.

There hasn't been an actually knitting, but there has been a lot of thinking about knitting. I am going to finish my Dream in Color sweater and start another sweater in a beautiful yarn from Briar Rose. We'll see pictures of those soon.

Sleeves

Normally I knit sleeves first...but I didn't. Here is the start of the sleeve, which unfortunately I started awhile ago, and haven't gotten very far.

Did you see those Darn Pretty needles? Well, then let me give you a closer look:

They should have been called Damn Beautiful needles...