woolythyme

Knitting monogamy....

Knitting monogamy is not all it's cracked up to be.  I know.  I know.  Last week MasonDixon showed great progress on the Shakerag Top and attributed it to the Principle of Project Fidelity.  I've used that Principle several times myself....usually in the 'race to the finish line' with some things that had pokey-ed so long in the UFO pile that the turtle could have lapped them a dozen times.

That Principle, actually, is probably the main reason this space has been so empty lately.  Blame it on Rill.

Just how many photos of a green lace weight scarf are you going to flip through?  It's like watching paint dry.  Even more challenging...how much can I say about a green lace weight scarf that grows ten rows for every 20 knit (LOTS of short-rowing, remember?!?)

Besides needing more blog-fodder, I really needed to be able to show myself some knitting progress.  Just one night away from Rill might restore some enthusiasm.  might.

One night's work....and half a sock!  (Granted, it's a shorty sock, but still......) One more evening should move it to the finished line!  The fact that 'it' needs to become 'them' is not going to be discussed now.

Knitting monogamy in this household?  

I think not.

 

 

spring knitting....

It's spring...isn't it?  Snow is predicted tonight, but I'm sure they don't really mean it.  I put away all my wintery winter clothes...got out what passed for transitional spring clothes last year, and pretty much wonder what I really wore, since everything looks blah this year.  

So I grabbed the knitting needles.

Meet Aibrean by Isabell Kraemer.  I've yet to meet a pattern of hers that I didn't love.   Of course, I would rather be knitting it in a lovely silvery grey, but the stash only had purple. It IS linen, though, so I'm pretending I love purple as much as I would have loved grey.  And who am I kidding?

By the time I finish knitting this....the temps will be nearing the 90s and it really won't matter what colour it is!

snowy, icy, snuggly kind of week...

 

We got snow.  And ice. And COLD.

And it totally 'counted'.  (If no sign of grass is visible...it counts as a real snowfall.)  We measured about 8" in the end.  Temps dipped into the single digits. It totally 'counted'. 

Everything shut up and closed down all over town.  Schools were closed all week, including the community college where I do what hubby tongue-in-cheek refers to as my 'post-graduate work in photography'. 

Did you know that bubbles freeze in single digit temps?

(Bubble-soaked wet fingers also freeze in single digit temps.  The tutorial failed to mention that.)

 

I need a good snowfall every once in a while.  A little 'Buffalo, NY' lingers in my soul, I guess.  And you really must be quick in enjoying it when it comes, because....

it's going to be in the 60s today....   

 and we're in the midst of a massive meltdown.

 

Of course, there was also knitting.

Antarktis is finished.  (Antarktis, why are you blurry?  I'm not giving you a retake, sorry.)

A little lace, a lot of garter stitch.  It also left a nice little ball of leftovers to be added to the mitered square blanket, which was the reason it got knit in the first place.  Win-win.  And another win.  It will go in the gifts-to-be-gifted pile.  For once, I'm ahead of the curve in that category.

And shortly after that...off popped...

Liten-kofta, a cute little pattern I found stuck in a pile of what I thought were 'things-I-want-to-knit'.  I knit it.  Turns out, it was in the 'things-I've-already-knit-and-need-to-refile-the-pattern' pile.  Actually, more specifically....according to Ravelry, it was in the 'things-I-started-but-didn't-like-and-frogged' pile.  It apparently wasn't working well in lovely, luscious madelinetosh....but turned out quite nicely in yucky 100% baby yarn acrylic (which obviously is a much more practical fiber for a baby knit).  Another win-win knit.  A little sweater for the 'to-be-gifted' stash....and an acrylic elimination from the stash.  

That lovely, luscious madelinetosh?  Yep.  You guessed it.

It's now the Antarktis.  

I love when things work out.

never say never....

Hello, mitered square blanket #4.  

You know, you weren't supposed to exist.  I swore off fingering-weight blankets after mitered-square blanket #3.  Actually, truth be told, I was done with them after #2....at which point, I divided up ALL the small balls left over and sent them (literally) around the world.

What is it about fingering weight yarn?  I LOVE IT!  Socks.  Shawls.  Sweaters.  And, yes.  Blankets.  But, because, I've divested myself of leftovers---several times over---this blanket really WILL be a lifelong project.  I think it might have been blanket #2 that was the recipient of a Ravelry friend's box of leftovers. (Hi, Lisa!!!)  I literally started hyperventilating when that treasure arrived!!!  Blanket #2 flew off the needles.  There really IS something to having a new colour to look forward to with each square.

But, THIS blanket is down to MY leftovers.  Mainly, superwash sock (which shows how old it is because I'm trying harder to be more environmentally correct, and superwash doesn't fit that category). Every once in a while, I'd like to add a new colour....so.....I HAVE to knit something from the stash, right?  So I can add to the scrap pile, right?

I started Antarktis last night.  (According to Rav...it's my second one, but I have no recollection whatsoever of having knit this before!!!!)...

It'll be a while before teal appears in the blanket.

 

In rummaging around to find a couple new colours...look what I found!

Cascade Vest.  I might run out of black before this is done.  Can't afford to sneak in a square or two.  I'm seriously cutting this project close.

I know.  They look alike.  They aren't.  This is Santa Fe Wrap. 

It will certainly run out of yarn, but after I reorder, I might (might) have some leftovers.

BUT THEN.....I discovered THIS!!!

 

IT'S!A!HUGE!BAG!FULL!OF!PALETTE!...that would work well with my even bigger HUGE!BAG!OF!SPINDRIFT!LEFTOVERS!!!!!

All wool.  Check.  All single colour (no variegated).  Check!  Who cares if the spindrift is slightly heavier than the palette?  How do I know this?

Hello, mitered square blanket #5.

choosing the next project.....

Mitten Garland Advent Calendar...mitten #1.  

It all started with what was to be a major 'pattern purge'.  You know, toss all the duplicates, the printed patterns that are also in my Ravelry library, the patterns that fall in the 'what-was-I-thinking-when-I-bought-that' category.  Two entire shelves of my cupboard are taken up with patterns (and that doesn't include pattern BOOKS).  That's prime real estate in my world.

My first mistake was starting with the 'Christmas' folder.  Yep.  Oh!  Look!  A squirrel!!!  and I'm off and running. 'Purging project' is discarded...and I'm stash-diving....looking for red and white fingering weight yarn.  Red is a rather 'rare' colour in this household....white, not so rare, but one that gets used up quickly.  It took me almost as much time to locate some yarn as it would most likely take to knit this little mitt.  

I found a teeny bit of red.  This is a teeny project.  Check.  I never did find any fingering weight white/ivory...but came up with what looks like maybe a teeny ball of light dk or sport.  Close enough.

It's lumpy and bumpy with the different weights of yarn, but still pretty cute.  The thumb was very fiddly....I hate fiddly, but it was only a few rounds and you can stick out a few rounds of most anything, right?

The problem....this cute, tiny little mitten is #1 of the ADVENT series.  23 more mittens to go?

I don't think so.

I'm out of yarn.

 

Next project?

I think I'll go purge some more patterns.

sweetgrass.....

This book is quickly becoming my favorite summer read.  Robin Wall Kimmerer is, according to her bio blip on the back cover, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, a scientist, mother, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, and an award winning author.  What it doesn't tell us is she is also a lyrical poet.  A reverent Nature Lover.  A keeper of traditions.  A relationship builder.  An extraordinary storyteller.

Elizabeth Gilbert has called it 'A hymn of love to the world'.....something our world could use a little more of

A beautiful book (thank you, Jane, for recommending it to me!)

And, yes.  

I chose my *project yarn by the book cover.

 

 

* Hermione sock pattern.  Tosh Sock in the Mansfield Garden Party colorway. 

this is why i save scraps of yarn....

Years ago I grabbed bits and pieces and itty balls of random, mismatched sock yarn (which for some strange reason I CANNOT THROW AWAY) and made fraternal-twin socks.  Since there are m-a-n-y bits and pieces and itty balls of sock yarn around here, I was planning on having a whole drawer full of these.  

I have one pair.

BUT...if you wait long enough...someone will come up with another, sometimes better idea. (Since I am the copycat queen, you can be assured that it won't be me.)

And, along came...Pixel Rise socks.

Unlike fair isle---where you need a 'plan', you can pretty much use any yarn and get something that isn't too ugly.

The pattern is written for toe-up socks with an afterthought heel; you can tell I'm ignoring the toe-up part; the afterthought heel?  I'll make that call when I get there.  But the patterning is a great way to use up yarn that most organized people would have trashed after their original project was complete.  

I actually think they're pretty cute.

Freddy thinks so, too.  

(eep!...to think he almost missed this photo shoot!)


 

 

better than winning the lottery....

What did I ever do to deserve a friend like this?  

 

This friend has been on a purging binge.  I know how those go.  I've been on those myself---many times.  If you ever think you are done downsizing/cleaning out/throwing out/reorganizing, think again.  And remember.....Priorities Change!   I should know.   Many (many many many) years ago, I actually decided that I was done with knitting (I now shutter at how silly that thought was---but I did give up knitting for several years.)  Her mom became the recipient of not only all my 'good' yarn, but all my needles and books and magazines.  (I made a clean sweep.  I really thought I was done!  Can you imagine?)

I remember how good it felt...finding a loving home for things that didn't work in my world.  Now, my friend has much more sense than I had back in those days; she has no intention of giving up her knitting.  But, she does have the incredible fortitude to let go of things she is sure she will no longer use.

Oh!!!  Lucky lucky lucky me.  10 skeins of Euroflax!!!  20 balls of Ecco!!!  (And just look at that gorgeous sable brown, which might be my favorite colour if grey didn't exist.) The piece de resistance.....assorted balls of spindrift, my most favorite yarn in the whole world.  My favorite yarn in the entire universe.  And. in. all. my. favorite. colours. of grey!!!! and brown with a pretty pink thrown in the mix.  

It's fun just dreaming about all the things these beauties could be someday.  I've told her I am happy to be the guardian and keep them safe and sound; should she change her mind before they take on a different shape, they are hers to have back.  Because, with all the purging, and tossing, and minimalizing I've been doing and have done....I have never--nor will I EVER--touch the 'stash closet' again.

I learned my lesson.

I might need it....

I've been in one of those rearranging, purging, cleaning, simplifying kinds of moods.  I've been doing pretty good until I got in the knitting room.  Here rests the bowl with sock yarn leftovers.  I think there is another sock blanket started in there someplace, but honestly---who needs four of them?  So, while trying to decide if this bowl was going to get put up, tossed out, culled, or ignored, I grabbed some needles.

 

 That's a pineapple.

Does it look more like a pineapple now?  I've wanted to make this little thing for years.  I have no idea why.  Well, yes I do.  It's stinkin' cute.  It's also totally useless.  It's just the kind of thing I'm actually purging from my house and my life.  (Just not right now.)

20 minutes wasn't long enough to decide what to do with the rest of the yarn.  

 

Maybe I'll make a hat.

Did it use any yarn at all???  ???????!!!!!

 

Why is it, I can get rid of two dozen glasses, a linen closet full of sheets and towels, lamps, bags of clothes......

 

and I can't let loose of a partial skein of yarn--or two or ten?

 

I might need it.!!!!!

 

scrappy mitered granny....

Except for tucking in a few a whole lot of ends, which may or may not GET tucked in, the worsted mitered blanket is finished.  It ended up being a large lap size...11 x 14 mitered squares.  (Each mitered square started out with 31 stitches.)  This truly is a scrappy blanket...I grabbed partial balls and skeins from leftovers of previous projects...there were a couple whole skeins from a sweater kit that lost the love before I had a chance to make it.  If I thought a colour looked like it might even remotely 'go' with the others, it was added.  Of course, the PURPOSE of this blanket was to use up those odd balls, not to be beautiful.  BUT....

the blanket was nearing completion, and it was quite obvious to all involved (that would be me and Freddy, who was certain there simply HAD to be at least one ball band he had overlooked) that in the use-up-the-yarn department, I was failing badly.  I had quite a few happy-dance moments, though, when I totally used up a mini ball of yarn.  I was slowly making progress, but had many more miters to go to make a serious dent in the pile.  I could continue to add squares and end up with something so big and so heavy that it wouldn't be real useful, OR....I could try something.

I'm not a crocheter (although I've crocheted grannies for several blankets--and this and this and this one oh, yeah, this one---this one, and Freddy's favorite...maybe I AM sort of a crocheter).  I've crocheted enough, anyway, to know that crocheting uses wayyyyy more yarn than knitting does.  Perfect. I'll crochet a border of Granny squares.  And then, crochet a border around the whole thing. That should do the trick.  

 

So much for that bright idea.

 

(No, I don't want matchy-matchy pillows. No, I don't want to add another round of grannies.  I'm really done with this project. Maybe a couple of random/stripey seamen's scarves for the Christmas at Sea charity???  Maybe.  Not now.  Later. I'm really done with this yarn.  DONE. Fini. It's a wrap.  Over.  Ended.  Get it???)