woolythyme

this time i mean it.....

New Year..almost..and same old resolution, which in the past has been little more than a suggestion.  This time I mean it.  Really.  It's time to knit down the stash and let's finish up a few UFOs while we're at it.  Reminder to self:  this means you cannot ADD to the stash while reducing it.

 

Since this actually was last years resolution, I suppose it's OK to show my 'now' progress towards 2020.  

First up is Malabrigo Hand Thingies, a free pattern on Ravelry.  This falls in the 'UFO' category; I bought a skein of Kureyon for this while on a trip to Maine in October.  I bought one skein and the pattern takes TWO skeins.  The shop keeper wasn't feeling well that day, and even though she knew I was going to make THIS pattern...of course, there was a shop model...she only sold me one when clearly that wasn't going to cut it.  I could have double checked...and didn't.  I'm a big girl knitter.  I know better.  So, one mitt has been sitting in limbo since I got home because, naturally, there was nothing in the stash that could come close.  I ordered.  The yarn came.  And now I have the first Christmas gift to go in the Gift Stash for 2020.  I'd say this is sort of a win-win-done.  (The El Salvador bird is setting there to prove that all these colours go together.)

 

 

Next...a pair of My Cup of Tea socks using some Hauteknit Pampered Sock Fingering Weight yarn bought at a Great Yarn in Chatham, MA in 2016.  Not deep stash, but it's lingered there long enough.  The yarn is lovely, but what was I thinking when I bought this colour?  This will be a big check-off-the-list when done because I don't like it.  

 

 

And last (that I'm going to show you today. Really?  You think this is all I have on the needles??  HA! You Dreamer You)  is Winter on my Mind by Melanie Berg, who we all know is brilliant!  The orange just got added to the stash last week BUT!!!! the grey has been in deep stash for years...and years...and years....and has made several beautiful shawls.  There was one lonely skein left over.  Sometimes you have to buy something to use up something else.  

That makes perfectly good sense, right?

 

What are YOUR knitting resolutions this year?

souvenir yarn...

Artfiber:  Tsuki turquoise #10

bought in 2011 on a trip to San Francisco....at Artfiber 

cast on immediately (of course) and knit 2"

 

Fast forward....2019.  Look what I found.  Tsuki is a mohair/silk blend which combines for the lushest, softest, loveliest fiber ever.  This drop stitch wrap is a classic.  I wish I knew why it's been in limbo for 8 years.  

 

The pattern (written for this yarn) calls for 66" before bind off.  I've now knit 10".  I guess if I was a betting person, I'd bet this will once again find itself in time-out before the last 56" are knit.

I sure hope not.  

 

 

* * * * * * * * * *  

Have you caught the drift of the current knitting madness?  I'm desperately trying to finish UFOs and remove bags that are taking up valuable real estate in a cupboard.  The Kauni vest was a success.  Done.  The square baby blanket is finished using cotton that almost made it to the church yard sale. Success.  The no-show socks got frogged, but freed up my #0 dp needles and sprung one of my favorite project bags back in the  bag rotation, so I'm also calling this a success. A pair of mystery kal socks...done, and gifted in time for DIL's birthday.  'Take me to Spain' got frogged...another successful bag recoup as well as some favorite Addi lace needles back in circulation. I feel I'm actually starting to win this battle!

56" more inches to go, and then.....hold on to your hat.  ONE UFO left (in the cupboard).

I can do it!

let's talk stash....and ufos....and 52 pickup

I woke this morning to this view out my window.

For most people this is considered a dusting of snow and life goes on. (Note: clear streets and ice-free sidewalks.) But in my world (western KY),  my photography class got cancelled ...not only leaving me with a totally free morning, but a free morning when hubby is elsewhere.  You'll see why that's important in a minute.

I decided to do a little rearranging.  While I dream of being a minimalist and living a stuff-free life, that simply isn't ever going to happen.  But in spite of having WAYYYY too much stuff, I abhor clutter, so I must spend lots and lots and lots of time organizing the 'stuff'.  While I try to keep on top of it....my 'stuff' seems to migrate.  Let's face it....some of my Stuff has taken on its own persona.

Photography Stuff has grown....and started invading Knitting Stuff's domain.  Truth be told, Knitting Stuff ran out of space in its closet a couple years ago and took over the bottom of a cupboard in the room that Photography-Stuff now lays claim to.  They've been bickering for months....each blaming the other when some of their stuff is MIA. 

Today was the day to fix this.

I emptied the bottom of Photography-Stuff's cupboard.  It was storing just about all of Knitting-Stuff's vast collection of patterns and books, a couple of nearly finished projects, and some other junk that I couldn't stand to look at and smushed in there. 

Next, I emptied Knitting-Stuff's closet.  This was actually a big deal because not only does it hold all of Knitting's stash (minus bulky weight yarn that lives in a suitcase), but it also has an amazing collection of project bags, books that didn't fit in that cupboard, ALL MY UFOs!!!  some cute knitting tchatchkes that I apparently love but don't want to look at all the time, and three finished sweaters that are awaiting a trip to the frog pond.

All this came out of three little cubbies.  (There are 30 cubbies in the closet.)  Use your imagination.....soon every inch of the floor was covered with yarn and baskets; I was sorting it all by weight.  (Now, do you understand why this kind of project is best done while hubby is out of the house?)

Freddy was in heaven, by the way.  Do you have any idea how many stray ball bands we found?!?

Hours later....all the books fit, yarn is back in by weight.  Knitting Stuff couldn't be happier. 

 

OK.  So....none of the UFOs made it back in, but they are either going to become FOs or get frogged.  A concession Knitting-Stuff and I were willing to make.

Photography-Stuff is NOT happy....

They got jammed into half of her cupboard.

 

if you see my knitting mojo would you please send him home?

Back in the 'good ole days' of early 'retirement' I'd get up, gobble some oatmeal, and settle in my 'knitting' chair with a good book and my latest project.  Sometimes I'd be listening to that book....sometimes with an easy, mindless project, I'd be reading that book.  And that was my day.  I'm not kidding.  8? 9? 10 hours of blissful knitting and reading ....occasionally even more.  

My friends would see something new---like a lace weight shawl or an afghan....and say....oh, did you whip that out yesterday?  Well, almost, although I probably had a good 120+ hours of work in it.  Socks?  A pair easily in two days.  The hours?  A LOT!  You know how it is when you see the 'finish line' of a project looming.  I was probably kitchnering at 3 am.  

I haven't seen a good marathon knitting day in months.  I haven't wanted to see a good marathon knitting day in months.  I thought my knitting mojo was just taking a little break; after all, that happens to us all, right?  Mine, though, I think has permanently moved out of town.  

This little project was supposed to lure it back.  Fun.  Fair isle.  Portable.  Pretty. 

I knit three rounds the last two days.

 

I've been out and about looking.  Mojo, where are you?

I guess I've been looking in the wrong places.

 

a knitter's spring cleaning...

First up, is this cowl that has spent much too long in an unfinished state.  It's actually not really finished now, but it's done.  By that, I mean...I decided it was time to end this project.  First of all, it is very, very wide....and it's knit in the round, which mean that you have a double layer of wooliness going around your neck.  To make it a reasonable width, I have to fold it in half.  So...that's like having 4 layers of wooly wool going around your neck once.  Had I continued to the stated length in the pattern, not only would I have been knitting sometime into the next millennium, but this lovely monster could easily have wrapped my neck at least 3 times...doubled over, that would have been an even dozen layers thick?!?  Unreasonable.  It's done.

Rill is also finished.  It had been hanging out almost as long as the cowl in a partial state of un-doneness.  Now it's done.  Thank you German short-rows.  I love you.

One short sock is finished. I apparently put it in a good safe place, because I couldn't find it for a photo op.

A couple more hexagons are off the needle.  I've 'stored' the finished ones in a basket on a really high shelf.  I toss finished ones up into it (my version of knitting basketball) and I'm such a lazy-butt it's been probably close to a year since I've counted how many I've done.  I still have worsted weight yarn left, so I guess I'm not done yet.  And here's a mystery for you..... how have I accumulate so many odd skeins of WORSTED weight yarn----and in colours, yet!!----when I really only knit with grey fingering or lace weight yarn? 

Speaking of which...

I needed a mindless project, and I really hadn't started anything in quite a while (which may account for my recent knitting malaise), so I started this Polka Dot scarf by Churchmouse Yarns.

I'm a sucker for polka dots...of any kind.  These are big holes, which will need a nice blocking before they show up well.  This is EASY...mindless...and lovely.  I hesitated actually buying this pattern...how hard is it to make holes in knitted fabric?  But like all Churchmouse patterns, the attentions are in the details, and the details in this one  will make it a very classy, very well finished scarf.  The yarn was in the stash.

And it's grey. 

And it's lace weight. 

What's not to love?
 

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.

 

 

Rill...and rill again

Aibrean is finished.  It still needs a vigorous washing and an aggressive blocking to soften the linen, but I think it will be fine.  Do you see the three sleeves? No? Good.  I knit three.  The first was way too wide, so I aggressively narrowed the next two, and they seem fine. 

Aggressive?  Fine? 

I like this sweater, but it will probably not ever be my favorite.  My 'style' (and I do use that word lightly, because I am probably the most unstylish person you will ever meet) is looser and boxier; this sweater is not that.  It's more traditional.  Fine for summer.  See? Fine.  If I manage an overly aggressive blocking...I might elevate it to pretty fine.  We'll see.

Aibrean had been languishing in the UFO pile since last July.  It felt so great to click the finished button in Ravelry, that I thought I'd dip into that same UFO pile for something else.  

Hello, Rill.  It's been in the pile since....July 2016.  This is a second go round with Rill.  Here is the first version...

which I have loved, and not just because it's grey.  This one took over two years from start to finish.  I remember tangled lace weight yarn and maddening short rows.  Once the tangled yarn was sorted out...and I discovered German short rows, it pretty much flew off the needles.  

Another knitting love must have dropped into my world, because this one had neither the massive mess of yarn nor the German short row learning curve to overcome.  Of course, it's not grey.

Question.  How did you learn to do short rows?  w&t?  Me, too.  If you've never done German short rows, please do yourself a favor and give it a try.  My favorite tutorial is here.  Totally changed my short-row life.  They are almost invisible after blocking and so intuitively easy.  Unless a new shiny thing comes into my magpie knitting life...this might actually be done sometime THIS year.

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!

a monday moment....or two

A long lost friend.  Rusty by Steinunn Birna Gudjonsdottir has been shuffled around in the 'yarn closet' for what seems like years (but since I failed to input a start date in Ravelry, I guess we'll never know how many).  Oh, wait!!! 

rummage--rummage--rummage--FOUND IT!!

 

The invoice from Tolt Yarn and Wool was still in the project bag.  April 2, 2016.  Not so long ago after all.  I'm sure the minute the yarn arrived, I dove into this.  I really, really wanted to make this sweater.  I wonder what happened?

It uses Lopi Plotulopi, an unspun worsted wooly wool that comes in 'plates' (see the grey plate above?) You c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y wind the plate into a ball and then even more C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y begin knitting.  I feel I have a real advantage using this yarn because I'm an extremely loose knitter.  Tight knitters....I think you're toast.  

This yarn breaks if you simply look at it funny.  Tug on it and it seems to dissolve in your hands. I've never used anything quite so fragile. 

In spite of the yarn being worsted, wooly wooly wooly, and finicky, the pieces I've knit are wonderfully light and airy. Because of the long fibers, this yarn is supposed to wear like iron, while remaining soft and making an extremely warm garment. Fingers crossed. 

I haven't exactly been knitting up a storm these days, but I have given this sweater two full days of my attention.  That's a record around here lately. 

I have a deadline. November 28th.

 

Because that's the day I leave for ICELAND!!!!!

and this Icelandic wool sweater is coming with me.

a big garter stitch hug.....

I really love garter stitch.  So much, that I actually loved making this blanket, in spite of the fact that it was bulky yarn (a lot of it) on BIG needles (yuck), using acrylic yarn (BLECH).  I should have hated this whole project....but, I love the mindlessness of the stitch. And the squishiness of the finished product can't be beat.  This is one BIG cuddly hug.  

Here's the 'recipe'.

8 skeins of ivory Lion Brand Thick and Quick 

5 skeins of CC--grey, ivory, beige mottled Lion Brand Thick and Quick.

  

CO 100 stitches on a size 15. 

Knit 3 skeins of ivory. 

Knit 2 skeins CC.

Knit 1 skein ivory.

Knit 1 skein CC 

Knit 1 skein ivory.

Knit 2 skeins CC

Knit 3 skeins ivory.

Bind off.  And cuddle up.

And I had exactly -0- yarn left over. 

So, now what?

Snowfling...that got flung in the UFO pile last year....was dragged out and the thumbs are now on.  This is a lined mitten, so they are still waiting for me to get excited about knitting a lining.  Not sure when that's going to happen.

Stay tuned.

Meanwhile...look who is on Santa-watch!