Smoke

I'm learning all kinds of new things living out west...like there's fire season and it comes with some amazing sunsets.

And smoke that makes it really hard to breathe and apparently irritates my sinuses and eyes something terrible.  Hopefully my eyes won't look like they did yesterday.  That was really bad.

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I worked the 9:30-6 shift today.  It was hot.  And smoky this afternoon.  We had to close the warehouse bay doors to keep the smoke out.  It got hotter in there without any air moving.

I was tired at the end of it.  I'm so glad I cooked soup yesterday because dinner tonight was super easy and tasty...and now I'm done and can finally go shower this stinky self.

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But before I go I want to share my shop sample that I'm working on.  It's the St. Stephen's Hat by Classic Elite Yarns and is knit in Fresco.  If you buy the pattern and the 5 colors needed to do the colorwork hat you can actually get 4 hats out of all that yarn!  I'm going to do both the stripe one (that's what's on the needles right now) and the colorwork one and then see if I'm interested in continuing to do two more.  Could be good give-aways or Christmas gifts or something.

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and finally, if you want to go look at the awesome people that I work with, please do!  I'm so proud to be part of this team (and tomorrow, they're putting me on the phones...)

Happenings

Things are happening all the time...sometimes we like it, sometimes we don't.  Sometimes we notice it and sometimes we're completely oblivious.

Sometimes we love it and sometimes we're super-sad.

And sometimes there are things that we have no control over and sitting back and watching things unfold is the only thing we can do.

I'm in the latter position and it's one that I hate.  Being helpless to your fate...it's frustrating and sad and unbelievably stressful.

My response when I get in a situation like this is to want to run and hide...or to play as much as I possibly can.  Unfortunately David is still on his 3 weeks of traveling, so running and hiding has pretty much been my mode...sorry for the absence from the blog.  It if makes you feel any better I also had to take 2 days off of work, and I'm sorry to report that they didn't do much to improve my outlook.

However, they did a TON to improve my knitting production.  Finished projects and new ones started...and an old craft revisited and totally loving it.

Welted Toque Hat in Dragonfly Fibers's Damsel Yarn, colorway Love Your Mother (Earth)

Elm Socks in Lorna Lace's Solemate, colorway Circus

Sampler afghan of my own design using mini skeins and leftover sock yarn

3S Shawl in Vesper Sock Yarn, colorway Woodlands.

A needlepoint canvas revisited with sleeping cat behind.

Friday Night and Saturday

I laid low this weekend to get better. So I knitted to mybheart's content, got to bed early, slept late...and I do feel better this Sunday morning. Progress on the shawl was phenomenal...the socks got ripped out and a new pair started. After finishing the shawl I knew I needed to do something else with the yarn that was left other than putting it into a scrap blanket, so I started a hat. Happy days!

I'm hoping for a modeled shot with the shawl since David will be home today!

SO, what did you do over spring break?

If you had one?  I love having spring break.  I really truly needed it in more ways than one even if it wasn't perfect like I'd hoped.  I DID get lots of rest and some serious knitting time.  I got sick so couldn't go visit my dad--a stomach virus has no place NEAR a hospice room.  So, we stayed home, felt a little sorry for ourselves while we were feeling awful, and then got some much needed rest.

And while feeling sick and resting I knitted.  A lot.  Here's what I finished:

A pair of turkish bed socks for Elizabeth.

A hat for my friend Stacey.

A pair of Stepping Stones Socks (Knitter's Book of Socks, yarn Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Sock Club yarn September 2013 color Winter Jewel)

AND...a sock yarn blanket!

Tomorrow I'll show you what I started!

I can hardly believe it

...but the Dragonfly Cowl (January yarn club) is finished!  Isn't it gorgeous!?!?

There are so many things I love about this cowl.  The colors are so pretty.  The yarn is sumptuous.  The pattern is complex (I love that now that it's finished).

As I've said earlier, I really enjoy some things about color work.  The finished product is something to behold and makes me very proud.  I love the look, too. It's beautiful and people are impressed with your hard work and concentration.  (let's be honest...part of why we knit it to impress people! :) )

All the love in the world for this cowl, however, will not ever encourage me to do another like it.  It is gorgeous...it is beautiful...I'm very proud of the finished result, but I seriously almost quit about 1/2 way through because I was so frustrated with the making of it.

I've been trying to think of why so that I don't make the same mistake of trying a pattern that I'm going to hate before long.  And to be honest, I think it was the interruption of the scales pattern to make the dragon flies...and of course, when the dragon flies were half finished I couldn't just make scales all the way across.  In the end it felt like a Herculean effort to get me through the pattern.

It definitely takes a special person to dive into this kind of colorwork.  I don't think I'm that kind of special.

All that said, I was actually looking at colorwork hats and thinking about whether I wanted to do another.  They are so warm...they look awesome on...

And then I smacked that little bit of insanity back in its place and told myself to CONCENTRATE on the lace hat I was making a mess of right then and there.  I really do fear that hat is about to be frogged to become a plain old vanilla pair of socks...I want the hat...it's super cute...but I'm really not enjoying the knitting of it.

But I've completed 20 rows of seed stitch over 162 stitches so that I could have that jaunty little bow over my ear...the question then becomes...do I think I can put in a life line after the fact and save the bow and just do a plain old hat???  It's something to think about.  (but then, the yarn is so dark...)   Because that's some gorgeous yarn right there and will be so pretty on my head with that cute little bow over my ear!  Maybe I should just plug on with the lace pattern...definitely worth trying out a few more rows, don't you think?

Yarn is from the Rockin' Sock Club September 2013.  I'm not using either pattern as I didn't like knitting the socks and the hat that was the pattern just isn't my thing.

Birthday Boy

Today is David's birthday...the 12 days of listening to him tease me for being older than he is are over.

This is the hat I made him.  It's made using Zauberball Crazy and is just a plain-old-hat pattern. I made it generously sized so he can pull it over his ears for walking to work.  I think he looks quite adorable in his hat.

He also looks like a little kid!  I'm not sure how we're getting younger by the year rather than older, but I'll take it!

Hats and Cowls

Back when I was using my Nifty Knitter and making hats that were just "ok" but functional and definitely keeping me from going bonkers on the road, I had the idea that a hat without a top was actually a great neckwarmer.  (This was before I really understood or knew about the fashionable accessory called a cowl.)  So, I proceeded to make one that would NOT go over my head.  Turns out that the bind off on a Nifty Knitter is really tight, and the resulting edge has zero stretch.

But, still I knew it was a great idea.

Flash forward to my current prowess with knitting. I love making hats, and I prefer wearing cowls.  And considering that I hate knitting scarves, this is actually not a bad thing.  I like my cowls to fit close to my neck rather than be super-loose.  I'm just not the kind of girl who is going to dress with lots of fluff or items of clothing that will get in the way of doing things.  That said, a cowl, or more appropriately a neckwarmer, is just the thing for me.  It keeps my neck warm when I'm freezing outside, doesn't get caught up in the zipper of my coat, and provide a stylish accessory to go with and potentially match perfectly a hat.

Enter the Spin Cycle Set:

I made this hat the day after Daddy's surgery a couple of weeks ago.  I think he liked watching me knit on it and asked me about my progress every time I came up to visit him.  I finished it that night, and wore it up to show him.  Then the next day I cast on to make a cowl out of the same yarn.  I knit it almost exactly like the hat, having a shorter ribbing on either edge and making it about 5" wide.  The set looks great, is just the right color...and for now was the perfect knit.  It is easy to do (only 2 rows of pattern until the decreasing at which point you have to pay a little more attention).  Mary over at Hugs did a great job on this pattern and suggested just the right yarn for it (I used Noro Iro which is a nice chunky weight wool, silk and angora blend in the amazing Noro color changes).  Noro never disappoints me, but when it's used with the right project (such as a simple stitch like this hat and cowl) it positively sings.

Which makes me happy on this Tuesday morning before a real, serious cold front.  I'll let you know how warm it is tomorrow.

Zee Monster and a Hat

I did a lot of knitting this weekend.  It was so nice to put on pjs on Friday afternoon and keep them on (changing of course each day) until this morning.  I think having pjs on really helps in the whole stress-reduction resting part of the weekend.

It was nice watching football on Saturday too.  I love football.  I really enjoy watching the Aggies, of course, but I do enjoy watching other games.  I like seeing the athletic prowess and amazing things the guys can do.  Plus it's really fun when teams you don't like lose.

Because I don't have any major deadlines coming up (except Christmas, but I'm planning ahead now and I really don't consider that a deadline as much as a suggestion), I've been flitting between projects trying to find the one that interests me.  I'm still plugging away on the Noro blanket.  I'm getting at least one "log" completed per day.  TGWE #7 is also going well.  I love the Koigu KPPPM yarn I'm using.  It's very soft and springy.  The colors are gorgeous.  It wasn't the best choice for this pattern as I figured out too late (wasn't going to buy MORE since it was experiencing new yarn that was the purpose behind this particular experience), but they are really pretty anyway.  I find I really like the pattern.  I'm in the gusset decrease section and should have the second sock finished by this weekend.  Very excited.

I finished this hat:

It's knitted out of handspun yarn that has, in addition to all the fun daisies throughout, bits of lace and fabric as well.  It slightly variegates from bright aqua to white.  The pattern is a "super simple hat pattern" which is really just a ribbed brim and a stockinette body.  Nothing fancy for this fancy yarn.  I am totally ready for the first cold snap.

I also finished Zee Monster.

She's "Gabby" from Rebecca Danger's "Big Book of Knitted Monsters" and she's about as precious as she can be.  If you've been following me for a couple of years, you may recognize this yarn as the yarn I used to make my very first knitted project.  That was a super-simple hat pattern as well...and ended up being too big, so I frogged it and made this little calico monster.  She's sitting on the credenza above my desk right now and will greet my visitors when they come in.  I love Zee...She has lots of personality from the tuft at the top of her head to her pink eyes and blue belly button.  Fun fun.

So, in the spirit of "doing what I want to" this weekend, I started another monster.  I have no plans for this one.  It'll be about 6" high in the body so if someone wants a medium sized monster, holler.  It can be yours (it's made out of red yarn...if you want it for a little critter, tell me soon so I can avoid the button eyes and belly button).

The proper fit of a hat

I finished a hat over the weekend. I love the hat and my idea of doing it in self-striping yarn rather than using different colors for each stripe.  I'm not a picky knitter, so the fact that the stripes begin in different places doesn't bother me.  What's important is that each of the purl bumps are a different color.  And wow do they look great.

But I need to talk about proper fit of a hat.  This one is pretty neat in that you knit the brim side to side, graft it together, then pick up around the top edge and start knitting the body of the hat.  I like that because I could ensure that the hat would fit exactly right even though I'd substituted yarn.

I suspected that the yarn was slightly smaller than that suggested for the pattern, but my rows for the brim matched the rows for the pattern, and then once I'd picked up around the brim I had the same number of stitches.  The pattern calls for 3 repeats of the stripe pattern before starting to decrease for the crown...however...I did 5 because my head is bigger than the usual woman's head and because I didn't want this to look like a skull cap.

I probably should have done 7 repeats.  It still looks fine when I'm wearing it and it covers my ears (just barely) and when this hat is sitting off of my head all by its lonesome...it looks awfully small.  Like something that would fit a kid...and it probably would.

I do love it, though, and I finally got to use one of those special amazing buttons that my Aunt Janice bought for me a long long time ago.  I forget what kind of wood it is, but they are all stained different lovely colors and are shaped very interestingly.  This one matches the orange stripes towards the crown pretty well and helps to marry the break in the colorway that happens sometimes with Noro yarn.

So far this summer I've made a hat that was way too big--it's extremely slouchy, but that's ok.  I made this one which is too small.  I made one that I had to give to Alyssa because it was too small for my head.  Others have been just right but have gone to various other people who will enjoy them...and this one which is passable, but not perfect.  I was hoping for perfect because this is such a lovely pattern and a lovely hat.  I may have to make it again with more pattern repeats and give this hat to one of the daughters who fortunately didn't inherit my big noggin!

Two cowls today and a hat!

I spent the weekend with Mom and Dad and it was really nice.  We celebrated mom's 70th birthday where she got this cowl.

It's made from Trendsetter's Phoenix yarn and the pattern is Sanibel (free from Berroco).  I loved the pattern and the yarn and will be making more Sanibal cowls.  It's a perfect project for any slinky yarn you have.  I didn't even wash/block the cowl when I finished because it looks so perfect.

The other project I knitted this weekend was this cowl for my friend Stacey.

It's made from the Bijou Basin Ranch yarn that I made her hat from (yak and cormo blend, super soft and luxurious, called Bijou Spun).  The hat is pictured below.

The cowl pattern is Cashmere Neckwarmer by Elvira Massa (free on Ravelry) and the hat pattern is Leaves Long Beanie by Melissa LaBarre in Weekend Hats (one of my favorite hat books).  They were both super quick knits and between the two used up about 1.7 skeins of the Bijou Spun yarn.

This weekend I also finished up another hat (for me) and started an iPad cover for Elizabeth's Christmas gift...plus I worked a bit on my Windjammer socks (TGWE #7), my block-a-day blanket and the Noro stained glass afghan.  Turns out I can get a lot of knitting done while sitting around watching football and talking...and having an extra day off of work.

The Great Wool Experiment #4

Please forgive me for not posting a picture of my Great Wool Experiment #4.  I love this yarn, love this project, but it's a gift and the extremely small chance that the mother-to-be might chance upon this blog entry makes me pause at posting a picture of the loveliness that flew off of my needles in the past few weeks.

Instead I'll show you the two blocks I've completed for the Noro blanket in the past week.  This is block 6 and 7:  Forest Hike and Night Falling.

Now, to talk about the wool experiment #4.  The project is a baby set knitted up in a springy, cushy hand-dyed yarn from Dream in Color.  The yarn is named "smooshy" for a reason.  It's indeed smooshy and soft and gorgeously round.  A wonder to knit with.  I loved every minute I worked on this project and couldn't wait to see the next little bit get finished.

I chose a beautiful pinky-orange color called "Flamingo Pie" for the October little one.  There is a sweater with bright purple buttons and a cap and booties with knitted ties.  Everything is so tiny and cute, and the pair of booties, with their ties, took only about 8 grams of yarn.  If ever I'm in doubt about what to make from scrap sock yarn, I now know!

Of course, I need some more baby feet around to make them for.

I very much enjoyed working on project #4 in this exercise in getting to know wool.  I did feel a little like a pro working with superwash sock yarn, though, as I absolutely love working with sock yarn and have made numerous pairs of socks and other items from the yarn.  I think sock yarn is a perfect match for baby items, though.  The thinner yarn allows for smaller clothing items that aren't too bulky for the tiny one, and since they won't see the exact kind of wear, especially for the tiny tiny ones, that socks typically see, then you can knit it at a slightly looser gauge and not lose integrity of the fabric.  In fact, the "smooshier" yarn is perfect for this looser gauge because it blooms and fills in the fabric and makes for a luxurious item.

Now, onto the next:  a pair of cabled mittens in a woolen spun yarn.

Making Hats

I love making hats.  It almost makes me want to move someplace with cold weather so I can wear them more often...but not quite.  I really don't like being cold.  BUT I'm very well-prepared in case the weather does turn cooler, like it did this past winter (that would never end).

The 2nd project in the great Wool Experiment was another hat.  I showed you a picture of the colorwork section about half finished last week.  Over the weekend, I went into retreat (more on that tomorrow) and finished the hat.  I love the hat.  It's so unbelievably soft, plushy, and sweet.  As soon as I finished it I plunked it on my head and told David he needed to take a picture of me in it.

He then proceeded to go do a load of laundry, come in and start prepping something for dinner, and then tidied up in the kitchen.  While I'm not about to interrupt anyone cleaning in my house, I was beginning to get quite warm.

So, David came over and did a little photoshoot and this adorable picture came out of that.

I do love this hat and it will definitely be my "go to" when the weather turns cold (wool, blended with alpaca and angora and then double thickness due to the stranded colorwork=very warm...Fresco yarn is amazing!).  I've picked out a pattern to do a cowl in the pinks and green (with buttons, yea!) as well as some mittens in the grey and a darker grey that I had laying around in my small skeins box.  The colorwork was fun and interesting...made me concentrate which I don't always have to do while knitting.  And the yarn is a simple pleasure to work with.

I will also point out that I make mistakes in my knitting.  I don't fret over it.  I'm not perfect and the chance that someone will notice that I've made a mistake in my knitting is pretty slim.  I got off from time to time in my colorwork pattern.  Never more than one stitch, and if the mistake was close by I'd correct it.  If not, well, I'd just let it be.  The structure wasn't going to be compromised, and the overall pattern has so much going on that you'd really have to look to notice.  And I figure if someone is looking that close AND says something, then they just don't understand me and my knitting principles...so there!

With project #2 finished, I promptly cast on Project #3.  It's a pair of socks in a thicker wool than I usually use.  It's dark green, plump and really wonderful (David says it's scratchy, but he's said that about everything so far).  I'll talk about it later this week as I'm still getting to know this yarn (Naturally Perendale).

And for the record, I finished 3 projects this weekend, made HUGE progress on the baby blanket, frogged my very first knitted hat (which was too big and I want to use the yarn for something else, and as fate would have it it's been discontinued), and noticed (in a big way) just how much weight I've lost and how good I'm looking.  I realized that the girls favor me quite a lot.  Something I hadn't paid attention to because I attributed much of my "shape" to what was evidently weight.  This getting to know the new me is going to be a long experience and one that I'm looking forward to seeing all the way through!

Wool Experiment Project #2

As I cruise along on project #2 in the Great Wool Experiment, I'm astonished at how much fun I'm having.  I can't wait to start #3 (but that's not astonishing, that's just me) and I'm looking around in the book ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the projects to come.  I'll have to take a skip ahead when it comes to the sweaters.  I'm NOT making any sweaters for myself until I've reached my goal weight...so I'll skip ahead to the scarves and shawls sections once I'm finished with the socks.  That should take up some time--especially looking at my previous track record with scarves!

Project #2 is called Flicka.  It's a hat knit in the Bohus Knitting style.  According to Parkes, Bohus knitting originated in Sweden and is a form of stranded colorwork that uses more than 2 colors per row (unlike Fair Isle) and sometimes incorporates purl stitches to blur the edges and make the colorwork section look more decorative.  Bohus Knitting also traditionally uses yarn with angora in it (this is according to an episode of Knitting Daily).  The angora, or other yarn with a fuzzy texture to it, creates a halo around the stitches which blurs them further. The end result in all of this should be a slightly fuzzy colored pattern.

I can't tell yet how fuzzy the colorwork is for this pattern (you can judge for yourself in the pic below), but I CAN tell you that I'm intrigued.  I'm challenged and I'm having loads of fun.  I worked on this for over an hour straight last night.  I find colorwork rather addictive...I don't want to put it down because I want to see how it turns out.  I suspect I'll have the remaining 15 rows or so of colorwork finished today.

The yarn? Fresco by Classic Elite is a little bit of heaven (wool, baby alpaca and angora).  If David told me this one was scratchy, I'd know he was allergic to wool.  It's so soft, feels so wonderful while knitting it, and the knitted fabric is drapy and so very pretty.  I truly think the pleasure of this yarn is in the knitting of it...though I'm sure anyone who wears it will tell you it's in the wearing of it!  You, the reader, might think it's in the seeing of it in this picture.  I'd think we were all right.

Hill Country Hat

Two nights ago I finished the first project in the great wool experiment.  I love this hat.  It's squishy, very pretty, and super quick to knit.  It also fits my big head pretty well (I added one extra repeat of the hills and valley pattern).  I'm hoping it fits Ernie's.  If not, I have myself a super-warm new hat!

About the yarn (since this is the wool experiment).  Upon first grabbing the ball of Rowan's Pure Life British Breeds Suffolk yarn, I thought, "hmmm...itchy, definitely crunchy--I can see why Clara Parkes uses that description--and rather hairy."  There are bits of different hairs--white and black--that stick out here and there throughout the yarn.

I did notice that the yarn was very round.  It's three ply, and upon untwisting it to look at the plies, I noticed that the individual plies are all smooth and very lofty.  The plies almost look like wool "cotton candy."  When plied together, the resulting yarn is round and very smooshy--despite the initial impression of "itch."  When knitted, the resulting fabric is so cushy, yet strong, that I wanted to sit and squeeze it.

I was worried that wearing the yarn might itch my forehead or ears.  After putting it on, though, all I felt was warmth.  I also worried that knitting with it might irritate my hands.  I found that after starting to work with the yarn, it didn't feel itchy.  I did notice a sheepy smell, which was more enhanced upon opening the zip-loc bag I keep my projects in to protect them from curious kitties.  The smell definitely added to the charm of the yarn and I found myself smelling it from time to time as I progressed in my knitting.

Because of the climate where we live, I can't imagine knitting a sweater or jacket out of this yarn, though I believe that it would be like a great big hug on a cold day if I lived somewhere cold.  Realistically, I can see knitting a blanket.  I saw one on Ravelry that used different breeds (thus different colors) in a log-cabin blanket.  It was very pretty and something I might want to try eventually.  I can also see some cabled throw pillows or a bag--slightly felted.

I'm really glad I started this journey into wool discovery.  I can't wait to see what the next projects bring.  I've already casted on project #2, the Flicka Hat, in Fresco yarn by Classic Elite.  I'll talk more about that tomorrow.

Wool...

I've made a little discovery this weekend.  One I thought I'd never really make.

I love wool.  I didn't think it would fascinate me so much, but I love it.  I recently purchased and read Clara Parkes's "The Knitters Book of Wool" (AKBOW) and decided to knit the patterns in it. Yes, all of them.  Now, I'm only on the first one and may change my mind before I'm done in 10 years, but I really like the experimental process that this will bring to me, I'll learn about wool in a way I've never thought about before, and I'll have some great projects in the end.

First, let me tell you about Parkes's book.  It's very well written, and her love of yarn is evident from the first page.  Her love of WOOL, I should add.  She inspired me to try out a fiber that so far I've kept to only that that feels soft and supple to my hands upon first touch.

My skin is sensitive, I've always told myself.  My husband's skin is very sensitive (I do believe he has a wool allergy as he describes it as "hot" when it touches him).  Because of that, I've never really given wool much thought.  We also live in a warm climate and hardly need hardy coats, sweaters, hats, mittens or gloves.

But, as I've played around with knitting these past couple of years, I've become more and more accepting of wool.  Not just the superwash merino kind, but others as well.  After reading AKBOW, I learned about all the different breeds, and the different qualities of their fleece, and I've become very curious.  I wanted to get to know these different wools, knit with them in projects specifically designed for them, and truly appreciate small batch yarns.

So far, I've started the Hills and Valleys hat and I'm truly enjoying working on it.  I'm using Rowan's Purelife British Sheep Breeds (chunky) yarn.  The yarns are all undyed and showcase the wool of different British Sheep breeds.  It would be tempting to try them all...but I do have to focus my knitting time as, unfortunately, it isn't unlimited.   I chose Suffolk because I liked the soft grey color. I love seeing all the different fibers in this yarn.  There is soft grey, white and black.  I love that it smells sheepy.  I am absolutely amazed at how springy and cushy the finished fabric is.  Elizabeth described it as "probably being very warm" (this despite the fact that she turned her nose up at the "itch" factor).

I'm looking forward to washing this hat and seeing how it blooms.  I love the stitch definition and how it feels on the needles.  I'm fascinated by the structure of the fabric and am looking forward to getting it off of the needles to see how well it fits.  I'm thinking it's going to my hairdresser Ernie...if he approves of slightly itchy wool. :)

Today's picture is of the hat, just started.  It was knitted from the crown down:  always a sketchy start but once a couple of rows in it's fine.

I even amazed myself!

This weekend was dedicated to yarn.  To unpacking, organizing, making sure it was secure in its new home and otherwise taking care of my stash.

As I went through every skein of yarn and decided which basket, cubby or yarn tree to put it on, it told me whether it was getting anxious to be something or whether it was content to ride things out for a little longer.  I'll have to tell you that a LOT of my yarn is anxious to be something.  I may have to hire people to help me knit or weave it all...I don't know how I can meet up with the demands.  It's starting to make ME feel a tad anxious.

The only thing left in my studio is to put together my loom.  But, David was working until 2pm yesterday and we had a party at 3pm (outside, in May, wearing jackets...unfathomable), then the girls came over for dinner at 5, so there was no time to get the loom opened up.  I'm very ready to start Art Box #2 and just waiting for the ability to get that loom ready...I may even go wind some warp this evening.

Despite all the unpacking I was able to knit a good bit...quite a bit in fact.  On Thursday night I finished a pair of socks.  Then this weekend, I managed to finish a hat that I'd started last year that I've been hating...I mentioned it earlier this year, mom's mother's day gift AND got caught up on my block-a-day sock-yarn blanket.  Plus, I made pretty good progress on the little monster I'm going to finish up before heading to TX in 10 days.

And you know what...despite all this progress...I don't feel like I worked even a little bit this weekend.  How absolutely wonderful!

Today's picture is of the polaris hat, finished.  I'll work on the scarf again after the monster is finished.  I like getting some of these things DONE!

Projects I Hate

On this really weary Tuesday I want to talk about projects I hate.  This doesn't happen often, but sometimes I get into a project and I realize that I hate it.  I mean really truly hate it.  I have to put it away not look at it or think about it for a while and then pull it out again only to work on it for a short time and remember that yep, I really truly hate that project.

Currently I have 2 projects on the needles that I hate, ironically out of the same yarn, that I love.  It's Polaris by Rozetti.  I don't want to talk bad about this yarn because it's gorgeous.  Squishy soft, beautifully colored, plus it has sequins all over it and they are unbelievable.  I'm going to end up with a matching hat and scarf that will be pretty darn spectacular!

IF I can ever get over the fact that I hate the projects and move on with it.

I can't tell you exactly why I hate these projects, I just do.  Plain and simple.  Every time the bag that houses them comes up as my project to work on, I inwardly groan, and go for 30 minutes and no more and then put it away until the next time I have to work on it (and yes, I said HAVE to work on it).

I've experienced this other times.  Sometimes I determine that I hate the project so much that I rip it out (or cut it out of the loom if that's the case).  Sometimes I trudge along a little at a time and just get through it.  Sometimes I find that after a while I don't hate the project any more but come to appreciate all the work that I've put into it.

But, for whatever reason, this hat is driving me crazy.  I'm even "stretching" it to see if I have enough yet to start decreasing for the crown.  And I know that next year, when it's finished, and I'm staying a fancy matching hat and scarf set, I'm going to be so proud and only remember slightly how much I hated knitting this business...but until then...I must trudge along.

A Weekend Appearance

Excited today.  We are packing up to finally move back to the house.  The contractor is supposed to be working all weekend to get us ready to move in on Thursday.

So, last night and this morning I've been combing through my closet to purge all the too big clothes.  I'm excited to report that I did manage to shrink my pants enough to get a few more weeks out of them.  At this point I've lost 20 pounds and David 31.  We are both so thrilled and feel so amazing, I can't even begin to tell you how happy we are to have finally found a diet that works and that we know will end up with us being fit and trim by this time next year.  We even gave away all of our winter coats.  We figure by the time it gets cold enough to wear them, we'll have lost most of our weight and everything we have will be way too big

In the midst of all of this, though, David has had to go shopping for new pants and shoes.  His old shoes have gotten too big, which is an unexpected outcome of the diet.

Knitting and weaving will have to take a short hiatus this weekend.  I'm going to work on a couple of projects in between packing, but I won't be just sitting and knitting like I usually do on the weekends.  That's ok.  The end result will be that we'll be back in our house and happy to be there.  Thrilled actually.  Then I can knit and weave myself crazy.

Today's picture is of a fun little project I'm working on.  I bought some yarn at Halloween from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. It's a neon package that has pink, green, turquoise and orange.  I've decided for this to be a hat and possibly socks, mittens or a cowl...haven't decided what to make next.  The choice of colors is based on a deck of cards.  I have assigned each color to a suit and then I draw the card out of the deck and knit that many rows in the color indicated.  It's been fun and mindless knitting...and wow, is it bright!

Color-work

I completed my first color work project over spring break.  It's a hat made from yarn that I get in a sock yarn club.  This one featured a gorgeous sock pattern that had embroidery or a hat patter than was color work.  While I thought it might be fun to combine my embroidery skills with knitting, I finally decided not to do so because, in the end, I don't think it would look all that good.  I can see the potential for lots of bumps and puckers and, truthfully, even if I could get the embroidery to be smooth, I don't know that it would feel all that comfortable on the feet.

On Ravelry I read about the experiences of other people who had knit the sock and done the embroidery and they all said that the sock was very thick and that it wasn't as stretchy and comfy as usual.  So, while a beautiful sock is indeed a work of art, I would like my socks to also be functional...so I decided to knit the hat instead.  Not having done color work before it was a great opportunity to expand my skills and see if I would like it or not.

And I did truly enjoy it.  I became almost obsessed with working on the hat.  Had a difficult time stopping to go places, or even to go to bed.  I was very careful not to let the inside floats be too tight and I thoroughly enjoyed working with both yarns for different reasons.  The silk/merino blend that is the colored yarn is just gorgeous--to the touch, to the sight.  It lends an almost velvety look to the finished project that is very hard to obtain with traditional plied yarns.

The brown, in its own way, is also gorgeous.  Though it's main purpose is to sit back and let the colored yarn be pretty, if you look closely enough you'll see subtle variations in color that make it have depth and character all its own.

So, I proudly show off my first color work hat...which unfortunately was entirely too small for my giant head.  Alyssa was kind enough to model it for me in exchange for me giving it to her...we all have our price!

Taking the Bull by the Horns

I've always wondered about that phrase having grown up around cattle.  I always thought it was a rather fool-hearty person who would consider taking a bull by the horns, unless he was a tame creature but even then things could go seriously wrong.  My daddy had bulls who were rather tame and bulls who were rather crazy.  I couldn't imagine going up to one of those giant creatures and taking hold of him by the horns....or anything else for that matter.

That said, I truly do think I may have done just that--taken a bull by the horns.  I have decided once and for all to get my weight off whatever it takes.  David and I decided to do a doctor supervised weight loss plan that will completely realign how we think of food.  The doctor promised we will lose weight quickly and sent us home with lots of packets to make food to eat most of the day and then at night we'll make some sort of meal consisting of lean protein and vegetables.  It's a high protein, low carb diet that, according to the dr, retrains our body how to metabolize food (and I think secretly teaches us that we CAN survive without bread and sweets).

Once upon a time we succeeded fairly well on Atkins, another low-carb approach to eating.  So I know I can live without bread and sweets, but it's always creeped back into my way of eating somehow...Also,  Atkins doesn't have much in the way of portion control nor do any sort of supervision...This time around we considered doing Atkins again, but decided that we needed guidance, accountability and commitment, so...

...we grabbed that proverbial bull by the horns and are going for it.  Please wish us luck, pray for us, or whatever else you do to provide emotional and spiritual support.  It's time for us to take charge and make our lives whole and wonderful!

Today's picture is of a hat I started yesterday.  I'm on spring break and doing whatever I want, so please don't comment on the fact that I've also started 2 pairs of socks since last week :)  Anyway, the cap uses stranded color work.  You use the pattern (on the left) to determine which color you knit with to create a lovely, in this case, connected pattern that goes around the hat.  It feels a tad like cross stitching in that I'm placing stitches in a grid, but of course it's knitting.  So far it's going very well and is beautiful.  I'm having fun with the color work, but we'll see how GOOD I've done after I've taken it off of the needles and can stretch it out.  I've tried to make sure that the floats aren't too short and will cause the hat to pucker, but one never knows!