Reduce, Reuse

Back when I was quilting I LOVED scrap quilts.  I loved the idea of using up every little bit of fabric until you just didn't have enough left to make anything else with it.  I despise the idea of waste...efficiency in all things is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

When I first started weaving, I noticed that I would like bits of yarn left on the bobbins after finishing a project...these bits would get wound back on the original cone or ball of yarn to be used in the next project, but I found later that doing this was annoying...I didn't know how long that bit that was wound back on was and in the end I would throw away more than I wanted to...

So, I decided to start winding on the bits onto cones to wait until the day that I had enough to make a warp out of.  I do this with all the yarns I use, but since I make towels more than anything else, well...I had enough (finally) to make my "weftovers" towels.

And boy did they turn out cute!  I'm going to have a hard time parting with these, but they are up for sale on the Etsy shop...and I hope that they make someone happy.  They are bright and cheerful and such a neat record of my work over the past few months.  Expect many more weftovers!

Reading...and knitting

I've always been an avid reader.  I read all the time as a child.  I'd have a book in my book bag and one at home and wouldn't mix them.  I loved having multiple stories and characters going through my head all the time.  When I was in 3rd grade I read all the books in the school library section for "3rd grade and under" so they moved me up to the "older" books.  This is when I fell in love with Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I even majored in English in college because I could read and get "credit" for it.  Then I read probably 5 books at a time, finishing 3 or so per week.  It was intense, especially in grad school, but mostly I loved it.

Then one day when I was trying to get myself motivated to work on my English dissertation (which is different from the one I actually finished) I realized that I didn't have to read any book that I wasn't interested in.  This made me feel free, liberated somehow and I ended up combing through my library and ridding myself of any book that I didn't love.  My to-be-read shelf was combed through carefully and books I wasn't terrifically excited about reading got donated to the library.

After deciding that I didn't want the PhD in English and instead starting over (yes, I started over) on a doctorate in higher education leadership, I promised myself that I would never waste time on books again.  If I didn't like it...off it went.  Even if I was just starting, or over half-way through.  I would not ever read a book again if I wasn't having fun reading it.

Then when I was writing my dissertation, I didn't want to read anything "hard" or that made me think.  I told myself that all I'd read while writing was romance novels, so I did.  And I loved it.

Then something weird happened.  I turned in my last revision on my dissertation, looked at my to-be-read shelf and didn't want to read a single book in there.  I got a few books by my favorite authors on my Kindle and I didn't want to read those.  I tried and tried to find something that would interest me, but I was just simply not interested in reading.

And it's very very weird.  What I am interested in instead is knitting, and I'm not skilled enough to do both at the same time.

But, something else happened to me a little over a year ago.  I decided that I was not going to be able to handle, for one more day, the commute to work.  I was terrifically bored on the drive in (about an hour) and going home was torture.  People kept recommending audio books, but I have a hard time paying attention to people talking and thought it wouldn't work for me.  Desperation brought about desperate measures, though, and I bought Outlander.  A book I knew I loved and since the new installment was going to be released "soon" I thought it would be a good experience to start from book 1 and read through.  I had time (these books are super-long).  So, I invited Claire and Jaime to come on my commute and a world of opportunities opened up for me.

I didn't mind my drive in...in fact, I sort of looked forward to it, especially when the books were getting good.  I've re-listened to books I've read before and had different experiences listening to them.  The narrators really do bring a lot to the books and it makes the experiences different--sometimes better sometimes not.

I still like my romances.  I listen to a lot of them.  But I also am starting to enjoy my books that are "harder" reads.  The ones that will challenge me, make me think, and provide me with opportunities to TALK ABOUT books with people again.

How wonderful.

But, you know what else is awesome?  I can listen to books while I knit...it's amazing.  And so much better than watching TV because I don't have to look up or miss anything because I'm not looking up.

I'm so glad that Audible has a wonderful subscription program because if it didn't, I'd probably break the bank in how quickly I'm consuming books this year...but that's ok.  I'm reading again and it's awesome.

The book I finished last night was one that I want to go back and read again.   The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.  Go get your copy, read it, be amazed at how the story plays out...the writing, the imagery, the beauty of that book.  And do it quickly because I need to talk with people about this book while it's still on my mind!

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Knitting progress:  I finished the Chicken Socks!  I got to the next eyelet row on the shawl (but only worked on it for a quick stint because I needed to finish the socks).  And I started the next pair of socks.  They are "spring" socks that I'm doing a knit-a-long with the Seasonal Sock Syndrome folks.  The yarn for those is Lorna's Laces SoleMate, which I'm not sure I'm sold on.  It has a tenseness to it that I'm not sure I like for socks, but we shall see how it ends up knitting up.  The colors are gorgeous, as are all LL colors.  This one is called Circus, I believe.  I had a hard time reading the label, but David picked it out of all the yarns that I threw on the floor as the one that sang "spring" to him.  The pattern on the new socks is Celebrate Spring by Anne Budd.

I think I made a decision

I'm not entirely sure, but I think I've made a decision...about the knitted gifts for my kids.  I could still change my mind--obviously I'm still me and always keep that option open) but maybe I won't.

I'm going to knit some tiny monsters for those kids using yarn scraps and bits of my time.  I worked on this adorable critter last night:

She took about an hour and a half to make.  David said she looks like an owl, but she has whiskers and owls don't have whiskers, so I don't know what he's talking about.  And a tail...owls don't have tails long enough to wrap around their plump little bodies.  Anyway, She's pink with turquoise eyes and she's cute as a button.

I think I'll make a bunch of little critters.  I found 3 other patterns as well and will make several of each and give them little stories and then we'll have a white elephant during our appreciation lunch/party and the students can pick for themselves which monster buddy they want.  I think it should be fun, and hopefully I can manage it...I'll be sure to keep you updated.

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Pearl helped me exercise last night.  It was the most fun I've had on the elliptical ever.

Color therapy

This weekend I went to see my parents.  It's a 9 hour drive each way.  While it doesn't seem like it should be, riding in a car is exhausting.  Even when the weather is gorgeous and you have your sweetheart driving you all the way.

I was trying to put a positive spin on things by acknowledging that I had 18 hours of knitting time.  I didn't think about my 6am departure as actually taking away from that knitting time...nor really the fact that on our return trip I would lose knitting time at the end of the day.  But it was a good 14 hours of knitting (or knitting related activity) time.

SO, my car knitting...therapy knitting...comfort knitting...whatever you'd like to call it is this blanket from the Berroco Comfort Afghans.  The pattern is called Autumn Haze, and while I'm not using Comfort yarns, I do find the knitting of this blanket to be very comforting indeed. You'll also notice that I'm not using autumn colors, but I've mentioned that before.

This photo shows the blanket 1/3 finished.  That's one full pattern repeat.  I've decided to reassign colors to the "letters" in the pattern to create a more random and overall colorful effect.  I'm now about 1/2 finished (expect to be tonight if I feel like working on it).

The yarns I'm using are a mix of things from my stash--some Malabrigo Worsted (the delicious purple on the end, pink and turquoise solids).  There's a fun alpaca tweed in a lighter turquoise--can't remember the yarn brand or company.  I'm using some Cascade 220 (light purple) and Knit Picks Swish worsted (the variegated purple and pink).  I love the colors in this afghan, I love the knitting of this afghan (even the slip-stitch color work is gorgeous and interesting) and I love the textural interplay between all the different yarns.  The plump Malabrigo next to the springy Knit-Picks and the slick Alpaca.  It's just gorgeous in so many ways.  And total color therapy.  It's very difficult to dwell on sad or depressing things with all that color and lovely yarn in my hands.

On the way out, though, I almost hit a road block though.  I ran out of the ball of turquoise I was using and needed to wind off a hank of yarn...I usually do this with my swift or David, but David was driving, so I had to improvise.  Thankfully I've lost a lot of weight and am more flexible so was able to get the hank of yarn around my legs and wound it off by going under my legs about 100 times.  See I got exercise too.  Need proof?

Lastly, yesterday I took the day off to recuperate.  I knitted on the Purple Blanket and rested and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  At some point I decided that it was time to examine the stash and see what I could get out of it to make Alyssa's afghan. (I'm sure this is the case when having 2 children, but it's more so when having twins...if I commit to making one thing for one, I MUST make something for the other immediately, sometimes simultaneously...)  In the interest of stash reduction, I wanted to make this happen as much as I could from the stash, but in conversation with David we decided that if I HAD to buy some yarn to flesh out a project that it wasn't a bad thing...as long as the net income of yarn was less that the outflow.

SO, I went into the studio, dug through my wool basket, my alpaca basket, my basket with yarns set aside for other projects long-since forgotten...and I even raided the sock yarn baskets.  (I had put a few skeins of worsted in their with the intention of making some thick socks for around the house).  I came up with the yarns below:

I had intended Alyssa's afghan to be much more green, but what happened is the rose colors really came through...and blues and greens...and some gold, oranges and browns.  And they all look perfectly lovely together.

And yes, that's a calico cat in there.  She totally loved all the yarn in the floor and I had to put everything away to keep her from "cleaning" the babies I'd left her.

In which a pillow is finished

2014 is just cranking out things...finished things, with great enthusiasm.  Very exciting.

And by that I mean very very exciting.

My next finished project is a lovely pillow that will be left at my Aunt Betty's house this weekend.  She lets us stay there when we visit my parents and it's a lovely little house.  My dad and his sisters grew up there, and I spent a lot of my time there between the ages of 1-6 (and a good bit afterwards too).  My grandmother kept me while my mom went to college, and the fact that the chinaberry tree where the swing was hung is no longer there is one of the "wrongest" things I've ever seen.  (and that thing has been gone for many a year now).

Betty has lovingly fixed up the house and made it very comfortable indeed.  I love staying there because it really is so peaceful and quiet.  The first time I stayed there with David and the girls the memories of all the fun things we used to do just poured out and we talked all night.

I could do without the coyotes, but that's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.

And now, for the pillow.  I paid homage to my family's quilting heritage by making one side a "log cabin" block.  This one is done in the courthouse steps style.  I would have made one more round of bars, but I was quickly running out of the red and didn't think I would have enough to finish it all the way.

In order to do this side of the pillow, I cast on 10 stitches and knitted for 20 rows and bound off.  Then I joined the yellow, picked up 10 stitches on the side and knitted for 19 rows.  Same on the opposite side. At this point, I had along rectangle, so I picked up on the long side with the red--30 stitches, knit for 19 rows and bound off. Red again on opposite side, then yellow on the other sides.  I finished off by picking up 50 stitches along the top and bottom in red and knitting 19 rows.  It came out the perfect size to fit over a 14" square pillow form. (yarn Berroco Comfort Worsted, size 9 needles).

For the other side, I wanted something slightly different.  I don't see the point of a single sided pillow, and if I'm going to knit both sides I want them to both be pretty.  SO, I cast on 101 stitches placing a marker after the first 50.  Then I worked in garter stitch making a miter square by knitting to 2 stitches before the marker then knitting 2 together, knitting one, then knitting 2 together and knitting to the end of the row.  Knitting back on the "wrong side."  I used the red from the front, a slightly darker red and a variegated white and tan, alternating the white and tan stripes with the lighter red and darker red stripes.  So, it went like this: dark red, white/tan, light red, white/tan and started over until I finished.  I really love the look of this side.

While my method of doing the mitered square doesn't form quite as smooth a decrease line as doing a double decrease, it does keep me from having to count and possibly mess up because my marker is always right in front of the center stitch on the right side.

Because the edge where I carried the yarns was so messy, I wanted to put a border on.  So, I picked up stitches along each edge, knitted back and bound off.

And voila!  Sew the side together, insert pillow, close up top and you're done.  A 2 sided fun little pillow that can be flipped over for instant home deco fun!

Look! Look!

I managed to get a warp wound and on the loom yesterday!  woot!

I'm making Alyssa's birthday scarf.  The warp is a tencel variegated held together with a rayon slub.  The weft yarn is "Little Flowers" by Crystal Palace (from stash...I'm still being good, don't worry).  It's a fun string with tufts in black and white...and there's something silver and sparkly in there as well.

One note about the yarn.  I originally thought I would knit something up with this.  I really wanted the yarn to be all alone and shine by itself.  I didn't make it past the first row.  It's a pretty yarn, but it's grabby and was a major annoyance with knitting, or at least the way I like to knit which is to crank out stitches as fast as I can maneuver hands and yarn and having adorable little tufts grab at each other every time you try to set the stitch...just not fun.  I didn't even try frogging what I'd knitted, so be warned...if you intend to embark on knitting with this yarn, be patient, have time, and do not make a mistake!

And a couple of notes about weaving:  It's been a long time since I've been with my loom.  I don't think I've made anything on the big loom since moving back to the house in May.  I've lost at least 50 pounds since then and almost 100 overall.  I'ma different person inside that loom and it's a very different experience dressing the loom and working with it.  I expected as much just wasn't quite prepared for the actual feeling of it.

Also, I need a bench cushion...the cushion that used to be my rear is now gone, and the bones there weren't super happy about sitting on a hard wooden bench and moving back and forth as I treadled.  Something to make?  possibly...would be a great stash buster!

Gift Knitting Continues

While everyone else in the on-line world seems to have finished up all their gift knitting and started knitting for themselves again, I can't seem to shake the gift knitting path I'm on.

I've decided to make a pillow for my Aunt Betty (surprise Aunt Betty) to go in her living room out of the lovely Berroco Comfort I have in my stash (see I'm still being good one week into the year...yea me!)

I WAS going to make her one from the Comfort Afghans book I bought...It was a star and so pretty...but decided against it after fighting with yarn ends and hating the way the intarsia looked...I haven't done it before and clearly wasn't getting something special that has to happen when doing intarsia in garter stitch.

So, that got ripped out and I'm now doing a log cabin in red and gold.  The back will be a mitered square.  It'll be pretty.  I'm thinking about doing some sort of attached i-cord to close it up.  That would be nice and tailored looking.  We shall see.  I'm HOPING to have this finished by next weekend so I can leave it after I visit...but here it is after 1.5 evenings of working on it:

I'm doing the "courthouse steps" version of the log cabin and will have 3 bars of yellow when I'm finished.  More to come!

3rd Finished Thing, and a few others from 2013

I know I'm probably cheating a little, AND I almost forgot to post about her, but Rosie, the knitted elephant, is my 3rd finished project of the year (technically 2nd, but I posted the slippers first and don't want to confuse).

I'm finishing off the leftover bits of yarn from the Noro blanket by making first my mitts,

 and then the Jackalope.

I'm making a "slug" next...too cute with eyes popping off the top of his head.  But these little critters require patience on my part...the kind of patience I have in very limited supply.  The kind that requires me to hold back from knitting on them non-stop for hours until they're finished.  And I'm doing that because I don't like pain.

After I make the slug, I don't know what will be next.  We'll see how much yarn I have left...I think I should get at least 2 more critters, but we shall see!

Second Finished Project of 2014

I'm really not trying to brag or anything, but I've finished 2 projects already and 2014 is only 1 week old!  Now, both of these were knit with chunky yarns on size 10 needles...but they WERE knit for David who has big hands and feet...

David was so thrilled when I finished these last night that he had me starting another pair to make for him just in case he wears these out quickly.  "It only took you a day to make them, right?"

Aaah, sweet David.

He's a challenge to knit for anything that should touch his skin because wool "feels hot."  And he doesn't mean that it makes him feel hot...no...it feels like it's burning his skin, and sure enough when he takes off whatever he's wearing he's red.  Even the softest loveliest wool is not an option.

These are knit using the Family Foot Warmer Slippers pattern in Berroco Comfy worsted--2 strands held together.  And they are very very soft, and not a hint of wool in them...oh...and they came from stash!  Big bonus.

p.s.  I did not start another pair of slippers for him.  Besides the fact that knitting on size 10 or bigger needles makes my hands hurt, I want to make a pillow from a pattern for a blanket...if I like knitting the pillow, then I'll save up my allowance and buy the yarn.  Yes, I'm using stash.  And yes, some more stash yarn fell out into my lap when I was selecting the first yarns and not I've got 2 pillows I want to start...

First Finished Project of 2014

Not to brag or anything, but I actually FINISHED a knitted project on 1/1!

These mitts were super-easy and totally made up by me.  I cast on the wrong number of stitches to begin with and had to pull it out and re-cast-on with fewer stitches (20), but that was just right.  I knitted 12 rounds for the wrists, worked back and forth for 11 rows for the thumb opening then 8 rounds for the fingers in ribbing and another 8 in garter.

I didn't worry with a thumb gusset on these since I didn't intend to knit a thumb and the back-and-forth rows are really quite perfect.

I used a soy/wool blend from Southwest Trading Company.  It's super-bulky yarn and I knitted these on size 10 DPNs.  I think total knitting time was about 4 hours...and it qualifies as stash busting since I found the yarn in my stash!  yea!