Why isn't that project done yet?

I am very jealous of monogamous knitters. They will pick a project, cast-on, and happily knit until they have a beautiful finished object. I'm just not wired that way. For those of you who know me well, you know that I always have multiple knitting projects on my needles. I tend to bring two, three or four different projects with me. I also have a few crochet projects in varying stages of completion as well. I rotate them quite frequently. Here are a few of my active WIPs (Work In Progress):

Back to the question at hand, why isn't it done yet? In order to answer that question I have to map out my highly thoughtful completely random thought process

Did you follow all that? Don't worry, most of the time I don't either. Not to complicate things more, but there are also other factors that determine which projects I work on.

1. Is the project in reach? I'm lazy plain and simple. I tend to grab the nearest project.
2. Knitting ADD! I can only work on a project for so long before I get bored. Sometimes I will work on more than one project in the same hour.
3. I'm teaching a class. Most of my classes need a sample available to show off.
4. Have I fallen out of love with a project?
5. Is the project giving me trouble? If you knit or crochet regularly, you know that some projects just need to spend some time in the time out corner.
6. This one is mostly geared towards the kids. the more they pester me about a project, the less I want to work on it.
7. I'm sure I've missed a few things, but this is all I could think of today. 

Here is the real answer to the question:

Why isn't that project done yet?

It just isn't!

Week in Review (a little bit late)

I seem to have lost track of time. I meant to post this yesterday. Oh well, I guess today is as good a day as any.

1.

I. Got. A. New. Phone!

For those of you who are familiar with the ongoing phone saga, this is a big deal. I have had my old phone for 2+ years, and to say that it didn't work properly would be the understatement of the century. The company replaced it 5 or 6 times, but after that, they thought I was crazy. I won't go into all of the horrible, controlling, tyrannical, things that the phone did. I was very happy when the lovely sales woman asked if I wanted to trade it in. She was a little surprised at my enthusiasm given that it was only worth $5. However, I think at that point I would have paid her to take it. I even bought a pink case.

2.

I have a favorite yarn shop. Are you surprised? I may have mentioned it once or twice. In case you are wondering it's The Artful Yarn in Chagrin Falls, OH. I've been teaching knitting classes at this wonderful shop for a few years now, but this week I officially joined the shop staff! I had my first training day on Wednesday. I think this might just be the best job ever!

3.

I'm making slow progress on my Arrow Yoke Cardigan. I think that I might be slightly crazy to think I can finish this by the end of November.

4.

One of the things that might make #3 extremely difficult is my obsession with Felfs. I finished these lovelies just in time for Thursday's snow.

 

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Felfs

I have a new obssession, they are called Felfs. And they are designed by one of knitting's most innovative designers, Cat Borhdi. Although I'm guilty of stumbling head first into many knitting projects, this one I have to I blame on my KnitSib Deb, who introduced me to them at a Knit Night a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been able to get them out of head since.

I want to start by mentioning that the profits for this e-book are being donated to the research lab of Dr. David Krag at the University of Vermont Medical School. On first blush, the cost of this pattern is definitely on the high side, $20. Yes, I did say $20! However; I'm not only receiving an extremely innovative and detailed e-book, but I have also made a donation to equally innovative research. Please take a look here for more information.

So, what are Felfs?

They are nothing short of the most innovative slipper ever. Ok maybe that's a bit much, but they are pretty cool. They are slippers that are knit flat in garter stitch and then folded, somewhat origami style, sewn and felted. And, they can be knit to fit any size foot. Did I mention that they are addictive?!

They start out life as flat shape:

After some innovative folding, seaming, and felting they look like this:

These little cuties were knit from Nature Spun Sport, colorway Red Fox. They measure about 4 3/4" long. Oh my, I just can't get enough of them. I think we all need a pair! I'm off to find yarn. I'm sure there's some around here somewhere...

 

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November is NaKniSweMo!

Huh? If you are not a knitter, you probably haven't heard of NaKniSweMo. Actually even if you are a Knitter, you still may not have heard of it. You are probably asking yourself "What is this NaKniSweMo?" Well, let me tell you...

National Knit a Sweater Month!

Yup, you read that correct. We knitters need a month dedicated to knitting a sweater. Most sweaters have over 50,000 individual stitches in themes well as multiple skeins of yarn.
The rules are simple:

1. Cast on Nov. 1 and finish by Nov. 30
2. Your sweater must be 50,000 stitches.

I'm choosing to knit the Arrow Yoke Cardigan from Brioche Chic. As you may have noticed I started it last month. Oh, no, you can't do that! It breaks the rules! You would be right, except that I wasn't happy with how the first strip came out and I frogged it. I decided that I would rewind my yarn, and eagerly await Noveber 1st.

Arrow Yoke Cardigan

So here goes!

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Week in Review

1.

Have I mentioned that I love knitting? Well I cases you missed it, I rarely go a day without knitting something. I've also discovered that I enjoy teaching knitting just as much. I have been teaching classes at my favorite yarn shop, The Artful Yarn in Chagrin Falls, OH.

On Sunday I started a new three series class on the Carradal Shawl. I have a great group of ladies! However, I was very nearly late to my own class. I must have looked at the schedule 10 times, and It never occurred to me that it was a physical impossibility to make it to the shop and set up for a 1pm class. I think I need better time management skills.

2.

I can't believe that Halloween is just around the corner. I went to Village Discount to find bits and pieces for Little Miss M's costume. Now to start sewing. Photos to come, I hope.

3.

On Wednesday, I helped my knitsib Michelle get ready for Vogue Knitting Live. She makes the most beautiful shawl pins (as seen in the above shawl).

4.

I finished a project! This is: Easy Brioche Scarf, knit in Malabrigo Mecha, colorway Piedras.

That's about it, I lead a very boring life.

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Knitting Love

As the title of the blog suggests, I'd rather be knitting than doing most other things. Before my blogging hiatus, I may have mentioned that I have a slight problem with startitis. (In case you missed it, startitis refers to a rarely fatal affliction that often affects knitters and crocheters where they begin several projects all at one time but don't really make much progress on anything before starting another new project.) I can always come up with an excuse to start a new project.

I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's the cooling temperatures here in Northeast Ohio, but lately I've been seduced by thick, chunky, warm projects knit on big needles. For someone who is used to knitting with thinner yarn and smaller needles, these projects are working up very quickly. Am I insane to think I might finish two of them this week?

 

Well, here are some of the latest additions to my "on the needles" projects.

 

Wavy Lace Caplet

Easy Brioche Scarf

Arrow Yoke Cardigan

 

These are only the most recent, please don't judge.

 

 

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Catch Up

As I mentioned yesterday, a lot has been going on here in the last two months.

1.
I've finished some knitting projects, are you surprised?

The Princess's Cardigan

Morgan (I know this is a very bad picture)

The Bear's Happy Birthday Vest. I finished last night!!!!

(I still have to get some good pictures of him wearing it.)

A baby gift (vest and hat) for the Bear's teacher, she had a beautiful baby boy at the beginning of April.  I'm sorry to say that I don't have a picture. I was up against one of those pesky knitting deadlines (she left on maternity leave 2 weeks early) and I plum forgot!

2.
I found out that I'm going to be an Aunt, twice! Both my sister, and my sister-in-law are due in October. Needless to say there is much baby knitting going on around here. I have already finished knitting Part 1 of The Epic Baby Project!  Sorry no pictures at this time as this is a big surprise, and I don't want to give anything away.

3.
Other than my spare bedroom (which I think will be a separate post), I'm woefully behind on my house cleaning and decluttering. Fly Lady and I have become more of occasional acquaintances than everyday friends over the last two months. I really need to reconnect!

I think I'll leave it here for now.  I wouldn't want to overwhelm you with two full months all at one time. Besides, I have to stretch this catch up post out a bit. I don't really have any ideas right now for the rest of the week.

Time Allocation

Wow I can't believe that it's been over two months since I’ve written a blog post. As you can imagine a lot has been going on over here. I will try to get you all caught up in the next week or so, but for now let’s talk knitting.

Last Monday, my baby boy turned 9! I really can’t figure out where 9 years have gone. What does this have to do with knitting you may ask? Well, I decided that I was going to knit him a sweater vest for his birthday. And not just any sweater vest, this sweater vest…

 Pembroke Vest

I’ve been eyeing it for few years now. Considering that the pattern only goes up to a size 8 (not that this has ever stopped me before), I thought that this might be a good time to actually knit it!

Now, I’m normally a fairly good judge of how long it will take me to knit an item. The baby version (6 month size) took me under a week. So I thought no problem, I can knock this thing out in about 2 weeks. I made some progress, but…

I forgot that I had invited 30 people to my Passover Seder, and I started it late. This is a bad combination when it comes to knitting deadlines. Needless to say I’ve missed mine. I still have half a front, and some ribbing left to knit. What are the odds that I can finish it by tonight?

Dying Delight

Today, among other things, I dyed two skeins of yarn using Wilton food dye. It's overcast here, no surprise there, so I had trouble getting the colors just right in the photo. They are just spectacular in person.

I love using food coloring, because I can use all of my kitchen tools/utensils. However, it only works on protein/animal fiber. It's lucky that I just so happened to have two skeins of natural superwash wool yarn laying around.

There are many tutorials out there if you plan on trying this, but because it makes a great blog post, I'll show you what I did!

Here is what you will need:

Yarn

Wilton Food Dye - I used Teal

Crock Pot

White Vinegar

Gloves (not pictured)

Measuring Cup (not pictured) 

Tongs (not pictured)

I dyed one skein of yarn at a time in a standard household crock pot.

Step #1:

Fill the crock pot 2/3 full with almost boiling water. You could use room temp water and let the crock pot heat it up, but I just didn't want to wait that long. Add 3/4 cup white vinegar. Set the Crock pot to HIGH.

Step #2:

Creating your dye bath.

This is where you add your food coloring. You could mix it separately in a small measuring cup with water and then add to the crock pot, but I threw caution to the wind and just mixed it straight into the crock pot.

It was sort of hard to see how saturated the color was because I have a dark green insert. So to check the color, I dipped a white coffee filter in the mix. Sorry no picture, I was way too involved to snap one.

Once you get to the saturation you want move on to step #3. A word to the wise, err on the side of less dye, you can always make it darker if its too light.

Step #3:

Adding your yarn to the dye bath. You have many options here depending on the effect you want.

For my skein #1, I wanted a tonal effect. Therefore, I twisted my skein first,

and then added it to the dye bath dry. Why dry? I did this so the outside would absorb more of the dye than the inside. My pictures didn't turn out because it was all very dark.

Note: make sure your yarn is fully covered. Add more hot water if necessary.

I covered the crock pot, left it on HIGH, and let the yarn sit for about 45 min. Then I went back, and using tongs, I slowly untwisted the yarn and gently swirled it around a bit. I covered it again and left it for about another 45 minutes or so.

.....................................................................................................................................

For skein #2, I wanted a more solid color. Therefore, the yarn was soaked the in warm water for 15 minutes, then the excess water was squeezed out. I slowly added the yarn to the dye bath and gently swirled it a bit , It should look a little like this:

Again I covered the crock pot, set it on HIGH, and let it sit for about 1 1/2 hours.

.....................................................................................................................................

At this point the water should be clear, and all of your dye exhausted. If it isn't, cover and let sit for another 1/2 hour. If you are happy with your yarn (I was) move on to Step #4. If not, mix more food coloring with a 1/2 cup water and carefully add to the crock pot.

Step #4:

Rinsing the yarn

Using the tongs, carefully remove the yarn and let cool. I just set mine in the sink. Gently run under warm water until no more dye bleeds out. Squeeze out excess water.

Step #5:

Heat setting the color.

Now, because the yarn was sitting in a nice hot dye bath for 1 1/2 hours, this step is probably not necessary, but I threw it in for good measure. I set mine using steam.

I covered and steamed the yarn for 15 minutes, then allowed it to cool.

All that's left now is to hang the yarn to dry, step back, and admire your beautiful hand-dyed yarn! Oh and of course take lots of pictures and show off!

Week in Review (vol 2)

I know that this is becoming a theme this week, I meant to post this yesterday. Better late that never, right?!
1.
I have a favorite pair of gloves. They look like this:

I knit these back in 2010. A couple of weeks ago I was wearing them when I noticed they had a small hole between the first and middle finger. That's funny it wasn't there when I put them on. So I took them off to have a closer look.

Sure enough one of the tails had worked itself out. I set them aside to fix them, and they quickly became buried under all the junk stuff that had accumulated in the sitting room. As I was cleaning up, I came across them. Yet another bonus to the mad cleaning.

I'm happy to report they they all fixed and I'm happily wearing them. I will have to remember to do a better job of weaving in my end in the future.

2.
We had a birthday here this week. The Engineer turned...... (OK, you know I not going to say.) What's a birthday without a cake? I made banana cake with caramel frosting. Everyone enjoyed it, and it didn't last very long.

3.
Valentines Day is fast approaching. This means that I have to come up with valentines cards for the kids to take in for their classmates. We've had some issues recently with food allergies (and parents disregard for them). Therefore, I was determined that this year I'm going to send in completely food-free valentines.

I'm also not a big fan of the cookie-cutter cards that you can get at Wally mart (thanks Deb), and each of the kids come home with 2 or 3 of each one. So, thanks to my addiction to Pinterest and my wonderful Knit Sib Larissa I made heart crayons.

I used up all the old broken crayons we had lying around the house. They're not done yet, I still have to turn them into valentines. Stay tuned and I'll show them to you when I'm done.

4.
One of my favorite Disney movies is Beauty & the Beast. The kids and I met some wonderful Friends at the theater for some 3D fun. We all had great time. I think I enjoyed the movie more than the kids.

5.
This week the appliances felt that they were feeling slightly neglected and need some attention. I had to have a repair guy out not only for the washer, but the oven as well. My bank account is significantly lighter, but the everything is in working order, for now.

And because I know that you've been on pins and needles waiting for the update. The house survived the 4 day weekend! I even managed to make some progress.

6.
I'm beginning to recover from my recent bout of startitis. I'm making progress on my Traveling Woman and The Last Holiday Gift. My gloves however are still mocking me from the bottom of my knitting bag.

Week in Review (vol 1)

I have decided that Friday's will be a week in review. My chance to ramble on about the comings and goings that didn't make it into the blog. That being said, I'm having some trouble remembering what I did this week. I will have to take notes in the future.

Morning Routine:

If you've happened to pop over to Fly Lady, and looked around a bit, you would notice she's a big fan of routines. My big push this week has been my Morning Routine. So here it is:

Get up
Make the bed
Get the kiddos ready for school (with help from the Engineer)

Make breakfast
Make lunches
Empty the dishwasher
Run a load of laundry
Clean the main floor bathroom
Get the kiddos on the bus.

It's been working for us so far. We'll see if it still works next week.

Yet anther knitting group?!

On Monday I met a friend at the local Starbucks. We hadn't gotten a chance to sit down and schmooze since the holidays. While we were there I stumbled upon a knitting group. How did I not know that there was a group that met right here in my fair city?

I don't know how I could have missed this! They seem like a great group of ladies. I would love to try and go for a bit. Not next week though, the kids are off for MLK day.

The washing machine fiasco:

If you noticed from my morning routine, I've been running a load of laundry every morning. Yesterday however, I decided I needed to run an extra load. So before dinner I loaded up the washer, hit start, and went merrily on my way.

About a half hour later I hear a beeping coming ominously from the laundry room. Hmmmm, why is the washer not spinning? May it's just feeling a bit tired. So I hit cancel and let it rest for a few minutes. Then I ran a rinse/spin cycle.

Then I hear it! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! And the washer starts hollering beeping at me again.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Needless to say, I still have a soaking wet load of laundry that needs attention, and the repair guy is scheduled for Monday. Wish me luck!

Startitis!

It happens every January. I get a bad case of startitis.

startitis: refers to a rarely fatal affliction that often affects knitters and crocheters where they begin several projects all at one time but don't really make much progress on anything before starting another new project.

In the past week I've knit 3 hats:

Started the Traveling Woman Shawl (I know it doesn't look like much now):

Started the Princess's birthday cardigan:

and, started the last of my holiday knitting. Yes, I'm a little behind. I won't show a picture yet, because the recipient might actually read this.

On a more encouraging note, I did manage to restrain myself from casting on this amazing shawl:

I plan on casting on in February after I've finished the 4 projects I'm currently working on. I'll let you know how that goes.

Updates:

I'm making slow, but steady progress on my gloves. I have the index fingers and the thumbs left.



My kitchen and dining rooms are still clean. So is my foyer and foyer closet. I'm also still working on the sitting room. Next week will be our first big challenge as the kids are off of school both Monday and Tuesday.

Yarn Bombing

First what is Yarn Bombing?

In a nut shell Yarn Bombing is a type of graffiti that uses yarn instead of chalk or paint. It employs the use knit or crochet items to turn everyday objects into a work of art. If you are interested in more amazing examples, just Google it!

Yarn Bombed car

Today I got to be a part of a unique Yarn Bombing event. Playhouse Square teemed up with one of our local yarn shops, Soft 'n Sassy, to cover the Place theater with a rainbow of knit items; hats, scarves and mittens. All of these warm and cozy items will be donated to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital at the end of the event. (more info here.)

I met two of my wonderful Knit Sibs Erica and Jen for a knitting marathon. We, along with several other industrious knitters worked on hats an scarves to add to the growing collection of knit goodies.

We had a great time!

I also produced my first finished object of the year!

The pattern is Tinker. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft. All in all it was an enjoyable and productive day!

Eddy

Well, it actually looks like winter has arrived here in Northeast Ohio. I'm cold!!! There is no getting around it. The thermostat is still set at the same temp, but I'm freezing! I'm bundled up in a hand knit hat, sweater, and fingerless mittens, but it's no good. Maybe a nice hot cup of coffee will help.

Today is the perfect day to sit on the couch and knit some. In that spirit, I thought that I should introduce you to my first knitting project of the year. Every year after my Holiday knitting is complete (normally on Dec 24th), I start a project just for me. This year I've chosen:

Eddy!

The pattern is designed by Julia Mueller. Her designs are just incredible. (If you are not on Ravelry you can find them all here.)

I'm using Knit Picks Essential in the colorway Sarge. The yarn was a birthday gift from my wonderful Knit-Sib Deb!

I'm just getting ready to add the fingers

For those of you who know me, I always knit my gloves/mittens/socks/sleeves/etc two at a time. Therefore, not to worry, the right glove is also awaiting fingers.