A Little Yarn On The Side

I'm down to 12 WIPS. The bad news is.... the green shawl is no longer with us.  See all those little bits of yarn that don't seem to be attached to each other?  Well, they aren't.  After my boasting about the first finished repeat last night, I noticed that the yarn had broken off.  No problem--sometimes that can happen when one isn't paying attention.  So I spliced and went on for another row....then there was another break in the yarn, and this one I was positive I hadn't done.  Unwinding, I found another--and there were ends sticking out of the skein in odd places. When I made the retirement shawl for my mother this summer, I wound the ball too tightly with the ball winder, so I had breakage everywhere--which was totally my own fault, so though I whined a great deal, I was willing to splice over and over to get the project done.  This yarn, however, was in the original skein and call me grouchy, but I just don't enjoy playing "knit the crappy ...

As many of you know, my goal for next year is to FINISH 100 projects during the year.  Anyone who is quick with math will note that I will need to average 2 projects a week....which I have probably never really even come close to doing.  But, it is time to unveil my secret weapon...... A freakin' huge number of started projects I have never finished Yes, there really HAS been a method to my madness all along!  I'm not just a flaky knitter with ADD who can be distracted by beads/new lace/basically anything except what I'm working on.  I have been stockpiling for the point when I would get so frustrated with trying to find yet MORE room for unfinished projects that I would strike out with a mad resolution! As I write, I can look around at all my well=planned preparations:  Two Rubbermade tubs FULL of sewing projects that have kicked by arse yet to motivate me to complete them, a third tub containing long-languishing knitting WIPS that may date back to the f...

*  Moths *  The moment your husband finds out you've been storing yarn in the sleeves of one of his unused jackets.... *  Knitting a sweater as a surprise gift and mailing it off in time for a birthday, only to hear "Oh, I didn't like it" from the recipient *  Moths *  A rash fit of optimism that persuaded you to cast on a shawl on size ZERO needles *  Really fabulous clearance yarn when one is "Cold Sheeping" *  Discovering that the two sweater patterns that have given you the most trouble are from the same designer and you weren't paying enough attention after the FIRST attempt at her psychotic designs to avoid the SECOND attempt *  Frogging anything made of mohair *  Frogging in general *  Moths *  Forgetting that your purse has velcro until AFTER you have put your nice cashmere-blend knitting project inside the purse *  Managing to lose your favorite cable needle in a freak lawn mowing incident *...

*  Express shipping *  Circular needles.  Not that I don't prefer dpns for socks and such, but could you imagine doing a pi shawl with 15 pointy sticks?  *** shudder*** *  Ravelry--bless them! *  The squashability of yarn, which makes one's stash easier to hide in say, the arms of a jacket that your husband never wears anyway.  Not that I would ever do that, of course..... *  Knitting friends who completely understand that one could talk all day every day about knitting *  Tetanus shots--those of us who have managed to impale ourselves with small knitting needles understand this one *  That airlines have finally realized that a knitter allowed her knitting needles on a flight is much less dangerous than a knitter denied knitting for 6 straight hours *  Husbands who like handknit sweaters, especially if they are relatively small in circumference.  If you ever see a large man wearing a hand-knit cabled sweater, the...

With the kimono shawl finished, I am down to 13 WIPS....or 3 away from meeting the Double Dog Dare Challenge.  I have THREE projects that are really, really, REALLY close to being finished: Fleur, which is down to sewing on the beaded band, and doing beaded neckband & cuffs--exactly where it has been for the last year..... The alpaca sweater which needs a sleeve cap & some seams and a few buttons and I could actually be WEARING the darn thing..... and one of the cutest baby sweaters EVER, which needs seams and maybe the neckband and one buttonband.  ALL of them could probably be wrapped up with 2 weeks of serious application. And what am I doing with myself? Working on the baby sweater I cast on THE DAY BEFORE the Double Dog Dare Challenge began.  I have finished the back, and am zipping along on the front but it still isn't as far along as any of the more "matured" WIPS.  The upside is that I am about to finish off another skein of yarn but as ...

A couple weeks ago, Qutecowgirl tagged me with the Neno Award: The Neno’s Award Rules and Regulations: 1. As a dedication for those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging. 2. To seek the reasons why we all love blogging. 3. Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it. 4. Don’t forget to mention the person who gives you the award. 5. Answer the award’s question by writing the reason why you love blogging. 6. Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like. 7. Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post. Aside from obviously missing that "as soon as you receive it part," I always like these (even though I'm about 5 behind right now).  I especially like this one because it is so amazingly positive.  So, why do I love blogging? Because of the people I meet through it. I wish Blogger would let me respond directly to all the comments--or I knew how to make it do so--because so man...

You might have been wondering where I have been for the last few days of my crafting week, and the answer would be getting my arse kicked by: That's right--the kimono shawl, which upuntil this week has been a pretty well behaved project.  Being a gracious and loving knitter, I was willing to overlook the insane amount of time it was taking to finish.  After all, good things come to she who waits.....or so I've been told because being a very impatient person, I have never really tried that theory out.  But THEN it had the temerity to force me to cast off FIVE TIMES before it stopped puckering. Okay, you can't really see it, but it was there.  This is a picture of the 4th cast-off using a needle two sizes larger than the 4 I was working with, and it STILL pulled the lace too tight.  On the 5th try, I made every stitch so large that I think Theo could have jumped through the darn things, and finally, finally FINALLY have a finished object! AND I'm down to 1...

Washed, stretched (because it turns out that among its many other bizarre qualities is a tendency to pucker right after being washed), ironed, and de-furred, the finished bridesmaid's quilt: So far I have even managed to keep the cats off of it and only laid it out for pictures when I knew they were both snoozing in another room.   I'm thrilled to have finally finished the thing, and I love the colors.....and my friend is going to be totally and completely surprised when she receives it, being three and a half years later and everything....but I can't say that I'm overly pleased with it.  I made the border too large--even with the embroidery, the back is a different shade of blue than the front because I didn't write down what I bought in the first place and "looks like the same color" is not the same thing as "IS the same color," and the embroidery pattern looped a bit in the back even though the design is one I bought from the sewing machin...

THE QUILT IS DONE!!!!! THE QUILT IS DONE!!!!!!! THE QUILT IS DONE!!!!!!!!!!! If I knew how to make it do it, my blog would be playing the theme from "Rocky" right now.......

I have 5 days, so after dropping Andy off at the airport and running a few errands to make sure I actually had some food this week, my sidekick and I settled down to some serious crafting. First, we flattened out the cool home-decorating material though getting the pattern cut out proved a bit more difficult than I had planned.... I did manage to work around Theo without cutting his tail, but a small amount of fur was lost.... though as his winter coat is truly in now, it's pretty hard to tell.  Mercifully, Theo decided to leave the room while I spray-basted the pieces and the batting together but he was back for the sewing Honestly, if he could ever learn to operate the sewing machine without me, I think my status as Most Favorite Human would be in jeopardy. What are we making, you might ask? Cornucopias! I still want to add braid or trim to the openings of each one, and I'm pretty pleased with the small braid here but I'm thinking some sort of black de...

Tomorrow Andy leaves for a week for business, and I will be embarking on a crafting marathon (and obviously a week of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches as cooking is no part of my plan).  I have some gifts to finish, but I am really, really, REALLY hoping to finish both the quilt AND the kimono shawl while he's gone.  And, of course, I'm also hoping that the cats don't think I have been abandoned and feel the need to shower me with vermin gifts as they usually do when Andy is gone.  It's really cold here now, so even if they have the intention to do so, I'm hoping all the potential "gifts" have either flown south for the winter or are hibernating.  We haven't decided exactly what this says about the cats' interpretation of what Andy does around here.  Do they think he normally keeps me supplied with mice & birds, or are they trying to bribe me to let him come back or to keep him away?  Theo sulks if I'm gone for any length of time, but h...

After much debate and hoping everyone else would think the same way, I decided that the yarn for Andy's sweater is actually overdue from my allotted purchases from January 1, 2009 and had already been "allowed" so it wouldn't be cheating.  So.......THERE IS YARN ON ITS WAY TO MY HOUSE!!!! Being no fool--or at least not one right at that moment, I was flying through Elann's ordering process before I could be seduced by any other yarns so quickly that I didn't double-check the address and had to email them after I placed the order to explain that the address they had on file was no longer correct.  (And having a post office box where yarn can be sent so your husband won't see is a bad, bad idea....that isn't why I had one, but it's a bad idea nonetheless) I did allow a set of blocking wires, but I had been looking for a set so that was a little less of an impulse buy than one might think.  AND THERE IS YARN ON ITS WAY TO MY HOUSE!!!! Since I am 4...

So, remember last January 1 when the yarn Andy had picked out for his next sweater and which I was going to order on that day, had sold out?  Remember yesterday when I said I had resolved not to buy any yarn until January 1, 2011? Guess what? For the first time ALL YEAR Elann has their Highland Donegal in Licorice --the color Andy wants. THE VERY NEXT DAY!!!!!  Guess this proves those knitting gods DO have a sense of humor--albeit a very sadistic one.

After time, mature reflection, and a white chocolate martini, I have decided that checking the size of my stash was a GOOD thing (so you guys are totally off the hook).  If I buy NO MORE YARN and knit furiously for the next 13 months, I could perhaps be below 100,000 yards of yarn in my stash by 2011. This is exciting. Granted, 28,000 yards of yarn would be a lot to knit in one year, but my Ravelry account doesn't reflect yarn as being "used up" until the project is actually finished.  So, if I finish up a couple more WIPS by the end of the year--and several more next year--I may knock 4,000 yards off that total pretty quickly.  So.... I am NOT buying yarn at the end of the year.  I will, however, be picking out some sort of reward/bribe for myself, though I haven't decided what exactly.  It needs to be something good--maybe something I wouldn't normally buy for myself..... In the meantime, the kimono shawl is "zipping" along as much as lace eve...

So, in deciding whether or not to buy yarn at the end of the year or do another year of Cold Sheeping OR do both, some helpful person--whom I will eventually be forgiving--suggested I reexamine my stash to see where I was at.  According to Ravelry, I have 674 balls of yarn and 128,777 or 73 MILES of yarn in my stash. Oh my.... Granted, some of that yarn is involved in my 14 wips, and Ravelry really doesn't account for yarn used until a project is finished....but there is also still some yarn that isn't on Ravelry, so they probably even out.  Part of me, of course, would argue that as it's my hobby and something I enjoy, why not just go ahead and have a really large stash and to heck with the cold sheeping.  Generally, I would be of that opinion, but the fabric and yarn stash has become a bit of a space problem.  I have it all crammed INTO the sewing room, but sometime I'd like to be able to put the doors back onto the closet and perhaps be able to walk around...

In spite of all Mr. Sparky's attempts, I did actually finish the pajamas on Friday in spite of the pattern being a bit off--the way they had the pieces laid out for the medium was just impossible--I even got out the ruler & did the math--but luckily I had extra material this time, so I still got pajamas. Yesterday I finished a fleece blanket for winter though I might add our names to it later, or maybe a few beads or something.  BUT, I have now used over 60 yards of material this year.  Whoo hoo!!!!! The pajamas are just in time, as it's gotten quite cold here.  The cats no longer want to go outdoors, so they have to find new ways to amuse themselves.  Calisto has taken up yoga and Theo greatly amused the piano tuner on Friday by hopping up on the piano bench and playing some of the keys to watch the hammers hit the strings once the front of the piano was removed.  I've had my grandmother's piano for quite some time, but Andy refinished it this y...

Mr. Sparky has been part of the Chateau Sutton-Goar household for about 3 years, but until the last couple days, we were unaware of the tricks Mr. Sparky can do.  He started off his show by setting off the smoke alarms in the house TWICE, though we're still not completely clear how as there was no visible smoke or steam pouring out of him.  I thought perhaps there was something clogging his "pores," so I ran some vinegar through him to remove any mineral deposits, at which time I was introduced to a new trick--constant beeping and flashing of lights and screen.  It had a pretty decent rhythm, so this might have been the musical portion of the evening.  When unplugged and plugged in again, he introduced his next trick--a constant clicking & flashing of lights, sort of like a festive timebomb--then finished the entire act by setting off the smoke alarms again.  As we seriously hate to hold anyone back from his or her true calling, Mr. Sparky has been invite...

To summarize how MY day went...... did you know it was possible to set the smoke alarm off while ironing?????

So, there are 57 days left in the year.....which means I can buy yarn in 58 days.  Of course, since I have only used up 57 skeins of yarn so far this year, there hasn't been much of a dent in the stash overall, so the question is......... Do I Continue Cold Sheeping in 2010? I'd like to say I have grown & matured enough to be trusted with the option of buying yarn without going on a total free-for-all with the Visa, but I'd like to be taller too, and that hasn't happened either. My original plan was to buy yarn for one sweater each for Andy & I, then go back to cold sheep, but that little naggy voice in the back of my mind that is always SUCH a kill-joy has nicely reminded me that I still haven't finished the Kauni cardigan, which was my reward yarn for LAST year.  I'll probably just Beginend up ignoring Little Miss Buzz-Kill, but that does raise an interesting point. Before I started the FIRST year of Cold Sheeping, I bought--well, and insane ...

....you would be absolutely correct.  Since the costumes turned out pretty darn well, if I do say so myself, I have been taking it a bit easy on the crafting front.  However, one can only rest on one's "laurels" so long before one's "laurels" get sore, so...... meet the November Project of the Month.  Flannel pajamas!  How amazingly appropriate, don't you think?  There may have been a little peaking when drawing out of the project bin, but a project is a project.  The fabric is washed & I'm in the process of ironing it now.  In general, I love having a front-loading washing machine, but it can really turn long pieces of fabric into some serious knots. Not forgetting about my Double Dog Dare challenge, the Kimono Shawl has moved to the forefront The alpaca cardigan is super-close to being done, but I'm going to set that aside for just a little bit to see if I can channel the momentum to finish this project within November.  There are s...

They are done, finished, and have been worn!!!!!  (And without losing any parts of Andy's costume even)  The finished pirate look: And I finally wore the Dorothy costume I finished last year: Complete with the basket, Toto, "Witchy Water" for any Wicked Witch-type emergencies, a bottle of poppy killer, and a travel guide, because Dorothy probably learned her lesson about being prepared after that first trip to Oz. We attended a fabulous party last night--getting home around 1:00 AM, so today I'm feeling more like Cinderella's pumpkin than anything Dorothy.  A good day for some knitting......