A Little Yarn On The Side

If I knew how to attach sound to my blog, you would be hearing the theme for Rocky right now.  I have gimped! In case you didn't guess from the days without blogging, the idea of gimping on the wall hanging was frightening me.  I mean, decorative stitching is a commitment that one can't really back away from--ripping it out usually leaves a mark, if it doesn't ruin the material altogether.  Yesterday, just to make sure, I marked a corner of scrap tan material with one of my "disappearing" markers.  I put it in quotes because I've learned the hard way that it may not disappear from really fussy material.  Luckily, it worked on this one, so I drew a little freehand curving, got in touch with my spine, and jumped in.  It isn't perfectly symmetrical or anything, but I'm okay with that.   It was a successful learning opportunity, and my drawing skills have always pretty much stunk, so I don't expect much of them. If this were any other year , I wou...

Okay--I think I'm the only person in the entire knitting world who is ever going to say this, but....... I don't care much for the Monkey Sock pattern .  I know, I know--it's one of THE most popular sock patterns on the planet, and I don't hate it enough to frog the socks, but I have a real problem with this which does NOT photograph well, but the two increases are lopsided.  The problem is from the increase--there's a double yarn over, then one YO is knit into, then one is knit into the back, which does create the two desired stitches for the next row but IS NOT symmetrical--I have that one yarn over at the bottom and then the sloppy little stitch on the left side.  It annoys me.  I know, I know--it's just me, but still.....I think it's awkward and it simply irritates me every time I get to that point in the pattern.  Obviously, I have symmetry issues..... In other news, the overwhelming vote is for SOMETHING on the wall hanging--which I agree with....

My parents were down for a visit today.  Which isn't the lame part--that would be the morning I spent playing on the internet.  BUT I did get a mitten done bringing me to a grand total of 11.  And I got this far on the wall hanging and now it is voting time.  Do you think it needs something added--like maybe a black stitch outline on the edge of the tan, something like this only, you know, more symmetrical and not done with ribbon?  Or just something in the corners?  Or should I leave well enough alone before I muck it up and have to start all over again?   Thoughts?

As many of you know, I lead the "Cold Sheeping" thread in my stashdown group on Ravelry--I think by default of being "she with the least amount of willpower."  ANYWAY, it was MY bright idea to issue monthly challenges this year, and the challenge for May is to finish 5 knitted projects by the end of the month.  Oh my.  Meet May project number 1: Mr. Flurry sans eyes.  I do intend to give him eyes, but getting to the black yarn requires moving a few things, and after a little strawberry-inspired insanity on Tuesday I have honestly been trying to rest my arm--you know, like a normal person would.  BUT I'm counting Mr. Flurry as done.  (And the strawberry-vanilla jam, while not as good as the strawberry-balsamic vinegar one, is still fabulous & the English muffin bread goes with it nicely) The Monkey Socks and I have worked out our differences: I must say--it works rather well to explain to a misbehaving project what it could really mean to be ba...

Tonight I decided to finally cast on the Monkey Socks for the May Project of the Month.  Since I am NOT using the stretchy yarn and they are not toe-up socks, I decided not to use my traditional cable cast on as it doesn't have very much stretch and tends to make sock bands that cut off circulation.  I decided to use the long-tail cast on. Which, it turns out, I had forgotten. Now, I don't particularly like the long-tail cast on.  EITHER I run out of "tail" with just 5 or 6 stitches left to cast on OR I end up with a humongous tail which generally turns out to be the exact amount of yarn I'll ultimately be short to finish the project.  But, I have been knitting for over 30 years and have used the long-tail cast on quite often--often enough that it's embarrassing to find a stick & string in my hand and be unsure what to do with either one.  I actually had to look it up!!!!!! I have had a lot of ups & downs with projects, but I think it's fa...

My crafting has received a very big boost recently:  1) the weather is cold & rainy and yard work is pretty miserable, and 2) I'm supposed to be resting my arm and not doing yard work in the first place.  So....meet FINISHED project number 33: 34: and 35: which I promise has advanced to actual "finished bag" stage but somehow managed to miss the picture stage.  Theo thinks I'm cheating here but I swear it's really & truly done.  In fact, project 36 is about half finished: which is going to be a wall hanging for the guest room.  The shiny red will be a frame of sorts, and it actually matches the guest room bedding really well Last week Joann Fabrics had a 50% clearance fabric sale, so I shamelessly stocked up on home decorating fabrics, as I had recently thought of some ideas for wall hangings & bags and other stuff.  So, that pledge to buy no fabric for the rest of the year?  Yup, totally blown away.  Still, I have now used up ...

Projects finished: 2 Yards of fabric used up today: 1/2 Projects of the month cast on: 1 Celebratory white chocolate martinis drunk before dinner:  1 Motor skills still remaining to figure out how to upload pictures onto blog:  0