Thursday, August 30, 2007

UFOs

I am feeling a bit frustrated lately. I cannot seem to get a rhythm going on any project. I've got a number of UFOs going that I need to finish - this is from suffering 'finishitis' (or was it 'unfinishitis'?) Anyway, I need to finish a number of things and just cannot get to it.

Also, I've got some socks on the needles and I just cannot get into the swing of them. That is probably because they are a departure for me. I usually do socks as mindless knitting. These mystery socks are taking some concentration. I cannot do them and multitask. Sigh.

Hopefully, with this long weekend, I'll get over this hump.

Friday, August 24, 2007

WIPs

Just a short note about works in progress today. This is on my mind for a couple of reasons. I was reading the Yarn Harlot's blog about her unfinished objects (UFOs) and her various works in progress (WIP). As always, she is an interesting and amusing read.

Anyway, I am going camping this weekend and am trying to decide which project to take along. I will be the only knitter there so I don't want to take anything that is too complex (Mystery Sock) because it will take me away from the group. I also don't want to buy anything new because I am trying to finish several WIPs and use up a little bit of stash for whatever new projects I start.

I was going to take the 2nd self-striping sock (from On-Line yarn) but cannot. I only have 1 pair of Knit Picks metal double-pointed needles (DPNs) and cannot move them from the project they are in. Sigh.

One of the lessons here is that I need more knitting needles - there are never enough. Another is that I must keep a simple project going at all time!!!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

A Valuable Resource

A while back, I stumbled across a useful website. If you go here you will find an index of, at latest count, more than 3000 yarns.

This may not seem like such a big deal but it can be extremely helpful. For example, if you are searching for the weight of a particular yarn, you can go here and search by brand. It will allow you to search by weight, and find comparable yarns. It was helpful to me when I came across a pattern that called for a discontinued yarn. I was able to go to Yarndex and find the discontinued yarn entry and other yarns of similar weights.

It was also a benefit when I couldn't find a particular yarn from a specific manufacturer. It was something that few retailers seemed to carry. Yarndex gave me the info and I was able to get something that worked for my pattern.

There are a few yarn entries that have the option for purchase. They are hyperlinked to the folks who own the site.

OTN: I still have Mama Monkey's Mystery Socks on my needles. I had to frog the first couple of rows of the leg pattern. I was frustrated and put it down for a couple of days. Now, I am still on the first pattern repeat but it is going well. For me, this combination of cable and a little lace-like knitting requires concentration. I've been knitting them at work, mostly, because at home I get a lapful of puppies and kitties. Sigh. I love those animals but need some space now and again.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Blogs, Journals, and 'My Diary'

Dear Diary,

I've never been good about keeping a journal. I always imposed too many rules on myself. You know . . . 'I'll write every day' or 'this journal is only for dreams (or school or love, or - insert subject)', etc.

It's always been amazing to me how people can 'journal' (when did that become a verb?) every day or blog about their lives. Well, I have a better clue now and it only took 50 years!!! Blogging or journaling is a great way of keeping track of life. It is a way of providing a bit of order sometimes, especially when life seems a bit chaotic. I find myself traveling through the day and, when something happens or a thought occurs, my response is "I want to write about that." This kind of adds a level of creativity, a dimension to activity that I didn't have before.

I've always been a strategic thinker. It is easier for me to see the big picture than the details. Because of this, the details often get lost. As it applies to knitting, weaving or another fiber activity, it is difficult to recreate something because I don't have the project record to refer to for the original piece. Another aspect of this is that I've stopped myself from doing things (dying fiber, particularly) because it seemed that it would be too much record-keeping and formulae - like Chemistry class (okay, I was procrastinating, but, for now we'll blame it on the lack of blogging). With this blog, it is all a bit more comfortable. I've been reading blogs for a bit and feel less A-B-Normal. So, we'll see how this goes . . .

Now, for the knitterly content: I've been listening to references to Soctopia.net and went to have a look. This woman (Mama Monkey) is amazing. She developed sock patterns based upon the Harry Potter characters for posting during July when the book and movie were released. And, as if these weren't fine enough, now she's got a 'mystery' sock pattern on the site. The theory of this is that you cast on and knit based upon her clues. You knit without knowing what the finished product will look like. There are 'mystery' stole projects out there but this is the first 'mystery' sock pattern I've seen. It is great because, for some, investing that kind of time, energy, and money into something like a shawl or a stole without knowing the potential outcome is a bit daunting. Not so with socks. Way cool!!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Knitting Pretty

Okay, okay - I am a sucker for knitting books. I especially like pretty knitting books. Well, what I received from our dear postal carrier today just took my breath away. Two weeks ago I ordered a nice little book from Amazon.com. Lacy Little Knits by Iris Schreier is pleasant and fun but that wasn't the true treat of the deal. When I ordered it, there was a two-fer deal at Amazon. You know the drill, "buy that and get this one, and you'll get a price break." Well, I was feeling rich that day and on a whim ordered the pair of books. I was aiming to get the first book and just liked the title of the second. Anyway, it is the 2nd book that is truly the gem. The 2nd book (have I gone on enough yet) is Annie Modesitt's Romantic Hand Knits .

Now, let me explain the difference between these books. Iris's book is just fine. The projects are nice but they are a bit mundane for me. There is a pleasant selection of patterns but none that knocked my socks off (even if I was wearing sandals). The photography is run of the mill and tends to be of the front or of 1 side of the knitted piece. There are a few pieces that I liked but the sizing was too small. Okay, yes, I admit to being, ahem, ample

Ms. Modesitt's book, on the other hand, is spectacular. The designs are inspired and novel, beautifully executed and photographed. There are good photographs of the overall garment and of the detail - often of the back of the piece. Her patterns are written for a full range of sizes (Woohoo!!). Just looking at the book and reading her narrative makes me think I could knit any of the patterns and they would all make me look good and feel sexy. Very cool!

In case you didn't know, Annie and her family recently relocated from New Jersey to Minnesota. Somewhere in the move and settling down, her husband was diagnosed with a rare (I think) and painful type of cancer (Multiple Myeloma). She is selling a beautiful pattern on her website to help support the family during this time of need. Also, if you go to this site, you can enter contests and contribute to the cause. All proceeds go to help support the family while so much of their time and energy is spent dealing with Gerry's cancer.

Obviously, I've finally learned to put links into the posts. Enough for now. Next lesson (I hope) will be photographs.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

All about the process

It is the strangest thing. I go into a new project with excitement - ready to do something new, try a different technique, use new colors - whatever. I will knit away, taking the project with me wherever I go (much to the Yorble's chagrin). Wow! It is grand.

Then, after I've been knitting a while, my enthusiasm wanes. I've learned the technique or tire of the color or the fiber. New knitting magazines, patterns, and websites start to distract me and draw my attention away from the project at hand.

No, I hold firm, I finish the work and bind off. Sometimes I even block (or felt or whatever) the piece. Then, it sits there. I've got a sweater for my sis-in-law, a felted bag for myself, and a lovely lace sun hat that I adore all waiting for me.

I've known for a very long time that I am all about the process. This is why I like making things for other folks. I don't care too much about making for myself 'cuz I don't need to wear/use/store it. I want to do it - then, I am finished.

I've got to kick-start myself into 'finishitis'. Maybe I'll take a day or two and do just that. I've got all the parts, yarns, fabric, etc. I just need the focus. But, wait, Vogue Knitting just arrived. Oh, no!!!!!

Amazing Fibery-goodness

Holy DPNs, Batman!!!

Have you seen the Ravelry website yet? Cripes, I just got through looking at the sample screens and had to pick my jaw up off of my desk.

I heard about http://www.ravelry.com/ in June. I, unfortunatley, didn't sign up until July 3rd. I am such a procrastinator!!!! Anyway, I heard about it through a podcast - probably Lime and Violet's (http://www.limenviolet.com/).

This is an amazing concept and looks like it will be even better in real life (so few concepts are). We will be able to keep track of our yarn and fiber stashes, patterns, books, works in progress, finished items, etc. We'll be able to see what others have completed, are working on, thinking about working on and so forth. We can look at patterns and see who has done them and in what yarn and see how it compares to what we are doing. (That all sounds the same - but, I know what I mean and so will you if you look at ravelry).

The folks creating this fantastic site are working hard. It is still in beta testing so you cannot just jump right in - not yet anyway. First, you have to sign up and wait. Then, hopefully, someday soon, you'll receive an invitation; then you can jump right in!!! I am slowly (and patiently) moving up in line. Now, there are fewer than 4000 people ahead of me in line and there are 11000+ behind me! There are already 12,229 people on it. Can you imagine a line like that for anything else?

I am trying NOT to kick myself for not signing up sooner. This is when procrastination is a bad thing!!! Sigh.

When I check my status, I get images of the Cold War era news stories from the USSR. There were reports (apocryphal?) that people had to stand in long lines for hours just to buy bread or shoes or cheese. People would get into a line without knowing what they were waiting for just in case they needed whatever it was. Well, don't wait! Get in line!!!

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Bad Blogger, Bad!!

Well, I had such great plans for this blog . . . I still do. But, as they say . . . "the best laid plans . . ." Cripes, I cannot even remember the rest of the quotation. Anyway, I still want to use this for knitting and fiber arts info and blogging. My thought is that I can use this exclusively for fiber and my life blog won't interfere.

That being said, here goes.I spent the weekend in Tennessee with some wonderful friends. We try to get together at least once a year to craft. In fact, we've been doing this for nearly 15 year and, since the beginning, called these "stitch and bitch" weekends. That phrase has been co-opted but, that's okay.The weekend was to celebrate my birthday. Alabama girl and Missouri girl paid to fly me from Michigan to Tennessee. Since we are all watching out waistlines, I wanted to do something special that did NOT involve cake. The One Skein has a pattern for knitted cupcakes so, I did that. I used Lion Brand cotton in fuschia for the cupcake 'cups' and two white yarns (one with multicolored, bright, 'sprinkles) for the frosting. This was fun; I packaged the cupcakes with tissue paper in little cake boxes so that they'd look like baked goods. They were fun to do and were well received. I was listening to the Knit Science podcast after I did them and the podcaster was discussing how she was going to knit cupcakes. She described the exact same color combination for her. What a hoot. When I can figure out how, I will post a photo.