Changes

Sometimes change is good. As I look to this summer season that is fast approaching, I am hoping to make some changes. Tweaking hobbies, getting healthier, spending more time at home, cleaning and sprucing up our home.

The changes have begun!  After 27 years of faithful service (meaning they wouldn’t die, no matter what we did to them.), the refrigerator and wall oven have been replaced. Good riddens! Finally, a fridge that actually keeps food from spoiling and doesn’t freeze lettuce. What joy! We decided to get a stainless steel, french door bottom freeze model cabinet depth model. Didn’t want the only thing you saw when walking into the kitchen to be the refrigerator the size of an elephant. It made it through the doorways without having to take off the doors. YEAH!  I guess you shouldn't enjoy an appliance so much, but I am weak that way.

The new oven went in last night. Oh, more joy! The clock works. The door will lock for self-cleaning cycle. The elements heat the same in the front as in the back. The knobs stay on - What knobs? - all digital. ;~)  The light bulb can be changed.  We used the old oven until it had given it’s all. Goodbye good and faithful servant!

Pictures soon.

Until next time . . . . 

There's a Cricket in the House!

A cricket in the house is good luck. Right? Well. . . this cricket that entered the house is wooden, needed assembly and eats yarn. 

That’s right!  A new 10 inch Schacht Cricket Rigid Heddle Loom now resides in our home. The Cricket is cute and small. It was a gift from some friends who know that I like knitting and yarn. And they also know that there is a lot of yarn in our home. The Cricket is supposed to eat through large piles of yarn very quickly. Supposed to. 

Schacht Cricket Loom (picture from Schachtspindle.com)

The first project on the loom has been completed. I used some yarn left over Cascade Luna from Lucy to make a dish cloth and to practice plain weaving. The solid yarn was lovingly warped between the loom and the warping peg to make two cloths. Then, the variegated yarn was used in the weft.

Plain weave on left and looped dishcloth on right.

The first cloth was woven way too tightly, but has a neat stripe that was unexpected. The second was woven into a looped dishcloth using a straight size US 8 (5.0 mm) knitting needle. This method makes a great cloth, but it is quite slow. 

The next project on the Cricket was made with Sugar and Cream cones in ecru and green.  The project used all the slots and holes to utilize the entire width of the loom. I alternated two ends white and two ends green on the warp.  I also alternated two picks white and two picks green on the weft.  This makes a wonderful houndstooth cloth. I wove the dishcloth 9 inches square. I hemstitched the beginning and end of the cloth while still on the loom. 

Houndtooth Fabric

Hemstitched edge and cardboard spacer

Loom ready for to weave. 

Supposed to use up stash. Well . . . I had the ecru in stash but bought the green cone yesterday. Hmmmm.

Having fun with the new Cricket, but I can see that this might not burn through the stash as much as had been hoped.

We’ll see.

Until next time. . . . . .

A New Love

Lucy is Finished!  What a delightful knit. She has had a bath, lovingly squeezed and is drying on her yoga mat. The pattern directions were very clearly written. I am pleased with the colorwork and plan to use the alternation of variegated and solid yarns on future projects. Great design feature. Cudos to c2knits!

I tried on Lucy before her bath. She feels like a luxurious bathrobe. She fits well. Unfortunately, I am finding that while I like knitting raglan sleeve sweaters, I don’t like the way they look on me.  I think I need more structure in the shoulder and sleeve join.

I plan to wear Lucy and show her off. She will be a great sweater to grab when the air conditioning gets too cold to bear. She will be warm and cozy.  

Since my needles were lonely, I cast on and finished a 7 inch by 7 inch lace acrylic square for our guild blanket project. Each month someone teaches a new skill that we adapt to a square. One brave soul in the guild is sewing the squares together. Thank goodness, it is not me!

A few mistakes - Realized I needed stitch markers!

My small needles were also  lonely, so I cast on and finished one very tiny baby sock in watermelon pink Pediwick sock yarn using my Fingering Weight Baby Sock Pattern. The project made for an enjoyable evening. The needles are calling to me to finish the other one. Maybe, I can ignore them for a few days.

Another sweater has become my new love. I picked up the Locke Street Cardigan by Glenna C. and looked it over. I am about 5 inches into the sleeves working them two at a time. The reason for my straying from this sweater is not the cables, is not the small needles (US 5 (3.5 mm)), and is not the dark forest green alpaca yarn. The issue is two at a time. Constantly untangling the yarn. Just not fun. So slow!!!! I know many knitters like the technique, but I hate it.

So, I put one sleeve on hold and am only working with one sleeve. In 30 minutes, I have completed two pattern repeats. Yeah!  The knitting seems to be flying by. This sweater also has set in sleeves which should be a better fit for me.  So far, delightful. Like we are dancing smoothly together. 

Don’t tell Lucy!

Until next time . . . . 

Socks ADD

For someone with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), vanilla socks are a nearly perfect knitting project. Why you say?  

Well, think about it. You pick a beautiful yarn - self patterning or self striping is best because the pretty colors and patterns that are continually changing will keep your attention.  

You grab your circular needles, or needle if you prefer magic looping, and using Judy Becker’s Magic Cast On, you cast on a small number of stitches. The magic begins. Oooh! What’s not to love?

You begin increasing every other round until you have doubled your number of stitches and are tired of remembering which round you are on -- is this an increase round or a plain round? This section has been just interesting enough to keep from being distracted. Plus the yarn is still changing pretty colors. Yeah, I’m simple that way!

Next after all this casting on, counting and increasing, you can settle down for a few inches of plain knitting. Aaah! Oh wait, even though the colors are changing, this is starting to get a little booooooring.  

Time to do something else.  Just in time, the gusset appears. You place pretty markers and increase only on one needle. Oooh! look at the nice triangles forming. Then, you are suddenly sick and tired of increasing, counting and trying to remember which round you are on. Did I increase this round or is this a plain round?

Enough of this!  Ooooh! It’s time to turn the heel. Where is my pattern?  Quiet everyone, this is serious business. No interruptions, please. Knit, turn, slip, count, purl, turn, slip, count, knit, turn, slip, count. . . . Aaah! . . . .oh!. . . ktog, count, slip, turn, ptog, should I be counting or slipping. Why did the pattern slip to the floor? “Somebody, answer the phone! Can’t you see that I’m turning a heel?”

Phew! done! now only have to knit a slip stitch heel flap. Kind of relaxing after the heel turn. 

Boy! am I tired of this slipping and knitting.  Oh, look! Time to knit plain for the leg. And, . . . . .when you are sick and tired of knitting plain, it’s time to knit the ribbed cuff. Aaah! knit one, purl one, knit one, purl one, knit one, purl one, . . . . .

Yeah! cuff is done. Now enough of this knitting. Time for the sewn bind off. Where is my yarn needle? Oh, there it is. Now, where are my scissors? 

Weave in the ends. Oooooh! how pretty! Admire. Show to everyone. And . . . .You grab your circular needles, or needle if you prefer magic looping, and using Judy Becker’s Magic Cast On, you cast on a small number of stitches. The magic begins. Oooh! What’s not to love?

Until next time . . . .  

What Lucy Doesn't Know Can't Hurt Her

Last blog - Lucy was everything. I could think of nothing else. Today, and for the last few days, she has sat waiting in the project bag. It’s not so much that I don’t like her anymore, but that the passion has waned. 

Well, not really.  I still love her and want to finish her before it gets 100 degrees F (37 degrees C) here. Unfortunately, a few things have come between me and my love.

Many may not know, but I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). I have never been diagnosed. They didn’t do that when I was growing up. Over the years, I have worked hard to channel my thoughts long enough to complete a project, a meal, a book, or even a thought. It usually goes unnoticed. 

I try very hard to only have a few knitting projects on the needles. Right now I have three -Lucy, a beautiful alpaca cabled cardigan, and a cotton baby blanket.  But, I digress.... back to Lucy.

Everything was going swimmingly. She was growing at a marvelous rate. Good for a sweater, not so good for a girl. Only have three inches of sleeve left before it is time to knit the cuff. 

Then it began! The issues!  First, Lucy is a jealous lover and doesn’t like anyone around. As the sleeve progresses, there is a decrease every inch which needs to be measured or counted and a coilless safety pin used to mark it. With all the counting and measuring and pinning, there is little time for anyone else. Not a good knitting circle project. Lucy doesn’t like to share!

Second, as the sleeve got longer, and a coilless safety pin was placed every inch at the decreases to ensure that when the second sleeve is knitted that the decreases will match. (At least, that is the theory.) Imagine the horror as the sleeve progressed and it was noticed that there were no more pins. And, no stitch markers that open. And, the LYS is closed. Yeah, Yeah,Yeah. I could have gone old school and used yarn loops. But, really! On my new love? Never!

I put her lovingly down in a beautiful project bag and picked up my laptop to catch up on my favorite podcasts. After all, I didn’t want to be unfaithful to her with another knitting project.

As I was watching the podcasts, I received a call from Karen at my LYS. (What was she doing there after hours?!) The yarn to work the cuffs and borders of Lucy is on backorder! Another horror! What am I to do?

Should I finish her up to the point where she only needs cuffs and border? Or wait and finish her in a whirl wind of knitting after the yarn comes in?

I have to blame my favorite podcasters for what happened next.  As I was watching Suzee and Lisa and Vicki and Claire and Wendy and Sheila and Laura and Leslie and Carin and Steve and Callie and Heather and Katie and Dawn and Aimee and Darren and Nicole and Diane and Erin and ......., I  saw socks, socks, socks! All being finished and so beautiful!

But, I didn’t want to start a long project when a trip to the store for more pins was near. So, I followed Katie’s lead. Learn about the Fleegle heel and cast on baby socks. In an hour the first was finished. Another hour, and I had two! Oh, the joy of small needles, fingering self patterning yarn and a completed project. 

Maybe, Lucy didn’t see.

Until next time . . . . 

"Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do."

I was innocently minding my own business, when Lucy came along and messed up my nice, almost, ordered life. I am the one who knits a pair of socks and at least one baby item for the gift drawer each month. Now, I don’t even want to look at anything but Lucy. 

Lucy, the cardigan, that is.  A wonderful topdown, seamless, shawl-collar cardigan designed by c2knits, knitted out of Cascade Luna and Luna Paints. 

It was a normal day when I walked into my LYS, and sat down at the table. There were a few other knitters around the table flipping through the binders of individual patterns. I joined them. How was I to know that this would be the beginning of the end. After all,  it was just a little look. What could that hurt? Flip. . . “Oh, that’s a nice one.”; flip . . .  “oh, look at this one.”; flip  . . . . “oh, my! I have to have that one!”, NOW! 

Yep! I saw the pattern and knew I was sunk. Bought Lucy and the 12 skeins of yarn in lightening speed. Couldn't  wait to get her home and swatch her. Oooh! she slides so smoothly around the size US 7 (4.5 mm) Knitter's Pride Symfonie Wood Dreamz needles. I am in loooove! 

Goodbye Hermione’s Everyday Socks, Goodbye Striped Baby Blanket, Goodbye Stephen West's Bedrock, Don’t even think about it, Summer Flies Shawl. You are no longer the loves of my life. I’m sorry. I don’t have time for any of you. Lucy is my love now.

She has taken over my life. I haven’t been cooking, cleaning, running errands, visiting friends. Nothing. I only want to spend time with her. First it was the neck, then after only a what seemed like a few rows, dividing for the sleeves and then binding off the body. Now the right sleeve is on the needles. She is luscious. She is smooth. She is a joy to behold.

I guess I have it bad!  I will be spending all my time with Lucy.

Until next time . . . . 

I Cry Uncle!

Yes, I am crying Uncle!  KAL fail. I watch a few lot of podcasts and belong to a few lot of groups on Ravelry. Almost everyone is hawking a KAL (knit a long).  I tried. I really did. I tried to keep up and join most of the KALs. 

My nonknitting life is a zoo. I use my knitting to relax and decompress. However, trying to do all the KALs has caused my eye to twitch and me to lose sleep. I am a pretty conservative knitter with usually only two projects on the needles at a time. One simple and almost mindless and the other quite complicated and time consuming. 

With the KALs, I had 7 projects on the needles and have been waking up in the middle of the night, obsessing about one or more of them.  This is not going to work. Knitting is no longer fun!

I am, as of today, taking charge of my knitting. I am going to still watch the podcasts and ooh and ah, but will not be Knitting A-Long. Whew! how liberating.

Some of the barely started projects, I have abandoned and sent to the frog pond. I have placed the yarn for other, to be started projects, back in the stash closet. I have bagged up some others that I will work on when they call to me, not because there is a deadline for them to be finished, but because I really want to touch the yarn and knit the mittens or baby blanket or socks.

I am going to review the goals I set for 2012 and see if they are still doable. I am going to lovingly knit my Lucy Cardigan and enjoy the idea of being able to wear this cotton cardigan all summer and into the fall. I am going to pick up the Locke St. Cardigan only when I am relaxed and can work the cabled sleeves two at a time rejoicing in the twisty goodness of the forest green baby alpaca.  

Well, look at that! Two projects. Only two. Two I love. I can feel the knitting mojo returning, the shoulders relaxing, the eye twitch lessening. I can feel the joy returning. 

Ahhhhh!