Green

Before Blog Week started I figured that with a week off from talking about my current projects that I would have loads to share once normal service resumed. This was always going to be wishful thinking, but that is my favourite kind of thinking. Due to my seriously irritationg, but all emcompassing need to be working on all the things at once I've made baby steps of progress on everything, but finished nothing. Except for this:

It's the pink sparkly yarn which I proclaimed was nearly finished here back in february. This was not entirely a lie, I did in fact finish plying the yarn, I skeined it and washed it and became the very proud owner of some incredibly squiggly yarn. I think to describe it as a wee bit overplied would demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the word 'wee', so another go around the spindle was deemed necessary. Obviously I had to wait a couple of weeks, just to make sure it wasn't going to magically unply itself a bit, but eventually I just got on and did it myself. Even now this yarn is still very tightly plied, but I don't have the heart to stick it back on the spindle a third time so it will have to do. There is just over 100m there, not sure on the weight yet.

Other than that, I have just begun to ply the first half of the merino tencel. I'm plying this a lot more loosely than the pink stuff and have no doubt that this will therefore be totally underplied. Hopefully by lowering my expectations this will turn out better than I hope!

And because I don't have enough on the go I have also started spinning some new fibre I got from World of Wool last week. It's an intriguing blend of merini bamboo and soybean, which I have to say looked way more purple on my screen when I ordered it, but apparently the world wants me to spin green yarn and who am I to argue.

So what have we learned?

Having enjoyed Blog Week as much as I did, I thought I’d stretch it out bit a wee bit longer by doing a bit of a debrief now that its over.  So what have I learnt from Blog Week?

1.  That I like people reading my blog.  Until now I mostly assumed that I was really talking to myself, my sister and the odd friend dropping by.  Knowing that actual people will be reading made me think a bit more about what I was writing ( I think certainly rambled a bit less.)
2. That having topics to write about was really good.  I enjoy my blog, but when I’m busy and don’t have much time for knitting etc I feel like I don’t have much to blog about.  Times like these would be perfect to have a topic unconnected to my current projects.
3. Being given topics was really helpful and one I really liked was the one about where old knits are now.  I think I’m going to run with that one and try and pick an old project every month to follow up on.  It’s all well and good showing off shiny new knits but if it fell apart two months later or turns out to be completely unwearable I think that is worth mentioning.
4. Reading other peoples blogs has been great, there are a few I’ve read regularly before but I have discovered loads more.  Lunch breaks will never be long enough for all the blogs I want to read now!
5. That it’s a miracle that any colourwork is ever knitted.  So many people wrote about it being the skill that they aspire to that anyone who is actually doing it now looks even more fancy.
6. That cats wearing clothes is a total winner!
7. All in all I’ve just reaffirmed my knowledge that knitters and crocheters are an interesting bunch.  Loads of us all talking about the same things for a week has been fascinating.  Thanks all!

Your knitting and crochet time

Write about your typical crafting time.  When is it that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys?  What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorettes baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords?  Do you always have snacks to hand or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn’ kind of knitter?

After a full week of blogging, a complete first for me, I find myself a little stumped at the final hurdle.  I've really, really enjoyed blog week but today I just don't have anything interesting to say - clearly I've used up all my inspiration for one week.  I'll give it a try though. 

The view from my usual knitting spot.

Essentially though I don't have a typical crafting time, no particular rituals or stipulations.  If I'm in my house with nothing else to do with my hands, I will fill them with knitting or a spindle or maybe even some cross stitch.  If I'm watching something on TV which requires a little concentration then I'll make sure I work on something simple, but other than that I just pick up what I feel like when I feel like it.  I'm sure there is probably some deep subconscious reason why I choose a certain project at any given moment but I sure as heck don't know what it is. Maybe I'll give it some thought, it could make for an interesting study....or not!

So that's it, I've managed to end my blog week on a total low.   Hopefully there are lots of much better posts out there written by all of the other blog week participants.  I've come across some really wonderful blogs this week which I know I'll be keeping up with in the future and I hope I can keep this blog interesting enough that a few people come back too.

Something to aspire to

Before I start I’d just like to thank everyone who commented on yesterday’s post.  As you can see I made it through the night without any feline retribution!  My little stars, Billie and Izzy, are the most compliant kitties I’ve ever met, they’ll even go to the vet without a fuss, so I will continue to balance knitwear on them for as long as I can!

Couldn't resist one more silly cat pic!

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant?  Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft?  Maybe the skill or pattern in one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do.  Maybe it is something that you think you will never be bothered to actually make but can admire the result of those that have.

As I mentioned the other day, if I want to make a pattern and it includes a skill I don’t have then I generally throw caution to the wind and just try it.  There is, in fact, one exception to that so far and that is colourwork.  In general there are not that many colourwork projects I am drawn to, but there are a few patterns I really like and so far I have shied away from them.  One reason for this is that I have decided in my mind that it will be fiddly and awkward and will take far more concentration than I can usually muster up while I am knitting.  This doesn’t normally stop me though, I’ll happily sit and knit in stitch patterns and cables both of which do require at least a modicum of attention to be paid to them.  I invariably try to have some sort of simple project on the go so that if I have to concentrate on something else I have something to knit which requires no thought.  So just what is the hold-up with colourwork?  After much thought on this matter I have to conclude that it is because I am tight.  That's right, because I am too cheap to go and buy yarn in 5 different colours when I may actually only need a quarter of a ball of each.  However, I finally feel like I am ready to stop making excuses and dive in to colourwork and I have a 5 point plan to ease me in.

1.  Learn to spin.  In order to save myself the cost of all that different coloured yarn I will be able to spin small amounts and avoid wastage.  I will ignore any comments which point out how much I have spent on spindles and fibre in this process!

2.  Test the waters with a slip stitch pattern, such as the Patterned Mittens (all Rav links today folks) from Knitting 24/7.  Only one colour per row seems much more doable.

3. Up the ante slightly with a 2 colour pattern such as Eskimimi's Snowbaby Hat  The bonus of this is that I can buy two colours and then make a second hat with the colours inverted.

4. All being well I can stick with 2 colours but move on to a more intricate pattern, these gloves should be perfect.

5.  I should be a total pro by then and ready to take on as many colours as a pattern can throw at me.  I think I'll try and prove this by knitting something like these Cupcake Mittens, as long as I've managed to spin enough yarn by then, of course.

And now for something completely different.....

 

  

This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create

And so without further ado I present a piece of photographic 'art' I like to call Catwalk Models!

Where are they now?

Whatever happened to your .................................?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project.  Whether it be something you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person.  An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

I love the idea of this topic, seeing finished projects on peoples blogs is great but this has made me think that it would be a great idea to check back in six months later to give a true appraisal of an item.  It is standing up to wear?  Do you even really wear it or is there some heretofore unthought-of flaw in the design that only became apparent after a couple of wears.  This is something I hope I can bear in mind for future posts.

However, for today I'm actually going to look at an item which I've never actually blogged about.  In fact these socks were knitted long before I had a blog and before I joined Ravelry.  I love them a lot so I thought it would be nice if they got a few moments in the spotlight.

Terrible phone pic before I put them on yesterday

These socks bear the title of my first ever completed pair of socks - completed being the operative word here.  My first foray into sock knitting was with a sort of dusky pink ball of Opal Uni and a set of splitty bamboo DPNs.  I got just past the heel, I was enjoying the process of the knitting and I was pleased that the construction of socks had finally lost it's mystery but the endless dull pinkness was too much.  I put down the sock and started something else and by the time I went back to it I was lost.  But, the seed was sown, I knew then that I could enjoy sock knitting so I splashed a little bit more for some Opal Feelings.  I was enchanted!  It's quite sad, but the anticipation of a new colour turning up kept me going and I finished the first sock and then the second.  They weren't perfect, but they were my first socks. I wear them quite regularly and 4ish years on they are still going strong.  When I was knitting them there were some quite thin bits in the yarn, I just kept knitting and now there are a few dropped stitches where the yarn has completely snapped.

Wash and wear seems to have felted these stitches in place though and seem in no danger of getting any worse.  The only other niggle, which I have had to learn to deal with is that they just don't quite match.

That little sliver of a pink stripe on the toe there was my first lesson in accepting that socks are difficult to make match.  I've made many pairs of socks since, many more elaborate than these, but I still feel a little bit of pride when I take them out of the drawer and slip them on.  I hope to be wearing them for many years to come.

Tidy mind, Tidy stitches

How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

When it comes to my stash, it is less that there is method in my madness and more that there was a method there once.  Every now and again I have a grand sort out but gradually it all gets rummaged through (because what you need is always at the bottom) and my neatly organised stash is once again just several boxes full of yarn, odd needles, patterns and stitch markers.

Downstairs stash -recently tidied, the kind of order I treasure

Upstairs stash - reflecting reality!

Overall I’m fine with this, once in a while I get in the right mindset and spend a couple of hours making little piles out of my yarns and nestling them lovingly together in a box.  I know that chaos will gradually return, but it rarely escapes the confines of the box so it’s ok.  The only thing which really causes a problem is when I tuck UFOs in the box with the stash.  I always do this with the best of intentions, the project, yarn, pattern and any row counters all get packed in together, but before long rummaging happens and they all get separated.  Usually they can be reunited but rarely can I make any sense of it and I’m left wondering where on earth I got to with the project.

To solve this problem I’m making a real effort with new projects to keep them painstakingly documented.  I know now that the actual project itself may not stay all tidily together so I write stuff down that will help me figure it all out if I stop work on something for a while. 

Using this combination of Android app and a notebook I am so far managing to keep everything straight.  Apart from the final stitch count for the scarf I designed at Christmas, I distinctly remember writing that down round here somewhere.........