Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Knitting Blogs are everywhere

Even popular enough to have been mentioned on Ze Frank's The Show apparently.



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Thursday, May 25, 2006

Ribbit Ribbit

What do you get when you combine a day off of work, a new ball winder, a trip to the Salvation Army, and a knitter? ....a whole lot of nice wool sweaters to frog (unravel)!

So I bought about 12 sweaters ranging in price between 90cents and 2dollars, and after giving my SnB friends the opportunity to take any of the ones that I didn't like and didn't fit me and save them from a cruel death, I set about frogging the remainder.

Check out the remains of a lovely, very fuzzy, loosly plied DKNY red & black sweater that will now be felting fodder:



The Red and Black sleeves are asking to be made into a bag, I'm probably just going to stitch in two side panels and a strap.




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Sunday, May 21, 2006

Next winter should be fun

As I continue to knit things for myself I realize how much cool stuff I'll have this next winter.

Who says that I should stop knitting winter wear now that it's spring? Why it just hailed the other day.... and just in time for the hail I finished one all-wool fingerless mitten.

I was pleased and suprised with how well it came out, especially since I just cast-on and started knitting and added increases as I felt appropriate and started the intarsia pattern where I thought it should be, and just kind of did the whole thing on the fly.

I'm sure the pattern could be better, but still, I'm pretty happy with it:




Sunday, May 14, 2006

FOs & UFOs*...Look out Big Kids

Perhaps I can give the big kids a run for their money...or at least their yarn.

So my green lace scarf was completed and blocked in just over 3 weeks (!!!) and I'm starting to consider considering myself a fairly good-paced knitter. I know that part of my speed is due to projects becoming all-consuming and my loyal work on that single project taking up as much of my time as possible when I'm inspired by it, but nonetheless I have been finishing a good number of projects this year--4 fairly complicated scarves, one felted bag and a couple of hats (six-plus projects finished in the first five and a half months ain't bad.)And I'm happy with my work.

Pictures will be up of the green lace scarf soon (I finally sent the camera in for repairs this week), but I'm still trying to decide if I want to leave the pattern as it is, or try to figure out something different for the end border. (It looks quite different from the beginning border right now, and I'm not sure I'm okay with that.) I'll be meeting with my knitting posse tonight and will be getting my feedback and making a decision about whether I 'cut the cord' and weave in the ends, or rip back and try something new with the border.

I've started work on the Tubey sweater and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my color combination! I keep holding it up and smiling and making my co-worker agree with me about its beauty (poor thing, she's so knittundated). I'm also overly anxious, so rather than finishing one sleeve and then picking up the provisional cast on edge and starting the second I'm 3/4 of the way through one sleeve and a little less than halfway through the second. It's quite possible I'll start the body before either sleeve has been finished. I'll share pics soon!

*FO= Finished Object
UFO= Unfinished Object



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Friday, May 05, 2006

Goodness Gracious....Great Balls of Yarn!

Did I mention that my ball winder and swift came in the mail yesterday? No? Blame it on the tiredness....I was up until about 1:30 in the morning winding balls of yarn and then couldn't leave for work today until I'd wound about 3 more. I'm in love with the magic of a beautifully wound ball. I can't wait to go thrift store shopping and pick up some sweaters for unravelling!

In other news...Do you have yarn that you hate? I myself have a stash of inherited craft yarn that is not only hideously bright, and made of nasty acrylic, but it's also heineously scratchy. What is the point of using acrylic if it's going to be scratchy? So I've been wondering if I'd have to resort to massive God's Eye creationism, or to taking up making macrame hanging plant holders in order to rid myself of this yarn when I realized its perfect use...here it is the only thing that wouldn't complain about scratchy acrylics in way too bright colors...inanimate objects























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Thursday, May 04, 2006

Keeping up with the big kids

Every now and then I look at my stash, my finished objects, my blog and I feel....insufficient. I feel like I need to keep up with the rest of the pack. Although I try to tell myself that the majority of the pack has been at this whole knitting thing for 5-50 years and I haven't even been at it for a year and a half, it does little to appease my hunger for more. I think I want part of every outfit I wear to be something I made, and everytime I go out there should be something that someone, somewhere might ask "Oh, did you make that?"

Is it pride? jealousy? vanity? materialism? or just a strong competitive drive?

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it's none of the things I think it is. I think the truth of it is that I have a degree in Fine Arts for a reason, and knit and knit and knit and buy supplies as much as I like, even if I catch up with the Masons and the Dixons and the Rabbits and the Harlots, I still cannot fully fill my needs for creativity with knitting. I need more! I need non-functional objects, I need big things, and intricate things, and hard things and pointy things and rusty things, and FAR more texture than all the soft and beautiful knitting I do can ever provide.

I need to do more ART!

please note: this will probably not slow down my knitting much, but if you see the occassional strand of barbed wire thrown in with cashmere, now you'll know why.



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