My Stash

The Stash

Originally uploaded by fairgirl

I know I have a small stash and I like it that way. But looking at that picture makes even me think ,”Damn, that’s small!”

Organizing My Knitting Bits and Pieces

One of the unfortunate side effects of being a recovering pack rat is that I am always in the midst of organizing and reorganizing something.  So today I noted that on my never-ending To-Do list was “Organize knitting stuff.”  And I was dreading it because it was certain to be a mess.  But it wasn’t.  Actually it was very well organized.  Aside from shuffling the odd paper around, taking a few pictures, and  entering some things into Ravelry, I was good to go.  So either the cat has been taking care of this stuff or I have been in my sleep.  I really hope the cat did it and plans on keeping it up because I need all the quality sleep I can get.

Anyway, since I am always fascinated by how other people organize their stuff, I thought I would share how I organize my knitting stuff.

Yarn and other bits and pieces are kept in the brown containers.  The picnic basket has been repurposed to hold projects and the necessary odds and ends.  It is portable so I can take it and knit wherever I feel like in the house, on the deck, or on porch.  The red binder holds patterns, notes, swatches, and circular needles.  The canvas bag also holds WIPs.  Wooden straight needles are in the blue vase.  Under the table are some knitting books but most of my knitting books and magazines are in a bookcase in another room.  Hub made me the table a couple of years ago. 

And yes, I know I have a ridiculously small stash.  If Stephanie Pearl McPhee came to my house and saw my stash she would feel the need to do an intervention.

I have given up on Monogamy

No, not that kind of monogamy, knitting monogamy.  Previously I was the sort of knitter who only worked on one project at a time.  I think this came from some sort of work ethic my parents instilled in me.  But since most of my knitting is done in public this really limited what I could knit.  Then on one of the Knit Picks podcasts, Kelly Petkun talked about the number of different projects she had on the needles and the reasons behind having different projects.  I realized that it really made sense for me to always have a portable project to stuff in my bag as I ran out the door so I could maximize my knitting time.  Anyway, right now I am blocking a small item (I will talk about that another time) and have on the needles another pair of Fuzzy Feet, the second Five Hour Baby Sweater, and the Bulletproof poncho.   

I think I should mention that I really enjoy the Knit Picks podcasts.  Initially I resisted because I feared the podcasts would be all about peddling the knit picks products.  However, Kelly knows her stuff.  In my fantasy life Kelly is my knitting expert auntie .  The knitting on a budget episode is a really solid and helpful episode.

Farmer Tans

The computer and camera have not been on speaking terms this week.  And I like to post pictures with entries.  Anyway, for your entertainment - my farmer’s tan. 

That is about as tan as I will get all summer.

Now, Hub’s farmer’s tan.

It has got even darker since I took this photo last week.

Resisting Clawing My Eyes Out

 

At WWKIP day I started the second Five Hour Baby Sweater.  It is a fun knit and since I would be taking the train a few times this week I was looking forward to getting some serious work done on it.  When I finally found myself on the train the other day,  I happily settled in to do some knitting.  First out came the yarn and next the needles.  Then I realized that I had forgotten the pattern.  Prime public transportation knitting time -WASTED.  I almost knit on it just to knit but I did not want to have to rip back. 

To make matters worse, I did not even have a book with me.  I almost bounced off the train in frustration.  I did have to seriously resist the urge to claw my eyes out.  At least I had my Ipod so I could listen to podcasts.  Yeah, knitting podcasts.  But knitting podcasts can be very annoying when you CANNOT knit.  So after my errands were done I headed over to Gotta Knit to pick up some yarn and needles.  I am itching to do some socks.  Gotta Knit has moved.  I did not know this.  Clearly I was not meant to get any knitting done that day. 

 

          

 

Velcro Kitty and World Wide Knit In Public Day

First up, Kitty was very needy yesterday.  He woke us up with his “I am going to puke” noise.  Of course, we immediately swung into action so he upchucked on some paper towel and not the carpet.  He spent the rest of the day staying close to  one or both of us.  I have heard that cats are supposed to be aloof.  Apparently, Kitty never got that memo and I am glad for that.

On Saturday I attended my first WWKIP event and it was cool [yes, I am totally dating my self by using the word "cool"].  The event really embodied what WWKIP day is supposed to be about - knitters coming together to meet and enjoy each other’s company.  Members of three local knitting groups were there.  I got to meet some very nice people.  A local knitter, Marie, organized the event.  Go Marie!

The WWKIP website suggests that you might meet a neighbor.  I not only met someone who lives a block away from me, I discovered that I have been chatting on Ravelry with someone both my Mom and I know in real life but had not seen in years! Guess what?  Mom already knew this woman was a knitter and Mom also tells me that she is a super talented crafty person.  So two things I have suspected to be true are once again proven:

(1) My Mom really does know everything [she just does not always know she knows ; ) ]; and

(2) Knitters are everywhere. 

And now that I have met some local knitters I am looking forward to knitting with them.

 

Got that Baby Sweater Done in the Nick of Time

Well from the photo in the previous post with the Five Hour Baby Sweater in the cradle, it is clear that I did get it done for the baby shower.  But just barely.  After I found the pattern, got the yarn, and finally settled on using size 9s I faced the problem of that I only had one size 9 circular (Addi Turbo, no less) and needed another size 9 needle to do the sleeves.  This realization hit me on a Sunday when I got to the sleeve.  I have so many needles that I could not believe that I did not have what I needed.  

None of the local LYSs are open on a Sunday.  Or even Monday.  I found myself deeply mourning the closing of the local Rag Shop and mad that I have never bought myself a set of those Knit Picks Options needles.  Out of desperation I went to a Wal-Mart that Monday at 7:15am.  I do not often go to Wal-Mart but I know that some carry crafting stuff and some do not.  This one did not.  So that afternoon between meetings I tried to get to a knitting shop that I had never been to.  I got lost.  Very lost.  I ended up driving around lost and cursing like a sailor. No knitting got done that evening.

On Tuesday I finally got to Patricia’s Yarns and purchased not only a set of size 9 straights but also a set of 9 dpns. I will never go without 9s again!  The plan had been to do most of the sweater on Sunday and Monday because my week was jam packed and we were leaving on Friday.  Well, of course, that did not work out so I was squeezing in knitting whenever I could, mostly between midnight and 4am.  This left me cranky, tired, and basically freaking out.  Some of my sweet friends tried to talk me out of this.  But I was a woman on a mission.  To be honest the project is an enjoyable one.  The yarn is lovely, the pattern is essentially a quick knit, and I love my Addi Turbos.  But I make mistakes when I am tired and I kept making stupid mistakes that required me to frog and reknit.  I finished at 8:30 on the morning of the shower.  Okay,  I did not block it.  I convinced myself that superwash does not need blocking [I will probably block it when I go up for the birth].

So a little review of this project - I would definately do this project again with the Lorna’s Laces using size 9 needles [now that I have them].  I would like to say ”thanks” to Courtney of the Yarntootin blog for the pattern.  It is a very cute sweater but not girly so it can be made if you do not know the gender of the baby.  Also, the sweater looks to be a good size [we will see when the baby is born].  I did not want to do a really small size because the baby may never wear it if he/she is big at birth.  The construction requires a minimum of seaming, which I prefer, especially for baby stuff.  Go Courtney!

 

I am not sure if the colors of the yarn are showing up well in the pictures I have posted.  But in real life the colors are just vibrant and joyful.  This yarn is adorable and a pleasure to knit with.  Now that I have picked up the second pair of Fuzzy Feet [I know, I know, enough with the Fuzzy Feet] again, that yarn feels so rough in comparison. 

So - good pattern, good yarn, cute sweater.                       

Back from the Baby Shower

We came home yesterday after a great weekend.  We got to spend time with the family, have some good food, and snuggle BIL and SIL’s cat.  Yes, that is their cat’s butt sticking out in the picture above. 

Thanks for the wrapping suggestions both in the comments and in emails.  It turned out we could not find a big bow and Hub voted against a bunch of little bows.  So we covered it with a crisp white sheet and then draped over that an extra large colorful baby themed [with baby animals, including lambs : ) ] gift bag.  It worked out well.

The cradle was the last gift opened.  My BIL [he knew what it was because he had to carry it up the stairs for me] took my SIL over to the gift.  She touched the top, looked at me, and asked if Hub had made something.  I nodded “yes.”  She took off the covers, looked at it, and started to cry.  Of course, then I started to cry.  Then other people started to cry. 

Hub was surprised when I told him that his cradle caused us to cry.  I was also surprised at the reaction.  But if we had thought about it beforehand, we should have known better.  It was an emotional day celebrating the impending arrival of a much anticipated child who will be well loved.  Hub put his heart into that cradle and I am glad people could see that.      

How do we wrap a Cradle???

Well my SIL’s baby shower is on Sunday.  I had previously mentioned that Hub was working on a special gift.  As you should have figured out from the title - he made an awesome cradle!  Go Hub!

This is a picture of it almost done.  Hub did some more finishing on it after I took the picture. 

It is made out of cherry and he has been hard at work on it for weeks.  It has been really interesting to see it go from a bunch of boards to an actual cradle.  From the picture I think you can see that the headboard and footboard each angle out.  The sides also angle out.  The idea of getting that all to fit together would give me a headache, like a seaming an Aran sweater sort of headache.   But Hub’s take on it,”Fitting the angles on the back was the worst part.” 

Hub’s workshop has been a hive of activity as people have been popping in to check on his progress with the cradle.  The most ardent fan has been my Dad.  And let’s face it - the man knows cradles.  He is, after all, one of 17 (yes, 17) children and when he was growing up babies went into cradles as cribs were unheard of.    My parents went away last week.  On Monday when they came back to town their first stop was Hub’s workshop.  When I opened the door Dad almost ran over me in his eagerness to check on the progress. 

Anyway, the shower is on Sunday.  With the cradle we are including a mattress, mattress pad, sheets, a bumper, and hopefully a completed Five Hour Baby Sweater[ I am still working on that :)].  I plan on arranging all of that stuff nicely in the cradle but then what?  If I was giving this to anyone other than my SIL I would ask her how I should “wrap” this.  She is good with this kind of thing.  I am not.  But since it is for her I obviously cannot ask her.  So should I just stick a bow on top?  It is way too big for a box.  Should I cover it with fabric and a bow so she can sort of “open” it at the shower?  Any suggestions?  If so please leave them in the comments or email me at fairgirlknitsatexcitedotcom. 

Five Hour Baby Sweater

My current project is this version of the Five Hour Baby Sweater with Lorna’s Laces.  So far I am on hour three so this will definately take much longer than five hours but I already knew that from Ravelry [t.g. for Ravelry].

Because I am a ridiculously tight knitter I always start out with a larger needle size and work my way down.  I optimistically started out with size 11 needles but the texture was too loose.  Then I tried with size 10 1/2.  That was better but still too loose.  I gave 10s a shot and then finally settled on size 9s.  My fingers are crossed that the sweater will be big enough.        

Hank 

Ball

Start of Sweater
 

I am loving the exhuberance of the colors.