A side Political note - I am boycotting Hobby Lobby

I usually try to stick to knitting with my posts. What I'm doing, what I'm making, what I'd like to make.

At least 75% of my projects use my favorite yarn - Hobby Lobby, I Love This Yarn.

But I am now boycotting Hobby Lobby.  They are filing a lawsuit in pursuit of not having to pay for contraceptives for their employee's medical plans.

I understand that they are basing this action on their belief that this is against their religious beliefs.

I struggle with that, because in my understanding of how religious beliefs work - that you can chose how you and your family behaves (barring things like human sacrifice, etc). Within a church, you can chose to ban members that don't follow your religious doctrine. That is within your religious right.

I don't believe that you have the right to chose which medical coverage your employees have the right to.

I understand that you are against abortion, and that some contraceptives, like an IUD which prevents a fertilized egg from being implanted might fall into that definition for some people. And I can understand that it would be extremely upsetting to you to have to pay for something that you don't believe is appropriate.

I also remember that once upon a time there were MANY people very angry when they could no longer own slaves in this country.

I remember not that long ago, that there were MANY people angry that they had to provide equal rights to African Americans.

For some women, birth control is a medical necessity. Probably less than 10% admittedly, but it's a reality. Another 70-80% of women within child bearing ages are (or have been) at one point on birth control out of choice. Choice is still a legal right for them.

I realize that you aren't fighting their right to chose to take birth control, you just don't want to pay for it.

But here's the rub. If I were an employer, and I didn't like it that my employees smoked. I still have to pay their insurance coverage for lung cancer treatment. If an employee who was struggling with money and can't afford to raise a child, let alone pay for birth control -- that is the VERY target audience the law is trying to cover. They can't afford the birth control, even if they want it. So what do they do? They end up having abortions or having children that they can't afford to feed and cloth. So they end up on medicaid.

I'm sorry... but the religious right are so adamant that their 'religious freedom' be placed above common sense. Contraception reduces abortion rates. You may not like abortions, but not all of the contraceptives they are fighting on causes abortions. When it comes down to it, there is no illegal abortions being performed by any of the birth control options that are covered in law.

I find it hypocritical that Hobby Lobby buys as much product as it does from China while fighting against birth control options for it's employees.

I easily spend hundreds, if not close to a thousand dollars a year on yarn at Hobby Lobby. I take samples of yarn and show it to all my knitting students (I teach an average of 100 new knitters a year). I talk pros and cons about the yarn and have been extolling the virtues of a low-cost acrylic that is as nice as their yarn.

But that won't be happening any longer.

September Planning

So much to do, so little time.

First up, a big project that I don't expect to finish until November.

Velvet Morning Cardigan - Rav Link

Made with custom-dyed yarn from Yarntopia Treasures with the base yarn from Knit Picks - Shine Worsted.

Stunning yarn. Shiny, lucsious and the color? just goregous.

Next the smaller (hahah) projects that I hope to finish this month.

• First up - a Striped Raglan sweater for my son - a test knit on Ravelry (so no pattern link). I'm using my favorite worsted acrylic - Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn... and it's coming along quickly.
• Second up - a short-sleeved sweater for myself - Ambiente - Rav Link made in a similar green to the pattern photos from NaturallyCaron.com Spa.
• Of course, there will be charity hats - hoping for two of them (minimum) - one of which will be my final item for my TKGA Master Knitters submission.
• I'm also planning a washcloth and/or scrubbie for an exchange.
• AND a Tardis pencil case.
• AND a 12" Blanket square - pattern TBD

I will feel more confident about this list once I get the first sweater finished and the second one started... and once I get one or two of the smaller items knocked out.

August End-of-month progress post

All I had left to work on was my sweater. Which was technically finished on September 1st... but I figured you'd let me post the picture of it completed in this post.

I love the cables:

But the over-all look is a little 'messy' (sigh). But not bad for a wing-it-and-see pattern. Fit is perfect.

Ravellenics Medals Earned!

August Mid-Month report

Relatively shorter list than normal.




1) Seven charity hats for Ravellenics - DONE

The first six are the same old, basic watch caps I always make.  These are headed for the woman's homeless shelter.

But the seventh one was a little more out-of-the-box. This one is baby-sized. We'll take it to the library this fall when they start collecting hats & mittens for the holidays.

2) Seven washcloths for Ravellenics - DONE! Though, I had just enough yarn left to make two extra. So I ended up with nine, total.

3) As many additional charity hats as I can complete before the end of the Ravellenics games. - Done! I ended up finishing off ten more hats this afternoon, almost 24 hours before the end of the games. I am kind of tired of hats, though again now.

I wasn't quite done with my knitting for Ravellenics, though. I had received the following cotton chenille yarn as a gift from a dyer - and thought about making a scarf. Tried a couple of different stitch patterns and a couple of different styles. And then it ended up wanting to become a big, bulky over-sized cowl instead.

(I love the different pooling)



4) Get darn close to finishing the cabled & dropped stitch cardigan as I can.  -- Ready to pick this up and start working on it tomorrow. I should have plenty of time to get it to the 'almost done' stage. My goal would be to finish it officially on Sept 1st.

August Planning

Relatively shorter list than normal.

1) Seven charity hats for Ravellenics

2) Seven washcloths for Ravellenics

3) As many additional charity hats as I can complete before the end of the Ravellenics games.

4) Get darn close to finishing the cabled & dropped stitch cardigan as I can.

July end of month report

Well, the last couple of weeks were a complete bust as far as knitting went. I landed myself in the emergency room a couple of times and then surgery. But, am back on my feet and knitting again (finally) in August. Figured I'd clear the slate for what I did (and didn't do) last month before posting my plan for this month.

Sweater/top # 1 - Oceanna Shell - done & photos previously posted
Sweater/top #2 - Striped T - started late June - done & photos previously posted
Sweater/top #3 - Cabled Cardigan with dropped stitches. Still at the 33% mark - with no progress since mid-month post.

TKGA Master Knitter Level 1 - Swatches finished. But did not even get the hat started. I was working on my guage swatch when I got ill and pulled it out... will probably wait until September to tackle the hat again.

Charity Hats - completed only 2.
Seven Washcloths - didn't complete any in July.
Teddy Bear - postponed
Blanket Square - postponed.

So, considering the last ten days or so of the month was spent ill, I think I did a-ok.

July Mid-Month Progress Post

Finished:

Sweater # 10 - Oceanna Shell

This is the shell/top that I wanted to make out of Caron Simply Soft last month. I found a better 'brown' to go with the paint yarn that I wanted to use. The stripes came out quite interesting. This was a super fast knit!

Sweater # 11 - Striped T that I've been working on since the end of May. The ends? A complete nightmare. I tried knitting this three times before and carrying the yarn up the side, but I just couldn't get the edge where the yarns swapped to look right no matter what I tried. I decided to cut the yarns instead so I could 'fix' things when I wove in ends. Yeah. Oh, well. It's 'ok' - I don't 'love' the colors still. I shouldn't have even bothered, but I was having so much trouble finding 'good' yarn that I liked to work with that would work well with summer - and Patons Silk Bamboo is an awesome yarn for summery tops. I couldn't find sweater quantities, first. Then I could only find pastels. Since I bought this yarn and started this top ( and frogged it repeatedly last year )... I have since found some nice, deeper colors (like last month's top). Only those stores now don't carry that yarn anymore either... sigh. But at least I now have three tops out of the yarn I love, even if they aren't all in shades I love.  And - I might have enough for one more top stashed away still... depending on the pattern.

All-in-all - I also don't love the 'gathering' I have at the neckline either. This is a result of a bad decision on my part of altering the pattern to try to keep the neckline 'up' and knowing I was running out of yarn. As it was I ended up using white for the bindoff row (as I had six inches left of the tan after the last garter stitch row). I might end up frogging back to the last tan section and just working the garter stitch and bind off right there with the yarn I frog out.... the only thing keeping me from doing it right now is the fact that I'm still not in love with the colors. So, I am going to see about 'living with it' as-is until next summer and if I think I'll wear it more/like it better with the change - I'll do it. If not, I'm not going to bother.

Hat #1 for July (hat # 18 out of 40 for my 2012 goal) - no pic, it's black yarn and JUST LIKE all the others - lol.

On the Needles:

Masters TKGA Hand Master Knitter Level 1 - I have 14 out of 16 swatches completed (to my satisfaction) and have two swatches and a hat left to make for my submission. My hope is to finish the last two swatches and the hat either this weekend or next (preferably this weekend). And focus on the documentation in August with my goal of submitting it for review at the end of August. I have really struggled with the documentation side of things as while I tried to work on it while working the swatches (per recommendations) ... I just never got off the ground with it (sigh).

Sweater # 12 - Top down, raglan sleeved, white cardigan - covered in cables and dropped stitches. You will only be able to see the cables in the photos I'm posting - because the dropping of the dropped stitches happen near the end. Only about 25% complete (maybe a hair more) so I'd love to really focus on this as soon as I get the TKGA swatches and hat finished.

Hat #2 for July  - this is my 'carry around with me' project. I'm going to have a couple of hours a week (if not more) where I can't work on complicated projects... so I might cast on a couple more hats depending on how fast they go.

Planned, but not yet started:

Baby Blanket square - in red and gold for a Gryffindor baby... probably a mosaic pattern for a little bit of interest.

Teddy Bear - not sure yet the yarn, I'm sure I've got lots of options around the house and will go stash diving when I'm a bit further along on the cabled sweater.

AND THEN.... Ravellenics starts toward the end of July and corresponds to the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.  I have ambitious plans for that my dears. So, I really do need to wrap up the majority of my 'other' projects before it starts. I initially plan to do seven hats - one complex hat and six basic, same as every other charity hat I make. Then I plan to do seven washclothes (minimum of about 50 yards each). Then I plan to do as many more basic hats as I can squeeze out before the end of the games... I'm estimating 10, but I'll be happy with less and I'll be happy with more. They'll all just go into my Homeless Shelter Charity pile which is getting quite big.

June addendum

How could I have forgotton this?

I didn't post that I finished a little dog sweater/costume in June.

My son and his fiance have been talking about buying MY dog a Halloween costume / outfit that she could wear tailgating.... silly Muggles. Why buy when you can make it?

Here's my little Hawkeye!

July Planning Post

On the Needles with plans to finish during July:

Silk Bamboo Striped T - Currently at about 55% done.

TKGA Master Knitter Level 1 Swatches - Currently at about 55% done.

New Projects:

• Seven Charity hats
• Oceana Shell - this was originally planned for July; but the brown yarn I had picked up was a disaster in color match/mis-match to the Paint color I wanted to use for stripes. I had already completed a bolero in the paint color and wanted to make a tank to coordinate. I found the *right* color brown just before I left for vacation in June. Very, very fast knit on size 11 needles (awesome drape).
• Summery Cabled Cardigan - a co-worker stopped by with a picture out of a sales flyer and said that she thought I would look fabulous in something like it - and asked me if I could make it. Being the type of person I am; I read that as a challenge. Challenge accepted. I found some lovely summer Bam Boo in White; I am winging a pattern for a top-down raglan sleeved cardigan with half sleeves. There are six-stitch basic cables separated by a single stitch which will later get dropped (hoping for an open look and hoping that the six-stitch cables aren't going to over-power the garment). Framed with simple garter stitch for neck, waist, fronts and cuffs. I'm not going to bother with buttons/button holes as I would never button it. It'll be great for leaving at work to throw on when the air conditioning gets a bit too chilly.
• Teddy Bear - still need to pick out yarns.
• Baby Blanket Square - am going to use Gryffindor colors for a 12" square. I like working with two colors with mosaic knitting for these... but want to try a new pattern so I might have to do a little searching to find a new free mosaic square pattern.
• Seven wash cloths

Not a small list. Busy summer month ahead of me. But, I've got three afternoons where I'm taking my son for two hour tutoring sessions (should be prime knitting time) plus four days towards the end of the month with no child at home (which will definitely lead to good knitting time).

June End of Month Progress Post

Finished & Previously posted:

• Brioche Scarf
• One Charity Hat
• Double-Knit Hot Pad
• Bamboo Silk T

Finished:

• Felted Bag

Made with Kaleidescope yarn - very bright and colorful!!! I was going to give this yarn away; but I really, really wanted a felted (colorful!) bag for projects. I ended up breaking out in hives twice due to wool allergies and worked on it only in the evening so I could take benedryl to combat the allergies. I love the color on this tote!

• Secret X-rated Bridal Garter

No pics out on the web - sorry! Need to keep this secret until I can gift it at a bridal shower which hasn't even been scheduled yet. But look up PennyIA on Ravelry - and you should be able to find a pic if you're a member (and I know the giftee isn't).

• Second Charity Hat

Saving the pic space... it looks pretty darn identical to the last hat; only hot pink.  I was hoping for three more hats and only found time for one. Sadly. But, I've got high hopes for making up my charity hat knitting volumn for Ravelenics!

June Finished Sweater - Silk Bamboo Lacy T

I finished my purple Silk Bamboo Lacy T. I might not have added enough ribbing to the neckline; as it becomes a little revealing every once in a while with the slightly droopy neckline. I am thinking of coming back and adding a row of sc so I can 'scrunch up' the neckline ever-so-slightly.

But it's otherwise quite lovely. (shoddy pics; but a great top)

Color is more accurate in the first picture; but I didn't get a very good shot.

Here you see more of the top; but the color faded slightly.

I will be working on improving my photo skills.

TKGA Master Knitter - more swatches

I really do need to learn some things about taking decent photos. These stink, but I was so excited to get a few more swatches done - I took them in low light (evening) and the color stinks. These are actually a bright yellow - not that you can tell from these shots. I did work on getting more close up shots thinking it might help.

These first three are the swatches for Decreases:

For me, the most challenging was the SSK - I do the modified version in my regular knitting which isn't acceptable for the TKGA program. I think I did a fairly good job keeping it somewhat similar in sizing to the K2Tog (as it has a tendency to look bigger than the other)... but we'll wait for the Guild to give feedback for sure.

This next one is swatch #10 which includes basic Yarnovers with no decreases.

All of these still need to get blocked, but all in all, I'm pretty pleased with what I'm getting.

Until I did swatch #11.

I had to redo it a couple of times because I can't count... sigh. Thought I had it finished; but then I noticed my SSK was enormous compared to the other stitches. Since I know that it tends to get bigger because it's pulling some of the slack from the other stitches... I went in with my knitting needle to see if I could remove some of the slack from the SSK and allocated it across the other stitches. Which seemed to work - until I looked at the back. I was creating after-thought gutters in the back of my stitches - LOL! NOT going to be acceptable. Seriously?

So, we will be redoing Swatch #11 again and paying extra special attention to the SSKs while I'm doing it. I've got some references and suggestions for improvement if the extra attention isn't enough.

Bamboo Silk - Yarn yardage concerns.

Sorry I don't have any pics of this just yet. But I put my head down and focused on making some SERIOUS progress on it this last weekend.

I finished the body; have picked up the stitches from the waste yarn and am working the sleeves 2-at-a-time... and I have about 120 yards of yarn left. Since they are short sleeves I'm thinking I'm going to be in great shape for this after all!

So, then I got to thinking about my other top made with Bamboo Silk. The striped T has been in a project bag along with it's yarn for about 14 months. The bag has been toppled and picked up, yarn has been scattered and brought back. It's been frogged a couple of times. I realized today that I started off this final attempt with  2 1/2 balls of beige, 1 ball of peachy/pink, 1 ball of white, and 2 balls of medium blue. So about 650 yards. Um... the pattern calls for about 900 yards in my size. LOL. Ummm... might be an issue. I was SO SURE I had the right amount of yarn when I started it ages ago... but who knows what I might have been thinking/looking at... or if the yarn got 'used' for something else when I wasn't paying attention.

The good news is that I have finished the bottom-up to the top part of the body to the place where you set it aside and start working the sleeves 2-at-a-time; then you join all three pieces together and start the decreasing to the yoke all the way to the neck. Which means that the rows are going to get shorter pretty darn quick. The bad news is that I have NO idea where/when I bought this yarn and/or if I will ever find it again easily if I run short.

So, just when I thought I had it figured out and was going to be ok on yardage for one top - the other one started making me nervous. I'm about two days out from starting my vacation... so my plan is to set this aside until I get home. Then dig around under my bed (where my dog frequently hides things she wants) and see if there are a couple more balls of yarn that she had 'buried' for herself. If that doesn't turn up anything - I'll keep knitting away and wait and see. Maybe I'll get lucky and this pattern and the yardage I have will work out in the end. Though, you can bet I might just keep an eye out for it on my vacation and if I spy any (with or without the right dyelot) I will definitely be snagging it!

June Mid-Month Progress

Finished:
Brioche scarf

Done with Cascade Eco Alpaca yarn - 1 full skein - just did 18 Brioche stitches until I ran out of yarn. Ended up squishy and cosy and really, really soft. I'm sure it will be extremely warm this winter. I had started this in May but just didn't focus on it much and it was my 'when I have a minute knitting'. I ended up frogging it a couple of times... but got it finished on the first of June.

One charity Hat Of the 3-4 in my goal:

Done with Wool-Ease on size 19 Addi Turbo Circular needles using Brioche. Looks just like many other hats I make. It's fast, it's quick, it's satisfying and it adds nicely to the pile of hats I will be donating to charity in the coming fall.

Double-Knit Hot Pad:
SIDE 1 -

 SIDE 2

Made with Peaches & Creme Cotton - just love how nice and soft this is... how thick it came out. It came out a bit bigger than I expected. But it's going to make a WONDERFUL hot pad for putting pans down. I didn't really have any big ones and now I do.

On the Needles:

• Top #1 Striped Bamboo T- about 45% done -
• Top #2 Bamboo Silk T - about 20% done -
• Masters - 9 swatches out of 16 + hat - about 45% done - separate post to follow with some details; planning; emphasis on what I still need to improve.

Still waiting to be cast-on:

• More charity hats
• X-rated Bridal Garter
• Felted Bag

 

 

 

Bamboo silk T

I set this aside earlier this month because I am nervous about running out of yarn. I bought the yarn at a shop about 150 miles away and know that I can't find it locally... and odds are they don't have this color anymore, let alone the dye lot as the shelf wasn't full to start with and I bought all that I could find. But, maybe.

Wouldn't you know it, I made the trip to that town twice last weekend and did NOT manage to make it to the shop?

I decided to pick it up again and do the best I can with what I have. Worst case I run out and hit the store next month... if that doesn't work I will shop thru folk's stashes on Ravelry... maybe I can get away with extra short sleeves?

This is a top-down raglan sleeve T with a scoop neck. I have about three to four more inches to go before I switch from stockinette to lace.

The photo isn't very true to the color, its really a deep plum color.

Mid-month Progress Post on Striped-T

I have 13 1/2 inches done on the body with all of the ends woven in. The pattern suggests joining the sleeves here, but I know full well that it would end up far too short if I don't add more inches first.

The question is though ... how many more?

If this yarn didn't grow... I would add four more inches. But it does grow quite a bit. So I am currently planning on adding two more inches and give myself a rest from it and see if I end up wanting three.

June planning

Original plan was to make a second version of the Oceana Shell (picture is of the one I made last year)...

I have a shrug I made with a Caron Simply Soft Paints (still don't have a great shot of it) and I was thinking that a dark brown top half with dark brown & this paints striping in the bottom half would look great paired with the shrug. I already had enough left over after making the shrug. So all I had to do was pick up some brown to compliment it. Picked up the brown and left it in it's bag until this weekend.

Put the two together and - um - no - this is a BIG NO. It's actually a really light brown and paired next to the deep dark brown/bright reds/rich hues? NOT a good match. Duh. Suppose I ought to have held the two colors near each other BEFORE I cast on and started knitting. I took a picture to blog this - but camera is acting up and it fell off my sim card. I'll try to snag another pic tonight & try updating . . . but let's just say that is NOT the top I'll be making in June after all. I don't have anything in stash remotely close to substitute for the brown and just spent a ton on yarn as it was - so it's going to sit in the queue a little longer.


Instead - I'm going to make a Pima Silk Cotton Lace T-Shirt top - Ravelry link in Bamboo Silk in a deep, rich, vibrant Purple.

Other projects:


Finish Brioche scarf
3-4 charity hats
Double-knit hot pad
X-rated Bridal Garter
Felted Bag

Continue working on Striped T and Masters program submission.

May month end progress

FINISHED:

- Crocheted Pullover (previously featured)
- Charity Hats - ended up only finishing three total last month
- Adult sized socks:

Used KnitPicks Comfy - ended up a bit too big. Changed to K2P2 ribbing to try to see if that would help them fit better (it didn't help enough - should have customized stitch count).

- Double-knit mini-socks:

Used Sport-weight Hobby Lobby, I Love this yarn.

Didn't love these and the afterthought heel in double-knitting? Hard, hard enough that I'm going back to the drawing board on the design plan for XMas stockings. Which was the point of doing these tiny... to give me some trial and error ideas.

- Last minute add-on:

Quick Crochet Baby Blanket - son's teacher ended up having a baby shower thrown by the kids in her class on the last day of school. I technically gave her a blanket I had made for charity previously - so I ended up putting this one on the Charity pile to replace the other.

(sorry for the poor pic quality - cell phone has a great camera; but it's having some issues lately)
80 stitches - all DC all the way - about 8 stitches / 4 rows = 4" x 4" so super fast.

ON THE NEEDLES:
- Brioche scarf (this got sidelined OFTEN during the month)
- Striped T in Silk Bamboo
- Masters Level 1 knitting

More TKGA swatches

I've got four more swatches finished. A little ahead of schedule.

Here's the seed stitch swatch:

And here are three swatches that cover different types of increases:

I'm really thrilled with my progress so far. I'm certain none of them are perfect and that they might ask me to redo some... but isn't that the point of the thing? To do your best, get feedback and find a way to improve?

Anyway. I'm going to take a little time this weekend to focus on answering the questions and starting the report so that I don't have all the written portion to do at the very end.

May - mid-month progress report:

MAY's PREVIOUSLY POSTED FINISHED ITEMS: Cabled sweater; baby blanket; hat

FINISHED (but with details):

Sweater # 5 of 12 -
  Pattern: Crochet Bronze Beauty Top by Doris Chan
  Yarn: KnitPicks Cotlin in StarryNight
  Hook: I hook
  Mods:
   - I need to work on my foundation-less sc; so this one used a chain and regular sc as it was more even.
   - I only did half-sleeves.
  Comments:
    - Super fast, super easy. Could adapt this pattern 'structure' to other crochet stitch patterns. Fits like a dream. Super soft cotton after washing (which you might want to do sans other clothing as it sheds the first time in the wash). This yarn was actually left-over from a project last summer and as such was a no-cost sweater for me. I threw it on over a t-shirt to dress it up for the office.

Also finished  two more charity hats - current total is 15 hats out of 40 (original goal for the year). This goal might climb as things go - just love the portability of hats and having them handy when I get stuck somewhere I can pick it up and put it down for a few minutes here and there.

ON THE NEEDLES:

• Brioche Scarf done on 2-ply alpaca on BIG needles for lacy-effect.  About 40% done - Goal before end of month
• Pair of adult socks for me - pattern selected On The Town from Melissa Morgan-Oakes with KnitPicks Comfy in Fingering. About 25% done. - Goal before end of month
• TKGA Master Knitters Level 1 program - just started, but we'll call it 10% done. Goal before Jul 27th (so I can free myself up for Ravelympics)
  
   

STILL TO DO THIS MONTH:

•  Pair of mini-socks done in Christmas colors & double-knit to test my theory that I can make a larger stocking with after-thought heel. I really want to make a family set of Christmas stockings. But I want to use stranding to get nice looks - but HATE the floats that grab onto all the stocking stuffers. Double-knit stockings mean NO floats. Plus I could make the inside of the stocking striped in the primary colors used on the reverse side. Goal - cast on 6/19 and finish by 6/20
• Cast-on Striped-T using Paton's Bamboo/Silk - hopefully this third attempt will be the charm Goal - Cast on after 6/27 and finish by 7/13 

TKGA Master Hand Knitter Level 1

I decided to attempt the masters knitting program last year. I was quite excited about it and ready and willing to learn new things. To take a critical look at my knitting and try to improve the quality. I had gotten quite FAST at knitting lots of things. I was learning a lot of new technicques and styles. But, I just felt there was an unevenness about my knitting that this program would help me with.

I planned on taking three months to knit all the swatches and prepare the documentation. It involves making several swatches that represent the best possible knitting you can do with several notes and or ideas of what to look for and what you want to try to correct.

I started working on my first swatch and even though I had been able to knit MORE evenly before? I suddenly couldn't. I had all the issues they talked about. And the more I did to try to correct them? The worse it got. I'd set it aside and work on something else. I'd pick it up and I would immediately get stressed out. (which is NOT the point of the program). I kid you not, I spent over 60 hours on that first stinking swatch.

It took me six weeks to do ONE swatch.

Enough was enough. I put it away in a bag and didn't look at it for AGES. Well, at least a year.

I started off working with wool since that's the recommended fiber for the program. Since I originally attempted this, I have since had my wool allergies worsen. I thought I'd be out of luck and wouldn't be able to complete the program... but then I dug a little deeper. Wool is only the recommended fiber (for pretty obvious reasons - it's very forgivable material AND it blocks like a dream). But if I improve my skills working with wool - while some of that will help me with working with the yarns I normally use - it won't all be something that would apply with acrylic or cotton. And sure enough - they totally accept acrylic or cotton submissions.

Using acrylic does mean that I'm going to have to REALLY work on my swatches because they won't block out as nicely as wool will and as such, they have to be darn good before blocking to get them to pass the program. BUT, everything I learn with working with them WILL apply to future knitting projects, and as such it really is a good use of my time.

My new plan was that when I got into the - it's only getting worse cycle - I would cut myself off. I would do the best swatch I can do within an 8 hour per swatch time limit. I'm going to still try to complete the program within three months because honestly? Without a deadline? It won't get done.

I picked up my first swatch and got started. I had to undo a couple of rows here and there - but within two hours I had a pretty good looking swatch. While I was at it - I knit up swatch number 2 - with a few less mistakes.

The next night swatch number 3 practically flew off of my needles.

Last night I completed swatches 4 & 5 in about three hours.

Seriously? Wow. What a difference it makes setting it aside for a year. I totally was stressing myself out over it last year - and that stress was bleeding into my knitting and making it uneven and awful. Now, I'm not saying the swatches are beautiful or that they won't need to be redone to correct mistakes. But they are SO MUCH better than what I was getting last year, it's not even funny. I wonder if it was partly that I read all that information about how to make things more even; and without stress incorporated them into my regular knitting? And now, it just comes so much more naturally? I don't know. I do know that I felt like I couldn't believe how awful my knitting was last year and this year I feel much more confident that I'm doing good work.

I don't have photos of all the swatches yet - but I'll post them a little as I work through it. I'll save the close-up glamour shots for during/after blocking.

May Sweater finished - Sweater #6 for the year

This was made in CotLin a cotton/linen blend and PERFECT for summer!

May Planning/Progress

Arm/wrist is fully healed... so I am off and running with projects! First my Heavily cabled sweater was finished on the first. Here's a shot taken by my 8 yr old son (so pardon the pic):

Here's a close up on the cabled center portion:

Other items finished: One hat for charity - DONE Baby blanket for Baby Shower - DONE

NEXT: Finish the Crochet Bronze Beauty top - free pattern from Lion's Brand Yarn. I'm doing mine in Navy KnitPicks CotLin yarn. Going quick and fits like a charm. Also in the works: Brioche Scarf done on 2-ply alpaca on BIG needles for lacy-effect. Pair of mini-socks done in Christmas colors & double-knit to test my theory that I can make a larger stocking with after-thought heel. Pair of adult socks for me - fairly simple pattern (tbd) to test out the Cotton sock yarn from KnitPicks to see if I can find a non-wool sock yarn. AND: I'm picking up and re-attempting the TKGA Master Knitters Level 1 program. Expect posts about it directly - should be (I hope) able to finish by End of July. I'm also picking up a top that's been frogged twice that's a Striped-T using Paton's Bamboo/Silk - I plan on starting this toward the end of May and finish by early July. Yes, indeedy - I am back! Now if I could just figure out how to do some glamour shots of myself... lol.

March Accomplishments - April Planning

Well, this was a little light... but I did get some stuff done.

I finished three hats - in total, two knit in Brioche stitch and one knit with the loom. I finished a baby blanket...

And I got started on a super-simple short-sleeved shrug on the loom.

As of April 8th, I've finished my shrug (photos coming) and really appreciated the book I had bought which showed me how to do true stockinette and true garter on the loom. Just in time for my arm to be to the point where I can start knitting again (a little, not too much too fast).

SO - SLIM April Planning so that I don't overdo it!

1. A few hats to make up for my lack of progress so far on my goal of 40 hats for the year.

2. A baby blanket for a shower at the beginning of May - probably will be a super-fast crochet one.

3. Get my Heavily Cabled sweater out of hibernation and work on it so that I can finish it on May 1st.

4. If I get too far too fast with the sweater (well, that probably means I'm not taking it as easy as I'm supposed to - sigh)... then I'll pick up the heavily cabled gloves and try to get them to almost done so I can set them aside to finish on June 1st.

Now to try to figure out what sweaters to work on May/June/July.

March progress

So, from the knitting impaired - so far, I have ONE hat out of the hopefull three I was shooting for:



This was done with a simple e loop - which was the only stitch (besides e loop ribbing done on a long loom BUT knit flat). So, it's a twisted stitch stockinette hat.

I'm also working on the baby blanket that is more than half done... also picked up a book for more 'loom' stitches... which taught me a lot. I'm looking forward to trying something a little more involved.

I'm hoping some dedicated time will get the baby blanket finished by Saturday - it's ribbing, but still done with e loops - so still twisted. I did a panel half pink and tried-to-be-half variegated, but the length of the skein was shorter on the variagated. I'm starting the second panel with variagated; and will add from a third skein to try to get it as long as the pink square on the first panel. If when I'm done, my goal is to have two blocks of pink catty-corner to two blocks of variagated. If need be, I can undo the cast off on the first panel and add more length to it. We'll see... definitely an iffy project.

BUT - good news is that the doctor declares that I should be good as new in two to four weeks. So, I'll spend the time working on a project for me using some of the new stitches I've learned - to be determined yet. And can't wait to start truly knitting again!

And it's just in time too, I have a new knitting class starting up middle of April!

Still quite upset with myself

Stooooopid arm.

I did manage to pick up the needles enough last week to prove to myself that my hybrid cottage industry style/continental style could work even with a broken right arm... exceptionally slow. But enough for the demonstrations I needed to do to teach Thursday night.

Not fast enough to even bother trying to make something. However! The knitting loom? I can totally do that left-handed. And my right arm just acts like a dumb weight on the loom.

New March plans are to make 3 hats and a baby blanket on the loom. Wish me luck, because most of my free time right now is more focused on sleeping than anything else.

March plans (or lack thereof)

Finish my heavily cabled sweater.

Make a new sweater from scratch - from some sort of pattern, from some sort of yarn. Originally had planned an Alpaca long-sleeved sweater 'Ramona'. But a) I'm not sure the yarn is right for it and b) I don't think I want to finish a long sleeved sweater in Alpaca by the end of March (too hot to wear). So, then I was looking at a short sleeved cardigan in a different Alpaca yarn. But my allergies are kicking up, and I'm not sure I want to expose myself too much to Alpaca right now when I have experienced some 'slight' itching to it in the past. My wool allergy used to be slight itching, to major itching has now turned into Hives. So, I'm thinking non-animal fiber right now.

So, still looking at my stash and my queue of patterns I want to make. Haven't made a decision yet.

For non-sweater projects:

I would like to make 10 charity hats (since I didn't finish that many last month).
I want to crochet a 2 hour baby blanket.
A 12"x12" block for another baby blanket.
Finish my Kingdom Gloves I started last month.

Non-sweater knitting progress report - February

Day one - one cat blanket about 18" x 18" done


Get to 50% done on Cabled Gloves - about 30% - so a little behind, but am hoping to have finished by third week of March, so we're still in the game


12 jellyfish hats (< 2 hours each) - 3 done of the 12, no new progress to report, if I can get my project bag finished by tomorrow night, I'll come back and work on these again.

Felted Knitted project bag - about 75% done - have one more panel to go, then seaming, then picking up and knitting the top border and handles.


1 Scarf - changed this to a COWL - done


1 12" Blanket Square - not started yet Decided to do a second cowl instead - love, love, love how quick these work up. done


little Gnome House for my son's stuffie done

Sweater #3 of 12

Finished

Please ignore dirty floor...sigh.

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