I Blame YarnKettle

One would think that YarnKettle was a good person. I mean, she is. She’s a good person and probably the most open-minded person I know. No matter who you are or what you do, she will give you her time, her heart, and her craziness. YarnKettle is one of my best friends and knitting soul mate.  I’m truly grateful she is in my life.

But she’s evil. Make no mistake. Evil.

Remember back when I decided I wasn’t buying yarn until our local yarn festival in September and Rhinebeck in October UNLESS I HAVE A SPECIFIC PROJECT I NEED YARN FOR. Yeah, YarnKettle totally made my buy yarn.

To be fair, it is pretty yarn.

See, last week I received an email from YarnKettle. “I’m thinking of taking some classes at *insert local yarn store here*, would you like to join me?” she wrote. One of the classes was for a hat, one for the Central Park Hoodie, and one a steeking class. I hemmed. I hawed. I said yes. The hat class was during the Husband’s birthday so that was out. I did want to make myself a sweater sometime this year and this would be a good opportunity to do it, learn how to modify the sweater, and get a little me time. Since I always wanted to try steeking, I agreed to that class too.

The problem, however, is I didn’t have yarn for a sweater and would need to buy some. To be fair, this does fit in the yarn purchasing rules for 2011 because it is for a specific project, but it’s only January! I couldn’t have held off to buy yarn until, oh I don’t know, September? But, buy yarn I did. Many skeins of a lovely green Cascade 220.

Close but not quite as bright as the actual color.

I had a hard time picking a color. I wanted to avoid gray–I have knit myself 2 sweaters and a shawl and all are gray–and I wanted to go with a jewel tone. I just couldn’t decide…blue? red? green? Should I go with a neutral? It is, after all, a cardigan and a neutral would be easier to match with all clothes. I really wanted something bright and fun and not neutral. So after a lot of trauma (like 30 minutes of dithering in the store with YarnKettle and a baby), I went with green. I love the color and I can’t wait to see how it looks. I’m now in the process of figuring out how I want to modify the sweater. I’m thinking of removing the hood, adding a zipper or buttons to close it, and look into some shaping. I’m really exited about this class!

I’m hoping that I can use some yarn from my stash for the steeking class, but I won’t know until I get closer and they post the specs. I think I’ll feel better about buying this yarn if I can use already owned yarn for the next one. In the meantime, I’m working diligently on the Husband’s socks and hope to have the first of the pair knit within the week. We’ll see if that happens. I’m at the easy part right now, but sometimes life gets in the way. Fortunately, it’s fitting him really well so far so my gauge math was correct and I didn’t have to frog!

Procrastination? Check!

I did it! I finished the heel tonight! I may have screwed it up because something didn’t seem right at the end but I did a little this and a little that and I don’t think it’s noticeable. I have to knit a couple rows before I decide if it’s going to bother  me. I also have to knit a couple rows before I see if the sock really does fit the Husband’s foot or not. I’m a little worried my original math was way off. I should know tomorrow.

Happy 2011!

I think 2011 will be the year of the small project, like socks or arm warmers. I want to crank out projects and use up yarn. Of course, my simple little socks are taking forever so there goes that plan.

I’m working on a pair of socks using Lorna’s Laces. And can I just say that I’m loving Lorna’s Laces. Very nice yarn. It’s just…a lot of things are colliding for me to take forever on the project. First, I’m using extremely small needles and it’s tiring out my hands quicker than normal. Second, I’m doing my very first short row heel (and toe) and while I’m excited, I’m at the point at the heel and doing my usual procrastination to get my head into the frame of mind for a new and possibly difficult technique. Yadda yadda yadda…bullshit bullshit bullshit. I know. It’s a lame excuse, but it’s mine. Third, I’m getting addicted to Civ III again.

I’m not sure where that Civ addiction came from suddenly. Oh, wait. I do. I installed a free Civ on my phone and played it like mad. That in turn, made me NEED to play it again on my computer. It’s all I can think about now. I want to play. My poor little city of Atlanta isn’t growing as it should and I need to build more workers to develop the land and I need to remember to build a new scout because soon I’ll get to ships (can I do ships now already?) and oh, a warrior then needs to be built so he can go with my settlers, maybe New York will build the warrior or is New York building the Hanging Gardens?  Oh, and workers! I need workers. It’s maddening!

I’m limiting the Civ play. A couple nights a week to 30 minutes (after the child has gone to bed). I took a class yesterday on juggling multiple projects, and while, I wish it really went into it a bit more, it did talk about procrastination. As in, sometimes you get so overwhelmed with everything that you can’t begin or you don’t have the task defined clearly so you procrastinate. And that’s my problem with the heel. I’ve never done it before, so it’s this amorphous concept and I’m just not sure where it’s going to go or how it will look. Thus, big shiny pause button on the sock.

The class says, “Tell others when you’ll complete the project.” and “Focus on the process rather than the results.” to combat procrastination. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m telling you, my wonderful readers, that by Sunday night, I will have completed the darn heel and have started the foot. Got that? I’m telling people when I’ll complete the project so I have…what’s the word? Accountability. If I do not finish the heel by Sunday night then I will hang my head in shame and you can point and gasp at how I did not finish.

The second idea, “Focus on the process rather than the results.” is so important in knitting. So many times we get overwhelmed with the big picture that we just give up before we start. Rather than worry about the whole heel, I need to just look at the next direction, and once I complete that line the next. It’s the same problem with which I struggle in running. I think about the finish line or how many miles to go and not the step I’m taking or the breath I’m breathing. We need to be more zen and just focus on the moment.

I will let you know how this goes.

The Zozos

Pattern: Zozo
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport
Needles: US 2

2010 was the year of the baby. Okay, I’m not sure if two babies warrants a year dedicated to babies, but I was blessed with both a niece and a nephew towards the end of 2010. Of course they needed a knit something. My nephew received two Zozo–a brother and sister named Bluelien and Greenly.

Waiting to go to their forever homes

I felt that since the Sister lives in a place where it’s generally warm, a hat would not be the way to go; however, since my niece received both a turtle AND a hat, it wasn’t fair to knit my nephew one little alien. Plus they can keep each other company or help each other escape the terror of an infant.

I brought the toys with me on Christmas day, when I went to help the Sister (and her husband) with their new little boy.

Blulien enjoying a parfait before his flight.

Greenly needs a Chai to get through the next few hours.

The nephew seemed to like them from the first. One would think that a 9 day old doesn’t understand such things at just over a week, but he is a genius so he really does know.

He held onto them right away and not because of the grasping instinct.

Send Help! Bluelien is going to be eaten!

It’s a really easy, albeit multi-step, pattern. I finished Greenly in less than a week. If I ever make another one, I’d be curious to change how some of the pieces are put together. Each finger is done separately and then combined to make the arm, for example, but maybe it would be easier done in the other direction so that the arm is made and the fingers come out from that. It would probably make the fingers have less personality, but it would make it all one piece so there’d be a lot less ends to weave in. Still, I really liked the pattern and recommend it.

Snuggling. Greenly thinks she'll like it here.

Baby Ruffle Hat

Pattern: Baby Ruffle Hat
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport
Needles: US 2

After making Sheldon, I decided it was important for my little niece to have a hat to match. Not a hat that had turtles on it, because that’s just too overt, but a hat that was the same color. Really, I just had a lot of yarn left. So, on the plane to visit my new niece I began to knit. Technically, I casted on the night before. A few days into the trip, viola! A lovely little hat for a lovely little girl.

The pattern is SO easy that I’m kicking myself for not knowing how to do it on my own. I think if I were to do it again, I’d knit it a smidge longer. Not too much, because then it would be in her eyes, but just a couple rows.