Knitty Gritty Thoughts

Mindfulness in the Craft Room

Thanks everyone so much for all the lovely, mindful comments!  I'm afraid life has gotten away from me again from responding to them as I would have liked, I'm a little (lot) busy at work, and with another work trip coming up, MIL visiting for 3 weeks and a variety of other stuff I don't want to discuss here things are not slowing down anytime soon! =)  Every one of your items is a inspiration to me, and I'm filled with all sorts of lovely, mindful ideas that I can't wait to try out!

In the meantime I've been "decluttering" my craft room *sigh*.  It's exhausting.  What I did was pull everything out, everything from the closet went on the floor.  All my yarn and fiber went on the guest bed.  I cleaned everything and scrubbed all the cabinets, shelves and desks and then only allowed items back in the room that I really enjoy or had a plan for using.  Yarn, fabric and fiber went back in pretty fast.  I did have about 3 boxes of yarn that I didn't have plans for and wasn't speaking to me so I'm going to pass them on to new owners.(Angelika, check your mailbox!) =) ;)

When I was done I was still left with that giant pile in the middle of the room.  Everything in the closet was mostly "misc" crafts.  You know, the other crafts that you've tried and then abandoned?  Beads, calligraphy, 15 pillow forms, 3 bags of polyfill, extra, old fabric in patterns I would never wear.  Rubber stamps, embossing powder, glitter glue, markers and paper (I can't draw to save my life), 3 boxes of ink pens, tracing paper, coloring books, half-done projects stuffed in a drawer, etc, etc, etc. 

Plus the magazines, oh the magazines!  I like to tear out pages to save ideas for later and then I stuff them in a drawer if I don't get around to cutting them out and gluing them in my inspiration book.  Needless to say they pile up quickly.

Cleaning out my craft room is hard.  I have a hard time letting it go.  Every little bit of it is a part of my craft history which was changed and evolved to bring me to the type of crafter I am today.  I know now I love fiber and yarn, I adore knitting and can't picture my life without it.  I love spinning.  I love dyeing fiber and carding fiber and making battlets. I love sewing.  It's important to me to be able to sew with a machine and by hand.  I enjoy embroidery, even though I'm not very good at it yet.

But when I started, I didn't know any of those things.  My mom got me started early, ever since I can remember we crafted together but we didn't do any of the things I do now.  We painted, traced, beaded, rubber stamped (a lot!), glued, and paper mache'd our way to fun stuff.  I baby sat other children as soon as I was old enough and I always brought a backpack full of crafty fun from my craft room to play with them and they loved it!  I was always a favorite babysitter. 

I've been moving and carrying this stuff around for so long and I realized it's time to just let it go. 

Declutter.

It's time to give it to a new generation of crafters so they can find something they enjoy doing.  What I did was pile up boxes and boxes of stuff and let my nieces pick through. 

Those bags and bags of stamps?  On to a happy new home!  The bead loom, beading kits, markers, pens and misc stuff that helped me find my inner crafter?  Gone!  I hope it will help them find their own creative muses and find the right crafts for them.  And hey - if it's knitting I'll be there in a heartbeat to teach them! ;)

My craft room is almost finished and it feels so light and airy in there now, stepping in there makes me happy.  I'm so happy I cleaned it out.

Aside from decluttering I've been busy.  I spun up some beautiful (if I do say so myself!) yarn from my Deep End of the Ocean battlets.  This is a dk/sportweight, 260 yards, 3.7 oz and very, very soft and oh so pretty! I love this colorway!  If you are interested in this colorway I have just enough on my worktable to make another set and I'm happy to custom card it for you.

I also am part of the May Day sock swap.  I haven't talked much about my sock here,  I ran into some issues when I ordered yarn (3 colors of dream in color smooshy).  The colors that arrived were NOT what I was expecting so I had to let it marinate for awhile until I could decide what it wanted to be.  Happily I'm making progress.  This is the embossed leaves socks.  I love knitting this - it's beautiful, fun and best of all knits up quickly!  These are going to be some cushy socks!

Happy Monday!

Cheapy Decorating

I've been traveling again, as you can probably tell.  When I disappear off the face of the blog planet for a few weeks, best guess is I'm probably traveling for work.  I enjoy traveling actually, driving up there is some great "me-time."  Plenty of good tunes, a hands free for my cellphone if I feel like chatting (as Angelika knows since I always call her! =))... I do my best thinking in the car.

The one thing I don't enjoy is all the prep-time.  I managed to only bring 1 kitchen sink this time unlike the usual two.  I even resisted packing up my wheel and sewing machine (but probably only because the hotel I was staying at would have been suspicious watching me drag it through the courtyard) =)  Getting ready to go takes me a good week or two and unwinding after that takes another good week or two, that doesn't even count the traveling time in between.  Whew!  Color me exhausted!

Anyhow - so I guess the timing was good - what else can I even remotely blog about that could possibly surpass the awesomeness of the ripple blanket?  I think I've been outshined! ;)   I did sneak a pic of my finished living room in there - and a few eagle eyes noticed, thank you for all your compliments on it! ;) 

I probably shouldn't say this, don't want to burst anyones decorating bubble of me, but I am a C-H-E-A-P decorator.  Everything in that room is from Target, bought on clearance, or with a 40% off coupon from Jo-ann's or AC Moore (the accessories) or preferably all of the above- aside from the few big items.  I absolutely detest spending lots of monies on decorating so I grab a few things here and there as I see them in the clearance aisles so it takes me a lot of time to find things, and a room is never really finished.

The next room I just "finished" which I wanted to share with you is our front-room which is an odd sort of space.  It's like a big dining room area right when you enter the house, but it's cut off from the rest of it so I spend very little time there.  Even when people come over they never really paused in that room, they alway continued right in to the bulk of the living space.  Anyhow, so I love books and reading nooks so I decided to make it into a reading room/library area.  What do you think???....

Now that I've shown you a picture I'll let you in on my cheapy decorating tips.  The bookshelves are from ikea (billy of course) with a few tweaks to make it look more built-in and custom and upgraded with doors and new fixtures.  The leather ottoman is from costco, but it looks like the one from pottery barn (see I told you I'm cheap!) =)  Candles and accessories are from Joann's and AC Moore (40% off coupons always).  The chairs are from Cost Plus with an end of season clearance sale (<50 bucks each, retails for @200 regular).  The rug is something which needs to go shortly, I bought it from walmart for Elle for her surgery so she didn't slip for 20 bucks but I have my eye on a replacement.  And that ugly planter has got to go too! =)

The accessories are hand-knit (Entrelac Shawl) by me and the pillows were another end of season sale at Costplus (5 bucks).  So - all in all a great deal for that room.  So what do you think?  Too much decorating information?? ;)

And if you're only here for the knitting and spinning, here's a few of my latest items. ;)

More hand-spun sock yarn that I just love....

From top left: Lisa Souza Hand-dyed BFL in Emerald City, Spun 2-ply into a sock yarn, approx 450yds/4oz; My Hand-carded Lichen Battlets in Scrumptious Merino/Alpaca, TussahSilk and Camel spun into a sock yarn, 432yds/4oz; Funky Carolina Fiber Club Offering, "Chill" in a superwash Merino/Tencel.  Sock yarn, 360 yds in 4oz and gorgeous colors!

I also finished my Kaffee socks!  You might remember them from a while back, I had the brilliant (said sarcastically) idea to do an afterthought heel?  Well short-row heels just make me nervous, I had never really figured out the process like my regular old-stand-by top-down?  Well - I DID IT! =)  I figured it out!  I'm so excited, now I just want to short-row everything!

Wendy's generic toe-up pattern really helped me, I was able to convert her short-row heel (which can be done toe-up or top-down) into my 72 stitch sock on 2.25mm and I was good to go.  I just love the fit of these socks, these are my new favorites! =)  The stripes lined up and they're perfect for spinning!

Happy Tuesday after a long weekend!  Hope everyone had a great one! =)

Selbu Knitting Style

In between my zillions of other WIPs I suddenly decided to cast on for something new.  I had the yarn in my stash (Satakieli from Schoolhouse) since early this year just waiting for the moment to start these mittens.  I love learning new things, I've knitted stranded mittens before but never in the selbu style.  The pattern is NHM#7 from Terri's Selbuvotter Knitting Book.  I'm using these as a warm up before I tackle other colorwork projects this winter, I know I wanted to tackle a set of gloves and perhaps my first garment.

Ever wonder what a difference needle size can make even if it's very small?  I know I do - whenever a pattern calls for 2.25mm I always debate how much different it would turn out if I used a 2.5 instead.  Seems pretty close right???  Only .25 of a difference? 

I use the cuff on mittens as my swatch to measure gauge.  On the left is a 2.25 needle (called for in the pattern) and on the right is a 2.5 needle.  The difference is pretty significant yet subtle - about 1/2 inch.  I went with the 2.5, the smaller size made the cuff a bit too tight.  I think it would have turned out child-size instead, kinda like Tiennie's recent problem. =)

And I couldn't wait to share this with you - I am so very proud of this spinning I just finished!  The batts were a gift from Erica when I was visiting in Germany, to Rachel and I.  Rachel spun hers up months ago but I was waiting to get a little better before I tackled such a yummy present.  And I have to tell you - I am a TOTAL batt convert!  These were so yummy and well prepped they were a dream to spin.  I am now seriously contemplating the need for my own drum carder so I can make some myself - they are THAT yummy!  Erica has an etsy shop if you're interested - I have another set of batts from her waiting in my fiber drawer that she custom dyed for me.  Yum - O!

This turned out about a fingering -- dk weight and is next to the skin soft so I'm contemplating a cowl that I might design myself.  I have about 305 yds to play with.  What do you think?  Cables or lace for the cowl?   I can't decide.

And I had a lovely surprise waiting for me in my mailbox the other day! I had won a blogiversary contest from Kim-Chi and she sent me such yummy pressies!  Koigu and the cutest little Koala notions container and a pretty little zippered pouch.  I feel so lucky - it was a truly awesome package, thanks so much! =)

-Saved by the.... Jenn!-

Remember last we saw my gorgeous fiber it had been eated and chewed up by my dogs??  Well lo and behold a little package surprised me in the mail on Saturday!  I opened it up and found this---

More fiber!  Isn't it gorgeous???  But where did it come from??? =)

Jenn did something so awe inspiringly thoughtful, I'm speechless.  Literally Speechless.  She heard of my plight and emailed miss Funky C herself asking her for more of the fiber so I could finish my project!  Carrie (Funky C) had only a few ounces left from the club, that was in her own personal fiber collection but she very generously gave it up to me so I could finish my project!  Jenn bought it for me and had it sent to me so I could finish!  Wowsa, thank you so much Jenn, and Carrie! (Jenn does make gorgeous stitch markers if you're in the market!);)  Now I'm really feeling the pressure to get this fiber spun up and knit into some really amazing mitts.

In fact I finished the first bobbin last night!

I turned my attention to my other fingerless mitt project on Thurs and Friday - my Orchid Mitts!  I made some progress, I did some initial swatching on 2.5mm and 3.0mm because I don't have 2.75's in my collection for magic loop.  I was a little wishy-washy on which needle size to use because gauge-wise they were both pretty close on.  But after I washed it and blocked it I decided to go with the 2.5's.

I made a good start after ripping once but I have to say I would definitely classify this pattern on the more challenging side of things, not because the lace pattern itself is difficult but I'm having a hard time following it.  I think it's because there is a lot of discussion on rearranging the stitches on the doublepointed needles and moving things around.  The pattern is written for DPN, and I knit magic loop but the same issue would be there for 2 circs as well.  I really have to take some time to visualize where the stitch pattern would be and where I'm inserting the thumb.  It is gorgeous though, isn't it?  Now that I'm on track with the pattern I'm really enjoying it!  And the yarn too - it's from fearless fibers!

In other news I took a small cooking class this weekend.  Williams-Sonoma offers free workshop cooking classes, the last class was how to make pasta from scratch which was really interesting, I'll post more on this later as I experiment.  Next class is pie crusts, can't wait!

Wednesdays are for spinning!

I've been working on my spinning as well.  I'm really amazed at how much better you can get so quickly when you're a beginner.  These skeins are way better than the last one! 

First I finished Tulips, BFL a fiber from Spunky's monthly fiber club.  It's approximately 278 yds, no idea of the WPI but I'm still trying to learn this thing.  I'm very very happy with the results, this is the most even I've spun to date and I think it just might be sockweight - hurrah!

Next we have another Spunky Club fiber, Celebrations.  This spun up into a sport weight, quite light and fluffy and with lots of bounce.  Approximately 230 yds.  If you're interested in seeing more versions of these fibers you can always check out the club blog.

Hurray to me for finally getting better at this spinning thing! 

PS - I'm going to SAFF this year, just got the day off work and signed up for classes.  Whose going??? I'd love to meet up!

Swatch - Mystery Stole

I swatched last night for the Mystery Stole in the  Lane Borgosesia yarn.  I started with a 3.25mm but it was too big so I went down to a 3mm.  What do you think???  Opinions welcome please, I can't tell if it's too large and I need to go down another .25mm or I should leave it as is.  I've been eyeing other parts of my stash I do have enough lacey lamb in a deep burgundy if push comes to shove and I don't like the grey.

I've been having good maildays this week so far, I received an amazing present from Sasha since I won her blogiversary contest (pics to follow shortly.)  I also just got some fiber from Sqoosh.  Isn't that color pretty?  I love it.

I joined a few new to me fiber clubs recently now that I am addicted to my wheel.  The spunky fiber club for this month just arrived but I don't want to spoil it for you so I put it after the fold...clicky at your own risk!

OMMMM Scarf

I'm calling this my- "OM" scarf
1 skein of malabrigo + US 8 needles + these "unstructions" = happy fingers and happy neck

It turned out a great length with only 1 skein, I'm really impressed at the yardage.  The yarn was a pure pleasure to knit and many other knitterly friends have found this out also.  Tasha watcha gonna do with your skeins???

The shawl pin is from here, I love Chris' designs.  Doesn't it add a little sumthin' sumthin' to the plain and simple unadorned garter??

Spinning continues apace, "Seafoam" merino from Pigeon Roof Studios is coming together nicely.  I'm really happy with how even it's coming out, and how finely.  I hope to get it plied up this weekend!

Knitting a mystery - Number 3

Remember last year when I knit Mystery Stole 2, aka Scheherazade?  This year Melanie has done it again, signups are going on now.  Better hurry, the group closes shortly after the first clue.  As this is a mystery we don't know what we're knitting so she recommends colors for us, this year there were two- either white or black.  Well white is just too stark for me and black is too hard to see so I went inbetween with a nice dark grey.

Angelika was asking me what yarn I was using.  I decided to use something a little different than the ubiquitous zephyr and ordered Lane Borgosesia from the Loopy Ewe in the color charcoal.  1460 yds of laceweight for only 14 dollars?  Sold!

I will be using beads, I just haven't found the right ones yet.  I'll spend some time looking this weekend for those and an extra-small crochet hook and post pics when I make a decision.

If you're interested in just being a spectator pull up a chair, I plan on posting pics of my progress on each clue like I did last time.  It's almost as good as knitting it yourself right??? =)

In other news I spun up my first official 4 ounces of merino and plied it.  Woohoo!

This is Sea Nymph from Gypsy Knits

I started a February Baby Sweater, and love love love the bright green color.  It's so springy!

I also found a new hairdresser and got my haircut yesterday, I figured I would post a pic for Chris since she just showed her cute new 'do.  I'm so relieved, everytime I move I get so nervous going to a new place but I'm super happy with the cut and color, *phew!*

Have a great weekend, I know I will!  I'll be knee deep in boxes unpacking and supervising my new fence they're putting up! =)

Yarny Goodness

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping -- yarn shopping that is!  I'm waiting for a document in the mail from my husband, so I can close on this darned house (yep! still in limbo!)  It appears to be currently lost, according to the post office since they have no record of it being mailed, although it is certified and tracked and all that.  Meanwhile I shop.  I shop in an attempt to save my sanity and because Rona is never ending and I am bored and dreaming of new things to knit.  Here's whats come so far...

So first we have yummy laceweight/sockweight yarn (it's somewhere in the middle).  Cara, the master enabler she is posted about this last week.  That is 3 skeins of Azure, a lovely greeny-blue, rich yummy yarn.  It's slated for a stole of some type, not sure yet.  The pattern needs to be oceany looking to match the yarn, any ideas?

Can I get a heck-ya on superb customer service?  Cathering of knitting notions was in contact to me about my order the entire time AND I ordered it friday and it arrived monday.  Color me impressed, I love fast shipping + good service, it makes me happy.

Next, the beautiful lily of the valley smoke ring kit I pre-ordered last month just arrived.  The pattern is by Susan, and the yarn is hand-dyed zephyr, the color is mourning dove.  You can find the kit here, I was reading over the pattern and it's a perfect combo of yummy yarn and easy lace.  Looks like fun!

And finally, this wasn't a purchase but a pic of my next skein of "yarn."  Doesn't it look a lot more even and yarn-like?  I may almost be getting a handle on this spinning thing (maybe).  That is the first time I've ever really plied.  I'm having a lot of fun though.  Erica, my resident favorite spinning goddess did a great post on pre-drafting to answer my question, here.  Go check it out!

Remember the last post where I said Rona had oh, 300 or so stitches around?  Well, I was wrong.  I felt like my knitting was sinking into that black hole of knitting where you keep going and going and it never gets any bigger?  Well I re-ran the math and it turns out that each round is 768 stitches(!!!)  That's 48 repeats with 16 or so stitches a repeat.  So really at 2 rounds a day I'm committing to 1536 (lace!) stitches.  If I max out and do 5 rounds that's 3,840 (lace!) stitches.

There.  I feel better now. 

I thought I was sucking but really it's just getting insanely big.  Send heat packs, tea and chocolate, I'm going to power through this thing if it kills me.  I have way to many other projects I'm dreaming of but I can't stop now, so close to the finish line.

And PS - I've been tagged.  I'm trying to come up with some witty things but it's tough, it may take me awhile. ;)

Spin spin spin.

Last week I officially sold my old home in GA and packed my last few possesions, the dogs and myself in the car for the drive to North Carolina.  It was a bittersweet goodbye, leaving a place and knowing you'll never return.  It was also exciting, knowing that I was moving on to the next stage in my life.

Since then I've been in limbo.  I am in contract on a new house, not my dream house, but a good investment property that is also a nice house.  It had many of the things I was looking for like wood floors, an office, and a nice open floor plan.  Oh!  and internet, can't forget the internet!  We were supposed to close today but paperwork is running behind so now I hope to close by the end of the week.  I am sooo looking forward to being out of limbo!

Oh yes, and I guess I haven't mentioned I've finally decided to move to Raleigh/Wake Forest, NC.  It was up in the air for a long time, first it was seattle, than raleigh, than VA and now back to Raleigh again.  When my grandma got sick it made me realize how important family was and I knew I wanted to be close to family while hubby is gone.  So, funny of all things is that we are now buying a house on the very same street as one of my SIL's, just about 10 houses down.  Funny how things turn out, isn't it???

Anyhow, so I've been keeping a secret from you!  Guess what it is? (Erica (my spinning guru!), Rachel, Angelika, Tiennie, no guessing, you already know!) =)

Ta Da!  A spinning wheel!  I lucked out, I've been wanting a wheel for a long time and I saw Chris was getting ready to sell her lendrum.  It was perfect timing!  It came with bobbins, lazy kate, plying head, and a bag lady bag (you all know how I like my bags!).  Chris is such an enabler, she threw in bags of lovely fiber for me to practice with as well as her very own hand-crafted orifice hook.  (Go check out her store, she has more, they are very lovely!)

I've been attempting to spin and I wouldn't call it "yarn" yet but I'll keep practicing.  If you have any links to tutorials, tips or fiber enablers please let me know so I can check it out!  I really could use more info on preparing roving to spin, I don't think I'm prepping it enough.

And just so you don't think this is a spinning blog now, I wanted to show you my progress on Rona.  I knit her onto two circs last night to take a pic but it's really hard to see because it's so big already, it's still smushed.

Here's a pic from the knitpicks website, I've highlighted my progress in yellow so you can see it a little better.  I've committed to two rows a day which doesn't sound like very much, but when you have 300 or so stitches a round it's actually quite a lot.  At the very most if I really want to push it I will knit 5, but that's like hitting the wall.  Hands cramp up and I can't stand to look at the pattern anymore! =)

I'm on round 118 of 150 so hopefully I will finish with it in a few weeks or so.  I am so ready for it to be done!