I got a little restless recently and decided that I couldn't knit on my cardigan anymore. It's too hot to have it sitting in my lap and yes, I'm a wimp. Needing inspiration, I caught up on my knitting blogs. Martine at iMake posted a photo of her Trillian shawl. It looked simple and beautiful so I got the pattern. I dug up some stunning orangey-pink sock yarn from my stash and got started. I am a happy camper now.
I'm still in the midst of knitting my 6x9 rectangles for HAP as well. Easy and portable and for a great cause. All the rectangles become afghans for the wounded in military hospitals. How can I not do this? So it would appear that I'm occupied....
On a non-knitting note, I think I came to the realization that I might very well be on the wrong path. I don't think I started on the wrong path, it just somehow turned into the wrong path. Can I say wrong path anymore? Yes. While I really do love programming, I knew today that I can't do this forever. Part of me is pretty sure I knew this way before today, but I won't admit that.
Why is it so hard to get out of a rut? Whether it's a job, a bad habit, a bad person, we always seem to make excuses on why we should: stay at the job/in the relationship/continue doing the bad habits. It's really fucking hard to change. I've already noticed that I'm becoming anti-social, but I'm not terribly concerned. I think alone time is a good idea sometimes. I'm hoping to come out of this with some significant changes in mind and in action. Otherwise, we could just probably call this depression and not learn from it at all.
Back to my shawl.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Dr. Frankenstein, I am not
But I tried!
I made my first knitted stuffed critter and he turned out really well! I bought a pattern from Rebecca Danger, which I learned about from Yarngasm. I had to learn a backwards cast on, which is pretty easy. But I also got to learn magic loop!! It was very exciting :) I really did want to learn magic loop but was really nervous about it. It's not that hard!! What was stopping me?? Geesh.
I thought it would be fun/interesting for my fellow crafters to post pictures of monster in progress on my facebook. It really did seem to entertain people. Crafters are a special breed.
So we have the start of monster (no name for monster yet. Matthew gets to name the monster). I think I redid the feet maybe 6 times. I'm really not happy with metal dpns. It was SO slick that I was having lots of trouble keeping the stitches on. But I finally got it going.
I had to tear this foot apart because I used the wrong size needles. I must have been tired when I started this.
The body of the monster was super simple and ended with a 3 needle bind off that eliminates seaming. Whoop!
Next up was the arms! And stuffing!
Once the arms are sewn on, I decided to sew eyes on instead of getting safety eyes. I don't have kids but I felt that sewn eyes were better for 4 year olds. I could be wrong but I like the eyes anyways.
I gave my facebook friends a peek (literally)
I tore my house apart for felt that I KNEW I had but apparently didn't. So monster had to wait a bit for his mouth until I could get to Hobby Lobby to find felt and liquid stitch (which, gosh, was mostly dry when I opened it. Thanks Hobby Lobby). So.... we present the final monster!
The yarn I used for this is from Colorbug Yarns in Detroit. The colorway is called Inchworm. God bless Etsy!
I made my first knitted stuffed critter and he turned out really well! I bought a pattern from Rebecca Danger, which I learned about from Yarngasm. I had to learn a backwards cast on, which is pretty easy. But I also got to learn magic loop!! It was very exciting :) I really did want to learn magic loop but was really nervous about it. It's not that hard!! What was stopping me?? Geesh.
I thought it would be fun/interesting for my fellow crafters to post pictures of monster in progress on my facebook. It really did seem to entertain people. Crafters are a special breed.
So we have the start of monster (no name for monster yet. Matthew gets to name the monster). I think I redid the feet maybe 6 times. I'm really not happy with metal dpns. It was SO slick that I was having lots of trouble keeping the stitches on. But I finally got it going.
The body of the monster was super simple and ended with a 3 needle bind off that eliminates seaming. Whoop!
Next up was the arms! And stuffing!
Once the arms are sewn on, I decided to sew eyes on instead of getting safety eyes. I don't have kids but I felt that sewn eyes were better for 4 year olds. I could be wrong but I like the eyes anyways.
I gave my facebook friends a peek (literally)
I tore my house apart for felt that I KNEW I had but apparently didn't. So monster had to wait a bit for his mouth until I could get to Hobby Lobby to find felt and liquid stitch (which, gosh, was mostly dry when I opened it. Thanks Hobby Lobby). So.... we present the final monster!
The yarn I used for this is from Colorbug Yarns in Detroit. The colorway is called Inchworm. God bless Etsy!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Dyed by Coffee: A Tutorial
Even though I had never dyed any yarn ever, I was excited when Knit Picks offered bare yarn. I grabbed a few skeins of merino wool and just waited. I had no idea what I was going to do with them.
And then I thought....coffee.
I looked around online and found some tea dyeing tutorials and just decided to 1) not waste tea as I love tea more than coffee and 2) just do it already.
So here we go with coffee dyeing:
Grab your bare yarn and marvel at how pretty and bare it is and hope you don't ruin it
I filled my sink with lukewarm water and put the yarn in. There were a lot of air bubbles so I kept pressing gently on it until they were gone. Then I just let the yarn soak until I was ready for it.
I had bought generic coffee from the store. I made about 2 full pots of it.
I put those pots of coffee in my big ol stock pot on the stove and turned the heat on. My plan was to get the coffee boiling and then remove from the heat and add the yarn. Once the yarn was added, I stirred it a bit but mostly let it soak for a little over 30 minutes.
I checked it occasionally and, knowing it would lighten up as it dried, waited until it looked like what I wanted.
Once I got that color, I removed the yarn and ran cold water over it until the water ran clear. Then I used a towel to roll it up and blot it dry. From there, all I could do was hang it up and wait for it to dry.
I'm pretty happy with this little experiment! I made myself some fingerless mitts and will be using the rest for a hat. Next up, Kool aid dyeing!
And then I thought....coffee.
I looked around online and found some tea dyeing tutorials and just decided to 1) not waste tea as I love tea more than coffee and 2) just do it already.
So here we go with coffee dyeing:
Grab your bare yarn and marvel at how pretty and bare it is and hope you don't ruin it
I filled my sink with lukewarm water and put the yarn in. There were a lot of air bubbles so I kept pressing gently on it until they were gone. Then I just let the yarn soak until I was ready for it.
I had bought generic coffee from the store. I made about 2 full pots of it.
I checked it occasionally and, knowing it would lighten up as it dried, waited until it looked like what I wanted.
Once I got that color, I removed the yarn and ran cold water over it until the water ran clear. Then I used a towel to roll it up and blot it dry. From there, all I could do was hang it up and wait for it to dry.
I'm pretty happy with this little experiment! I made myself some fingerless mitts and will be using the rest for a hat. Next up, Kool aid dyeing!
Monday, May 23, 2011
It's The Little Things
I finally finished my super-secret project and will be mailing it to it's recipient this Friday. After it's received, I'll post pictures of it. Pretty happy with this project and the pattern is now a keeper.
Four day weekend this week with Memorial Day (taking Friday off work- yay!). I've decided that for the next 2-3 months, I'm going to be a very selfish knitter. I have so many things I'd like to try and learn (sock knitting, using my new drop spindle, making stuffed animals, etc) but I always get sidetracked with creating things for other folks. Which, please don't get me wrong, I love to do but sometimes I lose myself with it. I was listening to a Buddhist podcast and it was talking about generosity and giving of yourself. But it made a point to say that, if you give all year round, you must remember to give back to yourself. Because you are just as important as the other people who are receiving your compassion. They suggested that a quarter of the year be devoted to yourself. So I'm taking 3 months to just be with myself. Although I still have ideas for gifts for my friends and family, they are going to have to wait.
School is getting closer to being done. For this one class, at least. Advanced CPT coding is harder, but mostly more time consuming. I just finished the 3rd test of 5 (plus the final) and have a solid 85%. Not what I want but I'll take it. At least I do feel like I'm learning so I can't complain too much. Right?
Work has been extremely difficult lately. Or rather overwhelming. The work itself is not that hard, it's just that there is so much of it I feel like my brain is shutting down. Unfortunately, work is cutting into home time - like now, I just finished almost 3 extra hours sitting here on my couch. My knitting has really helped me at lunch calm down and focus on ONE thing. My yarn and needles don't keep asking me why I'm not done yet and oh, they need to make changes and can I start over???
Yeah. Ok.
I'm currently reading The Devil's Cloth - A history of stripes. So far, very interesting history of how striped fabric got it's bad rap (it was mostly worn by people who "deviated from the norm" ie. prostitutes, lepers and hangmen - there's a motley group of people for you). People were often depicted wearing striped clothing when they were felt (by the artist) to not be worthy. This happened frequently to Joseph (of Jesus, Mary and....). Interesting stuff so far!
Another fiber fest is coming up next week. Hoosier Hills, looks to be a good one. I'm taking a day off work, with mom, to travel to Franklin to check it out. Unfortunately, having to replace my well pump last week has left little to the Fun Fund, so I'll mostly be just browsing.
My goal in the next few months, as well as being selfish, is to keep this blog updated more often. *Crossing fingers!*
Four day weekend this week with Memorial Day (taking Friday off work- yay!). I've decided that for the next 2-3 months, I'm going to be a very selfish knitter. I have so many things I'd like to try and learn (sock knitting, using my new drop spindle, making stuffed animals, etc) but I always get sidetracked with creating things for other folks. Which, please don't get me wrong, I love to do but sometimes I lose myself with it. I was listening to a Buddhist podcast and it was talking about generosity and giving of yourself. But it made a point to say that, if you give all year round, you must remember to give back to yourself. Because you are just as important as the other people who are receiving your compassion. They suggested that a quarter of the year be devoted to yourself. So I'm taking 3 months to just be with myself. Although I still have ideas for gifts for my friends and family, they are going to have to wait.
School is getting closer to being done. For this one class, at least. Advanced CPT coding is harder, but mostly more time consuming. I just finished the 3rd test of 5 (plus the final) and have a solid 85%. Not what I want but I'll take it. At least I do feel like I'm learning so I can't complain too much. Right?
Work has been extremely difficult lately. Or rather overwhelming. The work itself is not that hard, it's just that there is so much of it I feel like my brain is shutting down. Unfortunately, work is cutting into home time - like now, I just finished almost 3 extra hours sitting here on my couch. My knitting has really helped me at lunch calm down and focus on ONE thing. My yarn and needles don't keep asking me why I'm not done yet and oh, they need to make changes and can I start over???
Yeah. Ok.
I'm currently reading The Devil's Cloth - A history of stripes. So far, very interesting history of how striped fabric got it's bad rap (it was mostly worn by people who "deviated from the norm" ie. prostitutes, lepers and hangmen - there's a motley group of people for you). People were often depicted wearing striped clothing when they were felt (by the artist) to not be worthy. This happened frequently to Joseph (of Jesus, Mary and....). Interesting stuff so far!
Another fiber fest is coming up next week. Hoosier Hills, looks to be a good one. I'm taking a day off work, with mom, to travel to Franklin to check it out. Unfortunately, having to replace my well pump last week has left little to the Fun Fund, so I'll mostly be just browsing.
My goal in the next few months, as well as being selfish, is to keep this blog updated more often. *Crossing fingers!*
Monday, April 11, 2011
I'm Not There
I'm practicing project monogamy and boy, is it difficult. I'm thisclose to finishing my super secret project and I really do want to get it done but I keep staring at the miles of plain knitting and thinking cheating thoughts: "I could start my first practice sock." "I need to make some chemo caps" "What about my piano scarf??"
I haven't cheated yet. And I won't, darnit. I will finish this super secret project and get it out to its intended owner. Said owner has no idea it is coming and no idea it's even being created. Hence the super secret part. I do really enjoy surprising people with things and I hope the handmade goods are appreciated.
Knitting time has been cut - pretty dramatically, actually. I have 4 more classes to take to complete the Medical Coding curriculum at AHIMA online. I stopped for quite a while simply because it wasn't fun anymore. If something you are doing voluntarily becomes...not fun, stop. With 8 classes under my belt already, I decided to start the next class: CPT Coding Part II. It was a beautiful day yesterday, so I opened the windows on each side of my computer desk and did homework for about 3 and a half hours. And you know what? It was fun again. Yay for taking a break to get the mojo back!
This Friday I'm heading to another fiber event. This time it's in Greencastle. Very excited even though I need no yarn and no, I haven't started with my new drop spindle yet. It's there, it's waiting, it won't mold and die.
I did forget to blog about the Bloomington Handmade Market. A friend and I took a road trip to check this out. What I noticed was no yarn, no knitted goods (aside from a few baby booties at one table). Very very shocking. There were a lot of binders selling journals and such, a few homemade soap people (of which one I purchased 4 bars of soap - *swoon*). It was fun seeing a crossstitch booth. I purchased a smutty bookmark pattern from her. Nice stuff there, really, just surprised there was so little yarny goodness. At least I see a niche now!
After the market we headed to Upland Brewery. If you are in Bloomington, Indiana, you must go! The food is awesome and the beer is pretty frickin' great. Frickin'. Great.
I'll be blogging about the upcoming fiber fest this weekend. See ya!
I haven't cheated yet. And I won't, darnit. I will finish this super secret project and get it out to its intended owner. Said owner has no idea it is coming and no idea it's even being created. Hence the super secret part. I do really enjoy surprising people with things and I hope the handmade goods are appreciated.
Knitting time has been cut - pretty dramatically, actually. I have 4 more classes to take to complete the Medical Coding curriculum at AHIMA online. I stopped for quite a while simply because it wasn't fun anymore. If something you are doing voluntarily becomes...not fun, stop. With 8 classes under my belt already, I decided to start the next class: CPT Coding Part II. It was a beautiful day yesterday, so I opened the windows on each side of my computer desk and did homework for about 3 and a half hours. And you know what? It was fun again. Yay for taking a break to get the mojo back!
This Friday I'm heading to another fiber event. This time it's in Greencastle. Very excited even though I need no yarn and no, I haven't started with my new drop spindle yet. It's there, it's waiting, it won't mold and die.
I did forget to blog about the Bloomington Handmade Market. A friend and I took a road trip to check this out. What I noticed was no yarn, no knitted goods (aside from a few baby booties at one table). Very very shocking. There were a lot of binders selling journals and such, a few homemade soap people (of which one I purchased 4 bars of soap - *swoon*). It was fun seeing a crossstitch booth. I purchased a smutty bookmark pattern from her. Nice stuff there, really, just surprised there was so little yarny goodness. At least I see a niche now!
After the market we headed to Upland Brewery. If you are in Bloomington, Indiana, you must go! The food is awesome and the beer is pretty frickin' great. Frickin'. Great.
I'll be blogging about the upcoming fiber fest this weekend. See ya!
Maisy enjoying the knitted boob pillow I knitted for her owner.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Is it.....Spring?
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!! It looks and feels like Spring out! *calm down* I'm sure we'll get snow tomorrow but nonetheless, I'm busting out the patio furniture in the hopes of knitting outside with a beer in hand. Or on the table (hard to knit with a beer in the hand).
I already busted my "don't buy books" resolution. I got some lovely knitting books at Borders yesterday.
I'm quite excited! I'm really ready to start tackling socks, I think. I'm going to get some cheaper, non-handdyed sock yarn to practice with this weekend and just start tackling. The Cookie A book looks so good, she seems to be the top in socks. Heh.
And the MochiMochi? How can anyone resist these little critters??? You can't.
Mailing off some baby goods today to a friend. Hopefully she likes them well enough. I made 2 newborn hats and an umbilical hat from the Stitch N Bitch book (SUPER easy hat to knit). Plus a pair of seamless booties (with I-cord ribbon) and some little French booties that were cute but I'm not sure of the practicality of them.
The Knit n'Bitch group is meeting up again on the 26th. Really looking forward to it. Hopefully I'll get some knitting done this time since all we did last time was talk. Ha!
Going to the Indianapolis Museum of Art this weekend. Mostly for the Thornton Dial exhibit and the Sun boxes but also to get inspiration. I have lots of color scheme ideas for yarn and several ideas for pillow cases.
Off to enjoy the beautiful day!
I already busted my "don't buy books" resolution. I got some lovely knitting books at Borders yesterday.
And the MochiMochi? How can anyone resist these little critters??? You can't.
Mailing off some baby goods today to a friend. Hopefully she likes them well enough. I made 2 newborn hats and an umbilical hat from the Stitch N Bitch book (SUPER easy hat to knit). Plus a pair of seamless booties (with I-cord ribbon) and some little French booties that were cute but I'm not sure of the practicality of them.
The Knit n'Bitch group is meeting up again on the 26th. Really looking forward to it. Hopefully I'll get some knitting done this time since all we did last time was talk. Ha!
Going to the Indianapolis Museum of Art this weekend. Mostly for the Thornton Dial exhibit and the Sun boxes but also to get inspiration. I have lots of color scheme ideas for yarn and several ideas for pillow cases.
Off to enjoy the beautiful day!
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