Time-In

by del Posted on January 17, 2012

stripes

inside

raglan

raglan

sweater

I bound off the striped sweater yesterday (after its little time-out), but I’m not quite done yet. Still left to do:

  1. Weave in ends
  2. Knit a neckline
  3. Sew underarm seams
  4. Weave in ends
  5. Block
  6. Weave in ends

Oh, did I mention I have a boatload of ends to weave in? It’s not that I cut the yarn after every stripe, because I definitely didn’t do that. When I was good at remembering things, I remembered to bring my working yarn under the unused colors and carry them up the side. When my memory slipped, I forgot all about it, got engrossed in knitting, then found super-long floats. Plus, with the way the pattern is, rounds don’t always start in the same spot, so I had to cut yarn at times, leaving me with a lot of ends.

What I learned is that I probably won’t knit another raglan with stripes, at least not stripes this skinny. I had an idea once I hit the raglan, and I gradually decreased my stripes from three rows to two to one. Just a little design inspiration I had.

Otherwise, there was an awful lot of remembering I had to do, between the “decrease stitches for raglan and at the same time, decrease at neckline” every 2 rows 55 times, every 4 rows 9 times, or when the rooster crows outside. Just joking — but whenever I see instructions that say “at the same time,” I get a little sweaty. I had post-it notes everywhere.

But it’s almost done, and that’s what counts, right?

Posted in knitting, sweaters | Tagged | 18 Comments

January Ornament

by del Posted on January 13, 2012

ornamentornamentornamentornament

I know, I know. Christmas just ended, so why am I crocheting an ornament?

One of my goals is to have a Christmas tree decorated with all handmade ornaments. Knowing my track record, I figure I better get started now if I’m going to be ready come December. (Since I’ll probably only make one ornament per month and hopefully end up with twelve, I’m looking at a mini-tree for a handmade one this year.) Even I can tackle one ornament per month, right? That’s my aim, so this is January’s entry. I think I’ll tie in each month’s ornament to some kind of theme, maybe related to a holiday that month. Or maybe I’ll just wing it. Since it’s January, I thought a soft blue and white fit this month well.

Anyway, this was nothing more than a simple double-crochet (UK: treble-crochet) circle.

  1. Chain 5, join with a slip stitch and form a ring.
  2. Ch 3, 11 dc into ring, join with sl st to close.
  3. Ch 3, 1 dc into same spot, then 2 dc into every st of previous round, join with sl st to close.
  4. Ch 3, 1 dc into same spot, *[1 dc into next st, 2 dc into next st]; repeat from * to last, 1 dc, join with sl st to close.

Fasten off. Make two circles (same color or different). Affix button to center of each circle. With wrong sides facing, join circles with sl st, leaving a small opening to stuff with filling of your choice (I used Poly-fil). After stuffed, continue to sl st until closed. Ch 12 and join end of chain to beginning with a sl st. Fasten off.

Admire your handiwork!

Taking part in Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia — happy weekend, all.

Posted in crochet, FOs | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Inside and Out

by del Posted on January 11, 2012

After a whirlwind two days of nonstop working, I was finally able to slow down today. One of my favorite ways to take it easy is to bake something. So I kneaded bread and relaxed with each turn of the dough.

dough

While that bread rose, I started on another bread — this time, banana.

While the banana bread baked, I got back into my current read, Her Fearful Symmetry (also joining in with small things’ Yarn Along today). It’s a ghost story. The saleslady at the bookstore told me it was a “strange book” when I bought it. It is odd, but I absolutely love it. Plus, it fits into my plan to read more about other places/cultures — it primarily takes place in London and it’s atmospheric and spooky without being scary.

Not much to report on the knitting front — that’s the same ole sock that’s been hanging around for a while, but at least it’s #2.

book and sock

After that, I went out back with Macy, our little dog, and enjoyed the scenery while she sniffed around and got into the usual — stuff she’s not supposed to get into.

fluff

trees

clouds

As I stood outside looking at the clouds, I thought about what happened very early this morning, as the boys and I first headed out for school. It was still nearly dark and we heard an owl hooting in the distance. Animal Magnet practiced his “owl language” and hooted back. The owl hooted again and they “talked” to one another for a couple of minutes until I reluctantly said it was time to go. It felt like breaking a spell, one that I would’ve happily lived with for a little while longer.

Posted in home, knitting, WIPs | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Breathe

by del Posted on January 3, 2012

On the very last day of 2011, this came in the mail…

yarn

It was part of my second place prize from the contest I entered last fall at the lovely Stitched in Color. The other prizes I won came some time ago, and this sweet fiber yarn arrived with a note of apology for the delay, but no apologies were necessary. Getting yarn on the last day of a not-so-stellar year was a great way to close it out.

The other prizes I won were this Everything Old yarn…

yarn

…a pattern of my choosing and the Try It interchangeable needle set from Knit Picks.

needles

I tried out the needles right away on the sweater I’m working on for #1 Girl — the sweater that was supposed to be wrapped in time for Christmas, remember? I was knitting with the acrylic tips and they were awesome…until I noticed that the circular join had unscrewed itself so that my stitches were no longer securely on the joining wire, but were hanging in thin air.

Do I even need to continue? Can you see where this tragedy is going?

I screwed the needle back into place, but when you’re knitting away, you’re not exactly paying attention to what your needles are doing, especially when you kind of expect them to take care of themselves. Anyway, the join unscrewed again and I ended up dropping a bunch of stitches before realizing it. Sometimes you just get discouraged when things like this happen, you know?

The sweater did not make it under the tree in time. I went back to using my trusty fixed circular needles and put the interchangeables away…well away. At present, I need to work on  a project with no bad memories currently attached. I’ll get back to the sweater, and soon, but for now, I’ve returned to a project that’s nearly done. That’s really what I need right about now.

Posted in knitting, needles, yarn | Tagged , | 12 Comments

New

by del Posted on January 2, 2012

cardcard

Thank You cards I made for two special aunties

I’ve made no resolutions, but I have made some goals that I hope to achieve this year. Crafting more is one of them and I really wanted to start the year off right by spending time making something — however, we ended up visiting with good friends who we hadn’t spent time with in a long while, and I guess eating, talking and laughing with friends was better than making, at least for yesterday.

Today found me in the craft store. I was there a few days ago as well, buying my first ever hot glue gun, which I love (can you really love an inanimate object that way?). I’m still getting the hang of hot glue gunning, and I’m seriously trying not to hot glue everything I see (Dog and Cat: beware).

Last year was kind of a bust where crafting and blogging were concerned, and I want to change that for 2012. I thought a lot about where I can improve and I’m taking steps toward doing better. I plan to be in this space much more, sharing and creating and interacting with all of you.

Welcome, 2012 — I’m happy you’re here.

Posted in cards, craft | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Aftermath

by del Posted on December 28, 2011

cup
flowerscatflower

Christmas Day was beautiful and warm. Because we always throw a massive party on Christmas Eve, I usually spend December 25 lounging around and recovering from two days of baking and cooking; this year was no different. I helped with batteries and reading instructions at about 5:30a.m. (!), but after that, it was horizontal lounging almost all day.

Today, the cleanup begins — notice how I’m carefully photographing around the chaos? I’m taking the cleanup slowly, slowly, slowly. The kids are home from school and in between mini arguments, there have been moments of peace that I love so much. I’m most anxious to clean off the dining room table; I don’t have an actual craft room and much of my crafting takes place right there. So the cake plates, treats and toys have to go so that I can get back to making.

I’m ready to make things again, especially since Binding Off 2011 turned into an epic fail didn’t go quite as I wanted. So I’ll be dragging a few projects into the new year with me instead of starting off with a clean slate. But you know what? That’s okay. Crafting should be fun, not riddled with guilt. We have enough things to feel guilty about (like eating an entire tin of chocolate-covered popcorn in two days). Creativity shouldn’t be one of them.

Posted in holidays | 12 Comments

These Days

by del Posted on December 21, 2011

decorations

decorations2

sweater

: : The house is trimmed
: : Cleaning is almost all done
: : One more venture to the shops and then no more
: : A few more inches on that sweater before I join the sleeves. It will be under the tree — not blocked (oh no, no time for that!), but it’ll be under that tree, complete

These are some busy, but rewarding, days. I’ll see you all after Christmas. Hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday with family and friends!

Merry Christmas, all.

Posted in Christmas gifts, family, holidays, knitting, WIPs | 7 Comments

NOW I’m Ready

by del Posted on December 12, 2011

wreath

ornament

tree

Several weeks ago, when radio stations began playing Christmas tunes 24/7, I was not ready for it to be Christmastime already. That was early November, way too early, IMO. But now. Now, I’m ready, oh so ready for it to be Christmas. Is my shopping done? Not even close. Is the Christmas Eve menu finalized? Ha ha, no! Did I finish any holiday craft gifts? Sadly, nope on that one, too. But the excitement is building, the energy is there and my favorite time of year is happening now. With so much to do and so little time, I’ll be as scarce around these parts as I’ve been lately, but I’m working on how to change that in 2012.

P.S. I have three boxes of Christmas cards that I can’t find anywhere in the house.

birthday

P.P.S. I’m not going to spend my birthday searching for them.

Posted in holidays | 15 Comments

You Are Now Leaving Sleeve Island

by del Posted on November 17, 2011

Good morning, miss, what can I do for you? You’re ready to check out? Already? Seems you just got here. Why, I have knitters here who’ve been on Sleeve Island for weeks, months, sometimes years. And you say you’re ready to go, huh? If you say so. Where you headed next, if you don’t mind my asking? Sweater Body Bay, huh? Nice place. How long you plan to be there? Not long? Why, you’re in some kind of hurry, aren’t you? Yeah, it gets busy around the holidays, don’t it? It was nice having you here, but I understand — Sleeve Island is a temporary stop. Just leave the key on the desk and I’ll get it. Good luck at The Bay — weather’s perfect for knitting.

sleeves

Buh-bye, Sleeve Island! On to the body!

Posted in knitting, sweaters | 14 Comments