Relaxed

I'm feeling quite relaxed today. It actually started yesterday after work. I'm not sure I did anything terribly productive after I came home. It was so nice! I knit. I read some blogs. I watched a movie (500 Days of Summer) with some friends. And today has been equally as nice. I slept in. I made some breakfast. I did some work on assignments for school. I took pictures of donations to EEROP. I cleaned the cat box. I ate Doritos (nacho cheese). I'll probably make another cup of coffee for myself before I leave to run errands and go to dinner for my brother's birthday. Then I'll come home. Finish up school work. Probably knit some more. Go to bed. It's awesome! I'm hoping it's not the calm before the storm but I just feel really peaceful and relaxed, even when I look ahead to all the things I have coming up. Next week is my last week of work and my last week of school for this quarter. Then I have a few days off to pack and move more of my apartment and I leave for Romania on the 19th. Even with the final stages of the move (and still lots to do) upon me and the packing and logistics involved with a 2 and 1/2 week trip out of country and a final paper looming, I'm still feeling fine. And I'm so thankful that it's peace and not mental breakdown. Though, I think I got that out of the way a few weeks ago. I must be feeling in control because I started another knitting project the other night.

Sleeve #1

It's the first sleeve of a sideways knit sweater (Cuff-to-Cuff Pullover by Jennifer Hagan). I really felt the urge to start something charity related so this satisfies my appetite for now. One of the ways that I gauge whether life is on track for me is whether I'm knitting anything and what I'm knitting. If I'm working on something I enjoy then life is good. If I'm knitting something that I don't really love then I'm hanging in there but I'm probably pretty stressed. If I'm not knitting then just look out, the meltdown is coming. So, knitting on this sleeve actually proves that, in the midst of chaos, peace resides. Here's to hoping this relaxation follows me well into the next week!

P.S. I have not made up my mind entirely about which direction I want to take this blog in. I will probably be sharing more about life in general. As for moving the blog, changing the title, etc. I'm still not sure what to do but I appreciate everyone's feedback!

Project count up:
Charity: 7 completed, 1 one the needles
Self: 0
Family and friends: 1 on the needles, 5 completed (excluding some washcloths for my mom)

The Incredible Journey

This incredible journey doesn't involve Chance, Sassy, and Shadow. It involves yarn, needles, and a deadline. This is the story of my mom's Christmas sweater.

December 23 (Christmas Eve Eve)
11:20 a.m.: Start working on remainder of sweater (below is a picture of where I was when I started this epic adventure).

12:20 p.m.: Interrupted for pet break with cat.

Also, do the dishes, start laundry, and change from pajamas to sweats.
12:35 p.m.: Begin again.
12:58 p.m.: Fold laundry.
1:20 p.m.: Put in the third installment of The Lord of the Rings (The Return of the King).
3:45 p.m.: First sleeve is finished! Celebrate with lunch.

4:19 p.m.: Start second part of the Return of the King. Pick up stitches for the second sleeve. Cat sleeps.

6:27 p.m.: Take a break for a progress photo. Also eat brownie with ice cream for "dinner".

6:42 p.m.: Back to work on sweater.
7:01 p.m.: Scheduled break to wrap all Christmas presents (this picture was taken the next day but shows the amount of wrapping I had to do).

8:50 p.m.: Back to work, though later than expected.
9:35 p.m.: Break for a bowl of chili.
9:40 p.m.: Back to the sweater...

December 24 (Christmas Eve)
12:17 a.m.: Second sleeve sans cuff is finished!
12:18 a.m.: Take shower.
1:14 a.m.: Start cuff, fatigue setting in, not sure I can knit 21 more rounds...
1:38 a.m.: Knit 10 rows on cuff. Call it a night.

11:00-ish a.m.: Start last 11 rows of second cuff (not totally sure on time, forgot to write it down).
11:34 a.m.: Cuff is finished! Pick up stitches for neckline.
1:00 p.m.: Finished for good!

The sweater was wrapped and then packed into the car before I left for the Christmas party at my aunt and uncle's at 2:30. And I also managed to bring all the supplies for wassail and a fully cooked mac and cheese (the cheese, beef, and crackers plate got forgotten, oops...). The sweater still needs to be blocked but I can do that at my parent's house sometime this week. Just have to get over there and do it...

Breather

I thought I might take a little break from knitting for awhile. Nothing more than just a few days. See, I've been working really hard lately. Doing what? Getting all this ready to ship:

Those are all items for the Project Hope Christmas drive. Some of the items I've had lying around for awhile waiting for an opportunity to come up to be shipped off. Lots of the items though, were knit with this campaign in mind. You'll notice I even managed to finish this guy off in time:

There are still some tweeks I could have made to the collar but after making this sweater I feel like I have a better grasp of raglan construction. Especially from the bottom up. I don't know that I will be trying my hand at design again any time too soon though. Well, especially not on something so complex as fair isle. But I was able to make the sweater wearable and it will go to a little boy who was going to miss out on getting anything because his designated knitter got carpal tunnel :( I guess there was a reason I made this too small after all.

So, like I said, I was going to take a little break from knitting. Work on the Eastern European and Russian Orphanages website and get ready for some up coming campaigns. Maybe organize all the donated yarn I've been getting.

I was going to do all that...

But my hands just needed something to do.

Knit On

It's finally finished and I'm ready to talk about it now. The sweater that is. That's going to Project Hope for a little Romanian boy. And let me tell you, I'm super proud of this sweater.

When I started it almost exactly a month ago, I knew this was the sweater I should have been making all along. When I first looked at the pattern I had thought, this is the perfect sweater to make for Project Hope. But time got away from me and I thought the pattern would take too long to make. And I wasn't sure I had the right type of yarn for the project. But the pattern didn't take too long to knit up and the yarn I used was just perfect.

This is my sweater for Daniel, created from the Intrepid Pullover pattern with yarn I picked up while I was in Peru last summer. It's super warm and turned out really cute. I couldn't be more pleased. I knit through a lot of difficult stuff with this sweater and I was afraid there would be bad vibes in it but actually I think there are nothing but good vibes. I knit a lot of hope for the future into this sweater and positive thoughts that things would turn out ok. Out with the old and create with the new.

I kept the good vibes rolling by immediately starting (and just a few days later, finishing) some socks for the same little boy.

I did these two at a time using the magic loop method (of which I have become a total convert) and, again, they turned out better than I could have hoped for.

There is still one project that I'm starting tonight that will need to be finished up quickly but I hope that my knitting mojo is back. It's funny that it took some set backs for me to find it again. But then I guess that's what this picture is all about.

Abandoned

1.
Name: Child's Fair Isle Sweater of my own designing
Last Seen: June 25, 2010
Reason for Abandonment: Neck opening too small, possible overall design flaw resulting in incredibly too small sweater.

2.
Name: The Steppe Ahead Sweater
Last Seen: Just last week
Reason for Abandonment: Unappreciated yarn pooling, possible knitter error involving math resulting in (possibly) too large sweater.

Please note that both these sweaters were originally destined for the EEROP/Project Hope winter clothing drive. Specifically for a 6 year old little boy. This little boy will get his sweater (and gloves and socks), it's just a matter of time. I've started something else but I'm not talking about it lest it goes the way of the previously mentioned projects.

Doh!

Have you ever done something while knitting and, as soon as you did it, thought, This just isn't right. I had such a moment tonight. Even while it was happening it just seemed a little...off. And after I did it, it was confirmed (thankfully only by me), I hadn't done what I had intended to do. After working for many weeks on the fair isle sweater I finally bound off the stitches for the neck and shoulders.

And made the neck opening large enough for an ant. See how disproportionate it is in the picture? Some of that may be from the angle but not all of it. And, after looking at the sweater all laid out, I think it might be too small. It's supposed to be for a 6 year old and it looks more like it would fit a 3 year old. Which probably means I took the chest measurement and instead of doubling it to get the total body measurement I probably figured gauge for that number (which would be half of what I really needed). Still with me? What it equals is one big mess. And I'm without the heart to fix it. Tomorrow (maybe after a good stiff drink) I'll measure the chest and see if that's right. Then I'll rip out should seams and frog back to the row that I bound off the front neck stitches. Then I can re-knit binding off less stitches. And if the chest isn't right? Well, luckily there are still some younger kids who need sweaters this winter.

New Obsession

After finishing the 1st Rivulets sock I spent last Thursday night helping some friends with their knitting projects and teaching another friend to knit (that makes 5 or 6 people I've taught in the last year to knit, and all around my age too!). Friday though, well, Friday I got bit by a strange new obsession. And it's all I've been able to knit on for the past 5 days. When I finish it I feel I may collapse somewhere in my apartment like one of those marathon runners who pushes themselves to the point of exhaustion as they stumbling across the finish line practically in tears. The source of my obsession? The Skew sock.

Yes, that funky looking piece of fabric is a sock. And I loves it. When first beginning to knit said sock it looked much more like a banana koozie than a sock.

So, I have aptly named these The Ron Weasley Knitted Banana Holders. Why Ron Weasley?

Because the yarn is the (now legendary) Opal Harry Potter sock yarn in colorway Ron Weasley. Ron, if you need a warm banana I got just the thing for you.

Yes, I realize the preceding paragraphs were fraught with sexual innuendo. Why else do you think I posted them?

Eh, hum...as I was saying...knitting and what not.

So, I have about an inch of ribbing (for her pleasure...sorry couldn't resist!) left to go on the sock. I'll probably cast on for the second one but I don't plan to finish these in the next week or anything. Despite the quick progress on the first sock I do have other things to knit. I will say that I adore this pattern because it is always something new. I thing I've determined that miles of endless stockinette and garter stitch are not my cup of tea. Small items, like kids clothes, I can handle, but for something I'm knitting on that will take a substantial portion of my time I need some change. Even in my sock knitting it seems.

As I mentioned, before I started the Skew sock I did have a knit night and while I taught/helped everyone I did manage to start the second sleeve of the fair isle sweater.

I even managed to locate the issue of Interweave Knits I needed with instructions on how to finish this so (seeing as how this is a child's sized garment) not too much left to do on this one. This sweater is for the EEROP/Project Hope campaign. I just started a fun new contest over on the group so be sure to check it out. Especially if you like knitting prayer shawls or kid's clothes. I'll post more about that here later in the week.

In non knitting news my apartment is slowly but surely turning into this:

A big pile of boxes. The time has come for me to move on up to a bigger place. I've put in an application for a 2 bedroom apartment in a nice area of town. It will make my commute to work a good deal longer but I've been spoiled with 10-15 minute commutes for the last 5 years so I think I can cope. The trade off is a bigger space in a nicer part of the county. And it is still relatively close to my church and job. The move and preparation for moving may make posting a little sporadic for awhile but don't worry, when I'm procrastinating from packing I'll be knitting :)

Of Socks and Sweaters

I'm back from vacation and, while I should be well rested, for some reason this morning I'm completely wiped out. I have stuff that needs doing (doesn't that always seem the case) but I may need a nap before I can think about tackling any of it. Is it wrong to need a nap just 2 hours after you get up? Anyways...before I could allow myself to do anything truly productive this morning I had to finish this sock:

The first Rivulet's sock is finished!

I started this sock in May of 2009, over a year ago. I like the yarn, I like the pattern, I do not like the needles (US size 0). When I started these socks I had not knit many socks using true sock yarn so I just went with the needles the pattern told me to use without a second thought to try and substitute. Just looking at this yarn now I would say they need a size 2 or 3 needle to get a comfortable gauge. Bugga (the sock yarn used in this project) is a little on the thick side and using size 0s did not a comfortable knitting experience make. That's why I've been so reluctant to finish these. I had told myself I needed to finish this pair before I could make any more socks but I'm thinking that in order to maintain my sanity for sock #2 I might need to try a Skew sock (or two) first.

Lucky for me I have another project this is coming along quite nicely that I've been using to distract myself from uncomfortable sock knitting.

This is the fair isle sweater I've designed. This is for EEROP's summer knitting focus, Project Hope. I love how it's turning out! And kid's stuff is (to me anyways) a quick knit because of the miniature size. All I need is to finish the second sleeve and find my Fall and Winter issues of Vogue Knitting where Jared Flood talks about making any pattern into a seamless yoked sweater. Then it's just joining and finishing the top!

April/May KAL Wrap Up

Last Thursday I sent off the hats and scarves I'd made/collected for the Children's Emergency Relief International (CERI). CERI was the chosen charity for the April/May KAL for the Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project on Ravelry. CERI delivers hats and scarves to orphans every winter. The kids get to pick out a handmade item all their own. Many of the members of the group participated in making the Road Scarf (a free download from Lion Brand yarn). They all turned out great! I had collected quite a few other scarves and hats over the months (years) so I threw them into my box of contributions as well.

My Road Scarf and the Ant Egg scarf.

Two old scarves I'd made. A plain garter stitch scarf and (I think) a double knit scarf. I made them a long time ago so I can't really remember the all the details of their making.

A faggot stitch scarf and a fuzzy garter stitch boa scarf. Again, made a long time ago. The boa may have been the second or third scarf I'd ever made.

A faggot stitch hat that I made to go with the scarf.

A simple orange hat based off the Turn a Square hat that I made during the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival.

A cabled hat. Also whipped up during the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival weekend.

The Hat From Hell. Worn once (I washed it before I sent it off). It was a pain to knit and pain to wear. The yarn was a booger to use because it was a tangled mess. The hat was a pain to wear because I made it too big for my head so it was constantly slipping off. I'm hoping it finds a good home with someone who has an even bigger head than I do.

I also threw in these hats. I'd originally made them for a blogger friend (Helen) who was trying to gather 100+ hats for a school in NY. Unfortunately these didn't make it to her in time and got returned to me. They're on their way to a nice new home now.

So, in total 6 scarves and 6 hats. The large priority box from the post office was stuffed! I'm equally as excited about the upcoming June-September KALs as I am about the last one. The next charity we decided to support was Project Hope. Project Hope is working to stop child abandonment in Romania by providing support to families. One of the ways they help is a Christmas collection for mothers and children. The KALs for the summer and early fall will focus on projects that can be donated to Project Hope (socks, hats, mittens, and sweaters). I've already started designing/knitting a fair isle sweater for a little boy.

Actually a lot more has been knit but this is the only picture I have.

Penelope was trying to help me one night. I should be able to get a lot done on the sweater this week because I'm on vacation at the beach! When I'm not sunning myself that is ;)

Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival

I have some catching up to do I see. The biggest update is about the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival which was this weekend in Dickson, Tennessee. It started on Friday but I had to work all day so my friend Stephanie and I headed out after I was able to leave. We got into Dickson after 10 so we just checked into our motel for the evening. The next morning we headed out at 8 to set up for the festival.

Pulling the car in to unload (as you can see, everyone else had already set up for the weekend).

My little sign marking my booth space.

Unloading everything.

Stephanie helping to set up the wire shelving.

Sock yarns on the table.

And on the wire shelving.

Aran yarn (on the left) and all the sock yarn.

Another view of the sock yarn.

Roving on the back shelves, bulky (in front of shelves) and aran yarn (front).

Checkout.

View of the whole booth.

And me!

Inside our "barn" area.

The fairgrounds outside the barn doors.

On Saturday there was sheep shearing every hour on the hour. Stephanie was able to catch one of the shearings and she took some great pictures of the process.

Sheep in the pen.

Baa, baa, black sheep...

The shearing.

And afterwards! I think it's so cool how their fleece comes off so cleanly in one piece.

We had a great time on Saturday and I ended up crashing at 8:45. I was exhausted! Thankfully the festival didn't start until 10 on Sunday so we were able to sleep in a little later. First thing Sunday we had a visitor.

I think I need a bunny. She would match Penelope perfectly.

Stephanie got in on the bunny love too.

Sunday was another productive day, up until the very last minute actually. Got to meet Mercedes of Kitchen Sink Dyeworks which was very cool. We broke down the booth and headed out to meet our friend Paloma who lives in Nashville. After dinner with her we headed to my aunt and uncle's house who live east of Nashville. While there I got a call from my dad saying the weather was bad in Georgia. Stephanie and I decided to stay with my aunt and uncle for the night since we'd be getting home after 2 a.m. anyways. This morning we had some delicious pancakes (made by my uncle) and headed home. Finally pulled in to my place around 3:00 this afternoon. I took a nap, picked up some groceries, and I've spent the night just relaxing. And designing a child's fair isle sweater.