theknitsmith

While not officially stated in my New Year’s goals, reducing the amount of yarn in my home is a major campaign for 2012. Prior to a fall home reno, the yarn had wormed its way into every room in the house. It’s still there technically, but no actual yarn resides in the kitchen. In order to make myself look less loony to muggles (non-knitters) I have tried to reduce the amount on display, with some success.

But now to the point. This little sweater was knit with one and a half skeins of either Rowan or Debbie Bliss baby weight yarn. It was also a chance for me to try out the 80 bajillion baby sweater patterns I have placed in my Ravelry favorite page. The pattern is the Baby Boy 5-Hour Sweater. Here are my Ravelry deets.

 

And just for the record, this is the fifth finished knitted thing for 2012. It was started in 2011 but that doesn’t count right now because I make the rules. Of course the Beem is the real rule-maker.

 

Since Jan. 1 I have finished four knitted things. Now that’s finished, not started. Let’s keep that clear because two of these knitted things were supposed to be Christmas presents. Exhibit A and B:

These patterns are Turn A Square by Jared Flood and the Hitchhiker shawl pattern by Martina Behm. The hat was supposed to be part of my brother’s Christmas present, as blogged previously, the scarf was supposed to be part of my sister-in-law’s gift. She got a wrapped up pattern and skein of yarn instead. This caused some giggles but was not ideal by any means. Apparently before Christmas she was looking for a scarf but they were all too expensive. Knitsmith to the rescue, albeit a bit late. It’s a good thing she was only needing a scarf and not being attacked by aliens or something. Being rescued from alien attack is something you want right away, not two weeks later.  Anyway, these are both done and I have resolved to only take on three knit for Christmas projects past Aug. 1 next year. And start them before Nov. 1. Let’s be sensible.

The completion of these projects subtracts two skeins of yarn from the stash. Considering how much the stash has grown in the last year that is fantastic. I went to one fiber festival and the sock summit and picked up some presents for myself at both. I’m also slightly addicted to the yarn sites on the Triple Dubs. You understand where this is going. I have a small house and people aren’t fooled when you tell them big piles of yarn are chairs.

Anyway, I’ve knocked out two more projects this weekend: a scarf and a cowl.

The cowl will go in the Drawer of Advanced Planning. The scarf will shortly be a birthday gift. It’s just a simple garter stitch. The cowl was worked in the round until I ran out of yarn.

So there you have it – Jan. 9 and I’ve already finished four knitted things. I hope this trend of mass production knitting continues for me and for you if you’re so inclined.

Today’s post is brought to you by the letter F – for Finish. I am currently working on what could very shortly be the fourth finished knitted thing of 2012. This is impressive since it is only Jan. 8. That’s right, I have just complemented myself. That’s how I roll. I should not allow myself to get a swelled head about this accomplishment however, due to the myriad unfinished things dating back to years beyond 2011. Many of these unfinished items reside in the sewing room.

For several months I’ve believed that I would enjoy sewing if only I had the time and energy to do it. I am beginning to doubt the truth of this statement as I have yet to actually sew in spite of some available time and occasional energy. I see many projects I want to sew. This, http://www.purlbee.com/little-forest-quilt/for instance, would be a lovely addition to the front entrance. Every time I think of working on a project like this I remember the two quilt tops, one tie, a purse and pants needing to be hemmed that are on the to do list ahead it, or the American Girl clothes I want to sew for an upcoming birthday and I stay in the chair with the knitting.

I have flirted with putting together projects that only need sewing so that I can work on them right way when I get up or during my lunch hour. So far, this is another pipe dream.

What is the point of this post you ask? Merely to remind myself of the big pile of unfinished things weighing me down. I’m also just musing out loud about whether any of this will ever achieve completion or continue to languish in a basket. Should I scrap it all, donate it and just focus on the knitting and scrapping? It seems like a big defeat and an overall waste. This may seem very silly but whether I’m going to continue to stock the craft room as if I sew or whether I’m going to let it all go and give the space over to either less clutter or other priorities is a big question I’m pondering. My mother sewed beautifully and appeared to love it. (She also didn’t let quite as many projects pile up as I do. And tried to warn me of the folly of doing so.) People think I sew infrequently as I actually do. Letting go of it feels like letting go of part of her legacy, and a part of her that still lives in me, so it’s difficult. Maybe I should just put it away for awhile and see how I feel in six months. Maybe I should just give myself a break. Stay tuned.

Ok, so I forgot that one of my New Year’s resolutions was to blog more. Didn’t write it, but I’m going to do it.

This is the current sock, begun last year and continued this year. I keep the socks in my purse so if I have to wait somewhere, need a little knitting break during the day or find myself in a car full of knitting-supportive people, I can pull it out and get some stitches in.

This sock is made from some Knit Picks Felici I think. Anyway, this colorway is probably discontinued. I usually agonize over whether to order a specific Felici colorway until it’s discontinued. Smart planning. Check out the cute owl stitch marker, a gift from new crocheter Catherine Bigbee.

Anyway, this sock is made using the Yarn Harlot’s basic sock recipe. This is the pattern I usually use for socks. I get a good fit with it for the most part. I am going to try to step out (Get it? Socks, step out? Ha ha. ) and knit some socks from a different pattern this year. This may involve lace or cables. Contain yourselves.

The sock started out going really fast and has now stalled somewhat. However, I am nearly to the heel. I love the yarn. It’s really soft and appears to fly around the needle. I’m using one of those really tiny circulars instead of DPNs. I’m not sure how well I like the baby circulars. I think they make my wrist hurt but they’re easier to manage than the DPNs. Although I feel less clever while working with them. It only takes the Yarn Harlot 20 hours to finish a pair of socks, but I think in that 20 hours she actually knits on them. Imagine.

1. This post may contradict my first resolution, but I want to spend less time looking at patterns on the Internet and more time knitting them. I probably have enough patterns now to knit until I die so I need to get started. I’ve already finished a Turn A Square hat for my brother that has been on the to do list for awhile. And I used Shelter yarn, which was developed by the pattern writer, so that’s even better.

 

2. Make more from the Sock of the Month Club. I have a bag full of these projects in my bedroom and more are on their way each month. I want to make a dent in this.

3. Mittens. I have four skeins of yarn designated as mittens and hats and they need to make the leap from yarn to knitting pretty soon.

4. Replenish the Drawer of Advanced Planning. I gave almost everyone a knitted thing for Christmas this season so the drawer is pretty empty. I want to repeat this feat next year but get the projects done by Christmas to avoid the mad late-night knitting and wrapped skeins of yarn and patterns. It always gets a giggle but really?

5. Finish last year’s projects. At the beginning of 2010 I made a list of things I wanted to knit last year. I didn’t get half of them done. I sort of scrapped the list for this year and made it a little more manageable. But I need to go back and wrap up some WIPs and one big project that has been in a holding pattern for probably five years.

6. Charity Knitting. There are plenty of people who could use a warm hat or scarf and I have plenty of yarn to make that happen. I want to make a hat a month to donate to Share the Warmth or a similar cause.

7. Become more comfortable with sock knitting. I have many patterns, many skeins of yarn and many dreams of beautiful socks with cables, lace and a perfect fit. I got the Wendy Johnson Toes Up Socks book for Christmas and received Kathleen Taylor’s big book of socks at the North Country Fiber Festival. I definitely have the resources to make that happen.

Wish me luck and God’s speed on your own list. I’m going to go knit something.

Here is the finished, although not terribly expertly photographed, Nordic Christmas sock from the North Country Fiber Fair. If you tuned to my last blog post you will know that if you were not at the fair you are boring – or don’t care about fibers, or fairs.

Meanwhile, since that time, I’ve discovered that my blog has peaked at 12 readers, which is 10 more than I thought I had. These people will heretofore be known as the Dynamic Dozen. Hello Dynamic Dozen. As a result of my latest project, I have learned that I like stranded knitting – the knitting you do when you knit with two colors. Previously, I thought knitting with more than one color at a time was obnoxious because it ended up a tangled mess wrapped around my double points. (Stop laughing.) Kathleen Taylor (sock class teacher) showed me a simple, but ingenious, method of organizing your yarn so that it does not end up in the aforementioned yarn tangle. Kathleen Taylor is much smarter than me. Her classes are taught in a relaxed manner, she is accessible in her teaching style and she shows you how to do things more easily than you would have come up with on your own. She also gives out free books. I received the Big Book of Socks because I already have Fearless Fair Isle.  Maybe I’ll be able to try a sock pattern from the new free book if I ever get done with the Neverending Cotton Socks. If you have never met a neverending pair of cotton socks you do not know what I’m dealing with. It’s basically a sock that you continue to knit and knit that is then ripped out without your knowledge by your imagination that has fooled you into believing in this conspiracy.

That’s all for now. To the Dynamic Dozen: Good evening.

Or you just don’t like fairs, or fiber or maybe just want to watch sports and maybe attend musical festivals. By the way, festivals and fairs are almost the same thing except sometimes one will have a carousel and the other will not. I will let you investigate which is which.

I attended the North Country Fiber Fair during my birthday weekend – Sept. 16 to 18. There was no carousel but there were fiber enthusiasts galore. These included people making their own yarn by spinning fiber, people knitting fiber people had already spun (me), people learning to spin fiber into yarn (also me) and probably some people weaving (not me).

This is the third year I have thought: I should really take some classes at this fiber fair and the first year I actually did it. On my birthday – yes – secret revealed – I took a class from celebrated author and knit blogger Kathleen Taylor. Kathleen is known in fiber circles for her blog Dakota Dreams and her pattern-writing, book-writing and teaching. She is known in book circles for a mystery series she wrote that was based on the area around Redfield, SD, where she lives. Unfortunately, her publisher decided not to pay for these books to be written right about the

time things were getting steamy in those mysteries. I was not a fan of that decision and think she should write the rest of the series for the e-book market, but that is just my opinion. She has written a new book suitable for the older elementary to junior-highish set that I am really looking forward to reading. (If either of my two readers are publishers that last sentence was for you. Buy it, OK?)

But anyway, I had done some color work prior to this class, which will be described in a later post, about some golf club covers I tried to design. It was ultimately successful but I wish I’d taken this class before that.

Also I was really proud that while I was working on it people told me how beautiful the sock was and how I would be a credit to any guild I wanted to join. These compliments were given during Sunday lunch when I was knitting the sock very near where Kathleen Taylor was eating lunch. I wanted to say Pssst, are you hearing this Kathleen? Your sock is the bomb.

The sock is still not done but I am down to the edging. That means I have 14 rows left and some picot edging. I am hoping that tonight’s watching of Modern Family, Glee and Parenthood will be sufficient to knock it out.

My other large triumph this weekend – besides just getting my registration sent in and showing up – was spinning something that resembled yarn. I took a drop spindle class several years ago.  It DID NOT TAKE. This time it did. I was told that I was doing a great job in that class. Some of what I produced looked like real yarn, so it’s possible I was doing a really great job. It’s also possible that everyone is so happy at this fiber festival being surrounded by fiber fumes and other people who do not need the reasons for knitting explained to them that they think everyone is doing a great job at everything. I may have been one of those people. I can also say that this has not been the best year of my life – and by not the best year I mean this is number two on the worst scale. So for me to have been pretty solidly happy for three days was, number 1, really awesome and, number 2, really really awesome.

Here’s my sock.

And here are some people who spin stuff that looks like yarn all the time or maybe just on Tuesdays because in my experience people really love to spin on Tuesdays.

If you think this is the last you’ll read from me about the NCFF then you are wrong. I have more pictures to post once I try to spin more yarn-like substances away from the magic new spinners ring of folding chairs.

Sometimes I wonder, why do I knit? Or why do I try to knit things that fit myself. I knit this:

And it looks really nice doesn’t it? The cables are beautiful – if I do say so myself. The yarn has a great stitch definition that offsets the cables and also it was a fun piece to knit. I tried it on several times and was convinced it fit. Victory!

Then I put it on this morning and it looked, on me, sort of like packaged barf. For those who may be wondering, packaged barf is worse than real barf because it’s in a package so it probably smells worse and you might open it by accident thinking it’s something fun and cool like yarn. Then it’s really barf, which smells really bad from being barf and being sealed in a package and it gets all over you.

Back to the sweater – the sleeves were too long and the sweater body was too bulky or something. It made some of my bulges look more bulgy – not the look I’m going for. Just saying.

I have made approximately two sweaters – wait three – that fit. I would like to make more. Perhaps I need a dress form. Perhaps I should just make baby sweaters. Or afghans or scarves or something that doesn’t need to fit. Or maybe I should stop losing weight, but probably not. Maybe I should try these pieces on more during construction. Yeah, that’s it.

You should be 1,000 percent more excited about the eggplant Parmesan news of today. Here’s the news: I made it. It doesn’t suck. It may need a little more time in the oven to get rid of some of the chewiness. Doable – I have an oven. And teeth if the oven doesn’t work.

Meanwhile, here’s a vignette from daily dog walking. Basically this is what I sound like for most of the walk: No, no, come on, come on, COME HERE (jerks leash).  Often these dog walks are punctuated by mad straining against the leash in order to chase after a squirrel that’s already escaped to the safety of a tree that is far out of the dog’s ability to reach. This is what the dog does. I just walk. I can generally keep my enthusiasm about squirrels in check.

Another thing is cats. My dog was bitch-slapped twice by a farm cat over the Labor Day weekend. This particular farm cat had new kittens and wanted to assure the dog that he would regret even breathing in the cat’s direction. The dog has since forgotten how that felt. And has also forgotten crying like a baby because his nose had been attacked by a baby-crazed lunatic. In the dog’s mind he is mean and ferocious, full of teeth, projecting an aura of fear towards all he encounters. In reality he is an over-sized puff ball used to frequent walks, regular feeding and naps on the couch. This is how dog and cat differ. In a cat’s mind it will kick your ass if you get out of line. In reality, it will kick your ass if you get out of line.

So, no, no, come on, leave the cat alone.

Sadly this weekend was a bust as far as my home improvement to do list. However, I was able to get some of the donated produce used up in some salsa, BLT’s and TOMATO AND ZUCCHINI SOUP! I love tomato zucchini soup so much. It’s very possible that I over-seasoned this with chili powder and dill but I will choke it down anyway.

Tonight if the newspaper Gods smile on me I am leaving here early enough to make some eggplant Parmesan, maybe some zucchini bread and hopefully knock off one or two jobs from the aforementioned to do list.

Also, it’s international crochet day! Here’s the proposed project: a hat.

This looks like a knitting pattern but it is crocheted. I am going to work it in my favorite Lion Brand Cotton-Ease with a G hook – the favorite crochet hook size.

Could we just pause here to give a shout out to the new Interweave Crochet?

The cover shot is beautiful. I am drooling over that wrap. And it can be worn so many ways. There are several projects in this issue I want on my to do list but I’m starting with the hat. It’s my new goal – try to make one project out of each of the several mags that find their way to my mailbox quarterly. So many goals …

Happy International Crochet Day!