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I’m no longer posting in this blog, but feel free to join me at my new place.

http://spiffyanne.blogspot.com/

I haven’t posted at ALL this year! That’s just wrong!

I have reasons. One of which is that I’m working on getting a new blog up and running and that had to take a backseat to even more things that have come up.

The two most recent things have just wrapped up in the last few days. Last week, I finished a pattern for Crochet Me that will be in the next issue. And today I wrapped up a pattern that I want to pitch to Knitty. The deadline is the 15th and all I have left to do is take some photos. I managed to get a good indoor shot a few minutes ago and am hoping to get a shot or two outside tonight. Fingers crossed. If I actually get this submitted this evening, that will be a major coop for me. 3 days before deadline? Amazing!

But, yes, I do appologize for my slackitude in maintaining this blog. I’ve just been keeping it all in my personal blog lately because I’m changing things up here and didn’t want to continue adding here. And then it all got back-burnered and there you go.

Now that I’ve posted all my catch-up posts, I’ll post a post of present goings on.

My cashmere arrived yesterday and I got to work on Annie Modesitt scarf pattern from Scarf Style and Holiday Knits. I believe it’s called Backyard Leaves. If you’ve not seen it, it’s got a mainly garter stitch center with leaves leaning off on either side to the edge of the scarf. It’s lovely. And it’s charted lace. I had to rip out after I got to row 3 and start again, but I seem to have it now. It definitely not something I can do while the girls are awake, though, so it may not be done in time for me to use it this year. Poop. Working with cashmere is such a treat, though. It is so very, very soft.

I finished Fetching yesterday at knit club. I’ve very self-concious about wearing them. I think they make my hands look massive. Amanda says no, and they were a pain to get done right, so I’m going to wear them and like it. A few posts back, you will find a list of all the modifications I made. One last one to add to the list is that because I added a stitch to the hole for the thumb, as I worked the thumb, every three rows, I decreased by one at the top of the hole to taper it in. It worked well, I think. I’ll try and get photos later this week.

I started a bag yesterday that I don’t want to talk too much about, because I think when it’s done, I’m going to pitch it to Knitty. I’ll just say that the inspiration is a bag that I was working on to learn a technique, decided I hated the pattern, so I frogged and am creating my own pattern using the technique in a style I’m more likely to use.

Also, last night, I managed to get my proposal written up for the next issue of Crochet Me. Again, not saying much about this one, other than that it’s a bag, too.

The great push to get through my UFOs went as well as my craft ADD self could expect. I ended up… *ahem* throwing away two of them. I didn’t like them. Didn’t like the yarn. They weren’t going to fit the kids anymore. So, they were binned! Liberating? Oh, yes. I finished the fetching gloves. So, that’s done, too. I think that makes 1/3rd of my UFOs completed. And I promptly started up enough to replace them. Also, as The New Year officially kicks off tomorrow, I think that means I’m supposed to start on my clapotis with Miss Amanda. I want to make it so I can wear it for this year. And it seems like a fast pattern. But, man, I have so much started! I need another month of winter here in Arizona so I have time to make all these winter projects with time to wear them. Please? Someone look into that for me?

I’ve been talking about how this is going to be my resolution for, oh, about 3 months now!

Some background:

My mom is a master hoarder o’ yarn. At one point, she had 22+ of the large rubbermaid bins of yarn. They were stored in the basement and in a not-so-good state of affairs, so, oh, 5 or so years ago, I went through her stuff and donated two massive bags of yarn to goodwill, another couple to a local stitch’n'bitch group, and packed a couple suitcases full to bring back here to AZ with me. I also set aside several boxes for her to use as packing materials and filler when she sends packages, and would pack more each time we went back to visit. Also, quite a bit got thrown away because it had been left out of the bins and the basement flooded. It was quite a time going through all of it. I found yarn that was 30 years old, yarn left over from sweaters she made me as a kid, and many an unfinished project.

She was left with 11 rubbermaids full. About 90% of the acrylic I got from her has been freecycled on or made into donation items, leaving me with 10 of those longterm storage cardboard boxes full of just “the good stuff”. (Maybe equivalent to 6 rubbermaids?) I’ve used up one box full, and aquired two more boxes full through left over bits from projects and yarn found while thrifting. One step forward and two steps back? It doesn’t help that I’ve gotten into recycling sweaters. I’ve only done 4 so far, but that added almost a whole box of yarn right there. I was also working at a yarn store teaching classes for a while and was paid in store credit, so… yeah. Dangerous!

My goal for this year is to knock my stash down by at least 2 boxes, hopefully three. I’ve been wanting to do a major stash bust for a while, but chose this year to be the year because we’re going to be moving. We can use the yarn money on other things and I certainly don’t need to be adding more stuff to our house when I’m trying to make it look spartan and spacious to potential buyers! My last splurge was some cashmere I found on eBay. I scored $200 of cashmere for $40! w00t! But I digress… I’m hoping by making most of the birthday and Christmas presents in 2007, I’ll be able to get through a good chunk of it.

My goal until the end of the year is to blast through my UFOs and then hopefully start the new year off fresh and watch the yarn dwindle! I’ve designated January and February as Make Things for Me month, because it seems everything I make gets given to someone else. I’ll post pictures of my stash when I find the camera, and then hang my head in shame and hope you all understand!

And now, photos:

The white container has sugar’n'cream type yarn. The basket holds a bunch of recycled yarn from a linen sweater.

Some alpaca/wool blend that I koolaid dyed and liked so much it’s now an accessory in our bedroom.

A box full of yarn that I forgot existed until I cleaned out the office/craft room yesterday.

A box full of random yarn that was hanging around on my craft table. The stuff on the right is what’s left after making my daughters’ sweaters for Christmas.

Cones. There are actually 5 cones there. The peach on the right has a cone behind it and together they will be an afghan for my youngest. The white is mystery fiber, and then there is a cone of red acrylic and one of white cotton you can’t see. The box on the right is partial skeins of wool that I then use to make donations to Afghans for Afghans.

2 bags. The bottom bag is from Stitch’n'Pitch and has a bunch of novelty yarn and mohair. The bag on top is random bits from a yarn swap. Wool and mohair mostly.

The 9 boxes o’yarn that are stored where they are supposed to be. These are all full. By the end of the year, I’d like to be back to the point where all my yarn can fit in those 9 boxes again.
This is the goal. All that extra stuff used up or fitting in those 9 boxes.

And last, but not least, my WIP area:

Starting at the top right we have:
Lorna’s Laces sock yarn and some Mountain Colors. Both from the One Skein exchange. Destined to become socks and something yet to be determined.
Sock yarn I’m using to make iPod cozies.
A mohair scarf.
Recycled cotton I’m using to make washcloths.
Yarn that will eventually become a purse.
Next row:
Fetching gloves in progress.
A blankie for my oldest.
An entrelac bag that I love working on, but hate the look of, so it doesn’t get worked on much.
2 purses that are all done but need to be assembled and have the lining sewn in.
Some yummy mohair that is yet to be determined.
Bottom Row:
Some recycled angora/wool blend that is being made into the crochet scarf from One Skein
A future clapotis
Leftover mohair from a poncho I made my daughter. Will probably be tucked back in a box to make room for another WIP
A dress that I need to finish. It’s an 18 mo size and my youngest is going into 3T now. Oops.
An empty space that will soon be filled with cashmere that will become a scarf for me! Me, I tell you!

Only 5 are OTN right now. The others are in need of finish work or are waiting to be started.

So, there you have it. Accepting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right?

Edited to add: Since I originally posted this in my other blog, I’ve found a 12″x12″x10″ box 3/4 full of cotton I’m using to make a throw for my bedroom, and a shopping bag full of crochet cotton. Oh, and the 5 skeins of cashmere arrived. *ahem* Yeah. No more yarn for 2007.

Webs has a podcast!! They have a radio show on WHMP and they put it up as a podcast! Woohoo!! It’s called “Ready, Set, Knit”. Let me tell you, this is a great show. There are several segments to the show. In one, they talk about the new yarns and products that they have in the store. And, sure, this part works out to be one big commercial, but there are some interesting bits about the items they are pitching here and there, as well as background on why they chose those particular items. And since you can buy their stuff online, it doesn’t matter that you’re listening to them talk about their brick and mortar store. You cans till get the items yourself, half a world away.

Another segment is a knit along. The first one was a hat made from measurements. Awesome. I need to relisten and take notes this time, as I am always freaked out about hat measurements. I wish I’d heard this before I set out to make 3 hats this year with a pattern I had to modify because I didn’t have the right yarn. Bleah.

The best segment, though, is the stump the expert segment. They have the best tips and tricks and solutions and most of them are things I have never heard.

To top it all off, they aren’t afraid of the word “crochet”. Seriously, check this podcast out!

****

You know what? I got the cashmere. I. Got. The. Cashmere. Do you know what it’s like to hold $200 worth of cashmere in your hands and know you paid only $40 for it’s soft, exsquisite goodness? Oh, it’s a soft, exsquisite, penny-pinching feeling, indeed.

I started a bag today that I am going to pitch to Knitty.com, but I think for now I’m going to have to get started on my scarf. Oh, yes, I will get started. The bag is more winter, anyway, and hi, it’s only scarf weather in Arizona for, like, 3 days. And then there is the shopping bag I want to pitch to Crochet Me, too. Oh, sheesh. So. Much. To. Do. I think I’ll pitch the crochet me bag tonight, then get to work on the scarf. The bag pitch to knitty can wait. It’s more autumnal/winter anyway. The crochet me bag is going to be the last thing I pitch until I get paid for a pattern. That is a goal for this year–paid for a pattern. Knitty, Interweave, BH&G: I don’t care. I want to start making bank.

My blog was lost in the ether for a bit and I posted these entiries over in my personal blog. So now, I’m transfering them over:

My craft blog is not working. So just skip it if you aren’t interested in my crafty ramblings.

Yesterday, I threw away two UFOs. One was a dress I started for Abby when she was a year old. It was an 18mo size, so she wasn’t going to fit into it. Plus I substituted yarn and it wasn’t a good choice. And, since it was my first garment, it was a little wonky. Because of the fuzziness of the yarn, it was being a pain to assemble, and since she wasn’t going to be able to wear it anyway, I just chucked it.

And it felt good.

Then I turned my attention to the entrelac purse I started months ago. I like working on it. I do. And I like the colors I picked. Honest. But the bag itself? Is ugly. I wouldn’t even give it to Adam’s grandma, and she has some “interesting” items. So after finishing the second side and working on picking up the stitches for the flap on top, I realized that once more I was working on a project I couldn’t give away and was a pain in the butt to work on. So I frogged as much of it as I could and threw the rest away. I have more than enough to make an entrelac bag with what is left, only I think the new one will be a tote instead of a fugly hobo.

So, I went from 10 WIPs to 8. Lovely. Several of the things that are left could be done in an hour or so a piece. I just really, really don’t want to do them as they involved sewing. I finished up the evening by redoing the top few inches of fetching. I made more modifications, too, so they fit my man hands better. I’d already added a cable repeat and about 8 rows throughout the glove, and last night I changed the following:
I added 3 more rows before the thumb hole.
Starting at that point, I added an extra purl between 4 of the cable repeats on the palm side so it fits a little better. This also makes it so there is a definate right and left handed glove.
I made the thumb hole 8 stiches instead of 7. I haven’t knitted the thumb hole yet, but when I do, I’ll be knitting it a little over an inch so it goes to the bottom of my knuckle.
I added a cable repeat at the top so that it’s long enough to cover my entire palm.

I’m not even sure if it’s going to work yet, because I haven’t opened up the thumb hole, so I can’t really tell on the fit, but so far, it seems better than before. And I only had to rip, like, 1.5 inches to make all those corrections, so it didn’t take too long to fix it. The only thing I’m really worried about is making the thumb hole bigger. It was only ever-so-slightly clingy in the first attempt, and I’m afraid it will end up a huge gaping hole now. I started on reknitting the second glove this morning, but since that one’s mistake was way down in the cuff, I just started that one over from the beginning.

Tonight is knit club. It feels like it’s been ages. We are moving to a different Starbucks, because the one where we had been meeting was 5 miles from me and I was the closest one. Linda pointed out how silly that was, so we are moving to one that’s 2 miles from here and it’ll just be a mile for Linda. It’ll still be a bit of a drive for Amanda, but it will save her a few miles, too. I had orginally put it at the other Starbucks because people were complaining that there wasn’t a meeting up in that area. And then none of them came. Punks.

Oh, knit club. You will do my soul good.

Fact: My husband’s stepfather has a smallish head.

Fact: There are no patterns to be found online using DK wool and a size 4 circular needle.

Fact: I don’t WANT to use DPNS and the only other circs I have are too long.

Given the above, I decided to find a worsted weight hat pattern and use the 4s and DK weight yarn. My thought was that in using a man’s pattern (usually around 22″) and the thinner yarn and smaller needles, if I added a repeat, I should get roughly a 21″ hat. And so far, so good in that regard.

The next part of my master plan was that I would knit and knit until I had enough of the stockinette portion of the hat to measure guage, compare it to the pattern’s guage, and calculate how many extra rows I would need to knit and where to put them in the area of decrease rows at the top so I’d still get a proper curve to the crown.

EXCELLENT plan. It would work. Math is our friend.

And yet there is one problem with my plan. The person who posted the pattern (and a very kind person she was for doing so) didn’t include a gauge. I didn’t notice this until NOW. When I’m getting ready to start decreasing. It shouldn’t be horrible. I should be able to manage. But I’m going to second guess myself 57 times along the way, and I forsee much rippage.

The tally for handmade gifts this year: (Sorry. No pictures. I’m horrible at remembering to take photos and I had to get most of these in the mail, dagnabit.) If you are family, you may want to stop reading so as not to spoil the surprise. I don’t know that any of you actually read this blog anyway, though.

Stepmom: Shawl from an old Knitters. Feather and fanish, but slightly different. Brown organic wool with white fuzzy wool-blend novelty fluff yarn at the ends.
Dad: Hat and scarf out of avocado green wool. Scarf was 2 cable scarf from One Skein, though since I have 1.5 skeins to work with, I added a rib repeat between the cables and knit it about 6″ longer
Brother: Orange and brown mottled hat with 2×2 rib scarf. I’m fairly sure this was acrylic, though it may have had some wool in it. He needed something machine washable, and it was a bulky, so it should still be fairly warm.
Mom: Cravat from One Skein using the last (*sniff*sniff*) of my SWTC Optimum. Why did they have to stop making that stuff? It was awesome. She also got a necklace and earring set. It’s in gold tones and she likes silver, but I think it’s going to look good on her, so there.
Husband’s stepdad: Gaiter from One Skein with matching hat. (I’ve gotten a LOT of use out of that One Skein book!)
The girls: A sweater each. Still not done. I had to wait for more brown to arrive, which it did yesterday. It’s going to be close. Abby’s just needs the red trim around the opening of the sweater, but I need to knit a few more inches of Kai’s in brown, then do the bottom red and the trim. It is going to be very, very close. I will probably be blocking it late Christmas eve.

Not much. The kids have been sick for weeks. I’ve gotten a bit done in the meantime, but not as much as I’d hoped. And I have no pictures yet, so you just get a list.

I finished all but the edging on the sweater for my youngest daughter. It took slightly less than 2 weeks once I finally figured out the guage issues. Substituting yarns is a pain in the buttocks. And though I brought it on myself this time, the next time I hear a LYSO say that you can substitute any yarn for any other as long as the guage matches on the label will get a book up the hiney. It’s true in many cases, but not all. Some yarns just behave differently. They have a different plushness or nap or the fiber content affects the drape. And so subbing a DK weight cotton/wool blend for the DK alpaca the pattern called for required no less than 5 swatches and a 3-inch false start on the pattern before I finally got things right. Bleah. The sweater is VERY cute, though, and I made it in a 4, so she should be able to wear it next year, too.

I still need to knit a matching one for my eldest, and I need to increase the size a bit. When I picked the pattern, she was just starting to transition into a size 6, and now she is definitely a 6. The pattern is a top-down raglan cardigan, so I don’t think it will be too hard to increase to a size 7 or 8. I’m just worried about yarn. So, that is a To Do.

In the meantime, though, I realized that I need to get the gifts I’m making for Back East people done ASAP so I can get them in the mail. Mom, done. Step-mom, needs blocking. Dad? Well, dad I decided to make a scarf. I had some vintage DK wool in avocado, which seemed an acceptably manly color. I decided to make the 2-cable scarf from One Skein, only it was very narrow, so I added another K2, P2 rib between the two cables. It’s still a little narrow, truth be told, but it helped and I was afraid to go any wider for fear that I’d run out of yarn. As it is, though, I ended up with 3/4 of a skein left, so I’m making him a skully to wear with it. (But just all solid color.) I KNOW he’ll at least wear the hat, because it gets so cold in Massachusetts in winter, that he wears hats to bed. I should finish the hat today. That leaves my brother Jason. We don’t exchange gifts between siblings anymore, but Jason is so good witht he kids, that I like to get him something. I am really struggling with this year, though. I’d love to make him a cool scarf with, like, “Metallica” or something like that intarsiaed into it. But I don’t see myself having the time. He works with cars, so I’m thinking of making him a neck-warmer that he can wear while working and not have to worry about getting a scarf caught in moving parts.

After all this is over, I’m going to spend January and February working on projects for ME. (Yeah, right.)

So, we are having a very lazy day here at Chez Anne. The girls didn’t get out of their jammies until, oh, 10:30 or 11. And I, likewise, was in my jammies until only slightly before then. In fact, the only reason why I did finally stop working on finishing up a couple of soakers was because I had someone show up 6 hours earlier than they said they would to pick up something we offered on Freecycle. So, you know, I was sporting the lazy SAH, Springer-watching Mom look when I answered the door. Classy.

And when I did get dressed? I just changed from a nightgown to pajama pants and a t-shirt. I can’t shower until the girls are taking their naps and there is no use getting into real clothes, so I got into more respectable pajama clothes.

It made sense at the time.

Anyway, back to the not-right-in-the-head thing. So, the lady came for Freecycle and I cracked the door and handed her the thing and… what is that? A package on my door? I snatched it in and squeed a bit out loud before closing the door. Oh, the joy! My yarn had arrived! A smallish tyvek mailer, chock full to the gills! Oh, the joy that will be knitting matching sweaters for my monster girls!

But… what is this? This is not YARN!

Alas, it was just an order I’d placed for some jammies for the girls and Abby’s Christmas dress. Le sigh… Cute kid clothes are nothing to me when it comes to the thought of new, yummy yarnage.

Maybe it’ll be here this afternoon?

I’m off the deep end, I tell you.

I found myself betwixt projects last night. Not in a good, I feel accomplished sort of way. In a AHHH!! I NEED TO WORK ON SOMETHING ELSE!! kind of way. So, yeah. I finished the gift for my neice who is due Jan 4. Well, I need to weave in ends, but that’s not what I wanted to do last night. The logical thing would have been to pick up and work on the soaker I’m testing. Only I couldn’t find a page of the directions and my daughter has discovered a crack-like game and wouldn’t give up the computer without a fight.

I thought about starting a new crochet project, but my UFOs are out of control again, so I decided it would be best to work on one of those. So, I pulled out an entrelac purse I’d been working on.

This project is a mixed bag. (Lame pun not intended.) I asked the local LYS to do a class on entrelac and she picked the most impossible beginners project in the world. One row of rectagles is in seed stitch, the other in garter. And there is quite a bit of shaping involved. Those things aren’t so bad, but when you are trying to do them AS you learn entrelac? It’s a recipie for disaster. Especially when the “teacher” is busy helping customers while I try and figure out what the heck is going on AND had knitters who are even more beginner than I begging me for help. When I took the class, I was the only one out of 6 to make it past the starting row of triangles, and after I finished the first row of rectangles later that day, I decided to give up and start again and this time to do all the sections in stockinette. I like how it looks a lot better now, but that’s not saying a whole lot, as, at best, this is a purse for “eclectic” tastes and at worst, an ugly granny bag. But, hey, she sold 6 patterns and the yarn and needles for it all, so why should she care that it was totally beyond the grasp of beginner knitters and most of them will probably never attempt anything using entrelac ever again?

I hadn’t even thought about the thing in months, but then she offered the class again and one of our S’n'B members was conned into taking it and is every bit as frustrated with it now as everyone else in the class was with it then. Because it doesn’t matter what the knitter needs with this particular LYS. It’s all about selling product.

But I digress…

After all the frustrations with getting started on it, now that I’d dropped the seed and garter and am just working the entrelac as stockinette, I like it. I like the process of it. Working each section until I’m out of stitches, then picking up more and working those until they are gone, too. It’s fun. But I will never, ever use the bag. I might–MIGHT–make it in different colors some day for myself, but I doubt it. Anyway, I finished the front of it last night and am about 1/3rd of the way done with the back. And it’s going back to the UFO pile again so I can finish off the soaker today or tomorrow. If the yarn I ordered for the girls’ Christmas cardigans aren’t in by then, it may get picked up again, but we shall see.

I have no idea what I will do with it when I’m done. If the process hadn’t finally become enjoyable in and of itself, the thing would have been totally frogged and just been a bad memory. As it is, I will finish it. Someday.