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Instead of launching into a mass of reasons why I haven’t posted, what has been going on with me and my general life status; it should suffice to say that I have been floundering in an ocean of depression, have taken many mouthfuls of brackish water, dodged the flotsam and jetsam of plans, saved all the wool, planted a long awaited garden and finally, finally learnt to swim again.
The Wool:
A trio of socks; blue for me, boy colours for the boy.
A shawl. More specifically The Jubilee Year Shawl
…which I am calling “Happiness” both because it is making me very happy to use this skein of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn (188) which I have had in my stash since 2008 or so and happy because I finally feel like I have found the true calling for this yarn. It has tried to be socks and mittens and a hat and none of those things looked…right. And then I found this pattern purely by chance and it is perfect.
What you aren’t seeing in this wool section is something that is done and gone and I, being the forgetful Auntie that I am, forgot to take photos of said items first. I made my new nephew (RGB) 12 single socks from KP’s Imagination and then knit him blanket squared with the remaining 22g of the skein. Actually, what I did was a bit more complicated than that…I wound each 50g skein into a ball, knit a single baby sock using my standard baby sock pattern, weighed the remaining and split it into 2 22g balls. I then used 22g to knit RGB’s baby blanket. 
What you see here is the second 22g knit into mitered squares with a bundle left over on top. As I finish this project, I’ll give you more details on it but the general plan is that this will be joined by 12 more colours (24 total), yes, I know you only see 7 here but the other yarn isn’t squared yet, and become a blanket and more baby socks.
Also in Wool is the beautiful Intentions yarn that I have been spinning and thinking through. This project became so much more than I thought it would and while life got in the way and derailed my plans for doing the project in a year, I am so happy to still be working through it.
This is Patience and is perfect for the lesson that I am learning. Thats part of what makes me love my Intentions project. Though it is nothing like I planned, it is exactly what I needed and has been fitting into my life exactly as I needed it.
The Garden:
6 years ago, I made a plan. I wanted a herb garden in a strawberry pot. I knew I wanted rosemary on top, cilantro (coriander), dill, thyme, marjoram, oregano, chives and sage, all the herbs I love to use, in the pockets. The only problem was that I was living remotely and the getting of said pot, herbs and soil was an insurmountable challenge due to cost and logistics. Since then I haven’t lived long enough in a big enough town to have my dreamed of herb garden.
Until now.
I can not tell you how happy it makes me to have this wee garden. Something that I have wanted for ages is finally mine and just the thought of it makes me smile. And salivate because I can’t wait to use the herbs along the way.
I also planted Orange mint and Spearmint with a Chamomile between them:
And two of a crazy plant that I couldn’t resist because of my love of and for them:
Artichokes.
Swimming:
In other parts of life, I have gotten back into running almost by force. I say “force” but what I really mean is that I registered for the Rhody run (12k) on May 20th, the Seattle 10k at the end of August (again) AND the Seattle Half Marathon the Sunday after Thanksgiving and if I don’t “get back into running” then the registration monies go down the toilet and I embarrass myself when I try to complete any or all of these events. So running it is and I feel great doing it. Makes me wonder why I was foolish to ever let myself stop.
In all parts of life…I feel like I am…getting there.
Emotionally. Physically. Mentally.
I’m not quite sure where “there” is but, as always,
“It is the Journey, Not the Destination”.
I’m knitting socks for M and these, these socks are flying thru my needles. Aran/Worsted yarn on 3′s…perfect for mens socks and I’m to the heel already.
This is my first ball. Now, as I started knitting these socks, I KNEW that there would be a yardage issue. KNEW IT. So, since there were not 2 skeins at the LYS that I visited, I bought the single skein, came home and promptly jumped on Ravelry to search for a second. Yes, the dye lots would be different but for two different socks, I wasn’t all that fussed and I knew that M wouldn’t be either. He has a second sock that is 1/3 another colourway for heavens sake…he loves them and its not a big deal.
I started my first sock toe-up so if I couldn’t find a second skein at the very least I would have two socks with matching toes and then switch at the same place for heels and legs. Brilliant plan.
However, I got very lucky right off the bat and the lovely Sarah came to my rescue and she sent me her leftover skein from a hat that she had crocheted in 2009 and it arrived yesterday and I squeed and M cheered (he was happy not to have oddly striping socks again) and we opened the box.
Look! Isn’t it lovely? Isn’t it perfect? Oh, I am so glad to have Ravelry and that Sarah was willing to part with her other skein!
But…take another look at those photos…do you see it?
Here, I’ll put them side by side:
See it now?
Yup, they are VERY different. The new skein is much more green than the first and no where near the brown and seems to have much longer colour repeats.
Is this a problem? Not at all. We knew that there would be a very good chance that the colours would be slightly different since, of course, I was buying a skein of yarn circa 2009 to match my skein circa 2011 and since they would be making two different socks and since fraternal sock twins are embraced in this house, both M and I are happy, very happy, to have that second skein.
Want to know the REALLY interesting part though? Take a look at the ball bands, particularly the part about colourway and dye lots:
2009 then 2011
Yup. Identical. Colour 1580, Dyelot* 38362
Curiouser and Curiouser.
*Interesting aside…”Parti” in Swedish = “Party” in English and I get this incredible visual of the hanks of yarn just having a party in their dye bath or the dyers just having the best time at work with music and dancing at the dye table. Run along now and leave me to my delusions.
This whole ‘work hours warp’ is still getting the best of me. I work the evening shift, from 2-10pm and that means that 2 main things are out of whack for me.
#1: “Lunch is Dinner”
Since I only get half hour ‘lunch’ break while working and that generally comes between 4 and 6pm, if I get it at all, I don’t really have time to have a real meal. One of the most important parts of my day is having a meal with M, knowing that I’ve made this lovely, healthy, nutritious meal for us…so that means that I make our big meal lunch. Since its more healthy to have a large meal earlier in the day than later in the evening, this is a good thing.
#2: Time in general
General Poll: Who goes to bed within an hour of getting off of work? Yeah, me neither.
I get done with work and get home between 1030 and 11pm and then spend the next 2-3 hours decompressing and relaxing and chatting with M. That means that I don’t get to bed before midnight any night of the week because I have to TRY to keep some semblance of routine in my scheduled life. I also am a morning person so that means, being sick with a cold notwithstanding, I am fully awake and up by 830am. That would be the time for coffee and BBC world news podcast. And food needs to be on the table by 1230 so I can relax and eat and get out the door by 140 so I am planning a full dinner at the midnight previous and getting things moving by 10am, a scant 2-3 hours after getting up. Somewhere in there I also try to get in 30 minutes of running (though not as faithfully as I intend to), knitting on various projects and, oh yes, spinning time too. The best time for the knitting is in the mornings and the spinning is the evenings and in between cooking and laundry and cleaning, it all gets worked on. Except for the blog.
But here is a photo list of what I’m working on!
Socks for M. In Boy Colours. In Aran weight yarn. On 3′s. Because a knitters man always has substantially bigger feet than the knitter herself.
This first sock is toe up and the plan is for me to knit until there is 50g of yarn left and then do the second. Hopefully this works as a plan but I have a call out on Ravelry for a second skein of this colourway (Jarbo Garn Raggi in 1580) so hopefully the de-stasher will get back to me soon! In the meantime though, I bought some more boy colours too:
A vest for myself, which, despite making calculations to get the fit right, I totally made it too big. So it may be a Christmas gift so I shan’t give more detailed photos than this.
My second attempt at Nanny Ogg Mittens (real name: Hedgehog Mittens by Spilly Jane who blogs here) You can see my first attempt over here but, I’m warning you, it isn’t pretty.
I’m liking this second attempt much more than the first and I’m actually using two solid yarns and the pattern as written (to a point) this time. Not that those are connected at all. Ahem.
My Rimefrost socks using Fiesta Baby Boom in Arctic. Yes, I know they haven’t gotten very far yet but I can only do one charted knitting pattern at a time without madness ensuing and I need warm hands more than new socks so the mittens come first and the socks wait their turn. Not too long if last years attempt at the Nanny Mittens are anything to go by!
There also has been some spinning going on and I do promise that I will update you as to my progress thru the Intentions line. I bought some beautiful merino, alpaca, silk/bamboo blend on Friday that is singing its sirens song (along with much more of my other stash) and I want to move into a new project soon but I am dedicated to my Intentions and give that my focus.
I’m on to ‘Joy’ now and am remembering the joy that spinning gives me and being mindful of all the joy I have in my life.
I know that I am blessed and hope you feel the same way today and everyday.
I have been temped, so very sorely temped, in these past few days to spend money on yarn. Sheri at The Loopy Ewe just got in some Amazing colours in bases that I really enjoy and crave, especially the new line from Fiesta, Baby Boom Spirit of the Southwest, and wouldn’t a few skeins of that make some lovely socks? I swear, just about each of those colourways could find a very loving home here with me.
And then I remember: I have a few skeins of FBB that are waiting to be knit…2 of Surf, 2 of Alaska, 2 of Arctic Ice and 1 of Spring Chill to be exact. Each was bought at a different time and for a very specific reason.
The Arctic Ice is to become the Rimefrost socks from Knitspot because it seems that I have more than a soft spot for Anne Hanson patterns since I knit Sprossling and have Bel-Air ready to be knit and would love to make a handful of her other patterns besides. There is something about her patterns that just takes me away and makes me want to knit more of her functional lace…which is what I love about her patterns, the functional, sensible garment that have such beautiful lace in it. Getting my copy of Rimefrost for my binder was the beginning of the love affair with Knitspot back in September 2009…but sadly, that is where that pattern has been since then. Often looked at, often moved to the front of the binder but always moved back a bit to make way for something else. The yarn sits in its icy-blue coldness staring at me from the sock yarn bin.
The Spring Chill came from a blog friend, Muddy Moose who was doing a de-stash back in February. It was a special colour that was part of The Loopy Ewe club for March 2010 but there was just something that called to me in its blue-green-purple-cream amazingness that I offered to take it off her hands and, once she found it, she sent it on its way. It was the perfect timing because I got the yarn just as spring began its slow creep into Nelson Lagoon…a process that takes more than a few months and I thought that I would have socks to celebrate the spring when it fully came on. Other projects have gotten in the way though and the skein sits, completely forgotten, in the sock yarn bin.
Alaska came to me in December of 2008 for obvious reasons of being called “Alaska” and being a lovely blend of purple, blue and teal. A very cold colourway and certainly says “Alaska” and reminds me of visiting the Mendenhall Glacier, knitting in front of another Southeast glacier in between running gear
and wearing all of my cold-weather gear while walking in a blizzard with my best buddy M and still getting frosty eyelashes despite feeling toasty warm.
Yet the yarn sits, untouched, in the sock yarn bin.
Surf called to me with memories of the waves lapping against the boat and made me thing of capturing the beautiful surf crashing against the beach in Nelson Lagoon that June of 2009
But has yet to become anything other than beautiful string sitting in my sock yarn bin.
Why?
Why do I have the craving for more of something when I have never knit a stitch with what I have previously bought?
I don’t feel pressure of a “One Time Only!” or a “Limited Edition” or “Buy More”.
I’m not scared that some fluke of genetic nature will cause all the sheep in the world to lose their fuzz so I need to stockpile for the fleeceless apocolypse.
I’m not worried that the artists over at Fiesta or any other yarn company or indi dyer will go on strike or will encounter a world-wide shortage of dyes.
And I’m not limited to just the FBB. I have some yarn from my very first Loopy Ewe order back in August of 2006! To that end, I am SO on a yarn purchasing restriction. Not a diet because we all know that diets never work, but a “Use It” mantra. The pope isn’t coming to admire my beautiful collection of string and I’m not even Catholic to care but if I show off knit socks? Everyone admires.
I bought these beautiful skeins because I wanted to wear them, not stare at them.
If you have the answers, I would love to hear it. Until then, I’ll be here…
knitting a pair of Rimefrost socks in Fiesta Baby Boom in Arctic Ice and planning my next projects with my other FBB.
Because only then can I buy more.
I am getting back on “a schedule” and am LOVING IT! Not only does my day have a rhythm again focused by work but that means that my crafting life can merge too. While I am still in the early stages of scheduling, there is a smoothness that I really, really enjoy. Let me catch you up on what I’ve been doing:
There is a “guest room” that is in shambles
and will be tidied tomorrow on my day off 
I had a hard time at Jo-Annes on Saturday…learning what size of fabric could work and what couldn’t but I finally came away with
patterns
and fabric for PJ trousers for Mike 
and I 
and fabric for skirts…
and for a jumper 
Just let me tell you how excited I am about getting into these….VERY. I finally live in a place where I can wear skirts and my oh so comfortable heels on a regular basis and not worry about sand and wind and now, all I have to wait for is an iron and then I can get started in making some very nice new skirts to wear!
The sewing machine hasn’t been idle though…First up was a duvet cover that I did when making sure that the machine worked. 
It would be folded but needs to be washed because I am pretty sure that the sheets were last washed in Tide and I do NOT want a full body allergic reaction…my hands were itchy enough.
I had planned to hand stitch a small market bag from leftover tulle and old ribbon at the end of June but, after a few failed attempts due to darn slippery tulle, put it aside until last Saturday when it finally became this:
Sorry for the overexposure but you can see the flower edging there around the bag and the handle too. I also, while sorting thru the odds and ends I rescued from dry-rotting away, I found a cut out (what I though) leg to cotton trousers. Since I can’t wear just one leg of trousers with the blinds up, I thought that I would just lay the fabric on the remains to use as a pattern and just make another and then sew them up…and I did : 
and then I talked to my mum and found out that PJ patterns are Fronts and Backs, not just legs…so the excess fabric in the front of my new trousers isn’t because I mis-sewed, it’s because I don’t have a rear on my front. Go figure. I’ll wear them regardless because a) they are my first adult garment and b) I like the stamp fabric. 
On the spinning front, I have been happily plying Intentions and I’ll have a few of those in specific posts. I am still working on them and still loving them and I’ll update you all ASAP.
On the knitting front, I finished the top for E
and, despite thinking that it would be ribbing hell, it wasn’t that bad. I knit mindlessly while watching Season 7 of Greys Anatomy, which is my form of TV crack, and finished it yesterday. I’m going to see E on Friday and we’ll see if it fits. If so, YAY! If not, well, its a good thing that she has a little brother, C! Yes, it does look small and skinny but remember, ribbing stretches and what gets wider also gets shorter so it needs to be oddly long so it fits.
Since finishing, I began a Karin Kurbits hat (that is Johanne, the designers, blog and photos) (Rav link) (Loopy Ewe Link) in Spud and Chloe in “Popcorn” which is nearly white but just this side of cream and Noro Kureyon Sock in 188 which is gorgeous purple and green, both of which I bought at The Loopy Ewe from the fabulous Sheri. 
I love colourwork and can’t wait to get thru this ribbing and onto the stranding. I’m using my Kollage square 2.25mms to rib and think that I’ll switch to my KP’s 1.5′s (2.5mm) to do the colourwork but as the hat is ‘slouchy’, I may stay with the smaller needles to make it less slouchy and more of a fitted hat but we’ll see!
Thats all for now as I’m off to make lunch. One of the biggest changes in my life is that lunch has become the biggest meal of the day since I am working from 2pm-10pm but I’m enjoying that change.
TTFN!
As I begin my dive into a new craft, I have to wonder why I pick such -ing expensive hobbies.
My shopping basket at Spoonflower holds $150 of merchandise. Better than the $350 that it did before the paring, but still. My KnitPicks cart has $597 and my cart at The Loopy Ewe has $130. None of this $877 will be spent on a SINGLE constructed object however so that price in no way includes my time. Granted, not all of the supplies will make something for me…in fact in the KnitPicks cart only $150 is for making me anything!
And then I remember…
It may cost $36 for the fabric for a skirt but it costs $38 for a basic, bottom-of-the-bin rock tumbler.
It costs at least $99 for scuba diving lessons.
A set of womens golf clubs are $600.
And I couldn’t even find a price for underwater basketweaving lessons but I bet its a combo of basket weaving class ($40) and scuba diving lessons ($99)…oh wait…I guess I can take that Underwater Basket Weaving course as close as Portland, OR.
I spend the money on my crafting supplies because they are a hobby but one that I take great pride in remembering that after enjoying playing around with said supplies, I MAKE something with those supplies. Yes, those $600 golf clubs are only bought once but after you play a round, what do you have to take home with you? If I buy $600 worth of fabric, I have a few outfits in the end. If I buy $600 of wool to spin firstly I get to spin it and then I get to knit it and wear the outcome. I get to see photos of cute kids in my knitwear. I get to wear warm socks and sweaters and show off my creativity to just about everyone because, no matter who you are, knitter or non, if I tell you that I am wearing a sweater that I knit myself, you will take a moment to admire it and praise me for my industrious behaviour. I don’t think that many Sunday golfers get that satisfaction when announcing their scores to non-golfers.
Will I buy those carts today? Well, my Loopy Ewe cart has been there for over 6 months and considering the size of my sock yarn stash, I’m pretty sure that one is safe for a while.
The KnitPicks cart may get moved about a bit with more going to the “Wish List” to be bought at a future date when other projects get finished.
The Spoonflower cart?
Mine, all Mine. And a great start to my new craft.
