Almost finished with finishing....

The October tally thus far:

3 sweaters
1 pair of socks
Hat, scarf and mitten set
1 hat

Of the above, all were truly UFO's'... with the exception of the fauxhawk hat.  ;-)

Chances are good that I'll finish two more projects before the end of this month - a pair of Zilborg mittens that I started this month, and a children's sweater that is another UFO.  It's been a good month.  I think having a theme has helped with my progressing towards my goals.

November is the month of 50K - words and stitches.  Once again I'll be doing both NaNoWriMo as well as NaKniSweMo - focusing on novel writing, and working on a sweater.  The NaNo project is "Last Wish" which has been bumping around in my brain for a year.  I hope to do a reasonable rough-write, and then pass it on to the daughter for work on narrative (she's great at dialogue!).  The NaKni project is a CPH for the bestie in a pretty blue.

And yes, there's also work.  The house.  The PhD.

Better busy than bored though, right?  And if you don't have goals, how do you know if you've arrived when you weren't sure where you were going in the first place?

Finishing for others, part deux

Every year my Women's group sends dozens of hat/scarf/mitten sets to Appalachia.  I always try to get at least one set done.  Here's this year's contribution.  It's made out of Red Heart -which gives me hives - but that is what is required for washability and wear's sake.

I mentioned upstream that I finished Zamora for a knitting friend.  In contrast to the Red Heart, she's made of this wonderful feeling silk-based yarn from Noro.  The striping doesn't do much for me... but the fabric is lovely.

Yesterday I began prepping Angora (bunneh) for spinning.  My wheel is on stage until mid-November, but my hope is to have everything ready to go for when she is returned.  The plan is to spin a simple two ply for use inside mittens.  Not sure if I'll be able to do any more finishing this month - although I've just cast on for one of the aforementioned Christmas mittens.  We'll see!

Finishing for others ;-)

At my monthly knit/crochet group at church, one of the women was obviously distressed by a project she was working on.  I had helped her with a few new techniques, but something had gone wrong, and she had gained 5 stitches.  She looked at me and said "I know you're busy... but I would be so happy to PAY someone to finish this for me..."

So, it's now on MY needles (she was knitting on 11's, and I moved it down to 8's in order to match her gauge) and I'm finishing it for her.  Of course, I won't ask for compensation.  This is the sort of thing we do for one another, right?  Besides - I know she's got MY back when I'm unable to finish something else. ;-)

The third floor and second floor are almost finished being rearranged/cleaned.  I hope to get the rest of it done tomorrow so that it looks perfect for when the daughter comes home tomorrow.  Perhaps I'll finish my friend's sweater tomorrow as well.  ::smile:::

So much done!

Every once in a great while I have one of those days where things get done that really need to get done.  Yesterday was incredible!  I met with knit friends in the morning, and spent the afternoon hoeing out the daughter's room(s).  We rented a steam vacuum cleaner and did the rugs - I spent an hour on the recumbant bike and an hour visiting a parishoner in the hospital.  Knitting, cleaning/organizing, exercise, pastoring.... a great day.

Here's hoping today has a bit of the same!  ;-)

Today I know I will get nothing finished - there's simply too many meetings and things that need attention.  I'll be spending a few hours working on my PhD cohort's summary of Sun Tzu, but in my own mind, that doesn't count.  ;-)

This weekend I hope to get much accomplished.  I'm setting aside the entire weekend for fall cleaning.  The plan is to begin at the top, and work my way down.  Everyone loves a huge old Victorian - if they had to clean it, they might change their mind!

The biggest challenge is getting started.  Once I'm up and moving (and progress is being made) I should be fine.  My gift to myself is a little Sunday afternoon knitting with friends.

The quick finishes are pretty much finished at this point.  I have a few small projects that I'll be tying up this month, but there are also a number of Christmas gifts I need to begin (and finish!) as well.


What I finished yesterday:  The Wooster Fauxhawk for the daughter; 200 pages of reading.

What I didn't finish yesterday:  The dang chutney.  I need malt vinegar.  ::sigh::  Fortunately, no harm in the tomatoes sitting in the fridge another day.

Was at Knit Night last night, finishing up Dad's sweater.  Did I mention this was Fall Finishing Month?  :::laugh:::  Finished last night - wasn't able to post until today:

Today I hope to finish Ella's newest hat - and the green tomato chutney.  ;-)  I did manage to get through several assignments yesterday, for a total of 275 pgs.

If I'm able to get my Christmas knitting this month, I'm going to try for NaNoWriMo in November.  I've tried for three of the last four years, with some limited success.  I'm apparently attached at the hip to my laptop for the forseeable future with the PhD program, so maybe in my 'free' time?

Fall Finishing Challenge:  Cut up the green tomatoes for chutney; finished the remainder of the peanut butter cookies (freezer!) and sent out the package for Ella;  finished 200 pages of reading and...

Finished this:

Fall Finishing

Amidst several challenging changes at work and the wee beginnings of a PhD program, I've decided that October is going to be the month of finishing projects - knitting and otherwise. Today I started to put the garden to bed, and after finishing a paper on Sun Tzu and dinner, I hope to put up some grape pie filling and some green tomato relish. If I've got time, I'll make some peanut butter cookies to send to the girlchild.

In the spirit of finishing... I did finish these:

Today's finishings: Pumpkin socks, SunTzu paper, the garden

Hopeful finishings: Green tomato relish, peanut butter cookies, grape pie filling ;-)

ETA:  Finished the cookies and the grape pie filling (2 pies worth!).  Opted to make mincemeat instead of relish... and will do that on Monday!

Knit. Frog. Knit again.

I've been working on the Shavo sweater from Berocco. It's a simple enough thing, with the promise of much mindless knitting.

Enter the Knitter with No Mind (or Brain).

I got to the upper part which is a simple (can I use simple again to show just how bad an oops this was?) knit/purl sort of thing - and immediately read a portion of the pattern as being 1 x 1 rib. I finished the back, and looked at it with a critical eye.

Eh.

I began the front, and just about the time I went to work on the patterned portion, I decided to look at the pattern again. Yeah... 1 x 1 rib. Except....

In the picture, it was clearly seed stitch.

Look at the pattern.

Look at the picture.

Look at the sweater.

Weep a bit.

Frog.

I will say, it looks so much better as seed stitch. I know I'll be happier with it... but, damn.

Is it bad...

.... that the thing I'm most careful to pack on a Confirmation trip is my knitting projects? ;-)

The Other Things

For three years, knitting has consumed my free time. I'm not complaining - it's been a wonderful thing, and the companionship of needles and yarn is surpassed only by the new companions I've found through this craft.

However....

When the squirrel invaded us this week, I went up to the third floor to ascertain how "Nutsy" had gained access. What I discovered (other than that he came down through the ceiling of one of the front rooms) was a much neglected craft room. Stacks of fabric, jars of beads, tubes of acrylics and oil gathering dust next to lampworking material and scrapbooking supplies. And, in the center of it all, my sewing machine and my 45" loom.

It all looked so lonely.

My heart jumped a bit. This was a place that for many years had offered solace as well as nurtured dreams.... and it was all simply sitting there.

It's not that I don't love those other crafts, I've decided. It's simply that those other crafts are far more portable and sociable than knitting. Still, the balance of finding solitude alongside companionable knitting is attractive - especially during Lent.

So.

I'm going to continue to knit and spin. Those still bring me joy and allow me to spend time with wonderful women with incredible talents and a similar passion for the yarn. But I'm also going to spend time apart - on my third floor, reclaiming my craft area and using some of the non-yarnish stash that I've gathered there. It will mean less knitting at home, and at this juncture, that feels as it should. I've got two small projects (fuzzy feet for Dad and a Misselthwaite for a friend) that need to be finished, but after that? Who knows what forgotten jewel I'll re-discover?!

The Central Park Hoodie-of-Doom

It's my own fault.
I 'measured' the hood, declared it done, and bound off. I added the ribbing, and did a beautiful 1-cord bindoff (starting that twice to get the right tension).

Horrors. The hood was way too small. When it was up - it pulled the rest of the sweater up as well.

There are a couple of things one can do when one finds the project one has worked on for HOURS messed up:

1) Wear the frakkin' thing anyway
2) Weep.
3) Put it in the 'fix' pile (located in the back of the closet, behind the ab-buster machine)
4) Attempt to correct it via non-knitting means (scissors, glue and sewing machines sometimes come into play here. Never underestimate the effectiveness of duct-tape and a staple gun)
5) Weep.
6) Pour yourself some good red wine (the cheap stuff won't work as well) and frog back to the point where you need to start over again.

I've done 1 - 5 many times and have found it to be less than satisfying. I've still got my spouse's sweater to correct (he's wearing it every day... I need to wait until it's warmer).

This time? I've frogged it, and will re-knit it.

Why?

I'm worth it. Really.

I'm worth being proud of my knitting enough to fix this mistake, and to wear it comfortably.

(Of course... we'll see if I feel the same way next week when I'm still working on it!)

Tightening the belt

Back in December, I made a trip to WEBS with some yarnfriends. I bought a boat-load of yarns - good stuff too - with the idea that I'd be able to work on those (mostly stockinette!) projects throughout my PhD work. I enjoy knitting and reading at the same time, and have discovered that when I knit, I read with greater comprehension.

I'm glad I bought the yarn when I did. I had done a few "rent-A-Rev" funerals the week prior, which gave me unbudgeted money to play with. It was wonderful to spend with abandon!

Today is a bit different. Looking at finances in the near future (when we'll have both the daughter and myself in school) and I'm going to need to tighten the belt.

It's not a bad thing. I could dip into retirement savings (and will do so if we can't manage our regular bills) - but after reviewing my spending habits over the last six months, I've discovered that an extraordinary amount of money has been spent on yarn.

Even more has been spent on food and drink in the company of yarn. And yarnfriends. ;-)

Does this mean I'm not going to be able to join folks at SB and CB? Of course not. It does mean that I'm going to limit what I purchase (alas... the days of crepes, cupcakes and Chipotle are over!) for a while.... and that's okay. I'm choosing to spend money on things other than noms, stuff that will hopefully benefit our family long into the future.

As for yarn purchases? I've got a lovely stash that I plan on knitting from over the next few years. If I can get myself to a point where I'm out of yarn... well, bury me. I'll be dead. ;-)

Amnesia of the knitting sort.

I picked up my unfinished Pumpkin socks today while waiting for treatment on my knee (the third and final injection of synvisc), and was a bit shocked to find that I really didn't remember where I had left off.

There, in my hands, was one almost finished sock (wait? I thought I kitchenered this one already?) and its mate, which featured the beginnings of the cuff. I could have sworn I was further along! Then, to make matters more confusing, I realized that I didn't actually have the pattern with me - because by the time I had set this down, I was knitting from memory.

Now, had the elapsed time been several months..... but, no. I put these to the side the beginning of December, as to finish the spouse's sweater.

It amazes me how memory, especially knitting memory works. There are times when I'm able to store rather complex cable arrangements in my noggin... while at the same time I cannot remember how to begin the kitchener stitch. It's a peculiar form of amnesia, I believe.

Heh.

Now... what size needles was I using on that other pattern?

When knitting strikes back.

I'm a decent knitter.

Not a phenom, by any stretch of the imagination, but I can do almost anything. I'm also willing to try just about anything - and enjoy learning a new technique almost as much as finishing a new object.

Every once in a great while, however, I run into trouble.

The usual recommendation is to trust the pattern.... which, alas, is much easier than trusting the knitter.

I've been working, off and on, on this gorgeous shawlette by the wonderful Jesh (who IS a Phenom, in my opinion). It is called Misselthwaite, and is constructed in such a way that the edging is done first. A few others in our group have finished it with no issues whatsoever.

Enter the mental block.

I've picked this up several different times - and each time have screamed and ripped it out. (A slight exaggeration on the scream... more like a whimper, but 'scream' makes me sound so much more passionate, no?). I even had the designer (the ever-patient designer) sit on my right hand and walk me through step-by-step.

Today, I picked it up again and knit it somewhat successfully. The qualifier is there because this time I trusted my knitting ability... and began to doubt the pattern. I finished the first section, and although I acknowledged to myself that I was a bit closer than before, I ripped it out. Again.

After tweeting with Jesh (ever patient, ever kind) I was reassured that indeed the pattern was written correctly.... and to my horror realized that I had ripped out perfectly sound knitting.

The only thing left is to knit again. And so it goes....

January - the two-faced month.

January gets its name from Janus - the Roman deity of gates and entryways. He governs the beginnings, as well as the endings of things (and therefore is a bit, well, tw0-faced).

As a nod to Janus, I hope to embrace a bit of both beginnings and endings this year when it comes to yarn: endings - in that I hope to finish my UFO's, and beginnings in that I'm planning on casting on a few new projects this year.

My ratio? Why, 1:1, of course! It is 2 0 1 1, after all!