My so-called knitting club

Earlier this month, I decided to start a knitting club.  Even though I'm the only member so far, calling it a "club" seemed more friendly and less dorky (or is it more dorky to call yourself a "club"?)  I picked out projects to give as holiday gifts and organized them with needles, yarn and instructions - I always think of knitting patterns as "recipes"; not sure why. 

The plan was to knit one a month and I'd be 11 projects up on my holiday knitting.  I probably shoulda thought about this earlier and started in January, but in January there's too much pressure to pick a new years' goal and I just could not come up with something to do until the pressure was off.  I guess that's a reason to like the month of February.  "February: crappy weather, but less resolution stress than January."

February's project is a pair of socks (sorry - can't tell you who they are for) and I started them with plenty of time to complete them in February.  Then I had to re-knit the heel (foot too long), and I started a cowl for some easy knitting to work on when watching TV.   So the socks have been languishing in the knitting basket until today, when I realized there are 3 more days in February.  Including today.  The socks are barely past the heel.  It will not do to fail to finish my first project in this whole deal.  It will not do.  They must be finished before the end of the month.  No excuses.

So, I'm knitting my fingers to the bone while watching "White Collar" on DVR.  Trying to finish up BIG socks on size 1 needles is going very s l o w l y.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Call it what you will

I have a serious inability to estimate how long knitting something will take.  For instance, when Christmas is just two weeks away, I will insist to myself that I can add two or three knit items to my list. (Notice that in this scenario, Christmas is in two weeks, and, not only am I not yet done knitting the list items, I am ADDING TO IT.  Seriously delusional.) 

Somehow,  I just don't realize how limited my knitting time is, and even more so now that I have two little people to take care of in addition to my regular holiday duties.  It was because of those little sweeties that I completely took the year off in 2010, and knit absolutely nothing for Christmas.  NOTHING.  I just could not take the deadline stress in addition to the stress of making a Christmas for my babies. 

I thought I would really miss it, but it was more like a little gift I gave to myself.  Much more relaxing.  But, as soon as January arrived, I started thinking of what I would knit for Christmas.  I do not usually start that early - I am usually forced into thinking of what to knit when I have already started gift shopping.  After Thanksgiving.

So when I saw what Stephanie had done with her Self-imposed Sock Club, I decided to plan early and start NOW.  It is kind of like giving myself the gift of a less stressful holiday season again this year. 

So I got a bunch of zip lock bags and started assembling.  I labeled the projects by dropping into the bag an old (outdated) business card with info written on the back: recipient, size, pattern to use, needle size, etc.  Then I placed yarn, a copy of the pattern and when possible, needles and even notions together in the bag.  Now when I need a project to work on, I just select a bag and knit something ahead for Christmas.

Need  rules?  I have rules!  At least one project for Christmas is to be started and finished each month, and NO knitting for people who have not appreciated knit gifts in the past.  I should have at least 11 happy giftees at Christmas this year.  ( I didn't start until February - I'm late for everything...)

I do not have Stephanie's gift with words, so I'm not sure what to call this "club".  The Christmas Crafting Club?  The Less-Stress Christmas Knitting Club?  My Bag O Projects For Christmas Knitting?  The Hey I Don't Need To Name Everything I Do (Especially 'Cause I Can't Come Up With a Good Name) Club?  Is it even a club if it's just me?  What else do I call it?  A Mission? 

Anywhoo, here's the first project from the Whatever You Call It Club is a pair of socks for someone who shall remain nameless.  That's the problem with this whole deal - I'll be working on, and blogging about, these projects, but I can't say who they are for.  I don't wanna ruin the entire surprise. 

(This is a few days' work here - check out the craaazy pooling!)
Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Socks from Wendy D. Johnson's Wendy Knits book.  Brown Sheep's Wildfoote sock yarn in "Rock 'n Roll" colorway.  Size US 1 /2.25 mm needles, and a couple of extra stitches.  The intended recipient has BIG feet.  No more hints, otherwise these socks' intended will figure it out. 

I'm using two circs, I just worked each toe flat as the instructions indicated, then put them both on the two circular needles to work in the round.  Edited to add:  I really need to find a set of circs that have less of a bump where needle meets wire.  Half my knitting time on this project is trying to get the stitches back onto the needle from the wire in order to knit them.  And no, I'm not a tight knitter.  Anyone know some good circs with a nice smooth transition point?

I'm looking forward to having the finished projects pile up throughout the year.

Snow again!

We had a little bit of snow last night.

That's the grill, I think.

Only after the snow we've been having this winter could I refer to what happened last night as a "little" snow.  About a foot fell in these parts.  A foot.  Of snow.  Normally around here, that would be a crazy amount of snow.  Not this year.

When it snows I would like to knit something warm all day, but my children had other ideas.  So, we watched cartoons and danced around the living room.  I took some pictures of new items for the shop, and a new finished hat! 

That's The Amanda Hat, designed by Gina House.  I took a class with her last weekend, up at Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI.  What was Manos from my stash, now is a comfy, warm hat.  Fits pretty nice, too.  I might just make another one.  or two.

Stovepipe

SO the kids didn't sleep very late today but I'm still on my routine.  I've been getting up with hubby so I can shower first thing, and that seems to help a LOT.  Mt Washmore is almost gone, and the dishwasher has been run twice a day (by me) since Tuesday.  This is unusual in this house. 

Alex slept alone for a 40 minute nap, and I got a lot of work done for the Shop.  I am making sure everything is inventoried, photographed, banded, and ready to go for our sale, starting January 22nd.  50% off all supplies for knitting, spinning and felting.  (yeah, that's everything in the shop!)

I am knitting my fourth stovepipe hat.  It is a tube that is pulled closed at one end and secured with a cord lock.  ETA:  When the cord is loosened, the Stovepipe can be worn as a cowl.  So far I have knit 1 child hat, 1 adult hat with a neck flap, 1 adult hat with no flap, and the current one which is an adult hat with little girly cables on it.  They need to be photographed, then the hats will be available in the shop.  Here's an example of a stovepipe hat I knit as a Christmas present for one of my nephews:

That's hand dyed yarn by the Dyenamic Dyestress, people!  I definately need a better model, Kinnearing myself is not gonna cut it. 

Once the stovepipe hat pattern has been test knit, it will be available for available on Ravelry.  (See on the right, there's a place for patterns already?  That will link to the Ravelry store.)  If you happen to download the pattern and have any feedback, please share it!  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Alex wanted to play downstairs yesterday so I took the opportunity to look through some of the HUGE bags of yarn down there for some stuff I could use for the shop - and found quite a bit that fit the "cozy neutrals" theme a la MaryMary.  I bagged each of them up with a note inside of what I wanted to use them for and tossed them in a reuseable shopping bag.  Now when I need to start a new project, I just grab a bag!  No wondering what to knit, etc.  Yay me!  Now if I could only streamline the rest of my life...

Resolute

Happy New Year! We are finally home from all our holiday traveling! Boy am I glad to be home. It is very nice to visit family, but I've gots stuff ta do!

Today I took inventory of all the lovely rovings and yarns in stock. I was very tempted to sneak a skein and start a new project, but decided to be good and leave all the yummies for the customers. For now. Instead, I started getting ready for our big Anniversary sale! It is hard to believe the shop has been open for a whole year. The sale will be just two days, January 22nd and 23rd, and everything will be 50% off, so the inventory needs to be ready to roll!

I sorted out the skeins that need labels, and those that need new photos and started taking pictures. Tonight I'll be printing labels until bedtime. Tomorrow, reskeining and braiding. Cheryl sent me home from New Year's with a BIG box of newly dyed rovings which are GORGEOUS! Would you like to see? Of course you would! Here's a few teaser pics...




Arctic Ice progression dyed in Merino.



Persuasion progression dyed in Merino.

See? You thought I was kidding about the beauteousness! These and more will be in the shop in time for the sale, Sale, SALE!

On a completely different note, I have resolutions!

• Do more feminine-type stuff. (like making sure I brush my hair everyday... )
  
• Get to the gym.
  
• Design a knitting pattern a month. (at least)
• Start gift knitting NOW. (I'm trying to make the holidays less hectic next time around)
• Knit for the shop.
• Learn more about marketing the shop, to start the 2nd year off with a bang!

Do you have resolutions?

Out and About

Thank God for those sell-at-home parties. I'm not usually a fan, but tonight DH let me go to one (perhaps because they were selling food products?) and then I snuck out to the bookstore! I got to look at so many creative books and magazines and now I am feeling very refreshed and inspired!

After pouring through a big stack of magazines, I settled on just one. It was Knitter's Fall 2010 issue. It is their 100th issue, and has a TON of designs. Normally I do not buy Knitters. Simply put, the magazine is normally not a good fit for me. The magazine started moving away from pieces I thought were knitable a few years ago.

There were, however, several designs in the issue that made it a good purchase for me. First, an incredible dress and sweater set (ravelry link) designed by Ann McCauley. Awesome cables and shaping! Then, by the Knitters Design Team, a one-button cardi and by Jean Frost, a basketweave cardi. (neither of which are on Ravelry yet) There are a few more that I'm interested in making, but those are the patterns that really struck me as being worthy of paying money for.

In a temporary vacation from apples, here is today's Painter practice:

A little corner to call my own

I have been trying to convince my husband that I need to move the boys into the same room so I can have the little bedroom as my workroom. My fantasy is to have somewhere to create in peace, away from little grabby hands. I get very inspired to have a workroom with a door every time the boys get into my art supplies. They have their own. They should keep their hands off my stuff!

Unfortunately, this fantasy workroom is not gonna happen any time soon. I think the fantasy is more about actually getting to craft, and it is unlikely that a room with a door would be enough to make that happen. So, I’ve taken over a big section of the Living Room. Once I find the desk, that is. Right now it is Clutter Central.

I cannot fit all of my materials in this area, but I should be able to fit enough to get some designing done. I got rid of some furniture to make a big empty space in the other side of the living room. If you have little kids, you know how much they love them some empty space. I’m hoping to get a little work done while they fill the empty space with toys. Then I will clear the space and we will start again. It could work!