Na na na nanana...na na na nanana...
I have a ton of stuff to show and no pictures of any of it. I knitted two dish/washcloths this weekend (if I had known what instant gratifiction they provided, I would have knit some long ago) to give away as part of a church event in a couple of weeks.
I've also been experimenting with my copics and I spent some time this weekend just stamping and coloring and thinking about card designs. I did make one complete card, and have components finished for several others. I rarely make cards without a specific recipient/occasion in mind, and it was actually pretty refreshing to just see what would come together when I just sat down and played.
I do have a couple of important projects that have to get done for other people. One is particularly stressful, a memory book for the coworker that passed away. Very difficult to work on, and it has to be done by TOMORROW.
The other is a card for my boss's grandkids. I make one for him for each kid's birthday and Christmas. These are long cards with a pocket made to hold savings bonds. I actually thought I had a pretty good plan, and I made the card this weekend, but - I don't really like it. I may get the UnDu out and see if I can place the components more attractively. I loved the background paper but I think it is really just too dark.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Rollercoaster
It's been an emotional and chaotic week and change, but let's skip the personal drama in favor of a little knitting.
First up: 1 completed moody mansock.
Next, 1 featherweight cardigan in Knitpicks Shimmer Lilac Dream
1 Veronique circular shrug, only a couple of inches short from the decrease-and-cast-on section that creates the back ruffle and the sleeve holes.
And finally, one bane of my existence (you want to know another? spelling. I typed that word three times and I'm still not sure it's right). Sorry about all the hair in the photo, I put my hand up against my shoulder to model the shot (since laying my hand down on the arm of the couch had not produced very good shots) and didn't think to flip my longfrizzing flowing locks out of the way (I love parentheses).
This is a twice-knit spiraluscious mitt. I keep screwing up the pattern. Saturday I knit almost to the point where it is in that picture, only to find that I had made a mistake one or two rows after starting the thumb gusset which was very obvious (see those diagonal lines that go across the back? kind of obvious when you get a yarnover in the middle of one) and I had to rip back and reknit. I made a similar mistake Sunday night, though I caught it sooner, and had to pull it out and fix it. And now? Now, my friends? Now it is TOO SMALL. I am royally irked, but I have pretty much accepted that I'm going to have to reknit on bigger needles. It is possible that my mom's hands are smaller than mine, but it's so tight on me that I wouldn't wear it, and if by some freak occurence her feet are smaller than mine but her hands are larger, I will have sent her some very pretty tourniquets. Sigh.
The yarn is Fly Designs Nymph, their merino/tencel blend, which I chose because I love my merino/tencel socks and because it is a nice soft but strong blend that can put up with a fair amount of abuse. I did, I admit, expect the color to be a little more saturated, but I don't know why because it looks just like the picture on the website. Anyway, it's still pretty.. But, this overdue mother's day gift is going to be even more overdue because I have to start over. SIGH. No, I didn't knit a swatch. Look at that thing. Why would I bother? I did actually try it on sooner and find that it was coming out a little tight, but the bottom of it is actually fine and it is only the part that goes over the hand that cuts off circulation. SIGH.
In other news, I took a class on coloring with Copics from Laura, and had a very educational and interesting time. I went home that night and practiced.
I think I need more practice. And more markers. And better paper.
Why didn't I crop that last picture better? I think I uploaded the wrong one. Anyway, I think it actually went pretty well for my first solo adventure. I'm particularly find of the rose, although I need to get a more intermediate color. The shading is rather dramatic as one of these was a 2 and one of them was a 7 (was it R32 and R37? or was it 22 and 27? or was it 29? I can't remember). Anyway, expect to see more Copic experiments in the future. I have a wedding shower to go to on Saturday and I have the perfect plan for a card for it, and one for the wedding.
First up: 1 completed moody mansock.
Next, 1 featherweight cardigan in Knitpicks Shimmer Lilac Dream
1 Veronique circular shrug, only a couple of inches short from the decrease-and-cast-on section that creates the back ruffle and the sleeve holes.
And finally, one bane of my existence (you want to know another? spelling. I typed that word three times and I'm still not sure it's right). Sorry about all the hair in the photo, I put my hand up against my shoulder to model the shot (since laying my hand down on the arm of the couch had not produced very good shots) and didn't think to flip my long
This is a twice-knit spiraluscious mitt. I keep screwing up the pattern. Saturday I knit almost to the point where it is in that picture, only to find that I had made a mistake one or two rows after starting the thumb gusset which was very obvious (see those diagonal lines that go across the back? kind of obvious when you get a yarnover in the middle of one) and I had to rip back and reknit. I made a similar mistake Sunday night, though I caught it sooner, and had to pull it out and fix it. And now? Now, my friends? Now it is TOO SMALL. I am royally irked, but I have pretty much accepted that I'm going to have to reknit on bigger needles. It is possible that my mom's hands are smaller than mine, but it's so tight on me that I wouldn't wear it, and if by some freak occurence her feet are smaller than mine but her hands are larger, I will have sent her some very pretty tourniquets. Sigh.
The yarn is Fly Designs Nymph, their merino/tencel blend, which I chose because I love my merino/tencel socks and because it is a nice soft but strong blend that can put up with a fair amount of abuse. I did, I admit, expect the color to be a little more saturated, but I don't know why because it looks just like the picture on the website. Anyway, it's still pretty.. But, this overdue mother's day gift is going to be even more overdue because I have to start over. SIGH. No, I didn't knit a swatch. Look at that thing. Why would I bother? I did actually try it on sooner and find that it was coming out a little tight, but the bottom of it is actually fine and it is only the part that goes over the hand that cuts off circulation. SIGH.
In other news, I took a class on coloring with Copics from Laura, and had a very educational and interesting time. I went home that night and practiced.
I think I need more practice. And more markers. And better paper.
Why didn't I crop that last picture better? I think I uploaded the wrong one. Anyway, I think it actually went pretty well for my first solo adventure. I'm particularly find of the rose, although I need to get a more intermediate color. The shading is rather dramatic as one of these was a 2 and one of them was a 7 (was it R32 and R37? or was it 22 and 27? or was it 29? I can't remember). Anyway, expect to see more Copic experiments in the future. I have a wedding shower to go to on Saturday and I have the perfect plan for a card for it, and one for the wedding.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sadness Chez CraftNinja
Treat me kindly, my beloved friend for no heart in all this world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.
Do not break my spirit with a stick for though I should lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me learn.
Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail, when your footsteps fall upon my waiting ear.
Please take me inside when it is cold and wet for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to bitter elements.
I ask no greater glory than to have the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth.
Keep my pan filled with water for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.
Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, wiliing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.
And my friend, when I am old and no longer enjoy good health and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going, I am not having fun.
Please see that my trusting life is taken gently.
I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your hands.
Author Unknown
A year and a half after coming home with me from the rescue, my little Lulu has left me. Regular blogging will return next week.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
How CraftNinja got her groove back
My knitting yesterday was so much more pleasant than it has been! I didn't feel weighed down or rushed to finish anything. Isn't it funny how much mental pressure we can put on ourselves? When I stopped trying to "let go" and just decided to work within my own neuroses, everything got much better. I spent last night working on the mystery stole, and got about 9 chart rows done. I brought both the ruana and Veronique with me tonight to knit one or the other at choir - probably the ruana. The mohair is too prone to leap off the needles to be worked on while managing other stuff in my lap. I can work on Veronique at the SO's afterward while I wait for dinner to be ready.
I also have yarn on the way for a Featherweight Cardigan. I'm using KnitPicks Shimmer in Lilac Dream. It's an alpaca silk blend and I think it will be perfect for days when the office air conditioning is a little overambitious. If I have enough yarn, though, I will make the body longer. The cropped look never really flatters me. I ordered an extra skein so hopefully I should have plenty.
I also have yarn on the way for a Featherweight Cardigan. I'm using KnitPicks Shimmer in Lilac Dream. It's an alpaca silk blend and I think it will be perfect for days when the office air conditioning is a little overambitious. If I have enough yarn, though, I will make the body longer. The cropped look never really flatters me. I ordered an extra skein so hopefully I should have plenty.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
I think my needles are on fire
SO MUCH KNITTING this weekend. Friday night, I knit on the moody mansock during my game time and I finished the first sock. Saturday morning, I sat down and finished my sweater. I even sewed the underarm seams and wove in the ends. That afternoon, I cast on for Veronique and by Sunday night I had around 8 inches completed. Monday, the SO and I went for a drive down Skyline and had dinner in our favorite restaurant from when we were in college before heading back. I took the panda socks and the three-scarf ruana, figuring I would knit on the panda socks until it got dark and then knit on the ruana, which I don't need to see. Unnecessary! We got back just before 8 p.m. and it wasn't dark yet. I finished off the sock before I went to bed that night.
It felt really good to get some longstanding projects off the needles. The panda socks took me almost two months to knit for no good reason except that I was loaded down with other projects and some neuron in my brain refused to fire, so I never got the pattern memorized. I needed the pattern for the start of every round for some reason; once I got started on the round I was fine, but I couldn't seem to remember how to begin each round. Very annoying, but not the fault of the pattern at all. Just me.
Now that my #1 needles are free (or, at least they will be when I kitchener the toe tonight, I saved that for a more clear-headed moment) I really need to get a move on on the mitts for my mom that were supposed to be done ages ago.
The sweater is, as I feared, really too big for me. I'm sorry, I meant to say, the sweater has a lot of ease. Also, the sleeves are so long they come down to the first joint of my fingers at least. That's the only part that really bothers me, but there's no way to fix it unless I were to frog the entire yoke, and then frog and reknit most of the sleeves. I could just unravel them from the hem (or just cut them off, rejoin the yarn and knit down, I suppose) but...I'm fine with being done. It's still soft and comfy and I'll just wear it like it is. It does need to be blocked before it can really be shown in public, though, there is a discernable line where I started the yoke that I hope will come out in blocking. The part below the line is the stuff that had previously been blocked, and the stuff above the line has never been blocked, so it stands to reason that if I am lucky the line will even out with blocking.
But, now on to lighter and airier things. I'm knitting Veronique out of the discontinued Rowan Kidsilk Night in colorway Oberon, which is sort of a smokey grey with a touch of blue. The metallic thread in the yarn is a little rough running between my fingers - I wrap my yarn around my first three fingers so it runs between my ring finger and my pinky, so the metalic bit scratches right along that little soft inside area of my finger. But, it's not too bad, I'm okay with it. This garment has been a thousand times less frustrating than the Moonlight Sonata stole, leading me to believe that I did in fact make a poor choice for the yarn on that one, and I'm right to give up on it. In simple stockinette, the yarn is much easier to work with. I'm not saying I wouldn't use it to knit lace - I just wouldn't use it to knit lace that requires stitch manipulation more complicated than your basic decreases (it was the funky increase used in the midnight sonata shawl that really got me).
I've also given up on the Water Turtles Shawl. I don't like it. I like both the pattern and the yarn just fine, but I don't like them together. So that project is going to the frog pond.
And just like that, I'm back down to a manageable number of projects.
And...just like that, I'm really tempted to start more. I've been waiting for Pink Lemon Knits to come out with her new pattern, and she finally has: Flamenco. I have two skeins of the same yarn she used in a different colorway that have been sitting in the stash since the early days of my knitting career. I do kind of love the color she used, though - one of the lifelong issues I struggle with is that the colors I love to knit are not necessarily, or do not entirely encompass, the colors that look good on me. I'm not a big fan of bright colors, but I do look really good in red. I have compromised in the past by looking at yarns in the burgundy type range, but the two skeins of Suri Blue that I have are in Ruby, which is by no means a subdued red. It's perfect for the theme though. A flaming red flamenco flourish!
But, I will hold off as long as I can, to keep the guilt of unfinished projects from watering down the pleasure of a new one. I know that there are no knitting police, but I have tried it both ways, and I really think that it's better to live with the anticipation than to try and do too much at once.
Since I have no knitting pictures to display all of my projects this week, I will leave you with a picture from our drive yesterday instead:
It felt really good to get some longstanding projects off the needles. The panda socks took me almost two months to knit for no good reason except that I was loaded down with other projects and some neuron in my brain refused to fire, so I never got the pattern memorized. I needed the pattern for the start of every round for some reason; once I got started on the round I was fine, but I couldn't seem to remember how to begin each round. Very annoying, but not the fault of the pattern at all. Just me.
Now that my #1 needles are free (or, at least they will be when I kitchener the toe tonight, I saved that for a more clear-headed moment) I really need to get a move on on the mitts for my mom that were supposed to be done ages ago.
The sweater is, as I feared, really too big for me. I'm sorry, I meant to say, the sweater has a lot of ease. Also, the sleeves are so long they come down to the first joint of my fingers at least. That's the only part that really bothers me, but there's no way to fix it unless I were to frog the entire yoke, and then frog and reknit most of the sleeves. I could just unravel them from the hem (or just cut them off, rejoin the yarn and knit down, I suppose) but...I'm fine with being done. It's still soft and comfy and I'll just wear it like it is. It does need to be blocked before it can really be shown in public, though, there is a discernable line where I started the yoke that I hope will come out in blocking. The part below the line is the stuff that had previously been blocked, and the stuff above the line has never been blocked, so it stands to reason that if I am lucky the line will even out with blocking.
But, now on to lighter and airier things. I'm knitting Veronique out of the discontinued Rowan Kidsilk Night in colorway Oberon, which is sort of a smokey grey with a touch of blue. The metallic thread in the yarn is a little rough running between my fingers - I wrap my yarn around my first three fingers so it runs between my ring finger and my pinky, so the metalic bit scratches right along that little soft inside area of my finger. But, it's not too bad, I'm okay with it. This garment has been a thousand times less frustrating than the Moonlight Sonata stole, leading me to believe that I did in fact make a poor choice for the yarn on that one, and I'm right to give up on it. In simple stockinette, the yarn is much easier to work with. I'm not saying I wouldn't use it to knit lace - I just wouldn't use it to knit lace that requires stitch manipulation more complicated than your basic decreases (it was the funky increase used in the midnight sonata shawl that really got me).
I've also given up on the Water Turtles Shawl. I don't like it. I like both the pattern and the yarn just fine, but I don't like them together. So that project is going to the frog pond.
And just like that, I'm back down to a manageable number of projects.
And...just like that, I'm really tempted to start more. I've been waiting for Pink Lemon Knits to come out with her new pattern, and she finally has: Flamenco. I have two skeins of the same yarn she used in a different colorway that have been sitting in the stash since the early days of my knitting career. I do kind of love the color she used, though - one of the lifelong issues I struggle with is that the colors I love to knit are not necessarily, or do not entirely encompass, the colors that look good on me. I'm not a big fan of bright colors, but I do look really good in red. I have compromised in the past by looking at yarns in the burgundy type range, but the two skeins of Suri Blue that I have are in Ruby, which is by no means a subdued red. It's perfect for the theme though. A flaming red flamenco flourish!
But, I will hold off as long as I can, to keep the guilt of unfinished projects from watering down the pleasure of a new one. I know that there are no knitting police, but I have tried it both ways, and I really think that it's better to live with the anticipation than to try and do too much at once.
Since I have no knitting pictures to display all of my projects this week, I will leave you with a picture from our drive yesterday instead:
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sleep is a curse
I am so close to being finished with my sweater! I don't know what it is - that first diamond took sooooooo looooooong but now they are whipping by. I knit as fast as I possibly could last night, but I couldn't finish. Around 9:30 I stopped to take stock of my progress. Maybe, just maybe, if I stayed up late I could finish. This is a dangerous tactic, because my propensity for mistakes increases drastically with the lateness of the hour, but it would be worth the risk to be done. I have plans for the rest of the week so I wouldn't be able to work on it until Saturday at the earliest.
"How much more do you think I have to go?" I asked hopefully, showing the chart to the SO.
"Hmm," he said. "You started here tonight?" I nodded anxiously. "And you're here now?" Nodnodnod. "Well, I'd say you've probably got another four or five hours."
"What?!" I grabbed the book back and stared at the chart. "No way! Look how small that is! And there's decreases at each diamond so the rows get shorter!"
Sadly, his math-fu defeated my knitter logic as he pointed out how long it had taken me to go from here to here and therefore how long I could expect it to take to get me from there to there. I ran out of yarn for the night 10 minutes before Deadliest Catch was over, so I gave up, watched the rest of the episode (Jake! You are breaking my heart! You were so happy and excited and young and now you are so jaded and cynical and mean!) and went to bed. I think it should only take me one more ball of yarn to finish, so I'll wind it sometime this week and hopefully finish this weekend.
I have been doing a lot of yarn surfing this week. I'm not officially on a yarn diet anymore but I am trying to maintain some degree of self control, especially since I already have plenty of stuff to work on. I am enamored of Fly Designs at the moment. It's definitely on my 'yarns to try' list. I am especially pleased that they have a merino-tencel blend sock yarn. The last pair of merino-tencel (the blue embossed stitch socks) socks that I made were really nice and have worn very well. I've been on the lookout for that blend ever since but it doesn't seem very common, at least not in the brick-and-mortar stores around here. I still have plenty of sock yarn to go through so I am trying to be good, but the next time I need a fix I will be all over that. The colors are fantastic, too.
In order to keep my yarn-buying impulses under control, I've been looking at patterns instead lately. Whenever I find a pattern that I like on Ravelry, I fav it, and then when I am looking for a new project I go shop my favs. Once I've knit it, I take it out of my favs. However, I don't think all this pattern browsing is helping me. There are so many things I want to do! I have about 240 faved patterns to date. I have about 9 in my queue, 5 lace projects, 2 socks, and one pullover that I keep changing my mind about. I have about 1400 yards of Valley Yarns Northampton in my stash and I can't makeup my mind what to do with it. I'm thinking I would prefer a cardigan or something that would go over other clothes. Northampton is soft but I'm not sure it's next-to-the skin soft. Then again, I am kind of spoiled in the softness category. I'm thinking about Rogue, but I'm a little short on yardage. I'd need 1485 and I only have 1400 and change - and that's assuming none of the skeins are short. So, I'd be taking a risk. I'm not really sure it's a good one, especially considering how economical Northampton is. I could just go buy 7 balls and not be so worried. $35 plus shipping for security - not a bad tradeoff in my mind. So, that gets me a rogue hoodie but does not solve the problem of what to make with the Northampton I already have! Maybe Hey Teach? I'd want to make the skirt a little longer but that might could work. Hmmm...
"How much more do you think I have to go?" I asked hopefully, showing the chart to the SO.
"Hmm," he said. "You started here tonight?" I nodded anxiously. "And you're here now?" Nodnodnod. "Well, I'd say you've probably got another four or five hours."
"What?!" I grabbed the book back and stared at the chart. "No way! Look how small that is! And there's decreases at each diamond so the rows get shorter!"
Sadly, his math-fu defeated my knitter logic as he pointed out how long it had taken me to go from here to here and therefore how long I could expect it to take to get me from there to there. I ran out of yarn for the night 10 minutes before Deadliest Catch was over, so I gave up, watched the rest of the episode (Jake! You are breaking my heart! You were so happy and excited and young and now you are so jaded and cynical and mean!) and went to bed. I think it should only take me one more ball of yarn to finish, so I'll wind it sometime this week and hopefully finish this weekend.
I have been doing a lot of yarn surfing this week. I'm not officially on a yarn diet anymore but I am trying to maintain some degree of self control, especially since I already have plenty of stuff to work on. I am enamored of Fly Designs at the moment. It's definitely on my 'yarns to try' list. I am especially pleased that they have a merino-tencel blend sock yarn. The last pair of merino-tencel (the blue embossed stitch socks) socks that I made were really nice and have worn very well. I've been on the lookout for that blend ever since but it doesn't seem very common, at least not in the brick-and-mortar stores around here. I still have plenty of sock yarn to go through so I am trying to be good, but the next time I need a fix I will be all over that. The colors are fantastic, too.
In order to keep my yarn-buying impulses under control, I've been looking at patterns instead lately. Whenever I find a pattern that I like on Ravelry, I fav it, and then when I am looking for a new project I go shop my favs. Once I've knit it, I take it out of my favs. However, I don't think all this pattern browsing is helping me. There are so many things I want to do! I have about 240 faved patterns to date. I have about 9 in my queue, 5 lace projects, 2 socks, and one pullover that I keep changing my mind about. I have about 1400 yards of Valley Yarns Northampton in my stash and I can't makeup my mind what to do with it. I'm thinking I would prefer a cardigan or something that would go over other clothes. Northampton is soft but I'm not sure it's next-to-the skin soft. Then again, I am kind of spoiled in the softness category. I'm thinking about Rogue, but I'm a little short on yardage. I'd need 1485 and I only have 1400 and change - and that's assuming none of the skeins are short. So, I'd be taking a risk. I'm not really sure it's a good one, especially considering how economical Northampton is. I could just go buy 7 balls and not be so worried. $35 plus shipping for security - not a bad tradeoff in my mind. So, that gets me a rogue hoodie but does not solve the problem of what to make with the Northampton I already have! Maybe Hey Teach? I'd want to make the skirt a little longer but that might could work. Hmmm...
Monday, May 18, 2009
Still Fevered
I had a very busy weekend and made very little knitting progress. I knit a little on the blue mansocks and I knit a little on the Water Turtles shawl, but not enough to be counted on either. I knit a little bit on the yoke of my sweater yesterday but I'm at the first decrease round and I got confused and thought I had done something wrong, and picked out almost two rounds before I decided that I hadn't done it wrong, or that if I had done it wrong, I hadn't done it wrong in the way that I thought I did it wrong, and then I was just confused so now I have to think about it again. Very frustrating.
My spring fever has also triggered my nesting instincts, which have taken the form of "geeze this house is a mess" so I've also been spending a lot of time cleaning and picking things up and trying to figure out what I can change so that stuff stops migrating to my loveseat, ottoman, and kitchen table. This all cuts into knitting time.
I also took a lot of pictures at the church retreat I just went to, which means I will need to spend some time post-processing and getting them on my church photos shutterfly site. I am not one of those people who has as much fun post-processing as photographing, so I've really been making an effort to get the shot as right as possible the first time so I don't have to spend a lot of time on it. But, there are still a lot of pictures and even if I only spend a little bit of time on each one, it will take me a while!
My spring fever has also triggered my nesting instincts, which have taken the form of "geeze this house is a mess" so I've also been spending a lot of time cleaning and picking things up and trying to figure out what I can change so that stuff stops migrating to my loveseat, ottoman, and kitchen table. This all cuts into knitting time.
I also took a lot of pictures at the church retreat I just went to, which means I will need to spend some time post-processing and getting them on my church photos shutterfly site. I am not one of those people who has as much fun post-processing as photographing, so I've really been making an effort to get the shot as right as possible the first time so I don't have to spend a lot of time on it. But, there are still a lot of pictures and even if I only spend a little bit of time on each one, it will take me a while!
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