Knitmas in July

I hope that July is a month of finishing. I have several WIPs at the moment that I would like to complete soon so that I can start Christmas knitting early. I only have two things this year so far, so not a huge daunting list, its entirely workable.

I dyed some yarn this weekend, it just finished drying a few hours ago and its 11pm now so no photos yet, hope to get some in sunlight tomorrow.

We have baby bunnies! I will also post some photos of them when they are acclimated ... they are stressed enough right now being taken away from their mom and home, don't want to scare them too much with a camera flash :o)

Started my second Nugatory sock today. Had to purchase another set of size 1 Knit Picks circulars so that I could knit 2 at a time on separate needles ... hope that helps alleviate second sock syndrome.



The hibiscus are blooming again .. funny thing plants, they want this life sustaining liquid called water ... like every day. These poor things were dehydrated all the time, I finally realized they like - literally - about a gallon of water each day that its hot and sunny. I have a two gallon watering can and split it between the two and they are so much happier now. Plants and I don't get along so well sometimes, I either kill them with kindness or neglect :o)

OSO Mission 1 Debriefing

While I didn't get through my entire stash, I am happy with what I accomplished thusfar. I did go through the stash in the closet in my craft room, and I went through my pattern binder and pulled out anything I intend to knit in the near future and started a smaller binder with those patterns. What I refer to as my "Next to Knit" binder. I put the patterns in there and also noted if I had the yarn already and its general location. I also put a sheet in there with information about the pattern, intended recipient, what yarn I plan to use and if I have done a gauge swatch.

While doing this I got sidetracked into finishing the doors in my craft room. I completely remodeled this room last year, but the finishing touches were not done until this year. One thing I wanted to do was replace the door hinges, which the previous owners were nice enough to paint all over and make them look hideous, I jsut happened to have those on hand already I purchased them previously making sure they matched the other hardware that I replaced in the room. Also, I never painted the inside of the door jambs when I painted the doors, so I figured while I had the doors off the hinges, I might as well do that. It was a minimal pain in the butt since I had to tape off all the molding I lovingly replaced last year and spent oodles of time painting just right, but otherwise wasn't too bad.

Next plan is to check out the stash in the basement, maybe reorganize it so that like yarns are together (ie sock, baby, sweaters, etc.). Make note if they go with any patterns in my Next to Knit binder. I like to check out the stash in the basement every few months to make sure nothing has made a home in it that needs to be evicted for non-payment of rent :o)

Another task I've been putting off got somewhat done - windows. Another thing the prvious owners didn't seem to think important. Don't get me wrong, the lady did an excellent job cleaning up when she left, you could eat off the floor, it was the detail cleaning they never did. Mildew on ceilings, windows full of dirt and leaves and bugs. They also didn't realize that storm windows are meant to put down in winter. Most of them were up when we moved in in December, which leads to more crap in the sills. I cleaned two windows, storms, screens inside and out ... took a few hours. So I am not looking forward to the other 19 that still need to be done :0)

Operation Stash Organization

Since its a long weekend and I am low on funds, I thought it would be a good idea to re-organize, catalog and pillage my stash. My stash isn't all over my house ... through no fault of my own. I have these great deterrents in my house that force me to refrain from leaving yarn, needles or other knitting paraphernalia all over my house ... they are called cats. Cats are thieving, conniving, devious little creatures who were put on this earth as the bane of the knitter's existence. Don't get me wrong, not all of these creatures are of this sort. I've had the pleasure of living with some who had only one concern when I was knitting ... to sit on my lap and be in the way.

Now, if you have your own knitting room like I do and use this space as sanctuary from the evil creatures, beware .. I told you they are devious. While you sit in your sanctuary for peace and try to pray to the Knitting Goddess, they will come and attempt to foil your plans. While scratching on the door and screeching, you may think, oh poor creature you must be in pain to screech that loudly, you must be in great need of comfort ... do not fall for it ... do NOT open the door whatever you do. They often work in tandem. One will distract while the other one (and sometimes two) will succeed in accomplishing their devious plan.

On to stash organization. I've got tubs, I've got baskets, I've got bookcases. I've got patterns and queues ... all of which are in no particular way, shape or form connected. My plan is this - to connect the dots. I'm going to go through my stash and catalog yarn and patterns and make some sense of it, wish me luck. If I do not return you know what my fate has become ... I am down in the basement room with the tubs of yarn and I have been a victim of a yarn avalanche. If this is the case, please send the aforementioned evil creatures down there ... they may not attempt to rescue me, but once they are done destroying the pile of stash I am buried under I may find a route of escape!

FO: Baby Surprise Jacket II

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Sport
Needles: US 5 Addi 40"
Cast On: 6/15/10
Cast Off: 6/23/10
Sew Up & Buttons: 6/25/10

I love this pattern. It is so amazing to knit this weird, wonky looking thing and if you fold it the proper way, its a lovely baby jacket :o)

Yarn Dyeing

The yarn dyeing bug has definitely bitten me. I have so much fun dyeing yarn. And over dyeing adds twice the fun!

This red one, started out as a Louet dye kit in browns ... well the main color was more like terra cotta, which I am not a fan of, so I overdyed it red.



This one was something that I wanted to purchase online, but didn't love the pink in the original, so I did more of a raspberry color for the pink and it came out really good, can't wait to knit this one up ... now to choose a pattern. With this one I used a different method - dipping instead of squirting color on the yarn and it worked wonderfully.



This one was the attempt at the above, but done by laying the yarn on saran wrap and squirting color on it, well the top of the skein always looks great, but underneath, not so much, so I over dyed it all blue and it came out nice shades of green, purple and blue.

Knitting Headaches

I always thought there must be a way to duplicate stitch a hole in a sock and make the knitting match up, rather than weaving like traditional darning - which I do not like the look and feel of. I found a link to a video tutorial on you tube from Knit Picks on darning techniques.



At first it was going very well, a little frustrating because of the broken ends that kept getting in the way or pulling out of stitches I thought were secure, but all in all not bad.




Further along (not pictured) when I got to the end where the coriolis band meets with increases and decreases, it wasn't going so well. While it looks better than traditional woven darning, it isn't great. I think because I was creating too many stitches and not replicating the original decreases. However, despite realizing that I was actually grinding my teeth in frustration (I do grind my teeth in my sleep, had no idea I did it while conscious!!) I gave up and went to lie down and watch tv.

I've been working on my February Lady Sweater in Malabrigo (which is such a lovely yarn to knit with) and its going well despite the fact that I keep missing yarn overs in the lace pattern. I ripped it back 6 rows last night because it was too hard to try and knit back and or rip and pick up stitches so I went back to the beginning of the lace since it was only a few rows. Now I am keeping track and making sure I have all the correct stitches. I just found a missed yarn over, but was able to correct without ripping back. Geesh! Yarn and I are not getting along this week!

Wollmeise Contest

Go and visit Jessi at her new blog and for a chance to win a lovely skien of Wollmeise!