Weekend

We had a phone call Friday morning. What started a few weeks ago as a little bit of fluid in my grandmother's lung became more and more complicated as more doctors got involved.


She has been a breast cancer survivor since the late 70's, but it's back over 30 years later, this time metastatic and aggressive. That is a phrase we know all too well- what it means, how long it means, and how serious it is. We jumped in the car and the boys got a quick lesson in the states between ours and hers.

She's in good spirits and we'll know even more about what is going on in the next week or so as the last tests are done. It was so good to see her and that whole side of the family. Of course, in our hurry to pack and go as quickly as possible, I didn't bring the camera. I wish I had so we could get pics with all the cousins.

If there's anything good about many many hours in the car it's the knitting time. I planned to take the striped socks with me for the perfect amount of knitting brain power expended- enough to keep my mind off of things until we could be at the hospital and know more about what was going on, but not so much that I had to really really think about what I was doing.

The only mistake was that I left the in-progress sock at home.

 

Seriously- how does this happen?


{Although I'm grateful that we all had toothbrushes and enough socks and underwear...}

I did however have the skein for the second sock- not really sure how I packed the second skein but not the sock itself, but that's how it ended up (I found a beautiful 2/3 finished sock sitting on my bed when we got back last night). I did have my bag of DPNs with me though, so I was able to start the second sock. (another mystery- why did I pack the DPNs?)

I didn't knit the whole time obviously, but I'd say that's a good amount of progress over one weekend- from "zero sock" to "almost done sock".


I also spent some car time finishing up school-ish plans for just after baby is born. School plans might be a bit foolish, you say? Well, it isn't so much "school" plans as "make sure there is something for the boys to do that helps them stay out of trouble" plans. It's all independent stuff- some new art supplies, some new books and movies, some projects that might fill an afternoon... Things to do so that there isn't as much trouble to make.

Not that little boys EVER do such things.

Inspiration

A few bits of Inspiration from the past weeks...

:: Mama-made pajamas... I'm imagining making several of these tops next fall/winter for baby girl

:: Reasons Why I Hate School... why our homeschool doesn't really look much like real school....

:: An easy to make scrub for that winter skin...

 

:: Ginny's art post provided me with inspiration for our baby girl's room

and a potential source for art prints.

:: Practical ways to establish prayer in your Home

:: A great art supply list (and a giveaway if you get in on it today!)

:: Homemade playdough - I'm planning this for a fun first project in the new house next month.

Yarn Along

{Yarning Along with Ginny again this week}

I think I'm out of my reading rut now and I have Legend by Marie Lu to thank for it. It has been a really fun read! I'm not done with it quite yet, but it did inspire a few more titles to read after I'm done so I'm well stocked.


Yes, that stripey thing you see is another sock. If you're keeping count with me this is the THIRD one this year and I'm already 1/3 of the way through the foot. It's my "knit a row here and there" project that hangs out in my purse and goes everywhere.


And the lavender? That's the Pearl Shrug that I started around Christmas. It has been in timeout for a few weeks for refusing to cast on properly when it came time for the left side. Now that we've worked out our differences it's back to happy knitting.


Please tell me I'm not the only one to give my knitting time-outs! Sometimes I just need to take a break so I can regain some perspective before tackling a problem. I usually have about three attempts in me before I lock a project away for awhile. A lot of times I can then come back and actually solve the issue (and often wonder why I had that weird problem in the first place...)

Do you give your knitting time-outs?

Finishing

We're packing for real now that the move is getting truly close and I worked last night on packing up my backup stash.

Yeah, you read that right.

Backup stash.

When we picked up and moved within two days in the fall I quickly set myself up with possibilities- three projects that were on the needles but "resting", 2 different lace weights, about 5 fingering weight choices- two sweaters worth of worsted weight yarn... plus all my needles so that I could do whatever I wanted. Plus I acquired baby project yarn once I found out we were having a girl since most of my yarn runs to the red/green/blue range for my boys.

It's quite hefty for not being my main stash, especially with me being the project knitter that I am. I just don't buy yarn if I'm not sure how I'm going to use it, and all of this yarn has a purpose... but the other yarn... the REAL stash is hanging out in the back of my mind, mocking me.

I packed it up in a tote, ready to go when we move, but easy to break into should I run into an urgent knitting need. I'm choosing to see this as an opportunity- an opportunity to get moving on a few projects that have been resting for longer than they should, some for good reasons, others... not so much. I want to get to work on my knitting goals and on all that stash busting/UFO finishing we're doing this year.

Like this cute little thing...

I began knitting it for my niece in April of 2010, for her birthday in September. And then I realized that my guessed-at gauge for a one-year-old was totally not working out and I abandoned it and re-knit the pattern with different yarn so that she still got that lovely sweater.

All that little pink cardi needs is a sleeve and then our sweet baby girl will have her first cardi. Maybe it's a great thing that I abandoned it to re-knit for my niece?

There's an almost done vest that I really love, and a grey pullover that is half a sleeve shy of completion, a few baby hats that just need a little bit of seaming, buttons for a cardigan, a little bit of weaving in ends on this and that.

I have 8 (EIGHT!) projects with needles actually in the project, and at least 4 that just need a bit of finishing. Think that will keep me busy until we move next month? (Besides all the packing, of course!)

FO: Mint Socks

Project: Mint Socks (aka the 2012 Socks)

Pattern: Silver's Sock Class

Yarn: Knitpicks palette

Needles: size 2 DPNs

For: myself (because I knit selfishly in January and February after the Christmas making)

Notes: I cast these on just after the new year, and was determined to finish, because, well, I felt defeated by socks last year and I didn't want to miss my sock goal for a second year in a row. So I spent one whole day on the first sock and then found little bits of time here and there for the second (since whole days of knitting just don't happen that often). I grafted the toe of the second sock last Saturday for a total of 11 days on this knit.


The cuff is a little baggy for my personal taste (and if I would have swatched to check out the fabric type I was getting I would have seen that that would be a problem with this particular yarn on this particular needle size but I'm a notorious non-swatcher on stuff like this), and on the next sock I'm taking time to be sure that the gusset shaping turns out a little more narrow for the foot by decreasing a little more or starting with 60 stitches instead of 64.


I'd guess having around 25 hours in this pair (within an hour or two either way) but I did a lot of "knit for 20 minutes in the car" type knitting on the cuff and gusset so it's hard to really calculate((and I'm just not the kind of knitter to keep track of that sort of thing). It's been about a year since I knit a sock so while I'm familiar with the construction I did have to stop and think and calculate a little bit as I went.


Things I learned: I should have used a smaller needle for these. They turned out fine for size, but this particular yarn would have probably done best with a 0 for a denser fabric (and I know this is not the best yarn for socks, but I'm okay if they don't last that long). You'd think I'd know to swatch by now, but... not so much. Does it help if I promise to swatch for the next pair?


I really tried to figure out why it is that I've stalled out on socks before, and I couldn't really pinpoint that particular problem. Maybe I'm just not ready to knit fancier socks yet and need to spend some hours knitting a few pairs of vanilla ones so that I get to that "plain socks are boring; I need something more interesting than this" place that I've gotten to with other project types.


Overall: Good knit! I think I learned enough about what I want from the sock shaping to get my desired fit on the next pair.

Yarn Along

{Yarning Along with Ginny again as I do most Wednesdays...}

Sorry for the flash pic, but January sunlight is just not being kind to me this week! 

The mint green socks from last week are complete (more details later in the week), and I'm trying another vanilla pair, this time in worsted weight for a faster knit and thicker sock. I know it's nothing fancy, but I'm going to try the heel a little differently and see if I like the fit better. After this I think I'm going back to a bit of baby knitting, but I've got to take advantage of the sock knitting mojo while I have it, you know?


I'm reading on my kindle again this week- Organized Simplicity. I was just about to buy a copy of this book when I saw it come up for free on kindle and took advantage. (It's no longer free to everyone, but as of this writing it's free for Amazon prime members). I've just started it, but already found a lot to love.


My 4-year-old is responsible for the Knitted Monster book. He's in love with all things Stitch (as in Disney's Lilo and Stitch) so any kind of monster or alien thing is something he equates with stitch. When he saw this book on a highlighted knitting display while at our library the other day he said I *had* to get it for him. He looked through and picked a monster for me to knit on the way home- so maybe a knitted monster will be up next?

Yarn Along

{Yarning Along with Ginny…}

Last Friday night we were worn out.

Three weeks of packing plus work plus Christmas will do that to you.

We all needed a break from everything going on so my husband made the executive decision to keep us all home last Saturday with our only plans being meals. Brian watched the game and he totally handled the laundry, the boys spent most of the afternoon outside, we watched a movie and played some games... and I spent the day knitting. I promise that I did feed everyone at mostly appropriate times (and made a new favorite for dinner) and a few of those knitting hours were spent outside in a chair so that I could knit while supervising children, but I'm serious about the all day knit-fest.

That mini knitting retreat was the best remedy to if-I-have-to-pack-another-box-I’ll-scream-itis ever.

By 10 p.m. I was grafting the toe of the sock that only been a 4-inch cuff at 8 a.m. that morning. I might actually reach my tiny little sock knitting goal this year! And the bonus is that this was stash yarn, which totally counts for the stash challenge.

How has your knitting year started off?

And Other Things

I have three clipboards of lists- one clipboard for the studio, one for homeschool, and one for "life". My lists include menu plans, calendars for the next three studio years, future knitting projects, the second grade booklist I'm working on building, the recital list for this year, and the most important list of all... our list titled Direction.


It's our goals for the year. These are goals by and for everyone in the family because most of all what I want for our home is reationship and community. Everyone's opinions and efforts are valuable and helping each other accomplish what we set out to do builds that community.


This list isn't complete (it never has been- sometimes you don't know what is important to you to get done until September...) but it gives us the direction for our year so that we move together into the new year. Some of it is vague or pretty obvious, but *I* like having it down on paper. Not everything will happen, but we'll work toward everything as we can.

The first third of our year is already pretty full, taken up with packing and moving and baby having. The months following that have a very distinct "nothing" planned as we get to know the newest member of our family, and then in the early fall we move into another official school year, this time with two official students.


Mostly I'm sure much of my year shall be spent on getting the new house to become OUR house and creating new learning and making areas there. I am *excited* about our new learning area at the new house! No longer will we be stuck in a room far off from the action, but our school day will be close to the most important room for our family- the kitchen.


I have a far-off and lofty dream of being unpacked within 6 months of the move (hey- it's a goal, okay? You can stop laughing...) but I will have a new baby just two months after the move, so we'll see how that one turns out.


I'm planning to re-establish our usual eating habits. Over the last several months of time spent at the hospital, then hospice, then away from our home as we help my father-in-law adjust to being on his own for the first time in 40 years, our eating habits have been horribly disjointed. We'll be moving again soon and after the move we plan to get back to our normal pattern of homemade food, eating in season and fresh as much as possible.


We have a family project in the works- something to last through the year, finding places for old traditions and maybe adding something new as the new house becomes our new home.  More to come in this space as we work on this in the coming months.




The boys have big plans to try out soccer and basketball this year, but of course to still play baseball in the summer. Ender endeavors to be outside "pretty much all the time" and Ezra has plans for some serious art work, including making a whole book.


And my husband? Well, he's talking about going back to school for a third time... maybe this fall, maybe not. We'll see how that one turns out.




For the most part we're planning a pretty quiet year- mostly getting used to the changes from the first part and re-establishing ourselves as we set up in a new place and add another little one. I'm taking a lot of time off from the studio when baby girl gets here and totally resetting my work schedule in the fall... It's a lot of change in one year, but I can't even explain the excitement behind it, particularly knowing that this is a big step forward toward the intentional life we've been building.

Yarn Along and Knitting Goals

{Knitting along with Ginny this week}

Yes, that's a new shawl and *not* the mittens I'm supposed to be finishing...

One of the lesser known side effects after a long stint of non-knitting is cast-on-itis, which made it's way to my house for several days last week and got in the way of finishing my mother's Christmas mittens (which are now 2+ weeks overdue, ahem).

So now there are mittens still on the needles (though not that long from complete- 4 hours maybe?), a shawl begun, and because of our BABY GIRL news I also cast on a little sweater, and I'm up to two hats that need their bands sewn on. And I also knit up Schmatta over a few hours (though it still needs buttons).

The only problem is that I have no "easy knit" to take along on the car- the kind I can pick up and put down as the boys need help with math or legos or that I can knit a row or two on while waiting on that student that's running 3 minutes late. So I *really* need to start something else, right???

I hit New Years Eve and realized I was fishing for yarn to cast on *another* project without thinking about all the projects currently in the works and I did stop myself. I work better with a plan and if I had continued casting on I would have put myself into a knitter's coma. I really don't do well with more than 4 or 5 projects all waiting to be finished, but neither do I do well with committing fully to just one knit.

I started out intending to make a project list to put in my Rav queue, but then I was grumpy trying to narrow myself down to certain projects, so it really became more of a goal list:


1. Complete 12 knitting projects by the end of the year. I'm admittedly aiming small, but we will be moving again in the first half of the year AND having a baby. There's canning season (and I just don't knit much then) plus I'd like to make friends with my sewing machine again at some point...

2. Knit from stash for most projects this year. As I said the other day, my stash has hit an uncomfortable level for me and I really want the finished projects that are intended to come out of that pile of yarn. This isn't restrictive- I can still buy for other projects if I want, but most of this year's knitting will be from stash. Kelly is running a fun linky for this sort of thing- join up if you want to play along too!

3. Complete 1 pair of socks. I love the idea of knitting socks and last year set out to knit at least 6 pair before getting derailed. Apparently I just don't have sock-knitting mojo. I planned for just 1 little sock per month last year, and I got about 2 socks in (and not even two socks of the same pair!) and called it quits. There are fit problems that I need to solve before I seriously move forward on sock knitting, but I'm determined to get 1 good pair for myself this year.

4. Learn to knit lace with bobbles. I see lots of lace shawls I really love that include bobbles, so I want to learn. I've made 1 half-hearted attempt at learning but really didn't have the time to sit down with it and gave up quickly. I will have the time this year at a couple of points- I just have to sit down and do it!

5. Learn to knit colorwork using both hands. I have done a small amount of colorwork, but I know I need to learn to do it holding one color in each hand. It will go faster and I'll ultimately be happier because of it. I just can't seem to get even tension with it yet, but I want to practice "the right way" this year so that I will do more color work.

6. Learn the uses of other cast-ons and use them in the right situations. I rely heavily on the long-tail cast-on for pretty much everything because it's the cast-on I'm comfortable with. I've used other cast-ons when called for, but I want to really know why and when to use other cast-ons.

7. Improve my finishing techniques. I'm decent at kitchener stitch and mattress stitch, but I'd like to learn the three needle bind-off and sewn bind-offs.

Is this the year that I finally knit a fair isle sweater?

Learn to spin?

Take a chance on a steek?

Not sure. But I'll be sure to share if I do.

What are your knitting plans for this year?

Stashing

I recently had occasion to pack up about 70% of my knitting stash and realized exactly how much I have.... several shawls worth, a couple sweaters worth, countless balls of sock yarn, plus the recent acquisition of yarn towards baby projects. It is certainly NOT as much as a lot of yarn stash-ers have, but it has definitely outgrown the space I have dedicated to yarn, and that means I need to get knitting before I buy anything else.




See, knitters include people of all stashing types, and I just happen to be one of those folks that tends to stash for planned projects. When I get a little bit of yarn money together I plan the next few projects I'd like to make and then order accordingly. I don't have yarn money available to me at all times- it tends to come to me in chunks at a few different points in the year and  I try to take advantage so that I never go without knitting. Because of this buying trend I typically only have a few projects worth of yarn in my stash at any time. I'm not really sure how this big of a stash took hold- I know some of it was a gift from a friend, some from my mom when she de-stashed (she's a quilter who knits on great occasion and recently got rid of a lot of yarn she's sure she'll never use), and some happened when we moved suddenly to help take care of my father-in-law after my mother-in-law died. I took some things with me from the stash, but bought more when I didn't have what I needed at the time... so I kind of have two small stashes right now- the one at our house and one at my father-in-laws... but when you add two small stashes together it equals "not so small stash" and that is just not good for me (or the storage space I have for yarn!)


I'm planning to knit from stash for as long as possible in 2012, not out of some kind of knitter's torture, but because I have lots of yarn intended for projects that I *really* like and want to see made. I also have some WIPs that were started last spring or summer that didn't end up getting completed (even though I do tend to be a finish-the-project knitter) and I'd like to see those finished. I'll buy new yarn if necessary for something, but the bulk of my 2012 knitting will be knitting with what I have on hand.

What kind of stasher are you? Am I some kind of weirdo? I really don't buy yarn just because I see it and like it- I'm always worried that I'll find the perfect project for it and then not have enough of that perfect yarn, or worse that I'll never make it into anything and it will sit in the stash for another decade or two. I can't stand to buy something (especially something beautiful) that will go unused!