Thursday, December 29, 2005

Brilliant Ideas

I have just had two major break-throughs in knitwear design.

First, a sweater gone wrong...I tried to wear the Soft Focus sweater from an old book, and it just wasn't working for me. I made the sweater by the pattern (a first for me, since I always wind up modifying it for some reason or another) and it worked, but it wasn't the best style for me. Since I made it, and it wasn't very flattering (note to self: boatneck sweaters don't look good on EVERYONE), I decided I could modify the neckline slightly, so it wouldn't be so open and causing bra-strap issues. Once I did that, the neckline then proceeded to thank me by strangling me. It was not happy. It is now in the frog pond. Luckily, my crafty brain refused to give up on the warm and soft sweater...and now, after it is frogged (frogging still not complete), it will have new life as a lovely sweater with a crew neck (more flattering to me, although V-neck would be best...the details of the sweater haven't been fully decided yet).

Second, TONS of leftover yarn from various and sundry projects. I will make an afghan; one to use in the living room with the couch that should be replaced this year (hopefully). I think I'm going to go with a miter-square pattern for it, and then sew the squares together. Either that, or I'll be doing just a striped pattern. I'm leaning mroe towards the mitered square concept.

Third problem without a solution currently: the mohair sweater. I haven't figured out yet what to do with this, but it needs to be frogged and possibly worked into something like the lacy pullover in the Knit Simple magazine. It looks lovely, and simple, but it will give all that yarn something to do.

Fourth problem: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino bag. I have approximately 10 lovely skeins, and I was going to do a sweater, one with a boat neck, but after the Soft Focus fiasco, it would be better served doing something else. I haven't quite thought of what yet, but there's still time.

I have other small stash yarns, and most of those will get used up in lovely scarves, shawls, or wraps. I also think I might have solved my problem of the 3 eyelash skeins! A swatch is needed to determine if the solution will truly work.

Oh, more big news! I finally have a computer that can handle the software for the digital camera, and the software and correct cord for said camera is now in my possession. Hopefully, this will mean pictures soon! I know...I keep promising, but hey, I can only do so much, because believe it or not, I AM only human!

I love this time of year

New Years are great. It's a time for a fresh start, a new beginning. This promises to be a great year.

This year will be a great year for knitting. There are already some projects forming in my head, and hopefully I can put them into action before the year gets too far gone. I'm planning to use up my stash and replace it with yummy stuff (KnitPicks here I come!).

I have to buy some yarn for a friend...she's having a boy, who undoubtedly needs his own blanket, since I made one for his sister. I'm trying to decide between green and blue, and I'm thinking green, just simply because blue is so overly done on little boys. His sister got a really cool afghan, the Baby I.Q. afghan. Sure, it's crocheted, but it was cool to do, and easy. Of course, doing 16 granny squares does kind of wear you out a little, and you get tired of doing them, but it was really cool once it was all put together. I think her little brother needs an elephant, and maybe a cool sweater as well. However, she STILL can't fit into hers, and I used the 12 month size. She'll be 2 in April. Oh well...I guess the pattern was a little big. At least she can wear it later.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Cool reads

I went to Borders yesterday, and picked up a couple of knitting magazines. I could have spent a fortune just on those, but hey, I had other things to buy. I picked up this one, since it was the men's issue and my brother is into knitting now too. The articles were interesting, and I liked some of the designs for the sweaters. Most of it was men's wear, but that's ok...what woman doesn't like curling up in an oversized sweater on a cold day?! Sometimes having something huge makes you feel amazing. I liked some of the ideas as well. I think it has good potential for future work.

Then I was looking through the rack and saw this new one and there was an article about knits for plus sizes. That definitely caught my eye. I picked it up and flipped through it quickly, and just bought it. I'm hoping to write the editors and let them know WHY I purchased it, and perhaps they can do something about the lack of plus sized patterns in the knitting magazines. It might only be one voice, but better one than none. Who knows what might happen? They might do a spin off and make all the patterns in it for plus sizes. One can always hope.

I guess I'm gearing up for the new year. Last night we saw this:

It was good...really good. It was a good re-make, and although I haven't seen the original, I really did enjoy it. It was like a cross between the squeaky-clean movies of the 1930's and Journey to the Center of the Earth. The only drawback was there was someone who added some ambience through smell. Smell-o-vision would be great for cooking shows, but not for gorilla movies.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Woot for Christmas!

Well, Christmas was nice. I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, but Christmas still turned out nicely. I am hoping to knit more this year, and make presents for everyone for Christmas. I like doing handmade gifts, if for no other reasons than 1) they are generally cheaper and 2) they are more personal. I have some really hard people to buy gifts for...what do you get a retired person who has everything they need and most of what they want? For some people, the gifts are easy...sometimes they even provide a list.

This next year, my goals are going to be to reduce my stash and get through at least level one of the master hand knitter's course. There are some things I'd love to make just for Christmas, and hopefully I will make those as well. Then there are projects that are stacking up faster than I can knit them. I'm hoping that one of these days I'll have a good balance between stash and projects. Right now, all the projects I'd like to do I don't have the yarn for, and what I do have the yarn for I don't really want to do. Sad, isn't it?! Maybe I can fix that this year, and focus on what I have, find projects for that, and then the projects that I'd like to do slowly work towards getting the yarn for that. At some point, I need to see what projects I have started and where they need to go (finish them or frog pond?). There are also things in the frog pond that need frogging...maybe this week I can frog stuff. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Time is all I need...

Just time. I wish I had more...I wanted to make some Christmas gifts. Oh well...I'll plan for next year. Maybe everyone will get socks. Everyone wears socks. Handmade socks all around...just what next year's Christmas ordered. Of course, that would mean I'd have to do at least one pair a month, and I haven't even finished the first one of mine yet! Oh well...maybe 2 at a time? I'm hoping to get some needles so I can do 2 socks on 2 circulars. Then we'll see how fast they go.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Patterns, patterns, everywhere...

So, I've been cleaning. I obviously have been doing something else, since I haven't been posting. Work's been a little more hectic, since it's the end of the quarter, but it hasn't been too terrible. I found patterns upon patterns upon patterns. I have 2 boxes stuffed full of patterns. I still have more left. I'm sure there are duplicates, and they're not organized, but at least they are all together. That's a step in the right direction. I have more organization to do, but we're sticking to cleaning for the time being, since Christmas is right around the corner.

I need to get my secret pal something. She's so sweet, and after having to put up with me all year, she deserves to get something nice. I'll have to see what I can find for her. Tis the season after all. =0)

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Slow socks

That's what I'm going to title these things. They are SLOW. On the bright side, it gives me something to do while watching TV. I'm almost at the point of finishing the gusset of my socks, and then it will really be mindless knitting.

Good news...I finally moved almost all my yarn into the study. The bad news is that it doesn't currently have enough space, but that should hopefully be fixed tonight. I have 2 shelves to clean out of the Yaffa blocks (from my college days, but good for storing yarn) and fill them in with the rest of the yarn. That should be enough space, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I still have to figure out what to do with all my other craft stuff. I have cross stitch, crochet, tatting, and who knows what else lurking for storage. In my head, I think I've solved some of the storage problem, but the space problem is now before me. I might have an answer for that as well, depending on how I work things. Some measurements are going to be required. I am hoping in just 2 short weeks to be ready to start sewing on the stockings I want to make for Christmas. I have the felt (easy sewing) and my machine is all hooked up. All I need to do now is cut them out and sew them up.