Work In Progress

Kate-a-palooza - Day 1 (FO)

I'm shamelessly stealing my friend Nova's birthday idea.

An eight day celebration of me, that culminates on my birthday! 

And this year I'm celebrating by giving away something each day here.  I missed my blogiversary and thought that this would be a good way to say thank you to all of you.  I appreciate you coming to my little corner of the web.

What are the gifts? Mostly knitting related, but not entirely.  We're a bit cat obsessed and I'm a horrible displininarian. So, I try to keep them away from the yarn, but I can't promise, if you're really allergic.

First up, a loofah, the same pattern I used at Christmas. And a loofah wouldn't be nearly as nice without something to use with it. I discovered Spiced Vanilla scent from the Body Shop at Christmas this year and I'm in love.

 

An alternative use for the loofah would be as a cat bonnet, but Sasha didn't appear enthused. 

So, just tell me - bath or shower?  I'm a bath person every time.  I've turned down apartments because they only had a shower.  I love bubbles but mostly I just relaxing.  Usually I read too.  

Just leave a comment any time before 11:59 p.m. on May 13th. 

Pattern: Loofah or washcloth (and my Ravelry) 
Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream Shade: Lavendar, 78 yards
Modifications: crocheted tie
Knitting yardage total 2012: 1111

Nightshade Annis (FO)

Have I mentioned the sad fact that members of my family are allergic to wool?  This signficantly impedes my ability to easily give knitted gifts.

I decided to make something special for my Mom's birthday and purchased some yarn at the Thanksgiving Eat.Sleep.Knit sale. At Christmas time, when we were discussing my knitted gifts plan, she mentioned that she would not be opposed to a cashmere/silk knitted item. 

Well, who among us would be opposed, I ask you?

And ironically, what had I purchased to make my Mom's birthday present? Why some Sweet Georgia CashSilk. In my mother's favorite color. I could claim I bought fancy yarn because this is a significant birthday for my Mom, but I only realized that fact about 2 weeks before her birthday.  I just love her (everyone together, "ahhhh").

And the yarn? It is a dream.  

The sheen is amazing.
The feel, divine.

When I become independently wealthy, I'll have worsted weight cashmere/silk dyed to order.  And I'll knit hats out of it.  In stockinette. Because I can.  A girl can dream, can't she?

I decided that after I was finished with Christmas knitting, I would start and give myself plenty of time to knit. But that was before I met... The Neverending Mittens of Doom.  Since they weren't done until February, I didn't cast on until late February.  It's a formidable caston with 356 stitches.

When I went for my girls weekend, I took this project with me. And fortunately, had the good sense to set down this project before we were too far into the drinking game.

This is a good project because it's 18 hard, focused, very long rows of lace - with 156 nupps in those rows! 

And then stockinette.  There is still a bit of attention necessary on the stockinette, but smart use of stitch markers makes it quite easy. The construction of the stockinette section is ingenious, rocking back and forth from the center. It results in a large middle section, 

but is almost circular, allowing it to easily drape your shoulders without coming off. 

no, i cannot explain why I look like that in the picture. Partner says cute, I saw peculiar.

Because my mom's birthday was while I was gone for work, I knew I had to a firm deadline. In addition to my girl's weekend, I needed a 5 hour marathon knitting session one night. That was only necessary because I lost nearly 10 days of knitting because of my work schedule.

In all, it took 21 days, start to finish, including the 10 days I didn't knit a stitch! It really was an amazingly fast knit.  And, I only used 320 yards, so while the yarn is expensive, you really can create a special gift for a special person with far less than one skein.

And my mother said, "It may be one of the nicest things I own." She has also told me of her different schemes for showing it off to other knitters.

Win!

Pattern: Annis (and Ravelry) 
Yarn: SweetGeorgia Yarns CashSilk Lace, Shade: Nightshade, 320 yards
Modifications: I cast on with US 10.5 to be certain my caston was loose enough
Knitting yardage total 2012: 1033

Generosity-inspired scarflet and a giveaway (FO)

Well, up front, I'm not hosting the giveaway, but two people are, for a good cause. Amanda and Jody, by the 20th and 21st respectively.  So head over there for the chance at a neat shawl!  Or don't and keep my odds high(er)! ha ha

So, on to my knitting.  This is part of the continuing Generosity series. :) 

When I left on my last business trip, I knew I wanted to knit something for a lady that would also be there. We're often the only women on the trip, so we've had some great times together - she introduced me to a traditional Japanese bath house years ago and this year we went to a Korean spa three days in a row!

I wasn't sure what I wanted to knit, but I knew that it needed to be kind of small. The mystery blue lace item that hasn't yet been blogged had me knitting right up until I left so I knew I'd be starting on the plane.

see... plane knitting!

I thought about hats, and had some great ideas, but kept returning to the idea she has curly hair and what a hat would do to her hair.  And, since she lives in Canada, so I wanted it to be useful (warm!). 

Right before I left, a designer re-wrote a pattern, and I thought, "That's it!" 

I chose some yarn that I was gifted with earlier this year (another blog post that is yet-to-be-written). I tried to capture the subtlety of the yarn, but failed each time. 

The pattern was more fiddly than I realized. Not hard, but a lot of turns and increases and decreases (which really, should have been obvious from the onset). When I was done with it, I wasn't happy because I didn't really like the yarn and it rolled on the edges and didn't look like leaves to me. But it was, in deed, a plane project (about 5-6 hours): 

However, I forged ahead (because frankly, I didn't have a choice - the person that discovers yarn and pattern delivery at 30,000 feet will be a millionaire!) When I got to my hotel, I washed and rolled it in a towel to 'block' it.

And when I took final FO shots, was pleasantly surprised. At least with browns and neutrals, it didn't look too bad. 

I worried - even on the plane - that I'd made the neck part too long. I followed the pattern, but kept thinking it should be shorter.  Frankly, at this point, I have enough knitting experience that I should have trusted my instinct. My friend is Japanese and is petite. My instincts ended up being correct, which frustrated me later since it didn't hug her neck. 

In the end, my friend seemed very happy with it. Her niece is actually a knitwear designer and she kept saying she was going to show it to her. Ack! I hope her niece isn't still wondering why I didn't make the neck shorter! haha! 

Post wash (in the picture above), the subtle colors are easier to see. I like the flatter look as well, though I probably flattened out the leaves too much. 

I liked the generosity themes involved - a free pattern, gifted yarn, and an FO as a gift to thank a friend.

Pattern: Anthro-inspired Scarflet (and ravelry)
Yarn: Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran, 147 yards
Modifications: none, though I should have made the neck smaller, for the recipient
Knitting yardage total 2012: 713

Update on Goals II

Well, another month, so I'm going to keep checking in. Kate is probably right, and I should just pick one or two.  But, instead, I'm going to just look at it all, and remind myself that it's a process and not get down on myself.  Sooooo, here we go (and I'm sorry if this bores you... you can bloop bloop bloop down to 7 if you just want knitting).

Here is the list: 

 1, 12 and 16. Organization - in all it's decluttering; everything it it's place; reduction; recycling; stress-free glory - has not been going well. Yesterday Partner volunteered to go look for a bottle of wine in the garage because, "I don't want you to get stressed or frustrated" about what the garage looks like. He's so right and I'm really not sure what we're supposed to do about it. There are so many wonderful things down there, but damned if I can find them.

2. Stress.... I've got it and it's always festering. I truly believe that some people are naturally inclined to be either negative or positive. And, I feel that I tend towards the negative.  And I know that stress just makes that more evident. I wish I could figure out a way to be better with this, but I am a person that 90% of the time is scanning my environment to figure out what needs to be done. Frankly, it's tiring.  

Today is kind of a bad day, as I received some sad news - I have not decided if I will talk about it here at some point or not - so I think I'm more aware of that negative place as I process today's emotions.  I will say that I have found music to be so helpful as a destressor. In fact, a la Rachel, I'll share that I've been listening to Adele, Live at the Royal Albert Hall which has helped tremendously today. 

3. I am going through mail daily and there is always less paper in the house, but filing and shredding don't seem to get done.

4. I more or less do manage to get the house straightened each day, but it still feels like I'm just keeping up and not getting on top of things.  Oh well, I guess keeping up is better than falling behind.

5. Weight. Sigh. One pound in 3 months, as of 1 March. Things were looking better a week ago, but I found that pound and a few of his friends since then.  I am looking at putting together a multi month exercise plan, as I think I do better with those than playing it by ear.  Hopefully that produces positive results for next month.

6. I am sleeping 7 hours nearly every single night. I've had some bizarre @ss dreams this week, so they haven't been restful hours this week, but I think being strict about bed time is helping with all the goals.  I remember I used to get so much less sleep, but clearly at this stage in my life, I need more so I'm forcing myself to do it with positive results.  I think it's pretty much a habit at this point.

7. I had a very very successful month for knitting in March. Fortunately, one of my goals was not promising to blog more about said knitting as I'm woefully behind - lol! Here is my big knitting project of March. I am so happy with this knit and can't wait to tell you about it... hopefully Sunday??

8. Last month was a good reading month as I finally got back to a mystery series I've been enjoying for years. I found Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew series at Munro's - a frickin' awesome bookstore in Victoria! Last month I read the 13th book in the series and am currently reading the 14th. If you like 1) British novels, 2) mystery novels, 3) historical fiction, 4) a well written book with amusing dialogue exchanges, I highly recommend this series.  Set in post-Plague Cambridge (1350's), this is the first book in the series, the book I bought at Munro's:

9. Cooking and baking. This is low on my priority list until I feel I'm more on top of things. I'm okay with that and freely let it go as a goal.  I do keep trying to keep local and organic ingredients, but I'm not getting wrapped around the axle about it.

10. To be less angry. Hmm. I'm still very "Irish" in my temper. Probably being less stressed would also help. Partner and I are both working harder to communicate better and for me that is all about controlling the anger and not assigning false meaning or using my "razor-sharp tongue" in place of expressing my feelings.

11. No yoga since January. Since I have some running goals, i feel this will probably not be a priority in my life any time soon. That's okay.

13. We abhor this house. It is too small, not just for all our things stuff crap shit, but just because we're always RIGHTNEXTTOEACHOTHER. I am an introvert, as is Partner. We are happy with our quiet home together. But occasionally, we also need physical space from each other so that we can just BE and not worry about oozing into other people's space. I'd like a room in the house where I could read and not listen to video games or tv.  Or, that I didn't have to see another person moving in my peripheral vision. The only rooms in the house that you can sit in without seeing someone else is the bedrooms. I don't want to go to my bedroom to read a book in private. There is a serious initiative underway to get into our own house and stop renting this house. I want to be able to sit a garden, read a book, and have a quiet 30 minutes. I think we'll all be happier with a different place. So! Stay tuned!

14. Plans are afoot to get a trail marathon in this year. This is a big goal of mine so I feel confident that it will happen!

15. The professional article... hmmm.  Perhaps I should come up with a plan for this.  Rather like the exercise, I think my vague idea approach will not result in actual success.

17. The Buy Nothing in 2012 continues in pretty good fashion. I know that I owe a post just on this even though I think I promised it in January. I recently came back from a great business trip and was very very successful in not buying crap. I bought regional foods and sweets and I may have acquired some supplies for another hobby, but I think it's okay. And, shockingly, the no yarn buying vow remains intact. The WEBS sale was obviously a temptation, but I am very happy with what I have. If I still want DK-this or sport-this, well, guess what? Something similar will be available next year!

Alrighty, that's it for now. Sorry for some of the negativity, I guess I just have some of that today. Thanks for bearing with me.  We'll have more knitting content soon!

Anatomy of a Mud Run and sneak peek

Sorry for the long silence. I intended to post right before leaving for a work trip. Unfortunately I got a migraine that morning that sucked away several hours and so I just jetted away, without posting. But here's a gentle re-entry.

ANATOMY OF A MUD RUN

1. Sign up for 1/2 marathon during late Winter/early Spring.

2. It's more fun with friends. 

3. Run up exposed hill, but after all the fast runners, so it's nice and slick.  Try to get to a 'dry' ridge.  Miss.   4. Crawl under downed trees.

5.  Repeat.

6. Find running buddies. 

7. Attempt to run three abreast on a wet, two-butt trail.

8. Realize staying dry it futile. Unleash your child heart and run through puddles. 

9. Everything is better with aid stations and a support Partner. :) 

10. Commemorate occasion with friends.

11. Get ready for a shower.

12. That it... Repeat! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now, for something completely different... I may have been quiet on the blog, but much knitting has been happening.  Proof:

Girls Weekend

Last December I was already thinking that I didn't want to buy any yarn in 2012.  A good friend asked me about going to Stitches West. Obviously, I could demonstrate self restraint and just look and enjoy the weekend.  However, being honest about my lack of self control, I just knew that wouldn't happen.

So, instead we decided to do our own knitting retreat. Her SO is out of town for awhile, so I left Partner and Boy #2 to their own devices (which involved sloppy joes, pizza and John Carter) and headed south for three days.

This yarn went to it's new home (because yarn is my kind of hostess gift!) 

We are both nerds of extraordinary proportions. So, while we did some window shopping in her town, we spent most of the weekend knitting and watching Harry Potter. You can see our Saturday Evening of Indulgence:

I got a lot of knitting done, though I was slowed down by our nerd-tastic drinking game: a sip of wine anytime any character said "Snape" or "brilliant." Fortunately it was only for part of the 3rd movie and we aren't completely lacking in judgement, so it wasn't (quite) as bad as it sounds.

We started the visit at dinner so I cast on for a Beyond Puerperium for a little one that is arriving soon. By Sunday noon, when it was time to drive north, I had this: 

What a great pattern! And I have a story about the pattern I'll tell later.

Also, in an amazing achievement, I took my Mom's birthday present south and one more row than you see here: 

Became a sea anemone worn by my friend's kitty Merlin.

See all those stitch markers? 29 repeats. I haven't done nupps since my ill-fated adventure with Swallowtail.  In two days, I did 145.

Hurray for knit weekends!

Update on resolutions

Forcing my way back into the saddle. :)

Thank you for sticking with me for 30 days (more or less).  It was kind of a fun exercise, but I felt like I couldn't blog and answer everyone's comments.  So, I doubt I'll do something like that again, any time soon.  On the plus side, I had fun coming up with new ways to stage stuff (taking hat pictures in the dark) so hopefully some of that will influence later blog posts.

I've decided that one way to keep honest about my 2012 goals is to provide little updates here. So, here goes.  You may remember the list, I numbered everything so it will be an easier reference. 

1, 12 - Minimizing and reducing has been slow. We did a lot of cleaning inside the house, but kind of stalled out after that. We were going to do a garage sale this weekend, but we weren't ready and wanted to run yesterday.  Our garage frustrates and stresses me.  I really want it to go away.

2, 10 - Stress and anger - I don't know. This has sadly been a tough one for me. I know that there are some things in my life that keep me at a heightened frustration level. I am not sure what to do about that when it spills into other parts of my life. I've become the person that mutters (or yells, if there is nobody around) at the mistakes of other drivers. I'd like to be a more compassionate person. I'd hoped my word for the year would help with that but.... ehhh... kind of mixed results. Partner did send me a quote in January and I've made a copy and put it on my page finder in my organizer since it captures the benefits of calm so well -

When we are angry we are blind to reality. Anger may bring us a temporary burst of energy, but that energy is blind and it blocks the part of our brain that distinguishes right from wrong. To deal with our problems, we need to be practical and realistic. If we are to be realistic, we need to use our human intelligence properly, which means we need a calm mind.
~ HH Dalai Lama 

3. Shredding paper - pretty good. I try to go through the mail each day and either put in in a bills or file folder and then throw the rest in recycling.  I've kept paper from building up, but haven't done much to fix the backlog of paper we've accumulated.

4. Straightening each day - I am doing well on this one.  A few weeks ago, I tried setting a timer for 15 minutes and cleaning something extra each day.  Usually I do okay, but I get derailed easily during the week.

5. Weight - ugh! I ran my second 1/2 marathon of the year yesterday and I'm 5 pounds heavier today! I've been weighing myself on the 1st of each month and I am down 0.5 pound since the year started. That's disheartening.  I know this would be easier if I could reduce my stress level. I have also tried to exercise 5 minutes a day, if nothing else. This I have NOT been consistent on.  I'll try harder this month.

6. Sleep - Nearly every night I get 7 hours sleep. Hurray!

7. 1 project a month, 4,000 yards this year - I didn't get any projects done in January, but finished 3 in February.  My yardage is only at ~400 so that needs to increase. I cast on for a project this morning. It's for my mother's birthday so I need to get it done this month. All I can say is the only good thing about casting on 363 stitches is that at least I know the rows will only get shorter! 

8. I've read 3 books this year! They are all mind candy (read: simple) mysteries, but hopefully I can keep it up and step it up.

9. I will cook and bake more.  Nope, no I won't. Partner has picked up a job with more hours, so I'll likely be doing more cooking, but I've been resisting baking. It's hard to make the decision to do more work for food we don't need - cookies, etc. - when there is always so much else that needs to be done in the house.

11. Yoga - we took one class in January and then... nothing. Hopefully we can do better.

13. House - we haven't made a move on that

14. Run a trail marathon - nope, not yet. I really need to improve my fitness, get more consist in my work outs - I have to run more than one long run every other week - and I think losing the extra 20 pounds would all help considerably in meeting this goal.

15. Write a professional article - ugh.  Not yet.  I've had the idea in my head for years. But can't seem to buckle down and do it!

16. All paper in the filing cabinet - Nope, that would involve cleaning the garage.

17. I will not buy any "wants" in 2012. I had a couple slip ups in January, but February was truly a month of only buying what we need - food and things for the house. I've been very critical and have stopped myself from justifying "nice to haves" for the house.  I hope I can keep it up.

18. Job - well, I've shared a bit of our struggle, and things have not been decided. I probably won't talk a ton about that here, just to be on the safe side. However, I thank you all for your encouragement and good wishes.

Day 29 & 30 - Last (FO) and my Companion

So, the five hour hat ended up being a 6 1/2 hour hat with a multi day delay while I resisted the sewing up.

One good thing about making a mistake with the first caston (I can't really think of two, honestly) was that I was able to see that my heavy worsted weight yarn was going to create a gargantuan hat!

On the flight back home I started again, but started with a gauge swatch (gasp!).  From that I realized that my cast on needed to be 100 stitches for the brim (vice 120) but I kept the spiral the same, though I knew it would make it more dramatic.

By the time I landed, I had all but the final decreases completed.  Then it became a game of picking up the hat, putting it down, finally blocking it, and then moving it around and carrying it with me for days without sewing it up.

But finally, a hat!  And I love it because I think it's unique and spunky. 

 

I chose the colors with intention.  I thought I'd use up the handspun from Partner's Christmas hat.  The hat only needs 30 yards of the contrast color, so I checked before I left and I had about 37 yards - perfect!  Then I decided to look for another light, natural color yarn and found this. The origin of this yarn is a separate post, but it's an orphan, no label and just my touch-intuition to tell me it is 100% feltable wool.

So, now I have a hat to complement my Companion's. Nice segue to the final day's picture, no?    

C'est Fini! The month of craft photos is over! I doubt I'll do that again! But I had fun.  I hope you did too. 

Pattern: Escargot (and ravelry)
Yarn: no idea! mystery yarn that was given to me and the last of the hand spun, 170 yards
Modifications: caston 100 stitches for the main hat, but kept the spiral the same
Knitting yardage total 2012: 566

 

Day 28 - Simplicity

I've talked for awhile about making a simple, knock-about sweater.  While I adore the Classic Raglan pattern Kelly has been using, I wanted to try to stay true to not buying anything in 2012.  I entered all my books and patterns in Ravelry and then did a search on the sweaters I have available.

I found one. Miles of stockinette.  Just what I needed. There are no pictures in Ravelry, so here is one. 

Day 27 - The Wrong Side

I won't even pretend that this is my knit!

In 2009, while traveling in Australia I decided to head to Katoomba, a magnificant mountain town I've written about before.  

Wholely unprepared for a cold, rainy mountain climate, I bought this sweater for a couple dollars at the local thrift store.  I thought it was too small, but it was the only 100% wool sweater.  I figured I'd use it during the trip and fully intended to rip it out and reuse the yarn.  And yet, it seemed a horrible end to something obviously so well crafted and obviously knit (because who would knit this otherwise?!?!) with love.

Now that I've resolved my body image issues (in part), I have kept this sweater and love wearing it.  It has two small holes that have developed and I need to fix them.  I've been remiss, but in prepping this picture, noticed the one had gotten larger.

I can only hope to produce something that on the right side looks as good as the "wrong" side of this sweater!