Bonita

Its done! And I've actually worn it in public. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and excited to make another t-shirt. Something like the 'Nothing but a t-shirt' by Alison Hansel. I don't know if it was the short-sleeved aspect or something about the shapng of Bonita that made it do-able for a somewhat beginner like me, but it made me feel like I could do this again and I really want to.

I looked for Rowan Calmer on-line and at the local shop, Gossamer, and find that if I want the colors that I like, I will have to purchase it on-line. I'm thinking Vintage as the MC and Plum as the CC in the 'Nothing but a t-shirt' pattern. Its tough for me to think of buying it at the Rowan price right now - 7 skeins would be spendy at over $80. Knit Picks Comfy yarn might be comparable but I didn't like the color choices as well, despite the much better price. I am going to think about it for awhile and see if its worth it.

In the mean-time, I cast on for a pair of Monkey socks just to get something on the needles that I thought might go more quickly. There's something about Monkeys that makes them go fast and they are not disappointing. I also am considering doing the Babette KAL with the Webs podcast from last spring (which I am just now listening to) so I listened to their crochet tutorial. I could not get the hang of it from listening so I watched a You Tube video tutorial which helped me figure out both the single and double crochet. Good thing my son is such a You Tube junky so I could figure out how to watch - I'm such a luddite! But here are some crochet swatches that I enjoyed making last night.

I've always thought that crochet was just silly but now I think its fun. I need to figure out how you incorporate the stitches that I learned into a pattern. Once again, making the Babette will be expensive yarn-wise particularly if I do it with Koigu, which I think would be really pretty, but it can be done slowly and over time.

Right now, I am celebrating that I got my Bonita t-shirt done, if not before the Olympics were over, at least in time to wear it before the weather turned. And the fact that it turned out well enough to wear it at all!

Getting there

Finally, I think I've got it. I took the time to sit down and focus on my project this weekend and was able to figure out a new technique - the i-cord bind-off. I read the instructions on the pattern and then went to knitty.com and read the tutorial on i-cord bind off and I also remember listening to Kelly Petkin talk about the i-cord bind off on her Knit-Picks podcast and I finally got the concept and was able to get it done. Thank you very much to Sarah for her offer of help and when I figure out how to get back to her I may take her up on her offer but I think I need it more for technical blogging help at this point. Thanks, Sarah!



Bob loves to help show off the knitting, of course. Here he is trying to get in on the action and be a knitwear model. Isn't the i-cord bind off so tidy looking? I was so impressed when I saw it finished. Now there is just the weaving in of ends and I will have my finished 'Olympic project'.



It is another late night tonight, the Monday, kid day - football practice, cross-country, late dinner, and homework. This is all after I had a rough day at work, not agreeing with the boss and trying to communicate while staying diplomatic and respectful. This may not be the job for me but its not the time to be thinking about leaving a job. A job is a good thing to have right now - especially after all the craziness that went on last week and what we may be facing in our economy now. Wouldn't it be nice to just be a cat and be able to relax on hand-knits?

New yarn store and a quiet weekend

I visited the new location for Juniper Fiberworks a few weekends ago and really like Deb's new space. It feels much more cozy than the previous shop and I like how only part of it is color-coded and there is a little more 'by-the-fiber organization'. For some reason it was much easier to shop in the new store and find some neat little treasures so there must be something about the way its set up that makes if more comfortable for shopping. I think this will be good for Deb because the other location was never my first choice for yarn shopping. The location itself is not bad either, closer to my house and in between work and home which might not be so good for me!

I saw the cutest little sample hat with a soft halo of a yarn and had to make one for myself so I bought the Debbie Bliss Alpaca-Silk in a watermelon color and here is my version.


It’s a good thing hats are such a quick knit because at least I have an FO:

I’ve been stopped up on my Olympic challenge sweater – Bonita. I’ve gotten to the neck band and a new technique for casting-off that I’ve not done before so it’s a case of finishing-phobia. I may need outside help to get past this point. I also need some focused, quiet time to sit down and figure it out. Perhaps the kid-free weekend coming up will provide me with some of that.

Recovering

There ended up being knitting last night after all! In the wee, small hours of the night. In fact, there is even an FO to show off!

I was too hyped up from the evening's activity to go to bed so I actually stayed up to watch David Letterman, waaaaay past my bedtime, and I'm paying for it today. I'm so tired tonight, it will be a short post due to low brain function. Here is proof, Dave talking about climate change. I like David Letterman, I wish he wasn't on so late, but I guess thats what Tivo is for.

So I finished the Airy Scarf made out of mohair and silk as modeled by my REAL knit-wear model - 11 year old daughter Camille.

I recovered my evening a little after all the activity and was able to accomplish some knitting and now I'm recovering from staying up so late.

I must take a moment to wish a very Happy Birthday to my brother who is turning a big 35 today.

I wonder if there will there be knitting tonight?

To knit at all?!

What a night!! Its 10:25 p.m. and I'm just sitting down for the first time tonight, there will likely be no knitting. I've been spending my night running kids to and from practice - cross country and football, grocery shopping, visiting three different stores for specific school supplies, dictating spelling words, running baths, washing dishes, folding laundry, and all the other things that make up a week-night during the school year. But there has been thinking about knitting.

The closest I got to knitting today was listening to a knitting podcast in the car. I am catching up with Lime & Violet's podcast which, because I like to do things sequentially, I couldn't think of beginning in the middle. Several months ago when I subscribed to their podcast, I started with podcast #1 and am now listening to somewhere around January 2007 in Lime & Violet's world. At that time, they were talking about their Sock Marathon - where they said we should count up our sock yarn, see how many miles we have, and then commit to knitting a certain amount of our mileage before the end of 3 months. I like the idea so I counted my sock yarn - I have 1.36 miles. Considerably less, I think, than most stash-obsessed knitters. It looks like this:

That's Bob, the photo-shoot model, helping out. Whenever I lay out some yarn-related item to take a picture, he gets in on the action. That is also 1.36 miles of sock yarn - Koigu, Shibui, Trekking, Lana Grossa, Mountain Colors, and some Lorna's laces. So at this point, I'm not making any kind of commitment to how much I will knit, I'm just acknowledging how much there is. I do know that my most recent sock gift for my dad is very well loved, he even washed them by hand so he could continue to wear them. When your dad is washing his socks by hand, that's a compliment! I've made a pair of socks for my "sister-in-law" (in quotes since she is not actually married to my brother - yet.) I know my mom would love a pair, and my REAL knit-wear model, my 11 year old daughter, loves to wear hand-knit socks.

So someday, when I get a chance to actually knit, socks will be on my list - then I can buy more sock yarn!

Begin as you mean to go on

I've been reading and being inspired by knitting blogs for so long now and I've always thought how much Id like to have my own. I've just never thought I had the time, knowledge, or courage to create one. Inspired by my husband, I finally decided to just do it. He has several blogs that he keeps up with periodically and told me I had nothing to worry about and that I could and should do it. Bolstered by him and his try-anything attitude, here I am.

So many knit bloggers have gone before and have been so well-written and full of beautiful photography, I hope to be half as interesting. Mostly though, this is for me - a way to journal and make sense of my life as it goes by.

As busy as summer is and filled with activities, its sometimes hard to keep up with knitting. The Olympics inspired me to start a new and challenging project and I actually sat down each night during the games and knit on a sweater. I didn't finish it during the games but I did get pretty far and was proud of my effort and progress. Since then, I've been inspired by all kinds of projects and yarns that I've cast on several new things without finishing my Olympic project. I don't have far to go on it and will get it done to wear before the weather turns too cold.

However, Manos del Uruguay's beautiful, kettle-dyed, silk blend has distracted me as well as the Rowan kid-silk haze mohair which I've never knit with before. I had to cast on two projects from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for these two beautiful yarns - the Airy Scarf on page 69 and the Soft drawstring pouch on page 85. I'm enjoying them so much its hard not to work on them.

I'm excited about beginning the blog and can't wait to keep creating and journaling. Like the Olympics did with my challenging knitting project, blogging will help focus my energy and help my creativity grow.