Time for a change

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Triangle Blanket

I finally finished the triangle blanket that I started way back in August. I was going to block it before taking a picture, then I remembered that it’s a blanket for a four year old, so it’s going to get a lot of use. Which means blocking isn’t necessary. It’s not noticeable, but I wasn’t able to weave in the ends before taking the picture (I left some of my supplies at a friends house). Hopefully it doesn’t show too much, lol. Once it’s officially done, with ends woven in, I’ll take a new pic and replace this one. My measuring tape was among the items left at my friends house, so I’m guessing that the finished measurements are about 4ft tall by 5ft long.

click here to see the full size image

It was a simple knit. Just garter stitch until I ran out of yarn. I used KnitPicks Shine worsted in Sailor. It took me so long to finish, I honestly don’t remember how many balls of yarn I used. It was about 19 or 20 on size six needles.

Good friends and free yarn

A friend of mine recently gave me some yarn after trying her hand at knitting and realizing it wasn’t for her. I love free yarn. :-) I don’t have any projects in mind for it yet, but I’m sure I can think of something. (At least one of the projects is going to go to my friend as a thank you). She gave me five skeins of Caron Simply Soft, two skeins of Patons Shetland Chunky, and one skein of Patons Classic Merino Wool. I’ve never knit with Patons before. It’s much softer than I expected! I can’t wait to use it.

Now, to find appropriate patterns… When my friend gave me the yarn, she said her intent was to learn to knit, then make fingerless gloves with one of the skeins of Patons. So, I guess what I’ll look for first is a fingerless glove pattern that would be appropriate for the yarn. I don’t know that I’ll finish the gloves while it’s still cold outside, but at least she’ll have a pair for next winter. :-)

Been out of the loop too long… and, that sounds fun? I think?

During my time away from the blog, I was also spending time away from the online and local knitting communities.  As a result, a knitting celebrity was here, and I didn’t know it until two and a half months later. Apparently, I missed the Yarn Harlot.  My personal feelings on Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and her blog are very neutral. I don’t like or dislike the person (never met her, so I have no opinion of her).  I also hold a neutral stance on her blog – I’m not hanging on every word, anxiously awaiting the next post.  But I do like her writing style.  I don’t go to her first for answers, although sometimes when I’m looking for answers via Google, I happen across a blog post of hers, and I like what I see.  I’ve never read any of her books, so obviously I have no positive or negative thoughts on them.  It goes without saying that I probably would have missed her local book signing event if I’d known about it ahead of time.  But, she’s so BIG in the knitting community.  I’m extremely surprised that I didn’t at least hear about it.  I guess that’s a sign that I really need to start paying more attention and being more involved in the community from which I’ve taken so much.  I guess it’s time to visit a local yarn store or two.

Speaking of the local knit scene, The Studio will be hosting their midwinter retreat at the end of this month.  I’m tempted to go, but I’m not so sure about the cost. $120 per person, which does not include room reservations or classes.  Will food and a goody-bag be worth that much?  Room reservations will be $75 (plus tax) per night for two nights.  The class fee is $40 per class.  Then the cost of optional spa services, which I’ll probably skip because I have severe personal space issues.  If I only take one class, the cost will be $310 (plus tax for the room reservation).  Add the cost of gas on top of that, and any other extras I decide to throw in (will I want a drink or two from the bar?), and the total price keeps going up.  Is it worth it?  If I only take one class, or none at all, and decide not to indulge in a massage or manicure, what will I do with my time while everyone else is busy in classes or being pampered?  Hang out in the hotel room?  Take a cold walk around the neighborhood?  I’m not entirely familiar with that area, so I don’t know what kind of low cost activities will be available.  I’d love to go, but that’s a lot of money to pay to spend a lot of time by myself… I don’t know.  I’m so tempted.  But then, three to four hundred dollars will buy a lot of yarn… or groceries.  Even if I take a friend, ensuring I won’t spend so much time alone, I’m not sure I can justify the cost.  Maybe I’ll check out the local ravelry group and see what the people who went last year can tell me about their experiences.  Maybe it will be worth it.  I love The Studio, and I can’t imagine that anything they host would be boring or unfulfilling or not worth the cost.  But we’re talking a few hundred dollars…  Will it be worth it?

Crochet thread? Isn’t that the same as… yarn?

Ack, what is there to say? I haven’t been knitting… at all.  Well, a little, but barely. I’m jumping back into it, though. I’ve moved into a new home. Somehow, I overlooked the fact that I will need dishcloths. Luckily, I had some peaches ‘n cream stuffed into the very bottom of a bag of reject yarn and random textile scraps. Yay for baby blue dishcloths? I hate that color for yarn for some reason. But, it was necessity knitting, so it’s all good.

I’m still working on the triangle garter stitch blanket I started for my son… way back in August. It’s not going to be huge or anything, but I haven’t had a lot of time to devote to it. And it doesn’t help that it’s a boring stitch pattern. My fingers don’t long for it the way they do for more interesting patterns. My goal is to finish it this month. I’ll have a picture up after it’s washed and blocked.

The only other item I’ve had on the needles is what was intended to be the first of a pair of legwarmers for my daughter to wear under her dress on Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn’t start early enough, so I didn’t finish in time. I frogged it, but it wasnt a complete waste of time or effort. It gave me inspiration for a version that will be slightly improved the next time I try to make legwarmers. And, I discovered that my first impression of Aunt Lydia’s Fashion Crochet Thread was completely wrong. It was three days before Christmas. It was late. I had to get started that night. Wal-Mart was open… and I was done with Peaches ‘n Cream. So very done with it. I decided on Aunt Lydia’s Fashion Crochet Thread in black. It felt hard and stiff. It looked bland. Had I not been rushed and tired, I would have rejected it instantly. But it was the right color, the right fiber (cotton), it was available then and there at a low price, and it was NOT something I was tired of knitting with. I cast on, and knit a few rows. I wasn’t thrilled. The yarn didn’t move and stretch the way I was used to. But, the more I knit with it, the more I was able to feel the garment that was being created. The hard, stiff, non-springy, non-stretchy thread was turning into a rather nice feeling article of clothing. It felt surprisingly soft… not like silk, but like a comfortable hybrid of t-shirt and broken-down denim. It had a decent drape, and a decent, albeit very muted, sheen. It was actually visually pleasing! As I was knitting, I started thinking of the different types of projects that yarn would be suited for. Wonderful for weekend-wear type items, childrens clothes, and machine washable socks… So many future projects popped into my head. This yarn that I harshly pre-judged is solely responsible for bringing back my knitting mojo. I want to do more with it. And I will… when the time is right (er, when I have the time).

Speaking of… What’s the difference between “crochet thread” and yarn? Could someone enlighten me? Please?

I’ll be back soon with pictures, more revelations, new projects,  and the expected scattered rambling…

The abandoned blog will get some TLC soon.

I lost my internet access somewhat unexpectedly. I get online here and there when I can at friends houses, but I never have time to blog. I have no real knitting or skating related updates anyway, so even if I did have time to blog, I wouldn’t have much to say.

But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. I’m preparing to move into a new home, and it’s large enough that I’ll be able to have my very own fiber arts room. The month of November will be devoted to moving, working (to pay for the move!), and getting settled into a new life. December will bring internet access, creativity, and some down time to put that creativity to work. The last few months of my life have been hectic, emotional and time consuming, and I have not exactly felt very creative (hence the complete lack of projects to work on and then blog about). In September, I thought I was looking at the end of what has been a very dark time. Turns out, it was just the calm before the storm. I’m now confident enough to say, with absolute certainty, that I’ve experienced the worst of the worst, and during the next two months, I’ll be on my way to normalcy again. Which means my blog will be on its way to normalcy again. I know I said that in September. This time, it’s really true. No more months without posts. No more emo, overly personal posts. And I’m hoping my blog comes back better than ever before. I have big plans for it, as well as for myself.

To my faithful readers, I love you. Thank you for reading, and please stick around. I’ll be back soon. I promise!

Argh! Not a good weekend!

– I missed the KCRW championship bout.  It was my last chance to watch roller derby live (locally).

– I was an hour late to work yesterday.  A full hour!  (Um, it was actually an hour and five minutes…  Oops).  Both of the owners were there, so I was a more than a little nervous pulling into the parking lot.  Surprisingly, the only “punishment” I got was one of the owners saying, “Just be sure to double check the schedule.”  He didn’t even sound mad.  Just, big brotherly – I guess that’s the best way to describe his tone.  It was the first time I was late, so maybe that made it “better” than if I’d previously had a problem with punctuality.

– I didn’t make any noticeable progress on the little guys special blanket.  I’m not entirely sure how I didn’t have time to knit more than two rows.  After all, I did have Saturday off.

– I wasn’t able to make it to the skating rink.  The timing just didn’t work out the way I’d hoped.

On a brighter note, I was able to spend some time with a good friend.  I was able to show off my skillz at the pool table (ha!  I’m so bad at pool.  I’m fairly certain a five year old could beat me).  It was nice to get out for a while without having to worry about the time, and without having to get up early the next morning.  That hasn’t happened in a long time.

And, unless something completely unexpected and hugely time consuming comes up in the next three days, I should be able to get some major progress on the blanket done, and go roller skating on Tuesday.  I might even have time to watch a whole movie from start to finish in one sitting.  That would be nice…

And *finally* some SKATING content (mostly frustrated rambling)

I created this blog with the intent of giving ample amount of space to both skating and knitting.  This obviously hasn’t been the case, heh.  The very valid, yet mindnumbingly mundane reason is… I haven’t been skating.  I’ve gone skating maybe four times this year?  All four times were at the skating rink during open skate sessions.  Wooo!  Don’t get me wrong, it was fun.  But, do you really want to read about it?  “Today, I skated in circles over and over again while bad music played over the speakers.  I took the occasional break during rink games, such as ‘the limbo’, ‘hokey pokey’, and ‘four corners’.”  Okay, okay, I know I could have blogged about techniques I worked on.  I could have blogged about falling on my azz and making a complete fool of myself.  I could have complained about the rental skate quality (or lack there-of).  But, honestly, my skating sessions were so inconsistent that it really wasn’t worth blogging about.  This will soon change!  (There.  You have it in writing.  Now it has to change soon!)

I’m motivated (again) by the upcoming Kansas City Roller Warriors tryouts.  I don’t have the time to devote to being a full fledged team member, but I am seriously interested in becoming a ref (less of a time commitment, and less out of pocket expenses).  I considered this option last year.  I almost did it, too.  But, I couldn’t get over the “all or nothing” mindset I’ve had since the very first time I got the roller derby idea in my head (and then failed miserably at the 2007 tryouts).  This time around, I will go to the skating clinic this fall.  I need the experience.  I need the motivation.  At that time, I will discuss with the necessary person/people what I need to do to become a ref.  Between now and then, I will make it a point to skate whenever and wherever I can (but not at the expense of my family).  These are the goals I am promising to myself.  I need this (well, not roller derby specifically, but something similar).  I need the social outlet that knitting (my only “real” hobby) has yet to provide.  I need the aggression outlet (not that I’m aggressive, but still… some people jog to literally run off steam.  Some people drive.  Some people lift weights, do yoga, jump rope, etc…  Whatever it takes to get them out of the house for their “me” time).  That’s what I need.  An outlet away from home.  If it turns out the roller derby isn’t in the cards for me, even as a ref, then I’ll come up with a plan b.  For now, this is what I’m going to focus on.

This weekend, I’ll dust off my skates and go to the skating rink.  Or maybe the park, if I can find my outdoor wheels.

Weekend Questions are back! :-)

1. In your opinion, what is the best knitting or crochet pattern? (“best” being completely subjective, of course)

2. What is your favorite TV show of all time?

On the needles

Wednesday, I picked up my knitting needles for the first time since the day of my last blog post.  A full 21 days.  Oddly, I didn’t even miss knitting (not that I actually had the time to knit, but that’s beside the point).  As you can imagine, it takes some major life events to keep a yarn addict away from the craft for so long.  This month has been interesting.  I’ll keep the emo in check, though.

A few knitting updates:

Travis’s lapghan still isn’t finished.  It will be someday, though – maybe.

Unfortunately, the gloves for the little guy are also unfinished and hibernating, as life events have forced us to (temporarily?) cancel his ice skating lessons.  It’s still hot as heck here, so without the skating lessons, there’s no immediate need for gloves.

Bed of Roses is still hibernating.  I plan on frogging it and using the yarn to make a small blanket for my daughter.  Bed of Roses is a little too lacy for her, yet.  She’s still at an age where she likes to carry blankets around with her, which results in at least a fourth of an average sized toddler blanket being dragged on the floor.  I’m concerned that with all the little holes, it’ll catch on something and snag.  Her second birthday is in November, so I figure that’ll be a good deadline for her blanket.  Not sure which pattern I’ll use.

And finally, the current project which was started on Wednesday.  The little guy is turning four in September.  He want’s a “special blanket.”  It’s going to be a large triangle shaped blanket, in garter stitch.  I realize that doesn’t sound “special” to the experienced knitters out there, with it’s simple shaping and uninteresting stitch pattern, but it’s perfect for him.  He’s going through a triangle phase right now, and he loves to run his fingers along the garter stitch bumps.  I’ll get a picture up sooner or later.