A knitter stumbles

I sent an email this evening:

This is impossibly silly, but you do have the context, as it was discussed at large at ____________.

I gave myself a 12 month knitting challenge. I am two days away from the end of my second month deadline, and I won't meet it. The rules of the "challenge" were that I must somehow dispose of the project, a thing I doubt I could ever do. I altered the rule for myself to mean that I must give away an equivalency of yarn.

I just can't face pretending that I'll do nothing but knit an entire sock in the next two days. That'd be fine for a weekend, but not these next two days nor even this particular weekend ahead. A self-driven challenge is a challenge all the same.

You mentioned that you were learning to knit. Would you like to be the somewhat random recipient of some yarn? What colors are your preferred colors? Would wools be okay? Should it be sock yarn or can it be any yarn?

Sometimes you have to be clear about deadlines. I don't need two days of self-imposed knitting anxiety. The challenge was to move the yarn along, one way or another. I'll move the sock along, but as Elizabeth pointed out in the comments some time back, I couldn't just abandon a project I was enjoying just because of a silly challenge deadline. The real stash challenges for me were to get yarn moving and to try to perhaps move a few things out.

Meanwhile, I sent along a little mohair with sparkle to another knitty. The zip bag fell on my head from its shelf, so I looked around Ravelry until I found someone who'd liked using the yarn and had commented that it was no longer available. I decided the yarn had just made itself available to her, so off it has gone in the post.

There are extra reasons (beyond life & work) why I haven't made it into the second sock. I'm at the last stitching for the Drops sweater. I've also been making headway on the afghan my grandmother had been making for my aunt and uncle. My mother asked me if I'd mind finishing it on behalf of my grandmother.

It's a family thing.
I don't mind at all.

Business - Trips and Usual

Business as Usual:
I've been very productive, but not the sort that lends for blog interest.

Business Trips:
I went to Boston and met up with Batty, from Knittyboard, who met me for a nice little walk to the nearest local yarn shop. Very kind of her, that was. I bought just a little bit of yarn. Very restrained.


Usual Knitting for Trips:


More Business as Usual:
I bought one little extra bit of sock yarn.

One domestic Saturday

From a pair of cotton pants summer that were happily worn in grad school, pants that would pass for great pajamas these days, pants in which the elastic was shot and I just couldn't pitch them because I'd enjoyed the print so, faded as it is now, and it would make such lousy rags, tight and crisp a cotton as it was, why finally, some progress was made.
(Phew. Withstand that sentence, did you?)

I made a bag for bags. Even though I'm doing better with every passing day to shop less and to carry a bag, once in awhile there are some plastic bags. I save them for my trash bags. I have not purchased plastic garbage bags for years.

I also made a clothespin bag. It was a fitting set of little moments in a very productive, very domestic Saturday.

When is Stash Busting not actually Stash Busting?

Stash Busting:

I started out with a batch of sale yarn (Misti Alpaca Chunky, as it happens), determined to make a sweater out of the exact amount I happened to pick up.

Stash:

I became nervous and picked up a skein of charcoal heather, same yarn, to coordinate as backup for collar, cuffs, whatever.

Stash Busting:

The sweater moves along swimmingly, and I've made it through all but the seaming and the collar. It may be possible that the grey may never appear as contrast on the sweater. Or I may have left over, and then what?

Stash:

I need some needle replacement, and I ogle some yarn while in the shop. Same type of yarn. It comes home, as it would be just the thing with that leftover (or not exactly leftover) grey.

Stash busting:

I really like the swatch in moss stitch, so a modified-for-yardage-&-gauge Le Slouch, only less slouchy is the plan.


Note the grey. I expected I'd run out of the multi before I finished at the top of the crown. Not so.

STILL STASH:
In fact there is a multi oddball, and there's still the bulk of the grey. I'll see what remains when I'm done with the sweater. There may have to be mittens, but I swear it can ONLY be from stash, no matter how they look!

Progress!

A GIFT!

I finished up the baby hat from stash. There is still leftover. It hasn't been put away. I think I can eke out some booties - or make it part of another hat.

A KEEPER!

I've selected my choice of button for the Drops cardigan. I picked up these vintage buttons some time ago in a small town Minnesota antique shop. I filled small paper bags of them actually: most of the buttons were very large, so some have made their way onto costumes. These I kept, at least for the moment.

Had to go back and re-do the front because I forgot to make buttonhole room. Thought about loops, but it wasn't too painful to go back. Watched an installment of Pride & Prejudice and delighted in how painfully and heart-tuggingly awkward was Colin's Mr. Darcy. Zoom, unknit and reknit.

Also finished up a hat I zipped up for myself this week, but this is all the blog time I can afford today.

Having Fun

I wish I could help with that. I'm not helping the couple of people who've strolled past here have any blog reading fun.

Life is moving effectively here, even if the snows and the potholes and the black ice and the communities that run out of road salt and moneys for plowing seem to throw us into less effective moving.

There's been knitting. I finished a gift baby hat. I've started a hat for myself. I'm making progress on the sock. I've done all the pieces of the Drops sweater, except for some backtracking now because I overlooked buttonholes. I'm even rehearsing button options, and I've yet to block, stitch, and tackle the collar.

Work and its projects move apace. I'm even having a little fun. I'm enjoying some collegial team work. I'm enjoying the projects we're working on. I'm even enjoying getting a bit of regular sleep.

There's just not time for the blog fun of sharing.

Hope to catch up. Thought I'd pop by for good manners and say hello. I've been impressed with the work and the weathering and the writing others are doing with their winters (or summers, dependent upon your hemisphere).

Have some fun, however you measure it.

On Avoiding Identical Socks

Elfine Socks are done. The cuffs look a little floppy here, but that's really because I haven't bothered to block the socks for photo styling. When I finished them last night (one day before my deadline!) I tried them on and was content.

Since sock knitting can be both peaceable activity and learning adventure, I share with you things you can do to permit even the most matchy-matchy socks from becoming completely identical.

1. Sigh over the holes left at the end of the short-row wraps on the first sock. Do nothing about them, but consider stitching them up later if they continue to offend. Knit the second sock and solve the problem in that one altogether.


2. Realize mid wrap-session that the strategies for wrestling with double wraps have distracted you from the concept of doing them consistently. Sigh over this in the first sock but avoid frogging back, as these are going to live inside shoes most of the time. On the second sock, pay attention and earn consistently directional wraps.


3. Forget to use the matching dyed and spun reinforcement yarn in the second toe. Remember when you get to the heel, sigh, and look forward to the science experiment of comparing toe wear.

4. Move on to a hat from stash.


5. Cast on the toe of a new pair of socks.

Ravelry Double Dare

I have taken on a Ravelry double-dare. Mission Possible and Stash Down 2008.

Flashing Stash at Knitty was fun. Entering it on Ravelry was illuminating. Shocking. Revealing. Humbling. Embarrassing.

Has been, that is, not just was. I'm not quite done.

Decided that I rather liked the notion of tackling my own personal 12 missions for 12 months (or forfeit the yarn). Socks, I said. I have more yarn than fits into the sock boxes. And there used to be one sock yarn box. I liked even the progress of counting socks (witness the outdated challenge button I still keep updating), but last year I seemed to have fallen short. Upwards and onwards, I say!

Having taken some time to document sock stash more candidly, and having taken a severe look at the whole, I have outlined my list of 12 pairs of socks I MUST KNIT. Options for forfeit are to discard the unfinished item, have a bonfire, give it to a friend, etc. I decided that the penalty needed to be more generous donation than ritual discard. I hesitate to make my semi-finished project someone else's problem, so I landed here: I’ll have to give away the comparable yarn - especially since I do have some multiples. (Some. Sheesh. I should be smacked.)

Here's the list of monthly challenges.
1. January - a pair of second socks Have finished one (Yarrow Rib) and am past the heel on the second (Elfine)
2. Feb. - STR Petrified
3. Mar. - CTH Green Mtn. whatever
4. April - Trekking pastel
5. May - Red Jawoll
6. June - LL Jeans
7. July - Solid CTH
8. Aug. - Knitter’s Choice (can’t decide EVERYTHING now)
9. Sept. - Claudia Handpaint (any color)
10. Oct. - KPPM (any color)
11. Nov. - Bearfoot (any color)
12. Dec. - Mountain Feat (Really, it’s spelled that way.)

I’ll decide patterns as I sort out gauge. That’s the list. Sticking to it.

This mission coincides with the Stash Down. All the above have been in the stash long enough to be in the QUIT IGNORING ME category. Not to mention that most have been acquired because of some lovely gifting or some sale venture or out-of-town yarnsex. Stash Down goals will always include the Mission socks. Beyond that, I can add up my own monthly goals AND look to the group for some of their ongoing ideas. (I'm still not much of a chatterer at Ravelry. Knitty's got that spot in my heart, for all that I'm not exactly Chatty Kathy there, either.) Stash Down goals for (where was I?) for January were largely finishing. No penalty box here. I've packaged up the niece and nephew goodies, and I'll get that Tuscany blocked by Friday (as there are other things happening on the cutting tables at the moment). But mercy me! There's some work to be done.

I need to knit up and stitch up at a rate higher than my acquisition habits have been going. I'll have more to say on that another day. There are stories to tell, some habits to face up to. Today there are a few other things to do, not to mention this perfectly lovely sock I'm within days of finishing - and within days of a deadline FOR finishing. Three and half 16 row repeats and then some cuff.....sounds like a dare I can safely double and even double dog dare myself to finish.

It's Simple

I finished the scarf for my niece, as I mentioned.



I've also spent a chunk of time for the past few days facing up to some truths about the yarn stash. A few things are clear.

Ravelry is an amazing tool.
I am learning more about digital photography, failing and succeeding.
I have enough yarn now.
It's simple.

Last night I started a baby hat from stash yarn.
I should use those last three words a LOT.
It's simple, right?

Long Story Short

While I worked on the cold, I finished these:



Yesterday I finished the niece scarf.

I'm almost finished with the cold.

Lost Weekend

I enjoyed my own peaceable private version of a lost weekend:
I had a cold, so I lived in pyjamas most of the weekend. I barely left my dwelling.
I did little of the work I carted home, but I took care of some domestic concerns and I finished some knitting.

I also took some harsh inventory of sock yarn. Heavens to Betsy. I have to get home to knit.

Only gave myself permission for an hour of recreational computer, and my time is up. More tomorrow.

Holiday Breaks

On or near the Thanksgiving break I had knit this scarf for myself.

Over the December portion of this break I whipped up one for a friend, as a host gift. I didn't get it done in time, but it will be delivered tomorrow.


I zipped the Tuscany off the needles but have yet to block it.


Over the January portion of the break I started projects made to the specifications of a niece and nephew.


I think these will cure me of 1 x 1 ribbing for awhile.


And a corner of my office has broken.


AH, WINTER. It freezes. It thaws. The sky falls.


I'm going to go home and knit. I'm leaving the debris as evidence for my conversation with the appropriate Monday authorities. I'll have time to calm down. Knitting should help.

5 Things to Do

1. I would like to bake something, as that used to be something I did of a holiday.
2. I would like to get the oil changed in the car, as driving will be so much safer.
3. I would like to do some laundry, as packing will be so much easier.
4. I would like to get some sewing done, as it makes holiday giving a little homier.
5. I would like to knit. Knit needs no reason.
=======================
I'll be off doing something good while I'm absent here for awhile.
There's bound to be some knitting.
=======================
Have pleasant days.
Be safe.
Find something in which to find a moment of delight.
Take a moment for something which brings you peace.

Small Confessions

I am sick of grading.
I must take breaks to be more fair-minded.
I have a crazy case of startitis lurking in the wings.
I started nibbling dark M&M's, and now I realize that I've nibbled past lunch.
I finished Tuscany yesterday.

============
Back to the grind.

Place holder

I'd taken these progress photos during my brief stint of daily blog posting. At the time, I actually had a statement to make. Some of it still holds.


I need to learn how to do the short row heel more effectively. I'm inconsistent with picking up the double wraps. I also wind up with a hole I end up stitching up.


Today is not the day. Yesterday I took a break from grading and finished this sock. The photos and post will just have to serve as place holders.

Back to the stack.

I might finish the Tuscany

I might finish that shawl within the week. It's getting close enough to the end of the yarn that I'm obsessing. I can see the end.

Had to put it away, though.

Must. Read. Papers. Grade.

I might finish grading. This is, sadly, harder to envision.
Truth is, it's an actual deadline, so I might as well get back to it.

I might already be a loser.

Sigh.

Next week: knitting and baking and holiday activities interspersed with what passes for reasonably-sized amounts of work!

I might actually have content for posting!

I shrug at the shrug

I zipped out a shrug for my niece. Big talk earlier: I did tentative swatching but finally and only started yesterday morning. I'm off to ship it now for the choir concert deadline. Zoiks.

I'm unimpressed with it. I had a hard time getting in and out of it myself. Unforgiving cotton.

I'll have to up the ante with its replacement. She'll have to look at patterns.
This was quick.

No picture. Camera was at home. No time now. Fedex at the airport closes in a few hours, so I'd like to get there and BE home before it closes.

Besides, I'm just not that interested in it. Insert shrug here.

Nothing BUT show - OR - Nothing TO show

Yes, that half month of daily posting was all well and good. Clearly the maxims about needing to do something for 30 days to establish a habit could be inserted here. That string of posting and good intention was clearly loose talk. Nothing but show.

Meanwhile, I've been impossibly busy. Despite that, I've knit a bit. Finished the Fetching. (Progress picture posted earlier, so I won't repeat it.)AND - true to form - I've given them away instead of keeping them for myself. Call it a gift well suited to the recipient. Call it a great impulse. Call it better stash management. Forgot to take a picture, though. Nothing much to show.

Since this afternoon was meant to include two things and one ran over the time allotted, I'll go home now having only attended one of the two events. I'll take myself home then, do some work at my desk and work on some knitting for my niece. I have a shrug to churn out.

More Gift Knitting

From the weekend, progress only:



This triangular shaping is not suited to my "how far have I gone and how much have I left to do" sensibilities. I've decided I'll have to just keep knitting and not think about it.

Personal Knitting - Grey Fetching

Made a pair of these last year and gave them away. Made notes about what I'd do differently for myself. Thought I'd give it a go.

Knitting on the halves.