who needs mitts in july?

No one, I suppose, but this is probably the best time to be making them. Last summer I decided I’d make for-sale items all through the year and not be scrambling in November. And guess what? It was a good idea. But did I do that again this year? Not really.

Over the past few weeks I have not been able to decide what to knit. I look through my books and my print-outs and my Ravelry queue, but nothing seems interesting. That’s when I figured it would be smart of me to knit for my December sale. Brilliant!

My goals for this year’s sale include:
Fingerless mitts
Full mittens (new)
Tea cozies with pots (new)
Tea cozies without pots (new)

I will not be making any new neckwarmers. Those don’t sell very well. Part of the problem is that people don’t like wool (especially on the neck). Part of the problem is that I have a skinny neck and not everyone else does, so what fits me doesn’t fit them and I’m miserable at making multiple sizes. If I do the tea cozies, it’s like making neckwarmers except the teapots don’t complain!

Nearly complete fingerless mitt. Knit from handdyed recycled sweater wool

Two brown teapots who need sweaters.

we’ll see how that goes…

Where I’m at right now:

1.) This summer I’m planning a wedding and planning for Pennsic.
2.) To save money and clear it out, I’m trying to use up my stash and not buy more fiber.
3.) And, as it has been mentioned before, I’m NOT a great multi-tasker.

What does this mean for you, the reader, friend, and customer? First of all, I’m not sure how often I’ll be updating my blog in the next few months. We’re planning to get hitched in October, so that gives me 4-ish months to make the arrangements, which I think is completely doable. Speaking of, I hadn’t planned on talking about it here, but if you are interested I could drop a few details on occasion.

Second, using up my stash means odds and ends will be for sale including… LOCKS! That’s right. It’s been months since I’ve had any locks available. But I just bought that Tunis/Lincoln/Cotswold fleece and have the whole thing washed (Power Scour rocks!). In fact, I dyed some yesterday:

a weaving to-do list

I’ve been rebitten by the weaving bug. After making up my mind to weave at Tuesday night SCA meetings, and therefore realizing not every project has to take 6 months to complete, I’ve become reenergized by the possibilities before me. This weekend I pulled out my two best (and only) rigid heddle weaving books. Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving by Betty Linn Davenport gives you the broadest idea of what you can do with this sort of loom. There really are more options than some people let you believe.

Speaking of, I find it very frustrating when veteran weavers try to make you feel bad about buying a rigid heddle loom. Every time I talk to someone (who has many years experience) about them, they always tell me, “As soon as you get it, you’ll want a bigger loom.” Well, I’ve had this loom for almost two years. Sadly, I haven’t made a lot of things on it, but that isn’t the loom’s fault. It’s mine. But more importantly, I do NOT want another loom. Ididn’t want a giant 4-harness thingy-bob floor loom two years ago when I decided on the Kromski Harp. Maybe with the single heddle, you can’t do crazy weave patterns, but I can still make impressive things and I won’t need half the state of Ohio to help me warp it!

So, what do I want to make? I want to do something using the full width of the loom, 24 inches. Perhaps a shawl? Also, I want to use my handspun yarn at least for the weft if not warp. And I need to make a bag to put the loom in when traveling. I had thought about weaving the fabric, but that would take a while and for all the time I’d be weaving it, I wouldn’t have the bag to use for transportation! So maybe that ought to be priority – of course, after I finish the woolly cushions.

Logically speaking, I can’t invest 100% energy into every interest I have, otherwise I might spontaneously combust. So, it seems as though weaving might be snatching a higher percentage of my time in the next few months. Weee!

future teapot sweaters

On Friday my dad went to my favorite flea market. I had to go to work. But he looked for teapots on my behalf and came home with two gems. They were a dollar each. I’m excited about them because they have very different characteristics with which to experiment and play.

I think it’s good to have someone else do some shopping for me, otherwise I’d only buy teapots that I like! He said he bought these specifically because he thought I wouldn’t have picked them out. This project will give me something else to look for at thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales this summer. I’m excited about the possibilities. yay!

what to do?

Blog Give Away winner will be chosen February 23, 2009, allowing any of you who have not participated yet to do so throughout the weekend. Refer to previous post, dating 02/16/09.

What should I do with this? I have a general rule not to knit with anything lighter than DK/sport weight unless I’m doing socks, but now THIS skein exists in my handspun stash…

It is about 270 yards and should be self-striping due to the way it was spun, which makes me really interested in knitting it. The wool is a Blue-Faced Leicester/Border Leicester cross and is quite lustrous and wavy. I need suggestions on projects to best utilize this yarn. Currently I have no preferences, probably not socks though as they may not hold up to the stress and wear. Help!

mumbling

Thinking about the new year makes me shake. Not from fear or concern – it makes me want to shake off all my mess  and start from scratch. At the beginning of each year I want to take it as an opportunity to try harder, try new things, be “better”. There are so many things I need to improve upon, and why not use January 01 as an excuse?

• Organize finances and paperwork, keep better track of things
• Destash wool and yarn collection
• Establish new deadlines as motivation to continue working on yarn and dyeing
• Acquire a “real” job
• Be more physically active to make up for the fact that I don’t walk around campus any more

These are just a few of the many things I’d like to accomplish in the next year. I never consider them ‘resolutions’; rather, they are areas in my life that I’d like to focus more attention on. Another thigns about the new year that I like is getting a new journal. 2009 will be my 12th year of journaling. I was trying to decide if I’d ever stop doing it, but that would be the year something really spectacular happens. I guess I’m stuck now!

From here, I’m off to play on the wheel. I just ordered 10 lbs of fiber and will be ordering more soon since I’m going through it at a quicker pace these days.

questions to myself

Is it cheesy to wrap up a half-finished present and give it to someone for Christmas? I thought I’d have the chance to do my own knitting with all this spare time on my hands since I’m not concentrating on the sale, but I was wrong. Apparently there are only, um, 2 weeks until Christmas? oops. And I have some special orders to do, which means I get to make OTHER folks’ Christmas presents in addition to my own. I suppose I  could have said no.

But after the holiday is over, what am I going to do?

This yarn I purchased in September while at the Knit One birthday party. I’d like to get started on another sweater in the new year. It looks like the “Button Me Up pullover” was my primary choice.

I really dig Zephyr Style patterns though. So far I’ve never tried any of them – I’ve just been pining from afar. “Glee“  and “Ms. Marigold” are two favorites – love the minimal seaming on both of these. Nothing says I can’t do all three!

What else? Strangely enough, I think I want to play with crochet a little more. It was fun to add it on items here and there. Seems like lots of knitters are dabbling in crochet also. I learned when I was 11 or 12, but it didn’t inspire me like knitting does now. The funniest thing? My favorite part was winding the yarn into balls. I used to rewind the yarn from one ball into another, even though it was unnecessary.  And I used to comb my cat’s hair back and forth between the two brushes. What did I think I was doing? Who knew I’d end up here?

wooly weekend

This weekend I went to Pittsburgh to visit with Cosy and Lauren and celebrate with Knit One on their 3rd birthday. Apparently the yarn sale frenzy in combination with the first full-sized sweater euphoria infected me and I bought yarn for my next sweater. What will it be? I’m not entirely sure, but it won’t be a cardigan. I chose three colors in order to do stripes because knitting solid colors seems too monotonous to me (even though I have a generally monotonous style). Right now I’m considering a few different patterns including: (ravelry links) Tubey and Button Me Up Pullover. I really like the idea of top-down raglan seamless. The least amount of finishing and sewing the better.

Also finished the Pixie Hood by Cosy for the fashion show that took place at the yarn shop. It was a fun knit that I was able to complete on Friday. I think the 32 stitch kitchener down the back took longer than the entire hat. It’s a cute pattern. I love things that have a pointy top, so that’s my favorite part about this.

Pattern = Pixie Hood (ravelry link)
Yarn = Malabrigo Chunky in Snow Bird

talking away

I just checked my grades and I got straight A’s this semester. My ending GPA is a 3.91. By this time next week I will have my diploma and feel confident that I can move on from this part of my life. 

Back to fiber, I definitely need to order more undyed roving. Any suggestions on bulk orders? I usually get it from Hello Yarn because she’s got lots of variety and good prices. I wonder if she gives discounts on really big orders. Anyone know? I suppose I could email her… I hate bothering people though. 

My cardigan is finally progressing. I wasn’t sure how long to make it, but since I was getting tired of knitting the bottom, I cast off last night. I’m sure I’ll regret it, although ripping out the bind off and extending the edge wouldn’t be much trouble later. Now I’m onto the sleeves. As with this entire project, I didn’t give any pre-thought to it and now I’m debating whether or not to decrease the sleeves. I put it on and decided that I would do a few decreases. They’re going to be 3/4 length with a few inches of ribbing at the cuff to match the ribbing on the bottom. Photos to follow soon, hopefully, although not this weekend.

I’m anxious to get going on some new knitting projects this summer. I joined the Summer of Socks, so that’ll be an adventure. Plus I keep staring at my handspun and I KNOW that I need to use it! I think I’ll go dig around at Ravelry for some summer inspiration. 

Be advised, I will be away for the weekend (Thursday through Sunday) for our first grand SCA camping event of the season! AEthelmearc War Practice!! Let’s hope weather holds.

end of the beginning

Since you’ve all been so supportive of me the last few weeks, I ought to let you know…

I AM DONE WITH SCHOOL! 

This morning at 8 am I did my very last presentation for my capstone. No more finals, no more papers to turn in.  Now on to some exciting summer projects!

May 12 I am planning for an etsy shop update. The following two yarns will be part of those that will be added. There will be several other yarns too and some dyed fiber. Over the course of the summer I plan to continue adding to the shop. I’m thinking that if I spinning fiber does not sell before the listing expires I will take it down and spin it myself.

 
Bubbly Pie. Falklands. Looks better in person.

Zesty Tangy Tart. Falklands. So super squishy!

Another summer project is, of course, garage sale, thrift store, and flea market scouring. I’m still looking for Pyrex, but I’ve decided to open my search to include textiles (towels, linens, etc.) and other kitchen utensils. I finally got pictures of these new additions, although now they aren’t the newest.  The Goodwill in Hermitage ROCKS! It is definitely the best spot for finding loads of loot. 

Juice carafe, Brownie pan, Tea kettle, Glass pitcher