Winning the Race!

I won.! My goal was to finish 24 inches of Candlelight scarf within 7 days and I finished in 5 days! It was a race to the finish and I won! I am blocking it today.

I really need to work on completing my UFO(Unfinished Objects). I have so many and I am starting to forget how to do them, so I thought I would make a concentrated effort to knock them off one by one.

Although……I keep seeing new ideas and projects that I would love to make. Interweaves’ Knitting Daily has come out with the results of its Reader’s Choice poll for the Best Of Interweave Knits and has posted them for free. One of the designs I have fallen in love with since I’ve seen it and have been trying to find the sold out magazine to get the pattern to no avail. I was thrilled when I saw it and downloaded it as fast as I could…..the Swallowtail Shawl. I had put it in my Ravelry queue a long time ago. Photo from Interweave Press: http://www.interweaveknits.com/preview/2006_fall.asp

I’ve been trying to figure out what in my stash is worthy of being the Swallowtail shawl. Finally, it hit me. I am spinning the handdyed merino on my wheel right now. I am spinning it fine, trying to decide if I want it to be 2-ply or 3-ply. Since merino will shrink and felt if mishandled, I don’t dare make a fitted garment out of it. A beautiful shawl will be perfect.

Last weekend my husband and I went to the movies and I was desperately trying to find something I could knit in the movies. In vain, I could not find anything thing already on needles, so I decided to use up my spinning stash and grabbed a few balls of handspun wool and #8 circulars and headed out the door. On the way I cast on for a simple striped hat. By the end of the movie, about two hours later, I finished about 5 inches of hat. Today I finished the rest. I like how it looks. In the dark, its hard to count the rows, so I guessed and thus the result, but I still like it. It is made of a Cotswold wool and an unknown mix of wool for the other colors.

Socks and Scarves

All the podcasts I’ve been listening to is talking about socks! I just can’t get away from it. Am I being persecuted or convicted for ignoring my Dad’s tofutsies socks. I just can’t get in to it. I’ve decided I really hate the yarn and color. Yet, I don’t have the heart to rip them out. I had both cuffs and legs done and started the heel and picked up the stitches for the gusset too loosely and had to frog to the heal flap because this yarn does not have memory( or stretchy bounce back). I haven’t touched them since then. I am trying to get up the courage to pick them up again.



I decided to get out all the sock yarn I have around the house, hoping it would inspire me to finish Dad’s socks. It certainly has been calling to me. What kind should I make next? Perhaps, what I need is a really easy but creative pattern to keep me interested. Plain 2x2 ribbing is just not inspiring enough for me. Soo…I went to the shopping Mall, and stopped at Borders. Lo and behold, I saw new book “Knitted Socks” by Anna Tillman. It has so many cute patterns I am drooling to make. My granddaughter would love the penguin and lady bug socks. There’s a very nice anklet with appliquéd little knitted strawberries on the ankle that my future daughter-in-law might like. There some socks with toes for flip flop wearers, intarsia pig socks, fair isle patterns and felted booties. There is even a pattern for felted jester boots. Wouldn’t my son’s roommate like those? Well, needless to say I am inspired.

So I am struggling with the decision to cast on something new or get out the Tofutsies to finish them to free up my sock needles. I just have too many projects on the needles. I am wanting the feeling of finishing something. I need to feel I’ve accomplished something so I can move on.

I also have been working on my candlelight scarf. We’ve been hit with a heat wave in the 90’s and I am making a scarf. Am I crazy or what? I guess it is the only mundane knitting I have at the moment. I have about 2 feet done and am about to start the 2nd skein. I am thinking 4 ft will be enough for this scarf. It is beautiful and soft. It will make a nice fall scarf. I am tempted to have a race with myself to get the next 2 ft done in 7 days. Can I do it? It has taken me 5 months to get 2 feet done and am I being crazy to think I can finish it in “1” week?

Hmmmm…..let’s see. That’s about 3 ½ inches a day, 8 rows to 1 inch, which is 28 rows a day. Ready, Set, Go!!

A Bit of Nostalgia

I was cleaning out some things and discovered a project from 30 years ago. When I was expecting my first child I started this needlepoint sampler. By the time he turned two, I somewhat finished it but did not have the money to get it professionally framed. I put it in a frame masking taping (big mistake) to a big piece of cardboard. My granddaughter will be turning 2 in August. I was thinking that she might get some use out of it (provided her mom wanted it) to teach her some words. This sampler taught all my three sons, who are now adults. It was made for her daddy and I am hoping it could be passed on to her grandchildren if it lasts that long. It is made of wool needlepoint thread and so I washed it gently with fiberwash and blocked it. I am planning to have it professionally framed so it can be protected for generations.

My Smiley’s yarn order has arrived! It is so nice!!! I just love the $2.50 sock yarn I forgot I ordered. I’ve got to get those Tofutsies socks finished! I am also dreaming of colorways I want to dye the cotton yarn and can’t wait to knit with it.

Back on Track!

I’ve recovered from my “wall” episode. Stress can make one so overwhelmed, the mind and body tends to shut down as a defense mechanism. Luckily, we have hidden resources that can reset our thinking and get one back on track. My stress related to a big review coming up in my job and my limited time to prepare for it, while attempting, at the same time to conduct all the duties of my job. Once I made a workable plan to break it in small chunks and received the approval and support of my boss, I feel a lot better.

So……I am back to my knitting. I am back to repairing the sweat pants I’ve started in September. I’ve ripped back the body and am reknitting them. My husband and I went to see a movie yesterday, and I got a lot done in the theatre. Luckily, it was all in stockinette on Size 7 needles so I did not have to look at it in the dark. I’m so glad I can do this.

I’m also working on my Candlelight scarf. This soft yarn is so soothing, but it is very challenging, since the stitches are so tiny on Size 2 needles. I tried to knit under a large magnifying glass but I still need a lot of light to see the stitches. Perhaps I should invest in one of those OPT lights.

Well, today is the day! Today I tackle cataloguing my handspun and commercial purchased stash for Ravelry. My” Stash Wall” is in need of a lot of organizing, as you can see. This is two or three years of spinning and dyeing. I could probably open up a small yarn store with all that I have. Hmmm, …..perhaps I should explore that idea!

I wanted to share this little thing I saw a few days ago that I found simply ironic. I was taking my lunch break and went to a local Taco Bell. I was sitting in my car listening to my Knitting podcasts when I saw this.

There was an owl sitting on the roof of the Taco Bell. Actually, there was two owls: one on each end of the restaurant, which are not common in my area of Los Angeles County,. It wasn’t long before I realized that these were wooden owls that the owner put up to scare away other birds that like to roost and leave their excrement on the Spanish tiles of the roof, waiting for tidbits of food to be left by customers. This is how effective they were……



…….or NOT.