My Life in Stitches: Back to Blogging and KALs

(c) Dami Hunter

I didn't make new year's goals or resolutions this year. Why? Because I've done such a stellar job of keeping them (insert sarcasm). What I have do is noticed things that were missing from my life in 2018. The list was sadly too long, but two things were prominent on the list: blogging and Hubby KALs. Although both were a regular fixture in my life, I've fallen off significantly.

So I remedy both problems in one post. Announcing my first Hubby KAL: Salt Point (click here)!

Color 1: Neighborhood Fiber Co.
Truxton Circle

And to be honest, I miss doing KAL with the Hubby. Nothing strengthens a marriage like crafting with your spouse. It gets expensive sometimes, but it's nice to have another thing we can talk about. It's also nice that he gets me when it comes to knitting...mostly.

My husband has been on a cowl kick of late. Interesting since we have yet to see weather cold enough for him to wear a cowl. When I proposed a KAL, he suggested a cowl. Why not. I love cowls. Then came the fun part: selecting a pattern. This is always a challenge because our tastes are so different.

I mean, we are so different. He knits continental. I knit English. He loves to knit with laceweight and I would rather not. He lives for a complicated pattern with a chart and this girl just wants to have fun and save her eyesight. After several hours falling down the Ravelry hole, I found a pattern that we could both agree to and the stash dive began.

Opalessence Fiber Studio Gradient Merino SW
Plum/Royal/Aub

This pattern looks harder than it actually is. We've never done mosaic knitting before so it is nice to try something new. Here is a link for those who want to join us, Mosaic Knitting. And nice to get two skeins of fingering out of my stash. I started on New Years's Eve and hubby cast on a few days later. He's still going to finish before me, and I'm okay with that.

Here's to a new year and a new KAL.

What do you have on your needles/hook? Share in the comments.

My Life in Stitches: Fixing my Fade

I fell in love with Find Your Fade the moment I saw it. I fell but didn’t buy. And I had my reasons. The huge yardage, the color selection, the fact that my knitter husband didn’t want to knit it with me. But then I had a huge come to Jesus moment about the amount of fingering I have in my stash and realized that this pattern would use 7 skeins. I bought the pattern and immediately cast

on.

Everything thing was going fine until I didn’t like the yarn I used for the first color. So I started over. Liked my second choice so much better and blazed through the first five sections with minor problems.

Then I hit a brick wall. I could not get section six right. I ripped it out and tried again. I did the math and convinced myself that the pattern had an error in it. That was short lived because of the many knitters who had no problems at all with section six. I ripped it out one final time, ready to throw in the towel. I called my hubby into the room and told him I was about to give up on it.

He looked at me and calmly said, “Let me try.”

So I put the stitched back on the needles and handed it to him. And this sweet man quietly worked through the row while I continued to believe that there was something wrong with the pattern. I held my position…until he finished the row correctly.

And then I seethed at myself. I had blamed everything but my inability to keep track of the pattern. It was user error. I already knew I struggle with this kind of lace, shifting repeats and moving markers, but this was particularly bad.

While I berated myself, my hubby did something that is so him. Something that makes our relationship so great. He handed my knitting back and kissed me on the forehead and said, “I love you.”

And that’s why he’s the Wunderhubby. He fixes my boo-boos, kisses me and makes it all better

My Life in Stitches: He Only Wants Socks...And a Hat

For those who read this blog, you know my husband knits. Since 90% of knitting patterns are for girls, most of what he knits comes to me, or to a woman at our church. It’s a lopsided relationship and every time I decide to right it, I realize:

•      One, that my husband is a very broad man
•       Two, it would take 3000 yards of any yarn to make a sweater for him
•       Three, making a vest isn’t much better since not knitting sleeves would only save me about 1000 yards
•       Four, I don’t like most patterns for men’s sweaters and neither does he

My husband, however, surprised me and asked for socks. SOCKS! Absolutely, I can knit him socks. He actually has small feet for a man and can fit most large sock patterns. And he loves having socks to match his outfit. As soon as I could, I immediately cast on Simple Skyp Socks in Sweet Georgia Superwash Sport. So I am now a happy sock-knitting wife for my happy sock-loving husband.

And then he asked for a hat…

My Life in Stitches: Accidents Happen

A little while ago, a woman in my knitting group accidently bought a lot of yarn through an online shop. She was recovering from a sickness and on medication when she did it. She didn’t realize what she had done until later. I admit I laughed at her story. She got some amazing yarn, so it was a happy ending. It was an odd story but I thought it was her unique story.

…Until I accidently bought yarn.

No medication or sickness was involved. I was completely cognizant. So it started, like most things, with Facebook. One of my favorite online yarn shops, Jimmy Beans Wool, put up a post on mill end Cascade 220 on sale. I hopped over the site and browsed. And I admit, I added stuff to my cart.

One of my favorite yarn stores!

One of the thing I love about Jimmy Beans is that they give 5% cash back on purchases. They also offer coupons for free shipping to loyal customers. So after added what I wanted to my cart, I tried to log in. My goal was to see if I had any cash back and free shipping coupons to use.

But I missed one important thing. In order to streamline people’s yarn addiction, Jimmy Bean Wools added a one-click button. So instead of logging in, I purchased 7 skeins of Cascade 220 mill ends. And like my knitting friend, I didn’t realize what I had done until I got the confirmation email thanking me for my purchase.

I could have returned them, but they were such a good deal. I decided to keep them. Besides, now I can say I accidently bought yarn.

My Life in Stitches: One Yarn Purchase For the Year

So I have made my one yarn purchase for the year! Yay.  I'll do a big reveal once it arrives, but I must say I'm quite in love. I'm already "dreaming" of what I can do with it. Here's some hints:

• It's fingering weight (no surprise)
• It's a brand I've been wanting to add to my stash
• It's a color I don't normally buy
• Depending on what I make, I can do some or all of these scarf styles in this video

BTW, this video is a huge help for those of us who love fingering/sock weight yarn and who have too many scarves (and not enough socks).

I must say, if a girl is only going to make one yarn purchase a year, this one was worth it! Check out my blog next Friday as my new friend should have arrived by then.

My Life in Stitches: Yarn Fast

I've added a few more lovelies but here is my stash.

(Cue dramatic music) I am on a yarn fast.

I knew this day was slowly creeping up on me, the day when I felt like I have too much yarn. I know all my yarn friends are screaming, “You can never have too much yarn.” I know that’s the saying, but I’m afraid I can have too much yarn. I’ve decided to try not to buy any yarn this year outside of using a gift card a friend gave me. It’s March and so far so good.

Two occurrences brought about this decision. The first happened around fall of last year. I lost a skein of yarn. This was the first time that ever happened (and prayerfully, the last), but it was disconcerting none the least. I was sure that I had put it back in my stash. I tore up my stash multiple times but still couldn’t find it.

I did, however, find something else in my stash: lots of really great yarn. I have great colors and good quality yarn in my stash. My husband would call that being yarn snob (so be it). It’s like I own my own little mini-yarn store with skeins tailored just for me. Why buy more yarn, when so much beautiful yarn is before me?

Second, I found myself often being overwhelmed by my stash, which isn’t that big. I would wonder about how long would it take me to knit it all up. See, I’m a big fan of the queue feature on Raverly. At the beginning of last year, I went through and “queued up” most of my yarn. I realized at the beginning of this year, that I’d made very little progress on the queue, but I had added quite a bit of yarn in my stash. For some reason, that annoyed me.

Under the power of those two events, my mind is made up. I’ve even shared my plan to my anti-stash husband, who will do all in his power to keep me from buying…I mean help me keep my conviction.

What are your feelings about your stash? Do you feel overwhelmed? What’s your sign that it’s time to stop buying yarn?

My Life in Stitches: No Snow

I am always cold. I guess that’s a good problem to have when you’re a knitter. You always have a great excuse to knit something cozy. No matter where I go, I need a sweater or a jacket. So I decided to solve my problem with a craft I love. Last year, I decided that I would make a couple of cardigans in neutral colors to have when I get chilly. My idea was to knit one to keep in the car if I get cold while I’m out.

The No Snow Sweater

I put my plan into action. I went through my stash and decided on the pattern Solaris. It seemed pretty simple. It’s just a reverse garter stitch and the front is knit in one long piece like a scarf. Seaming seemed simple. Piece the front and back together and then set in the selves.

I went to work on this sweater on November 1^st of last year (according to my Raverly project page). And I said something that I didn’t realize I’d come to regret. I prayed that the snow would hold off until I got it finished.

Well, the knitting went slow. Really slow. Then I ran out of yarn. Thankfully, I found someone on Raverly with that yarn and dye lot in their stash and willing to sell it, which meant another delay. But I wasn’t worried because it hadn't snowed yet. I just needed it to hold off until I finished the sweater.

Well, it went from bad to worse. I got the sweater finished and immediately set my heart on snow. All I had to do was seam it and the flakes could start flying. But…the arms were too small for the sleeve holes. I was so frustrated that the sweater promptly went into hibernation. Little did I know the trouble I was causing.

The sweater was prophetic.

We got no snow… much less cold weather this winter and it’s all my fault! If I had finished my sweater sooner, we could have been frolicking in the flakes like New England. But no. We have rain and 50 degree days. And I’m too afraid to finish it now because it’s almost spring and I DON’T want snow now.

I’m sorry to all the snow lovers in the Northeast. I failed you.

My Life in Stitches: Single-Tracking

Single-tracking.

This word will strike fear in the heart of commuters who use the DC  Metro system. It means that something bad has happened and the trains have to be run on a single track. One train must wait for the other to pass, which means delays. It’s necessary to keep the passengers safe, but no one likes it.

I’ve had to single-track my knitting. 

My knitting life hasn’t been very happy lately. I think I have too many patterns that 1) require my undivided attention and, 2) take some time to finish. Don’t get me wrong. I like the patterns I’m working on. I just don’t like working on them all at once. I have never been a knitter who did well with more than three projects. I think my eyes got bigger than my needles over the Christmas holiday and I haven’t been right sense.

Adding to my issues is that I’ve come across some really great patterns. I found a sock pattern called Hot Waves (haven’t done socks in a long time). I’ve also bought a few patterns, Atmospheric and Sunday Brunch. I can’t wait to cast these on, but I have to wait until the other trains get off the tracks.

I’ve been single-tracking for about a week with two trains…projects: a brioche scarf and a shawl with a detailed lace pattern. I’ve seen both projects inch forward, which is great. I’m the type of knitter that needs to see progress. I think when I finish these two (which should be soon, thank goodness), I will probably keep single-tracking for a while until I get my knitting mojo back.