Felt Like Knitting

Knitting goals (2008 edition)

Having yearly knitting goals really helped me stay focused last year.  I now present my knitting/crafting/sewing/blogging goals for 2008 (not necessarily in order):

                           

1)  Learn how to use my camera and improve my photography skills.  These pictures were taken within 3 minutes of each other and they look totally different.  Neither one was what I was going for, but the dark one is closer.  Unfortunately, I had to use the flash so the twig is washed out.  The good thing about this goal is that it shouldn't be too hard to see some improvement!  :)

2)  Read and knit at least one design from Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top.  I've had this book for some time and haven't taken the time to read it.  I think I'm missing out until I do.

3)  Read Simple Socks:  Plain and Fancy by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and use the discussed techniques to knit a pair of socks.  I will understand the ins and outs of sock knitting so that it's not such a big ordeal!!!  Finishing my first pair this year was encouraging.

4)  Knit down my stash.  Use what crafting supplies I have instead of buying more.  Turn one of my quilt tops into a finished quilt (even if I have to have someone else quilt it for me!).

5)  Knit/sew/craft at least five Christmas gifts.  "New rule:"  this year, each gift has to be made for a specific person.

There's only one day left in 2007, so I think it's safe to say that I didn't complete my charity knitting goals or finish writing my hat pattern.  But that's okay.  I'll continue to work on both of these in 2008, even though they're not on my list.

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You probably noticed the raindrops in the pictures.  Yes, it's been raining here!!!  This is very happy news for us.  The lakes are rising a bit.  We're still not out of trouble, but the rain is helping.

This rainy weather hasn't been too helpful for taking pictures, though.  The next time I post I will hopefully be able to share pictures of a swap package and a lovely surprise Christmas present I received earlier this month.

                            HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WIP Wednesday - 12/26/07

                         

I was able to accomplish all three knitting goals from last week.  Do you notice anything strange about the mittens?  The one on the right side of the picture was "kitchenered" and the one on the left was finished off using a technique I read about in the Knitting Daily newsletter.  I never thought that the two methods would look different.  I'm not sure why they are since both methods are very similar.  Maybe I did something wrong.  But, my husband doesn't care that they're different so I'm leaving them.  If they were for me, I'd have to rip one out and re-finish it. 

The three dishcloths are for my mother-in-law and they still need to be blocked.  I usually don't block dishcloths, but these need it.

I swatched for my daughter's hat.  The strangest thing happened.  When I started swatching, I kept having to go down in needle size.  Then when I got down to a size 4, I had to go back up.  Last night I got close to the recommended gauge with a size 7.  Very odd.

On to this week's goals...

Project #1:  Cast on and finish at least the ribbing part of Gretel.  I would have cast on last night, but the pattern recommends a tubular cast on, which I've never done.  I was watching King of Kings and didn't think I could concentrate properly.

Project #2:  This isn't technically a knitting project, but it does involve yarn.  in 2008 I want to use up some of my stash and get my yarn into my set of cubbies.  (Right now it's also in bins on the floor.)  So, this week I will go through my stash and make plans on what to knit with the yarn I have.  I'd like to make plans for at least three projects and schedule them for next year.

Project #3:  Work on my hat pattern.  I set this up as a goal for 2007 and haven't yet finished it.  I did knit two prototypes, but haven't completed the pattern.  I'm not yet happy with the decreases.

I liked setting the weekly goals from last week.  It kept me focused and I accomplished more than I would have otherwise.

Merry Christmas!

'The LORD bless you, and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine on you,

And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance on you,

And give you peace.'

Numbers 6:22-26

WIP Wednesdays

Kim wrote today that Anne has started WIP Wednesdays.  Anne sets up to three weekly knitting goals then shows pictures of her works in progress each Wednesday.  This sounds like a great way to stay on track with my knitting, so I'm going to give it a go.  Since I just read about this and I'm not ready with pictures this week, I'll just set my goals.

Project #1:  Knit one or two dishcloths for my mother-in-law for Christmas.  I'm going to try a new pattern from the latest Creative Knitting magazine.  We'll be seeing my in-laws next week after Christmas, so I think this is achievable.

Project #2:  Finish my husband's mittens.  I'm on the straight part of the second mitten, so this is also do-able.

Project #3:  Swatch for Gretel.  I've been swatching with Cascade 220 and I want to finish this up and figure out if it will work.  I really love Ravelry for doing this.  Tonight I searched all the Gretels that had been made from Cascade 220.  How handy!

What knitting do you have planned for the next week?

My marvelous man's mammoth Malabrigo mittens

Hi everyone!  I've had this post written for more than a week, but didn't get a picture until this morning.  Things get busy this time of the year!  I wish this picture was better, but it was taken early this morning before the sun came up.

                                               

My husband has taken up running over the past couple of years in an effort to keep his cholesterol in control and to lose some weight.  Aside from occasional injuries, his only problem seems to be that his hands get cold when he starts out in the morning.  So he asked me to knit some mittens for him.  I have happily obliged and started knitting them from the Malabrigo I used for his scarf.

These mittens seem huge!  The gauge is a bit larger than the one recommended (20 stitches/4 inches instead of 22), but they fit him.  I think they seem large because I'm used to knitting mittens for kids.

Modifications:  Next time I'll go down a needle size or two for the ribbing.  I usually do that for hats, but didn't really think about it for the mittens.  I'll also gather the top like a hat instead of using the kitchener stitch.

I was happy to get to knit with this yarn again.  It's so soft and I love the subtle color differences in it.  And I was happy to be able to knit for my husband!

By the way, thanks for all of the information you gave me about tension and how you hold your yarn while knitting.  For my next project, I think I'll try wrapping the yarn around my pinky first.  But it seems that tension doesn't always have something to do with the way the yarn is held.

Tension trouble

I think I've mentioned before that I'm a loose knitter.  I usually have to go down at least one needle size to get to the recommended gauge.  This isn't a problem except when it comes to knitting socks.  I couldn't even get gauge with size 0 needles for my current project.  I think I ended up using 1s and I'm hoping for the best.

So, I'm trying to increase my knitting tension.  The last pair of mittens was knit this way (yarn looped around middle finger, but just trailing over others)

as opposed to my usual way (yarn just trailing over all fingers).

I dreaded picking up this project!  My hands hurt whenever I knitted on the mittens and I had red marks on my palm (from poking the needles into my palm while trying to advance the stitches up the needle).  I'm so glad this project is done!

But now my usual way of holding the yarn doesn't feel right.  It feels too loose, like the yarn is slipping from my fingers.  Have I messed myself up?  Will my gauge be different when I get back to Ariann?

I'm curious.  How do you hold your yarn and are you a tight or a loose knitter?

Sometimes it's the little things...

Sometimes it's the little things that make me happy, like ...

...having lunch with a friend.  My friend, T, and I take each other out to lunch on our birthdays.  We usually go to our favorite Chinese place and we usually are a few months late.  Today's lunch celebrated T's birthday, which was in September.  It was nice to sit and chat for a couple of hours, eating terrific food.

...getting an alarm clock that actually works.  A few years ago I decided I wanted an alarm clock that would also play CDs.  After two lousy products, I finally bought a new one that can play my iPod.  Now I can actually find the snooze button without accidentally turning of my alarm.

...talking with my sister-in-law.  I love talking with P because she's always a lot of fun.  Tonight we talked about Christmas presents and kids.

...Candy Cane Joe Joe's.  Have you tried these?!  They're wonderful!  I read about them at Knitting, with Dogs the other day and had to try some.  While we were at Trader Joe's, E and I were offered samples of their Peppermint Meltaways.  So, so good...  And yes, we came home with a box of those, too.  :)

Foliage

Have you seen the Foliage hat?  I can't remember where in the world I saw it last week.  But when I did see it, I wanted to knit it right away.  It was lots of fun to make!  I used the Vanna White yarn from Lion Brand so it will be machine washable and dryable.

                                             

I have a question that I'm sure someone out there can answer.  What did Blogger do this week?  Sometime in the middle of the week I wasn't able to leave my blog URL anymore on Blogger blogs.  I can leave my name, but no link.  Any idea what's going on?  I do have a Blogger account for a KAL I'm in, but I don't use it regularly.  Am I going to have to start signing in to leave comments on Blogger posts?  That may not even work since my blog is in Typepad.

Have you started/done your Christmas shopping yet?  I've done a little, but plan to do most of it online.  Even with that, I'm finding it hard to get motivated to get it done.