Socks for Addie

Around Christmas I saw some stretch sock yarn on sale and thought I would give it a try. I didn't have a pattern, so decided to use the tube sock found in Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. It said cast on 48 sts., so I did and it is turning out so small. I didn't have anyone in mind when I started, but I think they are going to be for my 6 year old granddaughter. That is one of the things I love about knitting socks. I don't worry too much if my gauge isn't exactly right because I decide who to give them to when the socks are done. I used #1 needles and am very pleased with the way the yarn is knitting up. The colors are pink and green and there is a nice blend. I'll post a photo tomorrow if I can find my camera and all its various cords. That's always a problem for me.

I was looking through all my knitting catalogs and I just had to wonder at all the choices we have in yarn. I am amazed at the richness and variety. I remember the lean years when you could only get Red Heart and a few other brands without traveling to the city to find the one and only yarn shop. It wasn't like that when I was in college in the 60's. Back then Department stores were actually department stores, not just glorified clothing stores. There was a housewares section, yarn and needlework, and fabric section. I could lose myself for hours. Then came the Hippie years and we had quilt fabric, macrame and all sorts of fun things. I cringe at some of the things I made, but still I was able to find materials for my hobbies.

But then something happened. I think it was a huge shift in retail. Corporate executives wanted to only look at the bottom line. Whatever sold the best is what we got and that was clothes...clothes, and more clothes. Store owners were no longer able to order what the people in the area actually wanted, but were forced to accept the dictates of Corporate policies whose leaders only worried about the bottom line. If you don't believe it's true, then follow the history of Walmart. It's a far cry from what made the store so successful in the beginning. OK, off my soap box. I'd better go look for that camera.

New Year's Resolutions

Well, last year's resolutions didn't turn out badly, so I am encouraged to make more this year. I got in the habit of thinking of my stash first before I bought yarn, so I think I am going to do that again this year. Same rules, but I will allow myself 2 get out of jail cards this year. This being the second year of "Lent" I'm allowing for a little more weakening.

This next resolution I am actually excited about; I guess because it is creative. I am just going to start with one bin and start making things...whatever the yarn tells me it wants to be. If my project ends up being too small, I am not taking it out once it is past 4". I'll just finish it and give it to charity or save it for my great grandchildren.

This resolution has left me feeling so much better. I'm sure my "knitter's imaging" will come back soon enough that way and I will enjoy my knitting so much more.

I am resolving to do one more thing which I hope to have done this month. I am dragging out all my knitting needles and other supplies and putting them in one place! After having a big house with 2 sewing rooms, I have things stored in all sorts of places. Now that I am living in 1/3 the space, I don't have enough room to keep everything. I also have lot of projects I lost interest in. I am going to finish whatever I can and gather the needles and yarn holders. I bet I have 100 stitch holders at the very least. I need to inventory them and get rid of the surplus that I will never use.

Now, if I can do as well as I did last year, I will really feel like I have accomplished something,

Recap of the year

Well, I made it! I got through the year using only my stash. Actually, I did fall of the wagon one time which is allowed. I went on a genealogy trip with my sister to Pennsylvania and I bought some sock yarn and some very fine yarn to make a shawl with. I got the shawl yarn because my family went together and got me some quivit yarn made from muskox. It is incredibly expensive and I thought I would do better if I practiced some first.

Mother, Mary Beth and I all have our quivit, but only Mother has finished hers. She is a lot braver than Mary Beth and I, and also a better knitter. I have a wonderful book for using the super-fine yarn and I have seen numerous designs that I like, but haven't settled on one yet.

I also did some charity work. I made 6 white and blue scarfs for the Special Olympics. They are giving them to all their participants. I think it is such a great idea and hope they continue it the next Winter Olympics. I also got a wonderful books about charity knitting and some 16" round needles to knit oodles of little hat for the Santa Train to distribute. I think I will also use up some of my baby yarn for preemie caps.

Getting My Skills Back

Finally, I am beginning to get some of my knitting imaging back. I should have mentioned that I knit very little for about 10 years because I had bursitis in my shoulder and carpel tunnel syndrome. The only way to cure it was to give it rest. For a while, I thought I would never knit again:( Fortunately, it didn't turn about that way. About 4 years ago, I began knitting again, but I was surprised to find that I had lost a lot of my "knitter's soft skills." I knew how to do most any knit stitch, but I was having trouble judging how something would look, or the size, or any of those things that come from experience. I never thought about how much those things add do our knitting. I am happy to say that new see a light in the tunnel, or I should say "an error in the directions."

I'm Having a Bad Knitting Month! or Knitter's Imaging

I don't know if it happens to anyone else, but for the past month, all my attempts at knitting have been less than satisfactory, to say the least. I am trying to only use yarn from my stash and it seems like every combination of yarn and pattern I touch is wrong in some way. I'm just not getting the results I want.

This is the first time I've ever had this happen. Usually, I can pick up some yarn and start right in, but not so now. I wonder if the Knitting Genie feels like she's been getting no credit from me and she's now going to tell me what my knitting life is like without her. Please, please come back!

I did a swatch for an Aran for one of of my granddaughters. The stitch gauge was 25 sts = 4" and yet it called for a worsted weight yarn. The gauge was in pattern, and I wish they wouldn't do that. I'd much rather they give the gauge on ss. I figure if I am knitting the same on ss as the pattern maker then I'll get the same gauge on the pattern. I know that isn't always true, but the other way is just as problematic. For example, it says "over pat." Well, which part of the pattern? the center, the cables, the moss st.? You would actually have to do all the patterns and then measure, but then you are halfway done with the sweater, for a child at least. Another problem is that I knit differently on a pattern once I have learned the it. That means that my swatch is going to be wrong. I'd have to knit the swatch 2-3 times before I was consistent. The variation doesn't matter much when you are actually knitting the sweater because the pattern repeats several times across the sweater and you usually have a ribbing at the bottom to adjust any change of gauge at the beginning.

Grrr. The first yarn I used was too dense. The second was too fine. I could get the gauge, but I didn't like the way it felt. I tried a different pattern and didn't like the results there either. So I tried another yarn with a different pattern. It was a cotton with a lot of multicolor bits mixed in and I bought it thinking it would be great for one of the granddaughters. Well, I didn't like it. The yarn is a little too fragile for 6 year olds. The little "tufts" will soon be picked off and the sweater will droop.

Somehow, I seem to have lost that well developed sense long-time knitters have that show us in our minds what a certain yarn will look like when worked up. Is it "knitter's imaging?" You don't know the value of something until it is gone. I hope this is just a temporary thing like writer's block...or maybe it is the Knitting Genie. Please, please come back!

The Camos are done

Well, all the camos are done. That means 4 of them...a green one for Jacob for his first hunting trip, a desert one for Charles...he's 3 and his dad and brother are in the National Guard and wear the tan camo, and 2 pink ones for Addie and Eli. All the kids look so cute in them. If I can get my camera working, I'll take some photos.

Now I am trying to figure out what to knit them for Christmas. I have been thinking about Arans for Eli and Charles. It seems a lot of work for a little one, especially Charles as he is the youngest and nothing gets passed down from him, but I love making them. It's wonderful to see the pattern to develop under your hands and there is enough going on in the pattern to keep you interested...or rather, it keeps me interested. There are times when I just want to knit something mindless, but most of the time, I want a little challenge.

Pink Camo Sweaters

Well, I finished one and it has been worn and worn but on the second one I did something I can never remember doing on something knitted. I CUT A HOLE IN THE SWEATER while trying to cut off a joining yarn. It was right down in the front about 1-1/2" above the ribbing. I couldn't believe it. How could I be so careless? Arrrg!

I started to weave in a repair but it turns out that I cut thread in 2 different rows. I had a hole in it like you would in the heel of a sock. It was easier to take the sweater down and do it over again than to fix the hole. I can practically knit in my sleep, but I can't repair a hole, so I decided to just knit it over.

I'm finished now and I'll put it together tomorrow or Sunday, but my poor little granddaughter in Virginia won't have much time to wear it unless Virginia has a really late, late spring! Fortunately, I made the two sweaters very big, so they could wear them next year too. This year the sweaters were like a tunic. I'll try to post some photos in the next few days. They sure turned out cute!

I also knitted hats and 3 mittens. I do mean three! I would have knitted 2 pair, but there wasn't enough yarn. Three means that you still have a pair when one is lost. Once I started that when my kids were half grown, they never seemed to loose mittens any more. Go figure!

BTW, I am now in month 3 and still have not bought 1 skein of yarn:>) It is actually kind of fun. We'll see how it goes.