Already a Slacker (NaBloPoMo)

Seriously I wrote one post and then I already skipped a day.  I guess I am already slacking on my NaBloPoMo goals.  Sigh.  In all fairness to myself, I did have to work much earlier yesterday as I was substituting for a coworker whose husband was having surgery.

Happy Election Day USA!  I have been a horrible citizen.  I used to be really involved and able to share educated opinions about the election.  I am sorry to say that I did not even vote in the Primary Election this year.   After getting a bit of knitting and some housework done this morning I sat down and studied the ballot measures and finally made my decisions.  This afternoon as soon as school gets out, with our son and our completed sample ballots in tow, my husband and I will be going to our polling place to cast our votes!  I am excited, much more so than my son, to show him what voting is all about in the hope that when his time comes he will take advantage of his right to vote and will consider it an honor and a responsibility the same way I do.

What I'm thankful for today:  I am so thankful that I live in a country where the people can elect the leaders in a peaceful, orderly way.  I am glad that everyone who is eligible to vote gets a say in the way our country is led.
What I'm watching:  Nothing!  I was able to watch Vampire Diaries Sunday night as well as Arrow, but we did not get around to watching Chicago Fire.  I really am enjoying Arrow, which is on the CW, I am always a bit hesitant to get involved watching new series shows because I hate it when I just get to where I know the characters a bit more and the network cancels it.   Tonight I will be channel surfing the major cable news carriers to get the latest news in election returns.
What I'm knitting: Yesterday, I knit a few rows on my "Commuter Scarf". This is a scarf project that lives in my car.  In fact, the only place I allow myself to knit on it is inside my car.  I love going places, but I am not as crazy about driving there.  More often than not, my husband drives me and I have time for knitting even if it is just a short trip to the supermarket.  I pulled out some fingering weight yarn and some of my older size 10 circular needles, placed them in a project bag, and taped the instructions to the One Row Lace Scarf to the passenger side dash board.  Now I can knit on the go without having to plan a project to take with me every time I leave the house.

I also bound off my second Meret Beret.  I made this one for my niece, Kylie, for Christmas.  I made the brim in he small size and did the number of repeats to make it a medium.  This project is made with Simply Soft Yarn by Caron's, which is awesome because it really is soft, especially after it is washed once plus it is machine washable.

Finally, Yesterday I cast on for a third Meret Beret out of the same yarn for Cassie.  I am making hers in the medium size but adding rows for slouchiness.  This morning I was able to complete one repeat of the main body chart. Not sure if I will get a chance to knit anymore today.

Now. GO VOTE!

There is No App for That (NaBloPoMo)

I admit that I am a bit behind the eight ball. I hardly ever catch onto trends until they are well established. Such is the case now. I became aware of a web challenge in which participants write daily updates to their personal blogs. NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) 2012 began November 1, and I did not even know about it until the 3rd. Such is my life, I suppose. The idea is a spin off idea based on the Annual NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in which participants challenge themselves to write an entire cohesive novel from beginning to end in the month November. I decided that I could give it a try!

I realize that I am a bit late to the party but I would like to try to write just a bit every day and see what this blog looks like after I post for a month. Since I hardly use my computer for anything anymore, I started searching the Apple App Store for apps to blog from my iPad. I was really disappointed when I found that the only app that Blogger has is for the iPhone. As a general rule I try to stay away from the apps that are made for iPhone because they are usually clunky and no not take advantage of the awesomeness that is the iPad. After that, I tried just using Safari to work on the blog. I was able to use it with in a limited fashion. I could do just about everything except post to the blog. (Head Desk) I really hope that the developers at Blogger are working on a way to blog directly from the iPad with all the functionality that the web version has. Until then, if it is your desire to freely blog from iPad using Blogger...There is No App for That!

What I'm thankful for Today: I am thankful that my family has fulfilled our yearly 40 volunteer hours required for our son's school.  Any other time we put in from now until the end of the school year is completely at our discretion.  It feels good to have that weight lifted from us.

What I'm Watching: After the boy goes to bed, we will watch The latest episodes of Vampire Diaries, Arrow, and maybe Chicago Fire.  I have not had a chance to catch up on any podcasts this weekend, and nothing on Netflix except a few kids shows, which I tuned out with a glazed look in my eye.

What I'm Knitting: I knit one repeat of my Thorn Scarf.  I like the pattern, it is really easy and looks great. But I detest the yarn.  Really. It is itchy and it sheds horribly. I even used the suggested yarn.  I took this project on as a test knit and it was supposed to be complete by October 20th.  I am over halfway done, but I don't know if I should give it as a gift to my sister-in-law.  I wonder if she would be insulted that I gave her a beautiful yet terribly itchy scarf. I only commit myself to knitting one repeat or 8 rows a day until it is complete.

I will be posting later in the evening tomorrow night.  I am substituting in the kindergarten class and then I run my after school program.  Have a blessed day!

~Stacy

Sea At Sunset Complete

My first ever lace project is off the needles, blocked and complete!

Pattern:Seascape by Kieran Foley
Yarn: Gossamer from Knitpicks (Discontinued), 100% Merino Wool, Just over 1 skein
Needles: Knitpicks Options Harmony Interchangeable Needles, Size 4.


I didn't do a gauge swatch on this project (will I ever learn?). If I had, I would have probably gone up one size on the needles. Come to think of it, I think it is going to be my new policy to start one size larger and swatch since it is apparent that I am a tight knitter.



In addition to being my first lace knitting attempt, it was also my first excursion into the world of blocking my knitting. Up until now, I had not knit much that deserved blocking except socks. But I have read and seen pictures of what blocking does to a knitted lace project and I wanted to try it for myself.

I started out by gathering all my supplies and equipment.



Lace Blocking equipment-
Foam Board
Wool Wash
1/16" Welding Wire, 3 ft
measuring tape
t-pins
towels
basin
quilting rulers

Next, I gave my lace a bath in a basin using tepid water and wool wash. I let that soak for about 30 minutes and then gently removed it from the basin and laid it flat on a towel. I folded the towel over the lace and walked on it to extract any excess water, since you want it to be damp and not dripping.


After the water was extracted, I placed the lace on top of the foam boards. Next I stringed the welding wires through the four edges of the lace. This took longer than expected since I had not filed the points of the wire. Patricia says to buy jeweler's files, but I was lazy and I paid for it with my time. The project actually dried in the time it took me to string the lace.



After all the edges were strung I had to mist the project with water to re moisten it. I then began stretching the lace out. This was fun to see the Yarn Overs open up and the pattern emerge even more than it had before. I pinned the wires in place using the t-pins and went to bed. In the morning it was dry and I unpinned and removed the wires. I was amazed at how light it felt.



A note about the pinning surface I selected. I selected craft foam boards since I could easily pin into them with the t-pins. An unforeseen thing happened with these and I would not recommend using them or use them again. When they get wet, they curl up. It worked out ok but I will definitely get something more durable before I try lace blocking again.

My Latest Project

Yarn: Gossamer by Knitpicks in Sweat Pea (Discontinued)
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeable Needles, Size 4.
Pattern: Seascape by Kieran Foley.



I know I have not been here in a while. Summer is here and I wanted to start a lace project. But I have not knitted lace before, or at least nothing like this. I have had a very limited experience with reading charts. This pattern is lovely and appears to be the ideal project to ease me into lace.

I was cruising Knitty.com a couple weeks ago and ran across this pattern. I thought, now that is very pretty, and went on to the next pattern. But I couldn't get it off my mind. So much so that I dragged 2 knitting friends into knitting this project with me. I created a KAL on Ravelry,(buttons will be upcoming) and it has grown to almost 100 members in less than 2 weeks.

I cast on for the first time at the WWKIP day, June 14, 2008. I made a few mistakes and had to frogged it a couple times. I made it past the border and completed Chart A.



I like the yarn a lot. It is soft 100% Merino Wool. I did not expect it to be as "stripey" as it is, but I am not disappointed with the stripes. I think with the purples and pinks remind me of the Sunset on the ocean in the Pacific.

And the Winner Goes to...

The first completed project of 2008, a pair of Jaywalker Socks! The socks were completed in 2 weeks, which is record time for this snail-like sock knitter.



Pattern: Jaywalker Socks by Grumperina.
Size: Womens Size 11, Large
Yarn: Opal Sock Yarn, Petticoat 1290
Needles: Size 1 (2.5 mm), Options Harmony DPN's
Gauge: 7.5 Stitches per inch/11 Rows per inch

(This pattern originally appeared on Magknits.com. It has moved to Ravelry. If you are not a Ravelry user, you will need to sign up to view the pattern. You should sign up. Really.)

These sock are a gift for my Mother in law. She was scheduled to undergo surgery tommorrow and I made these socks to brighten her day and keep her feet warm during her recovery. They are appropriate for her since over the course of our relationship, there have been many zigs and zags. I hope that as she wears these socks, she will know how much I care for her.

These socks were surprisingly easy to follow and the pattern was written well. I love how an increase and decrease here and there can turn a boring stockinette sock into something so visually interesting. I am proud of how even my stitches were and that the sock stripe patterns match. I am also pleased that there were no holes in the sides of the gusset stitches, a clear sign of improvement. Overall, these socks were a success. I also got a chance to use my brand spanking new Options Harmony double pointed needles. These were a gift for Christmas from my DH.



We had a feathery visitor in our back yard the other day with quite a round tummy. She was kind enough to pose for a photo. I thought i would share it with you.

Where my Yarn Lives

I used to have a hobby room all for myself before I became a mother. When our son arrived, the space that I called my own was transformed into a nursery and my stuff was scattered about the house. Some of the fabric related stuff went into tidy storage boxes in the garage, while my sewing table and Yarn stuff was dumped, literally, into the home office shared by my darling husband. The office was so crammed with stuff, both his and mine, that we had to carve out a trail just to walk to the computer and the room had the feeling (and smell) of a cave.

I wanted to get back to my knitting, but my yarn was seemingly scattered to the four winds and chances of finding anything I needed for a project in that mess made me want to take up a different hobby and say, "to hell with knitting". Faced with shelling out lots of money to take underwater basketweaving or cleaning up the office. I chose the latter.

My husband had been using the closet in the office as his desk. He took off the doors and mounted a piece of MDF to use as a work surface. He also installed track lighting. Well, my husband has come out of the closet and my yarn went in. We cleared out the room, got a new desk for him so we are both happy.



With the track lighting installed, there is plenty of light for project planning, or if I want to sit and fondle the yarn.



Works in progress are stored in plastic bags in these hanging baskets. They are easy to grab, and not hidden so I am forced to see them everytime I go in there. Maybe this way I will get them done. Maybe not.



The top shelf stores the ugly white styrofoam head and she is modeling a felted hat from Fibertrends. The jars contain dishcloth yarn and sock yarn.



A close up on the yarn. After all, that is what it is all about. Most notable is the top middle cubby CRAMMED with Manos Del Uruguay purchased at ONE DOLLAR PER HANK on clearance. I have no clue what I will do with it, but isnt it lovely? Also note the limited supply of novelty yarn tucked in the lower right corner like a dirty little secret.



This cubby stores books, magazines, stationary, videos and loose patterns in a three ring binder.




And last but not least, we have knitting supplies. All of the circulars are bagged and tagged and hanging on hooks attached to the cubbies.

Making Tracks on the Runway is Waschbar, the Shawl Model

Straight from the Runways of Paris modeling fine couture is the infamous Waschbar.

Triangle Shawl
My first attempt at destashing also served as a really late Christmas gift for my dear friend, Carol. She had mentioned to me that she was cold sitting at her computer and she would use a shawl if she had one. I found this pattern for free online from Lionbrand.com. It is called "Easy Triangle Shawl". It was knitted in Homespun from Lionbrand, which is a nice chuncky, warm yarn. The only correction that I would make to the pattern is the type of needle it should be knit on. It calls for size 13 straight needles, however as you increase, there is now way to force 171 stitches onto a straight needle with this chunky yarn. I had to switch out to my Boye interchangeable needles with a 24 inch cable. I knit back and forth on that and had no problems. Here is a close up of the stitch pattern:

Swatched

I have completed the Homespun Triangle Shawl! Yippee! I blocked over the weekend and photographed it today. I will blog the photos as soon as it has been given to its intended recipient. It was such an easy pattern to follow and I am tempted to knit it up again for myself.

But not right now. If you had not noticed the link on the right, I have joined the 2007 Stashalong. Basically, I have agreed to purchase no yarn for two months (minus one day for stash enhancement). It really should not be a problem for me since I have such a large collection of yarn. I have a couple UFO's that I intend to put a dent in and couple projects that I am assembling from my stash.

Om Yoga Matt Bag
This is one of those projects. My DH has taken up Yoga and he wants a convenient way to carry his yoga matt to class. Enter the Om Yoga Matt Bag. I found this pattern in the book, "Stitch N' Bitch Nation," by Debbie Stoller. The pattern calls for a cotton yarn from Lionbrand. I have a few balls of black Lionbrand Woolease laying around and decided to use that for this lace patterned bag.



While the lace pattern isnt difficult, it may be too hard to concentrate on a pattern and chase after a baby at the same time. Thus I might have to limit this project to naptimes and after Baby S is off to dream land. Maybe I should cast on a pair of socks for some mindless knitting during baby awake hours. Lord knows I have enough sock yarn.

Knit2gether
Redding, CA now has a new knitting group. I am getting tired of knitting alone so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Together with my Dear Friend, Carol, we have created a group of people to meet at YAKS Koffee Shop. Meetings will be held on the 1st and 3rd Wedsday of each month from 6-8 pm. If you live in the Redding Area and are interested in joining us, join our yahoo group here Knit2gether Redding.

Knitting (and Life), Interrupted

This blog was created to chronicle my knitting journey, but I have not done much knitting lately so there has been no knitting to chronicle. Thus my absence. The other big reason for my absence is taking a much needed nap right now, and he has grown so much since my last post.

Baby S is now 9 months old and easily the best thing to ever happen to me. He is beautiful and is a constant source of wonder as we watch him grow and discover new things everyday. His adoption will be taking place within the next couple months and you can expect to be bombarded with pictures as soon as the ink is dry on the adoption papers (It is illegal to electronically transmit photos of foster children in the state of California).

Though my knitting has been interrupted, I have not forgotten how to do it (I guess it is kind of like riding a bike) and I have picked up my needles and been working on a sweater I started last year, Jesse's Flames. You may remember that I started to work on this project as part of the Knitting Olympics last year. Needless to say, I didn't get it done before the flame went out. Oh well, not everyone can win a gold medal. I am almost done now and photos are to come soon.

Well, Just here to make sure you knew I didnt fall off the face of the earth and I am back in the knitting (and blogging) business!

Missing in Action

Well, I know that there have been no posts for quite some time but I hope catch you up on what is going on in my life in the last couple months. First, and most importantly, I want to admit my utter failure in the knitting olympics. I was so excited about the challenge of completing something in the time alloted. To review, I had intened to complete the Jesse's Flame raglan sweater from SNB Nation. I am using the colors in the pattern-black, red, and yellow in Lionbrand Woolease. I think this project was a little ambitious for me in the short 16 days from the opening ceremonies to the closing ceremonies. This project includes intarsia on the sleeves, something I have never done before. I also ran into some problems with the needles having too much drag and slowing me down. In the end, I completed the front and 1/2 of the back and it is in my ongoing project stash to be completed slowly.

I did acheive some small success completing some projects during by absence. First of all, I made a Fibertrends Wide Brimmed Felted Hat using Cascade 220, for my friend Annette. It turned out very cute and she loves it. I had made the same hat using Cascade Pastaza and I now prefer the 220 better. It is much lighter weight and not nearly as scratchy. Here is the hat before I felted it:



Here is a look at the hat after I felted it:



I also completed my second pair of socks. I will say that I am a very slow sock knitter and I don't knit them very regularly. These socks were knit from the toe up using 2 at once on one circular needles. I used Cool Wool from Lana Grossa.



I also made a Nantasket Basket, which I finally finished today. I will take pictures soon to show you what this gem looks like felted. I said "finally finished" because I had to take break from knitting for a couple weeks. I actually just picked up my needles today. I woke up with a swollen wrist a couple of weeks ago for no apparent reason, and after icing it for a day without much relief, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with de Quervain's Desease, which is a form of tendinitis. So I had a fashionable black wrist brace that immobilized most of my wrist and hand. It really cramped my style.

Head Shots

Early in my knitting career, I went into a yarn shop looking for a project. I walked out with a pattern for the FiberTrends Felted Hats, 2 or 3 hanks of Cascade Pastaza, and a brand new set of bamboo circulars and dpns'. I took it home and began. I was a happy knitter. Full of felting promise. Until it happened. I was working merrily along knitting in the round when it came time to switch to dpn's. This was my first experience with these needles and I dropped stitches off the ends. I was also so new that I had no idea how to pick up these poor dropped stitches. After fretting much and finally figuring it out, I had all my stitches back on the needles, twisted though they may be. I continued knitting for a few more rounds when I figured out that I had been knitting from the top of the hat, basically knitting inside out. Frustrated with the whole thing, I frogged it and put the yarn away for a while.

Fast Forward to this past weekend and I was able to complete the hat without dropping stitches off the needles or knitting inside out.

I was able to hire this semi-famous racoon* to model the hat for me:



Here is a look at the hat in it's pre-felted state (doesn't the model resemble Paddington Bear with the hat on?):



And now for a look once it has been felted:




Here is a final look at the hat. Notice the leftover ball of yarn next to the hat. The colors are totally different after it was felted. I was baffled:



So here is some final information:
Pattern-FiberTrends Felt Hat with Brim Variations (I did the flat brim)AC-1
Yarn-Cascade Pastaza (I don't remeber the color and the tag is long gone)
Needles- Clover Bamboo size 11 circulars 29" & Clover Bamboo DPN's Size 10.5

I held two strands of the Pastaza together and it made for a heavy fabric and therefore a heavy hat. I am also not nuts about how hairy it turned out. I am doing this pattern again for a friend and I am going to use 2 strands of Cascade 220. I think it will be lighter and less hairy. Oh well, I may not wear it everyday, but I can tell you that no one will be pinching me on Saint Patrick's Day. And as my dear friend pointed out, I can always sell it on ebay!

*You may recognize Meeko from Disney's Pocahontas, but then again, maybe not. In our house he actually goes by Waschbar , which is Racoon in German.

Marina Revealed

I did it! I really did it! I have completed my first sweater! And I am pleased with the results. As a review the pattern that I used is Marina Pullover and was knit using Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks. The colors that I used are Snickerdoodle and Coal (Just fancy names for Tan and Black). It was knit on size 7 straight and circular needles. It was knit with a cable going cuff to cuff and the cable split at the neck . I picked up stitches around the yoke and knit the bottom portion in the round. It fits loosely and the sleeves are a little long for me. The space where the stitches are picked up was sort of slouchy and looked horrible around the bust so I blocked that out (I said that so "nonchilantly" did't I? I was so frightened. This was my first time blocking). While I am not thrilled about having to roll up the cuffs, the added arm length means that my dh can wear it if he so chooses (God knows I borrow enough of his clothes)!

Here is a look at the cable on the sleeve and neck:


The Olympics are sneaking up on me. I had hoped to complete something in between Marina and the Knitting Olympics, but I have not picked up my needles lately in favor of my blog facelift. That's right folks, your eyes are not deceiving you. If you have been here before than you may have noticed my obvious departure from the typical Blogger template. I would be interested to hear your comments about the new look.

Oh, and Happy Belated Ground Hog's Day!

It's beginning to look like a sweater

Well, I didn't get much of a chance to work on Marina over the weekend because we had a new addition to the family.....the XBOX 360! I will not begin to describe all of the trouble that I went to to get this rare $400.00 piece of gaming hardware. I am almost afraid to get my cell phone bill with the minutes I racked up calling stores day and night to see if they had one in. So Marina went by the wayside this weekend but I am anxious to get moving on her today.

I am into the mind-numbing phase of endless knitting in the round with Marina, and this is when I get bored and try to find other projects. I have done my guage swatch for the Knitting Olympics and have even practiced Intarsia with success. I have studied the pattern for Jesse's Flames backward and forward and I am so ready to begin. I can't wait for opening ceremonies to begin this challenge. I am also thinking about joining the Kicking It Boots Knit-along and the Sockapalooza Knit-along, though I am a very slow sock knitter. I only have until this evening to decide on this one and I have until May to complete the socks. I really should have my head examined.

In the Black

Today feels strange. I know that last Friday was Friday the 13th. Nothing seemed to be going right last week. All of the strangeness seems to have waited a week and come to hit me when I least expect it. On a normal Friday, I would get up around 8:30, have breakfast and get ready to go to the YMCA to volunteer in the Computer Lab. My husband accidentally slept in and missed his ride to work so I had to get up early and take him in to the office. I went to my LQS/LYS to meet a friend who is lending me a book and picked up some Addi's for me. She was running behind and her other co-worker had a fender bender and came to work 20 minutes late. Now I am at the YMCA and I wonder what else will go haywire today!?! It will be a little different this afternoon because I will be picking up my husband at 2:00 to start an early weekend. I am almost afraid to continue knitting on Marina for fear I will drop a whole bunch of stitches.

Speaking of Marina, I am pleased to report that I have completed the tan upper portion of the sweater. I sat and worked on it all day yesterday and my rear end was numb by the time I was done. I have picked up the black stitches to knit the body in the round. I'll post a picture when I have made some more progress.

I know this was a strange post. It is fitting for such a strange day. Happy Friday the 20th.

Let the Games Begin

I wrote a few post back about my aversion to New Year's Resolutions. I did have some goals, however that I wanted to accomplish. The first goal is to knit my first sweater. I have been working on the Marina Pullover. I am very pleased with the progress. I have completed the left sleeve, the yoke/neck hole, and I am just about to begin the right sleeve. This would be a rather bland sweater, both to knit and to look at, if it weren't for the cable. I am really happy with the way that the cable splits to form the neck. I have only had minor problems thus far. I had increased too many stitches a couple of rows back and I wanted to frog back a couple rows. I found that to be more difficult with the cable as a factor and ended up frogging half the neck. All part of the learning process, I suppose.

I know I am crazy. It is healthy to admit it. I realize that I haven't even completed my first sweater. Rational thoughts should prevail. But they didn't and now I am an Olympian. Ok so maybe not in the true sense of the word, but I have decided to join the Knitting Olympics. What is this, you ask? Knitting Olympians select a project that would pose a challenge to them and knit it from start to finish during the 2006 Winter Olympics in February. That means that you cannot cast on until the opening ceremonies and you must be finished entirely by the time the flame is extinguished. For my challenge, I have appropriately decided to make "Jesse's Flame" Sweater from the Stitch N' Bitch Nation. For those that don't know what this sweater looks like, it is a man's raglan sweater with intarsia flame on the sleeves. We are allowed to do guage swatches before the games begin. I would really like to be finished with Marina before I begin this new challenge. If you are interested in joining the Knitting Olympics, go visit the Yarn Harlot.



As for my other goals

I also listed as a goal that I wanted to add new content to my blog. The proof is in the pudding. The fact that I am actually creating this post is evidence that I am on my way. Thanks to my friends that have left kind comments. I also wanted to have 5 people link to me from their site or blog. The progress on that front is that I joined the ABC Along Webring. I may not actually be on the ring yet, but I was assured by the ring owner that I would be added soon. I also will be listed soon on the Knitting Olympics Page with all of the other olympians. As long as I am mentioning it, If there is anyone that would like the link to me, I would appreciate it and would gladly recipricate with a link. My dh is working on a cute button for me. I will post that as soon as it is done.

There was one other goal that I said deserved it's own post. Rest assured that I have not forgotten about it. It is rather personal and I am just not in the right mood to write about it. I would rather knit.

Serious Knitter

After begging me with little success to knit him a Harry Potter Scarf, my dear husband, Kyle, has taken up the needles. After mastering the cast on and the knit stitch, he is ready to begin his project. I am so happy. Now I have a real human that I can share my yarn addiction with. Doesn't he look angry? The darling kitty in the background keeping Kyle company is Noel Christine. She is also pleased that he took up knitting. Now there are twice the yarn balls to chase around and and chew on!

I'm sorry, honey, I couldn't resist!

Marina Pullover (AKA My First Sweater)

There is a certain thrill in beginning a new project. I love the rush of finding the right pattern, selecting the materials and waiting anxiously while they arrive in the mail. I study the instructions and make sure that I understand the whole process before I begin. I dutifully knit my gauge swatch and practice any patterns that I need to master. Then it is time to pick up the needles and cast on! Oh what a feeling!

My latest project holds even more excitement because it is my first sweater pattern. Perhaps I have a fear of commitment and I know that I am getting into a long-term project by my standards. For whatever the reason, knitting my first sweater has seemed like a crushingly intimidating process until now. I think that I have run out of options for knitting scarves that would interest me, and let’s face it, one can only knit mind numbing garter stitch scarves out of fun fur for so long without getting totally bored.

The sweater that I am undertaking is the Marina Pullover designed by Elizabeth Fallone. I am using Wool Of The Andes, from Knitpicks in black and Snickerdoodle. I like the pattern for many reasons. It is a two-toned sweater, which is a plus because I like color and I don’t think I could stomach knitting the whole project in one color for my first garment. The sleeves are knit cuff to cuff with a cable pattern that goes up the sleeve. The cable splits at the neck and the cable finishes off the neckline nicely. After the sleeves are complete, you pick up stitches around the yoke and knit down to the rib at the bottom of the sweater. So this isn’t the typical first sweater, but I am anything but typical so it suits me just fine.

I hold no illusions that my first sweater will be a masterpiece, but I would still like a good fit and an attractive look. In hindsight, this might not have been the best sweater pattern to flatter my figure with the line going straight across my bust line and drawing attention to my bosom. I am holding out hope, however that all things will work out in the end.

This pattern has challenged my knitting abilities from casting on. When casting on the left cuff the pattern suggests to use a crochet cast on to match the bind off on the right cuff. I had never heard of a crochet cast on before, so I googled it and Walla! I found instructions to the improved crochet cast on. I emailed Ms. Fallone to ask her if this was the right cast on. She was very prompt in her response and forthcoming with her advice. Thanks Elizabeth!

Another minor challenge that I faced thus far is deciding on the proper increases and decreases Thank God for Knittinghelp.com. I love being able to watch someone doing the technique rather than reading about it.

I promise not to be one of those bloggers that post photographs every couple of centimeters, but this is the beginning of my project and I couldn’t be more proud!

The Anti-Resolution

Everywhere I look, I see people making New Year's Resolutions. The evidence is all around me. I went to volunteer at the computer lab at the YMCA and the parking lot was decidedly more full with those poor souls that made it their resolution to become more fit and shed pounds. All of my favorite programs on the Food Network have been hijacked by health nuts who are trying to convince me that eating light can taste better than eating huge portions of the calorie loaded foods I love. Fat chance. Even my dear husband has been swept away in all of the new years resolution mania. Over at his blog, Nearjah's Ink, his first post of the year is all about his 2006 intentions to go to the gym, swim and actually use his blog. I knew he was a gonner when he purchased a brand, spanking new bathroom scale that has a computer in it to tell you if you have gained or lost weight.

Over the years I have made countless resolutions from losing weight to reading my Bible daily. While I started out with good intentions, I had a hard time following through. I know that I am not alone and should not feel like a complete and utter failure, but I can't get over the feeling that by botching my longterm goal, I am reflecting poorly on myself and my ability to perservere.

My theory about why New Year's Resolutions fail is largly to blame on too lofty a goal. Folks that want to lose weight, for instance, have to realize that weight loss includes a change in lifestyle, activity level and diet. Unfortunately, people go into their weight loss adventure expecting to change all three at once. By breaking up the goal into a more manageable goal, a person can achieve gradual success. For instance, he/she could set the goal to go for a walk after dinner three time a week and eliminate dessert except on Sundays. These smaller goals are baby steps to a healthier lifestyle. I always felt that when I had gone off my diet one weekend or that I missed my exercise routine for a couple days, I had failed and there was no use continuing. Then I would go get a carton of ice cream and go crazy.

And so for me...while I resolve to make no more New Year's resolutions (a resolution I am sure to keep), I do intend to set a few manageable goals for myself in 2006. Goal setting can be productive because it tells me where I want to focus my energy.

The first goal that I am setting for myself is to make my first sweater! This is exciting for me because I have been knitting for a little over a year. I started out like most new knitters making at least one million scarves and a couple hats. I graduated to making socks and I did a shawl and I even made a little sundress for a toddler. I found a pattern that I like very much in Knitpicks catalog called the Marina Pullover, designed by Elizabeth Fallone. I have made my guage swatches and practiced the cable work and I think I am ready to cast on. I will post a picture of the sweater in another post to come.

My next goal is to update my blog and have 5 people link to me. Notice that I am not committing to blogging every other day or resolving to become the most popular knitting blog online. I am simply setting the goal to add new content and have it linked to a few other blogs or websites.

My last goal deserves a post all by itself....

Consider me unresolved!
Stacy

So I FELT like knitting

This is my first ever felted project! Some would think that the bag is a little flashy for me, but I love the comments I get when I use it. It is called the Booga Bag but it has a few adaptations to make it more suitable for me. The first adaptation is the furry purple yarn that I added. I really enjoy combining yarns to create unique and interesting fabrics and this was a joy to do. The other tweak is that I made the top differently. Instead of scrunching the top into a "pleat", I went with an open top bag. The only drawback is that it flaps open quite often and I would apply a magnetic snap closure to fix that. I also would like to experiment with creating pockets and compartments, because it can easily become a bottomless pit. Any advice on that would be greatly appreciated.

Yarns I used:

• Wool of the Andes, by Knitpicks . Color 23442 Hyacinth. This is 100% Peruvian Wool and is very affordable at $1.79/ball. It also felted very nicely. I held two strands together and used 8 balls total.
• Antico, by Trendsetter . Color 118. Really fun to work with although I was left with a tangled mess, I don't like the way the make up their balls all that much.

Altogether, this was a fun project and I would recommend it to someone that is new and wants to try their hand at felting!