I'm a slacker

Ok, folks. I am a slacker. Not a knitting slacker, mind you. I have been going fast and furious on that one. But for some reason, I forgot to blog last week. Please forgive me. I have been trying to do it once a week. Usually when my husband works in the evening, so then I am not distracted. But then this week he hasn't had to work. So now I have had to all this other nonsense. And then I started what seemed like a sweet, small, adorable felting project. And it has become a giant, all-consuming, time-sucking monster!
I am not going to tell you what the project is because I wanted to wait until it is assembled in its entirety and posted on my ravelry page, but it seemed so adorable. I consider myself a pretty proficient knitter, felter, and seamstress. I reviewed the pattern, and it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I even had plenty of the required yarn in my stash. I lulled myself into believing that I could make several projects in several colors for my friends.
What was supposed to take 2 days max is going on 2 weeks. First it is taking 3 cycles to felt instead of 1. Yes, I do have a top-loading washer. Then the pattern was too big. Then there was a hole. Then the yarn didn't felt the way I planned. Aargh! So I am trying something new. Hopefully I will have pictures in another week.
But onto what I have accomplished. I finished a shawl collared cowl, a pattern from Alana Dakos from Never Not Knitting. It's easy and lovely. I think it turned out great. I would really reccomend buying this pattern. I used Cadena from Knit Picks in the colorway Peat. It is a nice alpaca blend. It keeps me toasty and I picked out some faux-crochet buttons from WalMart. That is really my only option here if I don't want to order from the internet.

And then I also did the all day beret in bamboo ewe from Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller. It is kind of a blue-green-grey. I made the beret bigger because the pattern called for a 21" circumference, and my head is a ginormous 22.5", but it is still loose. It is supposed to be slouchy, but I am nervous that it will fall off of my head all day. So I think that I am going to run a elastic thread through it for peace of mind. I will attach pics. I did enjoy how the beret looked from the back, though. Let me know what you think! Have an awesome winter!

Floppy beach hat

Welcome, followers! *Crickets* Well, anyhow, this week I did a little detour. I wanted a quick and easy stash busting project. I looked all over ravelry. I had 2 skeins of a lavender maggi's irish multi linen in lavender. I also had 2 skeins of a cotton tape yarn that I believe was a filatura di crosa venezia. It was a really pretty beachy kind of colors. Tan, aqua, sand, pale green. I wasn't really sure about the combo, but it came out kind of looking pastel and springy. I don't mind it, and I'm just happy to use up the yarn. It's really kind of floppy. I am going to use it as a pool side hat. I don't live anywhere near the beach, and I would frankly like to cover my face when I am in a swim suit. The pattern is free and you can find a link to it on my ravelry page.
Secondly, I made what I would like to call Andy's ugly orange hunting hat. I live in an area of Colorado where everybody seems to fish or hunt. People are obsessed. I like to fish, but I don't get the hunting thing. But recently my hubby, Andrew, is taken with the idea of bow hunting. He wants a bow for our wedding anniversary. So it is common practice to wear camouflage and at least one item of bright orange clothing so that you yourself do not become the object of the hunt. I hate orange. Especially bright orange. But I just so happened to have a skein of bright orange acrylic and so I made him a quick beanie in that color. He loves it.
I am attaching pictures. I really wish that I had a fantastic camera with great mega pixels that took pictures of me in autumnal colors with full makeup that make me look like a super model. All of my friends on ravelry who knit beautifully or who are designers seem to have that ability. I do not. I am doing well to not come out looking like a psychotic poodle. So you guys will have to use your imagination. Enjoy!

What is next? I am gravitating towards cute fun projects that keep my amusement. Especially hats. I just want to build up my project page on ravelry. Sadly that means that I have a bunch of huge unfinished wips in big knitting bags sitting around my house nagging me. I really gotta get a move on those. So, what unfinished projects are nagging you? Let me know! And just keep on knittin'!

Welcome to my yarn woes

Well, I would like to start out by saying,"Welcome to my first blog!" I spent many an hour agonizing over what I would talk about for the first time. I thought that it should be something monumental or amazingly important in the knitting/crocheting world. But I've got nothin', so I'm gonna wing it. I have a confession. And they say that confession is good for the soul. Are you ready? Get out your pitchforks, serious knitters. And hold on to something.

I have acrylic yarn. Gasp. Horrors. I know. I am ashamed even to type it. In my defense, most of it is left from my fledgling days as a crocheter. And no matter how quickly I go, I can't seem to get rid of it. Where is it coming from?! I mean, honestly, it's horrific! I go to Ravelry and all of these fantastic blogs from all of these enviable knitters and designers that I want to be in my wildest dreams, and they use words like Debbie Bliss cashmerino, Becoming Art, Handmaiden Lady Godiva, Malabrigo. I salivate. But then I look online and $30 for a skein of yarn?! Holy crap! I haven't had a job in a year and a half, and my husband finally found a part time job. I don't think so.

So, with a resigned sigh, I look at my stash. From the good old days when I had money and a good credit rating, I do have a lot of great yarn. But then I see the acrylic. What to do? I don't want to use the good stuff until I get rid of the crappy stuff. But every time I look at it I cringe, and I am convinced that at night, it breeds and makes yarn ball babies! Have you ever seen Star Trek's "The Trouble With Tribbles"? I tried to explain the problem to my lovely hubby, Andrew. He is a waste not, want not kind of guy. He just does not get it. I propose that I could give it to charity. He says,"Nuh uh." Bonfire. "Definitely not."

I wait. And wait. And wait. I keep hoping that some divinely inspired idea will come to me. No such luck. Finally it becomes apparent that we may need to move and we don't have the time, energy, or manpower to have a garage sale. So we decide to bag up all of our unused stuff and give it to charity. Less stuff to move and a tax deduction to boot. I found a charity that accepts yarn. So I bravely told my hubby that any and all yarn that is not attached to a project will go. He protested meekly at first, and then relented. Triumph!

Now, does that mean that all of the acrylic is gone? No. In fact, I am waiting for my hairdresser to give me back the pattern book that goes with a couple of the projects. If she doesn't, then that yarn is gone too. But we must celebrate even the little victories in our knitting lives, no matter how small they are. Isn't that crafty, too?

P.S. Let me know any ideas you may have on how you may have gotten rid of your stash. I would also like to thank Alana from never not knitting for her friendship, ideas, and support! Please follow her at:http://nevernotknitting@blogspot.com