Saturday, September 19, 2015

Right on Queue

It's Saturday evening.  The day flew by.  Does this happen to anyone else or is it just me?  I cherish my weekends, but they always manage to drive by like a NASCAR driver on amphetamines.  I did get some things done today, like finally hanging up the $10 wall hanging I got from Hobby Lobby that had been sitting in my yarn room/office since I bought it over a month ago.  Actually, it sat on my dining room table for at least half that time until we had guests over and I was forced to hide it.  I KNOW I'm not the only one who's hidden stuff in a spare room...right???

Speaking of my yarn room/office, I had a horrible experience a couple weeks ago.  It seems that all of a sudden, my eyes were opened to the disaster that this room had become.  These pictures were taken some months ago and it only got worse from there:



Yes, that is an exercise bike on the left and no, I don't use it.


Shame. On. Me.

And so, having had my eyes opened to the atrocity of what should be my favorite space, I decided I had to act.  I did what any marginally creative person would do.  I went to Target and bought some cubicle-type shelves so I could organize my space.  Et, voila!



Okay, it still needs some straightening, but I think you'd agree it looks much better than the before picture, yes?  Gone are the massive loads of fiber, miscellaneous boxes, bags, and scraps from the floor.  All I need now is a comfy chair and I'm set.  

Once I got my yarn stash put into their little cubbies (yes, that's actually all of it - I've been pretty good about not yarn hoarding lately), I found myself inspired.  It was kind of like Christmas, since I found stuff I had forgotten about.  Anyway, seeing all of that beautiful yarn makes me want to knit.  A lot.

Of course, when you decide you must knit, you have to make a decision about what to knit.  For that, I turned to my Ravelry queue.  It became clear immediately that I needed to do another "cleaning".  My queue was filled with over 75 potential projects.  This, in and of itself is not a problem, especially in light of the fact that I have well over 3,000 patterns in my library on Ravelry.  No, the problem comes in because, dear readers, menopause has not been kind to yours truly and I have gained enough weight around my middle (see caption about exercise bike above) that at least 1/3 of these patterns would no longer complement my slightly expanded frame.  Yes, I have learned that positive ease is now my best friend.

A bit thick around the middle...

Thirty minutes later, my queue has been revised and I'm down to 55 patterns I've decided I simply MUST knit at some point - hopefully sooner rather than later.  And number one in my queue is a pattern I just found today.  It's Atlantique by Anne Hanson.  



I absolutely love her designs - her style is so parallel to my own.  I absolutely have to knit this pattern!  Now I am just trying to come up with the most affordable way to make it.  The pattern calls for Bare Naked Wools's Hempshaugh Lace which is a blend of 40% merino wool, 30% hemp, and 30% silk in a lace weight yarn which is a pretty hefty $48 per skein.  As much as I love Anne's yarns (I knit a blanket for Nora from BNW's Confection), I simply cannot afford to sink that much into this project.  So I'm looking for a reasonably-priced alternative.  Your input is very much welcomed.  

Anyway, we'll see how far I get in knitting down my queue.  There's a good mix of stuff for me and of course, granddaughter stuff.  Not to mention, I've got to get my Christmas knitting list together (yes, I know, it's kind of late for that), assuming I decide to knit for folks this year.  Of course, Nora will get a good share of hand knits regardless.  

How many items are in your queue?

Lisa
xoxo


Thursday, September 10, 2015

The Thing About _____ Is...

The thing about this blog is…

I’ve decided I stink so much at blogging lately, I’m going to try and make regular posts on Instagram.  You can find me as @knitwhimsy.  Same on Twitter, although I’ve never really mastered the whole tweet thing.  So the crickets are chirping on my Twitter account, same as here on this blog… (she sighs with no small amount of discouragement)

Speaking of which, the thing about Twitter is…

I’m WAY too verbose.  Seriously, 140 characters?  I can’t say hello in 140 characters. 

The thing about food bloggers is…

Remember a few months ago when I was so excited about my new food blog?  It turns out, food bloggers are blogging machines.  No seriously, the good ones manage at LEAST three posts a week.  And so, I’ve decided that if I need to tell the world about a great recipe I found on Pinterest, I’ll stick it in here and ask for the die-hard knitting enthusiasts to bear with me.  Besides, food blogging requires keen photographic skills.  Since I can’t seem to photograph yarn well, I have no idea what made me think I could graduate to food photography.  Ah, to be old-ish and delusional.

The thing about knitting is…

I have been busy.  I finished and sent three items to Nora:  a wool/alpaca jacket, a game day outfit for football season (with matching headband), and Beans the Cat.  Behold:

The big picture

Is he saying "ribit" or "ripit"??

Ready for game day, baby!
Go Bucks!
(They won their first game, incidentally)

Admit it...he's so homely, he's cute.


The jacket pattern is the Snug pattern I mentioned in my last post.  I love the frog buttons.  The little game day dress was whipped up out of the depths of my own mind.  Same with the headband, although it’s a simple garter stitch headband, started with a provisional crochet cast on and then grafted together once I got it as large as I wanted it.  Then I made my first attempt at pom-poms.  Well, actually, what you see is like, my fifth attempt.  The internet said to wrap the yarn around a fork.  Um…no.  I ended up just using my fingers.  Oh, and Beans?  My embroidery skills are lacking.  That didn’t stop me from sending him to Nora.  

The thing about knitting rules is…


Sometimes you have to break them.  While knitting the Snug for Nora, I cam across a yarn join and, completely losing my head, I actually tied the two ends together.  I admit it.  I did what should never be done.  And I’m glad, I tell you, glad.

I'm so knotty...


The thing about you all is...

You are awesome and wonderful and I thank those of you who have stuck around during the blogging famine on this site.  

Lisa
xoxoxo