Knit Picks Sock Blanks

I’ve been a fan of Knit Picks on line store for quite awhile. I was introduced to it by my Wednesday night knitting group, several of whom band together with their orders in order to accomplish the free shipping price range. When I recently started getting several orders for sock blanks from my Etsy store I wondered why I was getting the orders instead of Knit Picks, especially since there’s a big sock yarn sale going on right now. A quick check showed me, the sale had run them out of on-hand sock blanks. And since one of the orders was for a woman who would be running a class on sock blank dying and needed them before Knit Picks would have them back in stock I was lucky enough to get the order.

It did point out something that had been mentioned before to me, that Knit Picks will only have limited quantities on hand when the sales begin and when they’re gone, you are expected to choose the items you want and they will notify you when it’s available again. Conveniently after the sale has ended. The items that were part of this discussion were the books, before the sale begins, several items usually just disappear from the site. Since I don’t purchase books from the site I can’t say whether that’s the case or not but I do know that if you want a specific yarn when a sale starts you’d better get in on the first day or it’s a toss-up as to whether it will still be available to you.

And, if you do miss out on the sock blanks the next time they go on sale you can always order from me at my Etsy shop.  ;>)

Talking to Strangers is Easier than you Thnk

I was in a craft store last night and overheard a couple of women discussing the fourth Doctor as they were selecting yarn. Always happy to butt in I approached and offered that if they were making the Doctor scarf there was a web site that had the colors and pattern definition. The grandmother had seen the site and she had picked up a couple of colors that didn’t correspond to the colors listed for the scarf. So, she had brought the granddaughter (the one who had requested the scarf) with her to the craft store to ensure she got the right colors.

We chatted about the scarf and the construction of it for a bit, the granddaughter is a petite little thing. I suggested she make the scarf twice as long as her granddaughter is tall to get the desired effect.

They both admired my solar system scarf since it was 12 degrees out and I was all bundled up. They wanted to know if I had made it and I told them I was going to have the pattern available on Ravelry in January, 2014.

So now I guess I need to get the pattern tweaked and get it out there for people now that I've started wearing the sample around. Lots of people have noticed it.

Doh! What was I thinking?

See that picture in the previous post with the swinging monkey afghan piece? Had to tear it all out. OK, I didn't have to tear it all out but I didn't feel like picking up 248 stitches after tearing out a dozen rows and struggling with getting them all going the right directions. So I just redid the border too.

Was forming one of the stitches incorrectly. If you look at the picture you can see a line of bars running up the right hand side instead of a smooth line of stitches moving over magically on the fabric.

Well, it's torn out now and I'm already further along than I was previously. Now I really need to get a wiggle on. This puts me even further behind than I was before. Drat!

And that Knitmeter is so lying on me. I've actually done almost 20 miles so far this year. I just don't like updating that app, it's too cumbersome.

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth

Although I have been distracted. For 3 whole years? ! ? How time flies when you're doing other stuff. Actually I've been watching a lot of TV and being depressed about the state of the world, my lack of success and why there's no significant other in my life. But an event can change your attitude about life in general. Recently an event happened peripherally to me that radically altered a lot of lives. Mine included. So on we go with renewed determination. I'm on Ravelry as SpaceWhisper and right now I'm working on a test knit for the Affable Knitter for a Swinging Monkey baby afghan. It's been slow going trying to read the written out instructions and it's always interesting to see how other peoples logic systems work. Here's how far I've gotten.

And I need to get a wiggle on. The requested completion date is 7/15/13. Which means I have to work on it for over an hour every day in order to make my stitch count for that date. That's 13 rows of 235 stitches every day I would be further along but didn't pay attention to the stitches that were forming under my hands and was doing one of the faux cable stitches incorrectly. It was an interesting effect but that's not what you're shooting for when doing a test knit. So frogged and restarted.

Ha! I've been invited...

to take part in a square exchange on Ravelry.

You always get this tingle when you're invited to do something. That tingle that says 'I'm special. People really like me.' That's your ego talking. In truth, I know that lots of stitchers on Ravelry have been invited to join this group but it will be a fun exercise (and get rid of some of this yarn stash).

The basic premise is that you make 11 (12, keep one for yourself) granny squares which are 12" on the side, you ship off 11 of them to the names of your group and all the people in that group will have enough squares to make a blankie, lap throw or what have you. I think this will be great, to see what other people are doing, what materials they are using and, as I said, use of some of the yarn stash that is hiding in the basement.


I just went through and repacked a bunch of that stuff. I keep thinking 'This has got to be getting smaller but I'm not seeing it. I think the main drawback is that 13 big plastic containers that are stuffed full of yarn. There are also ancillary cardboard boxes that are full of yarn and when I get rid of one of the cardboard boxes, it doesn't register as an accomplishment because the plastic containers are still there and still stuffed full of yarn.


And then, some people will donate yarn to me for my Project Linus blankets. A great, big ole Thank You to the people that do this, but where am I going to put it all? Guess I'll have to work faster.


I did get a couple of projects done for Project Linus from the last donation of yarn that I received. I had to go out and buy another skein of Hepplewhite white Lion Brand Homespun to finish the pattern on one. The things we do for charity.

Score!

I make blankets for Project Linus. I have made blankets for that charity for 4 or more years. As is people's wont, I have mentioned this in the course of conversations with different people and I was asked if I would take some yarn from one of the women I spoke to about this.

She had purchased the yarn for projects and now had decided that her interests lay in a different direction and she no longer wanted it her house, she preferred to have the space for other things.

After no hesitation at all, I said 'Yes, I'd be happy to take the yarn for Project Linus blankets.' I've had other people also donate yarn to me for charity work in the past.

Now I'll be honest and say that if I receive some yarn from someone for a charity that I think I can use in another project, I'll use it. Some people will be horrified to hear that items that were donated to me to use for charity, I decide to use for my personal items. But I'm OK with that. I donate lots of blankets to Project Linus every year. Way more blankets than I have ever been gifted yarn for, so that means that I'm using my yarn for the charity. Swapping out some of the donated yarn for the my yarn that I use, it works for me. And some of the stuff I receive goes right on to another charity depending upon the condition, quantity and type of yarn received.

Have a different opinion? That's what the Comment section is for.

A great big Thank You to Inger for donating this yarn to the charity effort. As you can see in the second photo, I've already started a blanket from the donation she gave me.

It's that time of year.....

I just finished my first Christmas Stocking for 2009. And it's not even Halloween yet.
Can you tell it was made for Steve? I've added it to my projects list on Ravelry, a pretty cool on-line knitting and crochet networking area, if you have checked it out I recommend it.

It's getting so I have to set the alarm on my watch when I sit down at the computer. Between Facebook, Ravelry, Etsy, blogging and e-mail I can lose half the day and not even notice it. Obviously I'm not the only one afflicted, one of the recent posts I saw on Facebook was the bemoaning of lost time on-line. Think up a way to prevent that and make a fortune.

But I did make the time to go out and take a couple of photos. When the rose bush finally blooms in late October you should get a picture of it.
When I mentioned that the rose bush had finally bloomed I was told by an acquaintance that roses like cool weather and bloom better then. I may have missed something in the translation but I remember turning my air conditioner off in mid-September because the summer here in KC has been so mild this time around. If roses like cooler weather then shouldn't it have been blooming at least once before now? I'm afraid this may be the last hurrah for this rose bush. Hope not, I like the color of the blooms.

Time for Scarves

So I'm packaging up the gray scarf to send off to the Red Scarf Project. And starting on another scarf, this time with a lace pattern. The flash on the camera really washes out the lace pattern but since I was doing this at 2am I couldn't use natural light very easily.


I'm so messed up on my sleeping patterns right now. This menopause thing is continuing it's inevitable course but it's playing hob with my sleep system. Not that I was all that regulized anyway but now it's unreal. I'll sleep for 3, 4 or 5 hours and then I'm up for 14, but I could fall asleep in the chair I sit down in and be down for an hour or two.


Course, considering what some women go through with their hormones out of whack I'll take the sleep disruption until the cycle runs it's course.

That meter is so lying on me...

I have knitted and crocheted and done little jewelry bits too.....I just haven't updated the meter. Guess it's not high on my priority list.

If you want to see what I've been working on, check out the n2 Imaginations Etsy shop. Not as many items in there as I'd would like but I've had other things to do, walking dogs, pet sitting, maintaining the house, etc. But I am proud of the cat hot pad for the kitchen, I think he looks rather handsome.

I'm working on a crochet necklace right now to go with the snoods I've been making and found this really great book as a reference 150 Crochet Trims: Designs for Beautiful Decorative Edgings, from Lacy Borders to Bobbles, Braids, and Fringes
Some really yummy stuff in there. May have to come up with some other projects for some of them. teehee, like I need any more encouragement.

Onward

I'm almost done putting the latest batch of Workbaskets onto a duplicate Workbasket list. I've already got some for sale at Etsy but there's a lot more that I've received since then. And I'm trying to abide by Etsy's request not to change a listing after it's been listed to save myself 20 cents. As useful as that site is I can't see how someone would do that to save themselves a couple of bucks but they're everywhere, on all levels of society, either on Wall Street or in the local website, 'gimme, gimme, gimme' with no regard for others.

Ooops, my bad, this is not a political soapbox, I mean it could be since it's my blog but I don't want to do that. As a firm believer in the Law of Attraction I don't want to attract more ills of the Universe by concentrating on the perceived ills around us. Karma will come home to visit those that cause misery to others as a natural course and considering some of the ills these people have caused they are going to have a major bill come due.

So I've finished the Spiderman afghan for the friend's nephew. This is going to be his big Christmas gift and I'm pretty proud of the way it turned out. If I thought I could get the $$$ for the time you have to invest in it I would put it out on my design page as a special order. Actually I should do that anyway. You never know when someone will contact you and absolutely NEED to have one of those. I still get requests for the Space Invaders sweater even though I've done as the lawyers asked and 'ceased and desisted' putting images out on Etsy. As usual, lawyers are not a lot of fun. But it was interesting having been picked up by the viral Internet, was that my fifteen minutes of fame?

More Workbaskets

Hooray! The latest purchase of Workbaskets has just arrived. I'm a bit disappointed in the condition of them. The description said that the seller hadn't been through the magazines to determine completeness and even just looking at them you can tell pages are loose from a page having been torn out. There's one born every minute. Just have to remember not to purchase from that seller again or question her closely on condition if I ever do.

So the magazines are in, out of 56 that I purchased there are 12 that I don't already have. I'm at that stage where the big pieces are complete and now I'm trying to fill in the corners and bits and pieces. Which could get expensive, or I could just reference the other Workbasket indexes out on the web for the years that I still don't have. Most of them are the early years, yeah, big surprise there. But the 90s magazines are in short supply also. Must have been cutting back on the production runs as subscriptions ran out and weren't renewed.

So I'm back to updating the Workbasket Index, take a look and let me know what you think if you're into that kind of thing.

After that I compare the duplicates against my existing library, keeping the nicest one for my reference. Guess I should put a link onto the index page offering my duplicates for sale. There's plenty of good use in these magazines, they are a treasure trove of patterns, ideas and recipes. I've tried some of them and those cooks knew their business. Come to think of it, I have some leftover chicken in the fridge now, wonder what they suggest. Off to do research....

Half past September....

and I'm still struggling with projects that should have been done awhile ago. I did finish the train sweater and now I'm working on another one to refine the design. Too many little color bits to make it an efficient pattern design. 'Course I could complete the sweater using intarsia and fair isle methods and then complete the details with duplicate stitch but I've not been satisfied with the way my duplicate stitches look. Prolly pulling the yarn too tightly, that's my usual issue with fiber arts I want to pull that yarn to get a good tension and then the whole thing buckles on me cause it's been pulled too tightly. Another reminder to relax and let things happen.

So I've started on the Spiderman afghan for my friend, Laura. Her nephew will just think she's the bestest auntie in the world when this is delivered for Christmas (as if she isn't already the bestest auntie in the world in his eyes). This has reached the perseverance stage of construction. I'm up to 24 dc on each facet, I usually have to stop and go do something else after two rounds just to let my hand relax a bit. And a couple of rounds can take an hour at this stage of the project. Another swatch of blue, another line of the web and then a couple of rows of blue to finish it off the color work. I still have to fill in the support lines on the web through the body of the afghan and that will take time. It's kinda hard to work with the needle on one side of the project and the yarn on the other while you chain stitch your way across it. Still going to take awhile but will be done in plenty of time for Christmas.

Christmas! September and I'm already planning for Christmas....might as well give in and just think about it all year round like some people do. Does that make your Christmas list longer or shorter when you devote that much time to it?

Waiting mode

I'm waiting on the next batch of Workbasket magazines to come in from eBay. Should be here any day. I'm excited about this shipment (well, I'm excited about all of them) because there are several magazines from the 30s in with this batch. Haven't seen a Workbasket from the 30s except in illustrations.

I found it interesting that the early 40s Workbasket magazines were printed on one sheet of paper to be mailed out and then the customer was expected to cut the pages to they could use it as a magazine format. The batch that I got had never been cut so I still have one long piece of paper strategically folded to conform to the magazine pages. Since these haven't been cut it didn't really make sense to me when I first saw them. The odd little things you pick up from your various hobbies.

The index is coming along nicely. You can see it here. Let me know what you think of it.

I'm also at the point where I'm going to start listing my duplicate Workbasket Magazines for sale. I have a listing on Etsy.com but I'm trying to conform to rule that you can't change a listing after it's been posted to try and save the 20 cents that a new listing would cost you. I like having all the magazines available for the customer to make their choice but I keep getting additional purchases and so maybe I'll just list them on my website for sale and avoid the 20 cents issue altogether.

Such hard decisions life is made of. Some days it's tough. Other days much easier.

Getting over the wall....

which I hit earlier this year, an emotional one, not a physical one. A word of advice, when you get hit, and you will get hit, financially (as I did), mentally, emotionally, (hopefully not) physically, just keep going. You hear the words that life is not what happens to you but what you do with it but they don't really sink in until something big happens. Now looking back at my response, I'm not real proud. I was withdrawn, I ran away from my responsibilities and things that used to give me pleasure seemed to be the hardest tasks in the world to pick up again.

So don't run away, face whatever it is that's chasing you and it'll suddenly diminish to much less than you're making it out to be. I've just started on another baby afghan for Project Linus. I dropped off a bag of 3 blankets to the drop off site a couple of weeks ago. I just finished a crocheted baby blanket for the next niece expected in September. It's a filet crochet pattern and I'm disappointed in the way the stitches pulled on me. The blanket is still totally usable but it's got dips in the openwork area. May have to do another one just to see where I pulled the yarn too tight. The creative juices are flowing again, time to gear up and take off.

I've even got a lot more done on the Workbasket Index that I'm putting together. Check it out here. If you have suggestions on how to improve the index please let me know your thoughts.

Back again

And working on more projects and a project that involved Workbasket magazines. Like a lot of people I'd collected batches of them from yard sales and auctions over the years and kept them sitting in boxes. Every once in awhile I'd pull them out to look for a pattern I'd remembered seeing and then get totally distracted by all the old ads and neat items that I'd run across in all the other magazines I'd have to look through before (if ever) finding the pattern I wanted.

So I'm putting a Workbasket Index out on my web site, yep, sitting down at the computer means I have to enter another magazine into the index and copy it out to the web site. I've gotten pretty far already. Check out the index here. It still needs some work and I still need to fill in some gaps in the magazines that I have but it's coming along. I hope it's helpful to people like me that remember seeing a pattern when they were browsing through the magazines but can't remember just which one it was in.

Gonna miss getting distracted and creatively engaged by just looking though. Of course, I can always do that but sometimes efficiency isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Gotta remember to record stuff

I've been working on projects and getting them done but haven't gotten into the habit of recording everything on the blog as yet. How is the world supposed to know how prolific I am if'n I don't tell them. ;>) I just finished two hats for Laura and Hal (matching, of course) and shipped them off and didn't even think about taking a picture until I was back from the Post Office. Doh! I can always ask Laura to take a picture for me but she's a busy woman being president of the company that she and Hal run, Deer Run Associates and a published poetess. I can always ask though. Just have to remember to take the pictures myself in the future before the item leaves my hands.

Yes! I finished something

I did get the Purple Patchwork Sweater done! And immediately figured out that when using an old pattern you have to keep in mind when it was generated. The way the shoulders fit me I'm guessing this sweater was designed to have those shoulder pads in them to make it look like I'm a football player. Remember those? It's no biggie, well, yes it is.

I don't want to pull out all the seams to redo the shoulders.....yes that was meant to be read in a very whiney voice. I don't like the sweater enough to put any more time in on it. Have to find someone to give it to. Or it's sweater weather now, that means Operation Warmth will prolly be getting started real soon now. It'll all work out. Good thing I made a hat to go with it.
That'll make it more attractive, well that's not fair, the sweater does look really good, I just don't like the way it fits me. I don't like the way anything fits me right now. Since I got fired from my job I've lost over 40 lbs and it makes a difference in the way your clothes look on you.


And now I know NOT to make this sweater again. Or, if I do make it in a lighter weight yarn, a different color, a different collar, maybe.... Nope, just don't make it again. There are plenty of patterns out there to be tried rather than going with one that I don't like.

Projects...more projects

Well the shawl is done and it's now listed on Etsy. I've started another sweater, one that will use up some of the leftover purple tones out of my stash. It's a patchwork sweater. I found the pattern in an old Workbasket magazine. I'm going through all the Workbaskets I've accumulated over the years and am putting them in an index. Everytime I wanted to find a pattern I'd remembered seeing, I'd sit down with a stack of magazines and start going through them. Which meant I'd lose hours as I got distracted with all the neat stuff in them.

As soon as I have at least half of them set up I'll post it on my creative web-site, n2 Imaginations Design. Still working out how to publish a multiple page workbook as a .pdf. Guess I'll have to get the HTML workbook out again and start going through the chapters. Always something new to learn.

So I ran across this patchwork pattern in the Workbasket I'd entered and just started it, which is very bad timing on my part. I have special orders coming in for sweaters from my Etsy presence and really need to work on them. Which I am, but those are all in the design stage, still setting up the motifs and working the gauge swatch and changing the pattern calculations and you just want to pick something up and watch it take shape under your hands. At least I do (or I could just be rationalizing). So I started on this sweater. I may have needed to put some more neutrals in it but so far I'm still charmed with the idea of it. The pattern calls for a 4" ribbing at the waist so I've finished the front and back panels and am sewing them together before doing the ribbing to avoid the seam. I can do a raglan sweater in one piece from the top down or from the bottom up but I'm still figuring out set-in sleeves (not having done too many of them) so I want to take it by the numbers before I start playing with the sweater design. 'Course, I could always get another book - Hot Knits which will help me with the instructions.

Bad Nancy, you have enough books. Get back to working on that sweater.

Labor Day

Was in fact a labor day for me. 'Course with my new business in a way every day's a holiday for me so working on a holiday seems to make sense. Since I pet sit for people, of course I would work on the holidays. That's when people need pet sitting. But it's all good.

I'm working on another Space Invader sweater. I have a feeling that I'll be able to post these on Etsy through the end of the year and still find buyers. So I ordered a bunch more black yarn. I'll need that for another sweater idea that I have so it'll all be used one way or another. Black yarn usually is.

I need to take a break from the Space Invaders and work on my Panda Bear design. He's right there, almost done and ready to be fabricated. Just have to take a day and get all that finalized. This one worked out really well also. Once I have a good picture I'll get it posted.

In the meantime I'm almost done with the shawl.
When the momster had surgery a few years back and one of the sisters was in an awful car accident I made them Prayer Shawls to use after they got out of the hospital since it was in the middle of winter. Since then I put a shawl in the rotation every now and again. I really need to do another blanket for Project Linus. I have two blankets ready to go and had decided last year that every 3rd or 4th project would be for charity. That was before I was liberated from my corporate job and started re-ordering my priorities. Can't let it go though. I had decided on that commitment and I should uphold it or formally release it and I'm not ready to release it yet. So I guess my next project is a charity blanket.

Oh, and I just picked up what looks like a swell reference book 1000 Great Knitting Motifs by Louise Roberts. I've been slowly building my library of motifs to knit and this has a lot of cool examples in it. Has a lot of really bad color combos also but that's a great visual for me to avoid them. I'm going to sit down and go through it page by page but right now it looks fun. I'll write a more complete review after I've really looked at it.

Good to know what the line-up should be. Space Invaders, shawl, book review, panda bear, charity blanket, polar bear...by the time I get all those done I'll have a whole other list of ideas to work on.

And the charity blankets really help to work down my stash items. So it's a win-win situation. I haven't quite gotten to the point where I can release the yarn that comes into my home to the Destash site or a garage sale. My other clutter is clearing out nicely but not the yarn or the books. Still working on those. And the Destash site is a dangerous place for me to be roaming around in. And you know exactly what I mean by that.

Who Knew....?

The video game sweater has just taken off. The viral Internet has embraced it to both praise and distain it. Do I care? Not much. I got the pattern done and out onto Etsy.com and onto my crafty site so people that want to make and wear the sweater can do so.

And people that don't...won't. I find it interesting the comments that have been made about this idea. People that would never dream of making a comment about an African patterned dress or a Hawaiian shirt take great delight in showing their distain of this sweater. Prejudice shows up in a lot of different ways. If it makes them feel cool to show their intolerance in public then rock on.

On a side bar I got the blanket done for Alisha's baby.
He's not here yet and his name is Gage. He should be making an appearance Just Any Time Now. Her due date is this week. This should keep him warm once the autumn weather starts in on the Midwest. It's made with Yarn Bee Icelandic Jewels Yarn. This is a Hobby Lobby house brand and this is the first project I've used it for. If it washes well I'll be using it again. The blanket was made with 10 1/2 needles and it came out nice and plush and cozy. The color intermix is well done and I think there's about 12 color choices that they have. I'm interested in trying a sweater now with a size 11 needle. That'll be warm this winter when I have the thermostat set at 68.