A Moral Dilemma

I have a question. A moral question. Sometimes my worldly-ness gets out of hand and I have to stop and think for a minute if I've crossed the line. Sometimes I try to justify things and figure that if I have to justify it, it's probably not worth doing... I was knitting during church last Sunday.

Here's my justification: I can knit and listen at the same time, just like I can knit and listen to TV without issue. Is it wrong because it's church and I should be giving my full attention to the pastor. I clarify that I was just knitting a sock in the round without any special twists or cables so it took almost no thought at all. But, at the end of the service I had almost two inches done!!! I couldn't help but be happy about that.

I'll extrapolate a little further. It was an 8am service that almost no one goes to. There's no daycare at the 8AM service, so no parents bring their kids. I usually bring my child, but it was sort of treat to leave him at home with dad for the morning, so I was secretly thrilled about having a peaceful service to myself to sing, actually listen to the sermon and knit...

What about prayer shawls. That seems to be OK. Plus, I wasn't disturbing anyone else. Sometimes when I use to work third shift, I'd watch the video sermon online and knit while I watched that. It's practically the same thing, right? OK, more justifications. Any feelings on this?

The Ultimate Stash-Off

Hello! I'm back. I know it's been a while. I've got a new goal and purpose this time. I'm going to document my year of knitting from my stash. A little background is in order:

THE BEGINNING

I started knitting around December of 2008, roughly 2 1/2 years ago. It was funny because being a very crafty person my entire existence, I always rejected knitting. I promised myself that it was one craft I did not want to pursue, that it was not for me. I learned how to crochet as a young child from my grandmother. I made the occasional scarf here and there, but never really liked the look of crochet. After crocheting a small blanket for my son, I grew bored again. Due to the birth of my son and the fact that he is a typical boy, scrapbooking with concentration was impossible. Sadly, I also had to give up my scrapbooking room in turn for a nursery.

My mom joined the knitting phenomenon and encouraged me to also. She is not a natural crafter, but makes up for it in enthusiasm and hostessing when it's her turn for the knit group. I went to my first knitting group at her house, where one of her co-workers was supposed to teach me how to knit.

Like any good Wisconsin-knitter, I checked out some books, watched some online videos and was knitting before the meeting. I came to the meeting talking about stockinette stitch and ribbed edges and my mom was like, "what?"

And so, I dove into knitting like I do anything else, headstrong and full of intensity. It took about 4 months after that for knitting to "click" with me. Meaning, I finally understood the "why" of gauge and the concept of yarn weight and what patterns are asking for. When I look back, I think that is my favorite part. The fact that I recognized the transformation between a novice and a knitter. I like that it's not something you can teach people. You can give them the books and lessons, show them how to do it, but until it clicks in their own head, they are not there yet.

YARN

Like any new knitter, when I started I bought enough yarn for one project, finished that project and moved on. But, like any Not There Yet knitter, the projects I first picked weren't that good and the yarn wasn't very nice. And so, I grew and learned and unfortunately my collection grew. And, like most knitters I know, I also bought the occasional whim purchase. The I can't live without that and I'm sure I can find a use for that yarn.  And so, I'm continuing this blog with a new intensity for knitting and to show everyone you can knit from the stash for a year or so until it's gone and I'm bored and need to buy new yarn!!

I'm not gonna lie, I know I'll buy more along the way, but in a very limited, planned manor. I hope.

Knit-In Knitting

Well, this past Saturday was the annual Madison Knitter's Guild (MKG), Knit-In at the Bishop O'Connor Center. The knit-in is made up of four primary aspects: knitter's, classes, the marketplace and a well-known knitterly speaker or group.

My "Strickly Sock"

I was lucky enough to get in Candace Eisner Strick's "Strick-ly Socks" class. The class was great. She taught us how to make a sock with her new revolutionary and yet simple, sock technique. I loved it!! The hardest part was learning the Channel Island cast-on she taught us. She was a nice instructor with a quirky sense of humor that made the time fly by. I would highly recommend that and her book if you're looking for a great new sock method.

Note: I especially like this sock method, because I can do the toes and turn a heel without using double-pointed needles. I'm a big fan of the 9" circulars and I can the whole with those and pair of 16" circulars.

The marketplace was also nice. I kept my purchases to two sets of buttons. Very nice. You can never have too many buttons. In fact, I never have buttons when I actually need them, and then I end up buying cheap ones I don't like.

I also picked up the "Strick-ly Socks" book, a size one  9" Hiya-Hiya circulars in nickel!!! Yeah, I think I have them all now.  And....drumroll for the yarn....only 1 skein of an autumn-y red, orange, yellow and brown fingering weight sock yarn, for the new socks of course, and 900 yards of a similar color in dk weight for the cover shirt of the new Knitscene magazine. (That yarn was a great deal). Both were from an independent dyer, whose color's were fantastic.

It was hard limiting the yarn purchases to just two, but if I'm trying to bust the stash, concessions have to be made.

1245 Yds. What a steal!!

Finally, the founders and employees of Ravelry attended as the guest speakers. Wow, what a story. They were sort of quirky and informal in their story telling and history, but the overall staple of knitting networking that they created is amazing. It's hard to believe that Ravelry is only four years old and has millions of members worldwide. What a phenomenon!!! I was inspired by what the end result was and only wish I had the sort of technical mastery Casey possesses.

Overall, it was a nice day. Oh, Knitpicks also provided complimentary buttons!!! Thanks. I love knitting freebies.

Intil I write again....

Knitting Without Tears in my Basement

Well, I was downstairs cleaning out my basement yesterday, trying to clean out some old books, when low and behold there was a copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears. I couldn't believe it, I must have picked it up sometime when I was out thrift-store shopping years ago.

I must admit, I haven't looked into her stuff too much. But, Zimmerman is endlessly referred to, so I'm happy to jump on the bandwagon.

I read through the book yesterday and found her directions fairly understandable. I felt very motivated to try designing another sweater without a pattern. What a great surprise.

Cat Bhordi at MKG

Well, this past Monday marked the beginning of the Madison Knitter's Guild year. And, what better way to start a new season than with a world-renown knitter and speaker, Cat Bordhi. I must admit, I've read/looked at several of her books, namely "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles" and "A Treasury of Magical Knitting" and they just didn't do it for me. Unfortunately, I don't see the draw in the whole moebius knitting thing and I'm giving sock knitting a break after 5 pairs of mediocre socks.

Well, I arrived at the meeting promptly at 6 P.M. and felt the excitement in the air. When she began speaking I wasn't really sure what to expect. After a few minutes I was enthralled with her story of how she began knitting and the success of Addi circular needles in the U.S.A.

Finally, she moved onto a new way of making socks. Bordhi went over the Eastern and Western sock standards which have remained virtually the same for hundreds of years. While this new sock design is Eastern in theory, it has her mark all over it. It may even tempt me back to sock knitting, since I love a challenge.

Overall, Bordhi was funny, entertaining and very educational in all aspects of hand-knitting. I love listening to different perspectives of knitting and she was worth it. She even suggested NOT buying her new book for the new sock theory, but instead to figure it out ourselves or watch YouTube for help. Now that's a love of the arts when you're more interested in "owning" the technique and being a good knitter rather than just making money.

Stitches Stitches Here I Come

Well, I attended Stitches Midwest on Friday, September 11, 2009 and I must say it was quite a success. My mom and I went just for the marketplace experience, but next year I may progress and take some of the great looking classes. There was a lot of tempting yarn, books, patterns and accessories. I had a hard time deciding what to spend my money on, but I smartly went with a limited amount of cash, so as not to be tempted by the credit card. 

I bought most of the yarn with a project in mind: here is my show and tell...

A magenta project bag by knowknits.com. I love knitting in the kitchen while I'm making dinner and waiting for my food to cook. This will be perfect.

Two skeins of PolarKnit in blue's to knit a warm and cozy stocking cap for my baby. This should be one, warm hat and I think he'll love how soft and silly it looks. This is the first time I have seen this yarn in person. 

Two skeins of Mini Mochi (again, I've only read about it) to make my a Christmas gift for a female family member. I'm thinking, slinky, dressy scarf.

Three skeins of Lorna's Laces worsted to try out a Knit One Below scarf for myself.

I saw a short demo on this technique and am dying to try it. The scarf pattern calls for a slow variegating yarn to show the contrast in the fun technique.

I don't know what kind of yarn this is but it's a deep magenta/purple sock yarn that will be fun to experiment with. It was a steel at 1800 yards for only $15! I'm thinking an Isolda shawl and matching beret or something...

Finally, I bought three skeins of the Cascade Ecological wool in a gray color. I hope to make a traditional aran sweater, or something out of the Vogue Fall 2009 magazine. 

I bought a few other knicknacks, that I will put to great use.

 Watch for updates with pictures of putting my fun yarn to great use.

Yarn Swap

Hey all,

I participated in my first yarn swap which I found as a group on Ravelry. My spoilee was very nice and sent me a great package. Kudos to her. Have a look:

I'm excited to try to Soak because I've never actually washed a knitted garment before. And she gave me several great wrislet patterns to choose from !