Mommy + Knitter

Ten (Well, 6) Things

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 00:45:00 +0000

I guess instead of trying to sit down and write cohesive posts, I'll just do some fly-by bullet points. Maybe the lack of pressure will get me to blog more.

1. Happy belated Valentine's Day! I hope you had a great day. We had a lovely family dinner. The kids asked for fettuccine alfredo and a heart-shaped dessert (chocolate cake). They were also excited to have fried calamari for an appetizer. Is it weird that my kids love calamari?

2. I finished my brioche cowl! Last month's program at the knitting guild was learning this stitch and I really like it. I had a random skein of Shibui yarn in bright colors and the kids like to wear a cowl when they go out to play. It took a while, but I'm very pleased with it.

3. We've gotten more snow and more snow and more snow. In the shallowest part of the yard it's up to 35". I don't really mind it though - the kids have a blast playing outside and they've even been really good about helping some older neighbors shovel their driveways.

4. I'm behind on my February socks. I should have started the second one and I'm just turning the heel of the first. I'm knitting "Socks on a Plane" by Laura Linneman. This is my first attempt at toe-up socks.

5. Tomorrow, we're going to a sing-a-long showing of the original Annie movie.

6. This week is vacation week, so I'm trying to get random tasks done around the house. Yesterday, I went through all my old magazines.

Well, I was aiming for 10 things, but I guess there's just not that much to report.

Happy Knitting!

Hello Again!

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 14:05:00 +0000

After a fairly significant blogging hiatus, I thought I'd give this a try again.

We had a great year last year. I'm sorry I didn't share any of it with you! This school year has brought some changes - Baby Girl started kindergarten, I have a new job, and life is busier than ever. I am excited about my job. I am the Behavior Specialist for our school district. This marks the first time since Little Girl was born that I'm working at job that reflects my education and career goals. It's still part time and the hours are perfect for putting the kids on the bus and being home when they get off they bus. As an added bonus, I really enjoy it! Baby Girl is enjoying kindergarten and at this point in the year, the kids are all very busy with basketball.

On the knitting front, I feel as though I accomplished very little last year. I did knit myself a Dark and Stormy sweater, which I love! I wear it all the time. But, looking at my projects on Ravelry, I accomplished very little. I certainly did not come close to knitting/spinning the 12,000 yards I had set as my new year's goal. This year, my goal continues to be to knit from stash. I have plans to go to the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck this year, and I would really like to have knit up most of my stash from 2012's trip. So far, I haven't bought any new yarn since the new year, so yay me!

So far this year, I've knit a pair of socks, a Rikke hat, and a hat for Baby Girl out of handspun . Currently on the needles, I have another pair of socks and a brioche stitch cowl. I've swatched for a sweater and occasionally remember to work on a pair of thrummed mittens I cast on in November. We've had a lot of snow, so those mittens would be nice to have finished.

You can see all of those FOs on my Instagram Feed.

I don't know how often I'll blog, but I'd like to try to keep things updated. I like having a record of what I'm knitting on and when. I take so many photos with my phone now, I'll have to find the quickest way to upload them here.

In the meantime, Happy Knitting!

Instagram

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 15:28:00 +0000

Clearly, blogging is still not happening on any kind of regular basis.

But, I have finally figured out Instagram!!!! My username is Mommyknitter and knitterly photos actually get posted there! (I finally have a phone that talks to space and that makes Instagram and Twitter oh-so convenient!)

I think about the blog quite a bit. I think about videocasting occasionally. I have to say that when faced with the question of knitting vs. blogging, I choose knitting. Every single time.

Today though, I have no work, no car, and a cold. So today I will not have to choose between blogging and knitting - I will do both!

First up, my one, lonely finished object:

Yup. A super boring blue hat. I had knit my husband a fair isle hat for Christmas (one that I should probably get a picture of one of these days.) It's exactly like this one, that I made my husband for Christmas 2012, but 12 stitches smaller. And it was still too big. Enter the prototype hat - another 12 stitches smaller knit with some random blue Cascade 220 in the stash. It is now too small. I will try again with 6 more stitches. But later, because I only have so much time to be knitting prototypes when there is serious knitting to be done! For those keeping track of my yardage with me, this hat took 100 yards of yarn.

The week between Christmas and New Years I cast on a Patriotic Ear Flap Hat by Marleen, in anticipation of the Winter Olympics. This time I used Cascade 220 Superwash. I'm on the fence about adding the intarsia stars to the blue of the hat, so it's just been hanging out in my awesome new knitting basked waiting for a decision. (I will say that this hat also feels a little bit big, but its for me, not my husband, and I'm not one to complain about such things.) Not finished yet, so no yardage.

This is some Briggs and Little wool that Jacquie gifted me when I was at Rhinebeck. It's all wound up and ready to become some thrummed mittens. I haven't started them yet, obviously.

Because there are always socks on the needles - my current pair from Patons Kroy Blue Ragg stripes. You've seen them everywhere. Here's mine. I'm still trying to decide about what kind of heel to use. Any suggestions?

And finally, the reason why nothing else is getting done - my Geology Shawl by Verybusymonkey. I have really loved this pattern since I first saw it and knew that this yarn from Creature Comforts would be perfect! The yarn is called "Exit, Pursued by a Bear" and was part of the shop's very short Shakespeare Club. The colors remind me of the earth and I knew right away it was a perfect match for this pattern.

This picture doesn't show off the texture as awesomely as it looks in real life

I've been trying to get this shawl done before my local knitting guild meeting next week. Judith Durant is coming to present on blocking and she will choose one shawl from the members with which to demonstrate! Maybe she'll choose mine! Or, maybe she won't, but at least something will have been finished!

Here's another picture to give you a better idea of the texture:

I'm on the second to last section and the last section is feather and fan, so I hope to have the shawl done by mid-week. I plan to take up my long-hibernating Dark and Stormy, with the hopes of finishing it before the Olympics. It's unlikely, but I'll try. My Olympic Knitting will be the Carmen Banana sock monkey from KnitPicks. I've never knit a toy before, so it will be a true challenge.

I've also been spinning a little bit - an Into the Whirled braid that I'm fractal spinning but wish I had just 3-plyed. I'll talk about that another day.

Or not.

But there's sure to be pictures on Instagram.

Happy Knitting!

St. Distaff Day

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 22:44:00 +0000

The first Monday after 12th Night is St. Distaff Day. You can read a bit more about the history of this day here. This year, I was able to attend this event in Westford.

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

My biggest highlight came right at the end, when Judy (Hi Judy!) introduced herself to me and told me she reads/watches the blog!!!!! Totally made my day!!! This is the first time I've ever met anyone whom I didn't know before they started reading the blog. So exciting!!!

So, basically, a bunch of spinners show up, sit around the room and spin. It was neat to see all the different wheels and spindles and the different fibers that people were spinning. I had the opportunity to try a Journey Wheel, while sitting next to Mr. Bosworth, maker of said wheel! Turns out, Mr. Bosworth lived in Buffalo for a couple of years so we had a few things to chat about. Everyone there was very friendly and welcoming. I so wish I could make it to the spinning group regular get-togethers!

That's me and my new friend Terry. (I stole this picture from a post by Mrs. Bosworth)

There was also a silent auction to benefit the local museum where we were meeting. I bid on a Bosworth spindle, but the bidding went too high for me. I did however, win a Fiber Optic Gradient (Espresso to Gold) and 8 oz. of undyed Coopworth roving.I've been kicking myself for not buying from Fiber Optic at Rhinebeck and am excited to try her fiber! The Coopworth was bought for $2 - can't beat that for a new fiber!

I've been knitting lots of stockinette in the round without craving anything else, but I'm starting to feel ready for something that requires thought. Maybe that sweater will come out to play....

Happy Knitting!

First Finished Objects of 2014

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 00:11:00 +0000

Note: I wrote this yesterday, but didn't get around to finding the pictures until today.

In between eating, napping, and keeping the house from falling apart, I've been knitting. I've dug the Dark and Stormy sweater out of hibernation, but haven't quite found the energy to figure out where I've left off yet. Instead, I've been focusing on smaller projects.

I started a hat for Baby Girl right after Christmas. She picked out the yarn herself at Have Ewe Any Wool? when we were visiting my parents at Thanksgiving. It goes fantastically well with her winter coat, and I'm quite proud of her! Small child hats get finished in no time! I meant to have my mom make the pompom, but never got around to it. So, the pompom is wonky, but it will do.

Yeah for the first finished object of the New Year! (Boo for the blurry picture!)

Next, I finished a pair of socks for my husband. These were almost done. I just needed to add the heel to one sock. I put the heel in last night and wove in all the ends today.

Those are my feet doing the modeling

I've also started knitting a Patriotic Earflap Hat. This has been in my queue since the last winter Olympics and I've had the yarn since last spring. It was an excellent knit to start while sitting around, visiting with my parents. I'm not sure if I'll do the intarsia stars or not. We'll see how it goes....

Tomorrow, the local spinners group is having a St. Distaff Day get-together. I have yet to make it to any of their meet-ups, but I plan to go tomorrow! I'll be bringing both my wheel and a spindle or two.

What have you accomplished so far this year?

2014 Resolutions

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 13:16:00 +0000

My knitting/spinning resolutions are pretty simple this year:

1. I will knit from my stash this year.
   My stash is not huge, but most of the yarn in it is designated for specific projects. I would like to actually knit those projects this year! This doesn't mean I'm not going to buy any yarn, but I will be very selective about when and why I do!

2. I will knit/spin 15,000 yards this year.
   That's slightly more than 1200 yards a month. I'll be using the KnitGirllls Stash Dash rules - if I finish the thing, I count all the yards, regardless of when I started it. I'm hoping this goal will inspire me to actually finish things, rather than casting on a bunch of projects and letting them languish. It will also help me finish a few things that have been hibernating for quite some time!

To help me with these goals, I've made a 2014 tab in my Ravelry queue. The larger projects are all things for which I already have the yarn. There are a few smaller projects that I have had queued for quite a while that I would like to try to actually knit, even if it means buying some yarn.

My personal goals are as follows:

1. Lose 10 pounds
   I've lost 5 pounds since starting work. I haven't been snacking and I've been making an effort to eat healthier. I've probably gained them all back this week, but I'm ignoring that for the moment. I think with a little effort, the pounds will come off fairly quickly.

2. Spend more time with my kids
   I tend to hand projects to the kids to keep them busy, and then I deal with messes, laundry, whathaveyou. I'd like to be more likely to sit and do the project with them. Or invite them on a walk with me. Or find the time to play a game with them. They're little for such a short time and I want to make sure that I make full use of this time.

3. Improve my devotional life
   This is something that I still struggle with - finding the time and the energy to talk with God seriously. I pray often, but I would like some dedicated time to spend with my Savior.

Do you have any resolutions this year?

Goodbye, 2013

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 13:03:00 +0000

So, obviously, there's been zero blog content in quite a while.

About a week after I last posted I wound up heading to Buffalo for the long weekend to help my parents out with some house stuff. The day after I got home I interviewed for a job and started working the day after that. I'm now working 14 hours a week as an aide in the preschool room next to Baby Girl's class. I'm not going to lie - it hurts a little to go from running my own program for kids with emotional/behavioral disabilities to be cutting out construction paper shapes and wiping noses, but the job pays some bills and is the exact same hours as Baby Girl's school schedule, so no daycare and no impact on our time together. Plus, there is zero stress with this job.

It has meant a significant decrease in my time to run errands and whatnot, and this was kind of difficult so close to the holidays. But, all the Christmas stuff got done, including special activities with the kids, so all is well.

Our Christmas was wonderful. We spend Christmas Eve at my brother-in-law's house, enjoying a traditional Feast of 7 Fishes. This year that included raw oysters and champagne! Heavenly!!!! Christmas morning was wonderful, with happy children and tired parents. Christmas Day is spent at my in-laws' house with my husband's entire family. It's loud and crowded and happy and the kids love it. I knit my 3 SILs Escargot hats which were very well received.

Usually, we leave the day after Christmas and drive to Buffalo to spend the rest of the holiday with my family. Instead, this year my parents came to us! So, December 26th we lazed around the house, playing with our new toys and relaxing and my parents arrived the next day. We've had a lovely week, relaxing and spending time together. Last night we brought in the New Year by eating appetizer-y things and watching movies.

I'll post my resolutions in another post, but blog content is definitely on that list!

As far as knitting content, I've knit three escargot hats, a pair of Christmas socks, two pairs of fingerless mitts, and a fair isle hat. Most of the projects are on my Ravelry page (I forgot to take pictures of one set of fingerless gloves before mailing them and I haven't uploaded the pictures of all the hats yet). There's been some spinning, but nothing has been completed. I doubt that I'll get around to adding pictures here....

So, a belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you and yours. I hope to see you around here much more in 2014!

Fiber Festivals

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 17:45:00 +0000

Why, hello there! Long time no see! I actually finally recorded an episode last week, but something was up with camera, and my mouth and the sound just would not line up! I'll try again this week, at some point. In the meantime, so the show isn't just a huge line of stuff I've bought recently, I thought I'd blog about the various fiber festivals that have been going on the past month. Columbus Day weekend was the NH Wool Arts Tour. I thought this looked fun, so I piled the kids into the car and off we went! I had thought that there would be some interesting demonstrations and that the kids would be able to spend some time with animals. This was not necessarily the case. They did get to pet some sheep and goats, but they didn't really get up close and personal with the animals. The weather was chilly and wet, so most of the demonstrations were cancelled. It was okay though - the kids chatted so amicably in the car on the way up to NH and seemed to enjoy running around the farms. When I asked if they would go next year, they pretty much answered with "maybe." I decided it wasn't really worth the trip for me.

I did a tiny bit of shopping that day. I bought 2 oz. of Cotswold roving to sample at one of the farms. Friends in Fiber was vending and I bought my first rolags from her! I also picked 2 mini batts - one of llama and one of mohair, also new fibers to me. There was a vendor with large bags of white roving. I wish I had asked about price - I wouldn't mind having a sweater's worth of fiber to spin!

The next weekend was the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival. I didn't go this year, but I sent in an entry to the handmade competition. The featured item this year was cowls. I knitted the Scalloped Ruff by Pam Powers out of a merino/alpaca/cashmere blend. A week after the festival, I received it back in the mail, along with a third place ribbon!! I'm pretty excited to have won a ribbon for the second year in a row!

(I'm sorry that I don't have a decent picture of it. I'll try to get on that today!)

Finally, this past weekend was the New England Fiber Festival. This is my first time attending this event, and I went with a local knitting friend. We left early and arrived just before the doors opened. We had a lot of fun and bought a lot!!! I totally stuck to my list, except for one skein of sock yarn (and we all know that sock yarn doesn't count as stash!)

Here's the stash: A sweater's worth of yarn, Shetland fiber and sock yarn, all from Tucker Woods. A sock spinning kit from Bitsy Knits (who is AWESOME with the customer service!), 2 oz. of merino/silk/camel to spin, and a braid of Rambouillet from Gnomespun.

All the Tucker Woods Goodness!

I wanted to take a moment to compare/contrast Rhinebeck and the New England Festival, because there's been a lot of that going on on some of the Rav boards. New England was great for shopping. The Festival takes place in a HUGE building and booths are set up in a grid system with plenty of aisle room. It actually feels like shopping in a giant yarn mall. I think there were almost 200 vendors there, so plenty of shopping options! There was plenty of yarn and fiber, a number of rug hooking vendors, and, I think, a decent number of weaving vendors. There were opportunities to learn to spin and a few demonstrations throughout the day. Food choices were limited, but tasty and reasonably priced. The vendors, although they seemed to be tired at the end of festival season, had the time to really talk to customers, and we had several really nice conversations! This is an easy day trip for me, so I could definitely see it becoming a regular event for me.

Where the New England festival fails is the atmosphere. First of all, its inside. There's just something about shopping for yarn in the fresh air that makes me happy! Because its indoors, there's a lot less wooly fashion to admire. No one is wearing hats, scarves, or fingerless mitts inside. And although there were a few animals present, there were no animal shows - no sheep dog trials, or llama limbo, or sheep shows. Sure, there are no crazy crowds, but there's also was very little stopping strangers to admire their knitwear, or bonding while standing in line.

Rhinebeck has all the things that New England lacks. Plus, it has some of the bigger vendors that I would love to see in person again - Loop!, Fiber Optic, and Into the Whirled to name a few. It also has way better food vendors - lamb burgers are totally the appropriate fiber festival food! And, as another podcaster put it, Rhinebeck is yarn prom! The big kicker for me and Rhinebeck though, is the surrounding area. I LOVED the weekend I spent in the Hudson Valley last year. I loved dining at the CIA and touring the historical houses. I hope to go next year with my husband and hike the Walkway over the Hudson.

Some of the Festival Atmosphere at Rhinebeck

So, final analysis - for pure shopping, go to the New England Fiber Festival. It's much easier to browse, it's no problem to think about your purchases and go back to vendors, and there's plenty of room to breathe and move. For Festival atmosphere and a whole weekend of Autumnal beauty, site-seeing opportunities and the chance to make new friends, head to Rhinebeck. (Plus, Tucker Woods will only be vending at Rhinebeck from now on!) Wow, this turned into a really long post!!!! I'm glad to share my purchases with you here though! I hope the next time I record I'll be able to share the knitting and the spinning!

Not Even a Picture

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 13:33:00 +0000

Hi everyone! I did, in fact, record last week. But I was in such a rush that I'm kind of spastic and ridiculous, so I'm not going to post it! Last week was the last week of school and I spent the time frantically knitting washcloths, weaving in ends of cowls, wrapping presents, writing thank you notes and attending various end of school year activities. You can see pictures of all the things on my Ravelry page. Plus, on Thursday, we had one of my oldest friends and her family over for dinner. ALL of the kids behaved wonderfully and we were able to have a great visit. They stayed until 10, which meant the kids were pretty tired the next day! Thankfully, it was a half day of school and they were spending most of the time outside for a popsicle party. They all napped after lunch though, because we hosted a neighborhood ice cream party that night. As you can see, the week was pretty exhausting! I also received some awesome birthday presents! My dear husband gave me an Ashford Competition lazy kate and a super cute wpi/diz/twist angle tool! My MIL paid for some fiber braids that I ordered from Camelot Dyeworks. One is 100% Merino in blues, whites and greys called "Cinderella" and the other is red, white and blue superwash merino/bamboo/nylon appropriately called "July". July will be my wheel spinning for Tour de Fleece, and I hope to wind up with a sock weight yarn. Today is the first official day of summer vacation (because the weekend doesn't count). Our old town has school this week, so we're headed there this afternoon to visit teachers and play with old friends after school. We'll finish up the day by having dinner with my in-laws. Tomorrow we'll be busy packing because we leave Wednesday (sans DH and oldest child) for a 10 day visit with my parents. BUSY!!!!! So, short story long, don't know when I'll record next. It might not be until fall! I'll try to keep you updated one way or another on the knitting and spinning, but I promise nothing. To those of you whom I owe an email (you know who you are!), I'm sorry! I hope to get to it soon! Happy knitting!

Episode 10: Good Morning!

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:53:00 +0000

Episode 10: Good Morning! from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

Episode 9: Where I Talk Too Fast

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 29 May 2013 13:35:00 +0000

Episode 9: Where I Talk Too Fast from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

Episode 8: Long Time, No See

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:22:00 +0000

Episode 8: Long Time, No See from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

Radio Silence

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:59:00 +0000

Hello there!

As you've probably noticed, there hasn't been a new episode in a couple of weeks. I was hoping to get to it this week, but it's probably not going to happen.

Real life is taking up a lot of my time lately - house stuff, spring cleaning, gardening, and kids' activities have me pretty busy, and I just haven't wanted to take the time away from all of that to record.

I hope no one takes it personally. I know there are about 50 of you out there who watch the show, and I really appreciate it! I appreciate the emails and PMs too. But right now, I need to focus on the rest of my life.

In other things, I wanted to comment on the events of the Boston Marathon this year. I was out of town last week, but feel no less effected by the tragic bombings at the finish line. I LOVE the Boston Marathon. If my kids were slightly older, I would totally take them into town to cheer on the runners. Because that's what Marathon Monday is about. The crowd at the Marathon is 100% positive. Everyone is super polite and happy to be there. EVERYONE cheers on the runners. Strangers will walk along exhausted runners, encouraging them to finish the race. It's a great crowd, and it really sucks that people tried to ruin that.

Jerks.

Okay, that's my rant of the day.

I hope I'll find time to record soon, but if I don't, I hope you'll understand.

Thanks, and happy knitting!

Episode 7: Constant Interruptions

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:05:00 +0000

Episode 7 from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

Show Notes:

On the Needles:

Feather and Fan Dishcloth knit with Sugar and Creme Cotton
Cedar Leaf Shawlette by Alana Dakos, knit with Ball and Skein yarn on size 7 needles
Swatch for Dark and Stormy by Thea Coleman

Finished Object:

Scalloped Ruff by Pam Powers knit with Bristol Yarns King George Yarn

Spinning:

Still working on the Loop! Batt
Dyed my own wool with Wilton Food Coloring
The Easter Bunny brought Merino Top in the Jelly Beans colorway from Knitty in Color

Episode 6: Without Heat

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:42:00 +0000

Episode 6: No Heat from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

Show Notes: On the Needles: Lacy Baktus by Terhi Montenen, knit on size 3 needles from my handspun. Never Enough Thyme Polworth/Silk in the Winter's Chill Colorway Scalloped Ruff by Pam Powers, knit on size 7 needles in King George Yarn Spinning: Still working on the Loop Batt. Thinking aboug dyeing up some merino fiber Finished Objects: Husband's Socks knit out of Fishknits Shades of the Proverbial knitter yarn on size 2 needles. Techknitter provided the instructions on how to lengthen the leg. Spring Forward Socks by Linda Welch knit out of STR Lightweight in the Saving Grace colorway on size 0 needles. Knit for the Knitabulls STR KAL Family Tip: Visit kidsbowlfree.com and sign up your children to bowl 2 free games a day all summer long!

No Show This Week :(

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:42:00 +0000

Sorry everyone, my house is undergoing some work and it's too crazy to even think about recording! I HOPE all will be relatively normal by next week, and I look forward to showing you all the knitted progress! Have a wonderful week! Dorothy

Episode 5: Shedding is a Problem

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:29:00 +0000

Episode 5: Shedding is a Problem from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

On the Needles: Husband's Socks Spring Forward! Socks Lacy Baktus Spinnning: Loop Batt Coming Up: Scalloped Ruff Marshmallow Bunny Scarf?

Episode 4: Resolution Check-in

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 23:01:00 +0000

(I love how YouTube gives you me with my eyes closed. Brings back memories of my 5th Grade class picture)

On The Needles:

Taiga Cowichan
Hermione's Every Day Socks

Creature Comforts "Secrets Kept" yarn

Spinning:

Finished plying Never Enough Thyme Polworth/Silk in Winter's Chill
~360 yards of a 2-ply fingering weight yarn, and 104 yards of an undetermined weight of a navajo-plied yarn
Up Next: Loop Bullseye Bump in Full Bloom!

Stash Enhancement:

Fishknits self-striping sock yarn in "Shades of the Proverbial Knitter"

What I'm wearing: Gail (aka Nightsongs) by Jane Araujo knit in handspun gifted to me by Jane!

Episode 3: Sweater Lessons

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:55:00 +0000

I really wish I knew how to control what frame Youtube freezes on. I hope to get the show notes up by tomorrow!

Episode 2: Nothing New

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 23:28:00 +0000

(I love how YouTube gives you me with my eyes closed. Brings back memories of my 5th Grade class picture)

On The Needles:

Taiga Cowichan
Hermione's Every Day Socks

Creature Comforts "Secrets Kept" yarn

Spinning:

Finished plying Never Enough Thyme Polworth/Silk in Winter's Chill
~360 yards of a 2-ply fingering weight yarn, and 104 yards of an undetermined weight of a navajo-plied yarn
Up Next: Loop Bullseye Bump in Full Bloom!

Stash Enhancement:

Fishknits self-striping sock yarn in "Shades of the Proverbial Knitter"

What I'm wearing: Gail (aka Nightsongs) by Jane Araujo knit in handspun gifted to me by Jane!

Episode 1: The Pilot

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:49:00 +0000

Show Notes:

On The Needles:

Taiga Cowichan in Cascade Eco (NOT Cascade 220 Eco)
Hermione's Every Day Socks

Yarn from Creature Comforts

Spinning:

Finished the singles of 4 oz of Polworth/Silk in Winter's Chill from Never Enough Thyme

Finished Objects:

Christening Cap
Ski Lodge Socks

Thanks for watching!

A Zipper and a Handle

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:26:00 +0000

Yesterday, I finally got around to sewing my February project bag. It took me about 2 hours. Again, I'm pretty sure it should have taken 45 minutes or less, but I'll get there! I only had to rip out one seam, so I'm improving.

I used this tutorial because I wanted a larger bag and I wanted a handle. Now that it's done, I wish I had added the little pulls on the sides to make zipping it easier. So, next time I will do that. I think I'll also use some heavier interfacing to make a more structured bag. Actually, I think the next zippered bag I'm going to attempt will be a wedge shaped one. We'll see.

Anyway, here's my Valentine bag:

I think it came out really nicely!!! Here's a shot of the inside:

It's just large enough to hold the Taiga Cowichan sweater and what's left of the purple ball of Cascade Eco+. A child's sweater project would definitely fit easily in the bag.

I'm making steady progress on the Taiga. I finished the pockets on Monday night while watching Larry Crowne (which was really not very good. And I didn't have high expectations). I'm slowly working the bottom portion of the sweater. I made a little progress on that last night while watching Lars and the Real Girl (why yes, I totally hit up the grown-up movie section at the library this week). I was pleasantly surprised by this movie! It wasn't nearly as quirky as I thought it would be! It was both sad and sweet and I liked it a lot more than I expected!

I'm pleased with the sweater so far. I need to have the main body done by Monday for the steeking class that I'm taking. I also have to look for some kind of closure. The pattern calls for toggle buttons, but I'm not in love with that idea. Maybe I'll hit up Joann's later this week. Any opinions would be welcome!


The dangling parts in the front are the pockets

How a 6 Year Old Spends a Day Off of School with No Snow

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:09:00 +0000

Who do you think will win, the dinosaurs or the soldiers?

Plus, I finally finished my Ski Lodge Socks!

They're off by ONE ROW!

The snow is falling slowly but surely in Massachusetts. I foresee lots of knitting time tomorrow!

Photographic Evidence

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:55:00 +0000

I thought I'd give some photographic evidence of my 2013 goals so far!

First up, I have the first half of the Taiga Cowichan that I started last week:

The yarn is Cascade Eco and I worked the stockinette section on a size 10, but I'm doing the colorwork section on a 10.5. I haven't actually checked my gauge in the colorwork, but I feel like it it's looking the right way, so I'm going to go with it. The band in the front are my extra stitches so I can cut a steek. I'm taking a class on steeking in a couple of weeks, so I hope to have this ready to cut by then. I'm pretty confident it will get done, since I'm halfway through and I've only been working on this a few days. Don't you just love bulky yarns for that reason?

You can see the two balls of yarn in the corner of the photo. I think I'm going to have quite a bit of yarn left!

Spinning-wise, I've finished two ounces of my Never Enough Thyme Fiber in Winter's Chill. (Sorry about the shadows in the picture). I know that there are A LOT of over spun parts to this, especially towards the end of the bobbin. I don't really know what happened, but I had a mess and had to pull off a few yards of the singles and toss them because they were so over spun. I'm putting the other half of the fiber on another bobbin. I'm about 1/2 ounce through the second half, so maybe by the end of next week I'll have some new yarn to show you!

Finally, I still have not finished my Lollipop Yarn socks. This is the first one:

I have the stitches for the heel picked up on the second one and maybe it will get finished this week. I've been too occupied with the sweater to think much about the sock. I knit these socks over 56 stitches on a size 2 needle instead of my usual 60. I find that my socks slouch just a little bit and I'm curious to see if this helps. The smaller sock fits fine, but I do have to be a little careful when pulling it over my heel.

Nothing else has really gotten any attention this week. It's been very quiet around here the last two days, and I've sort of been relaxing and not worrying about much, besides laundry and dishes (we really can't go any amount of time without thinking about laundry and dishes).

2013 Goal Check-In

dorriejean18@juno.com (Dorothy Minear) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:46:00 +0000

On New Year's Eve, I laid out my knitting goals for 2013 here.

I thought I'd try to check in monthly to see if I've made any progress!

So far, I have not watched the Andrea Wong DVD, so I'm no closer to learning to knit Portuguese style and I have not picked up the Birthday Pi shawl once. However, I've made progress on all the other goals!

I spun up the byMelody batt that I bought at Rhinebeck and I've been slowly spindle spinning the fiber I bought from Into the Whirled. I had knit up one of the sock yarns and the red and white sport weight yarn before Christmas. This week, I cast on for a sweater using the Cascade Eco. I think I'm doing very well attacking the Rhinebeck stash! The Cascade sweater also fits into my knit myself sweaters goal!

I'm hoping to knit 4 pairs of socks this year. I almost have a completed pair of striped socks - they are both awaiting their afterthought heels. Yesterday, I picked up the stitches on one of the socks, and hope to have the heels in by the end of the weekend. I've also knit the leg of another sock.

Finally, I sort of participated in the Knitgirllls Expand Your Horizons challenge for January. By sort of I mean that I have some Babydoll Southdown fiber and I spent one or two afternoons attempting to spin it. I plan to give it some more time this weekend, so I'm going to credit myself for this one.

After one month, I'm feeling pretty good about achieving my goals!

How are you doing?