Month: August 2015

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

So I sort of won Stash Dash.  I say sort of because I finished over 4,000 yds of knitting.  Which is more than enough to qualify for the 3K.  However, since I was up knitting until midnight on the day of the finish, I did not post everything to Ravelry.  Which means that in the eyes of the Stash Dash Commissioner, it wasn’t really finished.

I’m really ok with this.  I don’t need any prizes.  All I need is the satisfaction of getting things cleared off the needles (and your comments telling me how cool everything is).

Hygge Baby Cardigan – 294 yds – DONE
Hygge baby

Lettuce Pullover – 1880 yds

Haruni Shawl – 440 yds

Solaris Cardigan – 1680 yds DONE Solaris

Hitch Pullover – 1120 yds DONE  – this is the most current photo I have of it.  I’ll post more once  it’s been bathed and is photo ready.  stashdash2015-2

Wabi-sabi – 924 yds

Zephyr Cardigan – 1200 yds

Remnant Love – 850 yds

Marin – 385 yds

2nd Zick Zack – 831 yds

BLT Scarf – 346 yds – DONE

Lydia Cowl – 200 yds – DONE Lydia Cowl

Lydia Cowl Longer & Better – 380 yds – DONE – again, photos of this to come as I get it bathed and beautiful. 

Ponchini – 330 yds – DONE  ponchini

The grand total planned yardage = 10,150
Finished yardage = 4350

 

Whew!  That’s a lot of knitting.  Now, had I actually stuck to the plan I think I could have made it to the 5K goal.  The problem was I kept getting distracted by new and shiny projects.  While knitting is knitting, knitting 380 yds on a sweater to finish it would give me better meterage than knitting a brand new project.  Oh well.  Que sera sera and all that.

Now I’m feeling a bit of a let down after the rush to get projects finished.  I’m debating about finding another KAL to work on or just doing my own thing for a bit.  I’ll keep you updated on what I decide.

In the meantime, I found out that both my girls like wearing tube socks (ick!) so I might have to make some.

 

The Glitterati

image I’m a big believer in continuing ed for knitters.  You take a class and you get so much more than just the skills to make a particular project.

  • Tips and tricks for better knitting/finishing/etc.
  • Inspiration
  • Comraderie with other knitters
  • And sometimes, just a good old fashioned wake up call.

I had the pleasure of taking 2 classes from Stephen West and Steven Be this last weekend.  Yep, it was fabulous.  Yep, it was extremely high energy.  Yep, I was wiped out at the end of the weekend and just wanted to curl up in a ball without anyone throwing anything neon or glittery at me.  (And that’s ok because that’s just how I roll – as an outward extrovert, I need alone time to process.)

BUT….

And it’s a big BUT.

I came away with a ton of inspiration.  Like, it’s ok to use color.

Let that one sink in folks.  Because here in the Midwest, we tend to use a lot of greys and blacks.

  • Color makes our eyes pop.
  • Color gives us (yep, you guessed it) Color in our cheeks.
  • And lets face it, color is just fun.

image

So I started a project that I am stunned that I love.

image

It’s a Ponchini by StevenBe out of Be Sweet Bamboo and lace weight Noro.

And I bought yarn for a yet to be determined Stephen West pattern.  In colors that would normally be “too bright” for me.  Somehow, surrounded by neon and glitter in the classroom, this didn’t seem so bright at the time.  But they’re beautiful and they remind me of the Gulf of Mexico.

And I’ve decided that I kind of want to take Stephen West home and feed him pasta and chocolate chip cookies.  He’s just that NICE.  Seriously sweet and nice.  And talented to boot.

So my dear readers, don’t be afraid to take a class.  You might just come away with something that you forgot you knew!