It's Twenty Ten!

The first month of 2010 is half over and I am dutifully doing what I set out to do this year, move into my newly constructed "studio" and bring some order to my hobbies. So many hobbies, so little space. Actually I have space but just too many hobbies that require a lot of stuff. Right now I'm dealing with the "fiber arts" as I call my hand knitting, antique sock machine knitting and stash. Then there is my newest thing--weaving. Christmas 2008 I got a seven foot triangle loom and matching tripod stand. I knew I was in deep doggie doo when I had no space big enough for setup. And then there are the four sock machines and the sock yarn stash that had overtaken the space needed to use the sock machines.

This past summer I had the garage converted to a room I can devote to the fiber arts. It will also house my play doll collection. That is the play doll wall pictured above. I've gathered up yarn stash from all its hiding places and now to organize and store it in an orderly manner that is also pleasing to the eye. That has not been accomplished yet so no pictures will appear at this time. There is prior-to-organization chaos of which I do not want photographic evidence. Get the picture?

I am about to relinquish my title as the "Queen of Unfinished Projects." Please don't jump to the wrong conclusion. I don't intend to finish them all. I am going to take an idea from a podcast I heard and unravel them. Yes, unravel them! I'm sure you all have a UFO (or two or more) that you know you will never finish for one reason or another. Face it. Bite the bullet. Ravel, rest it and start over or ravel and re purpose that yarn! Thank you Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls podcast for causing that idea to finally sink in.

Speaking of podcasts, I grew weary of a few that I liked in the beginning and have narrowed my favorites to Cast On (Brenda Dayne), KnitPicks (Kelley Petkin), The Knitmore Girls (mother and daughter GiGi and Jasmin) and Sticks and String (David Reidy). I tried a new one this week, Savvy Girls (two sisters). So far, not bad. I'll listen to a few more episodes before passing judgement on that one. I also have three non-knitting related podcasts that I follow faithfully: The Splendid Table, Grammar Girl and This American Life.

So here we are, a year and a month later, and I have woven my first triangle shawl on the tri-loom. No pictures yet. I have the fringe to finish before I take it off the loom. In the meantime, watch this You Tube video that I turn to when I need calming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M99sSC8TIOc

Bona Fide Knitter

December? It Can't Be!

I have been living real life big time in the last few months. My knitting has suffered and also benefited from it. By "real life" I mean suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, taking arms against a sea of troubles, going through the heartache and thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. Forgive me Mr. Shakespeare. It's been a rough few months in my life and that's enough said about that. On to knitting . . . and not knitting.

Lo and behold the vanilla vanilla socks got finished. That's one good use for ER waiting room, hospital and nursing home visits. The trouble is those visits do not lend themselves to the concentration needed for Kitchenering ("Kitchenering"?) the toes. Too many interruptions. So no pictures of the completed object yet. Further, the 2009 beach socks are moving right along. They should be completed before it's time for beach socks 2010, I should hope. The Butt Ugly Shrug is coming along as well. Lots of time in front of the TV hunkered down knitting. It has given me a good excuse to order the "blocking blocks" from KnitPicks. They should be here any day now and I can block the body and sleeves, sew them together and pick up stitches for the ribbed collar and band.

I rejoined Netflix, only one movie at a time this go round, and I bought a Roku box (since I have no X-Box, Play Station 3, Blu-ray or Ti-Vo) so I can stream movies to my television screen. I'm in movie heaven which makes for mucho knitting time.

The bathroom renovation is almost complete. The main part, the shower room I designed, is totally complete. I love my shower! My next water bill, not so much.

My studio is gradually being filled. I am not liking the wake-up call it is giving me on my yarn stash. I was better off not knowing. I have enough sock yarn to to keep all four of my sock machines humming and two Magic Loops at a time singing forever. I have just begun to move the sweater, jacket, shawl and afghan projects including ones bought as kits. OMG!!! All I have to say about the number of those is I'd better get to knittin'!

I'll leave you with a picture of the chair in which I plan to sit while knitting the winter away in my studio. I just ordered it. Draped in an afghan, a DVD or audio book playing and the knitting should be easy.
Bona Fide Knitter

Woes and UFOs

Can it be a whole month ago that I last wrote? The short month of September seems to have flashed by in a flurry of UFOs and a load of lackluster days. Suffice it to say I've had better months.

My knitting is looooong suffering. The Seaside Shrug, the one I refer to as "butt ugly," has not been touched in many weeks. It was supposed to be finished by now and would be but for the sprained thumb and wrist I mentioned a month ago. Finished, it would have been a warm comfort this brisk fall morning. The needlepoint I started when I couldn't knit remains unfinished as well. I was going at a good clip and then we returned home for what was to be a very brief period before returning for our last Cape Cod retreat for 2009, the month of October. I unpacked the needlepoint for a little show and tell with a friend at lunch a few days after we were home and returned it to the beach tote in preparation for the next trip. It appears the next trip will not be happening this year. Spouse is sick. We are in extreme woe mode.

All the news isn't bad. The vanilla vanilla socks have grown by leaps and bounds this past week. And even better than that, when I returned from Cape Cod my STUDIO was complete! Yes, the garage conversion was done, finished, ready for occupancy. A trip to Ikea for the beginning of shelves and such, a lot of planning and a little moving stuff in happened. However, the room is so nice, so clean and uncluttered, I hesitate to mess that up.

While spouse unloads the van I take pictures of the room.

A little BEFORE and AFTER:

What was once a garage door . . .

. . . is now a bay window.

See all the Before, During and After pictures in my Kodak album.

Bona Fide Kniter

The Days Dwindle Down

. . . to a precious few. September, November . . .

The lyrics to September Song seem appropriate today. I can't believe summer 2009 is, for all intents and purposes, over. Some children are already back in school, a great number started today and some lucky ones won't begin until after Labor Day, as it was way (way, way) back in my day.

The weather here in Brewster, on Cape Cod, is gorgeous today. Seventy degrees, sunny, not humid and a day to read on the beach, or knit beach socks. I will be doing neither. After a trip to the library and writing a few notes, there was not enough time between meals to get it all done. So I visited Town-Ho instead.

Okay, let me explain. Town-Ho Needleworks is a needlepoint shop up the road from here. That phrase has certainly taken on a different meaning in the years since the shop was named. Anyway, it is a wonderful needlepoint shop with rooms of eye candy for the needlework inclined. However, I was amazed at the prices. Years ago, when needlepoint was my obsession of choice, a fine needlepoint kit with painted canvas and Paternayan wool sold for $18. Now a similar canvas costs $45 or more and doesn't include the yarn!

After much restraint I bought a little kit I happened to find at a reasonable price. I had missed it on the first go-round. The second time, while fingering through a container of small kits, all of a sudden the flip flops caught my eye. Flip flops seem to be my theme this summer.



I wondered would I remember how to needlepoint. It's like riding a bike. Once the tapestry needle was in hand and threaded it all came back to me. I am not even tempted to wield it like sewing toes on socks. Maybe that is because it has been so long since I finished a pair of socks I've forgotten how to Kitchener.


One important fact I haven't mentioned is that I sprained my left thumb and right wrist (Don't ask.) soon after I got here and find it painful to knit. Now I have a little project to do until those ouchies feel better and I can get back to Beach Socks 2009, the ongoing Vanilla Vanilla Socks and the Butt Ugly Shrug. (Remember that one?)

Bona Fide Knitter

Traveling By Train . . . sometimes the only way to fly

Morning rain today and the promise of thunder boomers during the day. Temperatures are forecast to rise to near records in the next few days with appropriate hair-wrecking humidity. Yuk! I need to be on Olde Cape Cod.

Yesterday I had a break in the humdrum and took a train Washington, DC, to meet my BFF from high school for our annual mini high school reunion which includes just the two of us. We went to the Kennedy Center to see The Color Purple (again). This time starring Fantasia (winner of American Idol a few seasons ago). She was fantastic. I've seen the show three times now and BFF has seen it four or five times. She's lost count. The music still gets to us.

I decided to take the train instead of driving which was a brilliant idea--except for the price of parking at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Thirty-two dollars!!! Yes, $32 for short term parking over four hours. It cost as much as my train ticket to Washington, DC! I'm still glad I took the train instead of driving. I got special summer pricing on the roundtrip tickets ($66) by purchasing in advance online. But next time I might not even drive to the station. I'll take the commuter train to the station. It will allow me more knitting time. I knitted and listened to a book on my iPod and I was in DC in no time. The plain vanilla vanilla socks have really taken shape . . . at long last.

BFF picked me up at the station and off we went to the Kennedy Center. I was pleased to stick a little shopping in before curtain time. There was a vendor stand in the lobby selling marvelous wooden figures by Cheryl Olney trading as Louise's Daughter. I bought a pin to remind me of the day. It's me in my best color, dancing in "Miss Celie's Pants."

After the show we had a marvelous, leisurely dinner at McCormick and Schmicks. Green Apple Martinis and fried calamari with three dipping sauces to start.

Then it was back to Union Station for my train ride home. More knitting and more audio book. It was a great day. Lots of catching up and laughter, knitting and reading (listening?), and a tiny hint of shopping. Yes, a perfect day.

Bona Fide Knitter

Missing Sweetwater

I've been back from Cape Cod for a week now and I'm missing it already. I didn't do anything exciting up there. It's just that 'same stuff/different day' is more palatable in a forest.

Today is a good day to remind myself of how it looks coming up the road at the end of an afternoon walk.

When we get this close I let the LWDs lead the way untethered.

Snowball squeezes out one last pee-pee to mark his territory and Icecream heads for the steps.

I can feel the air and hear the pines sough in the slight breeze. I wanna go baaaaaaack!

Oh, wait a minute. I just remembered that we will be going back in another week or two. Aaaahhhh, I feel much better now.

Bona Fide Knitter

Knitting Short List

It's Saturday. Do you know where your knitting is? Ha! A better question is, do I know where my knitting is.

Okay, I'm forced to make a mental note. I needed a small tote bag the other day and dumped the contents of the one closest at hand. Out came the "perpetual shawl." You might remember it by some other names I've called it: "never ending" "shawl of shawls" "shawl of a lifetime" and even its official name,"Rings of Supersock." Ack! I had forgotten all about it. Yes, it's time for a mental inventory, just a short list of works in progress, current works in progress, not to be confused with unfinished objects.

Right now I am waaaaay into my summer sweater project which, if you remember, is the shrug from the summer issue of Knitter's Magazine, the Seaside Shrug. I got a lot accomplished (for me) while I was away. I even worked through the odd phenomenon of my KnitPicks nickle plated needles becoming tacky, loosing their shine and no longer knitting slick and fast. I think the weather was so damp they started to mold or something. Once the weather dried they returned to normal, but are still a little discolored. I wonder what's up with that. I need to pose the question to the KnitPicks Community. Anyway, I completed the whole body and one sleeve of the shrug. I was almost at the end of the ribbed cuff of the second sleeve before we came home.

I referred to the picture of the Seaside Shrug in the magazine as "butt ugly." Now karma has come around to bite me I need not tell you where. My rendition might be joining the Butt Ugly Club. I'm not too pleased with how the colors compliment each other. Buying yarn online without a color card does not always pan out. The golden mustard and hot coral/orange combination I loved in a knit suit I had many years ago did not meet expectations in the yarn color choices I made for my shrug. Ugly or not here it comes.

The plain vanilla socks knit in plain vanilla yarn are still languishing away in my GoKnit Pouch. I haven't had that much waiting room or nursing home visiting time recently. I think I might just go ahead and push through that heel flat here at home and hurry those socks off the needles.

Okay, that's my short list: (1) Seaside Shrug (2) plain vanilla socks (3) Beach Socks 2009. I will have all three finished before summer is over. You heard it here first, folks.

Bona Fide Knitter

PS--I'll get back to the shawl of shawls come fall.