Knitting Organization

Okay, so I haven't posted in more than a week. My mom is visiting and I haven't had much time for reading knitting blogs or posting to my own.

One thing that my mom and I have done since she arrived on Saturday was to organize my yarn. You see I was storing my yarn in plastic grocery bags. All the yarn was divided by project but then just cramped into the cabinet. I couldn’t see which project was what without digging out and opening each and every bag. Not the best method of yarn storage.

Anyway, my mom, the organizational guru that she is, suggested clear plastic bins. Who would have thought about something like that? Well, my mom. Duh! Anyway, we went out in search of some decent size bins that were not going to bankrupt me. You see I needed a bunch of them because I have a lot of yarn. We found the perfect size at Target and they were under $3.00 each. Wooo Hooo, what a bargain. I got 12 of them just to get me started, along with a few smaller shoe box size bins for smaller projects. And let me tell you they were the perfect solution. All my yarn is now stored so nicely in these clear bins and I can see right into it them to find what I am looking for. I am planning to make some labels with the project name just to make it even easier, but I haven’t had a moment to do that just yet.

I didn’t think about taking a picture before the transformation and sorry I am not putting all back so you can see the marvelous improvement we made, but I will show you how it looks now.

Fabulous!

In addition, I also documented all of the projects that I plan to make with the yarn I currently have as well as a few projects that I would like to completed, but haven’t purchased the yarn. So far I have fiber for 22 projects and another 10 or so projects that I would like to make at some point in the near future. And that doesn’t include the yarn I have for socks. I think I have enough yarn to make at least 10 pairs, maybe more. That will definitely keep me busy, and with all the bins full I don’t have any room for more yarn so I am going to try to use up some of the stash I have before I purchase more yarn. But as most of you know sometimes that is very hard to do. Maybe I will order the fiber for just a few more projects and then cut myself off, or I could knit my little hands off and use up some of the stash so I can justify purchasing more. Oh Yeah!

One more thing before I sign off for the day. Here is one of my fur balls that loves yarn. She loves to sit on my lap while I am knitting and she loves to lay on all of my projects. Sometime soon I will need to make her something special that she can have all to herself. And if it makes the other fur balls jealous then I guess I will just have to knit something for them too.

Work in progress

I have been promising some pictures of what is currently on my needles. So here they are.

Now I have to warn you because I have only been a real knitter for a short time, and what I mean by a real knitter is knowing about all the great fiber that is available through LYS and on the internet.

Well, everyone has to start somewhere and I started with kits from Mary Maxim and yarn from Michael's and JoAnn's. Don't get me wrong some of the yarn available at these places is great and I am sure to purchase more, but when you know about all the other fibers out there, why would anyone want to limit themselves.

Now, I know I probably won't love the sweater kits that I purchased from Mary Maxim half as much as I will love the great sweaters I am planning to knit, but I have a really hard time tossing something that I am more than half finished with. Anyway, I figure these first few project will be my jumping off point and I will only grow and expand from there.

And even though I am still very new to knitting I am already thinking of designing my own sweaters. It is a scary thought, but I think with a little time and a lot of practice I could design some really great knitwear. I have a few things in mind already, I just need to learn how to set my own gauge and develop the pattern so that it will fit. That means that I have a lot of reading ahead of me but I know I can do it.

Now for the pictures.

Here are the sleeves of the sweater I am currently working on. This is the first time that I have worked on two sleeves at once. I have only run into a problem once and that was when I set my work down in the middle of the row, between the sleeves, and then got confused as to which side I was to work next. Luckily I only got through one row before I realized that I was working on the wrong side and I went back and fixed the problem. Since then I have been sure to work both sleeves before I put my work down. It is much easier to track that way.

Here is the progress on my first pair of socks. As you can see I have already completed the first sock and have a little more than half a sock to go. I can't wait until I am able to wear these. As I mentioned in a previous post I have fiber for at least 6 more pairs of socks waiting in the wings. As soon as I complete this pair I will be casting on for the next, which is great motivation to finished this one.

Unfortunately I didn't work on the other sweater, the one that is nearly finished, this weekend so I still have to finish that, which I plan to do before I start another sweater. Hopefully I will make a point to finish it in the next week or so. That way I can wear it before it starts to get to warm.

Until next time.

Weekend of Knitting

Lots of knitting going on here this weekend, Friday night I visited with my friend Valerie. We were supposed to be stamping together, but my knitting was calling my name so I only stamped for a short while and then picked up my needles. I accomplished quite a bit while we chatted for most of the evening.

Saturday, I ventured across the border to Canada. I don't know why, but going across the border is always nerve racking, I never know what is going to happen. Once I was stopped and they searched my car. I guess I looked suspicious. But I have to admit I had a car load full of crafting supplies. My mom and I were headed to Toronto for the week and we had plans on working on some craft projects while I was there for some training.

Anyway, this time went nice and smooth. I learned my lesson and now I pack everything in the truck so they can't see how much stuff I am taking with me.

While visiting with Janis, I meet two new knitters, Diane and Olivia. Diane is very new to knitting; she has only been knitting a month or so. She was working on a very cute scarf for her son, but when we determined she had been doing a reverse stockinette stitch instead of a garter she decided to frog it and start over. It was a real bummer because the scarf was adorable.

Diane and Olivia

Olivia has known how to knit for awhile, but it hasn't really been a passion of hers. She had some soft and cuddly black yarn and was just knitting for practice. That is until we talked her into actually starting a project. When the camera came out she decided it was far time to tote her camera in something other than a sock and she started a little camera cozy for her camera.

Janis was diligently working on her sock project for her sock class. She was working on the gusset and was really concentrating on her pattern. She too is fairly new to knitting, she has been knitting for about a year. So I was the veteran in this group although I can't say that I was the expert, because each of these ladies knew a thing or two about knitting.

And then there was Penelope, Janis' little dog. She refused to learn to knit so, I knitted this little coat for her and she looks so cute. She was such a ham. Once we got started taking pictures of her she didn't want us to stop. She was sitting so cute and pretty, and providing lots of different poses. What a nutty little girl!

I also took some pictures of my work in progress too, but I will save those for my next post.

Knit On!

On the Needles

Okay, this is only my second post and I am still trying to figure things out.

I have been doing a lot of knitting the last few days and I promise to post some pictures really soon. When I joined a local knitting group at the end of December a lot of the ladies encouraged me to try socks. To that point I had only finished one sweater and was working on another. Socks intimidated me. The ladies recommended the book Sensational Socks to get started, so I took the plunge and bought the book. To my surprise, socks aren’t as hard as I thought they would be. I did stumble a little with the wording of the pattern, but with the help of my local yarn stores “Ewe-nique Knits” and “Have You Any Wool”, I worked my way through it and completed two sample socks.

Now, I am working on a pair for myself. Even on size zero needles these little guys seems to work up so quickly. They are so much fun, and so easy to take wherever I go. If I love them as much as everyone says I will, I believe I will always have a pair of socks on the needles and ready to travel.

In true knitting style, I have other projects on the needles as well; two sweaters are currently in the works. One of the sweaters is very close to being finished. I had been waiting to take a finishing class before I completed this one. The class was at the end of January and I have just been putting it off. Anyway, all I have to do is sew up the seams and knit the collar. Maybe I will work on it this weekend and have a finished object to show you on Monday.

The other sweater is just two arms away from being finished. I am trying something new with this one; I am knitting both sleeves at the same time. Being fairly new to knitting I had never done this before and it really makes a lot of sense.

Hello World!

This is my first attempt at a blog. I have recently enjoyed reading lots of knitting blogs, and I have decided to share my knitting and crafting experience with the world in hopes to bring enjoyment to someone else.

Welcome and enjoy what it is to come.