Motivation Has Struck!

You know how I was saying I was never going to get the dreads done?  That the felting was taking forever?  That it seemed like the project that just wouldn't die?  I don't know if I ever wrote the statement that I was hating the idea of all the time required to put them in my hair and everything else.  All in all, I was so done with this project.  It was just too much work, too much effort, and too much time.  Who needed that kind of a project anyway.  I had to admit it.  If I wanted dreads in my hair, it might have been quicker just to dread my hair and forget the wool extensions.

Well, I was wrong.  In just one day I managed to knock out thirty of these things, one right after the other.  I was able to plow through them all in no time!  I was quite impressed about how fast everything flew through.  I was half expecting to really have to work at it, that it would take six million years, and that I'd never want to felt anything again, and then the inspiration just struck.  I don't know what it was, but the dreads were rolling out like crazy, like nothing!  I could knock out ten of them in a half hour!  That's so much more impressive than the ten in an hour I was working at before.  Instead of having to bribe myself with "just one more and I can", I found I was able to dive into it with "if I just do one more, I'll have!"  Each dread was one step closer to being done and having these dreads up and in my hair!  If I didn't have to have the last of them soak for a while, I probably would have plowed through them all in one night!  I'm almost there!

On final count there will be 132 dreads.  There are a whopping twenty left to do, and I'm sure those will go up in no time once they're soaked and ready.  It's not as many as I originally wanted, but I'm not doing my bangs, so I'm sure it will work out to be okay.  That means I'm almost done!  Twenty more and they'll all be done!  Then I just have to put them all in my hair.  They're all soaking in the bucket and ready to go.  It's almost go time for these things!  We're almost done!  I'm so excited!  Now the only remaining question is how to get them in my hair...and who to recruit to help put them all in!  132 dreads is a lot of dreads!

The Felting that Will not End!

The day starts off with all the dreads in a Walmart bag.  They're just waiting for the perfect time to be felted up to be used.  I was inspired at the beginning of it all.  This shouldn't be too hard!  It's just felting a little wool.  That doesn't take too long and I'm sure I can knock them all out in a sitting or two!  The roving was so incredibly soft that I didn't have a single doubt about getting it done.  I would love working with this stuff!  It didn't even look like that much.  Of course, in this picture, it really isn't that much.  It's about half of the roving I started with.  I'd already managed to finish half of it before even thinking to take a picture of it all!

Then came the work of felting.  The first twenty were done in no time.  I was sitting outside in the sunshine, talking with my boyfriend.  We were just enjoying the day.  It was peaceful and calm.  With every dread worked up I was inspired to jump right in and do the next.  I kept thinking that I should take a break, but no, I had to do just one more.  I mean, look at how pretty they were turning out,a and how quickly they were drying!  When it got too cold, I went inside, figuring he and I would sit outside another day and work them through until I was done.  If the twenty went up this quick, the rest should be done in no time!

Wouldn't it figure, the next day was cold and miserable, and the few days after that.  I would have had to sit outside alone as my boyfriend was at work by the time it was nice.  I just wasn't feeling motivated.  I did a few in my room mate's bathroom while talking to her, which seemed to go up pretty quick, but the ones I did in my own bathroom, sitting in isolation, working away were the worst.  It was a long, boring slog through felting.  It seemed to take forever, even though each dread was felted in five minutes or less.  Each time I pulled out a dread, I'd count the ones I had already drying and tell myself, "Just five more and I'm finished with the next set of ten, then I can take a break".  Last night I got to the point of bribing myself after every three done.  I'd hang them to dry on hangers in the bathroom.  One would think seeing them up there would give me some sense of accomplishment, but no.  Instead I just look at them and think about how many more I need to do until I'm done.

I have to admit, I'm making progress.  It may not be as fast as I had hoped.  I may not have had them all pounded out in one day, but I'm getting there.  Through bribery, grim determination, or hopes of having these infernal things in my hair soon, I'm going to finish them.  I've already surpassed the half way point.  Things should be getting better from here, right?  I should be able to count down and be excited about how quickly they're getting done.  Well, I somehow think that's not going to be the case.  I have a feeling it's going to be a long, hard slog, right to the end.

However, I have made myself a promise.  All I have to do is finish three quarters of the dreads and I can start installing them in my hair.  That's ninety-six dreads that need to be done before I can start sectioning and installing.  I'm not far off that count!  So far I've got seventy-two!  To finally be ready to start installing, I need to have twenty four more done today.  I think I can do that.  I hope I can do that!  Then the last thirty-four or so should be nothing once I see how great they look in my hair!  After all, there will be all that excitement about getting it done!  So maybe things will pick up once I'm able to reward myself with something like that.  I mean, two more hours of work and I should be able to start the hours and hours of installing the dreads...and three more hours of felting to go...thinking about it that way...yeah...I'll never be done...

The Dreads in Progress

Well, I got the roving.  I eventually got myself some ribbon.  I got myself settled in, and decided to make some progress.  Let me tell you, these dreads take a long time to make!

So, here's where I stand for step one.  It took a minor eternity to pull off all the roving in pieces the right side.  It took just as long to cut all that blasted ribbon!  I swear, it was going to take me forever to separate it all and get it all ready to be dreaded!  I carefully attached each dread to the ribbon, and expect things to go quickly after that's done.  Well, as quickly as felting can possibly go.  I was smart enough not to just toss them all in a bucket of water as I went.  I have a feeling I'd be at it for way too long of a sitting if I decide to do it all at once, so I'm going to do it a little bit at a time, when I'm feeling inspired.  Here's hoping that it all gets done quickly!  I want my dreadies for my hair!

My Wonderful Fall Swap Package

So, this is swap #3 of the Swap for All Seasons 2010.  For those of you in the know, my swap partner changed during the midsummer swap.  Since then, I've been getting to know this new partner who does a lot of traveling (I'm so jealous!) has a wonderful job, and a wonderful family.  It's been a little challenging to stay in touch because she's so busy, but it's always interesting to hear about all the things she's done and where she's been off to!  I have to say, this swap is a lot of fun!

One thing I do have to say about my partner is she's got an interesting sense of color and concept.  While most people would put together a fall package using only classic fall colors, my wonderful partner didn't.  I got a lot of beautiful and bright colors from her!  While a part of me was a little sad not to get the autumnal colors you expect this time of year, every time I look at those brilliant and gorgeous colors I can't help but think how incredibly perfect they are.  It's everything I can do not to pull out some needles and a pattern and cast on that beautiful yarn!  I know I can get this yarn locally, but they're beautiful colors I haven't seen locally!  I'm trying to picture how those colors are going to fall together even now...  It's quite a distraction from writing.  Maybe I should put my yarn away, and the ribbon and beautiful feathers too...they're tempting me to make something!

My swap partner also had a wonderful idea.  She put some beautiful peacock feathers in the box with some pretty, bright ribbon with the idea that I could use it for a hair piece or something!  Isn't that perfect timing?  With the dreads going in my hair, I'll need some new hair pieces (or...more accurately, that's an excuse to make some more!) so I'll need the supplies.  I've already got some fun ideas of what I can do with it all!

Finally, there's some really cute Halloween buttons and some fitting ribbon to match.  I've never much known what to do with novelty buttons, but I used to have quite a collection of them.  I really do miss my button collection!  On top of that, I'm sure they'd make some really cute accents to some Halloween knits for the kids!  I can totally see the large pumpkin buttons on a sweater!

All I have to say is, thank you!  This package is totally perfect, and definitely not what I had expected!  I love the incorporation of non-classic fall colors into the mix!  It's something that won't make me feel even more homesick, which is a plus.  Better still, those are the colors I always used to gravitate towards in high school.  Better still, they'll look rocking in contrast to my dreads!  I love that yarn!  Can you tell?  And the vibrant ribbon?  Wonderful!  Better still, the colors are just the right thing to pick me up when I'm feeling like home is so far away.  They're bright (but not so bright I wouldn't wear them) and cheerful.  I needed a little bit of light in my fall.  With that yarn, I'll be able to knit something that will be the perfect color for me all year round.  This whole package was just perfect!

The Paw Warmers

I've been reviving a lot of projects from the past.  I guess that's a sign that I really haven't been doing much lately.  What can I say, I've been a slacker.  In this case, it's a project from the past that actually needs to be finished.  I know that's a rarity for me.  Often times things get cast aside and fall into the void, only to be forgotten.  I know it's wrong of me to disrespect my knitting in this way, but I can't help it.  Temptation for something new is always too strong.

Some time last year I agreed to make Oz some mittens.  I had ordered the yarn and everything to do it.  I even started making them.  I just didn't ever get to finishing them.  You see, there was a problem.  The yarn was black, and the pattern called for slipping the needle back through half the stitches across the back of the hand in order to knit on the mitten portion.  The lighting was never very good all winter, especially not inside the house.  It wasn't warm enough to go outside to knit, so...well...they were forgotten...

Over the summer, I, of course, got sidetracked with other projects, and a complete lack of knitting as well.  I didn't really have time to work on them.  Besides, I couldn't find where I packed them in the move.  I had all these excuses, but that didn't change the fact that they weren't done.

Now the weather's turning cold again.  I've been begged for the nice, warm convertible mittens to be knit up and completed.  The sun is bright enough to make picking up those stitches possible.  I have no excuses and I'm going to get it done!  Well...after the shawl...and the longies...and the...well...shiny new things that will taunt me along the way....  Okay, let's be realistic.  They work for now, doesn't that count for something?

The Roving is Here!!!

I just had to share.  It's beautiful.  I adore it.  I just want to display it in my home, looking incredibly gorgeous.  Do I seriously have to do anything with it?  I mean, look at how beautifully it's all coiled around on itself!  Look at how incredible it is, sitting against all those vegetables!  Don't you just want to take in it's beauty forever?  Do I really have to break up it's happy existence, chopping it, felting it, and sticking it in my hair?  Wouldn't it be better just to display it for all the world to see?

I know what you're thinking.  I can always buy more roving, right?  I can always set it out to display, just like this one is.  On top of that, I've wanted to do these dreads so badly that I actually went out and bought the materials.  It would be silly just to let it sit there, right?  I should use it!  I should love it!  After all, what's the sense of having it if I'm not going to use it, but it's so incredibly beautiful...

Eventually, I'll get up the desire to cut it.  I want my dreads, so I know I'll eventually hack it up in the right lengths and I'll make them up.  I'll install them in my hair and I'll love them all the more.  I'll be so happy to see that beautiful roving adorning my head, just the thing I bought it for.  I'm just not going to let it sit there looking pretty...but for now...for now it's just decor...

I Finished the Charcoal Longies!

Well, so much for having the charcoal longies AND the walnut longies done in time for fall use.  I guess it's a good thing they work well for winter too.  I had first intended them for use during the fall, and given how much of a knitter I am, I'd have completely new ones ready for the winter!  I'd still have the fall ones as back-ups, but my sense of fashion would dictate that the fall ones would only be used as a back-up, because seasonally colored would be so much more appropriate.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions...and I hate to say it, I'm well on my way...wait...does that even make sense when it comes to knitting?

So I've gotten them done.  It's a bit late for Halloween, but it's still fall.  He'll have about a month of fall wear left to them before it's on to winter.  Where winter doesn't have ice and snow in Texas, he'll still look fashionably in style to some degree.  The gray matches the pavement.  The brown matches the leafless trees.  Now all I need is a straw color to match all the dry grass we'll get and I'll be good.  I won't even have to knit a whole new set of seasonal longies!

Then there's this whole thing with size and fit.  It's a good thing I didn't anticipate making these ones for fall!  Given he's not soaking quite as bad as he used to, I'm able to get away with not doubling up anything I put him in just to soak up one single pee!  That means I'm no longer giving him this huge, bulky butt!  He's far more trim in the behind these days.  As a result, the longies are, well, all around too big!  I knew they would be long, though they're not painfully so.  I just didn't expect them to be so big around the middle!  Had I known (and planned properly for fall) I would have given him mediums and called it a day.  Of course, then he wouldn't have anything to grow into (which is why I'm knitting the Walnut ones in a large too), so I would have lost out.  How many more months would he have been good with a medium?  And the only problem with the legs is when he crawls.  It pulls the legs down over his feet, and then it pulls the whole crotch and everything down.  Next thing you know his feet aren't even hiding in the ribbing anymore, but leaving a trail of leg behind him!  It's really cute, but not terribly practical.  I've got to think of a crafty, knitterly solution to this problem.  Of course, for the time being it's quite functional for keeping his feet warm!

All in all, I'm quite happy with the outcome.  The longies look fantastic.  They may be big, but he can always grow into them.  That's one thing you never have to worry about with kids, no matter what you do, they have this annoying tendency to grow!  At least I went the right way with my wrong sizing!  After all, how many knitters out there have started a project for a baby, only to have him or her outgrow it before it's ever even finished?  (And how many knitters still have that unfinished project in the closet by the time the intended recipient is in high school?  Well...they'll have babies of their own some day and you'll already be prepared!)

That's one pair of longies down.  I don't even want to think about how many more I need to go before I'm done!  I'd like to have at least one pair of longies for every day of the week, which means I'm one out of seven...that's a start...  Plus I have two pairs to make for my friend, the Artsy Eclectic, over at Otherwise Quite Good.  Barter is a wonderful thing...  Somewhere in all of that I'll be reminded that diapers sometimes soak through, so it might not be a bad idea to have an extra pair in a similar enough color to each that I have that I can plan to co-ordinate appropriately...and I'll buy the yarn for each...and it will swiftly be tossed away in the stash (because I don't need it right NOW) and I'll forget about it...until next year rolls around, and knowing my luck, he'll be potty trained...

Wait? There's Stuff on These Needles?

What was I doing?  Oh, yeah, that's right, I was knitting, crafting, and all that other good stuff.  Life has been crazy and chaotic lately, and I know I've been slacking off way too much.  I haven't finished my shawl or those longies yet and it's already November!

Well, in a way, I kind of get why.  I've kind of lost interest in knitting the longies.  They're a great pattern and all, but I think I've possibly discovered an unmentioned problem plaguing knitters (or maybe just me), the dreaded "second leg syndrome"!  I suppose the same could be said for sleeves.  I've knit through the slog of one leg, which really wasn't that bad, but it's long rounds of the same straight knitting, with decreases so many rows to keep it interesting.  I'm kind of over that.

I guess I've kind of felt the same about the shawl.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love that shawl.  More than love, I adore that shawl.  It's the most beautiful thing to ever be worked up on my needles.  It's my favorite piece of knitting ever!  And the pattern, what a stroke of genius!  Well, in my limited knitting experience at least...  Unfortunately, endless repeats of that falling leaves pattern may just equate to insanity.  That and there's a small problem with the needles, so I'm waiting for replacements from Knit Picks, because they are that awesome.  Anyhow, I'm down to the last dreaded repeat of that bloody falling leaves pattern.  I'll be on to the next one soon, the snowflake pattern or whatever it's called, and I'll never have to look at that falling leaves pattern again!  I guess I just kind of needed a break.

Then there's everything else going on in my life.  I don't really feel like getting into that whole mess.  Let's just leave it to simply I don't have a moment to myself and everything hurts, blah.  It's made knitting time rather hard to come by.  I haven't had much time to get anything done.

However, crafting time is here again!  I'm going to get back into my knitting.  My roving arrived, so I can make my dreads!  That means I'm hopefully going to have some great pictures of progress (and hopefully a couple finished objects!) soon.  I can't wait!

For now, it's off to those longies.  The weather's getting cold and while I would love a nice warm shawl to keep me cozy, my baby comes first.  Some nice wool longies and a new hat seem to be just what the doctor ordered...  Now let's see if I can break my procrastination long enough to get something done!