And She's into the Home Stretch

Yup, it's clapotis talk again.  It's quickly coming to a close.  I've done all the prescribed rows and repeats, and then doubled the length.  I was only going to go half again on the length, but that just didn't seem like enough.  I was smart.  I tried it out before I made a decision.  I estimated about how long it would fall, how I would wear it, whether it would be long enough to wear the way I would wear it.  I came to the realization that I wouldn't be able to.  Instead of having half the length added, I decided to just double the whole thing, and I'm quite happy with the results.  Now watch it end up too long!

I have to say, this is pretty much the first time I've taken a pattern and customized it in any way, aside from doing the math suggested for custom fitting, something that's always been part of the pattern.  I've never ventured into doing anything flashy or unique.  I've just never modified a pattern like that.

In this case, the modification was thankfully easy.  All I had to do was add repeats and I know without a doubt I'll have enough yarn.  I had so much left over I was beginning to contemplate what I could do with it all!  I'd had some ideas, but I'll have to see how much is left before making up my mind now.  I'm not going to have as much as I thought I would.  We'll see what happens.  However, this is the first instance I've broken from the mold and done something different, something that wasn't listed as a pre-packaged option.

Who knows.  This could be a massive change in my life as a knitter.  It starts with the simple act of making a shawl longer, then who knows where it ends!  Next thing you know I'll be diving in to all kinds of projects I don't normally do!  Maybe it will be a sweater.  Who knows, maybe it will lead me to making my own patterns entirely.  Wouldn't that be a scary thought?  It's just so liberating to say, "I don't care what the pattern designer had in mind, I'm doing something different!"

My Favorite Shorties

A lot of people have asked me what I like to knit.  When I say socks, everyone gets it.  Socks are something everyone understands.  When I say shawls, some people don't know what a shawl is, but a brief description catches them right up.  However, longies and shorties?  People just don't seem to get those!  Even some of my cloth diapering friends don't know what they are!  I was shocked!

These are shorties, with my sweet little boy to model them.  This is my favorite pattern, the Greenway Diaper Cover/Shorties/Longies pattern.  I've tried a variety of patterns, but I adore this one.  The fit is wonderful.  There are details on modifying it to fit different sizes, a higher rise or with bigger leg holes.  The longies are designed to have tapered legs with a ribbed cuff, but that's easy enough to change too.  I'm hoping to experiment with color work as well.  Can you tell I love this pattern?

The only problem with shorties and longies is the need to use regular wool, so no superwash.  I love superwash because it's so much easier to clean, just toss it in the washer and you're good!  Instead, I have to hand wash them and there's also lanolizing them.  It's an easy enough process, but it's just one more step.  They can also leak if they get too soaked, so that's something to think about.  However, they're all natural and I absolutely love them!  On top of everything else, they look so cute!

This is perhaps my favorite project to work on.  For a cloth diapering mom, like myself, I'm able to make something fun and truly functional.  Unlike working with socks, I'm able to work with a larger yarn too, so I know I can work through it far quicker!  Better still, they're small enough to be an easy travel project, just like socks!  I can't wait to start my next set!

Better Late than Never? Swap Package

I had meant to post pictures of my wonderful package from my new swap partner in the Swap for All Seasons on Ravelry.  For those of you who knit, spin, or crochet and don't know about Ravelry, you're really missing out.  For those of you who have never done a swap, you're doubly missing out!  Swaps are awesome!

Anyhow, I got this wonderful summer package from my new swap partner.  My old swap partner had to drop out of the swap, much sadness, but I've now got a new one who is positively wonderful.  Here's what she sent me for the summer swap, though I received it a decent bit back.  I've just been so crazy busy!

I haven't had a chance to try out the yarn yet, but I'm looking forward to it.  I don't know if I want to make a pair of crazy striped socks for me, or if I want to make some funky socks for the baby.  I love the colors and the great amount of variety.  The earth toned yarn is in a colorway called "Fairy".  I adore it!  The name suits me too.  I'm looking forward to trying out the stitch markers, and the bag has now become my project keeper for that endless clapotis!

While I was unsure about the book at first, I'm quite surprised by how interesting it's turned out to be!  It takes place in Africa in the 1960s.  I'm not very far into it yet due to my lack of time to read these days, but I love the way the stories are all blended together.  It gives me a rich feel for the place and culture, something I don't think I would ever much have a chance to experience.  I can't wait to finish it!  It's a wonderful blend of history, culture, and characters.  Definitely, if you've got some time and interest, check out Half a Yellow Sun
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I'm really loving this whole swap idea.  I've got a chance to play with yarn I'd never have a chance to find before.  I've gotten a beautifully written book that I never would have looked at otherwise.  It's a good thing too.  I'm thinking about looking into some of her other works.  It's a chance to experience so much I never would have before, and to make friends with people I never would have known!

Finishing Projects

Some days I feel like I'm buried in projects.  I've got more things started than I could ever possibly finish.  I keep getting on myself that I need to finish them all, to catch up so that I can start a new project (or ten)!  I've got so many great ideas on what I want to do, but not enough time to finish them all.

This is kind of how I am.  I'm not a fast knitter, but I'm not slow either.  I wish I had more time in the day to dedicate to knitting.  How wonderful it would be to have the time other knitters seem to have, or maybe just the dedication.  I would have needles in my hands at all times and so much would get accomplished!

I guess I'm not terribly dedicated because I just don't have the time for that.  So much of my day is spent on physical fitness, homeschooling, doing chores, keeping my website updated, and so much else.  I'm a busy person, and not all of what I do is conducive to having some knitting time.  I don't have as much free time as I used to, and I don't do as many "time wasting" activities, like watching television, where I can just pick up the needles and knit.  I actually spend most of my day doing productive and quite active things.

As a result, I feel like I'm slacking as a knitter.  I wish I could get my projects done in a more timely manner instead of months and months from when I started it.  It's sad, but at the same time, I've always got some project waiting in the wings.  I know it will always be there, waiting for me to have the time to pick it up and do a few rows.  I'll always have a project to drag along with me when I know I'll be doing a lot of sitting, though often times I opt for my book.  And, better yet, I know I'm not working through projects faster than I can afford to start up new ones.  I may not be the greatest at keeping things finished, but at least my nice, steady pace works for me right now.

Still, that doesn't stop me from wishing I had something to show off for all my efforts...

And then there was one...

I know it may sound strange, the idea of knitting only one project at a time, but that's where I've been.  In part, circumstance has kept me there.  In part it's a matter of choice.  I know I could start another project.  I could bring the skeins of yarn I have to the LYS with me the next time I go down there, ball them up, and start on my new shawl.  I could easily start up the waist ribbing for the next set of longies.  I could buy some yarn and start up a whole new project to cast on.  Right now, I'm content to stick with one.  Isn't that strange?

Right now I'm kind of stuck with one project.  I finished as much on the gray and teal longies as I could and am at a bit of an enforced stopping point.  I can't continue until I have more of the teal yarn, or I get creative on the whole thing.  Sure, I have two socks cast on and started, but they're not even at the house right now.  I'm stuck with one lonely little project and nothing else to work on.  Do you know what the strangest part is?  Aside from the occasional, yet very rare pang of wishing I had something to break up the endless rows of repeating pattern, I'm happy with one project.

The clapotis isn't really the kind of project I ever thought would turn into dedicated knitting.  I figured it would be something that would turn into my TV project, or my Craftlit project once I had the pattern fairly figured out.  It would be simple, repetitive, and rather dull in a way.  It's not that I wouldn't enjoy it.  I would never deliberately choose a project I wouldn't enjoy, and if I did on chance, I'd probably just give it up, frog it, and start all over.  However, I did think it would be something that I could make rather mindless, something I could use to keep my hands busy while doing other things.

It started out a travel project, until it got too big.  Then when I was no longer able to cart it around with me, I put it down beside the couch to work on while watching television.  That's when we lost cable, so I started listening to Craftlit and other podcasts in my room in stead.  The bag was moved to beside the bed, where I sat and knit most of my projects.  It's still there, tucked beside my bed most nights, the last thing I see before I go to bed at night.  Actually, there's truth to that.  Most nights I've been picking it up from the spot I left it on the bed when I last went off to spend time with my room mates, or got side-tracked with the kids.

This project has become my only project.  I work on it while sitting with friends.  I work on it when watching movies.  It takes up my lap when I listen to podcasts.  I pull it out when I've got a few moments and just want to knit a few rows.  I've even started to notice I pull it out to knit endlessly, even when I've got nothing else going to distract my mind.  It's not like me to spend so much time on one project, or to focus on only one, but I am, and I'm loving it.

I suppose it's a good thing I love it too!  The television in my room doesn't have my VHS/DVD player hooked up yet, so I can't sit and watch television.  I do try to listen to my podcasts, but finding quiet time to listen and knit has been challenging enough with my kids alone.  Now that I've got teenagers blaring their music in the afternoon and a house full of rowdy kids, it makes finding peace and quiet to listen and knit quite challenging.  I could easily see myself falling into the trap of never finishing this project, especially as I want to add a few more pattern repeats so it's long enough for my own personal desires.  I'd end up packing it up and putting it away forever, but here I am, plowing through with it, almost to the point where I need to add extra pattern repeats and I don't even mind in the least!  If only ever knitting project should go as smoothly.

Stitch Marker Review: Knit Picks Locking Stitch Markers

I bought these stitch makers at the LYS.  I needed new stitch markers.  The locking ones I had keep coming unlocked and I've lost them a couple of times, not a good thing for trying to keep them on a project.  It was clearly time for something new, so I picked these up on a whim.  They couldn't possibly be worse than the ones I had, right?  And if they were, at least it was a cheap little purchase, so it won't be a huge investment.

Before I go any further, I love locking stitch markers.  They serve so many purposes, from counting rows or pattern repeats to being used as regular stitch markers.  I can unhook them and slip them off the needle if I choose to, even if I'm nowhere near their spot in the row.  Then there's the benefits of marking decreases, increases, mistakes, or anything else I may want to easily find in my knitting.  I just love the convenience of being able to do what I want with them, when I want to.  It's just one of those little things I have where I want to be able to have one tool do as many things as possible.

The Knit Picks locking stitch markers have met my expectations thus far.  They come in two shades of purple in each pack, which I like because I can use color to mark beginning of round or whatever.  The flat round back of the locking portion would be great for adding letters for the Cat Bordhi patterns, or for numbers.  I don't know how well Sharpie would stay on there, since it can wear off of some plastics over time, but the potential is there.  Unfortunately, they don't come in a wider variety of colors, and if you have some inherent hatred of purple for some reason, there's no other option.  For me, I like purple, so that worked out rather well.  I just wish there were more colors.

After a decent bit of use, I've noticed a few things about these stitch markers that may be a problem for some knitters.  After the stitch markers have been closed for a while, they're not open as wide after unlocking them.  This may cause problems if you need them to be loose to easily hook onto stitches.  However, with just a little bit of effort they can be opened enough for easy use.  Another concern is the stress marks I've noticed on some of the darker colored stitch markers at the bend in the plastic on the loop away from the lock.  If you don't know what I mean, that's a discoloration in the plastic where it becomes lighter than the rest of the plastic, usually from being bent.  That's usually a sign of a weak point in the plastic, where it's more likely to break.  I haven't had any break yet, and it only has appeared in a couple of the set of twenty thus far.  I'm not too worried about it, but it does make me wonder about the longevity of these pieces.  Of course, any time you work with plastic, that's going to be a concern, especially anything rigid enough to do the job these stitch markers are doing.

The little convenient storage bag is exactly what Knit Picks markets it to be.  It's small, easy to use, and fits the markers flawlessly.  It's a thin, flat plastic case that easily fits into my knitting notions bag, and is so easy to carry around wherever I may have need to take it.   The plastic seems sturdy enough to hold up over time, which is a necessity for me.  However, my one complaint is a lack of a proper means to keep it shut.  The top flap slides under a little plastic strap.  While that's enough for most people, I know how things go in my knitting bag.  I am impressed as it hasn't opened on me to dump my stitch markers everywhere yet.  I would prefer some kind of snap closure or something, but with such an inexpensive purchase, I'm sure that's out of the budget.  Knit Picks is famed for affordable, so I can imagine that was a deciding factor, keeping their product as affordable as possible.  It may just mean I need to make or find a little baggy for them that snaps shut should I start having problems.  That can wait as everything has been fine thus far.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with these stitch markers.  They're serving me well.  Given the project I'm working on requires eighteen of them, I don't feel so bad about not using the flashy stitch markers I've gotten from swap partners and friends.  These are simple, inexpensive, and do the job I need them to do.  While other stitch markers may be prettier, these serve their function, so who can really ask for more?  Will I buy them again?  Definitely!  Should I find I need some more, or some break or get lost, as undoubtedly happens, I would look into replacing them with the same product.  Better still, I can buy these stitch markers from the LYS, which means I can support them at the same time as buying a product I like!  Now if only they'd offer their yarn the same way!  Nothing beats instant gratification!

Leave of Absence from Knitting? What?

I've been busy lately.  I haven't much had the time to do as much as I'd like to do.  I've been really sidetracked with life.  Projects haven't been done.  Hey, until recently, projects haven't even been picked up!  So much for knitting my way back to Boston, right?  It seems like as soon as I made that decision , life got crazy and I had to drop it all.

For the past few weeks I haven't been doing much knitting.  I pick it up now and again, but I haven't really been able to get through more than a couple rows.  It's kind of pathetic, in a way, but it's a sign that life is going it's own direction, which I suppose can be constituted as good.  It means that I'm doing things with my life, but I miss my quiet and calm craft time.  It was peaceful and made me happy.  Now I'm finally getting back to it.

On the project front, I've realized I don't quite have enough yarn to make the striped longies I was planning to make.  I'm just a tiny bit short.  It's no more than a remnant amount, but it's a big deal when you just don't quite have enough!  I'm going to have to get some more yarn to finish it out, but I'm sure that won't be too big of a deal.  If the dye lot doesn't match exactly, it's not going to break my heart.  It's not like I'm going to be selling them commercially.  Since it's just for my own child, a few weird quirks are totally acceptable.

The clapotis is still under way.  I'm kind of wondering why they figured so much yarn was needed for the pattern.  I'm almost done and I still haven't even finished the second ball of yarn.  I'm starting to wonder if four balls was really necessary.  Of course, it's also really short, so I may decide to add a few more repeats to the center section to make it a little longer.  The thought had crossed my mind to frog it all and start from scratch, making it wider, but I decided that would just be too heartbreaking and I couldn't do that to myself if I wanted to!  I may just decide to try and make some arm warmers or a hat or something to go with it with the excess yarn.  Maybe some cute glovelettes would be nice.  I've just got to figure out what to do with that.  Or maybe I'll make something that doesn't even go with it at all, just something random to stand all on it's own.  The possibilities are endless.

So here I am, back in the craft world.  Hopefully I'm going to stay here for more than just a visit!