Wednesday, January 25, 2006

When love ain't enough to keep you warm

Sometime over the Christmas holidays, I completely lost my knitting mojo. It might have been burnout from all the present knitting, or the endless sweater class cardigan being knit in hard-to-see navy blue (which I'm in the middle of seaming, I swear), but knitting just wasn't fun anymore. The wisdom teeth saga might have had something to do with it too (did I tell you that one of the wounds got infected after I returned to Boston? And that I had to have it drained? Fun times). Anyway, Adrienne = not a happy knitter. So to counter the knitting blues, of course I went shopping (before I made the resolutions, I promise!):

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Yummy Handmaiden Cashmere from Colorsong Yarn. A Devin's Toque kit in the Mineral colourway so I could knit a hat for Jason, because he is utterly lacking in winter accessories. If that's not a knitter's siren song, I don't know what is. And plus, cashmere! So, a few days of knitting later:

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A delectably pettable hat. At first I was having serious pooling issues, but then I think my tension changed somewhat and I ended up with this fun swirly pattern. The yarn is super-soft and slippery, and breaks really really easily. I had to be pretty careful with the knitting, even on bamboo needles. But I think it turned out pretty well, it keeps the head warm and wards off wind-induced headaches, so mission accomplished. And we are knitting again, I'll have to list all the UFOs that I'm working on sometime. =)

Friday, January 13, 2006

Knitty Resolutions

I'm not normally a very resolution-y sort of person, but this year, I'm turning over a new knitterly leaf. Whereas last year seemed to be all about being a Bad-Ass Knitter, about buying whatever yarn whenever I wanted and not feeling guilty about it, so there (although to be perfectly honest, I still felt guilty), this year is going to be a little different. For one thing, I've catalogued the stash and there's too much of it, I've got yarn exploding everywhere. For another thing, I've started thinking somewhat about the Future, about maybe someday moving beyond this poor-yet-single-and-fancy-free-living-in-the-present existence, and part of moving forward will probably involve not spending money like a drunken sailor (not that I do technically, I never spend more than I have, but let's just say that I could spend less, shall we?). So, here is my current list of Knitty Resolutions for 2006:

1) The stash is not to grow beyond 100 balls of yarn. It is currently at a little over 100 balls, but I am setting that as its maintenance level.
2) To help maintain the stash at a reasonable level, we will start actually knitting from stash instead of finding new and novel things to buy because we are bored with everything we already have.
3) We will stop inventing imaginary projects in order to justify purchasing yarn which is either on sale or newly discontinued.
4) We will try our very hardest to not use shopping for yarn as retail therapy. We will try to find comfort and satisfaction in buying inexpensive or practical things, like, say, scotch tape and tampons.

I think that's all for now, it's been 13 days in January (Happy Friday the 13th!) and I haven't bought any yarn yet. Perhaps there is hope after all. =)

ETA: I just realized that all those resolutions basically amount to one thing: No more haphazard yarn accumulation. =P

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year!

Wow, I've been a delinquent blogger, haven't I? Sorry for the absence. To make it up to you, here are some photos of all the Christmas prezzies I knit this year:

A cabled scarf for my dad using Karabella Aurora 8 in a manly gray colour (shade 26 I think, my camera makes it look sorta brown here). Pattern courtesy of Yarn-A-Go-Go.
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A mistake rib scarf for my mom using Manos del Uruguay colour 106 (I had to search many a LYS to find it).
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A cabled scarf for my sister using Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk (which I bought ages ago). Pattern is Vintage Velvet from Scarf Style. I think this one was my favourite. Maybe I'll have to make another one for myself sometime!
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A farrow rib scarf for Jason using Morehouse Merino 3-strand, colour Brown Heather.
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And lastly, toe-up socks for my godmother using Fleece Artist Merino. I didn't want to give these away.
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As for knitting resolutions this year, who knows? Maybe I should resolve to actually finish a sweater sometime soon (the sweater class puts some pressure on me, but I still hate finishing). Or maybe I should resolve to knit through some of my sock yarn before buying more. Or maybe we should actually enforce a yarn budget this year. We are still thinking about it. =)