My First KAL

I started my first KAL today. I joined the Sock Knitters Anonymous Group’s Sockdown for April. I typically don’t join in on KALs because usually I find out about them way after they have started and usually don’t have the time to catch up.

What is nice about this KAL is that it is ongoing and starts every month. I probably wouldn’t have joined it except that I have been spending way to much time on the Ravelry Forums and I have had loads of fun reading about the February and March Sockdown, so I decided to join the fun for April

One of the requirements is that you have to cast on between April 1 and April 30. This was rather difficult for me because I did my swatch over the weekend and I have wanted to cast on ever since. Here is my swatch. I just love the way the colors are blending.

Therefore, this morning, bright and early, 7:20 am to be exact, I cast on my first sock. I had under an hour before I had to leave for work, but I did get a few rows done.

It has been somewhat of a crazy morning at work, first thing this morning my boss comes in and tells me about some god-awful virus that was to be released today and I had to stop everything and download the patch to make sure we were covered. Not exactly what I had planned to do this morning, but it turned out to be an exciting little twist to my day.

 

Because, while I was watching the progress meter go by I got to knit. I did get a few things accomplished that didn’t require the computer, but as you can see at this moment I took the picture it had been over an hour and a half that it had been running. And since most of my job involves the computer I was just about at a standstill so I picked up my knitting and got a few more rows done.

Even though at 1 hour 33 minutes the progress meter showed that it was nearly complete, it actually took over 2 hours before it was finally finished scanning. Nevertheless, once the scan was done I had to get back to work. I can’t wait to get home this evening to continue knitting on my socks.

Knitting Limbo

For the past few days, I have sort of been in a knitting limbo. I am waiting to start my April Sockdown Socks tomorrow, and I am also expecting some yarn for a new test/sample knit in the next few days. In an effort to keep the WIPs to a minimum, two or under, I didn’t want to start any major projects that wouldn’t get completed before the Test/Sample knitting started. So I have been spending my time working on the swatches for the Basics, Basics, Basics Workshop as well as the Mobius Collar, which isn’t a mobius any more.

I don’t know why I have been dragging my feet on getting the swatches done for the Basics, Basics, Basics Workshop, because they have been quite easy. I whipped out the first two yesterday in addition to knitting on the collar. My plan is to have the other three swatches completed by the end of the week. That is if I can keep my hands off the Sockdown Socks once I get them started tomorrow.

Here is a picture of the collar as it stands right now. I plan on writing up this pattern and posting it on this blog for free in the next few days. You can read more about this project on Ravelry.

Enjoy!

Twirling Toe-up Socks – The Pattern

Designed by: Tina Robbins

Materials
Instant Gratification by Hill Country Yarn – 1 skein
US size 3 circular needles – 32″ or longer

Gauge: 6.5 sts per Inch

Size: fits foot circumference: 6½-9½”

Price: $3.50

Reading Old Posts

I find it quite humorous and sometimes interesting to go back and read some of my previous posts. I never thought I would do that. I mean, I already know what I wrote and I lived the experience so why would I need to re-read a posts a year or more later.

I have found that typically, when I write a post I sometimes feel as if I am rushing through it just to get it posted and I don’t always feel as if I take the time to perfect each post. But when I go back and re-read them it amazes me that I actually wrote that. Some might say you get better with age, but some of my past posts were written quite well if I don’t say so myself.

It will be interesting to go back 5 or even 10 years from now to re-read my blog. In fact, I have even considered having a book made of my blog. Check out this website, where you can turn your blog into your own book of blog posts. Wouldn’t that be a fun read on a cold winters day, or even on a spring day enjoying the outdoors for the first time after hibernating all winter.

Pay it forward

I got this from Little House in the Big Burbs blog, and it sounded like a lot of fun. So Here goes.

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a gift from me “sometime during this year”. The prize is a surprise and will be mailed anywhere in the United Sates. I will spend some time visiting the three winner’s blogs to try to get to know them better, to give me a better idea of what might make a nice gift for them.

Then they will unexpectedly receive a gift from me at some point during the year. You must post this same thing (Paying it Forward Giveaway) on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you’re in, along with a link.

Remember, only the first 3 comments participating in the Pay It Forward Giveaway will receive a gift.

Recap of the Rules:

1. Be one of the first three to leave a comment to this post, with the link to your Pay It Forward Giveaway post.

2. Be willing to follow through on sending out one prize each to three lucky winners of your contest.

3. Make sure your profile has contact information available.

Focus, Focus, Focus

I am standing my ground and not casting on any new projects until I finish at least two more of my WIPs. It hasn’t been easy and I have nearly slipped a couple of times in the last two days. I really want to cast on for a pair of socks, but I am determined to minimize my WIPs. I know that I will have at least one of them completed in the next day or so and the other should be done in the next week or so.

The absolute worse thing you can do when trying to prevent casting on for a new project is to surf the friends activities on Ravelry. Big mistake and I haven’t taken my own advice, which is one of the reasons it has been so difficult to control myself and not run straight to my sock yarn bin.

The other very bad thing to do is listen to podcasts, opps, I have been doing that as well.

One thing I have been doing that doesn’t have an effect how many projects I have on the needles is raiding the candy jar at work. It does have an effect on how many pounds I have on my body, not such a good thing.

Yikes, I need to get control of myself.

I promise to have some pictures of more finished objects in the next day or so.

Monogamous Knitting

I am trying so hard to have only one or two projects on the needles at a time, and I am not sure if you know this, but it is very, very hard to do.  I recently finished the following items and I have wanted to start another pair of socks as well as a shawl, but I have stuck the promise I made to myself to reduce the number of projects I have on my needles.

It seems that whenever I finish a project I get this surge of motivation to start 3 more. The problem I have found is none of the projects seem to make progress, or it the progress is very slow when there are so many projects in the works, which is rather apparent if you check out the information for these projects on Ravelry.

I love finishing projects, and I feel my FO’s would come more quickly if I limit my WIPs, so I am going to do my best to keep this promise to myself. So you can look for finished objects more often in the future. In fact, I have 3 more projects that nearly complete, and I hope to have at least two of these projects completed by the end of the week.

My ultimate goal is to also reduce my yarn stash, but I should probably focus on one goal at a time. If I can stick to keeping the WIPs down then I will surely be able to reduce my stash as well.

Stay tuned for my basic sock pattern, which is coming up next.

 

Time Drain

Wow, it is so easy to get lost on the internet and waste hours upon hours of your time. Time that really should be used to knit more! My biggest web related time drain vises are Ravelry and Knitting Blogs. Who can reisist looking at all the patterns and yarn on Ravelry and then going to read about all the knitting adventures, and mis-adventures, in blog world.

Just about anyone can post something on the internet and they usually do. The problem with so much information online is that you can get sucked in rather quickly, and can easily loose hours or days surffing the web. I just wish I had more time for all the things I love to do.

My Knitting Story

It was about three years ago when I picked up my knitting needles. Prior to this, I had not knit in quite a long time, primarily because I didn’t know any other knitters, and knitting just isn’t as much without knitting friends.  In addition, my friends, at the time, always made fun of me when I knit while they were all drinking, smoking and playing cards. Drinking and smoking were never my scene and I have always like to stay busy, even while playing cards.

The reason I picked up the needles again was because one of my dear friends happen to mention one day that she always wanted to learn to knit, which meant I would have at least one knitting friend. So we embarked on the journey together.

I have since made lots of knitting friends and learned a lot in the process of knitting with other knitters. In addition, over the last three years I have taught at least 5 people to knit and re-introduced knitting to at least three others, and have enjoyed sharing my passion for knitting with my friends and making new friends along the way.

When I first picked up the needles again I was an experienced beginner at best. Although I had known how to knit for many, many years, I had never technically finished a project. I had completed one sweater through seaming, but since I didn’t take the time to do a gauge swatch before embarking on the project, it didn’t fit when I was done.

This leads me to where I am going. Since starting this blog I have wanted to gear it more towards a helpful tool for all knitters. So in the weeks, months, and possibly years to come, in addition to sharing information about my personal knitting, I will be using this blog to post articles about knitting. Everything from where to start to specific techniques. I hope the information I share will be as helpful to you as it has been to me, and if there is anything specific you would like to learn about please feel free to propose a topic.

First on the agenda will be where to start for beginners. Watch for this post in the next week or so.

2nd Annual Knit-A-Way

The 2nd Annual Knit-A-Way weekend meets the 7th Annual Crop-N-Stamp Camp at the all new Crafting Bonanza. This event is scheduled for January 29-31, 2010 in Leonard, Michigan.

Before I became a knitter, I was heavily into rubber-stamping and scrapbooking and I hosted a huge retreat every year, sometimes twice a year. Since becoming a knitter I have done less and less stamping and scrapbooking, but I still very much enjoy the time I do spend doing paper crafts. So, I decided to combine my favorite crafts into one great weekend.

If you are interested in more information about the event please feel free to post a comment and I will be sure to email you the complete details.  There are 50 spots available for this event and nearly half have already been tentatively reserved, pending deposit.