UFO's

There are people who would say I am a focused person.  Some would say very focused. 

I would say I'm a hot mess and can hardly string two thoughts together without a third interrupting.  I think there are meds for this sort of condition...

Back to being focused.  I am pretty good about starting and finishing things.  I might have a couple projects going on at any one time, but nothing unmanagable.

Then recently it occurred to me.  I had begun more projects than I had finished... unfinished objects... AND I was seriously considering starting even more.

I have 3 quilts started.  One mostly pieced but is not comning together the way I envisioned so it is stalled waiting for inspiration to strike.  One, a vintage piece, which would be really cool with some hand embellishments.  And a third I cut out and attempted to conjure up a pattern for over the Christmas holiday.

This doesn't of course count the quilts, yes plural, I have fabric for, but have not yet started.

There are 4 knitting projects in various stages of 'unfinishedness'.  Yes, I just made that up.  A mohair sweater where the sleeve went wonky and I set it down - for months.  A hat.  Another sweater, this one with stranded knitting which will take more concentration than I currently have to finish.  And finally some yummy, soft merino handwarmers which I began a week and a half ago.  I was contemplating a hat to go with them, but have held off starting... so far. 

Let's see... there are sewing projects too.  I made a couple of little zippered bags for a trip.  One to hold my sunglasses, and another to hold all the little knitting tools I seem to leave all over the house.   I have more fabric cut out for additional bags.  The sunglass case is currently holding crochet hooks, so I need a new case for my glasses.  And I have fabric all put together to make cute little lined gift bags as I gave up on paper giftwrap a couple years ago.

Gaaahhhh! (A Dilbertism).

I am going to dedicate the next chunk of time (read 5 minutes) to finish some of my UFO's.  And on my honor I will try... not to begin anything new.

Ha!

So You Might Be a Geek If...

It is easy to recognize 'geek' in someone.  I mean come on, you know them when you see them, right?  Urkel comes to mind.

It is considerably more difficult to recognize it in oneself.  So here are a few examples to help with self awareness:

You might be a geek if you have owned (or perhaps still do!) every single Apple product ever sold.  Every. Single. One.  Taking the brand to cult-like status.  Even own black mock turtlenecks...You know who you are.  Yes, I'm talking to YOU.  Just sayin'.

You might be a geek if you purchase items from ThinkGeek.  I personally love this online store and own some of their products.... Like Smart Mass Thinking Putty (like Silly Putty but  cooler),

 and Flying Monkey Balls (I think they changed the product name, but this was the name when I purchased them),

and the bestest thing ever... the Slanket.  My bro turned me onto them and they are way better than the Snuggie.   Warmer, bigger, more couch potato.  Yup.  Geek.

OK, so you might be a geek if you spend hours researching a camera bag.  The. Perfect. Bag.  With the goal that it doesn't obviously look like  a camera bag.  It arrives in the mail,  it is loaded with camera gear, and slung over the shoulder.  You show it to the 'wife unit' and announce, "Hey isn't this cool?  It doesn't look like a camera bag."  OMG, you're right it doesn't look like a camera bag> It looks like an airline approved carry-on bag hanging against your hip.  All it's missing are wheels and a retractable handle.  And that messenger bag strap doesn't make it cool.  Yup.  Definitely a geek.

But here's some geekiness that snuck up on me.  Yes me! 

My birthday is approaching and I asked for a yarn swift and yarn winder.  So, the Sweetie, looking at me like I was hooked on prescription drugs, said OK and ordered them for me.  See how nice he is?   Even after I dissed him about the camera bag!

Recently, the doorbell rang and it had arrived!!  And the Sweetie allowed me to open it early.  I am such a lucky girl!  So the yarn swift is the gadget at the yarn store that you put the skein of yarn on, the yarn winder takes yarn from the swift and makes a ball. 

Doesn't everyone have a whirligig thingy attached to their dining room table?  What?!  You don't?

So I promptly set it up and and proceeded to make several yarn balls. 

It was a blast! It sure beats winding balls of yarn by hand.  Yeah, so, um, I might be a geek.

And where's there's yarn, there's Max, one of my Unusually Helpful Helpers,  With yarn hanging from his ear.  He's a geek too.

Snow

It snowed this weekend in Seattle.  I was running errands on Saturday and literally turned the corner and snow began coming down.  Hard.  I think we have a couple of inches, which is no big deal in much of the country, but it can be a bit snarky here.

I am not snow's biggest fan.  I figure that I can drive a couple of hours and visit it in the mountains if I really want to see it.  Which I do - every 5 years or so.  But if it is going to coming visit me then I should make the best of it.  My new banner, celebrates the snow and the witch hazel in bloom in the front yard.  A little bit of hope for spring peaking out from under the snow.

I had planned a different post, but let's go with the snow theme.  Since the beginning of the year I've been working on (wait for it...) another stranded knitted hat.  I used Mountain Top Vail for the cream which is 70% alpaca and 30% bamboo.  The green is  Malabrigo Lace, which is I doubled.  It is 100% merino wool, which feels heavenly.  I used a US 1 (2.5mm) circular needle.

The entire project took about  2 weeks, including commute time on the bus.

When finished I washed and felted it lightly which helped even out a few wonky stitches.  It is soft and light weight.  Perfect for a snowy Seattle day.

Another Stranded Hat

I had sooo much fun with my first stranded knitting project I began another right away.  It was as much fun, but I ran into issues.

The good news?  My tension improved.  Yes, the stitches were larger than straight knitting, but they were consistently big.

The not so good news?  I cast on way too many stitches.  This bad boy could have fit Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

See what I mean?  Humongous!  Pattern is cute, but good grief it was big!

I used my 'go to' cure for all my wonky knitting issues.... felt it!  It shrunk considerably but was still very, very large.   While it was still damp, my sister-in-law popped it in the dryer.  That helped a little more.  Still big, for me anyway, but no longer unwearable.

And the end result?

What?  You thought it was going to look like every other hat walking down the street?  Nooo.   My sister-in-law asked for tassels, and there you go.  Tassels.  Adds a certain whimsy, don't you think?

Pretty darn cute, if I do say so.  And found a new home with my sister-in law in Alaska.  She was a huge help in salvaging this project. 

Learned a BIG lesson on double checking one's math before casting on. 

Finished - Stranded Knitting Hat!

This project was a great deal of fun and I learned a ton about stranded knitting!

1. It was not as hard as it looked.  Following the pattern is a lot like counted cross stitch.  If you can count to 20 and keep track of which line you're on in the pattern, you are in great shape.
2. Find a way to hold the yarn that works for you.  There are a number of great videos on YouTube showing different ways to hold the different colors.  I settled on Continental, holding the yarn in one hand, a different color around two different fingers to better tension control.  There was a fair amount of trial and error involved.
3. Felting the project at the end solved a world of issues (see item 2, above)... Like puckering and inconsistent stitch lengths.  It also made the fabric more dense and warm.

I think it turned out to be pretty cute.  Much cuter on my niece (but what isn't cute on a twenty somethings), but she wasn't available for the photo shoot.

This project was so much fun that I have completed another project, have one underway, and just purchased yarn for a third!

New Project - Stranded Knitting

Things were a bit busy at work the last couple of months but have returned to something resembling normal recently.  For a while there was travel, travel, travel.  Fun, but very nice to be home again. 

I'm not a huge fan of being a girl and limiting myself to girl products that fit in a one quart zip lock bag, if ya know what I mean.  That part of travel rather cramps my style.  And you can only bring along sooo many shoes in a carry-on bag.  Kinda limits one's options. 

I did get a chance to work on a new project while I was away.  I decided to tackle stranded knitting.  You know, those lovely pieces using intricate patterns and two or more colors?  

Between YouTube and a great pattern book, I was on my way.  As an aside... I love YouTube.  It's not all stupid people tricks and revolutions.  I'm waiting for a video series on brain surgery.   That could be fun. Well, perhaps not. 

I found a book with great patterns at the library:  Poetry in Stitches by Solveig Hisdal.  I liked it so much that the Sweetie tracked down a copy for me.  So small task as it had been out of print for awhile.  Thank you, Sweetie.

I was in love with several patterns in the book.  But the idea of taking on something as large as a sweater when I had no idea what I was doing seemed a bit daunting.  And what if I hated this technique?  I would have another UFO laying around, nagging at me.

I started smaller.  And cobbled together a pattern for a scarf from the Child' Cardigan and Cap pattern on page 112. 

Of course I needed more yarn.  Not really, but I went and purchased some anyway... some Classic Elite MountainTop Vail in a light gray and cream.  Hey, I don't name these.  It's a blend of 70% alpaca and 30% bamboo.  It is a fingering weight yarn, which is more fine than I had used to date, but it is so soft I just had to have it.  The purple is Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace.  Again, super soft.

I was off to the races.  I had a pattern, yarn, a new circular needle, and time to kill in airports.  I am more patient and tolerant traveler when I have a knitting or crochet project with me.  Which is good for everyone.  Just sayin'

In my next installment (not two months from now, I promise) I'll fill you in on how my project progressed.

Yup! Another Gnome Hat

I can't just help myself.  I just love making these. 

This is hat #3.

They are quick. 

I don't have to think very hard. 

I can work on these at o'dark hundred on the bus to work, and on the ride back home.  I only have about a half hour with a lot of jostling, so my projects can't be overly complex or too big. 

These goofy little hats are just perfect!

And they make me smile

I used my favorite yarn - alpaca.  With a little felting, this hat became yummlisicous softness (just made that up).

Thank you for indulging me.