You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2009.
While sorting through some boxes in my parents garage I found the garter stitch scarf that started it all. I was 6 or 7 and my mom cast on and cast off but I did all the knitting and fringe. It’s pale yellow, got a bit of a halo, kind of glittery and quite scratchy.
Incidentally I finished this scarf and then didn’t knit again for almost 20 years.
I won my appeal! The state is now required to pay me benefits because the court ruled that I am in fact eligible for unemployment.
I’m breathing a sigh of relief.
I’ve discovered a problem with packing up your life…you find yarn in the strangest places.
Since I took a tally of what I thought was all my stash on Dec 31st I have found another 11 skeins of yarn. That brings my total to 233 for the start of 2009. I’m changing my counter on the sidebar to reflect the new numbers because while I didn’t know I had those 11 skeins they still count for the beginning of the year.
Sigh.
What was worse is that all the yarn I found was sock yarn. Assuming I knit socks out of every skein of sock yarn I currently own (even the skeins I bought to make non-sock projects) I have 54 pairs of socks waiting to be made. Considering the fact that I seem to knit socks at a rate of maybe 10 per year…well you can see I sure as hell don’t need more sock yarn since I could knit socks for the next 5 years and still have some in stash.
Double sigh.
In other news.
This is the room where Dragonfibers used to live. It’s empty now. I’m a little sad but the move will be soon and I’ve already gotten permission from Dad to setup in the computer/sewing room aka my sister’s old bedroom. The upside is that it has it’s own bathroom so I won’t have to plan my showering needs around my dye orders anymore. My friends and family will be happy about that.
The interview was this morning and the hearing was this afternoon….
I hate waiting.
Lest you think there hasn’t been any knitting…
Amused is moving right along. The color is way off in the photo but it was the only one that showed some detail on the cabling. The body has been finished and the left sleeve has been started (I wonder why I always knit the left sleeve before the right). I have just started on ball #10 so I seriously doubt I will be using all 20 balls up. Not sure what what can make with 5-6 balls of worsted tweed. Plus in a complete change of pace I’m magic-looping the sleeves rather than using DPN’s. Normally I hate the ML but for some reason I wasn’t feeling the DPN love last night.
In other knitting news.
The aquaphobic Jester socks were frogged. I loved how they looked but hated knitting the slip stitch pattern. I kept knitting and knitting and that stupid cuff was still only 3″ long. The odds of finishing 2 complete socks in that slip stitch pattern were slim to none. So instead I decided to repurpose the Jester yarn into a pair of socks with a very popular pattern. Right now there is a Leyburn KAL in the Socks That Rawk group on Ravelry but since all of my highly variegated STR yarn is boxed up I’m going with the Jester yarn instead. It is definitely an easy pattern to work with and the only mods I have made so far is the stitch count since my gauge is a little tighter.
Waiting is hard…
Interview has been rescheduled till 10.30am PST on Jan 20th.
Fingers still crossed (recruiter gave me a good tip on something that raised a red flag for a candidate they talked to this morning).
and any other appendages you can cross.
I have an interview!
Trying very hard not to get too excited, don’t want to assume it’s in the bag but oh I would be perfect for the job and it’s with a company I actually looked up only a few days after being laid off.
Please send job hunting vibes my way at 3pm PST on the 19th.
Can someone please remind me that staying up till 2am on a weeknight isn’t a good idea even if you don’t have a job to go to the next day?
As soon as I finished the Test Socks I decided I needed another pair of socks on the needles. Sobe suggested the oh so pretty Plaited Points from the Winter Knitty and she even picked out the yarn from my stash for it (Claudia Handpainted in Ocean). The pattern was printed and I went to grab the yarn to skein when it hit me. Maybe having 2 cabled projects on the needles at the same time wasn’t ideal especially when the reason behind having a pair of socks going while working on Amused is so I can have a break from the cabling. The pattern was put away and the yarn went back in the cabinet. However since I was standing in front of the yarn cabinet I grabbed another.
It doesn’t look like much yet but I’m finally attempting the Fleece Artist Merino in Jester again. I can’t even remember what sock I tried to make with it last time before frogging but this is one of the oldest sock yarns in my stash and it’s time I found a use for it. I’ve also had the Aquaphobia sock pattern faved in Ravelry for a while now and think the slip stitch pattern will combat the super thin quality of the yarn. I’ve knit other FA merino yarn and I have another skein in stash but this Jester is thinner than both of them.
In sweater news…. I was only gettting about 1 pattern repeat done a day because I just can’t knit fast with this yarn. It doesn’t slide easily on even the Harmony needles so I’m constantly stopping and scooting my stitches around. It’s frustrating but so far things are going well. I had to frog back a fair amount when I needed to divide for the sleeves because the size I was knitting was far too big even though the measurements were right. So off went about 4inches until I had the stitch count for the next size down. Once the sleeves were divided the knitting progressed a little faster and I sped through the stockingnette body and am now just starting on the 6″ of 2×2 ribbing. I expect the knitting to slow down a bit for that.
The packing has started but I’m at a standstill. I already had to decide how much of my yarn and fiber stash gets to stay in the warm cozy house and what yarn gets boxed up to live in the cold dark storage unit. I decided I couldn’t just grab a couple projects worth because I needed the security of choices so I whittled the stash down to 5 balls of kitchen cotton (lets face it I need to knit with it or quit drooling over cones of Peaches & Cream online), 1 newly frogged skein of Suri Blue laceweight, the uber soft Mirasol Miski yarn that I bought over 6 months ago because I couldn’t stop touching it, my Quivet yarn because Quivet CAN’T live in a storage unit and finally 10 skeins of sock yarn.
Yes I packed enough sock yarn to last me at least 6 months if not a year and yet I’m well aware that it is overkill. I need choices 🙂
All the rest of the yarn has been bagged, boxed and is sitting in a slowly growing pile of boxes to be moved this weekend. Packing up everything is harder than I expected because I think a little part of me wants to deny it is happening. As much as I hate the need to move I do recognize just how lucky I am to have the option.
I did get word on when my unemployment case gets a hearing so on January 20th 3pm PST can you please send some vibes my way?
I started off the year with 222 balls of yarn in the stash and by January 3rd I was down 1 full ball but somehow mysteriously my Sugar n Cream stash doubled thanks to a Christmas gift from Jen. It’s a good thing I like her and since I can’t buy yarn right now I’m certainly not going to complain if people want to buy it for me.
I spent New Years Day casting on for Amused from the Winter 08 Knitty. It was the first thing in the magazine that caught my attention and wouldn’t you know it I had a yarn already sitting in the stash. I had picked up 20 balls of Needful Yarns London Tweed in Mallard back in October because not only was it a killer price but I’d been pondering a tweedy cardigan/sweater for a while now.
Doesn’t look like much huh? The color is way off in that pic since I forgot to take a photo during the day. So far I’m almost 3 balls into the sweater and it’s slow going for me. I’m not used to knitting aran weight yarn and in order to get gauge I’m on size 6 needles (pattern calls for 9’s but I apparently knit superloose). Plus all the sweaters I’ve knit so far and in fact most of my recent knitting has been lovely soft/silky/drapey yarns so working with a durable tweed is a huge tactile change for me. The pattern is easy so far and I just make sure not to try knit too much in a day and switch back and forth between the sweater and my latest socks.
Speaking of socks…
First FO of 2009! This is with a new 2ply merino that I’m going to be carrying soon through Dragonfibers. Super squishy with some nice stitch definition. I wanted to try out the hybrid heel I learned at SeaSocks 08 so this was a good time to try it out. I waffled over the cuff patterning and couldn’t find an all-over pattern that I liked and would work with the 56st sock. I ended up modifying a vertical lace pattern I found and I think it works well. A very subtle sock but just what I wanted.
In other random news. I have made a tough decision that deep down I know is the right one for now. Due to my continued unemployment and problems with being approved for state benefits I have decided to move in with my parents. It is a short-term solution but makes the most sense for me even though the idea of living with my parents again scares the crap out of me. My yarn is coming with me because damn it I need my security blanket!
Time for 2009 goals but first a review of how 2008 went.
(copied from my Jan 1 2008 post)
In 2008 I want to….
Always have a pair of socks going on the needles. I joined the SAM5 KAL just for this purpose. I can’t honestly judge if this happened or not. I do know I had socks on the needles that languished for months but knitting a pair a month? Definitely didn’t happen.
Finish the Stacy sweater. Done!
Complete Tomato in time for Seasocks. Done!
Knit another sweater. February Lady Sweater!
Knit a lace wrap. Does the clapotis count?
Process my own fleece. Sort of acheived. I picked and washed the Finn fleece then I saw a moth in the raw fleece on the balcony so I tossed the raw fleeces and bagged up the Finn just in case. Never saw a moth inside the house thankfully.
Spin a sweater’s worth of yarn (note this does not include knitting the sweater in 2008). Ha! This never even came close to being started.
Spin a true 3ply fingering weight sock yarn. Done! 3 ply fingering weight spun from the first Well Heeled Sock Batts!
Do not end 2008 with more sock yarn than what I started with (31) Amount of sock yarn on December 31st 2008….35. Fail!
Now for something pretty.
The Solo Silk from Brooks Farm bought at Taos 2008 in the My So Called Scarf pattern. This is my official SnowStorm 2008 scarf since it was knit while Seattle closed down due to snow. I had some serious cabin fever going on by day 10 of being housebound so this was a good way to focus my thoughts.
Now for 2009 goals…
Get around to spinning that sweaters worth of yarn, I have the fiber so why can’t I get around to doing it already?
Finish the never-ending garter stitch log cabin blanket (currently about 30% done).
Learn to steek (EEEK!)
and the big one…..Stashdown 09. Total amount of stash on January 1st 2009 is 222 individual balls/skeins, 31.59lbs, 25.36 miles.
I decided against a set project goal like 3 sweaters, 20 scarves etc. Instead I’m going for overall stash reduction because I know that once I get a day job again I’m going to want to buy yarn from time to time and an all-out moratorium on yarn purchases will just piss me off.
The goal?
A 20% stash reduction with a stretch goal of 25%. I will gladly take suggestions on a reward for reaching the stretch goal. Buying yarn as a reward is NOT an option 🙂
And to start the year off right I made a special breakfast.
Eggs Benedict with the smoked bacon I got from The Swinery in November.
Here’s hoping everyone has a happy and healthy 2009. I’m personally holding out hope that January 26th will bring good things for me since that is the REAL new year. 🙂
KnittingKitty rambles on and on 