Archives for January 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Believe it or not, I finished the front of Chamomile and cast on the back. I also did the first two rows (to establish the ribbing pattern). Woohoo! I’m of course paranoid that I will run out of yarn because mine is coming out bigger than what the pattern says. My gauge is off, but it’s off on all the pieces so when I put them together it will all match, it will just be bigger which is fine by me. I like loose sweaters, I just hope I have enough yarn to finish it. I have 2 1/3 skeins left.
Anyway, I also started on the second sock during the past week. I have 5 more rows of ribbing to do on the band, then I start the leg in stockinette. So I’m actually making some progress on my projects and it feels great. I actually enjoyed working on Chamomile this morning.
In other news, I worked on my quilt some more today also. I have all the strips done to form the units that make up the blocks. 4 units make up one block and I have 42 blocks. I just have to sew the three strips together to make the units. That won’t be as easy…I have to make my corners line up as best as possible and I know that it’s going to be a little tough on some of the pieces. I may have to rip some of the seams and redo them to get things to line up.
Posted in Chamomile, Socks | No Comments
Saturday, January 7, 2006
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I’ve come to the realization that clothes aren’t my strong point. I don’t think I’m an experienced enough knitter to make clothes. I enjoy making afghans, hats, scarves, neckwarmers, etc much more than sweaters. So I think I’ve decided to rip Blanche and use the yarn for something else, possibly a baby blanket or something. It’s very soft and the bright yellow is great for babies. Mom said that was fine. She never was into crocheting or knitting clothes either, so she totally understands what I mean. Her and dad will probably be coming up next weekend since it’s a long one, and I’m going to show her what I’ve done with Blanche before I rip it. Just to show her. But I’m just not too happy with how it turned out. I don’t feel I’m good enough yet, and I hate giving mom something that she won’t feel comfortable wearing.
But, I’m still going to try to fix Chamomile because I just really love that sweater. And I’m still going to make my Dolman sweater because I really love the pattern. Other than those two, I probably won’t be making any more sweaters. I will probably stick to afghans, crocheted dillies and knitted accessories such as hats, scarves, etc. I love making afghans even though they take a long time to make. Oh yeah, and quilts. :)
Posted in Blanche, Projects | No Comments
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Now, with everything in my previous post being said, one thing I’m not looking forward to is seaming Blanche. I know my rows are not going to match up, so it’s not going to be an easy task to seam this baby up. If anyone has any advice on seaming, I would greatly appreciate it. This is my first “big” seaming project, so I’m just praying it goes alright. She should be dry soon, since she’s been sitting on my kitchen table for several days now. Thick cotton sure takes a while to dry. ;)
Next up, socks and my crochet afghan. Which is perfect, because my SF trip is coming up at the end of the month and socks are the perfect project to take with me, not much to lug around. If need be, I could always take my gingham afghan though, since I would only need one skein of yarn, a crochet hook and my yarn cutters. I doubt I’ll go through a skein of yarn in a week. The squares are each 3″.
Posted in Blanche, Projects | No Comments
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
When I began knitting 2 years ago, I did it because I wanted to do what everyone else was doing…making sweaters and socks, etc…I bought all the magazines, tons of yarn and started a bazillion projects. I quickly got overwhelmed. I wasn’t good enough, or fast enough, or experienced enough. It burned me out and I quit knitting for months. Now, I’ve gotten the knitting bug again, but I’m looking at it differently. I’m finishing up what I started long ago. That feels great to be working on those. I feel I have control over my hobby. I started doing a little more crochet. But this time, I’m not doing projects that everyone else is doing. I’m working on stuff I want to work on because I enjoy them. I don’t care what anyone else is doing, what the latest patterns and yarns are, or how many projects I get done in a year compared to other knitters. I’m just doing it at my own pace and finally having fun.
This is my approach to quilting. I’ve only purchased one magazine. Because I saw the quilt I wanted to make. Have I gone hog-wild collecting patterns for future projects? No. Have I gone nuts buying fabrics just because they look pretty? No. I’m taking it one quilt at a time and truly enjoying the process.
I think that is my biggest New Year’s Resolution of all. To knit and quilt for myself. Doing things I enjoy, not because everyone else is doing it. It has really helped me truly appreciate it all. It’s hard to really put into words, but I’ve realized something today about how I’ve been approaching my current hobbies. I was too obsessed with doing what everyone else was doing. Now that I’m stepping back, I find it easier to breathe and have fun with it all.
Posted in Knitting | No Comments
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
After doing a little research and thinking about it for a few days, I’m starting to lean towards the idea of tying my first quilt rather than quilting it. I’m pretty convinced that hand quilting is not the best choice for a queen size quilt, especially my first one. And since I’ve not quilted before, I probably should machine quilt it. My mom suggested sending it off to be quilted but I don’t want to do that. Cost way too much and then I can’t say I did it all myself. So my best choice as a beginner on such a large quilt is most likely to tie it. I’ve read up on how to tie it…every 3-4 inches, which works out well because of the quilt design. And it’s going to be a bed quilt, so it won’t have too much rough handling. So that decision is done. I will be tying this first quilt of mine. I’ll leave the machine quilting for a smaller project since I’ve never done that before.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments
