Happy 2009!

It's going to be a good year, I can feel it!

I like to set goals at the beginning of the year just to have guidance. Sometimes when things around me get complicated I can go back and take a look at my intentions and decide if it's still the way I want to go or not. This year, I started with three goals in mind. The only one that went unheeded was #2 the Modular Knitting.

My 2008 Goals were:

1. Learn how to make a sweater without a pattern using my own measurements and swatches. My LYS did in fact offer a class and I made a beautiful sweater made out of Alpaca.
2. Learn Modular Knitting. Although I didn't get to try this last year, I'm just going to carry over this goal to 2009 and try again because it is something that looks very cool and will be a new technique that I haven't tried before.
   
3. Seek out other spinners in hopes of finding somebody that I can watch and learn from. This was a successful goal due to a group of spinners from the OC that were willing to trek down to Common Threads the third Friday of the month to spin with the few of us that are local. Thank you Lori and group for giving me somebody to spin with once a month!
   

Those were my three main goals I had set for myself, although not all of my knitting accomplishments.

My knitting accomplishments for the year 2008 include:

• 24 completed knitting projects
• 3 sweaters
• 8 pairs of Adult socks
• 3 pairs of kids socks
• 1 shawl
• 6 Hats
• 2 Bags/purses
• 1 Toy
  
• Made 5 skeins of handspun
  
• Assembled 4 blankets for charity
  
• Completed and submitted 2 pairs of socks for the Think Outside the Sox contest. This was part of the reason I didn't achieve all three of my goals. It was by far the most challenging project I've ever undertaken. Knitting is one level, but when you try to write out something and explain it, it takes on a different level. To be able to communicate what you want to say in writing is an art, and not one that comes easily to me. I'll be at Stitches West in Santa Clara when they announce the winners and can already feel the anticipation. It's going to be crazy!

The sock contest was also the reason I didn't have time to complete all of my kits from the 2008 Rockin Sock Club. I was thinking that having 3 of the 6 kits leftover was good enough reason to wait for the 2010 sock club membership, but you can see from this post what happened with that. At the end of January I'll get the first shipment. Woohoo! The three I didn't get to knit last year will just hold me over between shipments.

My goal for 2009 is to learn about sweater construction. I'll probably start by knitting a sweater from Wendy Bernard's book Custom Knits. It has detailed instructions about working from the top down and I have some ideas on how I would like things to look. Then I'll just see what other patterns are out there that have the look that I like and go from there.

Happy 2009! It's already a great year!

WIP Central

It's been so long since my last post because I have so many long-term projects I've been working on. I usually post when I've finished something.

A ton of things have been in the works for me. I've been working on my socks for the Think Outside the Sox contest. It's a lot more laborious of a process than I thought it would be. It's one thing to knit a sock not using a pattern and come up with your own ideas. But then to try to articulate them down on paper so anyone can read it and know what you're talking about is quite another. I guess it comes down to the deadline. All submissions have to be in by January 1, 2009. If I could take my sweet time, and work on other things when I felt like it then it wouldn't be as bad. But the next shipment of the Rockin' Sock Club came, and I can't start them (again). Look at this colorway...
It's so beautiful! I want to start them and work on them but I just can't let myself until I finish my entry. It's the only way it'll get done.

Which brings me to another point. Stitches West 2009. After careful consideration, hemming and hawing, and almost absolute denial that I was going to submit to a frivolous trip completely for myself...I'm going. I've got my hotel room at the Santa Clara Hyatt Regency, I've got my plane ticket to Santa Clara, and my classes have been signed up and paid for. I'll be joining a few of my fellow enthusiasts for a fun-filled getaway that I've already dismissed my guilt for. One of the motivating factors for me going was the sock contest. I mean, they're announcing the winners there! I'm not the only one of my friends who will win that night either. My other friend is going to win in her category also, so it makes sense for us to be there together to celebrate. (It's good to visualize your goals!)

I did manage to finish these socks for Son #1. They were the ones I would carry around in my purse and knit on when I had a few free moments.

-->Name of Project: Garter Stitch Toes and Heels
Yarn: Sock it to Me! Collection Harlequin
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0 mm) Knit Picks dpns
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 2 months
Pattern Notes: These are based on the Timberline Toes pattern from Lucy Neatby. I went toe-up using a provisional cast on with 28 stitches, short-rowing down to 9 sts, then back up to 28 sts. Then I picked up where the provisional cast on was and worked in the round for the foot. I worked a garter stitch short-row heel over 34 stitches, short-rowing down to 10, then back up to 34. Then worked up the leg. I knitted 1.5" of ribbing for the top then used a sewn-bind off.

As usual they are now his favorite thing to wear which makes him a very worthy recipient.

Another event to be excited about is the Torrance Fiber Festival. A couple of us are going to meet up to go check it out. It's about a 2 hour drive from where I live which I think is a bit more reasonable than the 14 hour drive to Taos, New Mexico for the Taos Fiber Festival. So that's it! Back to working on the never-ending sock entry...

Happy New Year!

This was a pretty good year. It's going down in the books as one of the first times in my life I've felt peaceful within myself. I'm happier than I've ever been and in a good place in my heart. I've accomplished a lot because I have a wonderful family, wonderful friends and surround myself with their love and support. I recognize that having positive thoughts and intentions, patience, kindness and strength will help me be the best that I can, in everything that I do.

My knitting accomplishments for the year 2007 include:

• 33 completed knitting projects
• 17 pairs of Adult socks
• 2 pairs of kids/baby socks
• 3 sweaters
  
• 1 Baby sweater
• 4 Bags/purses
• 2 wire projects
• 1 scarf
• 1 shawl
• 1 pair of gloves
• 1 Hat
• Learned how to knit and manipulate wire to make jewelry and stitch markers
• Knitted 9 Squares for a charity blanket
• Completed my 2007 goal "The Lucy Project". I was able to try many different socks techniques and learned what I like to do the best.
  
• Learned how to hand dye yarn using Kool-aid and Acid dyes. I also learned how to make my own self-striping yarn using a warping board I made.
  
• Learned how to spin using a hand spindle and a spinning wheel
• Learned how to process raw fleece
• This was fleece just shorn from the sheep. My Best B taught me how to wash it, card it (gave me fleece and carders for my birthday), and showed me how to roll it for spinning.
• Found a knitting group. I feel like I searched for so long for other knitters that live by me. I knew they had to be out there, but I had such a hard time figuring out where they were meeting. I was so happy to have found them and I feel privileged to have met such a wonderful group of women.
  

My goals for 2008 include:

1. Learn how to make a sweater without a pattern using my own measurements and swatches. I'm hoping that my LYS will be offering a class that will help me with this.
2. Learn Modular Knitting. I have the book already, I just want to make time to sit and go through it so I can fully understand what it is going on.
   
3. Seek out other spinners in hopes of finding somebody that I can watch and learn from. I have learned what I'm going to learn from books and I need to see it person. I'm not really looking for a teacher that I have to pay for lessons. I want to find a person or group of people that like to get together to spin and wouldn't mind somebody observing their work and occasionally asking questions. A group similar to my current knitting group, except for spinning.
   

Happy 2008! It's gonna be a good year!