Monthly Archives: May 2017

Only Knitting

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I’ve got a problem.  (Surprise!  I feel like I begin a lot of posts this way.  Maybe I have a lot of knitting-related problems?  Or maybe I think that you guys are particularly good at fixing my problems.  One or the other.)

This problem is kind of a first world problem, a problem of “too much.”  I’ve taken on too much knitting work. It’s great- because I’m really making knitting my “big girl” job, which is amazing and exciting.  I never even considered “professional knitter” when I did those “What I Want To Be When I Grow Up” assignments when I was a kid.  I always thought it would just be a hobby.  So, it’s fantastic that I’m actually getting paid knitting design work.

However, I may have bit off more than I can chew this month.  I (accidentally?) agreed to three contracts this month.  I should be able to manage everything, after all I’ve got until the end of the month, which is a long way away.  But in the meantime, I’m going to be knitting like the wind!

It feels a little like the month before Christmas- working as fast as I can, in every available minute.

Cross your fingers and send good knitting vibes!

Do you ever take on too much knitting?  What do you do to help yourself go faster?

Not Knitting!

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What a twist!

I bet you thought I spent 100% of my time knitting.  I know I sometimes feel like that.  After all, there is so much knitting to do.

But, sometimes even I need a little bit of a break.  Especially when the (super secret) project I’m working on involves a stupid number of cables worked at a slightly-smaller-than-usual gauge that makes my wrists a little sore if I work on it too long.

So, when your hands are getting sore, what do you do when you’re me?  Make a zillion teeny tiny paper cranes.  (That makes sense, right?)I’ve been working on these guys whenever I need a little break for the last year or so.  I picked up a big pack of 1000 little squares of origami paper at the grocery store (why it was at the grocery store- we’ll never know) on a whim, and since then, whenever I’ve had a little down time, I’ve made a handful of cranes.I just finished my 1000th crane (assuming that I didn’t lose any pieces of paper… I haven’t actually counted the finished cranes).   I suppose I should come up with something to do with them, but for now, I’m content with organizing them into rainbows and keeping them in big bowls to look at.Have you been working on anything non-yarn-related lately?

Finished: Sockhead Slouch Hat

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It’s done!  (OK, I actually finished it a little bit ago, but I got distracted and forgot to show you guys.)

And, I couldn’t be more pleased with my brand new Sockhead Slouch Hat.

I will admit, that while knitting it up, I got a little concerned.  A 4-inch brim, plus 9 inches of stockinette?  That’s almost enough knitting to make two regular caps.  I didn’t love how it looked as I worked it up.  I mean, look at it.  It’s so long and awkward.But I’m glad I followed the instructions and worked through to the end.  It goes to show that people who write patterns sometimes know what they’re talking about.

Ta-da!But you can’t really see the lovely floppiness from this angle.  Let me take a picture of the back of my head for you.(It turns out that it’s really hard to take a picture of the back of your own head.  I ended up with about two dozen pictures like this one.)  Here’s a real picture of the the side/back view of the hat:Totally cute, right!?  It’s the perfect level of slouchy.  The Tosh Merino Light is so stinking soft, I never want to take it off.  And, it’s a lovely mid-weight hat; it’s perfect for the damp 50’s weather that Seattle is so famous for.

This pattern definitely gets my seal of approval!  The Sockhead Slouch Hat is one of my new favorite patterns!

(And, if you thought I could get out the camera without taking a picture of Ollie, you were mistaken.)Do you have any new favorite projects?

‘Round and ‘Round

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I love getting a brand-new, squishy skein of yarn as much as the next knitter, but I also used to kind of dread it.  Un-raveling and balling-up a big (often tangled) skein is the absolute pits!  I used to have a whole system that involved two kitchen chairs, about an hour and a lot of swearing.

But then, for Christmas, my husband gave me one of my most favorite new tools!

My umbrella swift!  (I’m not sure which brand/model it is, but google “umbrella swift” and you’ll find a bunch.)

I always kind of wanted one, but never could justify buying one for myself.  After all, I didn’t need it.  I’d use it, if I had one, but not very often.  Also, they’re a little expensive- and I hate spending money.

So all that made this bad boy the perfect Christmas present.

And you know what?  I love it!  It’s the best!  It makes balling up yarn go so fast, and it’s super fun!

I undo the skein, taking off any scrap yarn that was used to keep the strands together, and put the big loop of yarn around the swift.  Then, I take the end of the yarn and attach it to the top of my ball winder, and away we go!  (Ignore the ugly avocado-green end table that I picked up from the side of the road.  It might not be pretty, but it’s very useful.)I get the ball winder spinning, and the swift twirls away, unraveling the skein without a single tangle!  It’s amazing.  This time, I balled 6 skeins of yarn in about 10 minutes.  That would have taken me hours without my umbrella swift!

Do you have a favorite not-technically-necessary-but-really-nice-to-have tool?