Tag Archives: project

VOTE!!!

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Hi everybody!

Or, at least: Hi everybody in the US over the age of 18 who is eligible to vote!

Guess what tomorrow is!  That’s right, it’s election day! (You can tell I’m excited by all the exclamation points!)

I try to keep this blog pretty low-key, politics-free, and full of knitting.  But, sometimes I have to bend the rules.

Like today.  (Get ready, I’m getting up on my “You should vote” soapbox.)

So, unless you live in a vote-by-mail state (Hello, Washington), you’re probably aware that voting is tomorrow.  You should know where to find your polling place.  You know that you should vote, too.  You know that voting is important.  You already know that every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection, not to mention a third of the Senate, three dozen Governors and more local officials than you can shake a stick at.  Plus, if you live somewhere like Seattle, you’ve probably got a handful of ballot initiatives up for a vote that could directly influence your lives in the coming months and years.

You already know that less than half of eligible Americans usually turn out for midterm elections, and you already know that those voters that do turn out are overwhelmingly older, richer, and whiter than the average American.

And, of course you know that if you’re unhappy with how this country is being run (and  there’s plenty to be unhappy about), you’ve got to go out and vote to tell those in charge to change the way things are going.

You already know all that.  So I won’t tell you about it.

I will, however, bribe you with a silly little craft project.

IMG_0637.JPGI voted last week (yay for Washington’s vote-by-mail system!), but Washington doesn’t give out “I voted” stickers.  So I made one myself.  (Well, I cross-stitched a little pin.)

And you can make one, too.

Once you’ve voted, download the instructions to make yourself an “I Voted” pin:

I Voted Cross Stitch Pin Instructions

(But only if you’ve already voted… trust me.  I’ll know.)

Are you going to vote this year?

What’s next?

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It’s the after-Christmas knitting let-down.  Not that I really had a lot of knitting I was working on for Christmas, per se, but I did have a couple holiday-related projects (and some work projects) that I finished around Christmas.

Now I’ve got to figure out what to do with myself again!

I could go back to my Papaya Sweater.  I swear, some day I’ll finish it.  I just… need more… enthusiasm.   Or, alternatively, I just need to get off my butt and just knit the dang thing.  (It sits in a big bowl next to my desk and looks at me every time I sit down to work on the blog or send email.  It judges me.)I could start something new… I did receive three skeins of a really lovely merino/bamboo blend in a fantastic, subtle shade of blue.  I just have to figure out what to do with almost 1500 yards of fingering weight yarn.  (Maybe a bunch of socks?  Or maybe a light, spring cardigan?)Or… I don’t know… I could do something non-knitting-related?  Heresy, I know!  But even I like to branch out once in a while.  I’ve dabbled in paper-crafting, cross stitch, embroidery, clothing-making, even bookmaking (like, making books with paper, not taking illegal bets. I’m not a bookie. In non-related news, I’ve been watching a lot of cop shows and reading true crime books over the holidays.  Maybe I need to start watching something else, if that’s where my brain goes).  Maybe I need to find a new project entirely?

Or I could just take a nap with the dog.What are you working on, now that the craziness of the holidays are over?

What If?

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Sometimes when I’m working on a particularly slog-y project, I start playing “What If” with my knitting.  (When I was an office drone I also played “What If” with my job.  What if I was a barista?  What if I started working for the postal service?  What if I went back to school?)

I’ve been thinking “What If” I didn’t have to finish the Vampire project?  What would I be doing instead?

And, since my calculations tell me that I’ve got a little over a week left before I finish (assuming I haven’t made any major mistakes/don’t have to rip back the whole thing/am able to stay on schedule), it’s just about time to start thinking about the next thing I’m going to do.

First, I think I’m going to finish up my Papaya Sweater.  It’s been sitting, abandoned, on an end table in my studio for more than a month now.  Poor thing.  I’m really looking forward to getting it finished.  (And I’m really looking forward to a simple project that doesn’t involve any cables.)I’ll probably work up a handful more Christmas Balls, or at least take some time away from actual knitting to finish up the ones I’ve already knit.  I’ve got a stack that still need to be stuffed, and almost all of them need their tails woven in and their hangers added.  (I feel like “hangers” isn’t quite right, but I can’t think of the right word.  I mean the dangly loop they’ll hang on the tree from.)I also need to spend a weekend finishing up my Mother Bears before the end of the year.  I’ve got 4.5 bears that need to be stuffed and assembled, plus another 6 more that need their faces sewn on.  Maybe that’ll be a Christmas Vacation project?And, I think I want to do something new, something fun, and something that uses up some of the yarn I’ve already got in my stash.  Maybe a new pair of socks, or some sort of shawl that uses the last few mini-skeins of fancy yarn I got last year for Christmas.  Options!What are you working on now?

The Cursed Sweater

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I don’t know what’s happening to me!  I don’t think I disturbed any sacred burial grounds, or crossed any old crones-who-are-secretly-witches, and I definitely didn’t unearth any mummies.  Heck, it’s not even a full moon!

I’ve clearly upset the knitting gods (or at least some knitting trickster spirit), because this project is killing me, you guys.  You guys.  It’s killing me.

You remember my super-secret-project?  The one with the ribbing that I totally messed up?  Well, after repairing the damage in the dumbest possible way (really, Allison- why on earth did you think it was a good idea to get out the crochet hook?), I realized I had messed it up even more than I had thought.

I had cast on the wrong number of stitches.

Needless to say I was upset.  I ripped it out, rechecked my math and was on my way (for the third time).

Fast forward two weeks, and I think I have it under control.  I’ve checked all my math, and everything looks good.  My project is coming along.

Until, two days ago, I connected several separate pieces together (a very finicky step).  And.

Would you believe it?  I messed up again!  This was two days ago, and I didn’t notice until yesterday morning, when I had to rip out a full 24 hours of work!I’m finally getting back to where I was two days ago.  But hoo boy.  I’m struggling.

At least it’ll look good when it’s done.

Hopefully.

Ugh.

Have you ever had a cursed project?  What happened to it?  Did you manage to break the curse?

Late-night Knitting

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I go a little crazy every time I get close to finishing a project, especially a big project.  I get a little obsessed, and I kind of lose touch with the passage of time.

It’s not ideal, but it happens.  And, it happened to me last night.  I was finishing up a sweater (a super secret sweater you’ll see later), and I had about six inches of sleeve left to knit.  I sat down to work on it for a few hours, thinking I could power through before it got too late.  I kept measuring it, counting my stitches and rows,  convincing myself that I was almost done.

Until the clock hit 11, and my husband reminded me it was past my bedtime.

After a little whining on my part and cajoling on his, I went to sleep, my last cuff mere rows from completion.It’s probably good he made me go to bed- when I get to this point in a project, if I’m left to my own devices, I stay up as late as necessary to finish.  (I remember once accidentally staying up until 5 in the morning on a week night, just so I could finish a dress I was sewing.  That wasn’t a great idea.)

Anyway, my knitting was still waiting for me this morning.  And after a cup of tea and a little breakfast, I’ve finished my sweater.  Now, it’s off to be blocked!Do you ever lose track of time while working on a project?

Quilt, quilt, quilt

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Oh boy.  I really, really underestimated the amount of work on this quilt.

It’s coming along, and it’s going to be really pretty.  But, at this rate, it won’t be done until well into the 2020’s.

Isn’t it funny, I have no trouble spending hundreds of hours painstakingly knitting away on a lace shawl or a cabled sweater without noticing time passing.  But, when I get out the sewing machine, I want everything to be finished as fast as possible.  On the other hand, you know that there are plenty of quilters out there who sew big, complicated quilts but don’t have the patience to knit a pair of mittens.

Weird how that goes.

Anyway, I’ve gotten my first square done, and it is beautiful (and big)!  I love it!  It’s about 18″ across, and my little squares fit together pretty evenly(not perfect, but well enough).OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANow, I’ve just got to make 11 more!

Have you ever bitten off more than you could chew?

Dun, dun, Done!

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So, I feel like my posts have been a little lacking in content lately.  I’ve written a bunch of little, silly posts, about TV and such but nothing with  a lot of meat lately.  Sorry about that.  But I have an excuse.

I’ve been working on a monster of a design for KnitPicks.  And it’s been eating up all my time.  While I still can’t talk about it (not until next year when it’s published), I can tell you I’ve finished it!  A little under a mile of worsted-weight tweed in garnet red.  Tons of cables.  And, well, that’s about all I can tell you.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASorry to be all secretive and mysterious, but I’m super excited about this one, both because it’s a really pretty finished object, and because I don’t have to work on it any more!

I’m sure you’ve had projects like that- huge knits that are marathons of complicated stitches that never seem to end.  And after they’re done, you sit back and go “Wow, I made that!”

I’m looking forward to showing off this project down the line, but in the meantime, tell me about your most epic knits!  I’d love to hear about them.

Mama Bear

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve already got Christmas on the brain.  I’ve been cranking through lots of projects… that I can’t talk about here because family members read my blog (lame!  Not really, but it does throw a cramp in my blogging this time of year).

But when I do a lot of targeted, purpose-driven, knitting sometimes I get a little burnt out.  I can start to feel like I’m “manufacturing” projects, not actually knitting.  Sometimes I want to just make something fun- like a stuffed animal.

And, you know, if it’s a stuffed animal for a good cause, that’s even better!

So, imagine my excitement when I found this amazing teddy bear-making project (or rather, re-found… I had read about it before, but totally forgot about it).283434_220092554695040_4064929_n[1]The Mother Bear Project  makes adorable, one-of-a-kind, hand-made teddy bears and then distributes them across Africa to children whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS.  Could you ask for a better cause?lesotho1[1]I went over to their website, and saw that they have patterns for the same bear, both knitted and crocheted, worked flat and in the round.  bear_about[1]The best part (other than that whole helping-children-in-need thing) is that the pattern is so simple, it just begs to be embellished.  Take a look on Ravelry to see everyone’s take on the basic Mother Bear.  There are bows and dresses, overalls and striped shirts,  and teddies of every color of the rainbow!Mother_Bear_in_Liberia_1_medium2[1]This project is just inspiring!

Have you ever taken part in a big group-knitting project like this?

Let’s Design Something Together

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I have an idea.  Dangerous, I know.  But I think this will be fun.

I’d like to design a new pattern, and I’d like you guys to all come along through the journey.  Does that sound like fun?  I’ll take you through my design process, from idea creation to the finished pattern.notebook-with-pencil[1]Where do we start?  What are we going to make?  Sometimes a design element will pop into my head first (a particularly cool cable, or a pretty lace pattern), but usually I decide on a project type first.

So.  What shall we make?  Socks? A hat?  A scarf?  Or something for the home?  A pot holder or a washcloth?

What do you want to see?  Do you have any ideas of your own?

Once we have a project picked out, we’ll work together to design the item together.  This will be fun!  I’m excited!

I’ve been a busy little bee

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But I also have to be an enigmatic little bee.  (Sorry!)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat with Christmas, traveling, and work deadlines,  it’s been a hectic month.  I’ve been working my little fingers to their nubs on a super secret surprise project, that I can’t tell you about…  yet.  But let me just say, it’s going to be AWESOME!  Or, at least I think it will be.

So, thanks for sticking with me, and the moment I can tell you about my project, I totally will.  And, I’ll get back to my regularly scheduled updates on my projects, knitting tutorials and patterns this month.  But, in the meantime, can I appease you with a picture of a really adorable little lamb? (You can’t be angry with me if you’re too busy going “Awww!”)

cute-lamb-wallpaper[1]