You Know You're a Knit Loser When...

You block a dishcloth.

It really needed it, though.
Actually it's not a great blocking job. I didn't take the time to really "square it up", but if you look at the pattern page on ravelry and check out some of the unblocked projects, you will see the difference.

I had a little yarn left over and I also made a mini grandmother's favorite dishcloth. This will put my skein total at 5. If anyone was wondering about the half skein left over from Van Ness, I gave it to a gal at knit nite. So my totals are actually:

Skeins knitted/crocheted: 5
Skeins given away: .5
Total 5.5 (damn. The pesky decimal is back.)

I'm starting a new project today.

The Stash:

440 yards Knit Picks Gloss Lace in Raisin

The Destiny: Sweet Lorraine Scarf (yet another reason I don't need to buy patterns. I really only use the same 5 over and over.)

Knit Wishes and Meanderings

(Meanderings is a euphemism for mish mash)

• I wish I had more people to knit for. I can only wear so many scarves, but I love making them. I am seriously considering just giving them away on the blog.
  
• Same goes for doilies. I enjoy making them, but what do I do with them when I'm done?
• I think I decided to just go with a picot edge and stockinette stitch on the Lillian Tank Top. Many thanks to Susan of Knitting Alone for the tip about using a smaller needle. I would have been pretty annoyed if I had done a bunch of work and ended up with a lumpy hem.
• In the interest of full disclosure/honesty I have to tell you I'm entering crochet projects into the KnitMeter as well. I hope no one minds. Meterage is meterage in my opinion.
• I finished reading book #6 in the 50 Book Challenge. Please Stop Laughing At Me is the powerful story of Jodee Blanco's suffering at the hands of bullies. She now does workshops for schools. This book has scared the daylights out of me because I didn't really realize how mean kids could be and as grown ups we really don't have a clue. I was a little disappointed by the ending. She went back to her high school reunion and did NOT curse everyone out and bitch slap a few people (remember, I am not mature.) I've contacted my principal and school president about the workshop. I would love to see her come to my school. I haven't seen much bullying where I work, but it never hurts to be proactive.
• You know what I'm finding hardest to resist during my self-imposed hiatus from craft spending? Patterns. Why include patterns you ask? I bought my first pattern 26 years ago. I've been collecting patterns that long. I haven't made even an eighth of what I have patterns for. I don't need any more patterns for now.
• I am growing concerned though about my over-use of mish mash posts. I long to have more well-written posts that deal with one subject at a time. Unfortunately, I rarely have more than one or two sentences to say about a subject and I refuse to just tweet it or plurk it since I neither tweet nor plurk. I have accounts, I just never use them. Now if ravelry were to add a "knit status" feature, that would be a different story.
• I have become increasingly paranoid about the word "got." in my writing.
• The worst thing about the mish mash posts is concluding. I never quite know how to transition into that.
  

Knit Dreams

I have been daydreaming

Daydream #1
It is early to mid-July 2010. I meet up with 5-8 knitters in Seattle. Their husbands are with them and they are all RPGers (to keep Hubadub entertained.) The knitters rent a van for a day and visit area yarn shops. The next day we all board a cruise ship for an Alaskan cruise. Much of the cruise time is spent knitting.

Daydream #2
It's mid to late October 2010. I meet up with 5-8 knitters and their families In Orlando. The Husbands may or may not be RPGers. We go to Disney World and stay at the Wilderness Lodge. We spend 3-4 days with our families enjoying the park and our nights in front of the gorgeous lobby fireplace knitting.


Who's with me? Could we, through the power of the internet, pull one of these off?

Yoinks! I Think I Might Cry!

I was just scoping out the blog (check the traffic) and it hit me. I have to change the Cast text. Offspring isn't a teen-age girl anymore! *sniff*

Oooo! It just started to rain. I hope it rains all day tomorrow. I'd love to stay snug in my little house and listen to the rain as I knit.

Hmmm, now it's starting to sound pretty rough. That's not good.

Note To Self

Remember you now have a traffic widget on the blog. If you constantly "view blog" everyone will know what a loser you are.

I Can't Do It

I am incapable of making any decision on my own. I can't decide if I want my KnitMeter to display Meters, Feet, Yards, Kilometers or Miles. I'll just make a poll and let ya'll decide. So if you are reading this in a reader, feel free to click on over and vote.

Which actually leads me to another decision: Full post feed or short? But I be a Scarlett O'Hara and leave that for another time. After all, tomorrow is another day.

Van Finished

Here are pics of Van Ness:





The more I think about it, the more I think I should take my PBAS savings and buy an awesome camera and photography lessons.

Experiment

Just trying something. Move along. Nothing to read here.

Well, it worked. But you may not have noticed if you didn't put your cursor over the word "here". Go ahead.Try it!

Ok. Now I'm Obsessing.

I thought I'd figured out links to nowhere. Apparently I didn't and I'm just dying to know how do it! I've wasted at least 15 minutes already.

I really need to avoid caffeine on Friday nights.

Grande Mish Mash

Tonight's Mish Mash brought to you by a Grande Double Cinnamon Dolce Soy Latte.

• This is freaking sweet. Trek has these "links" but when you click on them you get editorial comment pop-ups. Like pop-up videos! How the frack do you do that, 'cause I totally want to steal the idea!
• Is it Labor Day yet? I could really use a long week-end.
• Dish Rag Tag has officially begun!
• I've had a student who has been out due to illness since Wednesday. He missed a cumulative quiz and today a test. Yet, he was well enough to go to the football game tonight. Huh? When I was in high school, if I missed Friday, I wasn't going out at all over the week-end. I'd love to hear from some parents on this one...
• I have a bad habit of not capitalizing the first letter of my comments when I visit blogs. Please start calling me out on that.
• I'm thinking of changing the background color of the posts. Something light, but not white.
• I think that's it, but the coffee is like speed so another post might be around the corner.
  

I Want to Knit a Sweater, But...

I can't quite decide which one. Nor am I sure if I'm ready for a commitment of such magnitude right now. I'm still sort of smarting from this experience.

I really like the shape of this, but I don't like the fir cone pattern on the bottom portion. (It looks too dimply to me.) I have three ideas kicking around:

1. Adding picot edge like the one here and simply doing stockinette instead of the lace. Boring for some but heaven for me.
2. Replace the fir cone pattern with a double eyelet rib.
3. Replace the fir cone pattern with a horseshoe pattern.

And allow me an aside here. I spend countless hours on the internet and I just found the Walker Treasury Project 2 minutes ago. Also, I'm still smarting over not finding the dishcloth calendar before my self-imposed exile from the yarn/pattern world. I may need someone to tutor me in proper internets surfing. I'm obviously missing a lot of good stuff!

I still have Ophelia in my queue, and Badia, and FLS, and...so many others.

*sigh*

Widget Head and Mish Mash

I've been adding widgets. I like widgets. Widgets is a funny word.

But I digress. I've added a recent comments widget and live traffic widget. I like leaving my mark on blogs and I always get a little thrill when I see my username or location on other blogs. So I decided to be a copy cat and do the same. (You must think my life is terribly dull.)

And you know you wanted a serving of mish mash:

• There was a pro football game on Monday and my husband didn't realize it. He sucks, but he makes good money and makes me laugh so hard I think I'll wet myself (and he puts up with me) so I have to keep him.
• Sometimes I hate my job 'cause I get tired at 7 PM. How am I supposed to get any knitting done if I'm falling asleep at 7? Riddle me that, will you?
• I know why it has to be done, (and I'm pretty sure I've got word verification on, too) but it annoys me when I think I'm done posting a comment and a "enter this code" box pops up. Again, please don't take offense. I'm just short on time and cranky this morning. Having received spam on the blog, I completely understand.
• If you are a fan of dishcloths, please consider joining this swap. Group India needs some filling out.
• I was reading a post on one of my ravelry groups and a lady said she hated the word "got." Another said it was a word for lazy bloggers. Another (or maybe the same) said she sometimes highlighted the word in her books and counted the number of times it was used. Do you have a word pet peeve? I'd like to know. I use "so" and "but" too much. (Not to mention parenthetical statements and quotation marks.)
  
• It's Friday Eve! We are almost through the week! I haven't killed anyone. How about you?
  

Me Knit Pretty One Day

With props to David Sedaris for the title.

I said that at Knit Nite on Sunday and I thought it would be a good post title, even if it doesn't match the content.

For a long time I kept trying to understand what it was about yarn snobs that bothered me so much. I have yarn opinions. Why should I begrudge someone their opinion? Why is someone so terrible because they express it? Well, I think I may have discovered the reason some knitters make me cringe.

Over the past few months someone has tried to convince me to make X pattern, buy X brand yarn, get over it ("it" being fear) and just do it ("it" being any technique or pattern she thought I was afraid of.) As I listened to her recently it hit me: She's not a yarn snob. She's a yarn evangelist.

It's not the yarn snobs that bother me, its the yarn evangelists. They aren't simply sharing their yarn opinions. They are trying to make me "see the light." They aren't sharing their new FO, they are trying to convince me that I have to make one. They aren't telling me about their favorite designer, they are trying to convince me to accept them as my personal craft savior.

It won't surprise you when I tell you that I am terribly insecure about my knitting. I know I could knit and knit, practice and practice and my work will never look as good as the work I see at Knit Nite.

Here's the thing:

I'm ok with it. I make jokes that I'm a fearful knitter, but that simply isn't true. As my blog title says: I'm a lazy knitter and that's a very different thing.

I'm not afraid of colorwork, I just don't want to do it. I have no problems with tubular or provisional cast ons. I just don't feel like it. It's not that I see a technique or pattern and think "I can't." I know I can, but why bother?

So when someone tries to intrude on the peace I've made with myself and my laziness, it sort of pisses me off.

Leave me the hell alone and let me finish my dishcloth, ok?

Occupied

My guest bathroom is currently off limits to the cats. Van Ness is blocking and drying in there. Hopefully she will be ready for her debut soon.

I used approximately half of the second skein to finish her up.

Skeins worked to date: 4 (no decimals!)

PBAS- The Dishcloth Edition (Or: A Real Post...Sorta)

Ok. I admit it.

I'm getting bored.

I'm about 30 rows away from a Van Ness FO, but I'm about ready to poke my eyes out. (I will finish, it, but I'll be sighing and gnashing my teeth while I do.)*

I'm thinking a little dishcloth therapy is in order.

The Stash:


Color: Dark Pine

The Destiny: Berry Basket Dishcloth (I lerve this pattern!)

More Stash:

Color: Pastel Print

(And how weird is this: the pastel print skein is 56.7 grams/2 oz and the green one 70.9 grams/2.5 oz...when did it downsize? Talk about ripping off the consumer!)

The Other Destiny:
Brilliance (Remember? This is the one I fell in love with earlier this month, but was lucky enough to find a doppelganger stitch pattern in Barbara Walker's Treasury.)

*I was right about the hooking. I've finished a skein in the making of the scarf, so I've gotten my total up do 3.5 skeins. Even more exciting, if my calculations are correct, by the time Van Ness is done I will have used 1/2 a skein which means I won't have that pesky decimal. (I'll be left with 3/4 of what-do-I-do-with-this, but I don't care.)

Mish Mash Is the New Black

I promise I have some "real" posts kicking around, but a new school year always brings rapid-fire thinking. (So rapid fire that sometimes I forgot why I'm posting.)

• For the most part I like my job, but I hate having to wear "real" shoes. I spend the summer months either barefoot or in flip flops.
• We had back to school night tonight. I get more nervous with the parents than the students! Deep down I am a whiny, immature, emo/goth, fan-girl, geek. I hate having to be "mature" and a groan (sic) up in front of the parents.
• Sometimes I wonder if blog contests hurt more than help. I love the comments/traffic, but when the contest is over and I go to check my stats I am greeted by a big, red, negative-percent change. Yo, loser your views are down a squillion percent.
• On the subject of blogging... I'm more about the friendships. I want my blog and my blogroll to be more than "I'll sub to you if you'll sub to me so our numbers will be high."
  
• Is it September 10th yet? For the love can I get some football that counts, please?
  

Fear Us

For Everyone in Dish Rag Tag this year:



Group 2 in the hizzy! Yo.

Another Week (A Thinly Disguised Mish Mash Post Without the Bullets)

I hope it goes as quickly as last week seemed to go.

This week I look forward to finishing Van Ness, starting some dishcloths, organizing a KAL/ROAK/Support Group* and writing a post about my Knit Nite musings. Let's see if it comes to pass.

I'm still tinkering with the blog. Yesterday was feed flare, today, LinkWithin. Many of the blogs I read use the widget and I'm such a wannabe that I added it, too. (Gretchen, stop trying to make "fetch" happen.)

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I like my cats (who being real PITAs right now.)

Happy Monday, everyone!

*I am going to need a partner in crime over the next few weeks (ok, up to a year.) No pay, no glory, just fun (hopefully.) I'll post deets soon. Just giving a heads up and planting a seed.

Sorry About the Post-a-palooza

I had caffeine this afternoon and it seems to be affecting me more than usual.

Why didn't anyone tell me about this? And why, oh why did I find out about it after my vow of pattern/yarn poverty?

Can I Get A Star of David, Please.

Just got "cross" as my word verification on Knit Whit's blog. I thought it was hilarious!

It's Very "Mean Girls"

But I have to do it.

My blog list is out of control. I just finished dumping some subs and managed to get it under 100. If you haven't blogged in over a year, I've unsubbed. :-(

Now the next step is very cliqueish, and I apologize. I need to take "roll" (no pun intended.) If you will please look at the blog list to your right. See if your blog is there. If so, please leave a comment for me (just a simple "yep, I'm there!" will do.) If you are NOT on the list, I beg you to leave a comment and let me know. I want to return the favor and sub to your blog.

I'll be moving the list lower down on the page in a week.

Testing Testing

I added some "feed flare" just testing. Nothing to see here, move a long little dogies.

It's Not Wednesday

I'm whiny anyway.

• I suck at kitchener stitch:
  
• I suck at photographing kitchener stitch.
• Hubadub made fun of the blog today. I guess it really is as dumb as I fear it is. I would say it's time to just delete the whole damn thing, but I'm too emotionally attached to it.
  
• I haven't made progress on anything.
• Sometimes I just feel so flipping invisible.
• PMS is a bitch.
  

Saturday Quickie Mish Mash

'Cause "real" blogging is for the Summertime (and probably better left to "real" bloggers.)

File these under "never say never."

• I swore I was never going to do another swap, yet I signed up for 12 Dancing Dishcloths today.
• I swore I'd never do kitchener stitch, yet I started a pair of cuff down socks. I finished up one of them today. Boy I hate kitchener. It sucks. I suck at it. But I plan to do better with the next sock and one day become a pro at it.

More mish mash

• I wanted to spend most of today knitting. That hasn't happened yet.
• I'm shooting for some evening knitting.
• I forgot how much teaching wears me out.
• I started reading 50 book challenge book #6. It is neither a mystery, nor about knitting.
• My new blog template is really growing on me. I like the pure simplicity.
• I added a "how much I've knit widget" (using a metric measurement.)

And how do you end a "mish mash" post? Abrupt is about the only way to go.

Friday Mish Mash Quickie

• It's Friday!!! Truly a wonderful day
• Classes are shorter today. Truly a wonderful thing.
• I was going to start a new "series": Why Crochet Has a Bad Reputation. I see so many designs that are just so butt ugly it's no wonder folks think crochet sucks. But then I worried that that is just too catty and mean (not to mention been done to death) so I decided I'm just going to start a series: Great Crochet PR. First up: The Van Ness Scarf. I am half way done with mine and I lerves it. I'll make a more official GCPR post when I finish.
• I must have been gritting my teeth in my sleep last night. They hurt this morning.
• I need to remember not to do so many social things during the week. Knit Nite on Tuesday, Dinner with a friend on Wednesday, Drinks (ok, water) with colleagues on Thursday, and working the football gate today is making me tired.
• I have a cat that seems to miss the litter box 75% of the time. He's doing it just to be mean. (file that one under TMI.)
• I have not purchased yarn in 30-something days and put $125 in my savings account. I'm still trying to decide what to do with my savings next year. Fantastic new digital camera for taking project pictures? Or how about a Baltic Cruise (like Mason/Dixon Knitting)? I've got a dream of grandeur whirring in my brain right now...but I have to get to work and write up a quiz. I'll post more later. Tschuss!
  

20 Years Ago Today...

I was struggling to bring a new life into this world. (It was a 36 hours labor.)

At 5:45 this afternoon, Offspring will officially leave the world of teenager-dom behind and enter the world of not quite legal to drink.

Happy Birthday!

Let the Fun Begin!

In my opinion, school officially begins today. 8 full hours of 72 minutes classes. Luckily, I'm in a great place mentally. (I wonder if Hubadub is slipping me some sort of mood altering drugs.)

I'm thinking that I need to stay away from Ravelry in the mornings. I wasted a lot of time trying to translate this. Plus it just makes me want to knit, and I don't have time for that in the mornings. You know you have a knitting addiction when you start thinking "If I skip breakfast, maybe I can get in a row or two."

Food For Thought

I'm watching a Woodstock documentary and Michael Wadleigh the cinematographer for Woodstock. He said something interesting (and I paraphrase): We desperately need another Woodstock generation.

Thoughts? Comments?

I wonder:

• Does my generation misunderstand Woodstock?
• What message did we get from it?

I guess I could wax a little more philosophic, but I'm tired. I have to go to work, since I'm not lucky enough to live on a commune.

A Very Good Day

The first day went very smoothly. This is the last time they will be so quiet (except for 3rd and 4th period...they are exuberant to say the least. They are going to get me off track more than I care to admit. *ahem*) It was a half day today, and that made everything nice. Tomorrow, though, will be back to the usual 7:45-2:50.

Adding to the goodness: I finished Le Slouch.


Just for my readers: This is a blog exclusive pic. You won't see it anywhere else!

I misinterpreted the crown decreases two times before I finally got something I was happy with. This was made for my sister-in-law. I hope it meets with her approval.

PBAS Skeins Busted: 2.5

Hard to believe it's a Monday!

Is it just me, or am I writing like a 2nd grader today? Short and choppy. It was fun.

Mish Mash

• Today is the first day of school. I am nervous. This year preparations have seemed effortless. Does that mean I'm burnt out ... or just that good?
• Now comes the real test in my craft life. Juggling work and fiber.
• I changed my blog template. Not that this is important. I just wanted to share. It's kind of boring, but I like it.
  
• I have started the decreasing section of Le Slouch...three times. I can't make it look decent to save my life. (Do I really expect there will ever be situation in which some bad person says "Bitch, make those decreases look good or I'll shank you?")
  
• I'm thinking of ways to spice up PBAS. Since really you can just go to my ravelry page and follow the progress there. Ravelry had revolutionized the stashbusting industry and taken away 80% of my blog fodder.
• I still can't decide what to read.
• Just checking: are folks still out there? Not many comments lately (Pretty narcissistic to blame the readers not the writer of boring content, yo.)
  

Finally! Whole Numbers

Thanks to all those meetings I've finished a skein.


(Holy Flashbulbs, Batman! That picture is overexposed!)

So I'm up to 1.5 skeins. Le Slouch is almost done so hopefully I'll be up to 2.5 skeins in a few days.

I'm a speed demon at .2 skeins per day.

But my work is never done!
The Stash:

TLC Cotton Plus in White

The Destiny:
The decreasing section of the Prairie Blanket that never ends. I won't count the skeins already in it, since they were used long before PBAS.

Skeins Busted: 1.5

It Only Took 4 Hours

But I finally got started on the Van Ness Scarf.


It was one of my more frustrating experiences. The designer instructs you to make one circular motif, fasten off, start a second then slip stitch it to the first one. Then you repeat the process until 4 motifs are joined. You end up with a bunch of ends and you've barely begun! Really a redonkulous way to start if you ask me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I had worked a pattern that accomplished the same thing, but more elegantly (read: with fewer ends.) I spent a couple of hours trying to make my hands remember how I did it. I finally went to bed around 1:30 AM.

I should have known all I needed was a good night's sleep (well, at least as good as the cats allow.)

I woke up this morning and immediately remembered the website of the pattern from so many years ago. I went straight to the pattern and away I went. From now on any disappointment with the project will be entirely my fault. So far I am quite pleased, though.

50 Book Challenge '09 #5

I just finished!



It's really one of the best knitting mysteries I've read (caveat: I have only read Maggie Sefton's series.) I can't explain why. All I know is it was a good fluffy read and did not seem as "forced". (Sorry if that makes no sense.)

Now I can't decide if I want to read Died in the Wool or By Hook or By Crook.

PBAS- The Third Project

The Stash:

Plymouth Alpaca (This stuff is like buttah!)

The New Destiny:
Originally this was being used for Eva's Shawl.
Remember?


This evening I shall start on the Van Ness Scarf.

PBAS WIPs: 3
Skeins completed: .5 (in other words, no progress made.)

I May Have To Start Hookin'

Knitting doesn't use as much yarn. I knit and knit and knit...


and knit...

And still haven't made a dent in the stash (I still haven't finished the plum colored Cotton Ease or the Hushabye!)

Crochet uses up a helluva lot more yarn.

In other news:

There is a pre-season pro football game on right now. I'm all misty-eyed.

Football season is almost here!

No Knitting Allowed (or When Two Worlds Collide)

Ok. I know I said I won't blog about work, but it's knitting content. I swear. (And you'll notice that it's labeled Bitchin' and Moanin'

In most school districts, teachers report back to work the week before the students do to get ready for the new year. "Get ready for the new year" really means meetings.

Long meetings.

Boring meetings.

Sitting there doing nothing but listening meetings.

Meetings that make you want to gouge your eyes out or kill someone.

So you bring knitting to these meetings, right? Right.

I was actually asked by the speaker to put it away. She didn't come right out and say "you, there in the back, put away the knitting." It was more like "You shouldn't be doing anything else right now."

*pout*

Frustrated doesn't even cover it. Am I the only one that finds it easier to pay attention when I'm knitting? Believe me lady, if what you are saying is so important...you want me to be knitting.

School Year Blogging

Now I remember why I rarely blog between August and May. It's not a time issue, it's a content issue.

As my blogging style (and I use this term oh so loosely) has evolved, I've found there are some things I don't like to blog about: politics and work. Right now I'm in work mode. According to Hubadub, all I'm talking about right now is work. If I blogged regularly during the school year, every other post would be labeled "Bitchin' and Moanin' " *

Believe me, you don't want that.

In knitting news:

I'm working on a beret and my Knit Nite guru friend told me to block it on a plate. I thought it was brilliant!

Until I remembered I have square plates.

Damn my husband and his modernist taste.

*Believe it or not, I love my job. I just like to bitch about it. I'm bitchy by nature.

On Second Thought...

In my previous post I listed "skeins awaiting destiny fulfillment". That's going to get complicated for me, so I think I'll just list PBAS Projects in Progress (or PIPs).

In other news....

Uh...I guess there is no other news :-)

PBAS- The Second Project

The Stash:


Two skeins of Baby Bee "Hushabye" (a Hobby Lobby house brand...this stuff is the shizz by the way.)

The Destiny:
Le Slouch by Wendy Bernard for my sister in law (this is the project that caused my needle-buying angst last week.)

Skeins awaiting destiny fulfillment: 3.75 (Plum and Seaspray Cotton Ease and the above stash)

Skeins knitted to date: .5

Notes on Measurement

For simplicity's sake, I will use "skein" as my only unit of measurement. I'll be talking about one skein, 3/4 of a skein, 1/2 of a skein and 1/4 of a skein. I'm not going to be using scales or anything...more of an eyeball measurement.

That being said, I'm happy to tell you that I have finished a 1/2 a skein.

Remember this stash?:



Well, destiny was fulfilled for the terracotta colored 1/2 skein.


The fourth hat is in progress

So I'm pleased to say that my total number of skeins used is up to .5

Impressive, no?

The plum colored skein is still busy becoming baby hats (I've only used about 1/4 of it.)

Just so you know, I will consider a skein "finished" when a yard or less remains.

Warnings and Challenges

According to Hubadub there is a Summer Sara and a School-year Sara. Apparently School-year Sara is kind of ... bitchy. I'm nice to kiddos, I swear. It's mainly parents and ridiculous colleagues who incur my wrath. I am back to work starting today, so the tone of the blog may change to one of raging shrew. (I think Hubadub is over exaggerating a bit, but no one ever realizes the true scale of their personality flaws.)

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Now let me move on to Project Bust a Stash (since I haven't grown weary of it yet.)

I haven't yet remembered the other guideline. I'll be sure to let you know when (if) I do.

I met my first challenge head on yesterday. I fell in love with this (Rav Link.) Obviously, $2.00 is not free so it is off limits to me. I was still determined to make this thing, though. (And let me interject that I know it's just a dishcloth, but I like dishcloths and school is starting so I really don't want to get tied down by some large project right now.) Part of this challenge to myself also involves justifying all my past purchases which have just been gathering dust.

I am happy to report that I can justify my purchase of Barbara Walker's book A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I was able to find a near-exact-damn-close stitch pattern in it and can now proceed with the dishcloth. Depending on mood and energy level, I may start on it tonight.

Project Bust A Stash- The First Report

The Stash:
2 1/2 balls Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Seaspray, Terracotta and Plum.


The Destiny:
Charity preemie hats for the Yarn Bowl Challenge


Skeins knitted: 0

Another Guideline

In case you are wondering...I'm not the plan and execute type. I'm sort of the "run in guns ablazin' figure it out later" type. You can expect that Project Bust a Stash will evolve.

Here are the "rules" so far:

1. I am not to acquire any new yarn. (That's right, I can't accept gift yarn either.)
2. I am not to purchase any magazines or patterns.
3. I must knit/crochet at least 3 times a week.

Today I thought of two more.

Unfortunately, I can only remember one. (I hate getting old.)

4. I must "check-in" with the blog at least once a week.


Since I am an act first, plan later kind of gal I had to come up with way of keeping up with my progress. If I weren't lazy, I would count all the balls of yarn and count down.

Thant ain't happenin'. I'll just count up.

Just so you don't think I'm engaged in an activity of self-denial like some sort of knitting ascetic, I assure you there is some reward involved.

Every week I go without yarn I'm putting $25 in my savings account. If I've done my math correctly, I should have $1200 by the end of this. I don't know what I'm gonna do with it, but I'm thinking some sort of knitting cruise (anyone want to join me?) or the mother of all SEXpeditions.

Glitches and Guidelines

Hubadub doesn't even know about Project Bust A Stash (which is a really corny name, but I can't think of anything else) and he's out to undermine my progress. Do you know where he wanted to go today?

A bookstore!

Do you know what's in bookstores?

Knitting books and magazines!

I was met with my first glitch: Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton.

Her books include a pattern. So is that buying a pattern? Or am I splitting hairs? I haven't decided yet where I stand on this issue.

Another glitch: I have to kind of change my project style. I would say the majority of the time I begin with a project by looking for a pattern and then looking for the yarn for it. Now I'll have to start with yarn and find a project to go with it.

And finally, there really isn't going to be much of a challenge if I stick with my usual Back to School M.O. which is to pretty much leave knitting behind on the first day of school.

So I have to set a guideline: Knit/Crochet something at least 3 times a week. One of the gals at Knit Nite recently got her first teaching job and we've promised ourselves that we will make sure to nag each other and come to Knit Nite at least once a week (we have two a week.) Both of us are bad about burying ourselves in work and forget about taking time for ourselves.

The ??? Project

Yesterday the Maternal Unit and I went to see Julie & Julia. It was really a delight. Meryl Streep was Julia. (And in case you had any lingering doubt, there is no original content on this blog since Ida has already reviewed the film here.)

For most folks, this movie will awaken a desire to learn to cook (or perfect their already considerable skill.) Some people will walk out of the theater feeling a little like Julie Powell.

"What have I done? "
"How many things have I finished?"
"Am I where I want to be?"
"Am I even moving in the right direction?"*

(Ok, maybe no one walked out feeling this way.)

I kept thinking to myself last night "Is there a knitting equivalent to the Julie/Julia Project?" I wanted to do something like that, but with knitting.

Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac immediately comes to mind, but that's been done. One could substitute any number of EZ's books, but if truth be told, even I couldn't take that much garter stitch.

I guess you could work your way through every single stitch pattern in Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns (Including the second one.) Unfortunately, the earth would collapse in on itself under the weight of all the dishcloths. And I am lazy. Some of those stitch patterns include shudder colorwork! I entertained that idea for about 5 minutes (and that is a very generous estimation.)

I kept coming back to lazy. What sort of year-long project could I copy cat with minimal effort?

Then it hit me.

Stashbusting. I've already put myself on a yarn diet. Could I go an entire year without buying yarn, patterns, magazines or books?

Oh all right! I know it's boring as hell and I'll never get a book deal out of it (Big yarn industry will squelch it, you know) but I'm gonna do it.

I'll start by showing you the stash. Originally, I planned to pull out all the tubs and bins, drag them to the patio and taking on picture so you could appreciate the sheer monumental size of it. That was too much effort. It's hot, I'm still in jammies...too many extenuating circumstances (like, oh, being lazy.) In the end, I just went around the house taking pictures of the stash.

So here it is (minus one tall laundry hamper I forgot about):


(All the mess is there for scale. In my defense, the public areas of my house are very neat and tidy.)

And now that I look at it, it really doesn't seem like such a physical Goliath. Believe me, though, it is a psychological Goliath. I have so much yarn bought on a whim (Fun Fur, really?), unfulfilled projects (I can't even remember what I bought some of the yarns for) and more "It's on sale I'll buy it all and figure it out later" yarn than I care to admit (which I think I just did.)

I do hope you will join me for this folly project. In true lazy fashion I have set my start date as July 18 since I don't want to change the code on the blog (and to bolster my ego...I'm 21 days into the project only 344 more days to go!)

*As I write it occurs to me that perhaps I over analyzed the movie.

About The Blog

Now that I've been doing this for four years, I have a better idea of how to describe the blog.

How it all began:

• I talk to myself....a lot. And so the blog was born.
• I knit and crochet...a lot. And so the blog was born.
• I whine...a lot. And so the blog was born.
  

Here at Lazy Knits and Purls you'll find:

• Crappy pictures!
• Repeat content!
• Occasionally witty posts!
• Scads of parenthetical statements!
  
• Giveaways!*

You won't find:

• Free patterns (ok one...but it hardly counts.)
• Anything for sale.
• Discussion of current events!
  
• News of a book and/or movie deal. (Unless of course boring and whiny becomes hip and popular)
• Great tutorials (unless of course you need help with garter stitch.)
  

*seasonal...mainly Summer

50 Book Challenge '09 #2-#4

#2 Dead Mean Don't Crochet

#3 The Ethics of What We Eat

#4 Needled to Death

I am currently reading book #5. At this rate I may actually read 10 books this year.

One day I'm actually going to read 50 books in one year.

Hold fast to dreams...

And Summer Is Fading

This is my last week-end of summer vacation. Students will be back August 17th, but teachers report to work on Monday. I am excited and this is a good thing. The way I figure, the year I'm not excited to come back is the year I need to retire.

The trick of course is to spend as much time as you can "refreshing" over the Summer. Countless hours spent in pajamas. Long periods on ravelry and knitting.

Yep. That's the best way to stay fresh in the classroom.

Coming Soon!

A multitude of gratuitous posts!

I begin here...





At least 20 circular needles and not even one 16 inch 5mm needle?

*le sigh*

More Like Devil's Island

Two years (and a few pounds) ago I made this:



We all agreed she was big and unflattering. I should have remembered the experience when I made the Angel Island Shell*:





Again, I miscalculated. I am now a 34" bust and should have calculated for that.

I'm trying not to let it get me down (remember by fragile knitting ego.)

• The knitting is fine.
• If I do say so, I did a great job on the seams (seriously, about 3-4 hours of seaming..with a break here and there.)
• It's just big. That is all. swatches can lie. Nylon in the yarn was reeeeaally stretchy. This happens to lots of knitters.
  

I am a good knitter. I am a good knitter. I am a good knitter.

*Please forgive the crapola pics.

Taking a Break

...from seaming.

I really hate seaming, but I'm pretty pleased with myself right now.


Click to enlarge

There's a seam in there somewhere. Of course, this nice looking seam was done after three false starts, two breaks to check reference books and about an hour of my time.

I hate seaming 'cause you really need to be slow and methodical to make a seam look good. Slow and methodical aren't in my nature.

Now I hope the sweater looks ok on. I'm thinking it might be a little wide. I was planning to wear it with a blouse under it, so maybe the extra width will be needed.

I'm keeping my hopes up.

Please Enable Me

I need everyone to tell me that the purchase I just made is justified and exempt from the Yarn Diet.

You all know I've put myself on a yarn diet (Clean for 18 days.) My goal is not to buy yarn for a while and catch up with some of the projects on my Ravelry queue. I'm also trying not to buy anymore patterns or pattern books. (Honestly there are plenty of freebies out there.) A little part of me is also wondering how long I can go without buying any knitting paraphernalia ('cause, seriously, I have a lot of that already.)

But today I had a setback. While at the beach last week, my sister-in-law requested a hat. Fine. I had the perfect yarn and I found the perfect pattern (thanks to a Knit Nite buddy who suggested it.) Unfortunately, I didn't have the proper needles for it.

Please tell me it's ok that I bought a pair of 5 and 5.5* mm Addi turbos. I mean, it's for a gift, right? Not to buy them would be really selfish, don't you think?

*aren't you impressed by my use of mm and not American size? Just following my own advice, folks.

I Miss Offspring

She really was a good FO photographer. Now that she is in an apartment, I doubt she will be visiting very often :-(

But I bring you an FO picture anyway. Hubadub tries. He's a sweetie. And if truth be told, he didn't get much help from the model. I could have straightened things up a bit.


Pattern: Ribbed Lace Bolero
Yarn: Hobby Lobby Hushabye (A cotton/acrylic blend that really gives Cotton Ease a run for its money. It's a shame it doesn't come in more colors.)
Needles: 7 (4.5 mm) and 9(5.5 mm)

This is really a fun pattern; however, EZ's sewn cast off got a little annoying (worth it, but annoying.)

I really feel like I've gotten a little more confident with my knitting. Maybe "confident" isn't the word. I'm more comfortable with my knitting. I've given myself permission to stick with simple things and not get hung up on the fact that I'm never going to be a knitter of ornate patterns. Once I got over that hump, I'm much happier with the projects I've completed. Of course, there was really no reason to be so angsty about my knitting to begin with, but that's just the way I am. (I wonder how many others need knitting therapy.)

Waiting

I've still got 15 minutes before the 2009 edition of Dish Rag Tag sign-ups open.

And if posting about it isn't loser-y enough, the fact that I put a reminder about it on my cell phone (about a month ago) should seal my loser reputation.