Entry #2... And this time with Pictures!!

{Where do I begin...?}

It has been at least 2 weeks since I last posted. I just don't have as much time as I thought I would.. or I'm just lazy, I'll go with option A. So I might do this biweekly. It all depends on how certain things work out for the knitwit household this summer.

What has been going on since I last posted?

1. I have taken pictures of the yarn-tastrophy that befell my old closet and knitting basket. And I've figured out how to post them here!!!

 This is what my lovely red wicker knitting basket looked like once I had piled all of the various knitting paraphernalia into it whilst cleaning out my old bedroom.

As you can see, this is not a lovely site. I found many many knitting needles, balls of yarn, stitch markers, and even a few pair of socks, as well as a couple socks that were, unfortunately, never matched with a mate. {Second Sock Syndrome Sucks}

Just looking at this gives me the heebie jeebies.. like the knitting gods will strike me down and take away my knitting needles for letting it get this bad...

After spending approximately 2 HOURS winding yarn and sorting through all the junk, this is what I was able to come up with:

• at least two dozen straight needles, not all with partners. But I figured I could stick them in a pretty vase, like I had seen all over Pinterest and Instagram, and make a nice little (and useful!) knitting decoration.
• at least 2 dozen double pointed needles, that I must get a gauge for, heaven forbid I know the sizes..
• Quite a few balls of yarn, 5 circulars, and two cases of stitch markers and darning needles.

The giant red heart shaped thing is a crochet heart I made in 2009 and stuffed with dryer sheets to keep my yarn fresh... it still smells good... 

  

  

It was an adventure and a half trying to go through and sort and wind all of this mess, but it looks so much prettier now!

2. I have been doing a lot of knitting... not so much on the commissioned socks for my Hillsdale friend. I have figured out that the yarn is troublesome, and I have to ply it otherwise it shreds. 100% cashmere, you fickle friend you...

But I have been working on some other socks for myself in the Hermione's Everday Socks pattern, free from ravelry... These are knit with Nordlys Viking Yarn that I purchased from my LYS, D'Vine Gallery in Shipshewana, Indiana. It is super soft, and super pretty, and I can't wait to finish them and wear them.

I have also been working on some shawls/shawlette's. I figured I would try and whip some up because I found this:



5 skeins of baby/fingering weight yarn.. super soft and would make lovely slipper socks, and 3 gallons ize ziplock bags with a total of 6 large cakes of turqoise/dark blue/teal {ish} colored worsted weight wool. All at my local Goodwill for a grand total of $5.75!!! I was quite pleased.. and one of the large cakes made a Cold Pine Shawl that I will probably save and be gifting as a Christmas Gift.

I have also made myself one of these:

This is a works in progress photo of the Lonely Tree Shawl.
It has since then been completed. 

 And this is what it looks like with my sub-par blocking method. I used leftover scrap yarn from my knitting basket mess...



3. SPINNING!!!

I have learned how to hand spin on a top-whorl drop spindle!!! My husband, oh how I love this man! has made me a drop spindle and a niddy noddy and bought me some fiber. I learned to spin. It wasn't so pretty at first, but I have started to get the hang of it and can get a pretty consistant sport/worsted weight.

If only I could figure out how to make sock yarn, then I would be in a knitter's paradise!!!

 

  

  

This is the handspun yarn that I made with my drop spindle. It is loopy, and bumpy, but colorful and I made it and I am proud of myself for it. Since then I have made some more yarn and plied it and played with over-dyeing. I'll show more pictures in the next post...

5. JAM!

I know it isn't knitting, but my father-in-law planted way too many strawberries this year, and my husband I got to pick some. Pick a lot! So we had an over abundance of strawberries and not much to do with them, so I whipped out my Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible and made a batch of strawberry jam...

Isn't it yummy looking? This was while it was still boiling. It has been jarred and mostly eaten. Scrumptious!!

6. SWAPS!!!

Last but not least, I'm part of a group on ravelry for mini-skeins and the Beekeeper's Quilt with the hexipuffs. I love hexipuffs. They are a ton of fun! Well, I participated in a mini-swap with another lady in the group that we organized ourselves since we had just missed out on the signups. Love this woman. She is amazing. She sent me my package and I got it just a few days ago!!

She sent me 6 mini-skeins, one of which is KOIGU!! I have always wanted to knit with koigu, but found it to always somehow be outside of my budget... :( But I get to knit with it now! She sent me a lovely card that made me smile. Love it. And my favorite part (besides the yarn) is this Curvy Abacus. It is a knitting row/stitch/pattern counter. If you look in the picture it looks like a charm you put on your knitting needle and move the beads as you count around the swirls. BUT WAIT! When I opened it up to read the instructions inside the paper, there is an attached necklace cord! It doubles as a necklace!!! I have worn it twice now, and I am wearing it as I type this.. I absolutely adore it and have gotten many compliments on it since receiving it.

All in all: Best Swap Ever! And it was my first. I have sent her package out today, but did not take or post pictures in case she sees it. I must keep it a secret! Mwaha.

So, fellow knit-aholics, you can see that the past two weeks has been quite eventful. So I think to make it a little easier and a little more enjoyable, I will do a bi-weekly post and blog every two weeks. How does that sound? Does that sound do-able?

Until next time,
Keep Calm and Knit On!

{Stephanie}



Entry # 1.5 The Extra Note-To-Self

Note To Self:
Organize your knitting needles, and make sure to have a needle gauge handy....

Please! Allow me to explain.

I got married just over a year ago to my wonderful husband. I love the man, I really do. When we bought our house right before the wedding, we never had the time to move any of my things to our house. Now, a year later, I have to clean out my old bedroom at my parents house and basically throw away all the old crap that I had accumulated. FUN!

*eye roll*

In the process of doing said cleaning, I found my old knitting basket. A beautiful red wicker basket that is quite deep and quite handy. It has a handle and everything. Downside: the basket was empty. No yarn. No needles. I walked into my room and it looked as if a tornado had swept through. Then I remembered that I suck at going through things and throwing them away and sorting them out. I am great at organizing, only so long as my (undiagnosed) ADD doesn't get in the way first.

You see my dilemma...

In the process of just cleaning out my closet alone, I have filled entirely this basket with odds and ends of skeins of yarn that were still balled and usable and various needles. I can't even think to count the number of DPN's that I have found, let alone know what sizes they are. That isn't even counting any of the balls/skeins of yarn that I have seen floating around the main area of my room, and all of the needles somehow scattered all over the place!

I told you I was addicted to knitting... do you believe me now?

I will try to post a picture of the basket filled once I finish filling it with the yarn and needles that I have found. Now if only I could find my needle gauge...

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

{Stephanie}  

Entry #1: And this is where I begin...

Today is June 8, 2013. And this is where I begin...

Good morning!
It is a beautiful sunny day. What more could a person ask for when starting a new blog? I have delved into the blog thing once before several years back, but I flopped it. I was in college and I just never had the time. Now I am not in college anymore, and have almost nothing but time, so let's see how this goes, shall we? I hope you bare with me...

*ahem*
Let me introduce myself.
My name is Stephanie, and you can find me on InstaGram as sritter413, and Ravelry as knitwit08.
I started knitting almost 8 years ago, when I was a junior in high school. It started when I was home sick, very very sick, and was on bed/couch arrest for an extended period of time. Every time I moved I would get pain attacks, and had to stay where I was at. Well, when you're 17 years old, that doesn't work so well. (Keep in mind, this was before I had a cell phone..) I spent my time watching craft shows on tv, and decided to try my hand at something to occupy my time. I managed to salvage a pair of chopsticks and some of my mother's scrap-booking yarn, and made a coaster. The next day my mother went shopping and bought me enough supplies to make myself a huge blanket, that I had finished before I returned to school. I haven't been able to put it down since. I've dabbled in design, and have created a few patterns, very simple patterns. But nothing as of recent.
I am addicted, and I mean ADDICTED, to sock knitting. I always have socks on the needles. I don't really knit much else. I just don't have the patience for it. There is almost never a moment that I don't have at least one sock on the needles.
I love them almost as much as I love my husband.
Almost. ;)

I hope to start hand spinning my own yarn here in the foreseeable future, which should be an exciting adventure! I've always wanted to try. And I'd like to dye my own yarn too, but that sounds a little bit overwhelming, so I'll stick with what I know for now.

Currently on the needles:
I have a very good, very dear friend from years ago that is currently attempting to switch his entire wardrobe over to being 100% American made. He also has high standards and fanciful tastes, so he likes cashmere socks and the like. Well, when he found out that I like to knit socks...{Correction: like is too much of an understatement, but it would be wildly inappropriate to say that if I could I would sleep with my socks at night like a stuffed animal, so I'll just choose the word love...I love to knit socks...} he asked me if I would be willing to knit him some socks. Without hesitating I agreed, and then he delivered the whammy.
He sends me up a message asking me if I would be willing to knit him socks IF he sent the yarn to my house AND he would pay me for my efforts. Double boom. Seriously. How could I refuse? So he sent me 1600 yards of LACEWEIGHT CASHMERE yarn in black, and 2500 yards of LACEWEIGHT CASHMERE in a brown/grey heather. Boom.

So what's on my needles?
A pair of ankle cut/no show black cashmere socks for my dear sweet friend. I will have to find out if I can share photos from him. I will let you know.

I also have a pair of socks for myself using the Hermione's Everyday Sock pattern from Ravelry, {http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hermiones-everyday-socks} using Viking Nordlys yarn from my LYS in a purple/turquoise ombre striping colorway. Beautiful. Once I figure out how to post pictures, I will do so.

And let us never forget hexipuffs. I'm up to 56 puffs. I hope to have 70 or so done (total) by the end of June. Not so daunting really...

I think I have rambled about all I could possibly ramble about today. I hope to (maybe) start my own podcast. I would like to do one that is bi-monthly or monthly, only because I really don't think that I have enough to talk about. Bi-monthly sounds reasonable enough, so we shall see..

Thanks for tuning in! And Happy Crafting!


{Stephanie}