Nothing like a LONG weekend!

I was cleaning my apartment this morning, and when I clean I kinda organize by area. I will move the kitchen items to the kitchen in a pile, bathroom in a pile...etc. I chose to put all my knitting projects on my coffee table and I looked at it and thought it would make a good picture for this journal.



Hahaha..so Happy Labor Day Weekend for me! Look at all those knitting projects! I have some dishclothes to make, my Hufflepuff Harry Potter Scarf, some possible socks for me, my mom's socks and the surprise for my friend. I think there is enough there to keep me busy this weekend.

And I just realized that doesn't include the two Doctor Who Scarves that are in my knitting basket.

I love knitting!

Bummer!

Well, one of my surprise knitting projects has been "ruined"...it is totally my fault. I had decided to knit my mom a pair of socks for her birthday. I had promised them to her at Christmas when she saw the yarn in my stash and I said I was going to make socks from it. We measured her foot, I wrote the numbers on the pattern and basically put the project down.

I thought HEY mom is coming to visit me for my birthday, I can make these socks and have them for her when she visits. (I was planning on another project for her birthday, even knitted it up...but I have to pay someone to finish it and I just can't afford it-so now it is Christmas).

Anyway, I began happily knitting the first sock and then I looked at the measurement for her foot. All I had written down was "mom's foot 6" " Mom's foot is only 6" long? that can't be right? Maybe it is the measurement minus the 2" for the toe decrease? I was totally stuck, so I had to ask mom to measure her foot. She knew why. Surprise ruined.

So this is what I am knitting for her:

The three completed socks are ones I made for myself out of Cascade 220 Quattro yarn. The ball at the top is the yarn I am making my mom's socks out of.

But, I have more tricks up my sleeves...and on my needles. I thought of some more knitting I can add to the gift that she won't know about!

Speaking of Cascade 220...I love making socks out of it and I think they look cute as a button with Birkenstock sandals in the winter. I was listening to one of my knitting podcasts, I can't remember which one and they mentioned Cascade 220 SUPERWASH. I nearly passed out! I could create more Cascade 220 socks in TOTALLY MACHINE WASHABLE WOOL. Me want...

Destashing

OK, so there is no way around it.

All yarn buying must cease.

I am in such a terrible financial hole, I can't afford to buy any more yarn. period.

But I have been inspired by the ladies at Stash and Burn (see last post). I am going to destash...I am going to knit through all that yarn that I have been meaning to knit. They have even excited the oganizational fanatic in me...they have thier stash listed in a database. I MUST do this. It would be AWESOME to have a database of my knitting projects, yarn and finished objects.

Dude, it is actually making me excited about my stash. I LOVE to organize stuff!!! So, you know that since the holiday weekend is coming up...a FOUR day weekend for me...you so know I will be putting all my yarn in a database while I watch Classic Doctor Who episodes. THis is gonna ROCK!

I have thought about the Harry Potter scarves I have committed to make for my concert band in the spring. The yarn is VERY cheap. and I think if I just buy yarn for one scarf at a time I can do it. I really want to do this for my fellow percussionists. They are such cool people and I want to so SOMETHING for them.

There is a website called Ravelry which is like an online database for your knitting and it seems like it could be a neat community. I don't fully get it and you apparently have to be invited to join? I put my name in, and there is a way to check where you are on the list...check this out for me:

"You signed up on Yesterday
You are #29279 on the list.
18453 people are ahead of you in line.
254 people are behind you in line.
35% of the list has been invited so far"

Yeah, maybe my grand daugther will be able to join some day using my place in line! LOL

Knitting Podcasts

I LOVE listening to podcasts while at work. I feel like I am doing something productive with my brain, while I am at work. Expanding my mind, so to speak.

It hit me a couple weeks ago...like DUH, there had to knitting podcasts, right?

Just looking around ITunes I found Knit Science. I love the science of knitting segement she does. And for some reason, I love listeing to her discuss what she is currently knitting and her progress.


I made a post on my FAVORITE knitting forum KnittingHelp.com and asked people what their favorite podcasts were. Through this I found the podcast Stash and Burn, which I absolutely LOVE. The ladies are so inspiring and fun, too. Their main goal is to get rid of their "stash" of unknit yarn. The blog connected to thier podcast is superb, with links to everything they talk about in the podcast. Fabulous! The Stash and Burn ladies, Nicole and Jenny had inspired me to attack my own stash which I will discuss in my next blog entry.

Yeah, I've got A LOT of needles...

So, the two Doctor Who scarves are not the only things I have on my needles.

Right now I am knitting two gifts/surprises. Suffice to say they are both being knit with Cascade 220 yarn. That is ALL I will say until I finish the items and the people have said items. Then I will post about them and show pictures.

Other things on my needles...

I am doing a series of Harry Potter scarves. One for each school, that means four scarves. For those who know the difference, I have chosen to do the later edition scarves where there is a dominate color with smaller stripes of a second color. Below are retail examples of the scarves.



Why am I doing these mind numbing scarves? The San Diego Concert Band is doing a "fantasy" themed concert in the spring and we are going to play music from the Harry Potter movies. The conductor is pretty cool and allows us to "dress up" a bit at the concerts. I play percussion, and there are four of us and there are four schools at Hogwarts...you see where I am going?

I began the Gryffindor scarf from a pattern I found on the internet. Harry Potter Scarf Pattern I know it is a free pattern, however, I don't know what crack this individual was smoking but nine inches is WAY too wide for this scarf. After one full run of the pattern, I ripped out the entire thing...it looked totally whacked!.

Since I had a friend commission a Hufflepuff scarf (yellow and black) for Halloween. I decided to start that one, to make sure I had a Hufflepuff done by Halloween and I took an inch off the width of the scarf and it looks SO much better. I have about three feet done and am I assured to have it done by Halloween.

All these Harry Potter scarves are kinda just for fun, so there was NO way I was going to pay big bucks for yarn. It is just mega cheap acrylic Red Heart and Caron. Despite the cheapness of the yarn, I still think they look pretty cool. And will be fun for the occasional wear.

NOw the question is, will I get the four school scarves done before spring?

Grand Plan #1

OK...Grand Plan # 1 I have discussed with a couple of people...

I recently completed a number of hats for a friend of mine undergoing chemo therapy. I really enjoyed the project and enjoyed the fact that my knitting could be so useful. My friend has told me that the other cancer patients she has run across have made positive comments about the hats I made...so here it is...

I have been dying to knit for a cause...a reason. There are times when knitting seems so frivilous, both in time and money. So why not do something positive with it? I would REALLY like to knit hats for other chemo patients and donate them to a local group. However, I seem to be jinxed at every turn...

1. I have e-mailed several groups/individuals about doing this and have gotten no response.
2. I have tried to find websites where I could donate or find a place to donate...usually all I can find is "donate in your local area". See number 1.
3. Money, even though I can make a nice hat out of one skein of a soft cotton yarn which is between $5-10 bucks each...I can't afford it right now. I can hardly make ends meet at the end of the month as it is.

I am frustrated. I feel like I want to do something good and meaningful and I can't.

Right now...

So here is what I have on the needles right now...

Word of warning, I am on a Doctor Who knitting craze. I have never been a fan of a TV show that had so many knitable possibilities. I mean, I was a fan of Stargate SG-1 for ten years and it has never inspired me to knit something like Doctor Who has...

Having said that, I am knitting two Doctor Who scarves. The first is for my good friend L_. L_ and I are attempting to go to the Doctor Who dedicated convention called Galifrey, which is in LA in February of 2008. Her scarf is based on the Season 18 scarf worn by Tom Baker. I got the pattern from an absolutely WONDERFUL website http://www.doctorwhoscarf.com.



And so far, this is what I have done on it:




I think it is looking great. Even though the original on the show was chenille, I am knitting it in Classic Elite Inca Alpaca yarn. I am using the colors Damask Red, Persimmon, and Seaside. Over five feet DONE!

I also have on the needles at the same time a Season 16 Doctor Who Scarf:



Here is how far I have gotten...although I think I have done a good 2 more feet since this photo:




I am making this with some cheap acrylic...I don't really see me wearing it on a regular basis in San Diego. So I found this Red Heart Soft Yarn and I am using that.

I think companies like Red Heart and Lion Brand have FINALLY discovered that yes, people DO want cheap yarn, but they DON'T want cheap looking and feeling yarn. Lion Brand has a "Vanna's Choice" Yarn that is so much like the Red Heart soft, I am using a Vanna's Choice for the yellow color in my scarf since there wasn't a good yellow in the Red Heart. Red Heart Soft Yarn colors Lt. Grey Heather, Grape, Paprika, Off White, Leaf, a brown color (the label says Black...oops) and then the yellow is actually that Vanna's Choice Lion Brand Mustard. Over six feet DONE!

More on what's on my needles and my "Grand Plans" future projects...

The beginning...

I have decided to create a blog of the things I am knitting. I at first had tried to just use an online photo album...but I can't really explain what I have done and are working on. So I will do it here...