January 2012 Finished Objects

Well.

Thanks to the OKC Stash Down I have been a busy little knitter this month. Check it:

ELEVEN finished projects in one month! I'm pretty excited about that. Granted, one of them was a UFO from last year and most are small, but they're done and I pretty much love all of them!

Here's the run down:
Top Row:
Winter House Cloth- One of many I plan to make for Christmas gifts this year.
"Pebbles" Hat- The pattern name is actually "Republic Hat" but this was made to go with a Pebbles vest. It matches really well with the band of garter at the bottom & the little buttons. Perfect.
Dizzy Hat- A very sweet girl from the OKC sent me this Debbie Bliss Rialto from her stash. She apparently doesn't know I'm stashing DOWN this year. I felt a huge compulsion to use the yarn as soon as it got to me so it didn't go into my stash! Luckily, the yarn is AWESOME. Very springy, so it's super easy to knit with. I made this little hat for myself. It's tiny but I like the way it looks sitting on the back of my head :)
Insomnia Baby- Also thanks to the Stash Down I have a compulsion to use up every bit of a skein. So this little gnome was meant to take up some left over Malabrigo. I still have some though...

Middle Row:


Grandma's Favorite- An experiment for the Christmas cloths. I'm still not sure how I feel about this pattern but I have a TON of Dishie to use up, so I forsee another go at this one later in the year.
Elise Shawl- This was originally going to be for a swap but I was really unsure of the color for my partner. I like it but I'm not sure it looks good on me. This is sitting in the gift stash until I figure out what exactly to do with it.
Radicowl- I LOVED crocheting this and love wearing it even more. I get tons of compliments on it, too. I can totally see making more of these in the future. It's just SUCH a yarn eater, being crochet and all.

Bottom Row:


Pebble Vest- I've made this vest more than once. It's a great, quick baby knit but it is definitely newborn sized. Made this for a friend-of-a-friend who is always super excited to see me knitting & crocheting.
Zinnia Rialto- This is a baby hat that used up every last inch of the Debbie Bliss Rialto I was gifted. I LOVE the way it turned out. This is staying in my gift stash for a very special baby.
Hat Fit For A Best Friend- I've already blogged this. It served its purpose, keeping Clay nice and warm on his trip. :) I washed it for him to avoid accidental felting & it held up pretty well.
Another Zinnia- I frogged not one but TWO baby knits for my high school BFF's newest arrival. I gave up on cute sweaters as time was getting short and just went with this little hat. I'm pretty pleased with it. I kind of love that it's both knit & crochet. This may become my go-to girl gift.

I'm really loving how productive the Stash Down is encouraging me to be! I should have a LOT more finished projects this year and hopefully have some gifts ready for birthdays and Christmas without having to rush.


What have you worked on this year? Any accomplishments you'd like to share?

Melanie over at You Are My Fave asked what our Summer goals are. I love me some goal setting and summer goals are all about fun, so here we go...

• Summer Concerts!
• Go to the beach
• Drink through my wine collection to make room for Fall Wine Festival buys
• Stash down!
• Eat fresh, healthful foods
• Cheap LA fun

I always say I love living in Southern California because I'm an hour's drive from the mountains or the beach and that there's always something to do. Truth be told, I go to the beach maybe once or twice a year and I honestly can't remember the last time I was up in the mountains. I rarely do the fun LA things unless someone's visiting from out of town and although I've wanted to go to one of the many concerts series around town, I never have.

This year I'm changing that. My BFF & I bought season tickets to the LA Philharmonic's summer series at the Arboretum. We'll spend 5 evenings this summer sitting outside, drinking wine & munching on picnic food while listening to some great music. I'm SO excited. I'll also be seeing Adele in a couple weeks and my friend AJ Rafael is releasing his album next week, so I imagine I'll be seeing at least one of his concerts.

The soldier will be back this summer, too, and we have a long list of touristy things we want to do together. We'll have to see how that goes. He only has 4 weeks of leave and both of us are super busy during that time. I hoping for one long epic tourist day. :)

What are you doing this Summer?

The Internets Are My Friends

Someone on the Ravelry forums recently asked how social media has influenced our craft-lives. First, I found it hilarious that many early posters claimed they don't consider Rav "social media". I think SM gets a bad rap. People think it's only myspace, facebook & twitter... and that none of those sites have any real value.

So my answer? My answer was that:

• I read blogs (SM1) that inspire my creativity
• I finally taught myself to knit using youtube videos (SM2) I found on Lunch (SM3)
• I use Rav (SM4) for inspiration, guidance, venting & sharing
• I share my projects through facebook (SM5)& have discovered other crafty kindred spirits amongst my friends
• I find & share inspiration on pinterest (SM6)

I'm sure if I thought about it more I'd find even more ways.

Here's my current issue: I'm wondering if all this inspiration is to my detriment. You already know I'm totally failing at the whole "don't buy more yarn" bit. As you can see in my side-bar over there, I'm also totally failing at the whole "finish your WIPs" thing, too. The problem is that I see new projects and HAVE TO make them NOW. So I buy the yarn & it sits in my stash.

I current have 6 WIPs-- 4 of which I could finish up rather quickly if I just stuck to my guns. I've decided to take next week off from Ravelry in an attempt to use my stitching time for actual stitching instead of browsing. We'll see if this helps!

Yarn Diet

So I had high hopes of reducing my stash in 2011. The plan was to craft only from my stash until it was at least 50% reduced, and then to only purchase yarn with a specific project in mind AND only when I was ready to start said project.

We're 3 weeks into the year and I've already failed miserably.

It started with Knit Picks. How could they release a beautiful long-repeat yarn in January? And one that had a true rainbow? I've been looking for a reasonably priced rainbow long-repeat yarn for over a year! So yes, I bought 2 skeins of KP Chroma in Prism. Oh fine, and 2 more in Lollipop. Ok fine fine... and I added 3 skeins of Andean Treasure in Heathered Fog because it's beautiful. It is now my favorite yarn ever, so that makes it worth it, right?

Then it was the swaps fault. I'm doing the Magic Yarn Ball Swap on Ravelry again. I had to purchase yarn for it so I went to Eat.Sleep.Knit. and maybe a skein of Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk jumped into the basket too.

Then... ok look. I've been lusting after Pierrot Yarns forever but shipping is too expensive. So when there's a "Lucky Bag" with an AMAZING deal on tons of their best selling yarns and it includes free shipping, how can I NOT buy it? So now I have a huge box (with 62 (!) skeins inside) coming soon.

But now... really really seriously for sure I have to stop buying yarn. Possibly for the rest of the year. I have beautiful yarns that deserve to be used! They will be used!!

Pray for me.

Package Update

So I've done a fairly good job keeping up with at least one of this year's goals. I've sent one package a month to the soldier for the months that he has been deployed. Mind you, November marks only the 4th month.

The first package made it into his hands in just one week! I was totally excited about this, especially looking forward to baking season. Except the 2nd package went out on September 30th (I was running late) and the 3rd package went out on October 18th and he STILL hasn't received EITHER ONE! I can't even begin to tell you how annoyed I am by this. I had planned to start baking this month since it's colder but I can't have cookies and brownies sitting in some mail storage container for over a month! I'm going to have to skip Thanksgiving and send a Christmas package out next month in hopes it gets there in time.

/rant

Stash management

I was doing so good.

I bought one of these closet organizers in which I stored all my yarn. Well, almost all. I also had a little bit in a rolling sewing machine tote thing. Also in the rolling tote was some hibernating projects.

Then I had my WIP basket which I was cleaning out every couple days and keeping nice and tidy.

Now?

My closet thing is totally jam packed & I'm not even sure what all's in there anymore. I have a large box FULL of worsted cotton for my hexagon blanket that I don't even intend to start any time soon. (so why did I buy the freaking yarn?!) I have a medium sized box FULL of sport cotton for the baby hexagon, which I have actually started.

I have two random ziplock bags full of mostly sock weight cotton. Why? I don't even make socks.

I have a back pack that has some random acrylic that I've been using to make afghan square for donation.

My rolling tote is JAM PACKED with yarn and I'm not even sure what it is. At the bottom are the hibernating projects, most of which I haven't looked at in a year.

My WIP basket got out of control. Cleaning it out is what prompted this tirade. I can't even say it's for works in progress anymore. I just rearranged all the yarn that was in (and AROUND) it so it looked neat.

Oh... and there's a stack of finished projects under my side table.

This week it HAS TO get under control. I think I've been putting it off thinking I'll pack it all up when I move & organize it in a nice new home. But at this point I don't know when I'm moving (plans & roommate options have changed several times) and this can't be put off any longer.

How to you organize stash, projects you're working on and finished objects? Any great tips?

First package received

I got an email from the soldier today that the first care package I sent just one week ago has been received. That's pretty exciting!

What is not exciting is the fact that his email didn't include the words "thank you". I mean, I wasn't expecting gushing, but a thank you would have been nice. Maybe it's the fact that I'm sick, but I find this really annoying. It's actually a pattern with him. I wonder if it's just with me or if he never says thank you.

Anyway, right now with my difficulty breathing and my stomach that won't stop churning and my headache and lack of sleep I'm reconsidering the whole notion of sending him boxes full of stuff every month. Right now with all that I'm think I can find a better way to spend $60 a month. Right now I'm thinking a facial or a purse or really anything for myself once a month seems like a better way to spend my money.

Or maybe I'm just bitter.

WIP it. WIP it good.

I am currently working on....

1. a Hexagon Blanket for one of 2 babies on the way
2. a crocheted scarf in the evil superwash wool that makes my finger peel
3. the Christening outfit that I have no reason to be making.
4. finding my cord that allows me to upload photos of the above from my camera

Decisions

Once again I'm putting off making a blanket for myself and repurposing the yarn.

All that KnitPicks Shine Sport I bought will now become a baby blanket. Yes, there is another "niece" or "nephew" on the way! I'm so excited! But you know me, this isn't a
"real" nice or nephew. You ready for it? This one takes a LOT of relationships to be clear! This baby is...

....my mother's first cousin's ex-husband's sister's son's child.

Alternately....

....my second cousins' first cousin (on the other side of the family)'s child.

OR

....my godfather's nephew's child.

or

...not related to me, really.

But really, this child is family. And he or she will be the child of a couple I absolutely adore- both as a couple and individually. My "cousin" is the catch of all catches- handsome, smart, sensitive, funny, understanding. He's an incredibly passionate teacher at a time when teachers don't have a lot of time or energy left over to be passionate about teaching. He's fantastic. And his wife is so sweet and beautiful and kind and funny. I've enjoyed ever second I've been able to spend with her and they just seem so happy with each other. This baby is going to be surrounded and flooded with love.

So... now to find the perfect project. I'd like to start soon (mostly because it will keep me from buying yarn for MY blanket and I really want to get my stash down). Of course we don't know the gender yet... but since I have a rainbow of yarn, I think we'll just go multi-colored. I also only have one little skien of each color, so while I'd like to try a star blanket like the one below, I don't want to have to buy more of one color for the increases.



Maybe a granny squarish thing? I like this:



Or I could see this in lots of different colors:




Any ideas? Did I not mention something that you think would be perfect?

You know what's hard?

Knitting socks. That's what's hard.



I'm using Silver's Sock Class per suggestions on Ravelry. Seriously, though? I don't know how I'm going to do this. Insane.

5,4,3,2,1....

Joining the countdown with one of my favorite creative bloggers, Wild Olive.

FIVE...things I'm looking forward to this month: my Intro to Crochet class at LA Harbor College, American Idol LIVE!, BottleNotes LA, Vegas w/ my godfather's family & 9 days off in a row!
FOUR... YouTube favorites: Gardiner Sisters, Tori Kelly, a seriously soulful At Last, my buddy AJ bringing the house down in Melbourne
THREE... reasons to start new projects: CHRISTMAS!, my new apartment, my second cousin's father's nephew's baby on the way! (And yes, I will be calling myself "Auntie Lia" even though there's absolutely no blood relation. Crocheted goods=auntie. :P)
TWO... packages I need to mail today: whole bunch of baby stuff & deployment package #1
ONE... thing I'm doing with my godmother today: Gettin' our nails did! WOOT!

Christmas

Oh yes. Is it evil to talk about Christmas gifts when it's only August? I don't care. I need to think about it. Since I've always been broke and/or living at home with my parents, I've actually never been responsible for major holiday gift purchases until last year. I always just bought for my closest cousins, my sister, my parents & godparents. All the uncles, aunts & most cousins' gifts were purchased by mom with a little help from dad.

Well, last year was our first year without mom and I took over most of the responsibility. Dad took care of his nephews, a couple grandnephews & his sister. I took care of everyone else on both sides. Including the few friends I buy for, that left 30 presents in my to-buy list. This year I will (hopefully!) be in my own apartment by Christmas. Since I'm now in my 30s I really think it's time to let dad figure out the gifts from him & my sister and I'll give my own gifts to them. I'll actually probably end up spending less that way since a gift from just broke-ass me doesn't have to be as substantial as a gift "from the family".

So here are some thoughts on things to make:
washcloths w/ handmade soaps for the ladies
dia de los muertos potholders for the chicana power ladies
Divine Hats for young ladies (my cousins like to take their teens snow tubing)

I already have a few other things squirreled away- both crocheted and purchased. Washcloths and hats only take about 30 minutes each but the potholders require colorwork, so they take a bit longer. Plus then I have to embroider them. I actually plan on giving a couple friends sets of those as well.

Truth be told, I don't have the pattern for the potholders. It's in The Happy Hooker, which I refuse to buy because it's so basic. This one pattern is the only thing I want and it's really just the chart I'm after. I've tried figuring it out myself based on pictures, but it's just not coming out right. Still- I'm determined.

Have you started planning for Christmas yet? Will you be making or buying most gifts?

Soldier Squares

I was invited to join a group on Ravelry called the We Care Stitchers. Kae, the moderator, is collecting knit and crochet squares to make into afghans for soldiers recovering at Fort Carson. Carson just happens to me MY soldier's base, so of course I agreed to help out.

My soldier deployed a couple weeks ago and I spent the day making one dozen 5 by 5 inch squares using some of my HUGE stash of Vanna's Choice. I did a simple double crochet all the way through.. but stitched them in the back loop only, so that created a little bit of a ribbing effect.



I was able to bang them out in about 20 minutes each, so I'm sure I'll be making more soon. Just need to finish up some of those WIPs over there. :)

I Am Going to Hurt Somebody

You've heard me go on and on about how I hate knitting because the scarf I've been so lovingly knitting for the soldier is such a pain in my ass, right? You know I've been working on the damn thing since Christmas, right? You know how I've put in almost 40 hours of work-time on it, right?

It's in acrylic. Acrylic that is pretty and soft and masculine without being boring. It's got great drape and feels amazing.

Acrylic melts. Acrylic melts if you, say, drive over an IED in a war zone. If that should happen to a soldier while he/she was wearing an acrylic scarf, said scarf would MELT INTO THE SOLDIER'S SKIN. Therefore, the Army highly recommends that soldiers only wear wool knitted items. 100% wool.

While I'm going to hope that the soldier does not, in fact, drive over ANOTHER IED (he was injured that way in Iraq), I don't think it's wise to finish this stupid ass annoying frustrating stealing-days-of-my-life scarf.

To make matters worse- you may remember that my desperate need for affirmation drove me to show virtually EVERY man in my life this damn scarf. Everyone knows I was making it for the soldier. I can't gift it to someone else.

I am SO frustrated. Stay away- I may stab you with my frustratingly tiny size 8 knitting needles.

My Own Lent

Last weekend I went to a NET Alumni retreat. It was just one day but it was exactly what I needed. My teammate, Kathleen, drove down from Fresno to hang out with me. We stayed at a hotel the night before & after the retreat and talked and talked and talked. Hanging out with her reminded me that I need fellowship. I love my friends and I'm really blessed to have people in my life who really love and care about me. However, only Hana is Christian. The others sort of "tolerate" my faith and at times kind of tease me about it. I always feel like I'm their 'exception'. They really dislike Christians in general but think I'm some sort of rare breed that's ok.

In any case, it also gave me a good swift kick in the pants. I need to get myself back on track. Simply said- Jesus makes me happy. I like praying by myself. I like praise & worship. I like Mass. I may not agree with some of the politics of the Church, but I still really love my faith. So all this week I've been thinking about how to get back into a space where I can commit to things like personal prayer time.

Then I came upon this project on Ravelry. This lady had the brilliant idea of crocheting a premie hat for donation every day of Lent. Since the 40 days doesn't include Sundays, she used that day to finish off the ends (I hate that part!). The whole crochet-for-donation thing has been on my mind a lot lately, too. I'm totally addicted & finding reasons to give people gifts-- but I could be donating as well. A good friend of mine is an ObGyn & said there's ALWAYS a need in the NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit for tiny hats & blankets.

So this is it. I'm starting my own Lent starting this Wednesday, which would make my "Easter" July 18th.

My Lenten commitments are:

• At least 30 minutes Personal Prayer every day
• Crochet a premie hat every day
• Go to Mass every Sunday
• No sweets

The no sweets thing is really because I need to start eating better, but may as well throw it in there. I'm all about DOING things for Lent, rather than NOT doing things, ya know? The whole point is to get closer to Christ- not randomly deny yourself something that has nothing to do with real sacrifice.

So there you go. Hopefully I can finish up some WIPs before then... in particular the Blessed Mother Shawl I'm making for Rosa. That's another post though...

Soldier Revisited

I started knitting that blasted soldier scarf right around Christmas. I keep putting it down because I HATE knitting. That's right... hate it. I'm sure I did this to myself. Stupid thin yarn & tiny little size 8 needles. How was I supposed to know it would be so tedious? This was a horrible first knitting project. With every stitch I just think how much faster I could crochet it.

I don't even know when I last worked on it. In fact, I've stopped carrying it around and actually am not entirely sure where it is at the moment. Probably in my project tote in the car. It's meant to be a Christmas present, so I suppose it's not horrible that I'm not currently working on it, but still. I need to finish.

I'm thinking about it now because the soldier is in town this weekend. Woot! When he makes quick trips I don't generally try to see him because naturally his family and close friends want to spend time with him, too. But it sounds like he thinks he might be able to sneak away sometime this weekend & maybe we'll get to catch dinner or something. It'll be difficult since I'll be working, but I'm basically at-the-ready should he say he's suddenly free.

He'll be on block-leave mid-June for several weeks... then it's off on another deployment. I hate it because I worry about him. He managed to kind of pretend Iraq wasn't that dangerous. He basically totally lied to me about what he did, making it seem very calm & safe. Since being back he's revealed the really ridiculously dangerous crap he does, I guess because I don't have to worry since he's home. Oh, yeah, except he's now headed to Afghanistan, which is MORE dangerous. Awesome. Still, even with all that worry I am kind of excited about the letter-writing. It's fun and totally a lost art. I've purchased cute stationary. There are random things I've collected to send in his monthly packages strewn around my house. I've found recipes that look like they might withstand the trip over there. I'm ready... sort of. :)

Two-Oh-One-Oh

I like to say I don't believe in resolutions.

"If you want to change- change. You don't have to wait until January first."

Well, in truth I only say that because I don't like the pressure of everyone picking new goals all at once and waiting for each other to fail.

Still, I do have goals for the new year. I generally feel good when I'm doing happy things for others and being creative. Thus, I have made three goals for the year:

1) Organize my craft supplies. This includes getting rid of stuff I'm not using as I tend to be kind of a packrat.

2) Do something creative/crafty every. single. day. This doesn't mean I have to finish something every day.. I just have to work on something. Considering my love for very long scarves and my desire to crochet myself a blanket, this shouldn't be too hard.

3) Send one care package a month during Soldier's deployment. I have a friend being deployed to Afghanistan in the summer. During his tour in Iraq I basically only sent letters because I didn't know what he would need or want. I've decided to just do a little research on "general" things soldiers need, couple it with what I know about him already and go for it. I figure after a couple packages he might start making requests.

So, relatively simply goals. As the year goes on I always add more, but that's the beauty of "not believing in resolutions". The plan is to blog about these things- primarily as a way to get a "portfolio" of my creations, since it'd be nice to know remember what I've made.

Happy 2010 all. I look forward to spending it with you.