Times, they are a-changin'...(updates)

I was going back through this blog the other day, and realized that so much has changed since some of my previous posts. I thought I'd do a quick run-down on what's new and different in my world (both knitting-wise and in life).

The most major update is that I've moved to a completely new state (I already miss JBW, though the yarn store closest to me in my new locale is quite charming). Because of this move, a few things happened:

1) I actually cleared out a bit of my stash. Some of it I donated, some I gave to my good friend (and knitting Yoda) Sam. That being said, I still have a fair amount of yarn (two good sized bins, most of which is worsted or fingering weight).

2) I found the Chroma Striped Scarf. I thought I had frogged it, but no. IT STILL EXISTS. I feel like the fact that is has persevered 12+ years is a sign that I should probably break down and finish it.  

IT LIVES!

3) At some point I was working with a drop spindle and learning to spin some lovely Malabrigo roving (if my goals from 2017 tell me anything, though I don't appear to have really blogged about it--terrible), and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED TO IT. I haven't found the drop spindle in my boxes* (yet?) and the roving wasn't in my stash. 

4) I had restarted these socks (just the very tippy toe), but recently frogged those as well and am thinking about using the yarn to make my mom some kind of shawl because she keeps stealing mine. On that note...

5) I still have a shawl problem.

*In 2015, I also made a move and a ton of stuff ended up in a storage unit; a lot of stuff is STILL in a storage unit, including (until recently) many of my knitting books and accessories. I was finally able to dig a bunch of this out recently, but am now wondering if there is another box in there with other knitting/crafty things I need to hunt down...

And suddenly, there were projects

Because the cold weather was apparently all I needed to get motivated, I've been working on a few things simultaneously--some old, some new.

Once the urge to knit hit me again, I started revisiting some UFOs and establishing if they were worthy of continuing (answer: yes...sort of). I tried to keep in mind something my friend Sam always says (quoting Gigi of the Knitmore Girls): If you don't like it now, you won't like it later. Apparently I'm pretty good about picking things I like, because I didn't want to quit any of them completely.

I have the following on needles right now (listed from oldest start date to newest):

• Chroma Striped Scarf (this will be on-going for all eternity, so I'm not especially worried about it)
• Raphaelite Socks (originally started Jan. 2013; I have one sock completely done, and just the start of the toe on the other.)
• Plushy Mittens (originally started Dec. 2013--had nearly one whole arm of the first mitten done.)
•  Ripple Effect (technically started May 2014, but then I messed it up and pulled it out, so its just yarn again right now. Not technically on needles at the moment)
• de Bourgh Brickless (originally started Aug. 2014--just barely started).
• Chevron Baby Blanket (started just a few days ago!)

Order of priorities? Well, I'd like those pesky mittens since its actually winter. I pulled them back out and started working on them, only to decide after about 10 minutes that I didn't like the long arm because my coat is tight at the sleeves. I looked through the projects page and found a pair someone made with a simple wrist (but keeping the cabled hand), and decided to pull it all out and start over. I've finished the cuff and started the thumb gusset of mitten #1. Whee!

Second project of importance: a baby blanket. Which I hadn't even started, but I'd been thinking about for months. A friend is expecting their first child in the middle of January, and I had planned on having a blanket ready for them by the birth. I had the yarn already (Caron Simply Soft), and so have started that.

I started the third stripe (white) just the other day, so its moving along nicely. The blanket is a pleasant and easy knit--the pattern is easy to remember, but has enough tricks to keep me paying attention. I only wish that it was garter rather than stockinette, because if I was knitting on both sides I think I could whip through it even faster.

Luckily, it appears I'll have more babies to knit for in the future, so I'll be able to give that a shot! Now, if only I could finish those socks.

Knitting skillz

The end of the Olympic Games always makes me a little sad.  I've always loved watching the Olympics on TV, and as a little girl had dreams of ice skating and gymnastic gold.  As it turns out, I was never really into either of those sports, and stuck with ballet instead (which is not an Olympic event, but that's another kind of journal post entirely).

This year, I seriously considered taking part in the Ravellenic Games.  The last Olympics (2010), I was still very new to knitting and hadn't felt I had the skills to complete a project in only two weeks.  This time around, I really thought I could do it, but as we all know, I have project finishing issues, so in the end I bailed on the idea. 

I got to thinking though--the last time, I considered myself a beginning knitter, and that was basically my excuse not to do it.  This time around, I couldn't use that term--but where do I rank my knitting skills?  Am I an advanced beginner?  Intermediate?  How does one judge where the line is between beginning and intermediate, or intermediate and advanced?  I've never knit a sweater or lace, but I've been knitting for a few years now, so I'd say I'm intermediate--but do I really have to have knit those kinds of projects to be advanced?

Anyone have any thoughts?  Where do you consider your skill level to be and why?

Thoughts on Lace

After my last post, I went ahead and did a Ravelry Queue purge, since I'd just queued a bunch of new things and I knew there were things on there I really needed to get rid of.  Doing so allowed me to notice something about myself I hadn't realized:  I'm not such a big fan of typical lace shawls.

There are exceptions to this rule, of course (i.e. the Peacock Shawlette I mentioned in my previous post), but the overwhelming majority of "shawls" in my queue are more solid ones--the Daybreak, the Skewed Shawl...sometimes there are things with a little lace at the edges (i.e. the Pimpelliese, or Tuch/shawl), but overall, they are much more casual shawls.  This is not to say I don't think lace shawls are beautiful, because they are and I appreciate all the work and time that goes into them.

I think I like the more casual and simple-looking shawls simply because that's more my style, but I also feel like they're a little more versatile:  I could wear one with pretty much anything.  I think there are very few lace shawls you could really wear (or would want to wear) with jeans and sneakers (this of course depends on the shawl and what kind of yarn you use, etc.  I mean...my friend Sam made a gorgeous Traveling Woman with worsted weight yarn, and wears it more casually and I love it!  but if it were knit out of say, a lace yarn?  It'd have a whole different feel).  I also feel like spending all that time making a beautiful lace shawl, only to wrap it around my neck like a scarf, would be a waste.  But I suppose a knitter can wear the items he/she knits however they please ;)

Ye Olde Ravelry Queue

I have three projects on my needles right now (the Jenny Cloche, socks for my mom that I haven't even finished swatching yet, and the Noro Chroma Striped Scarf), but as fellow Ravelers out there know, that doesn't stop me from queueing everything I think is pretty.

Every once and awhile I go back through the queue and purge the things that I no longer admire, or know I'll never make, or maybe I just queued to find more easily (I never used to favorite anything; now I do).  At any rate, there are things that have been in my queue for forever, and I thought if I posted some of them here it would rile me into action. 

• Raphaelite Socks--I actually know the fabulous designer of these gorgeous socks from knit night, and she's awesome.  I saw these socks in person, and they were so gorgeous that I came home and queued the pattern immediately.  I swear I'll actually knit them someday.  I even have stash yarn picked out for them!

• Nostalgia Top--For when I break down and knit a garment that's not a hat, socks, or a scarf.  This is from KnitPicks eons ago.  I still love it.

• Herringbone Mittens--When I try colorwork again, I will be making these babies.

• Peacock Shawlette--I love peacock feathers, and this shawl is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  I could seriously stare at it for hours.

It also appears I have far too many fingerless glove type patterns in my queue for any sane person (seriously, I have 11 pairs!  and 10 pairs of mittens queued.  I don't have that many hands, y'all.)  I'm also noticing that I've been queueing a lot of cowls recently...

It never really ends, does it?