Progress

Caleb's little sweater is coming along well now that I'm actually working on it.  I've got the front and back plus one of the sleeves done, the second sleeve is in the works and is looking decent.  After this I sew the front and back shoulder seams so I can start the hood, which is followed by the edging around the front.

The pattern is from a Debbie Bliss magazine which I absolutely love.  I find a lot of magazines have things that, while interesting or challenging, aren't things I would ever wear or use but that her magazines usually have a number of things I like.  For Christmas I was given a gift certificate to use for her magazines and I haven't gone to get new issues yet (the local shop sells back copies and I'm not particularly worried about them running out) because as soon as I get them I want to look through them and as soon as I look through them I want to start new projects and that's not a way to get things done.

I do have a bunch of things I want to knit next, a tea cozy for a friend of mine, a hat and mitt set for Caleb, and another sweater for Caleb (I want to design that one, haven't started yet, but have a ton of ideas, I'm thinking a cardigan and currently can't decide on the neckline) plus there's something I want to make for my soon-to-be-born niece, but that requires sewing on top of knitting and I need to consult a friend before I get started because I can't for the life of me understand the sewing directions.

I love, love, love that things are actually getting knit again around here.

Making time

Since we've moved I've had some time to knit, but it's really easy to set it aside to do things that seem more important.  Admittedly the kitchen needed to be unpacked and Caleb's room needed to be useable pretty much right away, but I've hit a point where things are functional, and while there are things that need to be done, I don't need to only work on the house.  I still feel lazy when I sit down to knit when I know there are still things to be done.

However, there will always be more work to be done around the house and I've decided that if I've put in a good effort at getting a few things done each day then I'm no going to feel bad about relaxing.  Tomorrow during Caleb's afternoon nap it's supposed to be raining, and I will be sitting in our family room with a cup of tea and his sweater.  I can hardly wait.

A place of my own

Since I moved away to university I've lived in a number of different places.  The places I've been at have gotten progressively nicer over time but none of my former homes had a really good place for yarn, so my knitting stuff has always been in several storage containers that stacked on each other.  It was an adequate but not fantastic solution, since I couldn't really see where anything was and getting at the containers was sometimes difficult, but up to this point a yarn storage solution wasn't really something I could make a requirement for my housing choices.

Our new home has this area on the second story which the floor plans label as a "nook."  It's small, at the top of the stairs, and is in this little corner between two of the bedrooms.  We had originally thought we were going to put a computer desk in there but after some discussion have decided that for the time being it's going to be a knitting nook, which I'm thrilled out.  At the moment it's a mess, because the kitchen, family room, and out bedrooms have taken a hire priority that my knitting stuff but I'm so looking forward to having a place for my yarn and notions where things can be nicely organized instead of shoved away in storage totes.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

For the last few weeks knitting has been relegated to the back burner while I packed and packed for the move.  Every so often something will come up like this that makes life crazy and means I'm so busy I don't knit much, because in any free time I'm either working or so tired I'm sitting like a zombie enjoying just being still.

Every time one of those seasons passes and I pick up the needles again I have this wonderful moment of "Oh, how I've missed you" as I remember exactly how much I enjoy this.  I love the warm feeling of making something that will make someone I love warm and cozy, and it always seems like I hadn't realized how much I'd been missing knitting.

I'm almost done the front of Caleb's blue sweater, it's lovely.

The Perfect Thing

I have heard of knitters that knit items and decide who they'll give them to later.  For the life of me I cannot do this.  In order for me to cast on I have to know who will be getting the finished item, because I have to know that it's the perfect pattern for them and so that when it's finished they'll get something that's made for them with the backdrop of whatever it is having been lovingly crafted with them in my thoughts as I make each stitch.

Last summer I decided to make a hat for this lovely lady I'm acquainted with from church and as I made it I thought to myself "oh Jane will love this."  When I returned from my vacation I discovered that Jane is the lady's best friend's name and I had been reversing their names in my head since I had met them.  I can't for the life of me bring myself to give the hat to either of them because in each case it's wrong and so the hat lives in this weird state of limbo in my front closet.

It's been almost a year since another friend asked me to knit her something.  She doesn't want anything in particular, just something made by me.  As I've looked at patterns and thought of ideas I haven't hit on anything that's right.  I haven't forgotten but I just can't figure out what would be the perfect thing for her.  I'm aware that this hang up is about me more than it's about her; when I finally find something, make it, and give it to her she isn't going to look at it and wonder why it's not the perfect gift ever.

I still can't start a project for her yet, I haven't found anything perfect.

The Knit Kit

I was given a knit kit about five years ago, it's like the swiss army knife of knitting.  It has a row counter (that's easy to operate one handed), a retractable tape measure, a tool to measure the size of your needles, a yarn cutter, a crochet hood, plus a little compartment with scissors approved for air travel, stitch markers, a darning needle, and those covers for the end of your needles that I can never remember the name of.  I absolutely love it.  So does Caleb, if I leave it within his reach he will have it faster than anything, although I think we appreciate it for slightly different reasons (mine having more to do with knitting and less to do with teething, but I digress).

I love it so much that when my first one broke (a small plastic thing that works to retract the tape measure snapped and super-glue wasn't strong enough to hold it) I immediately went out and attempted to buy another one.  I say attempted because when I went to the lovely people at the Unwind Yarn House where it was purchased to buy a replacement they insisted on giving me a free one because it had broken.  I went with every intention of paying for another one, they're not expensive and I'd had it for three years and used it to death which I explained to the owner but nevertheless she sent me away with a complementary bright pink new knit kit (the company does one colour run at a time, I never would have chosen pink but that's what they were selling then).

I'm normally not into gadgets or stuff and am usually happiest with the old standbys of pretty much anything as opposed to something with a bit more wiz-bang but I can't say enough good things about this.  I especially love that I can operate the counter without putting down anything, I find it so much easier to use than the ones that go on needles.  I have added safety pins to its little compartment and it lives in my knitting bag.  At whatever time my current one meets its end I will immediately go out and buy another.

I just wish it came in bright green.

Value for the Money

The other day I was in a kid's clothing store looking at clothes for Caleb.  There was a really cute knit sweater in the size Caleb would be next fall, then I looked at the price tag and immediately thought "there's no point buying this, I could buy a sweater's worth of yarn for that much and make it myself, that's a much better deal."  In most cases having to do the work myself would make it less desirable, but with knitting it's the opposite.

Hand knits are better anyways.