Posted in Current Projects

Shawl progress, new socks, and seeing the Yarn Harlot!

I’m getting close to being done with the shawl. I have maybe 8 to 10 more rows before I bind off, but these rows are looooooonnnng. I don’t eve know how many stitches, but it takes me 30 mins to do MAYBE 3 rows. It’s crazy. I have to concentrate on it every other row so I don’t mess up the lace pattern, so it’s not really a great "mindless knitting" project nor is it a good portable project. I mean, just look at how big it’s become!

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I don’t have any great portable projects on the needles right now. I take that back. I do have one project that might qualify as portable, but it’s a scarf and being that it’s spring and moving into summer, it doesn’t feel right to me to be knitting a scarf. Maybe if it was a lacy scarf it’d be alright, but it’s not. I can’t seem to get myself to knit warm weather gear in the spring and summer months! Anyhow, I generally always have a pair of socks on the needles as my go-to portable project, but I put myself on a cast-on ban while I was working on the shawl in hopes I would get it done really quickly by not working on anything else. That’s not working out so great, though, because of the long rows I have now. I haven’t had time to sit and really work on it, only get a row (or a few stitches!) done here or there. The other projects I have on the needles aren’t portable at all and require quite a bit of attention that I haven’t been able to give recently.

Since tomorrow we are going to go see the Yarn Harlot in Lexington, I thought it’d be good to have a fairly mindless portable project to take with me. Socks! So, yesterday I cast on a pair of socks out of the Lorna’s Laces that Crafty Mands gave me.

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The color is pretty accurate in the photo despite the not-great cell phone photo. I’m using the Glib Sock pattern (sorry it’s a Ravelry link – it’s only available through a Ravelry download!). I did add an extra stitch repeat, which was a little tricky to do, but I’m glad I decided to add more stitches because I think it would have been a little too tight otherwise. Maybe eventually if it stops being crappy out with all the rain we’ve been getting here, I can actually take some decent Clapotis photos and actually post about it! Still waiting to get a photo of the socks I finished for my mom, but I think sun would do them the most justice in a photo, so that’s on the eventually list for now, too.

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YARN HARLOT TOMORROW!!! (Can you tell I’m excited?!)

Author:

I’m a thirty-something who lives in Cincinnati, OH. Crafting, for me, started young - I can’t even recall a time I wasn’t crafty in some way. My first foray into yarn was doing plastic canvas embroidery and making Barbie doll furniture. Not long after that I learned to crochet from a book my grandmother gave me after asking to learn what she was doing (she crochets, afghans mostly these days). After that, I took up counted cross stitch and then came sewing when I took two fashion design classes in high school. My mom had a sewing machine from my great grandmother and I taught myself to sew from patterns on it. I still use this same sewing machine today! I started knitting in 2004 when a co-worker was pregnant with her first child and I wanted to make something for her. I bought a “learn to knit kit” from Lion Brand for a baby hat and booties set. I did make the baby hat and booties (with very few problems) and ended up gifting them to the co-worker. I wanted to make a blanket, but I wasn’t quite able to get that done in time since it took a lot longer then I’d imagined! It wasn’t until the end of 2004/early 2005 that knitting really took a hold of me. Now I love knitting and almost always have a project with me, even if it’s just something small when I’m out and about. I like a wide range of projects depending on my mood. Sometimes I like a good challenge knit and other times I enjoy a lot of stockinette or garter stitch. I love Ravelry for keeping track of my projects and for finding new things to knit - I feel like I’m always spending time on there! It’s also a great place for getting to know other knitters, crocheters, and various fiber enthusiasts. In the fall of 2008, I purchased a spinning wheel from someone on Craigslist. It’s a Babe Fiber Starter, single treadle wheel and after a bit of trouble getting used to it, I’ve managed to spin up some fiber. In January of 2012, I found someone local that was selling their Lendrum DT and it came to live with me! The Babe now lives with Jen (aka piddleloop) and she’s learning to spin. I’m still trying to find time to spin along with knitting, crocheting (occasionally), and whatever else is going on, but I work it in here and there. I’m sure there’s something I might have left out here, so if there’s anything else you want to know about me, just ask :o)

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