Side Tracked Already!

I started the Christmas knitting! To celebrate, I wandered off to one of our local bookstores and ran across Stephanie Pearl McPhee's latest book - Yarn Harlot. From reading a snippet of it, I had this really great idea- I'm going to go through all my storage places and pull out the unfinished items, then list them here! Once I get them listed, I'll feel compelled to finish or frog them. Either way I’ll get rid of them!

So if you don’t hear from me for a day or two, it's because I’m searching, photographing, and listing my UFOs. Sugar and I will be having a great time because it’s a chance to go through all my stash (she can smell an open yarn storage container clear across the house with the doors closed). Maybe I'll find all those size 8 needles I keep buying and losing!

In the meantime, I started another dishcloth in the DW pattern. I'd tried this in a dark Sugar & Cream variegate on 34 stitches size 7 needles, and it didn't look quite right:

Then I did another one, increasing the stitches to 38 and look at the difference:

The colors really show up better. I dropped back to 34 stitches because the 38 st size was pretty big and I figured I could get two out of one ball of yarn with 34 sts. But I don't think the pattern color change is worth it. I really like it better with 38 sts. It shows the diagonal flow of color as opposed to just bands of color.


These are just like potato chips - bet ya can't make just one! And it's not like I won't be using them, gosh, I'm making them for GIFTS. My real estate logo is "Knitting Hearts and Homes Together." Every buyer and seller gets a dishcloth made by yours truly at closing. And if I have time and there are small children involved, they might even get a bear:


I'm obviously an easy mark to side track (which is why I have all these UFOs to start with). Back on the Christmas knitting tonight while we watch a movie.

Furry Hooligans

It wouldn't be a knitter’s wonderland without knitting hooligans to help, hinder, and harass. I have three:

Rimsky


He’s the old guy and a moggie. He’s almost 15 years old now and a mellower fellow you’ll probably never meet. In his younger days he used to greet any human with loud purring then upend himself and slide, tummy-up, down the closest leg. His plan was simple: be cute, be available, present the tummy, get lots of petting. And it worked every time. He loves sleeping on knitted items, if and only if, they are sweaters, they are darker than he is (to show off his beautiful fur), and he can turn them into a nest.

Blueberry

She’s a four year old blue Burmese. Contrary to what the breed manuals say about the Burmese, she is NOT friendly. She doesn’t like strangers, she barely likes us. She LOVES Rimsky. And like Rimsky, my hubby is her person. But she likes to sit on my lap in the evening while I knit. She has never tried to bat a needle or chew on yarn. But if, by some odd chance, another hooligan has managed to get a ball of yarn out, Blueberry is always up for a little one-on-one ball play.

Sugar

She’s the baby at eight months. When we got her, she was a tiny kitten with huge feet. And she hasn’t quite grown into them yet! She has a decidedly Bombay face, a bowling ball body, and a Siamese personality. She talks to everyone and to herself. She is the only cat I’ve ever had that LOVES yarn as much as I do (but for decidedly different reasons)! She will dig into any sack or holder in hopes of finding some. She especially loves yarn she can run off with and snack on (Yes, I know this is very bad for cats and it doesn’t do the yarn much good either). She is my cat. She is not allowed within ten feet of me when I’m knitting.

And speaking of knitting, I've been awash in experimenting with slip stitch patterns using variegated cotton on dishclothes. It's been really fun and I'm not done yet. I need to set it aside since I have Christmas knitting I haven't even started yet. Pictures and pattern ideas to come - AFTER the Christmas knitting (provided I don't get sidetracked on anything else).

The Journey Begins

So after months of going back and forth I’ve decided to start a web journal. I have two major reasons for doing this:

First – I’m hoping the idea of someone, anyone, reading this will get me going to finish the multitude of UFOs (UnFinished Objects – a term for in-process projects, in this case knitted ones ) laying around here, and
Second – I’m ready to start honing my writing skills and doing a public diary seems a good place to start.

My plan is to post at least three times a week (more if I’m bored, or trying to avoid working or knitting, or one of the cats does something exceptionally cute).

By all means leave comments. I’m excited to see where this journey leads.