Year: 2022

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The Button Legacy

This is the Button Legacy. A local artist passed and her sister held a three weekend craft estate sale. Crafting material filled the basement. I saw these buttons on the Facebook page and knew I had to have them (including the basket.) I also knew she was a knitter. There was a ton of yarn and I managed to leave all of it there. There were some circular needles but I was fascinated with the wood needles.

But those buttons. It was the buttons that touched me. I love buttons. At another estate sale years ago, I purchased a huge box of buttons. I have used some but I have about 95% of them left and there are hundreds. There’s a fair amount in this basket as well. These buttons are more artistic than the others. I’ve already used one. I recently purchased some Wool Ease and this is one of few times I’ve used yarn as soon as it arrives in the house without needing it for an order. 

The button legacy will have chunky hats and scarves and this is a simple ribbed brim beanie. I really enjoyed it. It was quick and the tweedy look of the yarn is classic, modern and works well. Almost any of the buttons would have worked. There were lighter browns and oranges. I mean, just look in the basket. I’m looking forward to making more hats and the cowls and scarves that will have Parv’s buttons on them. I look forward to using the big needles she has. They are handmade birch needles. The smallest may be a size 9. 

The hat will go in the shop. Which is semi opened. It has a couple of items in it and this will be added to the list along with a few other hats I did for orders, discovered I really liked and want to add them. This is a blessing that is coming together right before my eyes and I am grateful for the part this beloved artisan has played in it.

 

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Works In Progress

I have a few works in progress. Here are all my project bags. Yep. I’ve got something going in each of these. This is what it’s like in design mode. I start a set of projects – there’s also a digital project that resides on the iPad – and when the amount of WIPs get overwhelming, I pick the first one and start on it in earnest.
So what project is earnestly being worked?

Two panels of the Boho Petal Afghan are complete. I thought there might be four panels but I think five is more likely. I also thought this might be ready in about 10 days but I’m not sure about that, either. This will be going into the shop on Go Imagine as ready to ship. I don’t think it will go onto the Etsy site.

 

What else is in the bags? There’s a two toned stocking cap, a lite cotton scarf, another BoHo piece; this one a prayer shawl, a triangle shaped scarf and maybe something else I can’t remember at the moment. Most of the yarn came straight outta the stash which explains the boho themed items. That means as I pull yarns out of the bins and into the WIP bags, more yarn can go into the bins. This is why the range free yarn looks a little less wild. Not quite domesticated but that’s fine.

In face, the domesticated yarn doesn’t mind in the least. They are behind the doors in the privacy of their sanctuary and are happy to let the free range yarn do all the work.

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Just a Little Change

Just a little change. OK, so not the best picture. I’m not used to taking selfies and I don’t know that I want to get good at it. But here they are. The photo on the left was taken Sept 2021 and the one on the right Feb 2022. Probably about a 40lb difference. I don’t know. 

I know there are people who write about their weight loss and they have a lot to say. Probably I do, too. But not just yet. I’m at a weird place. I’ve lost a lot but at the moment I am at a stall. With a stall, it can go up and down and generally mess with your head if you’re the head messing type. I’m not quite but there’s something going on up there. I’m perfectly willing to believe that my mood and the yo-yo for the past week is due to taking Provera. I have read it can have an effect on weight and hungar and mood. Also because I have significantly less weight than when I started it, the dosage could have more of an effect on me before. We will see shortly because I have two more days on this course and then the levelling should begin. The next update may tell us something.

Back in the knitting world,  I take better photos of  yarn than I do of myself. This is Paintbox yarn and I guess I bought it two years ago. It seems longer. I know I got it when we were at the house and the picture is taken on the back porch. But it seems longer. This beautiful yarn is somewhere in new place. I just don’t know where.

I ran across the photo and wondered where it is. I am fairly certain it is not with the domestic yarn behind the closet doors. My guess it’s with the free range bunch in one of the gray bins. Not gonna look, though. I’m just curious. Though, now that I think on it. There is a project it would be great for.

Gonna have to give this some thought.

 

 

 

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Knit Storm

It’s the beginning of a knit storm here in Knitsville. I am in design mode. I just have to finish the neck on the poncho – which I have done and undone three times but I think I’ve figured out where I’m going with it – and then I will be order free. Since Robin’s doesn’t have to be shipped and she’s headed for Hawaii, I can start on the design trail. 

I am getting items ready for my GoImagine store. I’ve set the launch date as August 1 and I don’t have anything ready to go but you can see I have things started. Something is bound to be finished before August 1. I hope.

We have two hats and one prayer shawl on these needles. There are a couple of other things that didn’t make it in the pic. There is a pile of yarn in front of the yarn closet. It won’t make it in the closet because there’s no room but it may be organized as we move the sofa out of my studio and into the living room. I Maxine I will be getting some clear containers to put them all in and having stacks of yarn around me. My recliner is coming in the studio. So that will kick up the comfort level a notch.

I have a system in mind. We’ll see if I can put it in action. This is a store building from the ground up and everything else starts with it. Let’s see if something good comes out of the storm.

 

 

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I Need A Hobby

I need a hobby. I mean, for some folks knitting is a hobby but not for me. So, I am thinking I need something to do with my spare time. I do have spare time worked into my schedule. I have some free hours and that’s usually spent playing June’s Journey on my iPad. I’m thinking that’s good for some of the time but there should be something for other times.

Reading. I used to love to read. That’s something that can come back and I’ve chosen what it is I want to read. A long time back, I purchased a lifetime subscription to Simplify Magazine. I haven’t looked at it for a minute and I recently logged in to start back. I also purchased a digital pack of Radiant Magazine – a digital magazine written with Nigerian women in mind. 

In this renaissance of my life, I want to take care of myself in all areas. The physical is coming along and I want the spiritual and mental to come right along with it. I am going to need all that in order to make the physical work. There is a great big mental ‘game’ that comes with the procedure. For the team that supervises my care, there is not enough of it. The psych eval was realtively easy and it doesn’t really prepare you for the mind explosion that happens.

What is helpful for me is a great support system. I am willing to do the work. The trick will be to sustain it. I have to begin making self care a part of the every day. I have showering as part of my schedule and for those times, it’s more than just running under water; it’s a time for taking time to make all of me better.

That also makes for better knitting. It makes everything better. Looking forward to enjoying this hobby.

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Starting Over Again

Starting over again can be rough. Especially if you have to select a new yarn to remake your most popular hat. I’ve made this hat a staggering number of times. The most being made with the yarn in the first photo.

The yarn that is discontinued. Well, these are all discontinued. But the first hat sold hundreds of times. It was a replacement for the yarn that was discontinued and also sold a lot. Can the third time be a charm? Or will it be going to well too many times? 

It took some time to come up with the yarn I was going to replace it with – so I came up with two, maybe three. This is the winner. I think this is a relatively new color so it shouldn’t be going anywhere soon. But I boat a big bunch just in case. And just in case it become popular. This is the second winner. This comes kind of close color wise. They are both beautiful and bring their own vibe. It will be interesting to see if either of them take off and sell like the first two did.

Tomorrow is Easter. Some say it is the most important day of the Christian liturgical calendar. I don’t have an argument one way or the other. But I know God is good all year round. We are also in the seasons of Passover and Ramadan. Whatever faith brings you closer to God or if you feel that closeness without organied religion, this is the season of renewal. Whatever blessing you need for the fulfillment of that second chance, I pray you get it.

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Knit or Miss

 

Do you see all this yarn? This is a knit or miss kind of thing. All of these skeins will never be used to make Mr. Honey anything. 

Mr. Honey announced at the beginning of my knitting/crochet career that I might as well not think to make him anything because he will not wear it.

Now, for the sake of disclosure, this yarn was purchased in 2019 from JoAnn and I don’t think any of it has been made into anything. It is sitting in the domesticated yarn area of the craft room. That area is located behind the doors away from the free range yarn. We can’t have the breeds intermingly. That would be disastrous. So, it’s not like this was purchased with the idea that I would whip up something for my man.

What he meant was, I shouldn’t make him a sweater because he doesn’t wear them. This is somewhat true. My mom got him a sweater that looked really nice on him and he wore it once in a while when we used to do winter family get togethers but those were rare. So he has a dresser drawer filled with sweaters he doesn’t wear.

Yet, I had the thought I could make him that sweater that he wore once a year and that would be enough. Both our birthdays are in the cooler months so he could rock it on his birthday – or on mine. That would fulfill the requirement of having something made with love.

Nope.

However, he will, upon occasion, raid my scarves. Though he would not wear a sweater I make, he has no problem building up a tidy scarf wardrobe. I will say, he only has a couple. He takes extremely good care of his things so he doesn’t need an annual scarf. I fear those would meet the same fate and the sweaters and see the inside of the drawer more than the inside of the coat collar.

I’m working on a scarf now that I don’t think he’s be interested in. It’s not very manly. But it is interesting and I like it. It’s called the Bamboo Stockinette Scarf and the item and pattern are coming. It’s not his thing – but someone out there will love it.

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Behind the Curtain

Thought I would give you a little peek behind the curtain. See that? That’s what I have going on at the moment. Almost. There are three projects missing. This is what’s going on right now in Knitsville. Finally finished the front (or back) of the poncho. Almost done with the 2nd of 3 golf club covers. There are also two hats in there. And a bag of yarn I’m not using.

So what’s missing? An afghan. A new scarf I’m designing and a bandana from Purl Soho.

There is busyness in the business. These are good times. 

In the other news, I have taken some more selfies and I guess they will be coming in other posts. As of today, I am -58lbs. 56 days and 58 lbs. Not bad at all. I can take averaging more than a lb a day. I can take 1/2 pound a day so I’m not blocking the blessings by wishing for something different. But enough of that. Back to knitting.

I am having the urge to buy yarn. When I don’t need it. When the yarn I want to buy is sitting in the closet and I think there’s some in free range. I am on the lookout for some chunky yarn and since I can’t get the anniversary cakes anymore, I’m thinking Brett Marble Chunky. I think I bought some the last year or so. The fact I can’t remember should tell me something. But what it seems to say is I should get some because I only have one skein of the colors I bought that’s sitting in the closet with the domesticated yarn. Then I look on the Premier yarn site and they have chunky galore and I think I will be buy from there. I probably will buy from there. They have solids, tweeds and other chunky goodness.

Heaven help me.

 

 

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The Forest For the Trees

Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees. But sometimes, looking at a tree doesn’t let you appreciate the majesty of the entire forest. I think I can explain what I mean. See that? That is a dresser in my craft room. That dresser looks pretty neat. And it is. But it wasn’t always. A few scant hours ago, it was cluttered and dusty. I decided to clean it and dust it as part of Lent.

We usually give up something for Lent like chocolate or coffee. But then, the day after Easter, we have chocolate and coffee. I don’t have coffee; don’t drink it. Haven’t had chocolate in a minute, either. You get the point. We pause something; we don’t actually give it up.

That makes Lent kind of a game. I wonder if God has that kind of humor. We certainly aren’t fooling him. In the past, I didn’t give anything up for Lent. Even if it was a game, it was one I didn’t play. But this year, I want to be more mindful. So I gave up being cluttered and untidy. Not for me. But for Mr. Honey who likes neatness. I am working on a lot of things about myself for myself. This thing I am working on me for him. I didn’t tell him because that would seem braggadocious. I’m just doing it. Starting with the dresser.

In knitting news, look what I’m working on. This is Robin’s poncho and it’s being worked with that big cake of yarn known as the Caron Anniversary Cake. Now, as far as I know, these are all out of stock and they don’t have any new ones coming down the pike. But I have a couple of these to make this poncho because the client wants it big and squishy. There’s 1000+ yards in these balls and I want to use all of it to make it.

I am enjoying it. I will write a review on it just in case it comes back. (hope it comes back with some great colors.) I have a ball – maybe two – of it somewhere in the free range stash. 

This has spoiled me for chunky knits. I will turn to James C Brett and hope the Marble Chunky that I’ve been keeping for pets will suffice.

 

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Learn Something New

I decided to learn something new today. It’s already bigger than what’s in the photo. This is the 3D Petal Granny Square. (I’ve linked to the video here.)

I purchased this yarn just because I liked the color. I don’t usually do RHSS. It’s rough. Though I’ve heard it softens a lot once it’s washed. But the colors spoke to me and I had a coupon so it came home. Then I was back at the store and I saw just three lonely skeins of it on the shelf and decided the family should stay together. So, I had 1928 yards of a yarn I had no idea what to do with. That blows the year of yarning dangerously all to heck.

There was the thought it would make a great beanie – and it would. But then the 3D square popped up on the feed from my phone and I thought: ‘Pretty square. Won’t have to change colors. Let the yarn do the work.’ Cue the video. Video was easy. Square looked fun. Could sell the afghan. Everybody wins. And here we are.

I also have a bandana on the needles. Haven’t taken a photo yet. I am frogging the Hooded Turtleneck Cowl I was making. I didn’t like it in the end. The problem could be I followed the pattern and you know that never ends well for me. This is part of what happens when I learn something new. One of the new things is I will change the pattern.

There are no plans to redo it right now. But should the urge hit me, I will definitely rework to my taste. The Bandana Cowl is a Purl Soho free pattern and will look pretty in Autumn I Love This Yarn stripes.

I also started Robin’s poncho over. There isn’t a needle long enough to hold all the stitches. It’s being made in two pieces and will be joined at the seams and then the neck picked up.

I’m off to take a selfie and to get dinner in the oven. Today is Thursday and that’s leftover night. I have a Bible Study at 7 so dinner is at 6 or so. Mr. Honey is having spaghetti and I am having leftovers from our date night last night from Famous Dave’s.

Good night all around.