First 2012 FO

This is not the greatest photo, but at least it's of an FO! I completed my Honey Badger socks (Sanguine Gryphon Bugga yarn) earlier this week and am so thrilled with them. This pattern was really an awesome sock pattern to get me back into knitting regularly and loving every moment of it.

My brain was telling me as I took the picture that the red comforter wasn't the most ideal backdrop for my orange/red socks. So, you can't really see the simple little detail in the sock in this photo. That little detail was enough to keep it interesting, but yet simple enough to not make me feel overwhelmed while knitting them.

I also knitted these socks pretty fast. Not as fast as I have in the past, but a huge improvement over the last sock I started to knit and had put it to the side for so long that when I picked it back up to work on I couldn't remember what pattern it was that I was knitting and ended up frogging it. I started these Honey Badger socks on October 19th and finished them on January 16th. Pretty good eh? I am off to a good start to having more than one FO this year. Yay for me!

Unfortunately this yarn doesn't go towards my stash busting. When I tallied up my total stash yardage I didn't include the yarn that was in WIPs. However, I can say that I have been working on two other projects this month utilizing stash yarn so I am happy.

My Knitting Today

Today I had a huge desire to do nothing but knit. Of course I couldn't really do that. I did have to actually work today. Since today was a non-gym day for me I had room in my bag for some light knitting. I am so glad I brought it with me because I found a few minutes during my lunch break to work on my Honey Badger Sock (Ravelry Link).


This is sock #2 and as you can see I am almost done with it. I absolutely love this little pattern. It's simple enough with a little bit of interest in it to fly right off my needles. I know I finished the first sock with my old speedy knitting self and it really helped ignite my love with knitting socks all over again!

Out With The Old, In With The New...4 Days Late

2011 has come and gone. It went by in a flash for me. It's probably because I spent the first seven months working three nights a week and sleeping the remaining four days. So while the beginning of 2011 was very hard for me, the last half definitely was better. With each passing month of working on days, I slowly regained my life...my identity....my interests. I can honestly say that I have welcomed 2012 with a passion because I am myself once again.

Many people have reflected on what they accomplished with their knitting for the past year. I even read today on a blog that said, "look back at what you did and be amazed." My response was, "Will I still be amazed if I only finished ONE knitted item for the year?" When I think about that, I realized that maybe I can be amazed because with that one item I tackled Fair Isle Knitting. That was a big accomplishment for me since I feared it so much. So as I look forward into 2012, I know that my love has been renewed towards knitting. With my head out of the fog, I know I will accomplish many more finished objects than in 2011.

I've put some plans into place to help keep the motivation going. Over Christmas, Mary Beth and I started our own little Effortless Cardigan KAL. Over two days we both swatched, casted on and started knitting away on it. It will be fun to keep tabs on each other to see where we are. She and I always believe in a little healthy sibling competition. Now it's on to see who will get that FO first.

Something else I am doing is participating in Michelle's Stash Down 2012. While some think my stash is modest, and in comparison to some stashes out there I know it is, I have been wanting to knit through my stash more. Since I didn't really knit much last year, I know there are lots of yummy yarns in my stash that are waiting to be made into something special. Michelle and I agreed that while we may purchase an item here or there, we are both trying to work through what we got and then will treat ourselves a little bit as a reward at Rhinebeck this year.

So to get myself officially started with Stash Down 2012, here is my stash totals for the beginning of January (note the total yardage does not include the yarn of my UFO's from 2011):

Month	Yards of Yarn In Stash	Monthly Δ Yards	Monthly Δ %	Total Δ Yards	Total Δ %
1-Jan-12	33,611	0	0.0%	0	0.0%

I also want to try splitting my time better over my other favorite hobbies, scrapbooking and sewing, this year. I ended 2011 very strong with my sewing. Taking the seven week quilting class over the fall really got my desires going for sewing again. I did start the quilting of my throw before the holidays. Right now I have put it to the side because I am working on a paid quilting job. I am hoping to have that done soon so I can return my attention to finishing my own quilt. As to future sewing projects, Mary Beth and I have created our own little challenge with each other to keep each other motivated throughout the year. Once I begin my project, I will share it in greater detail.

To accomplish more in scrapbooking this year, I have made plans with a fellow scrapbooker to get together once a month for a day of scrapping. I am currently packing up my apartment with the help of a very dear girlfriend of mine. The other day we were looking through my completed pages throughout the past years and it reignited the fire within us to create more. She and I use to scrapbook regularly together before things got complicated with my getting laid off and then working nights for a year and a half. So we came up with a great idea to get us scrapping again. We are both trying to lose weight and just plain get healthier. It really has been a struggle for the both of us for various reasons. So we decided to scrapbook our journey to getting healthy. I think this is a great starting point for us in getting our scrapping mojo back to where it once was. In addition to this motivator, Mary Beth and I also have our own challenge. Before we said goodbye at Christmas, we agreed to scrapbook two spreads a month. That's only four pages a month and I think totally doable.

So as you can see, I have some great plans set ahead for myself. I look forward to seeing all the wonderful things I can accomplish throughout 2012. I will be blogging more regularly this year and can't wait to share everything with you! Here's to a Happy, Healthy and Production New Year!!!

Busy As A Bee

So the entire month of November seems to be a total blur to me. I cannot believe we are already in the third day of December. Goodness me. Before I know it, I will be on a plane heading down to Georgia for the holidays. So maybe before that happens, I can complete a few projects both in the knitting and sewing departments.

As many of you know, I enrolled myself into an official quilting class back in October. My last post showed some of the completed blocks that I had done. The class lasted for seven weeks and finished right before Thanksgiving. I spent many days and nights to complete the quilt top and backing in time for the end of the class. This is what it looked like hanging up on the wall in the classroom...


The finished quilt top is around 56" wide by 84" in length. My instructor told me she was so very proud of me. I am proud of myself too. I told my instructor the very first night of class what I wanted my project to be. She looked at me like I was being over ambitious but she encouraged me nonetheless. I think I truly surprised her and my classmates by walking through the door with my finished quilt top. During the final class, my classmates and I pin basted my quilt pieces together. The quilt now has around 300 pins in it and waiting for me to sit and quilt it all together. When things quiet down in the new year this will be one of the projects to complete.

I am now working on a second quilt, but this one isn't for myself. I was approached by a co-worker asking if she could pay me to make a quilt for her. I looked at her, smiled and said, "You know it won't be cheap. A quilt takes a lot of time and effort." She smiled back at me and said, "Oh honey, I know that." After hearing what she wanted and she hearing my price (which I thought would send her running) I am now working on a 40"x40" quilt for her. This is the fabric I chose...


My co-worker told me of the colors she liked (pink, red, turquoise, yellow) and that she wanted flowers. She gave me a couple of items that she wanted to incorporate into the quilt if I could. I am going to make them into appliques and add them to the black/gray squares. The green fabric will become sashing between the squares and as a border. The other three fabrics will make up the other squares. I currently have everything cut out and have started sewing the pieces together. I would like to try and have it complete before I go on vacation in three weeks but my co-worker told me not to stress myself out over it. So I'm not.

On the knitting front I am still plugging away on a few things. I focused myself today on cataloging my yarn stash to get myself ready for the 2012 Stash Down I am doing with Michelle starting in January. Our goal is to get our stash down a considerable amount by Rhinebeck in October. So I spent my afternoon putting everything into Excel for easy tracking. I was quite pleased to see that the total yardage amount wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It still fits inside of 2 plastic tubs, so it can't be that bad, right?

Quilting Class

I have been a sewer since I was thirteen years old. My mother taught me all those years ago and I can still remember the sky blue fabric that had colorful brush stroke splatters on it that we made into a one piece jumper. Even had a coordinating short sleeve pink top to wear underneath it. When I was seventeen my parents gave me my first sewing machine for Christmas and from then on I sewed up a storm.

For many years, making clothing was my main focus with the occasional home dec item sneaking into my projects. When my body decided to turn into a "real" woman size I gave up on the clothing because I honestly couldn't be bothered having to alter the patterns to fit my size. My focus then turned to items like pillows, placemats, Christmas trees skirts and even a wall hanging quilt that I gave to my sister many moons ago.

Everything I know for sewing has been self taught. Kind of like I have been with my knitting once I learned the basics. After my sister and I visit the local favorite quilt shop here in NYC last year, I knew I wanted to take their seven week Intro to Quilting class. While working nights, I could never manage to get into the Saturday class and the one during the week conflicted with my working hours. So when I received the schedule for the Fall classes I immediately signed up for the Thursday night class.

I must say that I absolutely love the instructor! She has such a passion for quilting and is so eager to share her knowledge with everyone. I've been asked if I felt like I was going to get my money's worth out of this class since I kind of already knew what was involved with quilting. My immediate response is, "Yes!". We have covered four of the seven weeks now and I have learned so much. My confidence has been boosted too.

The instructor has left it up to each student as to what they will produce in the class using the block patterns she has provided us. Her model project was a four block quilt, with sashing and borders, to be completed into a lap quilt. She said that she has had students that have made that project or even turned it into a table runner or maybe a larger quilt. I knew right then that I wanted to make a quilt big enough to snuggle under while watching tv or reading a good book.

Each week we come into the class and put our completed blocks up on the wall for everyone to see. I am definitely the over achiever in the class, as I am the only one that has eleven blocks finished. I still have four more to go to get to the fifteen block count that I want for my quilt. Last night we picked out our sashing and border fabrics. I am so excited to see this project through to completion.

So here are the blocks that I have done so far. I have uploaded them in the order I completed them. It's been fun going from the simple to the more complex blocks. I am hoping to get the remaining blocks done this weekend so I can move forward with the sashing.











Happy crafting everyone!

Rhinebeck Roundup

Another Rhinebeck has come and gone. It goes by so quickly, especially when you are enjoying yourself with a great group of ladies. This year the most awesome Kim organized a rental house for myself and 11 other ladies (which I just have to say are all fabulous and I can't wait to see again) to stay at for the whole weekend. I must say that this was so much better than staying at the local Super8. The house was huge and I wanted to move in so badly. Unfortunately the only picture I took of the house didn't take and I didn't realize it until I got home on Sunday afternoon. We are all hoping that we can get the same house for next year.

The weather at the festival on Saturday was a bit windy and slightly rainy, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits. I didn't bring my real camera this year so I only took a few photos of the whole weekend. The majority of them being the sheepies on Sunday. So here's what I have to share:

Miss Shameka and I wondered around the festival together on Saturday and she so graciously stood in the Sanguine Gryphon pay line with me, which ended up being an hour and fifty minute wait. I had a picture of the the line that went out the barn door, up the hill and to the back parking lot fence, but my camera ate it. However, I do have a picture of Miss S modeling her fabulous Mod Podge sweater!

After we all exhausted ourselves at the festival, it was time to relax back at the house and recap our day with everyone else. Two of our ladies even got a personal spindle lesson from Ms. Through the Loops herself, Kirsten. I managed to capture three craptastic photos of Shameka getting her lesson.



Watching them made me wish I had remembered to pack my spindle. Oh well, next year.

On Sunday I hung out with Ms. Boring Knitter herself, Michelle. It was wonderful to finally be able to hang out instead of just having a few minutes conversation together as what has happened during the past years. I think we enabled each other just a bit in doing some final festival shopping. She even helped me purchase some BFL for my spindle. She and I ended our morning together hanging out with some sheepies.




Finally, I did come home with a little haul. I call it little because this is less than what I have bought in the past. I brought home enough yarn for two sweaters from Brooks Farm and Miss Babs. Three sock yarns hopped in my bag from Sanguine Gryphon. I also bought some really cool sock yarn called Night at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth, however it's not one of their yarns. The color goes from pink all the way to a dark gray. The mock up was really cool so I decided it had to come home with me. There is enough yarn to make two matching socks. I bought a shawl book after talking with the designer and falling in love with the one she was wearing. Two skeins of Fiber Optic lace yarn were purchased to make said shawl. I bought another Sheep Incognito picture to be a mate to the one I already have at home. There is some fiber from Into the Whirl at the edge of the table and finally I bought a shawl pattern that I fell in love with at the Fiber Optic Booth.

While I didn't get to finish my Rhinebeck sweater or fingerless mitts in time for the weekend, I do think my knitting mojo has come back to me just a bit. I couldn't wait to "crack open" some of the Sanguine Gryphon yarn the other night. I had the perfect pattern in mind too. So as of today, I have a more than halfway finished sock number one.
The pattern is called Honey Badger by Irish Girlie Knits (Ravelry link). The yarn is Skinny Bugga called Red-White Leaf Beetle. And I must say that these two together are just fabulous! The pattern is easy and the yarn knits up so nicely. I may actually have a pair of finished socks by the end of next week. Who knows!

Thanks to all the fabulous ladies who made up the Rhinebeck Twelve this year! I loved being able to hang out with friends, old and new.

Rhinebeck What?

Rhinebeck is just over two weeks away and my knitting for that weekend is not exactly where I thought it would be by now. Now that I am back working days I definitely feel much better and have recently been getting my knitting groove back. Now the question is can I finish in time? I know what many of you are thinking, but I still doubt myself a bit. This ol' gal is a bit rusty and am now fighting a bit of arthritis in my one finger joint I think. So here is where things are at the moment:

My Texturized Tweed Jacket has been on the needles since last October. I started it right after Rhinebeck last year and I sure am glad I did because at that time I knew it was going to be my sweater for this year. If I had waited to start, I think it never would have come to fruition.

From the picture it looks like I have gotten a ton done. Of course I have but there is still lots more to do. At least that's what is in my mind. I have to finish the second sleeve, pickup for the front button bands and pickup and knit a hue-mung-a$$ collar. The collar I fear will take me the longest, but I am pushing forward.

My other Rhinebeck knit was the Vagabond Fingerless Mitt. This was my go to project a few weeks ago to get my knitting mojo back. It was simple enough for me to focus on during my lunch breaks. I started this what feels like months ago and recently finished one of the mitts. Well not totally finished as you can see in the second picture.


Yup, I still need to do the thumb and weave in ends for this one to be done. I also still need to knit the second one or else I might be walking around like Michael Jackson.

I still have 16 days, so a miracle can happen. We shall see.