Saturday Stitching #15: High on my own success

One of these days I will learn how to set a realistic goal.

Saturday Stitching #14: The One Where I Talk a Lot

I skipped recording for a couple Saturdays, so I had a lot on my mind.

Inherited Yarn Haul

More yarn that I am not sure how to use, but I'm choosing to see it as a blessing and not a curse.

Almost FO: Wonder Woman Toddler Blanket

One of these days I will finish a gift way before the event. This is not that day.

Saturday Stitching #13: One and Almost Done

Another video of me rambling about a project. That seems to be all I do these days, isn't it?

Saturday Stitching #12: Gift knitting takes over

Despite the fact that my left hand is still not back to normal, I did my best to continue working on my projects. I even added a new one!

Saturday Stitching #11: Slow Hands

I'm not stitching as quickly as I would like to, but I'll talk more about that in another post.

Saturday Stitching #10: That's why I'm not a designer

I spent more time with my hooks and needles this week than I did last week, but it doesn't look like I did much. That is what happens when three out of four of your projects used fingering weight yarn.

Saturday Stitching #9: A few days late and still a few projects short

This video is late because I recorded this twice in an attempt to fix an issue with the audio; it kept getting out of sync with the video. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I haven't changed anything in my setup other than moving from my bedroom to my dining room. My son went through this entire video making adjustments to minimize the issue. Perhaps I accidentally changed a setting. Hopefully, I will figure it out before I record again on Friday.

Saturday Stitching #8: A Day Early and a Few Projects Short

I'm getting a little better at sticking to my needlework schedule. Now if I could just stitch a little faster. I'd like to start showing off finished objects that aren't dishcloths!

Saturday Stitching #7: What was I thinking?

In this video, I talk about how little stitching I accomplished this week and what I found in my bag of tangled mysteries. Enjoy!

Saturday Stitching #6: Cast-on Week

I'm trying the needlework rotation method again, so I started a few things this week. Let's see how many of them actually get finished!

Sunday Stitching: Fluffy Lap Blanket

A post shared by Dani (@daniinnc) on May 14, 2017 at 8:57pm PDT

I'm trying something different with my needlework by using a schedule. Sundays are going to be for gift or charity work. I've always wanted to have a box of items ready to go for baby showers or last-minute Christmas exchanges, so that is what I will be working towards.

This first project for the gift box is the Fluffy Lap Blanket by Nicky Epstein. The pattern was published in the book Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick. The yarn is one that I have had for so long that it is now discontinued, Red Heart Symphony. When I received it as a gift from my husband and kids, I had no idea what to do with it; this was before Ravelry gave us the ability to search thousands of patterns online. On Ravelry, I discovered that this yarn and this pattern are a popular combination for making lap blankets for teachers and frail relatives. I'm hoping that the pattern will work up quickly!

Saturday Stitching #5: Making progress, stitch by stitch

The video is a day late due to technical issues, but I did actually record it on Saturday. I'm trying to make posting this video something that I don't give myself an excuse to skip. How can I get my life in order if I keep giving myself excuses?

Saturday Stitching #4: Just Checking In

I didn't have much to show in this video; it was more about developing a habit of weekly recording and challenging myself not to talk for longer than 15 minutes. I hope to have richer content next week!

Saturday Stitching #2: Only Dishcloths

I'm still trying to learn how to balance all the things that I want to accomplish, and unfortunately blogging here is still falling to the bottom of the list. Here's a short video showing what I've been doing with yarn.

Needlework: 2017 Progress Report

The last six months have been more productive than usual for me, as far as needlework goes. My former neighbor moved back to the area and we've been meeting regularly to keep each other encouraged as far as working on projects. I know that makes needlework sound like an obligation, but it isn't like that. In my case, I often sit around daydreaming about all the projects I want to complete while I'm playing iPad games and watching YouTube videos. Then I feel bad for letting another day/week/month pass by without doing anything productive. Knowing that I'll be meeting up with someone regularly to show off my progress has helped me reclaim some of that wasted time.

To add to that feeling of accomplishment, I thought I would resurrect this blog once again and start posting my progress. So here is my needlework progress report.

First up is my Retro Trek Pot Holder. I am using a free pattern by Ilana McDonald, and the yarn is Lily's Sugar N Cream. I don't make pot holders and dishcloths that often, but this one is stitched using the double knitting technique. There is a baby blanket that was knit by First Lady Lou Henry Hoover back in the 1930s that I have wanted to make since Knitty published the pattern in 2003, and it uses double knitting. I thought that it would be prudent to learn the technique on a smaller project first, and this one was ideal since ABM and I were Star Trek: TNG fans back in the 1980s.

I am halfway through and I must say, I will be glad to see the back of this project. The double knitting technique is simple enough, but working from a chart makes for slow going, at least for me. I'm never confident that I am getting my stitch count right so I am always counting and recounting. Not exactly mindless knitting, this. Still, I will be happy to have the finished object hanging in my kitchen. The fabric is cushy and thick and I think it will make a nice pot holder.

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The other project I am actively working on is an afghan based on the cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. The pattern I am using, a free pattern called Avatar: The Four Elements, consists of four giant squares that are then joined together and finished off with a border. I am using the charts and the suggested yarn listed, but I'm not using the same stitch pattern. What had happened was . . .

I have gone through a mini odyssey with this pattern! I ordered the yarn and started with the Water square (light blue and dark blue) around Aug 2015, following the pattern as written. It didn't take me long to realize that I didn't like carrying both yarns together all the way through; it felt like a waste of yarn and I could see the dark blue through the light blue stitches. So I went on to attempt #2 and decided to knit the square and use the intarsia method for the colorwork. That felt like it was taking too long. I went on to attempt #3 which was to knit the entire square in stockinette stitch using the background color and then use duplicate stitch to add the design. Clearly, I underestimated how slow I am as a knitter because I became exasperated before I got 1/3 of the way through knitting the background. Since the ultimate goal is to have two blankets (one for each of the twins), I started attempt #4 and #5 at the same time: one in corner-to-corner crochet and one in Tunisian crochet. And so far the winning method is . . . Tunisian crochet!

I couldn't fit the entire square in the photo, but it is roughly half the width of my California King bed. My daughter will definitely be able to wrap herself up in this blanket. The yarn is plain ol' Red Heart Super Saver that I ordered from Joann.com (sidebar: ordering online is a good option if you are looking for specific Red Heart colors, and there are a LOT of them).

The Tunisian crochet feels like it is going so much more quickly than the other methods. Despite having as many bobbins as the c2c crochet, it doesn't feel as fiddly. The one issue that slowed me down was having too many stitches on my afghan hook. It occurred to me that, even though I like doing Tunisian crochet, I kept putting off working on this project because it was uncomfortable working with all those stitches on the forward pass. I finally gave in and bought an afghan hook with a long cable at the end so the stitches won't be bunched up.

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Like a lot of people, I have a problem with starting projects because I am interested in the technique but then I never finish them. One suggestion my stitchy pal gave me is something I should have thought of myself, but it is really working. I made a list of 10 projects. I can work on one project or all of the projects at the same time, but I can't add another project until I finish one. The list is keeping me focused without making me feel like I am constrained; the quickest way to make me stop stitching altogether is if I tell myself that I have to stick to one project. Here is the list that I am working on now:

Loom knit half-finger gloves (WIP)
Tunisian crochet Avatar afghan for C1 (WIP)
Deadpool afghan for DJ
Double-knit Star Trek pot holder (WIP)
Short-sleeve cardigan for C2
Patons socks #1
Patons socks #2
Patons socks #3
Tunisian crochet Avatar afghan in reverse colors for C2

I'm thinking about frogging the half-finger gloves because I've let them sit for so long that I can't figure out where I left off in the pattern. For the three pairs of socks, I bought the Patons Stretch cotton yarn over five years ago to make socks for my daughters, but I haven't decided on patterns yet. They may end up being plain vanilla socks, but I want to use this opportunity to try different sock techniques.

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So that's my progress report. Hopefully, I will continue to make headway on my list instead of fizzling out.

Finally working on my February square

This has not been an easy month for me. My MS symptoms, which have been non-existent for months, are showing up again. The symptoms are mild compared to what others with this condition suffer with, but they are still annoying to me. Add them to the daily misery of my job, and I haven't had much motivation to work on my afghan squares. Then this week, I started getting yarn fever again so I finally got started on my February square. I'm still feeling a bit down, but I think I would feel worse if I didn't meet my goal of finishing at least one square a month.

As usual, my photography skills are sub-par. The yellow is true, but the outside color that shows as blue is actually purple. I'm trying to find a green that I like in my stash to be the background for this flower. I want to utilize what I have on hand rather than buy more, so I may end up using a shade I am not totally satisfied with. My instincts with color are not the best; I may dislike the color in the individual square, but the combination of colors in the finished afghan usually grows on me. I shall push forward through my misgivings so the project won't grind to a halt.

Less stitching, more cooking, and other nonsense

We are couple days into February, and I am already trying to talk myself back into my year-long afghan square project. The first crochet square for January went fine, but instead of going on and doing the second January crochet square I thought I should make a start on my knit afghan square. Not only did I make a royal screw-up of the pattern, but it also hurt my hands so much that I haven't even looked at yarn since I posted the square-in-progress two weeks ago. For now at least, crochet seems to be easier on my hands than knitting. I feel like such a quitter dropping the knitted squares this early in the year, but I know myself. If I force myself to finish the knitted January square before I move on to anything else, then I will just keep putting it off and not get anything done. So for now, I'm setting the 2015 Block-A-Month Knit-along aside and moving forward with the crocheted squares.

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This week I've spent some quality time with my slow cooker on both of my days off.  I think I'm cooking to avoid my homework because I can't think of a premise for my project! At any rate, today I am trying my hand at making congee, which is an Asian rice porridge that you can dress up with any manner of flavorings. ABM accidentally made something similar when he tried to make chicken and rice soup and the kids enjoyed it, so I figured I should try making it on purpose.

C1 has expressed an interest in cooking her meals ahead for the week. I explained to her the concept of once-a-month cooking, and we may end up trying it. I tried it once 15+ years ago with little success and I keep meaning to try it again now that I am more experienced in the kitchen. There are also more once-a-month cookbooks out with different recipes that may work better for me.

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It's been over a year since I started my current job. I am still fighting the blues, but I guess you could say I am making some progress. I've gone from being physically ill before every shift to being resigned to the fact that this is my life right now. Even after ABM finds a job, I won't be able to quit because we've got to dig ourselves out of debt. So my life now isn't about me being happy; it's about keeping my head up for my kids. After 21 years, I'm finally learning what it means to sacrifice for your children.

Block-A-Month: January knit-along block

This is the beginning of my January block for the knit-long that I joined. Unlike the crochet-long, this project doesn't have filler blocks or anything. It it just one block a month. I knit this much in one evening and then I didn't touch it for a week. It's not that I didn't want to work on it, but my body betrayed me once again. This time it was a headache and neck pain that took me several days to get rid of. The block is a fairly simple basketweave pattern, so I expect to be able to finish it by the end of the month if I don't have more pain to get in the way.

One other thing that may stall my needlework progress is that the spring semester has started. I only have two classes this semester, but they are both project-based. This makes me happy because the hands-on classes are my favorite. However, I don't know how much time I will have to knit and crochet. I may end up playing catch up with my squares at the end of the semester.