AnotherPurl :: a knitter's life

When is something finished

I have been pretty good about working on more than just one or two projects since I set up the rotation.  I'm still mostly focusing on the Elegant Shrug, so I can finish it either this week or early next week (I'm on sleeve two, so this isn't impossible), but I marked which items I had that were close to completion.  I have three projects that either only need finishing work or need some finishing and collars (umm, Fiery Bolero anyone?).  Sunday I decided to work on Pinup Queen.  I mean, two side seams is nothing even for someone as averse to seaming as I am.

Yeah, I did those seams.  I even tried it on (after doing some "blocking").  It feels even with a tank top underneath obscenely low cut.  My shoulders aren't very broad for my height/weight, so to keep this on my shoulders nicely I have to pull it down quite a bit.  Definitely not what I was hoping for.  I had this feeling that I would have a problem with this, so on Thursday I bought some lace to help fill in the gap.  I don't feel like it will be enough, so I plan on sewing in a modesty placket and a facing to prevent some stretching along the top edge of the bodice.  Now I know the basics of sewing, but I've never sewn fabric to a handknit so this will be quite the adventure.  I wanted it finished so I could wear it soonish (I always like to wear my handknits within a week of finishing when my happiness with the project is at its peak), but it is just not done yet.  I have a bit of a fabric stash from when I was active in the local SCA, but I'm not sure if any of it is really good for a facing. 

So, maybe I'll get it done this weekend.  I can't imagine getting it done during the week.  I'm just not that fast a seamstress (and I'll probably hand sew this).

Knitting with muppet

I'm still working on the Elegant Shrug (I'd promise pictures, but really I know myself better than that) using Nordiskas Trend.  It's a slubby boucle yarn with so much fuzz to it that it is a bit difficult to work with and very warm.  The yarn is 60% acryllic, 15% mohair, 15% polyamid and 10% wool.  I'm only on the first sleeve, because of my stupid level of dillydallying.  It's just not my favorite project for all sorts of little things.  But I plan on finishing both sleeves this weekend even though I'm on the first one.  Maybe once I only have the edging to do I'll do pictures.

Instead of being a good gal as it were, I have been starting new stuff.  I started a new pair of socks (another pair of monkeys) a week or two ago.  This morning I grafted the toe and started the second sock.  No second sock syndrome here!  I will finish both a sweater - yeah, I haven't finished the last two seams yet - and something else this month.  I can't go into next month with 13 items in my WIP list.  Wooboy.

Mostly what this means is Rotation (Word Doc).  Doing a rotation was pretty normal for me when I did cross-stitch all the time.  Even with a craft that time consuming, I never had only one project.  I had a document with all of my projects listed and I would just check off a square each hour I worked on the project.  I didn't automatically switch just because I had finished an hour.  More often it was 10 hours or 5.  Given at the time I was stitching when I got up at 4 and over lunch and in the evening, it wasn't unreasonable to get up to 5 hours in a day.  I was very focused, especially when I wanted to get a project to the framers in time for the holidays.  Yes, focused is a great word.

Of course, I'd love to be as focused on my knitting, but I find that with my tendency to start something new that I am a lot flightier about knitting than I ever was with cross-stitch.  So, here is to finishing at a few projects in the next two months.  I certainly have enough of them.

Falling down the rabbit hole

I didn't do a lot of knitting this weekend.  I ran.  I read (something like 4 books in two days... not so impressive when they are Anita Blake novels).  I worked on a sock. 

I didn't do the last two seams on the sweater.  Maybe Thursday.  It's the first day this week that I'll be home before 8.  I didn't work on some of the other close to finished projects.

This morning?  I woke up at my normal 0-dark time (just after 4 a.m.), and pulled out my sock and finished to the tip of the toe.  Tonight (maybe tomorrow) I'll graft the little sucker and start the second sock right away.  I repacked my knitting bag.  I brought out a crochet hook, some leftover sock yarn.  I packed some leftover Cashmerino Aran and I started Calorimetry.

I don't even know if I have enough yarn to finish it, but I have plans.  Beautiful plans in case I run out of yarn before it is as wide as I would like it.  And it gives me something to do during the intermission (I'm seeing Avenue Q!)...

I so didn't need to start a 13th project.  At least this one is quick and completely pulled from the stash.

Running around town

Ras na hEireann was Sunday in Somerville, and I met up with what felt like huge number of people between the 10 minute and the 12 minute pace markers.  Somewhere along the line I decided that I mostly like running (not quite sure I love running yet), but I didn't even get into running until I moved away from Somerville.  It felt a little strange to run through the town that I have done so much walking in, along Cedar Street and down the bike path.

I ran if not as fast as I can on the treadmill at least as fast as I ran in last year's 5 mile Iron Girl, and had a respectable 9:47 min/mile pace (that's 6:04 min/km).  I'm feeling much better about running this year's half marathons, now that I don't feel like I let quite as much slide when I stopped doing a lot of running last fall.

The race results are already up in case you ran it and want to see your official time.

Of course, with running the race and going out to On the Hill afterwards, I didn't really get much knitting done over the weekend.  It was mostly a weekend of running and silly vampire novels, but this week should be much better.  I'll be able to add knitting into the mix and do three things next weekend!

It's Pi Day!

It's Pi Day, so get yourself a fantabulous slice of pie!

It's March 14th (all day long), so today at 1:59 pm is the Pi Minute.  My hubby reminded me that today was going to be Pi Day earlier in the week, and there is pie left over for it.  But I might not be home quite in time to partake of homemade pie, so I'm thinking about all of the delicious places to get pie in the Boston area.

I'm thinking of stopping by Marathon Sports in Cambridge (It's between Porter Square and Harvard Square) to see if they have any little runner's pouches.  I want something to carry the essentials when I run a race: keys, money, identification.  It doesn't sound like much, but most of my running gear doesn't have any pockets.  But if I go to Cambridge via Harvard Square, I can get a piece of pie at Finale.  There are a lot of good places for dessert in the Boston area.  I wonder if Kickass Cupcakes will have a "pie" cupcake.

the nervous trainer

I don't know what it is about training for a half marathon, but I just get stupid nervous that I'm not doing enough.  Heck, I'm probably in more danger from doing too much than too little, but do I worry about that?  Nope.

Last week I found out that my favorite podcast: Podrunner now has a companion podcast: Podrunner Intervals.  It's great!  I finally got to use one this morning when I was running on the treadmill.  It will be much more valuable when I am finally ready to run outside on a more regular basis again. 

The current set of Podrunner Intervals are covering the couch-to-5K plan from week to week, but because they are not voiced over, they can be used for intervals at any speed (the podcast I was using before told you to walk).  There are plans for more of these beyond the couch-to-5K 9 week program, so I am looking forward to more of these for half marathon training.

As quite a few of the reviewers commented, it would be great if there was a signal to start the cooldown or indicate the last interval of the set.  I consider that kind of like gravy.  It would be great, but if I can convince my body to work harder for a few more minutes than that is not the end of the world.

I'm using the Novice Half Marathon Training Guide again.  I could probably move up to the Advanced Guide or find one for Intermediate runners, but I misjudged my training start date and had to remove a week from the schedule anyway.  Whoops.

So hope to see lots of people at Ras na Heireann this weekend!

simple facts

I'm pretty much a life time crafter.  I started with the Fisher Price needlepoint boxes with the pictures on them.  My first box (probably the unicorn) had so many knots and snarls and what nots on the back that it was undoubtedly too full to actually use as a box.  My first counted cross-stitch was a unicorn (hey, I was a young girl!) with a rainbow and a sun and a hill with a big mistake.  The sun was setting on the hill leaving the rainbow hanging partway over the unicorn's head like a giant inverted J. 

Crafting has definitely taught me many things.

1.  Mistakes happen.  Fix them, fudge them.  Deal with them and move on.  Thankfully, there are fewer mistakes as I become more comfortable with the crafts, but tiredness or inattention will get me every time.

2.  It won't get done if you don't work on it.

This is most true of cross-stitch.  An hour or two of knitting and unless you are working on a huge shawl (one with the monster 300+ stitch rows) you have something to show for it.  A repeat or two of a lace pattern, shaping, maybe a sleeve cap.  In cross-stitch, an hour or two gives you this small splotch of color.  Near the end of a project, you are finishing stuff up, adding backstitch, beads, detail and that hour is a moment of transformation.  But now?  Now it is just a splotch.

Meet the splotch.  This is my version of Goodfortune Fish.  I'm almost halfway done with the first fish, but even now it is still a yellow splotch.  I am hoping to finish this by the end of this year, but I only work on it a few times a week over my lunch breaks.  Of course, I didn't center the pattern on the fabric like I normally do, so it looks a little lop sided.  Easily fixable when I do the finishing work. 

The border (yeah, the boring part) took me over a year to do, but I wasn't working on it regularly.  Of course, I am pretty sure I know which cross-stitch project I'll end up doing next.  Up to my eyeballs in Kreinik.

Easter is coming soon, and that will mean more tasty half price chocolates (yeah, I shop the day after).  My hubby was out and he got me a package of these.  Guess which one is me?

Houston, we have PIE!

Sunday night I made Blood Orange Pie (like key lime, only orange).  I put the very full pie to chill in the refrigerator, and Monday night there was

PIE!

I used my cookbook, 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes, to make this pie.  It is based on the Key Lime Pie recipe.  I used the full block of neufachel and the juice from four blood oranges, but otherwise the recipe I made as it was written.  The pie came out pretty well, except for the crust.  I normally make my crust according to the instructions in the Spice Cookbook, because it has always turned out flaky and perfect.  The 'low fat' pie crust recipe turned out a little tough.  Probably my own fault.  But it didn't hold together when I was rolling the dough, so I was more than a little grumpy about it. 

Verdict?  Other than the crust - delicious!

Using a free day

I mostly post on the Stashalong blog when I have something finished.  Just makes finishing things extra special.  Saturday I used a Free Day to buy a single skein of Peaches and Cream cotton for a washcloth, which I have already made (just the two ends to weave in). 

It's funny.  I have a tendency to buy yarn right before finishing something.  The last time I bought yarn was right before finishing Tangled Yoke.  I have my second sweater all but done (side seams tonight I think), and I am making progress on pretty much everything on my UFO list (which had some holes in it.  I mean, a 1.5 year old sweater should have been on that list).

So, the Peaches and Cream wasn't the only thing I got at AC Moore.  I finally got a block to use with the needle felting kit I bought last year.  Maybe this week will also feature a little monkey at the end of it!

a year of firsts

It's hard to believe that I've been knitting for almost five years.  I started shortly after the first Stitch 'n Bitch book came out.  In that time I've knit tons of scarves, hats, socks, tank tops, ornaments and shawls (mostly stoles, otherwise known as lacy scarves).  Last month I finished my first cardigan.  I love it and wear it a couple times a week when it gets cold in the office.

Today I'm working on finishing my first pullover.  I'm taking a much needed break, because seaming is hard or at least hard to do well.  I have only the side seams left and about a half dozen ends to weave in, but I've been seaming for about 4 hours and my entire body is showing the warning signs that plowing straight on through will lead to mistakes.

Now, I am wearing the worlds largest long sleeve T, but despite that I've tried it on a couple of times and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to want to sew either ribbon to reinforce the front neckline facing or a bit of lace.  Even with a camisole I think this is going to be exceptionally low cut for me. 

So, later this week, I should have pictures to show of Pinup Queen.  On the needles for about 1.5 years.