Eastburn Adventures

The one bad thing about having so many finished objects last year is that it puts a little pressure on me to be just as productive this year. I have decided to resist the pressure, and have therefore created my 2009 knitting plan a little differently this year. Last year, I planned, and accomplished, knitting a pair of socks each month, so it made sense that I had a monthly plan of what I wanted to knit each month. I also knew when I'd be traveling for work, and it made it easy to plug some projects in for those trips in the appropriate month. What I struggled with, even though it was my plan and I knew I could change it, was that I still felt a little restricted by it. When my heart was looking ahead to use some great yarn I'd just bought on vacation, my head was telling me that I needed to finish that month's socks. I have to admit, the 2008 Plan did make me more of a monogamous knitter, although at times I felt like I was missing out on a few things.

This year? This year is going to be different. I've made my Plan organized by categories, rather than monthly. So if I don't feel like knitting a pair of socks, I'll pick something else. Simple. It's still only a guideline, so if I want to delete something from the list and add something else, I will. No pressure, just knitting fun. Ravelry is getting better with the queue organization now that we can add tabs to the queue, but it's not at the level of organization and customization I like, so that's why my Plan is necessary for me. I've got categories for Christmas, Socks, Sweaters, Home (e.g., Bath mat, dishcloths, hand towels, etc.), Hats/Scarves/Shawls, and Mittens/Gloves.

My goals this year are to focus on sweaters, so I've got 4 on my list that are must knits for me right now - the Slouchy Cardigan (I want this done before our trip to Italy), Summer's End, another Hey, Teach!, and the Heroine Cardigan. I also want to learn to do some colorwork, so I've got the Baske and Bird in Hand Mittens patterns for that. A few pair of socks for me and Robert, some socks and towels for Christmas gifts, and that crazy Swallowtail Shawl that I've got to make myself do - I really think it's lovely; I've just got to get over that mentality that it's going to be hard. If I learned anything last year, it's that I can be successful with any knitting pattern - I've just got to try.

What are your must knits for 2009? Do you have a plan?

Well, you know what they say about the best-laid plans, right? I had a plan - I still do - but it's gotten way off track. Let's review:

First, there were the Socks that Suck all Joy that I frogged and gave away the yarn. Once those were gone, I had nothing on the needles except the languishing Absorba bath mat, which is waiting for Michaels to get more of the Lion Brand Organic Cotton back in stock. I was eagerly waiting to cast on for my Slouchy Cardigan, but I had to wait until the yarn was delivered, which it was, and I've wound 2 cakes to start my swatch from. (No, I'm not knitting a ginormous swatch - I'm holding two strands together.)

So while I was waiting, I thought I'd cast on for a skinny Clapotis for our upcoming trip to Italy. I'm already planning my basic monochromatic wardrobe and thought some scarves would be a great option to spruce up the wardrobe without taking a lot of space in the luggage. Since I had nothing on the needles last week, and I was rushing about with no time to accomplish anything, I grabbed my nostepinne and the yummy Hand Maiden Silk & Cashmere I bought at last year's Spring Fling with the intent to wind it at work. I had a little voice in the back of my head telling me to wait, but no, I decided to try it. And even though I realized I should have known better, I didn't put the hank on the back of a chair or anything, and what resulted was this horrible tangled mess of the yummiest yarn. I'm just sick. I knew better. I'll get it untangled, but it's going to take several more hours.

Since I couldn't start my Clapotis, I was desperate. The Yarn Harlot's "Never Not Knitting" calendar on my desk was mocking me, since, in fact, I was not knitting, and hadn't been knitting for about a week. I decided to wind the Recycled Sari Silk yarn I'd received in a swap and cast on for another skinny scarf - since apparently fashion scarves are all the rage now (and although I was tempted to buy one at Chico's last night with Lola, when I saw the price tag at $78 I quickly put it back!) - and searched Ravelry for a quick and easy drop stitch pattern. I decided on WendyKnit's Japanese Lantern Scarf, which I'd made before without knowing that was the pattern. Finally, I'm knitting again. Let's hope the mojo returns quickly and sticks around, eh?

Happy Birthday Knit Together!!

It hardly seems possible, but it's been a year since Kate and I started the Knit Together podcast. Our 24th episode just went up on iTunes, and we're making lots of plans for 2009.

2008 brought a lot of changes, with the Knit Together local group moving to my home church, Ridgecrest Baptist, and Kate moved to Carthage and started Knit Together West there. KT started off the year with a bang, and I've been teaching newbies how to knit, and also teaching a few knitters how to knit toe-up socks. This Thursday night we had 11 knitters in our group!

If you're in the Springfield area, feel free to join us on Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. We'd love to have you!

All of the blogiverse, Twitter, and Plurk seem obsessed that today is a "historical" day. Blah, blah, blah. I have tried to refrain from making political comments on my blog, but I suppose I do so now to leave a record of "I told you so" for the future. I have a few predictions for the next 4 years.

1. Regardless of the many mistakes Obama is going to make (he's not perfect - he's not even qualified), the media and his many fans will think he can do no wrong.

2. Regardless of how much of my (and your) money Obama takes by raising taxes and redistributing wealth in the form of economic stimulus packages, the media and his many fans will not understand that he is a Socialist.

3. Regardless of any other economic changes Obama may make, people's lives will not be better in 4 years unless they take responsibility for their own actions.

I find it extremely sad that a majority of the American people and people from all over the world are still caught up in Obama's platform of false promises claiming "hope" and "change." I really do pray for him, because that is a horrible responsibility he is taking on, and he will not be able to deliver on those promises. He can't. He's just a man.

But there is Someone who can provide hope and change - and that is God. You want a change in your life? Put your hope in the Unchanging One. That's the only answer, for today, and every other day.

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."
Psalm 20:7

January has been a little hard on me in the area of knitting, as I attested to in this post. But things are turning around finally. In an effort to just knit something, anything, I grabbed the recycled sari silk from my stash and cast on for the mindless Japanese Lantern Scarf. I knew it would go really fast, but when I took it to Knit Together last week, I was surprised at all the reaction and attention it garnered. I only used 2 skeins for my scarf, so I gave my remaining 2 skeins to Kathy to make her own. Anyway, here's my finished scarf:



I also managed to finish my Absorba bathmat, once Michael's got the Lion Brand Nature's Best Organic Cotton back in stock. I had two coupons and sent Robert through one line with one skein while I bought the other. I'm not certain that I followed the log cabin procedure exactly right, but I think it looks okay, and this yarn is so squishy and soft - I can definitely see making another one of these. I held the yarn doubled and used size 15 needles, so if I hadn't run out of yarn, this project would have been completed in a couple of days.

It's now less than 2 months until we leave for our trip to Italy, so I've got to get cranking on my Slouchy Cardigan. My Malabrigo Lace arrived last week, and I've wound 4 of the 10 balls so far (at 470 yds of laceweight per cake, I'm pacing myself). I did a proper swatch with sizes 8, 9, and 10 needles, and the 9's are the winner. Actually, I'm probably between needle sizes, but because I want the Slouchy Cardigan to be, well, slouchy, I don't care if my gauge makes it a little bigger. Now I just need to cast on and start knitting!

I also cast on for the mini laptop bag like Kate made, but that's as far as I got. I actually have ripped it out twice and need to copy the charts all onto one page so I don't get lost. I was operating under the assumption that "if I knit it, it will come," but then we picked up the netbook on Saturday. So now I've got the mini, but need to get the bag done.

I'm just glad to be back on track somewhat. I found it a little disconcerting to not be able to knit at all!