Confessions of a Floss Licker

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Projects and deadlines

Sweater - I've been doing good working on the sweater (ombre yarn) until a few days ago. My daughter found a red dress for my granddaughter to wear for the wedding. The bodice is tank top style (aka no sleeves). It's actually quite difficult to find a red party dress without another color (black or white generally) that has sleeves. And yes, I'm talking about for babies. Anyway, now I'm back to square one looking for a sweater pattern, this time one with sleeves. I found one and got started. I made the back, one side front and one sleeve in one night. The next night I found I was running out of yarn. I took a few rows off the back and front sides (to make it more like a baby shrug than a full sweater) to finish the last sleeve. (I even made the sleeves a little shorter than what the pattern called for.) On the third day I put it together. So it's done! Note to self: bring the sweater to work tomorrow so I can have her try it on and see how it fits. So now I'm back working on the ombre sweater. I finished the back and one side front. I'm not sure how that's going to work so I'm going to make the sleeves next. Got a good start on one last night. I'm doing pretty good on the consignment stitching piece too. I worked a little on the border last night. I got the next model in the mail too. It's a monochrome one with cross stitch and straight stitch. So far I'm liking it and when it's done it'll be beautiful! If I could get it done before Christmas that would be fantastic. It would give me some Christmas shopping money. Honestly I have no idea what to shop for. I've been in wedding mode for so long that I can hardly think about it. But I digress. I'm still waiting for another project to come in the mail. I'm guessing it will be here by this weekend. If it's not, I'm not guaranteeing that it will be done when they want it. They contacted me just after the beginning of the month so I thought I would have 3 months to work on it. If they don't get it to me until the first of November (or later) then I only have 2 months to work on it. Not cool.

Friday, October 12, 2012

So many projects, so little time...

First off, we didn't make the World Record for knitters. Hey, I did my best. I brought 5 people with me who were all participating. I didn't count, but I would hazard a guess that we had somewhere between 100-200 people there. Really quite disappointing. However, it was on Sunday and I don't know what (if any) advertising happened. However, it was a beautiful day! I got to hang out with my Fiance and a few friends. I got to knit when I'm mostly just crocheting these days. I allowed myself to buy some spinning related materials! I got a new hand spindle (extremely light weight. I'll have to look out for that in the future.) and some beautiful RED roving that has pieces of silk and sparkly fibers in it. (I can't wait to spin it! I'm looking forward to seeing how much yarn I get for 3.5 oz of roving - then make me a scarf!) I also got some white, plain wool roving so I can have fun dyeing it! I've been intrigued since learning about kool-aid dyeing and I want to try it myself. Now I just have to figure out what color I want to use. Anyway, I had a great time! I had a little bit of retail therapy that I needed and it was a bonus that it was fiber related. I didn't really think about the wedding or how much money we don't have. It was a perfect get-away. Now, onto the projects: I have some green yarn on a set of knitting needles that I don't know what I'm going to do with. Normally when I knit it's a scarf. With only 1 skein I don't know if I even have enough to finish something. Maybe I have enough for a cowl or just a neck warmer. Note to self: look for some buttons that might be cute to use with that yarn! I have a skein of red cotton. I came across a doily shirt/tank. I thought it might be fun to wear on our honeymoon. I'm doing good with the pattern and it's partly done, but I keep putting it down to start/do something else. I bought 3 skeins of Simply Soft ombre. The color combination is brown, purple, steel blue and dark gray/black. It's a really pretty combo. So far I've started a ruana and a sweater with it. The ruana is tunisian stitch which is going to take a lot more yarn and a lot more time. The sweater is coming along nicely. I've only done one sweater before and it didn't have sleeves. It was for my granddaughter. This one will be for my friend who is helping me out for my wedding. I would love to get her something really nice, but I don't have the money. I have 29 days before the wedding to get it done. Think I can do it? I've just recently found a cute pattern for a headband. I'm thinking of making a couple for my niece. I was thinking two or three different ones for a Christmas gift. I think they would look really cute on her. I have black and I was thinking maybe a sparkly white one and some kind of green. I guess I need to go to Joann's or Michaels (hey, it's "I love yarn" day today!) and see what they have.

Friday, October 05, 2012

New World Record!

On Sunday I'm going to join a group of people who are attempting to break a World Record. In Dixon, CA at the Lambtown fiber festival on Sunday, they're trying to break the World Record of Knitters gathered in one place. The record was set in Ireland I believe. This will be the second World Record that I've participated in. The first one was 2010 at the Pirate festival for the largest number of Pirates gathered. And I think this one will be just as fun. I do know how to knit and I have something on the needles. I just don't know what it's going to be yet, if anything. Maybe I'll turn it into a sweater for my granddaughter? We'll see. However, I am curious as to how many rows I'll get done in 15 minutes.