Scrap Cap

As 2013  comes to an end I am determined to get a grasp on my knitting supplies and unfinished projects.

You know how this goes, we see a lovely yarn and buy it hoping we have have enough for a future project.  These beautiful yarn purchases can add up.  I hope to be very resourceful this next year and use all of those beautiful yarns to create fun, amazing, beautiful items.

As I was cleaning out a scrap basket I came across little bits of Manos Del Uruguay yarn that was left from the Manos Four Season Throw I made five years ago. 

 Manos is by no means a cheap yarn, I just could not throw it all away.

I spent Christmas Day knitting up This scrap cap. A perfect projects for all those bits of wool.

Happy Knitting!

Knitting Methods

I think there are as many different knitting methods as there are knitters.  I remember when I was first starting to really knit I got frustrated at a small error in my stitch composition.  A friend who had been knitting a little longer than I said....

 "oh don't worry about that, knitting is an individual activity and those small things in your stitching is what makes your work unique."

I recently have been knitting up a lacy cowl, and I was questioning why some knitters lace have big holes and some knitters lace has small holes.  Intriguing really, so I was off to try and find out the answer.

I knit "Continental style" so I decided to watch videos on line of Continental style knitting and I discovered that I was making my stitch differently than those in the video.

When I took the stitch off the left needle with my right needle I wrapped the yarn from the back to the front of the needle clockwise. In the video they wrapped the yarn counter clockwise. 

As I examined my work I saw that by going clockwise I was putting a little twist in each stitch therefore decreasing the size of my hole in my lace work.

I have since been wrapping my yarn counter clockwise however I have knitted for a couple of decades now using the clockwise wrap and the garments turn out beautiful.

This really can equate to us as individuals just as each hand knit item is unique, each knitter is unique, there is not a right or wrong way really just "your way".  I encourage you to explore the world of knitting methods you may discover something exciting that you can incorporate into your work.

Whatever you do just knit!  Enjoy it, it is an expression of who you are.

The Knitting Together Of Our Home

Our family has been making a big transition from living in Singapore to living in WI, U.S.A. 

A transition from being an expat, to being just your ordinary member of the community and work place.

A transition from sky rise condo living, to quiet country living.

We are blessed to have been able to keep our house while we were living over seas. How nice to come back to our home!

When we were living in Singapore we were blessed with a roof top garden, an outdoor patio,  and our very own private (sort of) outside space.

One of our favorite things that happened on that private space 11 stories above the ground was watching this TINY little bird family build their home. 

They worked SO very hard bringing up each little piece of grass, down, leaf, string, etc...

We watched the knitting together of this "house" for a few weeks and then.... it was done: the perfect home for these little birds.  Scott was able to capture our little friend at home in it's new house.

Sure enough a baby bird soon appeared..... and then..... the storm rolled in.  Not a small storm, a big storm, with huge winds and very large, hard, pounding rain.

The house began to fall apart, this family was in trouble. The stresses brought in from the outside world were simply too much.

The house came apart from the top and fell to the ground.  Oh no, this is trouble!  We rushed out after the storm to try and place the house back together. The mama bird had fled during the storm leaving the baby bird "home alone."

It reminded me of
Psalm 127:1-3
"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved. Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord."

I know that as our family goes through this transition we are working hard to assure that it is indeed the LORD that builds our home and our family.  The Lord is always there in the midst of any storm that may come our way.  It may feel like our home is about to burst apart due to the outside stresses and the storms of life, but the Lord is faithful, and he holds together those things that He himself has knit together. 

Happy Knitting.

Advent Calendar Scarf 2012

I'm not one to join groups it  is just not in my genes.  I am finding that I enjoy browsing Ravelry and one group in particular has peeked my interest. 

"Scary Lace" is an on line knitting group that knits lacy projects together.  I first found them when I was knitting my Silk Shawl, I was looking for comments on the pattern and came across this group which happened to be knitting this shawl together.  It was very helpful to me to read the comments of the fellow knitters and it encouraged me to FINISH the project.

I recently finished knitting a Tea Party top for a Christmas gift and was looking for a new project to start.

Upon investigating my "Scary Lace" group I learned about the 2012 Advent Scarf.  Starting December 1 a new section of the scarf is released every day for 25 days.  It does make knitting it a bit of a mystery.  Having no idea how it will turn out it is also a risk to knit but I decided that it would be a fun thing to add to my already overflowing schedule.

The good thing is I'm not an "in the box" kind of person so I am under no pressure to complete this scarf by Dec 25th, although I must admit it is tempting to challenge myself to do so.

I found some beautiful yarn at my LYS and some Turbo lace knitting needles, whoa, they are worth the money as the points are nice and sharp eliminating the risk of splitting the lace weight yarn.

The yarn is 50% Silk and 50% Cashmere making it very soft and fabulous to knit with.  This pattern also calls for beads, I chose a silver lined clear bead to add a little p-zaz without taking away from the beauty of the stitch patterns in the scarf.

Of course not every bead shows up in the picture but trust me, they work with this yarn.  Here is the link to the pattern for the advent scarf.  I think you will like it if you try it.  If you are a new knitter it may be a bit challenging but why not go for it.

Happy Knitting!

Spinners Itch

It's nothing like swimmers itch, spinners itch, but after being away from my wheel for two years my fingers are itching to spin some wool.

I could not ship my Kromski Minstrel wheel to Singapore with us and so here it sat lonely and unproductive for two solid years.  I'm thinking I will need to save up for a spinning stool as my chair method isn't quite up to par.

These last three weeks have been very busy for my family as we are settling back into home and life in the U.S.  I was able to stop into my LYS and pick up some lovely alpaca yarn and supplies to knit a slouch hat and have since decided to knit a few of these up for gifts.

I have yet to sit at my wheel though.  Maybe this weekend as the "spinners itch" is getting worse as time marches on.

The Making of Us

Psalm 139:13
For you created my inner most being, you knit me together in my mothers womb.

I just love that image.

 God did not haphazardly put us together, the image of knitting is powerful for me.  As a knitter, I can tell you it takes time, AND thought, AND desire, AND motivation to knit.

I was thinking about this imagery this week. You see it is our last week in our condo here in Singapore, we board the plane seven days from today to return to our life in the U.S.  This means that this week is full of goodbyes and sorrow as we leave behind the ones we love.

My friend Maureen is one of those people, I'm not sure I would have made it living here in Singapore without her.  I wanted to give her a special gift that truly came from me so I of course, knitted her gift.

As I was knitting this scarf for her I was thinking about how each stitch in this scarf is a bit like the people that come into our lives. They all add to who we are, what makes us up as a person.

 Just as each and every stitch, the knitted and the dropped, make up this scarf, each and every relationship, the hellos and the goodbyes, makes up our lives.

 The colors change, just as our life circumstances change, and yet those changes are the very things that give the scarf and our lives depth and richness.

 Its the new knitted stitches as well as the old, the new friends as well as the old friends, that hold those rows of dropped stitches, those moments of loss, in place.

The knit stitch, the people we interact with, give the support needed to have a whole garment, a whole person at the end of the journey.

  The drop stitch adds depth and beauty.

  Friendships are never a waste of time, even if we only can see that person for a limited time, as those relationships are what knit the fabric of our lives.  They make us who we are.

It is the drops and the change that brings about beauty.

Happy Knitting!

The Most Expensive Project

Knitters can get very excited over their "stash".  The lure of the yarn seems to call out your name while you are out shopping and if there is a sale..... Look out, yarn must be purchased and thus that beautiful stash grows.  Some might say it grows into a monstrous collection of creative potential.

Knitters can also tend to allow their sweet pieces of already started creativity "hibernate".  Suddenly not only is there a beautiful yarn stash, there is also a den of hibernating projects.

If this beautiful yarn ends up being used it is not a problem but honestly, how much yarn do we have sitting in a stash that will never become something beautiful or even useful?

If we take our pieces of already started creativity out of hibernation, there is no problem, but honestly we usually do not finish these projects for various reasons.

I personally have been going through a process of simplifying my time, my life, my belongings.  I'm hoping to gain some family time, save our budget and declutter our house.

How does this relate to knitting?  Well the most expensive projects are those we have good intentions of doing but no follow through on actually doing it.  All of that yarn sitting in our lovely stash is potentially hundreds of wasted dollars and it is taking up space.

My plan of "discipline" in this is simply to use my project list on Ravelry, I have an app on my phone that allows me to see the projects I want to do and what supplies are needed to accomplish those projects.  When I am faced with a yarn sale I can check my list and buy or not buy accordingly.

The second part of this grand plan is to make myself finish started projects.

Well.... Here's to avoiding the most expensive project syndrome.

Happy Knitting.