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.

Singapore Yarn~ The Golden Dragon

Singapore continues to amaze me.  We have lived on the "Little Red Dot" for two years now and I find that there are pockets of surprises, you just need to know where to look.

The Golden Dragon is located in the heart of China Town on Upper Cross Street at the Peoples Park Centre store front #02-51.  Going to The Golden Dragon is a very "local" experience and I love it.

There are little pockets of chairs set up in the store where you will find knitters knitting away and talking.

This guy moved his knitting chair out of the ladies corner and planted himself right across from the "yarn wall."

Yes the "yarn wall" a very long wall, this picture is taken about mid wall so it is twice this long with floor to ceiling yarn.  GOOD yarn.  We found some 100% silk yarn for my next project today for a really decent price.

The problem..... the labels are all in Mandarin characters so I had to ask an employee to help me with reading the labels in order to figure out what material they yarn was made from, they had a silk cashmere blend that was just lovely but yikes was it expensive and rightfully so.

 Today there were several ladies working in the store that spoke English, the last time I went to Golden Dragon that was not the case so be prepared to stay awhile so you can communicate if need be.

There are all types of yarn and if you don't see enough on the shelf be sure to ask, I needed six skeins and there were only four on the shelf but they have a big storage room where they keep supply so they had enough.

The Golden Dragon also carries a huge selection of knitting needles, crochet hooks, and fiber art supplies.  There are some fun items in here wool roving for felting or hand spindle spinning.  I needed 8mm beads for my project, no problem, they are on the "bead wall."  I was surprised at the variety of supplies and the knowledge of the staff.

There is an on site knitting instructor who spoke both Mandarin and English.  She has her own station and is there to help you fix mistakes, read your pattern, pick out supplies etc.... all free of charge.  I was the only "Westerner" in the store and I did get a few stares but no worries, these ladies also gave me some great smiles as they are serious about their knitting.

After about 45 minutes I left with a big bag of supplies and am ready to tackle my next project.

If you are in Singapore and do any kind of fiber art, you must make your way down to China Town and go to The Golden Dragon.  You will be glad you did, besides they have cute pictures on their bags.

Happy Knitting.

Basic Knitting Supplies

I have the privilege of meeting with a friend today to get her hooked on the art of knitting.  One of the questions she asked is "what do I need to get started?"  This blog is a list of basic supplies that knitters use.

I will say that these are the supplies that I use, knitters have their own way of doing things they tend to be creative and good at problem solving.  If you have a favorite tool that is not in this blog please do comment and share with us all.

The first thing a knitter needs to knit a project is a pattern. 

There are pattern books of all kinds available in craft stores, yarn shops and the library.  Knitting magazines are a good source of patterns as well as "how to" articles.  The Internet is loaded with free knitting patterns.  Check out Knitty.com for some free patterns.

When I find my pattern I make a paper copy, so if it is in a book or magazine I will photo copy the pattern allowing me to fold it etc.... this makes my knitting project easily portable.

Once you have a project picked out you will need some yarn.

There are many different types of yarn out there all of which have different properties and will affect the way you project turns out.  I recently read a quote that said "you can not knit a better product than the yarn you are using."  May I steer you away from cheap yarn?  If you are going to spend hours knitting a project spend, the money to have quality yarn I guarantee you will not regret it.  Personally I avoid synthetic fibers such as acrylic and use wool, silk, cotton etc...

You will also need knitting needles.  There are basically three types of knitting needles.

The straight needle

Straight needles come in all sizes, lengths and materials.  The three most common materials that straight needles are made out of are wood, plastic, and metal.  I personally much prefer the wood or  plastic to the metal.  If you look at this picture carefully you can see that both the wood needles on the far left and the plastic needles in the middle are just a bit warped.  This warping is due to the pressure the knitter places on the needle as they knit.  When the needle is flexible it save the knitters wrist from pain and potential carpal tunnel syndrome.  Metal needles have NO give causing my wrist to hurt so I try to avoid using them.

The circular needle

Circular needles come in all diameters and also have different cable lengths.  Circular needles are used to make socks, hats etc.... These needles are also used for projects that have a lot of stitches.

Double point needles

Double point needles come in all diameters and two different lengths.  They are used for knitting up items such as socks, hats, mittens, gloves etc....  Double point needles come in packs of four or five and as with the other needle types double point needles can be wood, plastic or metal with wood and metal being the most common.

A notebook and pencil

It is a good idea to keep a notebook and pencil with your knitting supplies, this will allow you to make notes on your projects that you can look back on for future projects.

So that is the basics, pattern, yarn, needles, and notebook.  Your pattern will tell you the type of yarn used as well as the size of needle needed for your project.

In addition to these basic supplies there are several tools that knitters use.  These supplies can be collected as needed.  It is advisable to wait as you will discover what you like then you can invest in your "tool box" and fill it with all the fun things that YOU like.

Stitch markers

These are used for counting in patterns and marking the beginning of rows when knitting in the round. There are many different kinds of stitch markers out there from the unique crafty to the basic plastic circle.

Row counters

There are several different types and sizes of row counters on the market these are used to keep track of where you are in more complex patterns.

Yarn needles

Yarn needles are used for sewing in your ends when your project is completed.  They also are used to put your project together if it is knitted in pieces.  A needle holder is useful for keeping all of your needles in one place.

Cable needles

Cable needles are used for holding stitches during a cable knitting projects.  I have also used pencils in the past along with just slipping the stitches off and letting them hang out until needed but cable needles are nice to have and prove themselves to be useful.  Cable needles come in differnt diameters as it is important not to stretch or tighten your stitches while they are on the cable needle.

Stitch holders

Stitch holders are used to hold stitches when making a pocket, or finger hole etc..., I have also used scrap yarn, or safety pins as stitch holders.

Crochet hooks

Crochet hooks for knitting?  Yes, they are very useful to pick up a dropped stitch and also are used to help you tuck in your ends on a finished project.  I would pick up a crochet hook with your basic supplies, a medium size one would be suitable for most situations.

Yarn cutters

These two cutters are my favorites as I have successfully taken them on many different flights with no problems, they have never been confiscated, the flight attendants have seen me with them and they have no problems with these cutters.  The red one is called "pup snips" and are relatively new on the market.

Tape measure

Tape measures are used to make sure your pattern is to size.  Tape measures are also used to check your gauge before you begin your knitting project.

Needle gauge

This tool is very useful to check your needle size as a good number of knitter will have a lot of needles, double point needles are not marked with a size so this allows you to know if you needle is a size two or a size three.

Tool kit

There are many different ways to organize your tools, I use this bag to keep things in one place allowing me to quickly grab what I need for a project. 

Smaller "ditty" bags

Not all projects require all tools, these smaller bags are good for keeping just what you need for your current project handy.

Zip lock bag

I use a one gallon or two gallon size zip lock to keep all of my knitting supplies in one spot when traveling, in the bag will be my copied pattern, my yarn with my project, needles  and a small ditty bag with my cutter, tape measure, crochet hook and yarn needles.

A camera is useful.  Do take pictures of all the projects you make, you will be glad you did.

One last tool that I use is Ravelry.  Ravelry is an online tracking web site that allows you to do amazing things with your kitting.  You can keep track of your books, your patterns, your needles, your yarn, your projects etc... Also on Ravelry you can see what your friends are knitting,  find free patterns, read comments about those patterns and see the finished product from people who have made those patterns.  This is a fraction of what is available to you when you open an account, check it out it can be your knitting friend.

A very useful web site for helping you with knitting is knitting help this web site is full of very useful videos that show you how to do it.  They also have an app for the iPhone that is very handy.

Happy knitting!!

Hitting the Knitting Wall

It happens to runners, I don't know from personal experience as I do not run but I am told that you hit a wall.  One is running along, everything is going great and then..... they just simply feel like they can not run another step.

Hitting a wall in knitting is a common problem for me.  I start my project by picking the pattern and inevitably excitement sets in. I gather my supplies as quickly as possible.  This supply gathering usually involves a trip to the fiber shop for some great yarn.

 The excitement builds.

With pattern in hand I can not wait to cast on the stitches and start knitting.  I typically will knit and knit and knit that first day.

This excitement for the project continues until I am about three quarters of the way done with my project and then.........

The wall.....

I don't really want to knit, maybe it is getting to be mundane or I want that excitement again so I start looking towards a new project. 

I am guilty of having several projects "hibernating" at any given time.

Recently I have really been focusing on simplifying my  life and in the area of knitting this has meant that if I am going to start the project I MUST finish it before starting a new one.

I find that as I push through "the wall" that initial excitement although not as strong starts to come back.  It takes discipline for me to finish the project but in the end I am glad that I did.

This "Dinner in the Eiffel Tower" shawl was definitely a wall hitting project.

 I really like the pattern, it was not difficult but I just got tired of knitting it. 

The decision was made, I pressed on through that hitting of the knitting wall and now I am very pleased with the finished project.

The Wool Shed ~ Cairns Australia

My family is vacationing in Australia right now.  It is a really beautiful and friendly country.  Of course as a knitter I was hoping to find some wool in the form of both roving and already spun yarn after all Australia is known for its wool ....right?

Well I am learning that it is not so easy to find this wool as was the case in New Zealand.  Granted we have only been to Sydney and Cairns and these two cities are no necessarily known for their wool but I was still hoping.

I did find the wonderful sheep skin wool lined boots that are now very popular world wide and I must say I got a great deal on my new UGG boots.

This brings me to today.  My husband and boys went jet skiing out of Marlin Harbor, being that I don't really care to go into "shark infested water" I hung back to explore Cairns.

While walking down the street I looked up and at the very top of a building saw a big sign that said "The Wool Shed".  The excitement set in and my pace quickened towards this potential jack pot of wool and yarn.  Yes the moment I've been waiting for.....or not.

As it turns out The Wool Shed is a tavern!  Ahhh bum, such disappointment.  We have but one day left here in Cairns then we head back to Sydney, the hunt continues for some awesome wool.

I did happen to find some great red coral jewelry today so it was a successful day despite the lack of wool at The Wool Shed.

Too Much Yarn Too Little Space

We are leaving tomorrow night for Sydney Australia.  Our family is really looking forward to this vacation.  It is a short seven hour flight from Singapore providing lots of great knitting time.

This poses a problem.  You see we booked budget flights so we got great prices on our tickets but we get limited luggage space.

I am currently knitting the Dinner at the Eiffel Tower shawl and would probably finish it mid flight which is exciting but leaves me with no knitting for the rest of the trip plus it is a bit bulky.

I want to be sure to have room, lots of room, for new yarn that I am really wanting to purchase in Australia so that leaves out bringing two projects with.  I'm thinking I have but one option here.....

Socks, I have all the supplies to start a new pair, they fit in a zip lock bag take up little space and should provide me with enough knitting to last through out our trip.

Now to pick a pattern.....

Just Rip It Out!

I just started knitting this Dinner In The Eiffel Tower Shawl.  I am pretty excited about it as I have been looking for a shawl that I could use for both formal and casual, day and night.

It took me forever to pick my yarn.  Living in Singapore I do not have near the choices I would have back in the U.S.A.  but I am grateful that Spotlight does have natural fiber yarn from Australia so I picked a nice merino in a silver/ lavender color.

The pattern is in sections, section one went without a hitch.  It is always nice to have the right number of stitches at the end of a section.

Section two on the other hand was not right, the rows kept ending wrong.  I was thinking did she miss something in this pattern?  I went over and over my work trying to figure out my error. 

After knitting all of section two I read the first line for section three that said I should still have 69 stitches!

 Uh-oh ~ I had way over 80? 

After much investigation I realized that I was not doing the p2tog tbl stitch correctly.  I was holding my yarn in the back and not in the front this was adding an extra stitch each time I made that error.

 I still can't figure my thinking on that, I have been knitting for well over 20 years I know pural stitch means yarn in front if you knit continental style that is.

OK so this is what we do when we knit, make errors, evaluate, rip it all out and start over again.  There is no harm in starting over esp. if we have learned in the process.

I am happy to report that I am now through section two and have done it properly.  Now onto section three..... beginning with 69 stitches.

Is It So Simple?

God has taken me down a road, a process shall we say of simplifying.  This has been going on for about five years now.

I will say it is not so simple to simplify ones life, ones schedule, ones material items, ones diet.... It is a process indeed.

Just as knitting is a process, it may become simple to the knitter but it takes time, it is a process that can not be rushed.

As I have started to make a priority list I realize that under the "time for myself" catagory knitting has an important place.  I really should say fiber art, as I enjoy crochet and love to spin that fiber into yarn.

 I hope to simplify my time enough to be able to add weaving into my fiber art love but.....is that simplifying? I don't know but it sounds fun and the thought is that as other things get weeded out there will be more time in my life for .....

God, which in reality I see God as being in every part of my life but desire to spend more "meditative" or silent time reading, hearing and praying.

My family, I love home schooling our boys, keeping our home and making healthy natural meals for us, and of course going on dates with my husband.

Healthy habits,  I think my yoga practice as well as knitting would fit into this catagory as they bring me physical strength and relaxation.

But is it so simple? I'm finding it is not but I also find that when I do indeed spend that time with God all else falls into place that day, it just might not look how I thought it would.

At the end of knitting a project it does not always look exactly how I thought it would look either but I always like it and am always glad I took the time to knit each and every stich.

Simplifying may not be simple but I venture to say I am glad I am fumbling through the process.

SPOTLIGHT

I have been working on simplifying my life for several years now.  Moving to Singapore has really helped in that endeavor in that we know just what it takes to live without a lot of excess. 

Part of simplifying for me is finishing current projects that may be "in hibernation" before I start new projects.  You know, that lonely sock that needs its match or that sweater that is half done.

When we first moved to Singapore a friend of mine told me about  Spotlight, an Australian based store that sells all kinds of things including...... yarn.  I tend to be really picky about my yarn, if I am going to spend a lot of time making something I want to have a quality product at the end.  I really stay away from synthetic fibers making it difficult sometimes to find yarn that will be suitable for my projects.

About a year ago I decided that I wanted to make an African Flower lap blanket.  This project gave me an excuse to make my way to Spotlight and see if they have any yarn worth crocheting.  Much to my delight they did, in fact, I bought all the yarn I needed for my project.

With Spotlight being an Australian based store, they carry a wide selection of Australian wool.  This brand, Panda, is made for Spotlight and is machine washable 100% new wool. 

You gotta like that and to top it off it was about $4.80 SGD per skein, cheaper than what it would be in the U.S. 

I came home with my big bag of wool and had my pattern in hand ready to crochet.  As I started I questioned if my color selection was right, should I have gone with a white for the back ground and not the gray, how about green or black?  I don't know if you do that, spend time in the store, carefully picking out colors to get home and question yourself but it happens to me frequently.

As a result of questioning my color selection I put the project into hibernation but now if I want to make something new and exciting I must finish a hibernating project so.... I will continue to crochet this lap blanket trusting that the end result will be beautiful and knowing that no matter how it looks, it will be warm and washable.

One Stitch At A Time

As our family is getting ready to end our adventure of a two year assignment in Singapore I am looking to start a new blog.   Our Singapore blog  will soon be coming to an end but our lives continue on. 

Knitting has been a part of me since childhood.  Actually I should sayI have been  knitting and crocheting since childhood.  I would spend long hours working the fiber into something fun and useful. 

In recent years I have gotten into spinning, what a joy to draft that fiber and watch it spin into beautiful yarn.  I love my Kromski spinning wheel and of course my on the go drop spindle. 

We traveled to New Zealand last year and while there were a lot of sheep

 I did not find a lot of fiber.  We did come across the Ashley store just outside of Christ Church where I scored a small amount of yarn and fiber.  If we had the luggage space I would have gotten more.

  Next month we are off to Australia before moving back to the states.  I do hope to find some great fiber in the land down under.

In the mean time knitting has been my hobby.  Living in Singapore is not always easy and we frequently say "one day at a time."

  We know that at the end of our adventure we will look back on the wonderful opportunity and be grateful we went through the hard times.  It is those hard times that God uses to mold us.... to create in us a reflection of His beauty.

Just as it is with knitting, one stitch at a time and suddenly after all that time, all the rows we may have to rip out and repeat..... there is something beautiful and useful at the end. 

As I look ahead to the next three months we will be making the transition back to the U.S.A.  one day at a time, one stitch at a time and good will come.