Day #7: Your knitting and crochet time.

I mostly craft at home, sitting in the same spot on my couch. There is often a tv on as well as my Macbook on my lap :P Plus a kitty or two nearby (or sometimes directly on the yarn *cough* Louis *cough*). Sometimes I don't feel like knitting though, so my knitting might sit there for days. I can lose my mojo once in a while. I don't normally have snacks while I'm knitting, because then my fingers get dirty and that's a problem. Though I do often drink coffee while I knit, or some other beverage if I am thirsty.

Louis

When I'm really tired or just not feeling well I tend not to knit much. I also can't knit while watching a movie with subtitles. I pay fairly close attention to my needles and it's too hard to knit and read the subtitles at the same time. Usually I am just watching whatever happens to be on the 3 channels I get. Occasionally I'll listen to an audio book while knitting.

Frasier

I do try to always have a plain sock on the go so I can shove that in my purse and always have knitting with me when I am out. I find even if I do have some free time, like when on the bus, I still don't get out my sock though. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to knit, or my hands aren't free because I'm carrying home my groceries on the bus. 

One thing I've found is that if I'm hanging out with some friends to knit, I never get much knitting done. This could be for different reasons. Sometimes I'm just so chatty that I can't talk and pay attention to my knitting at the same time. I also tend to talk with my hands. Other times I've just had a beer or two and realize I should probably quit while I'm ahead before I totally ruin my knitting.

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And with that, Knitting and Crochet Blog Week comes to a close. It's been fun! I still have a lot of blog posts from everyone else that I want to read. 

Day #6: Something to aspire to.

In 2008 I went to Norway and saw a lot of really pretty stranded colourwork sweaters. I didn't buy one though because they were quite expensive, plus I figured I could try to knit my own some day. I haven't done any intricate colourwork yet and would love to knit a pretty sweater of my own some day, or maybe something else like a hat or a pair of socks.

Norwegian Knits

I also want to make a super cozy Aran sweater, which shouldn't be too hard since I really like knitting cables. And of course lace! I don't have any specific project in mind, but I want to knit myself a nice lace shawl someday. I might start with some of the more simple patterns and work my way up. That seems to be how I like to learn new skills.

I've had a super long weekend already from being in my continuing education course last night and all day today. I am tired! I might even go to bed before midnight.

If you haven't had a chance to check out my last post, please do. I ask readers about their experience taking knitting or crochet classes.

Day #5: And now for something completely different.

Today is a rotten day weather wise. I have to go out in it tonight because I am taking a continuing education course which only takes place one weekend a month. So I've been busy today doing my readings and getting prepared for tonight's class. Not much time to do much else, plus it has been so cold in my apartment I've spent most of the day buried under blankets and kitties.

I've written about my course before. I am doing my final project on knitting because I didn't really have anything else to do it on. Not like I'm complaining. I'm not the only person in the course whose topic is on their extra-curricular activities. I'm self-taught knitter but I know some people have taken knitting or crochet courses at their local yarn store, community group, college or craft school. So I thought I might try a little discussion about one-on-one or group knitting and crochet instruction.

Question: If you've taken a knitting or crochet class in the past, what worked and what didn't work about the class?

Day #4: Where are they now?

Today we are looking back on projects from the past to see how they've held up over the years. 

I've been thinking about this topic all day and having a hard time coming up with something to write about. I've knitted a lot of things over the years but couldn't really think of anything in particular I wanted to write about. I looked back to the knitting I did when I first started out, which was late in 2004.

When my sister was pregnant with her first in 2005 I decided to knit her a baby blanket. I went to Wal-Mart (I know right?) and picked out some Bernat Harmony in a sage green colour. I didn't know much about yarn then but figured I needed something washable. Harmony isn't listed on Bernat's website anymore, but there are some pictures of other people's stashes on Flickr. As you can see from those photos it is a somewhat textured yarn. I worked on the baby blanket on the bus and while at work (I worked in a call centre at the time and we could knit between calls). 

When the blanket was finished I thought it was really ugly and felt embarrassed to give it to my sister. So off I went to Lewiscraft, a now defunct craft store, and bought 4 balls of a Bernat worsted weight acrylic in pale yellow. I had probably less than a week at this point to start and finish another blanket before the baby shower on Easter Sunday. I worked, worked, worked on that blanket right up until the last  minute. I thought I was going to run out of yarn but I just made it. I gave it to my sister at the baby shower and she seemed really happy about it. I ended up giving her the other blanket too, even though I thought it was ugly. 

The second baby blanket I knit that year

My sister gave birth to a baby girl in April of that year and over the years I wondered if she had used the blankets. I never saw them around when my niece was just a baby. Well a few years ago I was staying at my sister's house for a few days over the summer and we were sitting outside. My niece was 4 years old and out she comes from the house with the ugly green blanket! I couldn't believe it but apparently that was her favourite "blankie" and she did lug it around the house all the time. In that moment I felt really proud that my niece chose the ugly blanket to be her favourite. My sister tells me both blankets are still around. My niece uses them with her dolls or my sister covers up my nephew when he's cold.

I know now that there are other options for knitting baby blankets aside from just acrylic. I'm not going to knock others for using it, as it is very washable. However there are also lots of good cottons and superwash wools to chose from, as well as some really nice blend yarns.

Day #3: Tidy mind, tidy stitches.

Today's topic is on how we keep our yarn and associated items organized.

My yarn, tools, and patterns are organized fairly simply. I long for the day when I have an actual craft room or even a spare bedroom so I can keep everything in a place that is not my own bedroom.

All of my yarn is in 3 plastic storage bins. Two of those are under the bed bins, but they don't actually fit under my bed (they did in my last apartment). See I have carpeting and the bed frame sinks into the carpet, making it a tight squeeze to get the bins under. I can do it but it takes a lot of shoving and pushing, and then they are really hard to get out again. So for now they are just on the floor, up against a wall in my bedroom. The other bin can fit up in my closet but it just sits on top of the other bins for easier access. 

Yarn in my messy bedroom.

The yarn is sort of organized by weight, but I had so many skeins around everywhere that I had to shove the yarn in whatever bin it would fit. One bin has mostly lighter weight yarns, the other has the heavier yarns, and the other bin has the overflow and all the yarn leftovers. The tote bags have some more yarn, spinning fibre, and finished items that need to be blocked. Basically those bags hold stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.

Anything I'm currently working on sits in a tote bag from the liquor store, and it's beside the couch. There's also a magazine basket bin thing that I put projects in, and that also holds tools that are too big for my "toolbox" (things like sock blockers, ball winder). 

Liquor store tote bag with a broken handle.

My "toolbox" is a sewing box I got for Christmas one year (thanks mom!). I have a sewing machine, but I don't use it, so I started using the box for all my knitting tools. It also sits by the couch in the living room and it's great. I like that it has a magnetic clasp so the cats stay out out if. 

Knitting toolbox.

I don't have a lot of pattern books or magazines, but they are on a tall bookshelf in the living room also. The knitting books don't even take up a whole shelf. Any patterns I print off are in a big zippered 5-Star binder I've had since high school, organized by category. That binder is getting full so one day I will have to expand. 

Small collection of craft books.

Of course like many others I use Ravelry to it's fullest to help me organize everything a little better. It's the best thing ever! As well as Flickr to store my photos and a folder system on my Macbook for each year which contains a folder named Knitting for that year's projects. 

My ravelry profile page.