Knitting-wise:
1. As stated previously, a yarn destash. I have the opportunity soon to move accross the country and I don’t want to move again with four boxes of just yarn. I’m a military brat as well and have moved a lot. If I have too much of something I start to get panicky.

2. Knit a sweater.

3. Learn colorwork.

4. Try beads in knitting.

General life-wise:
1. Reduce clutter. I live with my parents! I should not have this much stuff!

2. Start saving more! If not for emergencies, then for this move.

3. Read more. I found that I’m a happier camper if I take the time to just relax. I might log all the books I have read for 2011.

4. College GPA. This one is the toughy. I’ve had a very terrible college experience. I’ve only had four semesters and two of those were overtaken by multiple illnesses, including mono. The other I had to deal with a long-term relationship break-up and stalker. So I’ve only had one semester to really be dedicated to my studies.

2011 is looking to be a great year! What are your resolution goals?

Even when I discovered early on that few resolutions are actually fulfilled, I can’t stop making them.

I got sucked into the Flash Your Stash 2011 thread on Ravelry. I suddenly got the urge to have my yarn storage regurgitate all its wooly contents on my full-sized bed.

It’s not that bad. It’s not that bad.

Yes, it’s bad.

I have a six cubby system. One holds handspun, another holds fiber, another holds works-in-progress, and the rest holds the other insignificant parts of my stash. Apparently, I play skilled games of Tetris to fit all of the stash inside.

As I was pulling things and really evaluating my stash I realized that I needed to purge. Not just the volume, but the variety. I realized that I was beyond the big box craft stores standard acrylic yarns and I was onto bigger and better things with my new knitting skills. The nice thing about it though, is now that it’s all been pulled out I’m seeing combos of colors and textures which will make it tremendously easier to think of projects that take up so much yardage.

I can already see three blankets I can make to add to the other two I plan to donate to Project Linus. Hopefully I can do some good while aiming for peace of mind when trying to attack the wooly stash monster at the end of my bed. Maybe since I talked about it, I can be held accountable.

We’ll get to the three fleece boogy men that are under my bed at another time.

This actually held me back! I think….

I only bought one hank of yarn and that was Socks That Rock. Had I not seen it, I think I would have went the whole weekend without buying some yarn. What truly attracted me was all the fiber. You can buy yarn in your local store, but fiber is a whole different story.

So what did I get from the drug dealers pushers vendors?

This is from Clover Lear Farms. It’s four ounces of blue face leicester in the colorway of Triberry Pie.

Also from Clover Leaf Farms, this is an 80/20 mix of wool and silk in the colorway of Red.

I spotted the Loop booth and just had to visit! I had been eyeing Loop’s goods for a long time in her Etsy shop, I never got the courage to shell out that sort of money. Since I finally got to see the fiber in real life I wasn’t as skeptical and was very pleased. I ended up choosing something pretty modest when you compared it to her other rovings. It’s called Purple Mounzins and is 4.6 ounces of alpaca, merino, corriedale, bamboo, tussah silk, silk noil, angelina, and wool and cotton nepps. It looks like a batt, but it’s actually a center pull mass of roving!

I can’t remember the farm which this fleece came from, but it’s three pounds of Teeswater/Coopsworth.

This was purchased from the fleece sale, and it’s five pounds of Romney from Brookworks Farm.

After all these fiber purchases, two things happened. The first was that my fiber obsession was reignited in a new way and I immediately broke out my spinning wheel as soon as I got home. The second was that I had no room for my new goods, so I needed to make room!

I got out some blue Meriboo roving from my local yarn store and spun up this little number.

It’s a navajo-plied yarn made up of 70% merino and 30% bamboo. It has varying shades of blue with little bits of white peeking every once in a while. It’s approximately 115 yards, 3.9 ounces, and has 9-11 WPI.

The roving came from PigeonRoofStudio’s Etsy. It’s 4.1 ounces of superwash merino in the Caffeine colorway. I’m a little dissapointed because the colors were so sharp in the roving and they have dulled out quite a bit on the bobbin, or so it seems. That might be a completely different story once I ply it, either way, I’m sure I will love it.

Hopefully, I’ll make a dent in spinning some extra room for my new goods and finally start consistently stocking new things in my Etsy shop.

I came, I saw, I spent.

I was geeking out the night before. I packed all my things and researched Ravelry for tips and tricks. Packed so much food from home so I would have more money for other goodies.

I set out from south NJ and as soon as I entered the Hudson region I was stunned by the colors of the trees and the mountain line.

The first thing you WILL come across is the vendor buildings. I believe there were about ten or more, and one of the buildings had a second floor! Oh jeez…

Many sold knitted goods…

to accessories and cute buttons…

to lots of yarn, fleece, and luscious fiber goods!

There were two breed display buildings and two buildings for, I suppose, holding for auctions and competitions.

There were many lovely demonstrations!

There were auctions…

and meetups (can you spot Casey?)…

and preparation for competitions!

There were many competitions, such as the sheep to shawl competition…

a photography competition…

the fleece competition and sale…

and, of course, the knitted garment competitions! The cardigan in the front is knitted by Cat from the Letsknit2gether podcast!

I had a fantastic time, although I’m sure my bank account hates me. I was a Rhinebeck virgin so I am sure I missed so much, even though I tried to fill my day to the brim.

I did not get too much yarn, because there was so much fiber there I could never find anywhere else.

One tip to you. If you do go, plan to leave an hour or two early if you can stand to. On saturday, the parking lot was jammed and I was stuck in my car for an hour and a half. Most events repeat for sunday, so you probably could scoot out early and explore the area.

I had an amazing time and I hope to meet you there as well!

I shall name him Craig, but if Craigs eats the yarn we will throw down.

This house is clean.

I heard about baby kimono sweaters on a podcast and decided to research it on Ravelry. My friend had just found out two days prior that she was pregnant, so it was perfect timing! I came across the Seamless Infant Kimono by Carina Spencer. I thought the pattern was perfect and would probably appeal to a non-knitter.

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft (Because Mommy is so not a knitter)

Needles: Size US 8 and 6

Finished Size: 0-6 months

Started: June 24, 2010

Finished: June 29, 2010

So what details can we see from the Ravelry pattern page?

Pattern price – You know, I have a hard time with this. Though I liked the pattern and the finished product, I felt that $9.00 was a considerable amount. I think that after I saw what all went into this super simple sweater, it was too much. I don’t know what a designer goes through and how much they truly should be compensated, but I have seen more complicated patterns for less.

Sizes – The sweater can be worked into 0-6 mo, 6-12 mo, 12-18 mo, and 18-24 mo sizes. The pattern also has suggestions for three different sleeve styles.

Yarn choice – Worsted weight yarn, so the sweater knits up fast.

Pattern construction – Wordy, but it has to be since it is such a simple sweater. Accompanied with big clear pictures.

Pattern Review!

The good things? The pattern is for an advanced beginner, and I agree. The pattern is a good starter project if you want to understand the technique of seamless sweater knitting. I had never tackled a sweater before and this helped instill some confidence in me. Though it is simple, you get three different sleeve styles so it can add some variety for future knits. Notes are added through the pattern as friendly suggestions.

The bad things? I can’t complain on much other than the price.  There are some added tutorials, but you have to go to Ms. Spencer’s site to access them. The pattern will only have links, but you can print the other tutorials as PDFs. I found this to be a little inconvienient. Also, you are instructed to pick up virtually every stitch for the border, but other knitters found this to produce a puckered border. 

Overall, I think the pattern is clear and concise, and the finished product is modern and cute. If the price doesn’t make you leery, then I say go for it and knit for the new little one in your life!

Some of my favorites from other knitters on Ravelry?

Marchstarz Infant Kimono

Clementine’s Infant Kimono with different ties! 

Kitscha’s Infant Kimono 

For more info on Carina Spencer or to see her other designs, check out her site!

The Girasole pattern was my first actual pattern purchase. I don’t think it could have really gone wrong. Mr. Flood seems very dedicated to his passion, so I figured the pattern would be well written or charted. Which will make for a short review.

So what details can you see from the Ravelry pattern page?

Pattern Price – Girasole’s pattern price is a measly $6.50. Although I say designers can charge what they like, this price appealed to my poor college student yarn-addicted self.

Sizes – Girasole comes in two sizes in the pattern, a shawl and blanket. I knit the shawl but I came to a conclusion. Though I loved the shawl, I found that I had to fold it into a half-circle to wear it or drape it willy nilly across my shoulders, which obscures the details of the shawl. So the next time I knit another Girasole it will be a blanket and will definitely receive more use.

It might not obscure all details, but I feel that I don’t get the same wow factor like traditional triangular shawls. Or maybe I’m just picky?

Yarn Choice – Mr. Flood remarks on “how yarn choices can make the same lace pattern into two completely different finished pieces.” I agree. I don’t know about most people, but I am a slow knitter. Though this means I am more careful with my knitting and pay more attention, I also get burnt out really fast. And I did, this took me about a year and a half to complete. I may have not completed it, if not for the yarn I chose for this project. Girasole is worked in a heavy yarn, so you’re able to see your progress as you go along. Which was great for me because I was even more inspired to keep going and not have to wait for blocking to see the beauty.

Pattern Construction – The pattern is charted but heavily accompanied by the notes Mr. Flood provides.

Now onto the actual pattern review!

Good things? Girasole is knitted in the round, which means no purling! It is charted and accompanied by a considerable amount of notes, but the notes are well written and the charts are easily memorized. All stitches are simple there are some K4togs, and make 5s, but nothing like nupps. This is a great first lace project if you haven’t taken the plunge.

Also I have heard that with the section pictured below, you can omit or add repeats without fear of messing up stitch count.

Bad things? The border is a time suck, it’s not difficult but your brain will explode over time and those little bits of brain will then explode again. Just warnin’ ya. Also, there was some confusion on the border. It states to bind off 3 and knit 3, but when you did BO3, you could only knit two. It was easily corrected and found that the last BO was considered the first knit stitch. Other than just being inattentive, that is, in my humble opinion, the only bump in the road for this pattern.

I highly recommend Girasole! You really cannot go wrong.

Pattern review criticism is greatly appreciated!

Jared Flood’s website

Also, The Fiber Beat podcast on Itunes has an episode (Ep.9) interviewing Jared Flood.

We are right smack dab in the middle of everything, it’s a bit of a drive but I don’t mind. To the west we have Philly, to the east we have the beach and Atlantic City, to the south we have Maryland and D.C, and to the north we have the good ol’ NYC.

My only issues with NJ is like two things.

1. EVERYONE and their mother smokes. I don’t mind smoking so much, but it’s everywhere! I will be parked at a red light and everyone around me has got a cig in one hand and their window cracked. My mother so brilliantly stated, ”Damn, I should’ve been a pulmonologist or an oncologist.”

2. The most irritating thing? You take the speed limit and add ten to that number and that is the true speed limit. Don’t go any lower or you’re gonna have your ass ridden or flipped off. And oh yeah, left turns don’t exist, and if they do then be careful. People will go around on your right, so if there are two of you poor souls trying to turn left, cross your fingers and hope that you don’t get T-boned. I don’t have a clue how that can be possibly legal.

Other than that, everything is dandy! I got a kennel job about two weeks after arriving so it’s just been work, work, work. I entered my Girasole into a knitting competition! I got first prize for it. The categories were womens articles, mens articles, children articles, and anything other than clothing.  So the shawl was in the “anything other” category, and I won first place for that! No pink ribbon though for winning knitting overall.

I was very surprised and pleased! I mean I stood there taking my ONE first time entry with it’s first place ribbon, watching these other women pull seven items with no ribbons. And these were ladies who, I felt, had way more experience than I. I will definitely say this. If you have been thinking about the Girasole, do it. The price is very reasonable and produces a beautiful FO and is so easy to knit. You can knit it either as a shawl or blanket. The latter portion of the shawl and the border will kind of drive you insane, but it is so worth it!

What’s next for me? Well I am trying to finish up Bridgewater by Jared Flood, it’s being knitted in Classic Elite Yarns Silky Alpaca Lace. I have finished the garter square and now working the beginning of the border. I am also working the basic pullover from Knits Men Want by Bruce Weinstein. It’s being knit in Vanna’s Choice. I know, I know. I could do better, but it’s my first sweater and I don’t want to make it pricey till I am really comfy with sweaters. The sweater is going to be for me so I really don’t care. My only problem is that the sweater is done in pieces so all the purling is killing my hands.

We actually transferred from Hawai’i to Texas, and as soon as we landed we wanted to turn right back around. Houston, Texas may be great for some but not for us. The only positive quality was the accessibility of Houston and all it has to offer, but even then Houston was lacking.

Our next destination is New Jersey, but for now we are in Tennessee with my grandmother and what a pleasure it is. I mean it is a beautiful change of scenery. For us in Houston, everything was so flat and there was little to look at and little wildlife to see. Here in Tennessee there are trees, and hills, and, my goodness, lightning bugs! It’s nice to be jogging along and see the neighborhood sparkle and see little rabbits run from me. I mean even the bugs are more attractive. Though the ticks are not.

I’m ready for New Jersey and to go to a university. I’m ready for wonderful new experiences and maybe to finally get out on my own. I say hip hip hooray for change.