Where Are They Now

That's the topic today, where have all the knits gone. I'm not super inspired to talk about this. I'm always afraid that my knits aren't that great and don't get a lot of use. But I'm sure that's just an insecurity. I think I'm also a process knitter. I don't always care about the end product. I like the experience of the yarn and patterns and all the stories around the project. When I've woven in the ends I'm done. Maybe that'll change with maturity. Oh maturity!

Hmmmm, what else can we talk about? I'm kind of running on empty, we watched the neighbors little guy today. Three little boys under 3! It was all incredibly smooth, but still pretty tiring. I'm so glad the boys get along so well. I'm looking forward to the weather continually improving and more time outside!

So, do you have a hard time parting with knits? Is there anything you've made that you couldn't give away and did something else for them? I promise a much better blog tomorrow! An announcement is coming your way!

2KCBWDAY4

The Stash

So today's episode is supposed to be about the stash and how it is kept. As a dyer, it's sort of hard to remain objective about what is 'my' stash and what is inventory. But I'll show you pictures of what's in the garage.

We got this pie case at a garage sale last year. E painted the inside door and the outside too. The little design is his little sign for princess, my nickname! Pretty lucky lady.

e modeling his safety glasses

Each shelf is a different weight. I have a couple of cones of sport weight that I got on sale when a shop was closing here in town. They sort of take up a lot of room! I should find a big project and put the yarn to work. For some reason I think it would be great for a crochet blankie.

Then there's all the yarn that had to be relocated after the critter lived in our garage for a bit. The two on the right have big on going projects. The bin on the left has all the WIP and FO's that need ends sewn in. I think. Yeah, too much stash I think.

Then there's the spinning stash. The bottom two buckets. I think that's all the spinning fiber. I might have a little at the studio. The top bucket is yarn that I know I'll never use and gets put out at the garage sale.

Every once in a while I go through the stash and pull out yarn that I know I'll never get to. But I would have to agree with Michele. I'm only buying/dyeing yarn as I need it now. My taste changes with time and experience. As I learn more techniques and how yarn can effect a project I'm realizing that I don't know if I'll use the yarn I have. But if the worst happens, I'll have plenty of wool to knit something to keep us warm.

Do you have a way of organizing your stash? Are you always adding? What's your favorite furniture to store your yarn/fiber in?

And it must be said, please excuse the mess in the garage! Yikes! But I wanted to share some pictures.

2KCBGDAY3

The things I've learned

I'm not great about getting pictures to share! But I have learned a lot this last year in knit-land. It might have been about a year ago that I was at knit night and everybody was working on something. I had a token project but it was what I work on between real ones. I'd sort of lost my knitting mojo. Sally was knitting just to knit and she needed me to do a stitch for some reason. I was inspired! Knitting because it was fun.

I think I started a few things that week! I also ripped out a few projects that I knew I would never get to. I have followed this guideline for a year and it's very freeing. I've ripped out more and I've remained excited about what I'm knitting.

I've also been slowed down by what yarn to knit with. I feel like if I have time to knit I should with yarn I've dyed. Samples for the booth are always a good thing right? But it stops me from knitting. So I'm getting over it and enjoying knitting with what ever strikes my fancy. And I'm still getting some samples done!

Now for actual knitting knowledge. I've learned the basic construction of a shawl and I'm not nearly so scared of knitting them! I think not being pregnant and o getting older has helped my knitting skills. I started knitting Octavia (sorry I didn't wait for you) and I'm a lot more comfortable with the directions and construction. I sort of want to go back and rip out a few that I started and I didn't know what I was doing. We'll see. Maybe I can redeem them. Speaking of shawl, I'm off to knit!

2KCBWDAY2

A Tale of Two Yarns

I know, not the most creative title. But here's the two yarns I'm talking about: Malabrigo Rasta and my own hand spun. e indulged the photoshoot, such a little cute boy! I had him wear a few of the latest pieces.

The cowl he has on is the malabrigo. I saw the color way and HAD to have it/knit with it. Like all the other malabrigo yarn it is ridiculously soft. What's strange about it is how big it is. I felt like I was knitting with rope. The softest round rope in the whole world. Maybe dense is the better word. You know yarn is usually squishy and you can squeeze flatish? Can't do that with Rasta. I don't know why, but I find this intriguing. I have one more skein of the same color. I'm not sure what I'm doing with it yet, but I'm thinking some crazy cute little baby something would be good. I'm waiting to hear what flavor the sister in-law is having. Too bad she's waiting to find out!

The other knits e is wearing are my hand spun. Funny, I didn't dye either of them. I don't usually spin what I dye up. I just dyed up a bunch of fibers for an order and a lot of them were v-e-r-y tempting. The bag e's holding is merino/silk from BMFA in bleeding heart. I spun it up a while go and plied it. The bag holds something very special to me and I had the hand spun lying around. A perfect fit.

I love this picture! I know I'm his mom, biased and all, but he's striking such a great little pose. The shawl I knit up from some batts, unfortunately the store is no longer in business. Major bummer.

So what is it about my hand spun? I think it's all the change. Thick/thin, change in color, change in over spun, to barely holding together. I don't usually spin for a specific project, I usually fall in love with the fiber or color and want to spend some time with it. I really like spinning for the problem solving that happens when I'm doing such basic mindless motions. I think I take that same state of mind and bring it to the knitting project.
I've started another shawl, same pattern using my hand spun. I think it's a great pattern for single ply. Maybe I'll have a stash of them to hand out!

What are two yarns for you that tell a story? I need to go see what the topic is for tomorrow!

2KCBW

Rip!

I think I've been avoiding blogging and knitting because I knew I needed to rip out a project. I'm making a sock and it's too big. What's crazy? It's a sample. But I'm just not happy with how big it's coming out and the stitches look sloppy because they're loose. So any minute now I'll get the courage to pull out the needles and rip it out.

I should really just get over it. I wasn't that far along!

A few other items on the agenda: I've ordered some more fingering weight yarn to dye up Sakura. I also found the perfect shawl pattern! Well, I think it's perfect. As soon as I get more dyed up I'm casting on. Ooooh, what about a knit-a-long?! Any yarn looks great with the pattern so lets find a skein and cast on. More deets once I have the yarn dyed up. In other Sakura news, there's still some in the shop! Right now $85 has been set aside to donate to Mercy Corp to help Japan. Can't wait to crack $100!

Next on the agenda: There's some new designs up on the blog! If you read through a feed come on over to the live blog and see what I'm talking about. It's also on the back of the Twitter page and the Store! What do you think? I'm slowly making some changes around here with the help of Caffeinated Mama. There's lots going on behind the scenes, so keep an eye out!

Have you heard of this? I think I'm going to play along. See you Monday to talk about two yarns!

small disclaimer: I just realized I've been drinking caffeine all day. I'm a little bzzzt from all the soda!

Sakura is Live!

Wanted to pop in and let you know you can now purchase Sakura in different weight/fibers/yarns in the shop! Some spinning fiber is already sold out, I'll try to dye up some more soon. If you're on twitter, follow me! You'd know about the Sakura already!! Knitted Wit is also on facebook. Knitted Wit also has a group on Ravelry. SO many ways to know all the happenings of Knitted Wit.
So, if you can, pop in the shop and purchase some Sakura. $10 from every skein, and $5 from every fiber braid will be donated to Mercy Corp to assist Japan in recovering from the earthquake and tsunami. Thank you for helping.

Thanks to Michele for making the pictures shine!

A Little Help for Our Friends

I've been rolling some ideas around in my head of how to help our friends in Japan. Such devastation from the earth quake and tsunami. I think it's been a little hard for me to want to process it being a parent to young children. When disaster strikes, it hits so close to home. I can't even fathom what families are going through. And if I'm completely honest, I don't want to. I want to bury my head in the sand. Growing up in Sitka Alaska we had tsunami drills and once had to put the plan in to action. Terrifying. Being in the second grade marching up to the high school, through a spooky grave yard no less, always wondering if a wave was going to sneak up. Thankfully I had siblings in the high school that found me and offered some reassurance. Yeah, head in sand please. (just watched the evening news while taking a nursing break. wow. The nuclear issues on top of natural disasters.)

But I'm inspired by some many people on the internets doing so many good things for our friends in Japan. I thought I would share a few links that I've come across from blog surfing or on twitter.

PDX Knitterati is donating full dollar amount of her pattern.

Oh, Fransson! is raffling of her Tokyo quilt for donations made.

Janel Laidmen has a new pattern out, sales being donate.

OlgaJazzy is donating 85% of her pattern sales. She's actually in Japan

Here's a post of a much larger list.

Feel free to add any you know of in the comments, I'm happy to add them here and go shopping at them.

I am compelled to offer something I can make, you can buy, and I can send that money to assist Japan. I read that pink represents happiness and then I read about cherry blossoms and how important the cherry blossom festival is culturally in Japan. (what did we do before wiki?) I'm hitting the studio on Friday to create Sakura (cherry blossom). I'm not sure what yarn base I'm dyeing on yet, but it'll have shades of pink with a little red dropped in. For some reason, I feel connected by reading about a tradition and symbolism and then making my interpretation with my hands. A therapeutic way for me to process such a loss. If you have any requests on what yarn or fiber you want to see this on let me know. I'll post pictures as soon as they come out of the steam pot.

Thanks for letting me process here. And thank you to Michele for helping me process last night, brought me to pink.