Happy 2020!

Happy Christmas everyone!  We had a great time and so much food. One Christmas tradition in my family that has stood for quite a while, since I was in 4th grade, is that on Christmas eve we have chicken fried steak, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls and chocolate pie. Before this we always ordered pineapple pizza from Domino's. One year my Grandfather decided he wanted my Mom to make chicken fried steak. Well it was delicious and it stuck. This is pretty much the only time of year I make this meal, just to make sure it stays special. We put candles in the pie and sing happy birthday to Jesus. Even as the children have gotten older that hasn't changed. Christmas Day is never the same.

This year hubby and the children will go to his brother's house and I will go to the home of my bff and play games with his family. When we all get home this though we are doing something different that I think might stick too. We are going to have tamales, beans, fries and green chili for dinner. Just have to heat it all up and then we can relax and eat.

For 2020 Mom and I have joined the MKAL that Stunning String is putting on. This is the first time that either of us have joined any kind of a yarn club and we are both very excited! We wound our yarn into cakes together. The first clue comes out on the 1st, which is a Wednesday. We won't be able to get together that day but the next clue is scheduled to come out on the following Friday, the 3rd. We will get together that day and cast on together. We each ordered a different color from the club exclusive list. Mom chose the pink peppercorn and I chose curry. We will get 3 skeins dyed in the same color; one skein will be a mohair blend. I am so excited for this! There will be a total of 5 shawls completed by the end of 2020. Because it is an MKAL it is a mystery. We are doing the knitting edition. Stunning String is offering a crochet edition this year as well. Cindy is a great knitting designer and has lined up several crochet designers to create those shawls.

I have nearly finished the projects that I refuse to carry into next year, and my Christmas presents. Uriah's gloves are completed. I learned that the letters on the fingers would have looked better in duplicate stitch but other than that I am pleased with them and they are in his stocking.

H's socks are done and will be in his stocking for Christmas eve. I worked tube socks hoping that they will fit him for a longer period of time.

 

I finished the secret socks, but can't show pictures and am about to finish the owls. I finished my Marvel shawl last weekend and now have a new neck piece to wear.

The projects waiting to be started are pictured below and the pile just keeps growing.

I have joined the 12 Days of Yarnmas on Instagram and it starts on Christmas Day. Each day there is a prompt for what kind of picture to post. While I have taken many of my pictures I'm not going to share them early; you will have to follow me and/or the on Instagram. I'm Azariahs1982 there and the #yarnmascarols . Michelle from Crafty Flutterby has put this together and she always does such fun stuff!

I have received confirmation that I will be teaching at Interweave Yarn Fest 2020! This is exciting news to me. I really feel like I have hit the "big time" now. I will be teaching all day Wednesday April 29, 2020. In the morning is Math, Yes, Math and then after lunch will be Crochet for Knitters.

I heard back from Estes Park Wool Market and I am scheduled to teach Estonian Lace, Intro to Crochet and Intro to Knitting.  Keep an eye out for when registration begins.

Longmont Yarn Shoppe recently posted a picture on Instagram of a flier from a new to me yarn festival here in Colorado. It was for the Knoble Yarn Fest in Greeley, Colorado. I signed up to take the 6 hour class to learn more about knitwear illustration from a guy named Andre from Portugal. I am hoping that this class as well as the sweater class I'm starting in January will help me to be a more efficient designer and submit more designs to more platforms. I don't want designing to be my livelihood, just fun and give others joy, not just me.

Starting January 6, 2020 I will be putting myself through the Blueprint class Sweater design with Shirley Paden. I had originally thought about a sweater that would be for cold weather, but since we are moving into warmer weather by the time I finish this piece I have decided to make a warmer weather top. I'll make a page here on the blog just for this class and announce each time it is updated.

I have 2 big goals for 2020.  One to put all my knitting and crochet books into my Ravelry library.  The other main thing I want to do is learn Imperial Length as well as I know weight.

I'm really excited to move into the new year in just a day or so.

Happy New Year everyone and until next time...

Happy making!

Good bye 2019, Hello 2020

I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving, for those who celebrate it. I had a wonderful time with the family. It was quiet, just the 5 of us and plenty of food.  The next day, as is usual we decorated the Christmas tree.
 

Sorry I am so late in posting again. The place I went to to post the last time didn't have internet that day and then the holiday... But here we are. I was also just able to get the Woolly Weirdos post up though it has been ready for a while. First world problems, what can I say.

As we are now in the final month of 2019 I want to look back a bit on what my goals were, what I accomplished and start planning for 2020. I will use this months posts to do that. This post will be about what I accomplished in 2019.

From the last post for 2018, where I talked about some projects I goals, I did okay.  I didn't learn any more about weaving and while I do have some bobbins for making bobbin lace now, I didn't learn any or even really try.  The first project listed is the Faberge Shawl, I had to rip it again because I had the colors backwards and the design wasn't going to show up.

One thing I have done all year is carry a sketch book and color pencils.  I bought a backpack just for this.  I also carry a notebook for other notes and ideas, my Bible and some knitting.

Another thing I did accomplish this year is getting the UFOs and WIPs under control. I do have them, yes. I looked through all the projects that were on needles and made some decisions. Keep and finish, give to someone else to finish or rip and reclaim yarn.

I did at least one of each. I took UFOs that had directions and added needles if needed to the community stitching group that I am part of in Aurora, Colorado and let them have at it. They do very well putting these things to use.

I finished a couple as well. One was a cotton vest that only needed decreasing done on the 2nd front. Someone had gotten fed up with it because the directions said to decrease as for the 1st side, mirroring the decreases. It really isn't that much effort to add the actual decrease directions to a pattern, especially if you know it will help the people making your design be more successful and want to do another of your pieces again.

I also went through all, and I mean all of my stash; of yarn, fiber and fleece. I got rid of nearly all of the acrylic yarn. There are a few skeins left, that while I know I can't work with them they still hold sentimental value for me. I also kept 2 lap robes that are finished pieces made from acrylic.

I do have quite a few WIPs left yet.

Alpaca After Dark

Marvel
Ri's gloves
Lace gauntlets
Socks x 2

Tears to Roses

UFOs

In the Garden

Mourning Leaves

Shetland Sampler

Franklin KAL

German Lace KAL

Russian Egg

All of these projects I evaluated and decided that they were worth continuing.

How to evaluate a project.

What is your first feeling when you pick up this project? Joy? Errr? Sure I can do this?

Who was/is it for?

If this is a project that has been sitting a while and was for a baby or a child, is it still going to fit or be age appropriate? If not should you finish it for someone else or charity?

How much time is currently invested in the project and about how much more time will it take to finish it? Don't forget to factor in finishing in ends, sewing on buttons, blocking and anything else this project needs.

How much money have you invested in materials? Do you need to buy more materials and if so can they be easily found?

These are the questions I ask myself when deciding what to do with a UFO I come across. I'll walk you through the process using one of my UFOs as an example and discuss variables that would have made me choose a different direction.

Franklin Habit KAL from February 2019

Honestly I am still on the fence with this one. I was really enjoying it and having a wonderful time. I started test knitting and was having to divide my knitting time and it got pushed to the back. I was still working on it a couple of times a week and then I fell to the bottom of my workbasket and I just forgot it for a couple of months. When I pulled it out to work on it again I couldn't figure out how I had changed the stitches to work in mirror knitting. I have looked to see if I shared anywhere what I did; Ravelry, this blog... I have checked all my notebooks and pictures and found very little information as to what I did.

I absolutely love this yarn and the feel of it knitted up. It is spending more time in my bag and not getting worked on however.

To be able to work on this project again I will have to redo all the work I did to figure out the stitches for a mirror knitter. Then I can work on it. I have plenty of yarn to finish and am about half way through the piece. I don't have another pattern or design that I want to make from this yarn...

If I rip the project it will be the yarn's second time being ripped out. I have started something with it before. It is a fine yarn and whatever I make next has to be "it" or the yarn will suffer.

The project brings me joy because it is a Victorian piece, revitalized by one of my favorite people, Franklin Habit and is in a yarn I love.

I think I will redo the work to figure out the stitches and go from there. Then at least the next time I decide to work this piece, be it "this" one or another that will already be done.

Deal breakers for a project and options of what next

When you don't have enough materials and can't get them.

Can the piece some how be made smaller without frogging and restarting? Stop now or at the end of this repeat and finish the piece. Note there will most likely be some math involved if you do this.

If money is the reason that materials can't be procured but you want the project, then set it aside and start saving to finish that project.

Not enough time

If you are on a deadline for a celebration you have three choices, cram and finish it, give them an IOU and finish it ASAP or go to the store and buy something. If you choose cram and finish it make sure that is feasible and practical. Don't try to cram a gift that needs to be finished in four days, and blocked during the rainy season, especially if it is sweater. You know your schedule and making speed, choose wisely. You can always go to the store any way. If you choose IOU, truly finish ASAP, for them and you. Then you won't be that gift giver who makes things but never finishes them and you will have your UFO gone.

Errr....

If the project invokes thoughts of wanting to throw it, you have thrown it or makes you not want to knit or crochet any more then frog it and reclaim the yarn. The only exception is commission work, otherwise let it go. Something your are making for someone else and they are paying you. This is why you have to be careful what commission work you offer and accept. If it isn't for a publication of some sort then you can go back to the person and talk about what isn't working, the yarn, the pattern... And figure out another way.

After you have let something go and frogged, if you really want to come back to it fresh then do so. If you don't circle back though you probably didn't like it all that much to begin with.

I did this with both UFOs and WIPs. What's the difference?

That answer is relative and different for each person. For me it is a matter of time. How long has it just been laying there, untouched? If it has been 3 months or more or I can't remember the last time I worked on it, UFO. I have one WIP that isn't even cast on yet, Tears to Roses. It is a personal design that I am dyeing the yarn for and the design keeps changing, While I am not knitting on it, I have swatched, am playing with color ideas and still trying to decide on the construction method.

My 2 current exceptions to the UFO rule are my Stephen West Brioche wrap and my wedding shawl.
The wrap is made up of scrap sock yarn and then 4 skeins of main color yarn.  I want to use as much of the main color as possible and so will continue this project until it is all used.  The scrap sock yarn only comes along when I finish a pair of socks however and so there is waiting time in between colors. Either because there is that much time between pairs of socks or because the colors don't work and I need a different color next.

 
My wedding shawl is my oldest WIP.  I can't tell you how long I've been at it because I haven't made a Ravelry project page yet and have no info with me.  I really enjoy it when I work on it.  Because of the white yarn and fine fabric I try to do it when there is very little else going on around me. Because each row takes about 20 minutes I want to work on it only when I have an hour or two to do only that. Progress is slow, yes but my how I am enjoying it.

I have enough UFOs and WIPs to last me knitting until 2022 at least.  I will be adding more projects but continuing to be diligent in finishing what has been laying around.

 As for launching a fiber arts guild, it was slow and soft.  I didn't push at all or put much work in to it.  I am already putting more work in.  There is a blog and an IG tag now.  I'm telling everyone and passing out fliers.  We'll see what happens next. #thewoollyweirdos

My challenge now is to decide how many different aspects of the fiber arts do I want to actively work in and how am I going to that.  Knit for sure, spinning yes, crochet, more fun that I remembered, weaving, unsure how much, embroidery, possibly.  These are all without adding something new like bobbin or spider lace.

In 2020 I want to carry out an idea I have had for a couple of years of crocheting a quilt.  The acrylic lap robes I have I want to make out of wool.  I haven't yet written down the patterns for them, as they are my designs, so I can't get rid of them yet.

I will continue to test knit and crochet, as it is something I love.  I will publish at least 4 designs.  My big goal is to work through the book by Shirley Paden for designing knitwear.  I want to complete and publish a sweater design.  If I can get my 4 shaft fully functional soon, learning to tame that beast is also on the list for 2020.

I made a bunch of snowflakes for the ladies at Bible study and they were well received.

 

Next time will be where I am on my current tests, how Christmas projects are progressing and the club I have joined for 2020.

 

Until then...

 

Happy making!