Tag Archives: Knoontime Knitting

Tuesday Tips – Cat Litter Containers

Knoontime Knitting

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I have a lot of yarn.

No, really.

The problem is, that all that yarn piled into a mountain in the middle of my living room would be a lot of fun, for about five minutes.

Then, The Cats.

So, what to do with it until I’m ready to turn it into something?

Cat litter containers!  I might as well get SOME use out of all the shitsand we use at our house.  ~grin~

Many of the litter companies sell litter in large plastic three or five gallon-size containers with locking lids.  Once you’ve used the litter, wash them out and store your yarn.  They also have the advantage of stacking well, which is useful if you have an unused corner behind a door, say.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What are your favorite supply storage tips?

Work In Progress Wednesday

Knoontime Knitting

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I looked at the ratty holder I’ve been using for my transit card the other day and got embarrassed.  It’s falling apart!  The leather’s all rubbed off on the corners and it was built to hold a cell phone that I haven’t had for two phones now.

I’m a knitter.

This should be a solvable problem, yes?

Ergo, I’m making a small knit pouch wallet for my transit card.  I decided to try the woven stitch, but it curls a lot at the bottom.  I may add an edge of seed stitch or do the whole thing in seed stitch, we’ll see.  I’m still farting around with the swatch.

But I’m having fun designing again!  That’s almost better news than the fact that I’m knitting.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What’s your Work In Progress for Wednesday?

Stash Sunday

Knoontime Knitting

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Rachel and I wander around a lot, and as part of that, we search out local yarn shops, or what knitters like to call LYS’s.  During Rachel’s last trip here, we visited The Knitting Pot in Elmhurst, Illinois.  Rachel fell in love with some lovely overdye purple yarn, but there was only one skein of it.  It’s been sitting on my idea board for the last two months while I try and figure out what to make with it.

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I like Cascade yarns.  This is a nice, chunky yarn that’s soft and has a nice hand.  This colorway is interesting because it’s so understated, all plums and grey.  It’s a lot darker than it seems in these pictures.

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Here’s a shot of the back of the yarn band.  The colorway on the left tells you what the manufacturer’s color it is.  The lot number on the right tells you which batch it was dyed with, so that if you’re using more than one skein, you can make sure all the pieces are the same lot number.

Here’s the tough part:

I don’t know what to make with it.

So, here are my ideas:

  1. A stuffed elephant/truffle.  (A truffle is an imaginary creature that Rachel and I invented for our Persis series; it’s a cross between a cocker spaniel and an aardvark.)
  2. A lace table runner.
  3. This is currently my favorite:  an Amazeball.  Here’s my idea:  make a large ball, stuffed and cushie.  Send it to a friend when they’ve done something amazing.  They get to hang onto it, kind of like a trophy, until they feel like it’s time to pass the award on to the next person.  Ooh!  As I’m typing this, maybe include a pocket, and each person giving the award can write a note to put in the Amazeball to pass it along to the next person.
  4. A set of tree ornaments.
  5. Use it in a woven piece where I wind on a continuous warp, and use this as one of the weft pieces.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What would you make with it?

Saturday Stashbusting

Knoontime Knitting

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I’m working on busting my ginormous stash.  In order to do that, I need to work on the projects I started.

The Stash List

  1. Block the Jewel Scarf
  2. My hat
  3. The red cable bag
  4. Line the Uglii Bag
  5. Bind off the Uglii Afghan; decide if I’m adding to it
  6. Buttons to the red blouse

This was originally a list of 5 things, but I realized I need to block the Jewel Scarf too, and that’s something I can do on Sunday.

Oh, and here’s Boria keeping the Uglii Afghan warm for me.  I know, I featured him a couple days ago, but it makes me laugh so I figured I’d share again.

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What about you, Dear Reader?  What’s in YOUR stash?

 

Thoughtful Thursday – 3D and Writing

Knoontime Knitting

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No epiphanies this week.  Just a hat.  I decided to try making one with lace, rather than straight ribbed stitches, and like how it’s coming out so far.

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Boria and Kolya both keep sleeping on my Uglii Chair Afghan, which is annoying.  Kolya wants to chew the ends of my knitting needles.

I think I’ll make him into a hat.

Tuesday Tips – Sheet Protectors

Knoontime Knitting

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I know those really neat fabric roll-ups are a cool way to store needles and hooks.  But until I can afford one, or make one for myself, what I’ve been doing is using sheet protectors and a large binder.  I organized the needles by size, and put the crochet hooks in the back one (which you could reverse, if your primary craft is crochet).

I keep my circulars in a zipper pouch organized by needle size; I splurged one year and got a set with detachable needles.  I highly recommend this, if you can swing it, because it makes sorting out the circular needle mess so much easier.  I really like KnitPicks needles for their smooth joins.

What about you, Dear Reader?  Got any favorite storage tips?

Make Something Monday – The Jewel Scarf

Knoontime Knitting

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The Jewel Scarf is done.  It’s nice and soft.   I’m not sure what I’m going to work on next; maybe a top-down sweater.  For now, here are some more views:

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I like long scarves, but I think this will fit well on the person for whom I designed it.
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It actually drapes well, which is nice.  I haven’t blocked it yet; this is just off the needles.  But I like the flow of the fabric even without blocking.

What about you, Dear Reader? What are you making?

 

Stash Sunday

Knoontime Knitting

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Now that I’ve finished the Jewel Scarf, I’m at a loss for what to make next.  I want to do a top-down sweater, but I don’t feel up to something new and complicated.  I have a bunch of yarn left over from the Bryce Canyon Shawl, and I don’t like the hat I made with the leftovers.  I decided to take another shot and make another hat.

Top-down hats are easier than they seem.  The nice thing about making them is that you can try it on halfway through and make sure it works how you want it to:

  • Cast on 8 stitches; join to work in the round.
  • Increase in each stitch; 16 total.
  • Work 1 round even.
  • Increase 8 stitches in next round.
  • Work 1 round even.
  • Repeat last two rows until it’s round enough to cover the crown of your head.
  • Work straight for as long as you want it, down to the ears or longer, if you want a foldable brim.
  • Then bind off and you’re done.

I like Elizabeth Zimmerman’s sewing needle bind off best, because it’s a nice edge, and isn’t tight or rigid.

  • Leave a long end of yarn and thread it in a blunt sewing needle.
  • Insert the needle into the next 2 stitches as if to purl and pull through, leaving the stitches on your knitting needle.
  • Insert the needle into the first stitch as if to knit and pull the stitch off the knitting needle.
  • Repeat these steps across the end of the row.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What’s in your stash?

Saturday Stashbusting

Knoontime Knitting

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It’s 2016.  A new year, right?  I saw something on Facebook the other day that made me laugh.  It was a meme about new years, where we focus on what we didn’t accomplish in 2015, and wanted to do in 2014, etc.  I do want to work on my stash busting, but I know better than to say “I will bust all my stash this year.”  I did that once.

Once.

So this year, I’ll focus on playing.  The shot, above, is of my jewel scarf that I’m making for Rachel.  I’d say it’s about 60% done.  Boria is sound asleep next to my spot on the couch, with the Ohio State afghan my mother crocheted.

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My craft shelves.  I installed them this year and like them a lot better than what I was using.  This has a whole bunch of projects to play with.  My biggest challenge is to work on making sweaters.

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This holds a number of overflow supplies, including my ivory yarn that I want to use as my first top-down sweater practice yarn.  I tried one with some colored yarn, (purple heather and pale pink), but it was too challenging to work with the color design and the new technique at the same time.

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This is my list of stash containers that live under my bed.  I had an idea, at one point, to go through the list and make stuff one by one.  That’s where things imploded, because I got too overwhelmed by the project.  Instead, this year, I’m just going to focus on one thing at a time.

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This is my mess.  I’m working on reorganizing my filing system.  This is actually more organized than it looks, because the piles are specific things, but they still don’t belong on the table.  I need to get them into the filing cabinets.

How come I can’t use a magic wand like Hermione?

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A little more close-up of the scarf, where you can see the pattern of the yarn as it interacts with the lace stitches.  I can’t wait to finish it and see how it blocks out.

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This is my latch hook rug frame, with the start of the peacock/firebird rug on it.  This is what I got away from this year, because I kept getting intimidated by how much I had left.  This year, I want to try applying what I learned in NaNoWriMo – meaning, do thirty minutes at a shot, make small daily goals rather than big giant ones.

We’ll see.

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And this is the cabinet I bought to organize our sewing supplies.  Obviously, I haven’t PUT the stuff in the cabinet yet, but hey.  Once step at a time.

That’s my motto for this year:  one step at a time.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What projects are on your list?