knitpurldrop: Fair Isle and Delusions of Brilliance

After I finish a large, particularly challenging project, I will admit- I have a little extra pep in my step for a few days. I get a little bit of a big head when I finish a project every once in a while. It's been a while since I had one of those "I pretty much am the most awesome crafter in the world today" days, but today was one of them. Why you ask? I finally finished my fair-isle pullover that I started last July.

Okay, it really took about 3 rather obsessed weeks, but one of those weeks was in July, one of those weeks was in December, and I picked it up again March 1st and didn't put it down until it was done. Which was last night during Jon Stewart. I did a bit of a victory dance in the living room like I had just discovered fire or something and thought I'd wear it today. It's been warm- Spring is finally on the way, so I thought I had missed my chance to wear it. But today the Knitting Gods smiled down on me, and there was snow this morning. So I wore it to the Flower and Patio show, where I had a lovely time with my grandparents and my Aunt Neany. My grandpa (aka Crappaw) is quite possibly the most ornery man on the planet and is absolutely hilarious to hang out with. But every time we struck up a conversation with someone about any topic at all, he would suddenly interject "See this sweater? She made this!" Which would cause me to turn bright red. I did have one unprompted man say, "Hey- that's a cool sweater!" which led to another lovely conversation and he wanted to know if I had made any Super Scarves for the Superbowl last year. I told him about my involvement with the committee through my old job and that was that. So yes, I have a new sweater. Thank goodness the neck is nice and big so my giant head can fit through it. I hope that subsides soon.

*I'm not crazy about the neck actually. I'm having the same problem with it as I do with some raglan sweaters- the neck comes a little too high up on my throat and I feel like a really weak person is trying to clothes-line me all day. I haven't blocked it yet so I'm hoping that gets better after blocking. If not, stay tuned for more adventures in steeking.

So one more project down. I still have one more goal to meet before the end of March, and I think I could have it done by the start of next week if I got determined. And that's the last bit of hand-binding on the quilt that began last May. But that is the most boring blogging ever so I'll spare you. After the quilt is finished I will be down to 9 projects, which is a number I haven't seen in a while. I'd like to finish up a few more and keep it around 5. The plan is to always have a couple knitting projects, an occasional crochet project, a quilt, and maybe a cross stitch project. Weaving projects occur randomly but are normally finished pretty quickly as the loom in the middle of the living room drives me nuts until it's done. Perhaps one day I'll buy a stand for it and it won't be such a mess to work it.

I did pull out a old WIP that's been hibernating for a year or so thinking I would try to finish that before the end of March too. I walked by it a few times and decided it would really do better being frogged and added to the shelter blanket pile. One of my goals for next quarter is going to be eliminating a good chunk of the shelter blanket oddball pile, which gives me a warm fuzzy feeling about being kind to animals in need since I can't adopt another for a while and gets rid of old stash that can't really be used for anything else.

Let's see...I can finally share a project I made back in January with you! I made a shawlette out of some sock yarn for a swap and I shipped my package out March 1st. It was ready early February, but we had to hang on a bit before we could send it. So here it is!

The pattern is called the Zetor Scarf and this is the third one I've made. The yarn is a tiny bit busy for anything more complicated and I think the highs and lows really worked out well with this simple lace pattern. I have made it with 2 different sock yarns in the past and get so many complements on the ones I wear out and about. So I really wanted to branch out and try a new pattern, but I went with an old favorite and it went quickly and I don't regret it all. It took about a week, and I had about 3 feet of yarn left after the bind off. I love it when you really get your money's worth out of a yarn like that. The yarn is some of the English stash, a gift from a Colchester knitter which was dyed by another Colchester knitter. Yarn is Bearium Necessities by Lucy and I love it. It's a wool/tencel blend and has a lovely shine to it but that's tricky to show in the pictures. More info on my ravelry project page if you need it.

And lastly...the quilting projects. I've been cutting up fat quarters for my King-sized quilt that I'll be starting after I finish a couple more other projects, but I thought I'd sneak in a little project first so I don't have to interrupt a big project to get a little project done. I've knitted Rob's mom a couple little gifts and she always seems very pleased with them- she won't use the knitted dishcloth I made her because it's hung on the wall like a picture. Oh well. She throws a giant 4th of July party every year and her birthday is right around that time too. Her house is Americana-themed and when I saw some patriotic fat quarters in Florida, I thought I'd make her a few quilted potholders for her birthday, which is late June. I think.

I managed to quilt and bind one of the log-cabin tops before Esther the sewing machine decided she was done. So now I've got to go and get her fixed so I can finish the other and make a few more (I have loads of batting leftover from my other quilt so I figured I'd just go until I was out of fabric). I'm really bummed out that I'm going to have to put some of my "Paris savings" into fixing the sewing machine, but I'm also really glad I didn't wait until the day before her birthday to start making them and have a problem then. Also glad she didn't crap out in the middle of my next project which is still just a bunch of fat quarters that still need finished cutting. I really think I'm done adding to the pile of fabric though- I think I have too much as it is. (7 more fabrics off to the side that need cut up tonight)