As I posted on the 23rd of May, I've had this blog going for 10 years now. Although I've been sporadic in blogging, I have been posting pictures on Instagram. The ease of Instagram........I can do that anywhere and anytime. Thanks to Christina for opening my eyes to Instagram. Blogging, I need to do it from home, so it's a little more difficult. In addition, I do post my projects on Ravelry with the yarn and needle information.
What I like about having this blog is the ability to see the improvements in my knitting from 10 years ago to now. My skills have improved dramatically. I have recognized that I am a process knitter at heart, although I still tend to knit mostly things that I will want to wear or use. But I love to try out new processes and new stitches, which is when I like to make baby things because it's a smaller time commitment.
During that 10-year span, I've also picked up spinning and weaving. I adore spinning, there I've said it. I love the "zen" of spinning. I don't have to think about it. I don't have to follow a pattern. I love that you don't have to plan ahead for it. I've not gotten to the point of planning a spin for a particular knitting project and I may never do that, although it would be good to learn how. As for the weaving, I've mostly played around with it but made a long narrow scarf and some towels for the kitchen. I'm still using the Cricket but lately been eyeing the Kromski Harp. The issue I have with the peg warp is that I don't have anywhere to place the peg that will give me the length of warp I need. So, the Kromski Harp provides a warping board on the reverse side, which would be perfect. More weaving time is needed as well.
So here is a question. When you have time constraints due to working, commuting, kids, fill in the blank with whatever, how do you pick which fiber art you want to work on? If you're spinning, you're not knitting on that project that you want to finish. If you're knitting, then the spinning fiber is calling your name. If you want to weave, well first you have to plan your project, warp the loom and then you have a little time to weave a little. Sometimes, it's just difficult to pick. I find I tend to spin when I'm in between knitting projects. Although I always have at least 4-10 projects on the needles, one or two are usually my main focus. So when I've finished one of them, I can take a break from knitting and do some spinning. I used to sew and quilt as well, but can't seem to fit those in my limited time. How do you manage it? What is your primary focus?
So, on to some things I've been working on.
I posted here about the latest fiber I had spun. It was a beautiful blend of blues and yellows and I really love the way it turned out. I couldn't quite decide what I wanted to do with it, so I sat and stared at it for awhile. I looked at different shawl patterns, but didn't quite have enough yardage for most of the ones I was interested in. I then decided on the Quaker Yarn Stretcher.
What I like about having this blog is the ability to see the improvements in my knitting from 10 years ago to now. My skills have improved dramatically. I have recognized that I am a process knitter at heart, although I still tend to knit mostly things that I will want to wear or use. But I love to try out new processes and new stitches, which is when I like to make baby things because it's a smaller time commitment.
During that 10-year span, I've also picked up spinning and weaving. I adore spinning, there I've said it. I love the "zen" of spinning. I don't have to think about it. I don't have to follow a pattern. I love that you don't have to plan ahead for it. I've not gotten to the point of planning a spin for a particular knitting project and I may never do that, although it would be good to learn how. As for the weaving, I've mostly played around with it but made a long narrow scarf and some towels for the kitchen. I'm still using the Cricket but lately been eyeing the Kromski Harp. The issue I have with the peg warp is that I don't have anywhere to place the peg that will give me the length of warp I need. So, the Kromski Harp provides a warping board on the reverse side, which would be perfect. More weaving time is needed as well.
So here is a question. When you have time constraints due to working, commuting, kids, fill in the blank with whatever, how do you pick which fiber art you want to work on? If you're spinning, you're not knitting on that project that you want to finish. If you're knitting, then the spinning fiber is calling your name. If you want to weave, well first you have to plan your project, warp the loom and then you have a little time to weave a little. Sometimes, it's just difficult to pick. I find I tend to spin when I'm in between knitting projects. Although I always have at least 4-10 projects on the needles, one or two are usually my main focus. So when I've finished one of them, I can take a break from knitting and do some spinning. I used to sew and quilt as well, but can't seem to fit those in my limited time. How do you manage it? What is your primary focus?
So, on to some things I've been working on.
I posted here about the latest fiber I had spun. It was a beautiful blend of blues and yellows and I really love the way it turned out. I couldn't quite decide what I wanted to do with it, so I sat and stared at it for awhile. I looked at different shawl patterns, but didn't quite have enough yardage for most of the ones I was interested in. I then decided on the Quaker Yarn Stretcher.
I won't make this post heavily laden with pictures, so I will ask that you click on the Instagram link above to see what I've been working on.
I started the Chevron Scarf on Thursday. I am really enjoying this project. It's knit with a solid color, I chose Malabrigo Sock in Natural and then for the color, I chose some handspun that I spun from that big 3-lb bag of loose ends that I spun randomly. I'm loving the way it looks.
I do have a goal this year. Socks. I've created a right foot sock to accommodate my arthritic toe, so my goal this year is to make a minimum of 6 pairs of my new sock pattern. I have been getting rid of socks I can't wear anymore and making room in my sock drawer for new socks. I have finished 3 pairs so far and have 3 more on the needles with different levels of progress.
That's it for today. For those of you who blog, I highly recommend printing your blog to PDF. We all know that these blogging platforms can go away, just as many loved cloud systems went away. So preserve your history of blogging by printing to a PDF. I usually pick a year, which then loads up that year and then print. Do it today.
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