Gifts and Mushrooms

Posted by Emily |2 comments

When I first began knitting, I was so enamored by the idea of giving people things I made with my own hands that I volunteered to make a great many projects for people. Since those early days of naivete, I've learned a few crucial things every knitter should know before offering to make something for someone else:

1) Set ground rules about the yarn. Key points: fiber, weight, and color. Make absolutely certain that your recipient knows that you will not knit a sweater out of black, fingering weight acryllic, for example. If necessary, offer to go to the yarn store with them, or to select the yarn yourself. Above all else, DO NOT AGREE TO USE YARN YOU WILL HATE. I cannot emphasize that enough.

2) The project should be within your 2S limit. The two s's are sanity and skill. If you have never done a lace project, don't agree to knit the most complex lace pattern you've ever seen for someone. If you absolutely loathe seaming, do not agree to make a project that requires you to use that horrible little needle with the eye more than your beloved pointy sticks.

3) Lastly, make a gift of your choosing for someone, particularly if they have no idea what options there are for hand-knit items. If they show the faintest hesitation when you ask what they would like you to make, start suggesting projects that you would be interested in making. Or take the decision out of their hands entirely and tell them you will surprise them.

4) Consider the usage quotient. You'll want to think about how often the recipient will wear or use the object you're making them. If you think the chances are low that they'll use your hand-knit, make it something simple so you won't regret the time and money you spent. If they end up wearing your hand-knit every day, add them to the Deserving-Of-Hand-Knits List. If they put away your knitting and never look at it again, well, there's a list for those people too.

If you observe these rules whenever you think about making a gift for someone, you'll be a much happier knitter. Trust me.

A New Year and Some FO's

Posted by Emily |0 comments

I realize it's nearly an entire month into 2010 and I'm just getting around to acknowledging the new year on my blog. Let me explain because I promise that I have a good reason!

Inspired is the word. I've been spending a lot of time recently finding new blogs and podcasts, and let me just say, there is some really good stuff out there. I'm hoping some of it will rub off on me and we'll start with a recent observation. The start of the new year is a time for making resolutions. Astute, I know.

I've never been a resolutions person. I've always had long-term life goals or traditions. For example, it was my goal for many, many years to be a museum curator. Not specific to a new year at all. I also have traditions, such as trying something new on New Year's Day, or summarizing the events of the previous year as a point of reflection. Resolutions seem superfluous to me. The vast majority of people don't keep them and good intentions don't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

After my recent exploration of the blogosphere though, I've come to realize that resolutions can be a worthwhile effort, if only as an assay of progress over the year. To me, resolutions were nebulous promises of self-improvement - you made a resolution to lose weight or get fit or to stop drinking soda. It's beginning to dawn on me that resolutions can be more practical in nature. I've heard of people resolving to spend 30 minutes per week on the spinning wheel, or reading 26 books per year. Those are reasonable, attainable resolutions. I need to resolve to make some of those!

Now, this post is a little premature. I'm still thinking about the resolutions I'd like to make. But seriously, if I wait until my list is ready it will be August and that's a bit late for New Year's Resolutions. I could wait until the March Equinox which is more in tune with my druidic leanings, but that's two months away. Sure, I'd have a completed list by then, but it wouldn't mean as much. Besides, it makes more sense to reset your resolutions on a solstice anyway. The equinox is a time for balance, not beginnings.

Ahem, small tangent there. I apologize. Anyway, here is my partial list of almost-New Year's resolutions:

• Knit one pair of socks per month. Yes, January counts.
• Knit three sweaters this year. As I haven't knit any adult sweaters yet, three seems like a lot.
• Spend 30 minutes per week on my spinning wheel, provided I have fiber to work on. 
• Read 12 new books this year.
• Have my own place by December 1st, 2010. 

None of those goals seem particularly challenging, but seeing as how I'm a resolution noob I should start small to bolster my confidence. Or something along those lines.

Now, there is an over-arching resolution here that ties into everything else. Namely, by keeping to those resolutions, I should be able to achieve this last one - update my blog regularly! I am intentionally keeping that vague because I haven't identified a regular schedule that work for me yet. I seem to post at least once a month but I don't think that's often enough. Hopefully by setting smaller goals with products as results, I will have a steady flow of material to add to the blog.

Speaking of products, let me share a few FO's with you! First off, the Japanese Fan and Feather Scarf (Ravelry link) which was a holiday gift:

Next up, the Secret Santa present I made for my knitting group's exchange. It's a dice bag (Ravelry link)!

And here's my first adult-sized garment, a tweed shrug/vest thing (Ravelry link).

I also have a slew of other projects that I've finished recently but I don't want to post pictures of all of them here. If you're really curious, I encourage you to look at all my finished objects on Picasa (see slideshow at right), or look me up on Ravelry.

Lastly, I mentioned a bunch of lovely blogs and podcasts at the beginning of this post. I'm still working on honing my list down and once I do, I will post what I listen to and read regularly. Otherwise, please check out my blogroll for some written-word inspiration.

Help for Haiti

Posted by Emily |0 comments

So many people are posting links and promising donations to help Haiti in the wake of the earthquake near their capital city of Port au Prince. It seems like just about everyone is trying to do something, including Ravelry. If you haven't heard yet, Ravelry has set up a link on the patterns page to search for patterns from designers that have pledged some or all of the proceeds of selected patterns to Haiti relief efforts.

Go here to see what's available and donate to relief efforts by getting that pattern you've always wanted.

Blog Redesign

Posted by Emily |0 comments

I realize that I haven't posted pictures of the handknit Christmas gifts yet. I'm lazy... The photos are on my camera and I have yet to upload them. In my defense, I've been working three jobs over the holiday. It's been a bit hectic.

Doesn't change the fact that I could find the time to do an entire blog redesign but can't find the time to upload a couple photos from my camera... Heh.

On the subject of the redesign, I love it. It took many, many hours, but I think it was worth it! The theme is not exactly perfect for a crafting blog, but it does work for me.

As far as knitting goes, I have a few new projects on the needles. I finally got around to working on my sister's quilted hat. It's quite a tedious knit, being fingering weight yarn, but it's very pretty. I just hope she wears it when it's done! I've also been working on my first sweater. I chose a pattern from Cheryl Oberle's book, Knitted Jackets. It's such a lovely pattern and I love the yarn! I've almost got the body of the sweater done and then it's just the sleeves, collar, and finishing. I can't wait to wear it!

I will try and update my blog more frequently, but no promises!