February 2016 – ClubKnit

Unfinished Object (UFO)

Friday’s are supposed to celebrate those finished objects everyone has been working so hard on. But, in reality, I have not taken the time to reach out and ask anyone to share. So instead, I pulled a bag off my shelf and decided to see what has been holding me up on that project. This project, Dancing Stripes, had a program schedule in it for my niece’s 2007 bible quiz bowl meet. Wow! A project that has sat on my shelf for about ten years. Is this my oldest UFO? Hmmm. A topic for another time.

Why the UFO status?

I love the yarn. Fingering weight New England Shetland wool from Harrisville designs.

I love the colors. Signature colors by Vivian Hoxbro. The depth of the shades just call to me. Melon, purple haze, peacock, grass, mustard, and BlackBerry (not pictured). Oh I wish my photography skills could show you the blend of blue and green colors in that peacock or the orange and yellow in mustard.

And, finally, I love the stitch pattern too! Fringes followed alongside short row garter stitch creating a zig zag pattern that is so easy to zen out to.

What I don’t love? The design. Sorry, Vivian, but the way those zig zags point to middle horizontally just makes me cringe. Thus the ufo status.

Dancing Stripes Repurposed

So I’m thinking about different options for what I can do with this project. A felted piece? A bag? Table runner? No….

Take a look at the UFO picture again and compare it to the pattern photo. The fringe is on the side, not the bottom. And the stripes point down, not sideways. And the length of that peice is the length I like for a cardigan. Soooo. What happens if I knit this around the body which puts the fringe off-center in an assymetrical look. Somehow I would have to pick up at the top edge to do a yoke of some sort and make it a vest??

Opinions? Other options or ideas? Follow along with this project on my Ravelry page.

Organization

Today, I find myself organizing books, magazines and leaflets while looking for a pattern I’m really sure I have in my pattern stash. You know, that one you have knit so many times but still want to have the piece of paper to follow along just in case?? After working through the organization of a stack of looseleaf patterns, I can say success! I found it. It’s now sitting on the quilt on the chair and I probably had better put it in my knitting bag before my grandson hits my office and says “I color, Grandma?”

Inspiration

And as I go through each bin, and move things around by category or publisher, I’m reminded of projects I’ve either knit, taught, or want to knit. And I get stressed. Does that ever happen to you? The thought of so many things I have yet to accomplish nauseates me. When am i ever going to find a time to sit down and work on these ideas, will I lose them in the shuffle, how will I remember this project in the middle of this book or magazine?

Ahhhh, deep breathe, cup of coffee.

Digital Organizing

Now that I am trying to be more organized in my life (I have no less than five 3-ring binders just of project notes and ideas for ClubKnit), I’ll add my new ideas to my clubKnit Evernote notebook (message me if you want an invite so I can earn points to upgrade to Premium). I love that my notebook goes anywhere I have smart phone or computer access. I take a photo, tag it as “inspiration” and machine or hand, give it a description and record the source and boom, I’m done with that detail and now its off my mind. The next step is to remember to review the notebook when I’m feeling a little stuck for ideas, right?

How do you organize your projects, ideas, and plans??

Meetup Reminder

ClubKnit members, don’t forget to join us for an in-person meet up Friday, February 19 from 2-5 and/or 6-9 and/or Saturday from 10-5. Bring your ClubKnit project, machine or hand, and if you want to do a baby bootie, fingering weight yarn and size 2 set of five double point needles.

I’ll be working on two projects, the Stormy Weather Tunic adapted to a cardigan on the LK-150 and hand knitting Christine’s baby booties for NICU in Fort Wayne.

If you want to know more about ClubKnit, read here. If you aren’t a member, feel free to come and pay $5 at the door. Thanks!!

What are you working on this weekend?

ClubKnit

Month: February 2016

Dancing Stripes, UFO