Something very interesting in the Craft: blog today. This article about a woman doing a one-person show, that needs your knitting input! Actually, your unfinished knitting projects. For sending something to her, you get a ‘Set Construction’ credit in the program. After it’s over, the bits get sewn into blankets and given to charities. I’m defnitely going to send her something, it’s my duty as both a knitter and a theatre tech. I wonder if I can put this on my resume…

The other interesting crafty thing of the day is I got my first issue of Craft:! Hurrah! I’ve only flipped through so far, but it seems really great.

I haven’t knit too much more on my Coronet hat, what with making dinners, cleaning, dishes and laundry, but hopefully I’ll get to it soon. I did the grafting, picked up the stitches, and got about 5 rows knitted.

We broke a 110-year old record temperature here today. It was -27C (I think) on the thermometer, and -39C with windchill. DAMN COLD.

I’ve put the sweater aside for bit. It’s SO. DAMN. COLD. here I decided I needed to knit myself a hat. I’m too poor to buy any more yarn (haven’t started those fingerless mitts yet, I’ll explain after some hat-ness), so I went through what I had in my stash.
My original plan was to make a hat out of some alpaca yarn I’ve have for a while. The brand is called ‘alpaca Indiecita’ and I’ve had it since about… *thinks* October 2003, so it’s time it got used. I’ve got some charcoal grey, and some cream. Looking at it, I realised the gauge was pretty small, and if I wanted a hat any time this year, I’d need to double it. I doubled, swatched, and found that it was close enough to the gauge for Coronet from Knitty! So I started. Crappy photos because the sun set at 4:30pm today, so no natural light. You may notice some ends hanging out the sides. Let’s take a closer look at those, shall we?

Now, why would a solid colour band have so many ends? The project that I originally bought this yarn for, and started waaay back in October 2003 was a sideways-knit garter stitch scarf, with a self fringe. In other words, at least a ball of this stuff was in lengths. And as I’m using them doubled, each change is four ends. Each scarf-length did about three repeats of the cable pattern. I’m making the medium size, even though I most definitely have a large head, as that is what my gauge is dictating. I did 17 cable repeats, which fits my head just snugly enough, rather than the 18 the pattern says to.
I think I may knit the body of the hat in reverse stockingette, because I do like the way it looks. I’m also undecided as to whether I will knit any of the cream in with the charcoal. That’s what the swatch I made was. I ripped it out though. I almost always rip out my swatches once I’ve found and noted gauge, I should really stop doing that so I can have something to refer to.

I also really wanted to start those fingerless mitts of Eunny’s, and I wound the one skein into a ball, and dug the end out of the other one (I hate those centre-pull balls! I can never find the end, I dug out about half of the yarn entrails before I found the end), and then was having problems deciding what size I need to make. I’m right between small and medium, so I’m not sure. Also, I thought any sock yarn would do, so I didn’t think of gauge, and I don’t have the yarn with me right now, but I think I’ve got a different size of yarn that Eunny made hers out of, so I’m going to have to think long and hard about that.

In other news, it was -32C outside today. So I didn’t go outside. I think I will weave in some ends now, so I can get some hat going tomorrow.

It’s been a very slow week in blogland with all you American bloggers off stuffing yourselves silly. Come back please? Entertain me with your knitting stories!

Dear Apple,
I love your products, I really do. I’ve had an iPod for over two years now, and an iBook for a year and a half. I have been lusting after the Mighty Mouse for a while now too, especially since it went all sexy and wireless.
But do you have to send me the advertising emails? The MacBooks are calling me, and I have nowhere near enough money to buy one. Nor do I need a new computer, when this one is fine.
I know I could unsubscribe, but then I might miss out on the next new thing. And as head of the Mac section at work, that would be bad.
Just please don’t tempt me so, dear Apple.

Heather

I just had a very enjoyable shopping morning, and only spent $40, and got a damn good stash of stuff with it.

My first stop was my LYS. I knew what I wanted when I went in, and that’s all I left with. Aren’t you proud? I needed more roving for my thrummed mits. I wasn’t expecting a great colour match, but I think I got a not-too-bad match:
‘
I figure with a bit of mixing, there won’t be too much difference. I was very happy to find those small packs, because the other stuff they had was big lots of Lorna’s Laces roving.

My next stop was Value Village, where I got some bargains. A couple old, tattered knitting patterns for 29 cents. Not planning on knitting them, but they’re in English and French (yay Canada) and I’m going to use them for ATCs, collage, etc. Also got a picture book to use just for the pictures, a new tea towel with a blue and white pasta print, and a small doily I’m currently tea-dying. All for $10.
I like the idea of using old pictures and neat, aged pages from old books in various crafts, but my inner bookworm always SCREAMS at the thought of cutting up a book. There was a used bookstore back home a few years ago that was going out of business, so everything was 70% off in the last few days. I bought up tons of old, tattery books to make book boxes out of. I could never bring myself to do it. And I now have a closet full os slightly musty books. Nothing valuable or antique, but I still couldn’t do it. The book I got today is more for the photos, it’s all old movie-musical photos, and pretty tattered to begin with, so I think I’ll be able to do it.

My last stop was Michaels. Now, as an ex-employee I should have remembered that on Saturdays Michaels turns into hell on earth, but I apparently forgot. I went in only for glue (shame, I know, having no glue in the house, and calling myself a crafter) but came out with something else. In my defence, I did get them to give me the weekly 50% off coupon, so it was only $15. I am so enamoured of it, I made a collage:

They had them in the scrapbook section (is it just me, or does it grow each time you go in?) but it’s just a great craft basket in general. There’s all the pockets, the inside is all divided, there’s a big zippy pocket on the back, and the drawer on the bottom! So cool!

I’m just a geek for pockets, boxes, and baskets, so this is all my obsessions in one.

All in all a good day. I spent more than intended (all I needed was roving and glue) but I got some good, useful stuff.

So far I’ve kept up with my own personal NaCoWrMo, I am very proud.

I’ve been having the urge to craft lately. I really want to run a craft business again. Nothing terribly serious, just something to do after work, make some extra money. Maybe find that I’ve hit on the newest trend and am now making enough to just craft my days away….
Okay, well that last sentence is a dream. The rest is pretty realistic. I want to buy a soldering iron.

I’ve also joined a swap on Craftster, because I want to get back in to making things. Not just knitting. I joined the ATC swap. It seemed like a good one to join, I just have to produce one ATC (2.5″ by 3.5″, it stands for Artist Trading Card) and send it out. A nice, gentle nudge back into other crafts.
The sad thing is that all my craft supplies (apart from the knitting stuff…) is back at my parents’ house. Although that can work for this swap, I think it’ll just make me be more creative by using what I have.

I’ve been reading the quilting books at work lately. Which is funny, because I can barely use a sewing machine! I’ll post a mini-review of one of my favourites soon.

I wish I was independantly wealthy. I just want to sit and craft all day. Damn my 9-5 job. DAMN I say.

Speaking of job, as you may have read here before, I’m head of the crafts section at the bookstore I work at. I am now also head of the Mac section. <3 the Mac. Now I just have to convince work that they need to give me money for a new iBook, so I'll know what all the new manuals are about. :)
And if you are a Mac-user, and haven’t seen MacStyles yet, get thee hence!

When I have the money, I think I want mine to look like this:

But then again there are so many choices…

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about crafting for fun and profit. And I think you need to be careful how you mix the two.
I want to make some crafts that can supplement my income. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go quite my dayjob or anything, but I just wanted something a little extra.
Thinking about that, the crafts I’ve done before, and thinking about the business mum had, I think that if you’re going to craft for profit, you need to enjoy what you do, but sometimes it’s a good idea if it isn’t your main craft. Now, ‘main’ may not mean the one you do the most (because if you have a business, you’re probably doing that a lot) it means the one you always go back to, your love.

I think I see myself making jewelry. Now, I really like doing fiddly tiny stuff, so that’s fine. I would never knit for profit. I tried that, with my uni craft fairs. I knit as a hobby, as a passtime, as something to relax. I don’t want to have to stress about deadlines. But say I started making jewelry, I could be doing that one Saturday, get frustrated or tired of it, and then I could go relax and knit. If something I was knitting for a show was frustrating me, I wouldn’t have another craft to turn to.

Knitting for me is relaxation.

Right now I need to find my perfect business craft.

I am very sad. So sad I didn’t post this last night when I discovered it.
I still don’t have enough roving to finish my mittens. I realise that yes, I was making the thrums pretty big, but then, I had a whole new clump of roving, as well as what was left over from the first mit. I guess the thrums were extra-super big, because yesterday night I lifted up one clump of roving, expecting to find more underneath, but no. I’d used it.

I have just enough (according to my kitchen scale) to finish the body of the mit, but none for the thumb. I suppose I need to rip it all out and re-do the thrums. I really don’t want to do that a second time. I may turn it inside out and pick bits of the big thrums. Timewise, ripping would probably be more sensible, but this method makes me feel better. blargh.

Well, at least my hands will be super-puffy-warm

Browsing the internets, as I do, I’ve noticed that it’s NationalNovelWritingMonth again, and someone has come up with National Sweater Knitting Month (although I don’t know how NaNoSweMo is the acronym… althoug it is easier to say that NaSwKniMo).
Now, I don’t have the time (or the ambition) to write a novel ever, much less in a month. While I would love to knit a sweater this month, and even have a tiny part of a sleeve started, I know I won’t finish. I’m slow. I don’t have the time.

What I do want to do is improve my blog-surfing manners. For this entire month, I pledge to leave at least one comment per day. I have 81 feeds in my bloglines, I check it over breakfast in the morning, and always throughout the evening, while I’m knitting or whatever. But what I never do is comment. I know I love seeing the comment notifications in my inbox when someone comments here. I’m hoping that by forcing myself to do it this month, it’ll be easier, more natural later on.

I’m sort of working on this principle: in grade 12, my more-religious-than-me roommate gave up biting her fingernails for Lent. I expressed some opinion of doubt, so she told me I’d never be able to give up chocolate for 40 days. So we both gave up stuff, and watched each other like hawks, and both survived without breaking our promises. After that, I was so used to not eating chocolate, I just didn’t get the cravings anymore.

And it isn’t that commenting is a chore, either. I know people must like getting them (I do!), it’s great to get feedback, it doesn’t take long, but for some reason I just don’t. It only takes a second to command-click (don’t knock the Mac. Love the Mac. Screw right-clicking) on the post I want to comment on. With it in another tab, I can even finish perusing Bloglines before commenting, it doesn’t need to be immediate. But for some reason, I don’t.

But this month, I will. At least one comment posted by me, every day. Maybe more. Not Less! I started this blog to connect with people. I realise now that you can’t just wait for people to flock to you. You must go out, and comment, my children.

I have already left today’s comment, now I knit. I want mittens for Monday.

Oh. Damn. Just checked the long-term weather, apparently it’s warming up on Monday. We get plus temperatures! Oh well, still want to finish the mittens so I’m prepared for the next time it gets past -10C. That’s when my little fleece gloves are fairly useless.