I've known me for 52 years (consciously for probably 48 years because everything before the age of 4 is suspect) so I shouldn't be surprised that my modest low stress crafting plan for 2013 has...morphed a tad. Now the morphing doesn't surprise me completely because as mentioned, I know me, but what has caught me off guard is how quickly the plans morphed. I'll get to the point.
My original thought was to spend 2013 picking away at modularly knit quilt blocks and knitting my 2 daughters Icelandic sweaters. This is still the plan, but in 10 days I've managed to turn 1 modularly knit afghan into 3 afghans, 2 Icelandic sweaters remain, but what should I make my son? Plus I've decided to learn Tunisian crochet (the hooks are in the mail) and I have the yarn for an as yet unspecified brioche project. While I'm at it, I have to confess to joining 2 (yes 2) block of the month quilting projects and I've signed up for a pattern writing course. For those of you who may not know me, I do work full time and I have a personal life with my husband that does go beyond what is clearly my crafting addiction. Stop me before I craft again!
What do you do when you've over extended your crafting plans yet again? I can tell you that hyperventilation does not help (I know that because of a box of yarn I received this week that I'd conveniently forgotten I ordered). Oh sure, you can breathe into a brown paper bag for a few minutes so you don't pass out, but once your breathing returns to normal, there is still a large box of yarn in your kitchen.
Plan B
My new plan is to work away at the variety of projects listed, hope like heck I don't add too many more projects and show you bits and pieces of my progress as I go. To that end, here is the tumbling blocks piece I threatened to felt in my last post.
Unfelted
This project taught me that combining Jamieson's 2 ply Shetland in the same project as Knit Picks Palette (a fingering weight Peruvian Highland wool) isn't seamless when it comes to felting. Both are fingering weight, both are 100% wool, and both are hand wash dry flat, but I think the Knit Picks Palette is slightly more processed. It's difficult to explain, but it has a slightly softer hand which may in part explain the felting results. The Palette yarn is fluffier felted than the Shetland 2 ply. You can see the difference when you look at the dark orange triangle (bottom left of the orange block) which is Shetland and the other triangles, which are Palette. There is more definition to the Shetland yarn, I think.
My felting procedure was quick, thoughtless and nasty. I tossed the tumbling blocks into the washing machine with hot water, a pair of blue jeans and the heavy duty laundry setting and walked away. No baby-sitting the process. When the washing machine was done I tossed the block into the dryer - which may account for the fluffy bits. The size difference between non-felted and felted is on average about 2 inches. Briefly I thought I might use the tumbling blocks for a cover for my ipad mini, but there was too much shrinkage. For now it remains an interesting piece of fabric.
I have moved forward on my original plan to knit quilt blocks. Aside from the tumbling blocks I went with 2 easy blocks - log cabin and churn dash. I'd thought I might felt them, but have decided against it for now because I intend to continue mixing the Jamieson's and the Knit Picks yarns.
My goal with the knitted quilt blocks is to use this bin of fingering weight yarn I've acquired over the years.
As I'm sticking with straight fingering weight and 3mm knitting needles my block sizes are about 6 inches square. Let's see, at 6 inches per block with a finished afghan of about 42 X 54 inches in mind, I'll need 63 blocks...I have 2 complete. Well the finished size is negotiable. I am taking notes as I go in case anyone wants to take a crack at the blocks themselves. Just let me know and I'll post what I have.
Last March or so I posted this picture of a box of yarn that I had planned to use for an afghan.
I started messing with that yarn on Jan. 1, 2013. My plan is to knit a bunch of squares in assorted mixes of all the colours. Having knit numerous blocks and colours and ripped them out, here's what I have so far... 2 blocks. It's tougher to pick your own colours and knit them at random than I hoped it would be. Philosophically, is it truly random if I chose one colour and rip it out if I don't like it? Probably not. Fortunately this project has no deadline, so I can knit and rip and change my rules at will.
The surprise box of yarn that arrived this past week is for a Knit Picks pattern called Hue Shift Afghan by Karen Dimeler-Laurence. Again, it's modular knit and so far it looks like this.
I'm finding this pattern extremely easy, which likely explains why I have more of it knit than my other squares. When someone else writes the pattern and picks the colours, all you have to do is knit - no thinking required. There is a lot to said for that approach.
Finally, the Icelandic Sweater for Cait. The yarn is apparently in the mail, so I may have a week before I start that project. I haven't ordered Meg's yarn yet, but will when I confirm Meg's colour preferences. As for the Tunisian Crochet, the Brioche and the quilt blocks of the month, I'll squeeze them in where I can. I'm nothing if not eclectic in my tastes.
The Prince Rupert Library Knitters met last Thursday and to my chagrin I was unable to attend. I look forward to seeing anyone who wants to attend with any project that keeps them happy next Thursday, January 17th at 7:00pm in the Library's multi-purposed room.
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