Knitting Has Saved My Sanity

So I am now in my final semester of my college career (until I decide I want to go to grad school) and I am in that pre-graduation freak out about I'm not exactly sure what I want to do when I am done.  My way of combating that freak out is to basically spend any time that I am not doing homework, I have been knitting.  I also have been knitting while doing homework if I am reading something that will lie flat and doesn't need to be held open. 

What I have found so nice about knitting lately is that the act of knitting has been enough to quiet that worry.  This also means that I have been able to finish quite a few projects so far this year.  So far I have finished 28 different projects, 19 of those projects have been dishcloths and most of them with pictures in them.  I have also finished 9 hats, 5 of which are going to be sent to Wool-Aid which is a charitable organization that sends woolen items to children in poverty stricken, extremely cold climates.  It is a great way to put your wool scraps from other projects to a good use.

I have also finished a pair of boot socks, which unfortunately for me are too big and will be going to my sister who also just recently got the boot cuffs that I made.

But my current knitting addiction is baby items.  I love how fast they knit up and even though I don't need them, I am coming to the point in my life when my friends and cousins will be having babies and it is nice to have items on hand and not have to try to whip them up at the last minute.  Last weekend I was able to knit an adorable green baby vest in about 4 hours.

Today I started a new baby vest that is in Sock Yarn Studio called the Golden Lace Baby Cardigan, which is so cute.  Instead of knitting it in the tonal gold (or any tonal yarn) that they show it in, I am knitting it out of a yarn that looks like a tye-dye shirt and I love it so far.  The lace pattern looks so nice on the edge and is really easy to do.  I have a feeling that I will be knitting more than one of these because with a little variation it could also be a vest suitable for a little boy as well.

So now I need to either find a way to start my own yarn shop, which I have wanted to do for years, or get a job in a yarn shop, which could be problematic because I have a feeling that I wouldn't bring home much of a paycheck then.

New Year, New Goals

So this year I am going to make an effort to get back into making things for Esty. I have gotten lazy on adding new things to my page because I was rather disillusioned after an extremely bad craft show experience this past spring but I think that I am finally getting past that now and am actually getting the urge to get back into it.

I am also going to make an effort to make a dent in my stash of yarn and get it to a more manageable size, to where I don't feel guilty about buying more yarn. I have already succeeded in using a nice chunk of it for Christmas presents and need to continue at the same pace I am going to have any chance of reducing the size of my stash.

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

School has started again, fall is almost here, and it is time to start working on Christmas presents (well any that are going to be knitted). I don't know why it has been harder than normal to get back into my study mode, I feel like I am constantly trying to play catchup even though I'm just barely a month into the semester. Hopefully things will turn around soon.

Well on the knitting front things are moving along nicely. I have for the most part picked patterns that I can do while I am reading my text books, which means that with all of the time that I have been reading so far this semester I have gotten the majority of Mom's Christmas present done. I have to start over on Lexie's because she decided that she hated the color I was using. Dad's is done because I actually made two things for him last year and saved one to give him this year. I haven't figured out Nick's or Mike's yet, but I have Kira's done because I am not going to waste time and money making someone a present that won't appreciate the time and effort that went into it. I also have Caley's present done, unless I end up have some extra ambition and getting her socks done for Christmas rather than her birthday and then I'll just swap presents. I also still need to figure out what I am going to make for Grandma, that will be the toughest to figure out.

I have also joined a couple of swaps for this fall. One is a pincushion swap which is just coming to a close actually and the other is a longer swap that is for Halloween. I am actually about half way done with the knitted part and I have a good portion of the goodies but I am having a hard time finding the right yarn to include.

Becoming Domestic

This summer I have felt as though I have become very domestic. I planted a tomato garden and have been making salsa from the tomatoes as they ripen as well as dehydrating some to use later. I have also made lots of blackberry jam, strawberry jam, raspberry jam, and strawberry-rhubarb jam this year.

Now my mom and I are making soap and candles. I don't know what has brought this on us but this summer I worked harder than I have at any job I have ever had. But at least I can actually see the products of my labor and know that we will be benefiting from all of the work that we did and are doing. It also makes you think about when you go to the grocery store, you think more often "do I really need to buy this, wouldn't it be better to just make it at home?" We have greatly reduced the amount of canned goods that we buy, such as fruits and spaghetti sauce by canning our own in the summer and using them throughout the year.

I am glad that I am learning these skills that many have forgotten in light of all of the modern conveniences but when you make it yourself you appreciate it more and get exactly what you want rather than settling for something that isn't exactly what you wanted because what you wanted is gone or worse they stopped making it.

7 Down 93 To Go

So I'm over one month in and I have 7 dishcloths completely done. I am a little behind because I am still have trouble finding my routine for this semester of school. I do however have a couple more almost done, they just need the ends woven in which is my least favorite part of any project.

To add to the amount of work for this project, I also have a couple of rather time consuming Christmas presents that need to be completed for my parents. I just have to keep in mind that I have to make two if not three dishcloths per week.

An interesting self challenge

I recently saw this post where someone is trying to knit 100 dishcloths in 1 year. Well I thought that I would try it as well, however I won't limit myself to just knitting them because I like to crochet as well. I will begin my challenge tomorrow as today I am away from home and not able to start. So my goal is to have 100 dishcloths knit and crocheted between August 16, 2010 and August 16, 2011.

Finishing Projects

Lately I have been trying to finish projects that I have had started for a long time and just haven't finished for one reason or another. As I was going through my UFOs, I realized that a lot of them were really close to being done. I had a market bag that only had about a half hour's worth of work on the strap left to do, a sling bag that only had to be sewn together and many dishcloths that were over half way done. So last week I got the market bag done and then took it to the farmer's market the next day. I also got the sling bag sewn together, though that went into my bag of christmas presents.