Your time, your place

When do I knit?

Normally my knitting time is at night, after my kids and hubby go to bed. I kick my feet up and try to take advantage of the hubbub of the day dying down in "my" spot on the couch. I also have a great knitting group that I meet with for an hour once a week to knit, compare projects and gab.

I also have a few other non-everyday times that I sneak a little extra knitting in. First, my new job requires a little more traveling than before. I'm a nervous flyer, so having my needles with me helps make the flight go a little smoother. I also make sure to set aside a few hours for knitting every year on my birthday (today, yay!) I go to Starbucks, drink my latte, and knit and just completely relax.

Where do I knit?

Well, as I alluded to before, my primary knitting spot is the couch, even though I sometimes knit in public too. But the space that I really consider my knitting place is our office/craft room. We still need a place for a computer and some books but I've turned the rest of the space into a home for all of my yarn (and fabric and paints and ribbon).

I love this space. It's so cozy and inviting! I've noticed even my kids hang out in here more since we made this a crafting space. I'm so lucky to have a space like this.

 

 

All About Me

So today's topic for Knitting and Crochet blog week is not about knitting per se but rather all about the blogger. So some things to know about me.

1. I have been married for almost 14 years
2. I met my husband in high school. Yes our prom picture is hanging on the wall (next to our wedding picture)
3. I have only sisters, no brothers
4. However I have only sons, no daughters
5. I love warm weather. I freeze in temperatures below 80 F. Lucky for me I live in Arizona
6. My favorite color is green
7. I have surprisingly little green yarn
8. I love "chick lit" books. It's the reading equivalent of a brownie
9. Someday I want to visit all fifty states. So far I've been to 19 of them
10. If I could have any career I'd be a professional singer. Not really a practical idea, though, so I think I'll just stick to singing in the car
11. Part of the reason I learned to knit was to keep me busy after I finished college and no longer had mountains of homework
12. I may have a slight sock yarn addiction
13. I only wear socks a few months of the year (see the aforementioned living in AZ)
14. I'm a novice sewer but I can see why people love it
15. I like to make lists

 

If I was yarn...

...what would I be?

Today is the first day of the sixth annual Knit and Crochet blog week and the first topic is "If you were yarn, what would you be?" An interesting topic for sure. There are so many different types of yarn out there, each with their own purpose for knitting and/or crocheting. Cotton is great for washcloths but can really stretch as a garment unless blended with another yarn. Silk is soft and luxurious but very delicate and wouldn't be good for a child's stuffed animal. In way people are like this too. We all have such different personalities but each person has a purpose and place in this world.

Okay, enough philosophy. Onto me and what yarn I would consider myself to be. I thought about the properties yarn has and think I have an idea. I would consider myself 100% wool. Wool is versatile and can be used in so many projects. Wool can be stretched and molded into shape. It has great memory. But if you agitate it too much, it can felt, shrinking in on itself.

I am known for my memory. I am versatile and can participate in many projects and activities. Too much agitation can be hard on me. So wool-like.

Want to see what other knitters think they are? Search 6kcbwday1!

 

Bow ties are Cool

My sister is getting married next month and thought it would be cute for the little boys in the wedding (C, J, my nephew and BIL's nephew) to wear bow ties. Problem is she needs light pink ones. So far ever store we checked has black ones or plaid ones. Solution: sew them!

All the patterns I've seen seem very simple but I wanted to practice before I volunteered to make them. I found a great tutorial from this website. It basically amounts to folding a rectangle and sewing it, folding it and sewing it again, etc. Easy enough for this novice sewer.

I used some fabric from Ikea that had somewhat abstract automobiles on it. It ended up looking like swirled fabric by the time I was done, but that's okay. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now onto four pink ones (using satin, eek!).

Bonus - I accomplished something on my resolution list, which was to sew something wearable.