NaKniSweMo is Done!

I was very happy that I was able to finish my NaKniSweMo sweater...and I didn't just finish on time either, I finished early and wore it to both of the Thanksgiving dinners I attended! It was fabulous and I'm so in love with the sweater!

The color is somewhere in between the colors in the pictures. It's a fantastic teal color. I'll have to find a friend to take some pics of me out in the sunshine so you can see what it really looks like. Hands down I love it though! Most complicated project so far!

Counting, Counting, Counting...

Have you ever taken a sweater and actually calculated the number of stitches that you knit? I never really thought about it before joining NaKniSweMo this year. I've been keeping track so far and I'm 10,920 stitches in already...It feels crazy knowing that I've already knit that many stitches! The minimum mark to hit it 50,000, so knowing that it's only November 5th and I'm a fifth of the way there makes me happy...I'm about an inch or two away from starting waist shaping too, that's always a happy goal to hit when knitting a sweater!

Back to knitting!

NaKniSweMo 2011 Among Other Things...

Sometimes I think I'm crazy when it comes to knitting...other times I know I am! Ha! This is one of those times where I know I am!

I decided to join the NaKniSweMo for this year. What is NaKniSweMo you ask? It's National Knit a Sweater Month, which runs alongside of NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month. The rules are that you can't start your sweater until November 1st, you have to finish by November 30th, and your sweater has to be about 50,000 stitches. That seems like a lot, I know, but really just about any sweater will fit the bill.

I have chosen to do Ardara by Carol Feller. I won her book on Ravelry in September and in October there was a gorgeous worsted weight colornep yarn on sale from Galway. I scooped up a sweater's worth and am totally in love with the color!!

Gauge Swatch for Ardara!

So now on top of all of the other knitting that I have to do I'm adding this in. I figure I usually knit a sweater in a week to two weeks, so extending this out to a month shouldn't really be that big of a deal. It has a crazy amount of cables in it but I can't wait to make it. I think it'll be my most complicated sweater to date!

So what's on my needles? Well I need to start and finish a Christmas stocking order by mid-November. Planning on picking up the rest of the yarn for it tonight so I can get started. The knitting itself shouldn't take me that long, which is good. I also have three orders for my knit wristwarmers, so I would like to get those done too, each pair will take about 16 hours to knit, so that's not a big problem. I do like to change things up for each wristwarmer so the pattern isn't ever really the same. I have the Saroyan knit-a-long that I'm also participating in. I think I'm about one third to halfway done on that. I have to have that one finished by December 15th. Plus Christmas knitting! I would like to go to my godparents again for the Christmas Expo so that means that I should have something knit up for them when I go. Maybe a nice manly hat for my Uncle Ed and wristwarmers with a matching hat for Aunt Pat. Mom is getting a few knit items this year. Plus a few knit things for friends at work. Hmmmmm...have I taken on too much? Probably, but I like a challenge!



Designer...Me?

When I started knitting a few years ago, I never thought it would lead to where I am today. And I certainly never believed that I would be designing my own patterns. But here I am, in the middle of designing my first sweater and more designs flowing around inside of my head. A few courses I've taken and my Whitehead retreat definitely helped me to feel more confident about my knitting. Meeting other people who are just as passionate as I am has definitely given me the inspiration to do more.

So here goes, time to let my imagination run wild.

Itchy Fingers...

Do you ever get what I like to call "itchy fingers?" I get that way when I haven't gotten my daily dose of fiber. ;) I especially notice it when I start to get stressed or anxious at work. I guess I crave the peacefulness of knitting, the rhythm of my stitches, the comfort of yarn and needles in my hands.

Only a few hours until my work day is over with, then I can get back to my knitting...Sometimes this work thing totally gets in the way of my knitting time...

Vacation of a lifetime!

This year I decided to take a vacation by myself to Maine to go on a knitting retreat. Most of my non-knitting friends thought I was a little crazy to do something like that, while my knitting friends were pretty darn happy for me. It was the best vacation I've ever taken. :)

I arrived knowing no one, and left with 6 new amazing knitting friends. I spent 6 days on a gorgeous island off the coast of Maine, soaked up the sun in an Adirondack chair, and knit. We had classes on dyeing yarn and designing sweater patterns custom for our bodies and started on projects with the yarn that we dyed. Completely amazing!

We left Friday afternoon from Emery's Wharf in St. George, Maine on Biscuit!

 Arriving at Whitehead Island.

 My first view of the Lightkeeper's house on the trail up from the dock.

 My first sunrise on the island.

 The lighthouse (still in use today) and the lightkeepers house from our sunrise cruise.

 Adirondack Chairs with a perfect view of the ocean.

 Learning how to custom dye yarn for projects, we got artsy and decorated the dory on the dock.

 Knitting: From the Yarn Up class with our fantastic instructor Shannon Okey.



It's Been a While...

It's been a while since I posted last, and I would like to try and update this more often as I'm trying to get better about taking pictures of my projects while I'm working on them (one good reason to have a smart phone!) So hopefully this will be the first of many new updates...

So what's new?? Lots of knitting, that's for sure! I just finished the Dunlin top from the Seedling booklet by CEY. Love love love it! It was a super quick knit and I'm thinking of making it again in a wool blend of some sort for the winter and lengthening the sleeves to a long sleeve length (maybe even make it a little more form fitting too! :)

On my needles I have the February Fitted Pullover by Amy Herzog, I'm making it in Classy by Dream in Color, I also am working on two vests (same pattern, one in chunky and one in worsted weight) from a Berroco pattern booklet. The chunky vest is in Vintage Chunky by Berroco in a gorgeous plum color and the worsted weight is Weekend by Berroco in a slate grey color. I'm attempting to get both of them done before I get to Maine for my vacation in three weeks.

That's right, I'm going on vacation by myself to Maine!! I'm taking a knitting workshop on an island in Maine over Labor Day weekend, then spending a few days with some friends that moved up there. Can't wait!! :) It's going to be so wonderful!

So excited!

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am that one of my closest friends is having a baby girl! I spent today at Stitches (as usual) and purchased "60 Quick Baby Knits" and am so excited to get started! Hats, blankets, sweaters, socks...so many ideas my fingers are starting to get itchy! I can't wait to begin...

But first...some projects to finish and orders to get done...I need to bring in some money to offset all the yarn I'll be buying for baby!! :)

Tonight on the agenda (since as usual I'm ADD when it comes to knitting and crocheting) is: Clapochet (I'm about 3/4 of the way done), BoSox Sweater (I just need to pick up and knit the other front placket, weave in ends on the sleeves, figure out if the idea I have will work and attach the snaps and buttons), BoSox Granny (I have a TON to do on this) and also my Snaps bag that was the class I took today at Stitches. Looks like I'll be a busy girl tonight! :) Tomorrow I'll be spending the day working on all this as well plus Marley's Bunny Hat and going to the grocery store. Planning on getting up early! :)

Well enough typing, time to get my fingers moving!

Let me just say this...

Hello, my name is Rebekah, and I'm a yarn-a-holic...I can't go more than a few days without drooling over yarn to the point where I just have to buy a few skeins...

So tonight I spent some time at Stitches then headed to JoAnn's and picked up yarn for two more projects, a wrap and a cardigan sweater. I'm so looking forward to starting on them, but I have to be disciplined and work on some orders first...plus I have a bunch of other projects that I'm working on.

But for now...it's off to bed...tomorrow morning will be coming all too soon! At least it's Saturday and I get to spend it with some wonderful friends! :)

The name says it all...

I don't think I could have picked a more perfect name for this blog. Currently I definitely feel like I'm crazy with the amount of projects I have going on. It's a really good thing that I like to keep busy!

To add to the craziness I just started the Clapochet shawl last night as soon as I got my yarn from Linda (who, by the way, is utterly amazing! She HAND WOUND a 990 yard skein of fingering weight yarn for me...craziness!) I refused to go to bed until I had it as wide as I would like it, and now it's a beautiful 18" wide. I'm planning on crocheting until I run out of yarn, so I'm hoping it'll be nice and long. :) The color changes are absolutely gorgeous and it'll be the perfect complement to the spring weather down here. Maybe if I'm speedy enough or just decide to live without a lot of sleep then I'll try to finish it before I go home at the end of March. Crochet usually goes pretty fast for me, but this is a fingering weight yarn (aka sock yarn) and a small hook...so who knows. I felt like I got a lot done in only a few hours last night, so that's a good sign! Plus I think that Linda and I have an unspoken race going on...but technically it's not fair since she does own Stitches so she can knit and crochet on the job! I have to be sneaky at work and knit and crochet on my lunch break!

Speaking of lunch...I'll be eating soon and working some more on my Clapochet...nothing like a secret competition to get me to finish a project! :)

Crazy Amounts of Yumminess...

I'm about 95% finished with my Cabled Wrap that I started as a Stitches KAL. It turned out wonderfully and it's currently drying on the futon after I blocked it and shaped it. I hope it dries quickly and turns out well so I can possibly wear it to work on Friday!

So here's my shawl before I blocked it:

Here's an up close on the cable while it's drying after being blocked:

And here are the buttons that I picked out last weekend...definitely can't wait to get these on there!

More projects that are going to be starting soon for me:

Aren't those colors wonderful? I'll be making a felted bag out of these, definitely can't wait to get started on it!

Linda was finishing up a cowl the other day while I was at Stitches, so of course I fell in love with the pattern and yarn and picked out a gorgeous blue colorway! It's supposed to be getting chilly again so I may just have to whip it up soon so my neck will stay nice and toasty! ;)

Of course I have plenty of knitting to keep me busy...both personal projects and orders...I think I'm up to 7 pending orders...oy vey! But there's nothing like the joy of starting on a new project...it's like a crazy good high...

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

I haven't updated in a while...my fingers have been far too busy knitting to do just about anything else! I've gotten a lot done in the last few weeks though...let's see...

The most recent finished project is my Mobius Cowl...I love it, such pretty colors and a nice mindless knit... :)

I also FINALLY finished a pair of wristwarmers for myself, of my own design!

Marybeth loved them so much that she bought me yarn so I can make her a pair...which I find hysterical since I just finished her wristwarmers (another of my designs) :)

I also just finished a baby hat for a college friend that is due in March, gonna get it and some cute thumbless mitts in the mail to her tomorrow. :) Baby stuff is just too much fun to make!

So what am I doing this weekend to keep busy? I'm starting a new surprise project for two friends that are expecting their second baby in March...I really hope that they like the end result...and due to the color choice I really hope that the doctor is sure that it's a boy!

Okies, my fingers are getting itchy...I really wanna start my new baby project, and work on my third Handmade by Bekah original design...a surprise for an amazing friend that I'm hoping to get done this weekend! :)

5th Saturday = Tons of Yumminess

5th Saturday Sale at Stitches was today! I picked up yarn for the Cabled Wrap Knit-a-long at Stitches in February and yarn for another project I started for myself (that now makes the count 5 for projects for me!) plus yarn for two orders. Marybeth gave me some leftover yarn and I'll be making her a cowl out of that once I finish her wristwarmers. So I think that's also 5 orders that I have lined up. Plus another lady at Stitches might be commissioning me for some orders for her too...Booming little business I have going on now... :)

I'm designing a new pair of wristwarmers, and have almost completed the first one. It'll be nice to get it done and start on the second one. Finally a pair that I designed and knit for myself! :)

Needles are calling...back to my peaceful time...:)

Knit-a-longs, Orders and Designs...

I bought a planner last night just so I can organize my knitting time. How crazy is that? I have a knit-a-long that I want to start for the Lion Brand Saturday Morning Hoodie, an order on needles, 4 more waiting to be started, my wristwarmers that I'm designing, my winter cable sweater that I started before Christmas, my Twilight scarf that is over halfway done, and of course all my Christmas presents that I haven't made yet. Plus I'm fighting off a cold (still...I have a dr. appointment tomorrow where I'll hopefully get an antibiotic to kick it out of my system) and I have far too much work to do at work (this week is crazy busy). Not to mention that there are storms coming in which is going to make my commute crap! I may just stay home for the morning (I brought records home to review so I can work from home) and then go in after my doc appointment.

So I'm not going to write anymore...my fingers are getting itchy to knit so that's what I'm going to do!

Inspiration Right Around the Corner

So tonight I spent some time on the floor at Barnes & Noble looking at Knitting books. I wanted to look at some stitch dictionaries for inspiration. I wound up purchasing "The Stitch Collection" which is a 5-volume collection of over 225 different stitches. I wanted to start designing my own patterns for my business and figured this would be a great start! They're adorable and small, so I don't have to carry a huge volume of knitting stitches with me. I already found a pattern that I want to try out for the wristwarmers that I started last night, definitely a good thing that I don't mind frogging my work! :)

I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow night and the Knit night at Panera with some of the ladies from Stitches. I wasn't able to make it last week since I was sick so this week I'm hoping that the snow will hold off so I can have a nice night out. The Panera that we meet at isn't far away from me, and my car is pretty good in the snow so I have no worries. :)

Okay, time to get back to knitting! I need to turn the stitch design I found into a circular pattern. I think I know what I'm doing, time to put my skills to use! :)

Ready for the Weekend...

Still no voice...but it'll come back when it wants to so I guess I shouldn't complain, but learn to enjoy the silence...I woke up this morning with a minor sore throat, but nothing painful. I took some Dayquil, nearly froze my fingers off scraping my car, and came in to work. People here either think it's funny, or they whisper along with me, or they're a little bit peeved that I'm not speaking to them like I usually am...well let's see...if I don't have a voice then there's no way that I can answer your questions!

On a brighter note I should be able to get back to working on orders tonight and this weekend...depending on how much I cough by the time I get home tonight that is. I really want to go to Stitches tomorrow, since tomorrow is Knitting for a Cause and I really want to be there the whole day, so I'm planning on getting to bed super early tonight.

Anywho...I did organize most of my stash. It turns out that the tote bins I had originally were only 18 gallon bins, and I wound up buying 15 gallon bins, but it looks so much nicer now that everything is organized and in clear totes. I have one bin left over, so I may use that for sock yarn and my take-a-long bag storage. I'll post a picture once I have all the bins labeled.

I signed up for the Lion Brand Knit-a-Long that is starting next week. I ordered my yarn last night and am looking forward to getting started. I guess I should finish up my scarf soon so I won't feel that bad about starting yet another project for myself. It's a good thing that I'm kind of ADD with my knitting and I like to work on multiple projects at once. :)

Okay, back to work. Hopefully more pics tonight or later on this weekend. :)

Where Should I Be?

One word: BED. That's where I should be. I've been sick for the past few days and have made the hard decision to only work on personal knitting projects. ;) (Seriously though, I don't think my clients would like it if I was coughing all over their orders) My current project "A Little Piece of Twilight" is coming along nicely. I try to get one rectangle done each night.

Tomorrow after work I was planning on going to the mall to get my nails done and maybe just spend some time at Barnes & Noble reading and knitting. But as of right now I have no voice...I can barely whisper. My throat really doesn't hurt however (not like it did on Monday night) so I'm hoping that my voice comes back super soon. I have another knitting class on Saturday and I can't be mute!! LOL

So I guess it's off to bed I go...

Babies!

My Coworker is having a baby (hopefully tomorrow!) so I quick whipped up some baby items last week. Nothing major, just a blanket, booties and hat so the baby has some warm things to come home from the hospital in. She loved them, and I can't wait to see pictures of the baby in all of his/her new cuddly things!

A Little Taste of Twilight

No, I'm not a crazy Twilight fan. Yes, I love the books and the movies, love the whole vampire, werewolf, love story aspect of it all, but I don't own t-shirts or posters or anything outside of the actual books and movies (and just for clarification, I read Twilight LONG before it was a total craze...one of the perks of when I worked in a library I suppose). So ever since I watched the original movie I loved the scarf that Bella wore during the baseball game. I found a pattern for it on Ravelry, and with some of the money left on my Christmas Visa Gift Card, I went to both JoAnn's and Michael's just to find all the yarn I needed. I also picked up yarn to make Bella's Mittens, but that'll be a future project, and I may also try to turn them in to actual gloves, so who knows. Anyway, I started working on it last night...


Yarn for my project:

One of the first rectangles I'm currently working on:

Pretty Horseshoe Cables:

Organization...Is It Possible?

So this is my yarn stash...well...most of it. Two 30-gallon bins and boxes and bags all brimming with yarn...I do love the storage capacities of the gray bins, but finding the yarn that I need is ridiculous. I wind up pulling all of it out just to find one skein. So I found some bins on Walmart online and I'll be running over there after work tomorrow to pick some up so I can organize. They're clear...perfect for organizing but still being able to see what yarn you have. This way I won't be digging everything out for one project. Plus my yarn will be protected (I thought about a shelving or cube system but I don't want my yarn getting dust all over it. So bins are the perfect solution) and I'm pretty sure that my roomie will appreciate me getting that stuff all organized. She's never said anything about the mess (I'm paying enough in rent so she kinda doesn't have that right anyway) but I'm sure it'll definitely help regardless.

I'll post pics when it's all done...I'm definitely excited to get it organized. (Plus, the more room I have left over, the more yarn I can add to my stash!!) ;)

Yummy Yummy Yumminess...

Spent today at Stitches and it was a great day getting my New Year's Resolutions started off right! I met some wonderful ladies and got some work done, plus picked up some yummy yarn that will "hopefully" make it to friends as presents...but maybe they won't... ;)

I'm also going to be starting to meet up with a group of knitters that meet in downtown Newark once a week. Sometimes I'm a little nervous about meeting new people, but knitters are a different kind of people. I've never walked in to Stitches without getting a chorus of hello's from the ladies that are there knitting, and as I learned today, they are incredibly helpful and so nice to talk to!

On the small business front things are going well. I have 4 current orders that I'm working through and have a few more on the way. Handing out business cards left and right! :) It makes me feel good to make something for people, but I still get nervous when I deliver an order or when I give a gift to a friend that I've made. Sometimes I think that they're just not as happy to receive as I am to give. Oh well, what else can I do. I'll try to update later with maybe some pics of my new yarns and some recent completed projects. :)

New Year, New Goals

Well it's now 2011 and I have more projects than ever going on...one of the biggest reasons for the increase? I started my own side business. Handmade by Bekah. I've been making tons of things since I was younger, and started my Handmade by Bekah business by making greeting cards in college. Now it's mainly knitting, but I can do all sorts of handmade crafts.

So since the start of my business, I've made 4 orders for coworkers, and have 3 more projects that I need to work on...looks like my own personal knitting projects will be put on hold...yet again!

Christmas was a wash, only one person got a homemade Christmas present...Amy. And her present was what started the entire business venture of mine...

So who knows what's going to happen with Handmade by Bekah. If I only do a few things a year then that'll work for me...I'm enjoying what I do, what else can I ask for?