Jumping in with both feet...

You ever get that nagging feeling that just won't go away until you do something about it? Well I've had that feeling for the past few days. I started to feel stalled on my current knitting project, mainly because I don't want to seam it yet to see how I would like to attach the sleeves. I know it'll be a really cute sweater once it's done, but I guess I just don't have the drive to finish it right now...So for me that meant absolutely no knitting for about a week (utter craziness for me, I'm usually never without a project!)

So I've had this design idea floating around in my head, ever since I had started my love affair with the Shapely Boyfriend Cardigan ( I kid you not, I've already made 4 and have plans for at least another 5 or so...ha!). I have a leftover skein of Sprout in the Vivid Fuschia colorway from my Pebble Beach top and have 5 skeins in the Summer Rain colorway that were supposed to grow up to be the Manana Cardigan. However, that's the problem with impulse buying based on a trunk show...I bought the booklet for the yarn, bought the yarn to make the top and two different cardigans, made a cardigan (that I really don't wear anymore) made the top, really am not in love with it (sometimes bulky yarns just don't work for bustier gals), have been pondering if I really want to make the cardigan (which I decided I didn't)...so what's a girl to do?

I've been spending time on ravelry (if I'm not knitting I might as well at least be looking at knitting), looking at different cardigan styles and stripe patterns and weights of yarn used, and then decided that the only way to have a sweater made out of that bulky yarn is to make it myself!

So last night I pulled out my notebooks, my gauge check, knitting needles, yarn and my Custom Knits book and got to work. I started off with my gauge swatch, checked my stitches to the inch (normally I should have washed my swatch, but I've made other garments with this yarn and found that my gauge doesn't change too much after the knitting is washed), did some measuring and calculations based on the instructions in the book and got to it! It's really not much right now, just a few rows and scribbles in a notebook. I am, however, determined to keep my notebook up to date with my pattern info, because who knows, this could be the beginning of something!

Wait...it's almost May???

So...I do not know where this year has went so far. What I do know is that I have been crazy busy with life and knitting...I haven't gotten as much knitting done as I would like...but still a decent amount (most of my friends still say that I knit like crazy...). I've completed three cardigans, a short sleeve summer sweater, a tank top and am currently working on a cardigan for a coworker, and a short sleeve cardigan for myself.

May will be bringing warmer temperatures and also a good chunk of knitting time. I will be spending a lot of time at home in PA with my mom, so that should produce a few completed projects.

So here are links to my finished projects so far:
Cardigan #1 - Boyfriend of Coffee and Sea
Cardigan #2 - A girl can never have too many boyfriends
Cardigan #3 - I love my neon boyfriend!
Sweater #1 - Fuschia Pebbles
Summer Tank - Birthday Helio

Not bad for almost four months into the year...probably by the end of the month I'll have my coworkers sweater finished and be well underway on my spring cardigan!

Sweater #1 is Done!

My first official (meaning started) sweater in 2012 is finished! I love love love this sweater, the yarn that I picked to make it, and the pattern! I love the pattern so much that I'm planning on making at least three more sweaters! This one is my teal and brown stripe (My coworker actually thought that I bought it at the Gap!). The next one I'll make will be either navy and fuschia stripe, gray and pink (or purple) or my plain black one. Haven't decided yet. I have other sweaters in the works so the other two may not get made right away.

I'm currently almost halfway done with a baby sweater for friends who just had their first girl after having two boys, so I'm working on a pink and purple mix baby sweater. Once that is done I'll need to start on a baby boy sweater for another set of friends that just had their third child, second boy. I already have the buttons I'll be using, so I'll just need to pick up a few skeins of yarn to match and get cracking! Plus I need to work on more orders, so I'll be pretty busy for the next few weeks.

My next sweater that I'll be starting will probably be Adelina by Amy Herzog. I've had the yarn and pattern for a while now...(see, I'm destashing!) and since the weather is perfect for sweaters, I'm looking forward to get my gauge swatch made up and get moving!

The next cardigan on the needles for me will be Tembo by Carol Feller. I'll probably be making some slight modifications to this cardigan, but I'm excited to have one that will fit me properly! The one that I'm currently wearing that's similar in style I've had for over a decade and it's huge on me! But it is nice for lounging around my apartment!

All set for 2012

My ravelry queue is organized and I'm ready to get knitting on all my projects for 2012. I have 12 sweaters and 24 cardigans that I would love to make, but I might be weeding down even further once I get going...

First up is the Shapely Boyfriend cardigan that I fell in love with from the Knitty Deep Fall 2011 pattern set. I'm making mine out of Berroco Comfort, and using two colors (Agean See and Coffeeberry Heather) to do some fun stripes. I'm less than 20 rows away from splitting for the sleeves, top down raglans do go quickly! Plus size 9 needles definitely are helping. :) I may need to pick up some more yarn from Linda as I didn't have my stripe sequence clearly planned out when I started, but we'll see. I should have just enough of the Agean Sea color to work everything needed for the body, and all the edging will be done in the Coffeeberry Heather color (which I have more than enough of). Buttons will be repurposed from a store bought sweater that is miles too big on me, but match the yarn perfectly. :) Love it when things fall in to place so easily for knitting!

Okay, back to work I go...knitting and packing, dinner and movies planned for tonight, then home to Pennsylvania early tomorrow morning until Sunday afternoon/evening. Fun weekend ahead!

Resolutions

I know every year there's tons of resolutions out there, both knitting and non-knitting related...

So to recap for 2011:
- This was the year that I lost weight (50+ pounds and counting), so that's not a real resolution for me in 2012. I'll be staying on track on Weight Watchers, hoping to hit my goal and become a lifetime member in the next month or so. I'm happy where I am weight-wise, and people I saw at Christmas (that I haven't seen in a while) told me how fabulous I look, so that's definitely something to put a smile on my face!
- This was the year that I found an awesome knitting family at Stitches with Style, and I had a blast getting to know people and gaining more confidence with my mad knitting skills!
- This was the year that I took my first vacation by myself! I went to Whitehead Light Station in Rockland, Maine and I absolutely loved every second of it! I can't wait to go back again in 2012!
- This was the year that I spent without a date. Hahaha. I've been single for a while and I love my life, but it's kinda crazy to think that I went a whole year without even going out to dinner or to the movies with someone! Hopefully that will change in 2012!
- This was the year that I moved out of a horrible living situation into my own apartment, and boy do I love having my own space again!
- This was the year that I met some absolutely fantastic designers in the knitting world, and it definitely gives me something to think about for my future and some things that I hope to accomplish in 2012!

All things considered 2011 was a good year, ups and downs, but without the downs you can't appreciate the ups.

So on to 2012...
- This year I plan on supercharging my knitting life with a LOT of new projects, new designs, new colors, new techniques.
- This year I will do some serious stash-busting. I know that knitters say all the time that they need to go on yarn diets, but I DEFINITELY need to go on one!
- This year I will get some of my knitting UFO's done!
- This year I will go out on a date! Hopefully!
- This year I will blog more! I enjoy reading other people's blogs, so hopefully there are people that enjoy reading mine as well!

So to start for 2012 I have my ravelry queue packed and semi-sorted with new projects. Cardigans, sweaters, vests...definitely can't wait to get started. The cold weather is just starting to hit Delaware, and I only have a sleeve and collars to work on my current sweater project, so I'm hoping to have it done this weekend! :)

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! :)