Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Plodding on along...

On my needles now is this lovely scarf:


It's worked in a linen stitch lengthwise, with fringe added at the beginning and end of each row.  It's a simple, mindless knit that's been good with football and basketball watching!  I'm really loving the colors.  The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in colorway Pony Ride (YAY IT'S NOT DISCONTINUED!!).  There are 450 stitches in each row, so the scarf is slow to grow, but It looks so pretty.  Almost woven (which I'm partial to).

A bit on Kristi's organization:

I only work on 2 projects at a time with my knitting.  Now, I know hundreds of knitters who work up to 10 projects at a time, but I find it hard to keep track of what's going on with each project.  It's also rewarding to me to finish a project and then move on to the next one.

I have large canvas bags that I keep my WIP's (work in progress) in, and each bag contains a little kit with commonly used tools.  I have recycled various containers to use for these kits.  Right now I have a Crystal Light container and a Hillshire Farm lunch meat tub.  They don't have to be fancy.  Just functional!  In my kits are:

1. A tape measure - the retractable kind are nice but my kids have broken most of mine so I have a wadded tape in most of my kits
2. Small scissors
2. A tapestry needle for weaving in ends
3. A small crochet hook for dropped stitches
4. Yarn markers (number and size depend on the pattern)
5. A row counter
Other items may be included if they're needed for a specific project, such as: stitch holders, cable needle, needle point protectors, and etc.

The bags also (obviously) contain the yarn and needles needed to make the project, plus the pattern.  I like to keep the pattern in a sheet protector to make it easy to keep all the pages together.  It's also nice to keep spilled coffee off!

So two projects are in progress in my canvas bags by my knitting chair.  In my craft room, I make up queue bags for the next 2 projects on my to-do list.  The bags I use for this are actually drawstring shoe bags that came with some luggage.
I gather the yarn, needles, pattern and notions and place them together so they're ready to go.  I keep my queue updated on Ravelry, so I always know what's coming next.  The yarn in my stash that's ear-marked for a project goes into a certain drawer in my craft bureau so they are all together.

My stash that is not scheduled for a project is divided into items for sale and yarn for scrap.  I'm a firm believer in offering up my yarn leftover from a project for sale or trade on Ravelry.  At one time, I was making a sweater and even though I thought I had made careful calculations, I ended up being short on yarn.  Of course the yarn was discontinued, and the only option was finding someone who had it in their stash who would sell me some.  I literally needed only 80 yards.  After finding the "Will sell or trade" stash section on Ravelry, I found a lady with some, but it wasn't listed as for sale or trade.  I messaged her, describing my situation, and asked if she would be willing to sell me 80 yards.  Bless her heart, she mailed me her whole lot of it, it was 5 SKEINS, at no cost to me.  That very evening, I got onto ravelry and put up all my leftovers for trade or sale.  I hoped I could help someone in the same way she helped me.  And a few months later, I did the same for a knitter in need.  :)  So keep those stash lists updated.  You never know when you could help a fellow crafter!

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