Breaking the "UFO" Habit

The “UnFinished Object” Habit, that is (knitting lingo, y’know).

I am not a prolific knitter. I have a long-standing issue with hats; they either turn out waaay too big or too small, and if I can tell that before I finish them, I just stop. And the yarn languishes for years that way; stuck in a half-way-too-big hat. I’m not a fast knitter, either, so it just seems like too many hard-won stitches to rip them all out. It’s enough to send me running to the polarfleece!

I’m trying to get more efficient with my time and/or yarn. I have “thrifted” a bunch of rather sub-standard (acrylic from the 70’s) yarn that clutters up my space; I plan to get rid of that soon. I also buy nice yarn from time to time with the best of intentions, then don’t use it. I intend to try to use that stuff up before buying more (yarn is expensive, and I spend too much time stressing about our money future lately).

But with baby on the way, I really feel this is the time to do a bit of knitting (I know, all stereotypical and stuff). Hey, I’m just thrilled to think of SMALL sweaters and small projects that I have some hope of completing in a weekend or week or so.

So, I am pleased to announce my first finished project in a quite a long time: simple booties! These came from a free pattern available here. Organic cotton yarn, purchased long ago with vague plans of washcloths (my typical mindless knitting project).


These were very simple and quick, and good practice for the more “advanced” (for me, anyway) knitting in this lovely vintage book:


Alison at Brainy Lady was kind enough to mail it to me all the way from Montreal; I was the lucky winner in her comment contest last month. I love getting mail from afar, and this really will inspire me to do a bit more knitting. At least one of the sweaters is in "plain knitting" so it is within my skill level, I think. So, thanks,Alison- and here’s to wishing for some more, efficient knitting to come!

Winter, Hats, One Year!

Tada! The winter wonderland arrived this morning; here’s a view of the chicken coop before work today. Unhappy chicken can be glimpsed through the window.


I am also happy to report that after 3 years together, I have finally managed to provide WF with a real, live HAT THAT FITS! I’ve nearly given up knitting hats (can never get the size right, grrrr) with my glacial pace, and so have been yearning to find a bit of time with the sewing machine. Finally, this weekend, success! I am very proud. I am really a neophyte seamstress, so this is a nice, simple, attainable finished object. Mine feels very comfy, too- it’s always hard to find hats that fit. Helps with the cold house issue, too!


Just in time for winter’s arrival, and to wear in celebration of the one year anniversary of this blog. Hello and best wishes from us to you! Thanks for reading!

Pumpkin Picture

Pretend this photo goes with the last post, will you?

I swear, blogger is really annoying sometimes!

The good, the bad and the overthinking

There WILL be a post today, goshdarnit, even if it has to be haphazard:

Wearing Hats indoors:
GOOD
(but Nordic hats with strings make for dangerous cuddling with pounce-prone cats)

Custom sized windows and cost of replacements thereof:
BAD

The realization that custom-sized hats for oversized heads can be sewn out of polar-fleece in a fraction of the time it takes to knit them:
GOOD
(Especially good for those of us prone to loss or destruction of winter wear)

Difficulty in finding time to squeeze sewing (or knitting for that matter) into daily schedule:
BAD

The ability to eat and purchase fleece due to paycheck from job:
GOOD

The guilt that polar fleece is an unsustainable petroleum product:
BAD
(but manageable at this time)

The worry that WF will therefore disdain said hats.
Sigh... (see time crunch, above)

The time spent wondering if the “positive environmental points” scored by keeping thermostat set low (and necessitating frequent indoor hat-wearing) outweigh the "negative environmental points" scored by using a petrochemical fabric:
Overthinking: Eeeeeeek!

edited later to add: some brands of polarfleece are made from recycled pop bottles, so perhaps the nameless remnants I purchased are not so bad, afterall!

A Stitch in Time

A stitch in time saves nine…

When I was younger, I didn’t really understand that saying. Maybe it was because the book “A Wrinkle in Time” got to me before Ben Franklin did? I took “time” in the same meaning as the book title: stitching time. How does one stitch time? And what 9 things does it save? Memories?

I recently realized that my grandmother managed to “stitch time.” She passed away nearly 4 months ago; it’s still hard to believe she’s gone. Last weekend, my mother gave my brother and I each a set of pillowcases that Grandma embroidered. They had been carefully pressed and stored in a drawer, saved during her big move to the small apartment a couple years ago. I doubt they’d ever been used, being too fancy for “everyday.” I had never seen them before, and didn’t even know she had done that sort of work. Where in the world did she find time to stich, with 9 kids and a house to keep? When DID women find time for themselves and everything else, with Monday washdays, Tuesday ironing days, etc….?

I have carefully stored them in my “linen closet” (top shelf, IKEA wardrobe, ahem). I too will likely keep them wrapped up, tucked away. Who can stand the thought of staining a pristine white pillowcase? What if the cats throw up on them?

Today I was at Goodwill (sweater shopping) and came across a “vintage” pile of embroidered handkerchiefs, napkins and dresser scarves, all painstakingly hand-sewn and pressed by someone years ago. Now, jumbled in a pile, they sell for a couple dollars to random strangers.

Every once in a while, a piece speaks to me and I take it home, wondering about the woman that created it. Did she enjoy the skill, likely taught by her own mother? Was she working on her hope chest before marriage, only to abandon the skill after the kids came, as a suspect my grandmother did? Was this one of her only creative outlets? When did she find the time to spend on this intricate art?

I don’t really want to embroider handkerchiefs or pillowcases, but I do yearn for that “simpler” time, whatever its definite flaws. I suspect TV, computers and commuting played a smaller role in the lives of those women. I bet their downtowns were still lively and full. I bet they washed their hair less often and had less “stuff” than us. My life as a “modern” woman gives me countless more choices, yet I can hardly find the time to cook for WF, let alone knit or sew as I’d like to…

Anyway, regardless of the deeper meanings of embroidery and it’s heyday, I am grateful to my family for sharing my grandmother’s work with me. I’m glad it didn’t end up in a pile at Goodwill. If I can’t learn from her, I’ll try to learn from the stitches she left behind. A stitch in time, indeed!

(pictures not loading: maybe later?)