Busted!

Well, it's happened. :( I was looking at my budget and I've busted the yarn section. My stash isn't that huge and I don't buy a lot of expensive yarn, but I've spent way too much money on yarn. Going to have to knit from the stash for a while if I can help it. I don't think I need to buy any more yarn. I will just have to get creative with my choices in projects for the next few months.

Wish me luck!

The Matrix Collection

One of my favourite series of movies is The Matrix. I have a 10 disc set and watch them periodically. One day I was thinking "why not combine my love of The Matrix with my knitting?!?" What a genius idea! lol So I've started designing a few items.

First was the Trinity Cowl.

It was inspired by the character Trinity and I used the trinity stitch.

Second was The One Cowl.

It was inspired by the character Neo and features one never-ending cable.

Sorry for the bad pics. I haven't mastered professional photography yet. lol More projects will come soon but first I think I need to watch the movies again. ;)

Daytime Knit Time Group

I've been a part of a local-to-me knitting group on Ravelry for over a year now. The only time they seem to meet is Friday nights. Unfortunately for me, evenings aren't the best time. Who wants to pay for a babysitter to go to knit night? Or try to convince hubby that he can watch the kids when he needs to relax too?

So the other day, I asked if anyone was interested in joining up during the daytime for some knitting. I was so excited when two girls said they would like to. :D Today we met at my home. How wonderful to get a chance to sit and knit with some other women?!? I've never done that before. Our knitting time wasn't very long but it still felt worthwhile. My LYS offers space to come knit but it's hard to do that with a little boy in tow. I don't get a chance to get out to knit at night with the girls that go there. So this was the perfect opportunity for me. My son eventually shared his toys with another little boy and us women got to knit and chat.

Looking forward to meeting up with them again next week! :D

Do you knit with others or only on your own?

Yarn-filled Weekends

I do spend a lot of my "free" time knitting since it is one of my favourite things to do. But the weekends are the best. I seem to find extra time to knit. I don't have to go anywhere usually so that saves a lot of time and makes for more clicking of my needles. I don't take on any big tasks around the house either. I get pretty much all my cleaning done during the week that leaves just laundry on the weekends. A lot of people don't like doing laundry but it's one of those few tasks around here that a machine does the work for me. I put the first load in the washer, then knit till it's ready to go in the dryer. After the dryer, the getting back to knitting takes a little longer as there is now close to fold, but I'm back in the chair quite quickly.

So I'm glad it's Friday and sending you wishes for a yarn-filled weekend too. Happy crafting!

When I knit, I knit for...

When I knit, I knit for...

 
...my kids. My kids seem to love getting stuff I knit. Every Fall, they get a new hat to match their new snowsuit (because, of course, last year's doesn't fit). I've been making them toys too. Those are always a big hit! The odd time my daughter will ask for something else, or if I make something for myself, she would like one too.

 
...others. Over my many years of knitting, I've made items for dear people in my life. Lots of friends have received afghans, shawls, socks, hats, decorations, etc. Some have requested the knitted items. Others have enjoyed a yarn-y surprise.

...myself. Yes, I do knit for myself. I spend a lot of time crafting knitted items and deserve to have some to keep for myself. Most times it's something I need, like a hat to match my coat. Now and then, it's something just because I can knit or like the pattern, like a new shawl.

...design. I have realized that as much as I love to knit, I also love to design. I've been making up simple things so far but hope to expand my repertoire. It all started with my children's need for a winter hat and has blossomed so far into textured cowls.

Who do you knit for? 

Selling my patterns

I'm so excited! I opened up my own store on Ravelry!!! :D Okay, it isn't that exciting. ;) All I have there right now is my Shifty Dishcloth pattern, but I'm excited because I figured out how to do it. This is a big deal because it's a shift in the right direction (I hope).

My son will be going to school in the Fall and I've got to start making money. For the last 6 years, I've been home with the kids, but with our son going to school, hubby would like me to work and make a little extra cash, even if it is just for me. I don't really want to go to work outside the home as I don't think I'll be able to find a job that will fit around the kids' schedule. Daycare is just too expensive so when the kids are done for the day, I need to be done too.

The ideal situation would be to figure out a way to work from home. So, I'm going to try selling some of my patterns on Ravelry. Also thinking about starting a Facebook page to sell knit items as well. If I could work it out that way, I would be able to do things around the kids' schedule as well as take care of our home and the cooking as I have been doing.

These are exciting times!

Christmas presents - to make or not to make

Lots of crafters seem to debate whether to make Christmas gifts or not. I'm never sure either. lol For most of my friends, I tend to give them a tin of goodies I make each year. It's a lovely little something that doesn't cost too much but let's them know they are important to me. Last year, I added in little Angels I knitted for a few people. I found the pattern a little too late to make as many as I would have liked.

Now this year, I wasn't sure what to do again. I've decided to make a few toys for the kids in my life (my own and their cousins). But do I make anything else? I still don't know. I think it will end up on how much time I've got between now and then. I have some Christmas Hot Pads that I've designed that I want to try out and have a few friends who will test knit them for me as well.

As I'm getting into this knitting adventure, I've realized that I should be planning these things farther ahead. So far I've been just designing and knitting as things come up. But I need to get better at this so that I'm working ahead and have things ready intime for what comes up.

How about you? Are you crafting presents? Are you done yet? Do you think you've made your list too long?

Click-i-ty, click....

Sorry fellow crafters! I've got major click-i-ty, clicking going on but it hasn't been on the computer. It's been on my needles. This is good, of course, because that means my WIPs are getting to be less. But it's bad because I haven't been writing to you. :(

This is such a busy time of year around here. Holidays, birthdays, and preparations for both, along with sickness keeps my time filled. I definitely look forward to January when things slow down and it's just normal routine again. So please forgive my absence from the Web. I do think of you often and hope to figure out how to get here more often.

Here are my two cuties from Halloween night. 

The biker costume cost me $1.00 for the doorag, the rest of the items I had around the house already. The black cat was also another cheap costume. I had to buy the headband and belt to which I attacked ears and tail that I designed and knitted up. Facepaint sticks for the goatee and whiskers cost $2.00. In reality, priceless! The kids loved their costumes and so did the ones handing out the candy because my darlings came home loaded with treats.

More knitting fun to come soon. Some FOs need to be blocked and pics taken. ;)