Noobb

un-spun love

Craft'n, Knitting, Stashing

I was reading through a book I got from the library last week called Icelandic Handknits, by Hélène Magnússon.

Icelandic Handknits: 25 Heirloom Techniques and Projects

And so far I like it, though now I want more on this the Icelandic Lace. I’ve been enjoying anything with the history of knitting / fiber arts in it. Somehow the idea of knitting something that was knit 100 years ago just appeals to me. But as I don’t have a pressing need for shoe liners for my fish skin shoes, not always very useful.

While reading through the book I read about unspun Lopi yarn, (just like the stuff I found in Grand Marais from Canada). So I looked it up and now I want it, I want it soooooooooooo bad.

What am I going to use it for you ask?

………

That’s a good question.

But I still want it .

Some Un-spun Icelandic wool

 

So very very much.

some ups & downs

Miscellany, Why am I doing this again?

I’ve haven’t been spending much time at my computer,
I’ve been either knitting furiously on the my couch till the wee hours of the morning or at the gym and lifting club.

And it was been a bag of mixed results from the gym.

Last week, a low point – had a work out that left me for the first time not only gasping for breath on the floor but crying. I felt so defeated from it I just lost it. Usually I’m to stubborn t o start to cry or give up. I may slow down, but not stop. Part of it may be a case of sports induced asthma, which I can’t rule out for sure until I have health care and can afford a doctor visit. Not being able to breath is a tough thing to just work through.

High point last week, I have been doing a training routine at the gym called Smolov Jr for about 4 weeks. That’s meant to increase your push press and back squat numbers. So last week we retested and I got 2 new PR’s! My push press increased 15 lb. to 125 and my back squat went up 20 lb. to 205. I didn’t fail any of my attempts either, so given more time I may be able to improve those yet. My fiancee hit his lifetime goal for his back squat too, 405 pounds!
We were both flying high that day. The next we were pretty sore.

Then high point again on last Sunday, at lifting club, I made my goal for my dead lift, I lifted 205.

And  yesterday major low point again, I woke up with a sore neck/shoulder on my left side. I went to the gym any way thinking I would work it out.
Nope.
I completed 6 push-ups and the pain doubled, I could barely move my neck, my arm started going numb. So I left early, by the time I’d gotten home it was worse. It hurts so much, I can barely knit.

I hate just lying around, I like to be doing something always, and injuries like this or when I’m really sick make me unable to do anything else. You just lay there suffering. Maybe watching some horrible TV show or something.
Maybe the universe is trying to tell me to take it easy more, that I need to find peace in just sitting there.

Or maybe it’s a challenge from the universe to see if I’ll ever finish all our x-mas gifts.

 

forever a work in progress #1

Craft'n, Knitting, , ,

So here goes,
My first F-WIP. FaWIP #1

It’s the Pirate’s Cutie – Sweater from and oooollllldddd issue of Vogue’s Knit.1 from winter 2006/07.

Pirates_Cutie_Jolly_Roger_Baby_Set_Knit1_winter_2006_2007_medium vogueknit1winter0607_small

I started this adorable little sweater ( only my 2nd and last attempt and at a sweater since I started knitting ) at least five years ago, probably closer to 6. It was before I started school, part of the reason I never finished is because homework turned out taking a huge chunk out of my knitting time.
The second reason is sad, I think about it every time I look at the thing. I had a really bazar and sudden falling out with the friend who was having the baby that it would go to. So I even if I had finished it I probably wouldn’t have been able to give it to her. And now the little boy is starting kindergarten, and it wouldn’t really fit now.

I want to turn this bad memory around and find and other cute little person to give this to. I want to look at this sweater and smile again. But first I have to knit the 2nd sleeve.
Yep thats right, beside the collar thats all that needs to be done.

ONE. SLEEVE.

At this rate I’m guessing another 2 years at least.

 

 

so this other blog…

Craft'n, Knitting, Ranting

I’ve been reading a lot of other blogs lately or at least scanning them and marking them as read. By the way I’ve been using Feedly since google reader went away, have to say I like it. Design wise it’s easier on the eyes than Google was.  I also checked out Bloglovin and while they probably have a better selection of blogs Feedly is a lot faster at loading previews and the actual blogs. And right now it’s free, so there’s my two cents.

But back to my original point, I’ve noticed I am missing something from my crafty blog, I have no theme days or months. Like for example this one has WIP Wednesdays (WIP=work in progress). So I have been thinking maybe I could do Wino Wednesdays? Hmmm…

yes I always look this good when I drink wine, it's always out of a glass and not a mason jar and of course I never ever dribble it down my chin!
yes I always look this good when I drink wine, it’s always out of a glass and not a mason jar and of course I never ever dribble it down my chin!

Or if I want to keep it knitting related I could do FaWIP (FOEVER a work in progress). I could post my almost finished projects that have been almost finished for 1+ year now. I’ve been knitting ten years, I think I can keep this going for at least a couple months.

So tomorrow next Friday, the baby sweater….

DUM DUM DUM…

of drama and yarn

Craft'n, Knitting, Ranting

wow,for my knitting friends out there, there is a huge fight erupting over copyrights of independent designers out there in knitting-blog land. And it is getting nasty.

This started as a simple Facebook post, but when I realized I was writing a small novel…
On one side there is a really talented and funny designer/blogger from Alex who writes a blog called a Dull Roar. She’s defending another independent designer/blogger SpillyJane who designs great color work mittens against…
An another independent blogging knitter (kitty-ears.com) who also seems to be a bit of a beginner. And after reading some of her posts, a cheesy romantic who thinks thinking about God should be part of her day and is a house wife I guess. She seems slightly clueless honestly, not evil.
And I have to admit reading some of the comments by Alex in the Ravelry thread are a little aggressive, and sadly not professional. And thats disappointing because I wanted to think she was in the right. The 2nd designer should have also removed her pattern when she learned it was so close to another, because that would be the right thing to do.
And all of this over mittens/gloves with gnomes on them. GNOMES! Happy little gnomes.

instagram gnome

And it’s was all topped off with people insulting another’s designers work and calling it ugly and a man-gina. I kind of like it, it looks hard to knit and I’m all about challenges. And if wearing a giant vagina is your thing ( i kid)  you might like it it’s called Color Craving.

Color Craving by Stephen West

I really thought the knitting world was more mature than all this.
And I think a lot of people are coming to the same conclusion (example-From flossieknits).

One commenter of the 100’s of comments I waisted my night reading mentioned this, you may have seen these fake ads floating about. No wonder I can live with out regular TV, now I need to watch some Vampire Diaries on Netflix  to calm down a bit…

where did thanksgiving go?

Miscellany, Ranting

We ran out of coffee yesterday, so I went out and got coffee after dropping my son off at school with his life size St. Bernard poster. (It took up the whole back seat!) And I stopped at Starbucks, the one I worked at for 4 years. And it was weird because I’ve only been gone a year and recognized no one that worked there. They won’t have my favorite line of coffee in stock until 2014 (Goldcoast). And they where out of honey. So overall not a rewarding visit, but whatever I didn’t throw a fit. Most of the people there put up with enough of that, I did.
But I really should have, because I didn’t realize it until I got to my car, they gave me a holiday/christmas cup.

TOO EARLY!!!

So I’m not stepping foot in one of those stores or another that forgets the that X-mas isn’t till December, or at least end of November. I’ll also do my best to avoid any who have moved Black Friday (an annoying enough day) to the Thursday evening before. And as an added bonus due mostly to being broke, we are making most gifts this year, or they are books. Which don’t count as encouraging gross commercialism, because books are awesome.

p.s. I Cleaned my desk off after taking that picture. Sorry.