New Year's Resolution for 2012

I started this blog as a way to encourage myself to use up stash and record the results. I've made a big dent in my extensive stash of acrylic yarns by knitting & crocheting scarves and other items for our monthly Knit Night charity group. Now I need to tackle the next big mound in my craft studio -- unfinished projects. Being a "process person" rather than a "product person" means that the journey is often more fulfilling than the destination. Thus, a lot of projects get underway, but, due to mistakes or just boredom, never get finished. This year an unfinished scrap afghan was transformed into several scarves and into a yarn bomb for my front entrance. But most of my UFOs (UnFinished Objects) languish in boxes or tote bags taking up space and becoming annoying reminders of my habit of moving on before completing a project. So this coming year I want to get these things finished or, when warranted, transformed into a finished something else.

This weekend I pulled out a tatted pillowcase edging that was just inches from completion. It took me a while to figure out where I'd stopped in the pattern, but this morning I finished the tatting. Next step is to sew in the loose tails and attach it to a pillowcase.

My plan is to postpone new tatting projects until I make some progress in clearing out my tatting projects box. I'm so tired of fishing around this nest of threads so even if I just cut up pieces and glue them to cards or bookmarks, it will be great to see this mess get smaller.

I still have a lot of knitting and embroidery UFOs, but they'll have to wait till I see how the tatting clean up goes. (And I don't even want to begin to think about the bead stash that I need to deal with.)

Off the needles: felted bell

I knitted and felted a tree ornament for one of my friends. She's a big Carolina fan so I was lucky to have a small bit of Carolina blue yarn left over from my felted bag project. What blue you see on the bell is absolutely every last scrap left from the bag, including fuzz I shaved off after felting. I used the fuzz for the clapper ball.

I paired it with some wooly off-white yarn. This was another mystery yarn from my stash. I had to do a burn test to determine that, yes, it is animal fiber and so should felt. I got the pattern and assembly instructions online from The Purl Bee. I think I may make more with the lite Lopi colors I bought this fall.

Off the needles: scarf to match gloves

Here's the scarf I made for my friend out of the yarn left over from making her fingerless gloves. The pattern is a K2P2 rib that matches the ribbing on the gloves. I just kept knitting till I ran out of the yarn. The variegated yarn is superwash wool and nylon sock yarn from the Unplanned Peacock Studio in colorway "Merlin."

Off the needles: fingerless gloves

I finished making fingerless gloves for my friend Jane just hours before she came for my annual cookie party. She injured her hand in a car accident and she has trouble with cold hands now. I forgot to take a photo of them before she took them home, but they came out great. I only had an outline of her hands to guide me, but they fit her just fine. The yarn is a sock-weight superwash merino wool and nylon hand-dyed in shades ranging from off-white to pink to deep burgundy. She bought the yarn at the Knit and Crochet show in Greensboro last October from the Unplanned Peacock Studio. I modified a pattern from Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders. The cuffs and ends are in k2p2 rib and the body of the gloves is stockinette. This is the 3rd pair of fingerless gloves I've made by this pattern. They knit up pretty fast since there's no complicated pattern to follow. I used variegated sock yarn for the other two pairs. I think stockinette works best to show off all the color changes in the yarns.

There's enough of Jane's yarn left over to make her a matching scarf in the same k2p2 pattern. I'll try to remember to photograph that when it's finished.

Amy showing off the beret I crocheted for her

This turned out great, but it was sooo hard to see the stitches. Note to self: avoid black yarn when possible.