I Haz a Conundrum

Oh dear.

This pattern...

A-Line Jacket by Kazekobo

Calls for reverse stockinette stitch. I started this pattern with my Noro Kureyon...

But because of the striping, I think regular stockinette would be better.

I don't have to make an actual decision till it's all knitted and blocked ... but what do you all think? Would it work as stockinette stitch? 

I don't understand reverse stockinette. Isn't it just garter stitch, only smooshed together? 

What do you all think? Would the jacket work as stockinette? I realize that would make it just a sweater ... but the stripes look so much better in stockinette. 

Leave a comment! 

B

Finished Socklets!

Finally finished some little socks I've had on the needles a while!

These are called "Coquette," from Socks 2 at a Time. I knit them one at a time, though. I have made 2aaT socks before, and it was a bit tedious.

I am also working on a simple one-piece shrug:

There's a pattern, but I don't have it linked. It's one of those large squares that you sew arms into. We'll see!

And here is my current conundrum:

I have 1,000 meters of this Noro. I was going to make a pullover, but those of you who are familiar with Noro ... well, it's kind of scratchy, isn't it? I'm currently scouring all of my pattern books and old Vogue Knitting magazines, searching for some sort of wrap to make with it. I thought 1,000 meters was a lot ... but turns out it isn't really.

I leave you with a cute picture of a cute kitty hanging out under the herbs and Black-Eyed Susan vine.

Sabbatical

Well, not a real sabbatical ... I just got involved in a big project and everything else went by the wayside!

I have been barely knitting, but I did at least start a second sock:

I just haven't been sitting enough to be knitting!

So what was my big project? Well, right after Tour de Fleece ended, I started feeling the urge to go through my house and de-clutter. REALLY de-clutter, not just put things away. I don't know what triggered this urge, but I am very, very grateful for it! I've made 3 trips to Salvation Army donation locations and put out 5 big bags of trash. I donated almost all of my CD collection, and half of my books (I'm a big fan of libraries, so it's no biggie). I've gone through every closet except one (and that one isn't too bad), and I feel so much better it's unbelievable. You know how clutter gets out of hand? Maybe you have a spare room and you just keep shutting the door so you don't see the mess? That's how I've been for years. I suddenly just couldn't stand it any longer! The clutter was controlling me, and it was winning!

I shredded a mountain of old papers, recycled another mountain, rearranged my living room, and went through my yarn stash. I got rid of silly stuff from college (just 10 years ago, I was a late starter) that I was hanging on to for no reason.

I emptied all the random bags of yarn and fiber, and now I can see how much I have. The stash is down to this:

The bottom is excess yarn or acrylic that will be made into cat mats for the winter. The top (it's a bit messy, I know) is the Tour de Fleece I just finished. I'm just going to make a big messy throw with the TdF yarn, to lay on the couch.

And here's the rest (excuse the odd angle, the bedroom walls are only about 5 feet apart), just the basket and the tall bureau. That's it! I feel so much better now that I have been through the whole house (1,000 sq ft) and I know what is in every drawer, and on every shelf. I even went through 9 photo albums and ruthlessly trashed most of the nonessential photos (random stuff I really didn't treasure--again, no biggie). I was just holding on to things out of habit, not need.





I still have to sort and file important papers for the file drawer and clean out the back porch, but other than that and a couple cupboards, I'm just about done! Next, I go shopping for new living room furniture. I have to get rid of my storage-capable coffee table, because that's just asking for clutter accumulation!

So that's been what has kept me busy since right after TdF ended. It was like a madness that just grabbed me and consumed me, and I am SO happy I did it. I was just feeling so pressured, and couldn't relax at home. I hated going into the "clutter" bedroom for anything. Now it's all tidy and neat! As pleased as I am that I decluttered, I'm irked that I let it get so far out of hand. I must be more vigilant about what I bring into the house, so that this doesn't happen again.

Molly Cat doesn't really care if it's cluttered or not, so long as she has a nice warm lamp to lay under.












I hope to catch up with what you all have been up to -- I've missed the blogs.

I'll leave you with a super-dorky picture of me running.

If I had a super power, it would be dorkiness

Of course, I kept up my exercise during the 'sabbatical.' This is a woman's 5k, for which I managed to set a personal record of 29:03. Right before my 45th birthday. The woman who won? 43 years old, came in at 19 minutes. WOW. 

Thanks for stopping by! I'm going to go right now and visit a bunch of blogs to catch up!