It's been two weeks and yet, there's been minimal knitting progress. Not enough to warrant a picture of the shawl. Yes, still working way too much OT and it's sucking my knitting mojo away. I do have one thing to share:
This is the skein of yarn I won from TheKnitGirllls podcast along with a few goodies thrown in - two key chain mini skeins and a Lo-Lo Bar sample. If I ever finish that shawl, this will be a wash on the yarn - one in, one out. =) And I didn't buy it, so it doesn't count. lol
I'm in for at least one more week of lots of OT so it'll probably be a couple weeks before I post again. Maybe I'll have something done by then... =)
It's been slow going with the knitting this week... really slow.
Yep, that orange stitch marker is where I was last Sunday. Most of that (minimal) progress was made last night after finishing up another 80-hr work week. Ugh, I'm so over the OT. My rv payments have been made well in advance, my savings account is healthy... the drive to work more is greatly diminished. lol I won't be doing that again anytime soon. I've offered to still put in some overtime this week, but it won't be anywhere near what I've been doing. Hello, knitting time! =)
While working all those hours, I've been keeping up on all the knitting podcasts I like to watch/listen to and even checked out a few new ones. Podcasts keep me sane while working through all those charts! I watched the latest podcast from TheKnitGirllls and... I won yarn! Very pretty green yarn. =) They had a contest thread to enter items knit in December using old stash yarn. I posted the cowl I knit for my mom for Christmas since the yarn was from 2008. I'll post a pic of the skein when it gets here. And no, this doesn't break my plan to cold sheep this year! lol I didn't buy it, it doesn't count! My friend also has offered to buy me a skein of yarn from a LYS for my birthday. I'm thinking I might get fiber instead though since I really think I'll be ordering an espinner soon!
Speaking of spinning... I found an interesting podcast this week - Vegan Eco Fibrecast. Sorry, I haven't been able to find it online so I can't link to it. Sadly, there are only a handful of episodes and the latest was posted last June. It was an interesting listen though. The podcaster discussed her experiences spinning with different plant fibers as well as some of the reasons she doesn't use animal fibers. I'd really like to get away from using so much (if any) animal fibers in the future unless I know specifically where it comes from and that the animals were treated well. That pretty much knocks out any commercial yarn purchases. I've had this plan in the past, but have stumbled when I came across a deal too good to pass up. This year of not buying will help break that bad habit of mine. I don't plan to ditch the wool/alpaca/silk that's already in my stash, but I feel I have the responsibility to make more conscientious purchases in all areas of my life. How fun would it be to learn to spin with plant fibers though?! =)
I also received a free pattern this week. A mitten pattern was designed to match the hat I posted last week and because I took part in that KAL, the designed gifted me the pattern for the mittens. =)
I think I'll knit up a pair with the remainder of the acrylic I used on that last hat so I'll have a set to add to my giftable knit items. The pattern for the Intersecting Mittens is available on Ravelry.
Hopefully, I'll have more knitting progress next weekend! =)
I watch a lot of podcasts these days and one of my new favorites is The Fat Squirrel Speaks. If you're up for some fibery fun, you should definitely go check her out. She's hilarious! Really. Go! I'll be here when you get back... =)
Over the holiday season, Amy Beth (of the above podcast) had a contest in her group on Ravelry for everyone to post their crazy. Mine? Knitting way too many things for Christmas! She did the drawing and guess what? I won an ebook! Such cute patterns too. This is the ebook I won:
I think that hat on the right will be the first one I try. Love it!
I also was gifted a pattern from a friend for my birthday! Aren't I the lucky girl?! I've seen this shawl (Piper's Journey) on a few podcasts and love it. I'd planned to buy the pattern when I was ready to start it so had it in my queue. =) Isn't it pretty?
I've seen this done in two colors and love the effect! The garter will be nice and relaxing and that lace edging is just enough detail to keep it interesting. This might end up being the year of the shawl for me. =)
Speaking if shawls, I've started on the shawl I'm testknitting but all this overtime at work is killing any knitting progress! It's just far enough along to start showing the pattern well when stretched out, but it's still so tiny!
It's difficult to stretch it out and take a photo. I promise a good shot when it's completed and blocked. =)
I did finish the hat I posted last week:
Not a great pic, but it was dark already when I finished it up on New Year's Eve and had to take a shot to post for the KAL. =)
(project details on Ravelry)
Want a peek at some of what I plan to use use up this year?
The fingering weight yarn on top is what I'm using for the current shawl. The oatmeal color yarn underneath is destined to become a sweater, though I don't yet know which pattern. The cream wool on the left will become a sheep hat:
Isn't that adorable?? I plan to dye some of the skein green for the grassy part. No new yarns, remember? =) I also have a bag of baby-appropriate yarns:
Mostly cotton and cotton blends with just a two small skeins of acrylic.
And I just had to share my little goofball:
Reilly's a good distraction from all the paid work! =)
I hope you all had a safe and happy new year! Mine was quiet... just as I like it. =) Do you have any big plans for the new year? Mine are pretty similar to what I've planned in past years. 2012 brought about some big changes for me. I went from living in a nearly 1000sqft mobile home to living in under 200sqft in an rv. I made a trip to OR for work and was able to hang out there for awhile after. Not sure how much travel I'll be doing for work in the new year, but it's still a possibility. I do have some plans for this year though:
Use the stash! Yes, I'm trying to go cold sheep in 2013. I have entirely too many skeins of yarn stashed in my rv at the moment. Some are for specific projects, others are leftovers from projects past, but there are too many just picked up because they were pretty or "too good a deal to pass up"... Yes, falling into old habits and it's out of hand. So the goal for the new year is to only knit/crochet from stash.
Plan ahead! I knit way too many items in too short a time this past holiday season and that's just crazy. Although... my crazy did win me a knitting ebook yesterday! =) (More about that in my weekend crafty post.) This coming year though, I plan to knit/crochet/sew at least one gift each month and stash them away so next holiday season, I can knit for me if I want and relax more. =D
Unprocess my diet! Meaning, get rid of as much processed junk from my diet as possible. I went vegan awhile back and though I do eat a vegan diet, I haven't been making the healthiest choices... by far. The great thing about being in a small space... I don't have a lot of food on hand so making a change is fairly instant. lol I'll be avoiding over-processed foods and choose whole foods and organics whenever possible... I'll be cooking a lot more! =)
Be a more responsible consumer! I've made strides in this area already, but I need to really make a better effort in supporting things I believe in with how I spend my money. I've been buying too much commercially produced yarns, too many foods with excessive packaging, being too wasteful.I can't change the whole world, but I can make a small difference by choosing greener items for myself... or just not buying at all. =)
Decrease debt! *sigh* I wish I could say, eliminate debt, but I still owe too much on my rv to make paying it off completely this year a real possibility. I did make another large payment yesterday and finished 2012 having made all my payments due in 2013. Yes, I'm a dork. I made a special trip to the bank yesterday just so I could see that my next payment wasn't due until 2014 before 2012 was done. lol
Keep clutter in check! I'm instituting a one in, one out rule. This is a very small space and gets cluttered very quickly. Bringing things in without something going out turns into a problem really fast. This will keep things even, though I do need to go through things and see what can go in addition to just replacement items.
Travel more for me! I've done a lot of traveling over the past 5 years, going wherever work told me to... but I'd really like to travel more for myself while I have the rv. I have the opportunity, now I'm just waiting for better weather. lol I stayed here in Spokane too long and winter is upon us bringing not so great roads to be on with such a big vehicle. It's been good for the bank account being able to save a couple hundred dollars a month here at my friend's place, but I think next year, I'll head south!
Keep up the tiny house fund! The rv is good for now, but not my ideal. I still want that tiny home and have proven to myself that I can easily live in such a small space. Building my own would allow me to design it to suit my own needs, better than an rv designed for recreation. I've discovered I don't crave the constant mobility an rv offers, but rather the ability to move occasionally if I so choose. It will happen... hopefully sooner rather than later!
I've been doing a lot of thinking about who I want to be and doing some soul-searching to discover where I am now and how that relates to what I want in my life. I've made a lot of good changes (and had plenty of slip-ups along the way) and gotten closer to my goals, but life is a journey and there's always room for improvement! =)
