hall of shame

while coming to terms with my "hall of shame" concerning my UFO's that seem to breed uncontrollably at a high rate- in my previous post i confessed( yes soxy, i think it was that confessional in Carmel) to you all my problem of never finishing my knitting projects-i just keep casting on!!! i found 17 UFO's without looking all that hard...i know there are more hidden and/or lost in my closet studio. i don't think i really want to know how many unfinished projects truly exist.

but i quickly got to work and i finished one of my projects- "wooly you rock!" i said to myself while patting myself on the back. here they are: my "uvaUrsi bog socks" knit from sanguine gryphon taveller yarn. blue wanted to show you his fabulous built in socks.

so now my UFO count went down to 16!!! hooray for me!!! i was so excited that i felt like casting on a new project!!! the fabulous zuzu's petal cowl- i mean-have you seen the cuteness of this thing??? MOG! MOG! MOG! check it out. who could resist such cuteness? not me!

but just before searching thru my stash for some yarn to cast on- my faithful and true fiber trash girls came to my rescue and convinced me to finish one more project before starting a new one. they were right! okay. i decided to finish my tappan zee bartlett as it will be a perfect spring sweater.

this morning i almost choked on my breakfast when i realized there was a cloth bag hanging on my chair and had been hanging there for some time(actually i really knew it was there- i was just in heavy denial.) i peeked inside and low and behold.....2 more projects!!!!! a baby sweater and another pair of socks- both with yarn i dyed myself.

been so long i don't remember who this sweater was for and what pattern i was using-dang! gee, wasn't there another baby sweater in the last post that i had forgotten who it was for? how pathetic! the socks i'm not too thrilled about and may just frog them and use the yarn for a shawlette or cowl. the yarn is super snuggly-would feel great around my neck! mainly thinking of frogging because they are coming out pretty thin. i like my socks rugged and thick!!!

in the cupboard in my room i also found another 2 projects.

these awesome fingerless mittens- pattern by no other than the fabulous Eileen Lee- who works at my LYS. and a luxuriously soft mohair feather and fan shawl that really needs to be finished as it is so soft and cozy i want to wrap up in it NOW!

isn't that gorgeous!!!!!

so my UFO count as of today is now 2o. ( 17-1+4=20) holy cow! feels good to get it out in the open and talk about it!!

on to other topics-i've been playing and having fun with some 2 step dye processing. i've been painting skeins of yarn in rather bright colors then i do a quick hot overdye in a solid. here's an example:

here's bright-wowza! then a plunge into the hot bath of blue:

i love the iridescent quality this produces.

i end with this ditty of info for you. i'm so glad i learned how to bake bread-thanks claud!!!!!!! cause when you run out of it-you don't have to get in the car and drive to the store. you can just make a loaf. so simple yet so gratifying. i think it should be a requirement for high school graduation.

i hang my head in shame

a few weeks ago i started hearing voices in my bedroom. i realized the voices were coming from the bag i had hid stuffed all my new fiber purchases from stitches west. when i opened the bag-i was amazed to witness what looked like several skeins of yarn sighing with deep relief. "bout time you opened the bag........choruses of "use me first, no! use me! ...we know you want to start a new project, go for it, we won't tell!"

now, i had been really itching to start my stephen west- blue whale shawl ever since i returned from stitches but i had made a deal with myself- i needed to finish some old projects first before diving into "my precious" new scores from stitches west.

while avoiding some chore that needed doing, i decided to go thru my closet fiber studio and find all my UFO's (unfinished objects)that where lost in some old knitting bag or box. now, not wanting to make too big a mess i didn't go thru everything- i just touched the tip of the iceberg you might say, but what i found made me hang my head in shame. MOG! to the max. i sat on the bed in silence feeling a bit queasy...finally realizing-yes, i do have problem. a serious one. why can't i finish anything? i mean -i'm always knitting but never have much to show for it. guess i get bored of a project, toss it in the closet studio with good intentions of finishing it later. but there are so many cool things to knit out there(thanks ravelry) and so many awesome yarns that my ADD/addicted self just takes over and i can't control myself. i could literally start ten new projects a day and still not be satisfied. what i found was such a wake up call. i actually took photos. this really made the shame taunt me. here's what i found:

my icelandic star sweater. almost ready for sleeves.

my some cloudy day legwarmers. a very cute pattern from tiny owl knits. knitting these out of berroco alpaca. unfortunately-the other skein of yarn was not to be found with the project...and i have no clue where it could be. damn.

this is the valeria shawl knitted from rowan scottish tweed. at the point of starting the lace section. the fun part-what was i thinking???

a mystery shawl i never finished but want to so badly!!! i dyed this yarn years ago. damn- i don't even remember the name of the pattern!!!!

a top down mock turtle neck for Liam. gee it may still fit if i keep working on it.

alas, my lovely fairwind sweater that was a knit along with my fiber trash girls. just sitting there in the dark, crammed into a brown paper bag. how could i be so cruel? i know the photo sucks, my camera takes lousy pictures when the battery gets low-it really is beautiful in real life. a honey wheat color. i love you fairwind! i haven't forgotten you! forgive me.

this will someday be an awesome lace capelet. (wiping the tears now)

a baby sweater so old i don't even remember who it was for. crap on me!

oh, and these beauties-look how effin close to being done i am- this yarn i dyed (gads!) too many years ago to even count...they are all naturally dyed yarns too. my first and last try at indigo. turned out great, but was too fussy for me- having deal with ph levels all that...sheesh. i am not a precise dyer.


this fingerless mitt is made from my handspun-the fiber was from cottage creations-love that stuff! can't remember what needle size i used. dang does that mean i'll have to swatch for the second one!


another pair of fingerless mitts. the pattern is called prickly. the yarn is from hazel knits- love that yarn!!!

remember my catamount sweater? no? i guess i forgot about it too. this is one sleeve and the problem is.....i can't find the body-gasp!-horror of horrors!!!!!

here's my tappen zee bartlett sweater -the color is really the color of a barlett pear. it's fabulous. perfect spring sweater....need to wear this soon!!!! hey aren't there little people somewhere that hide during the day and come out at night and finish your projects for you?? where are you????

this is a test knit for plum dandy-rain boot liners.... my head hangs further in shame!!! need to finish these ASAP!!!

my hand dyed, handspun socks....another project so close to completion!

an icelandic vest. started recently, put down because of the rippling seed stitch ribbing.

these are my uva ursi bog socks....knit from sanguine gryphon traveller yarn-the best!!! do i have second sock syndrome????? i see a pattern here.

okay, -now that was painful. all these photos really made me take a deep hard look at myself. the worst part of it? there is still more. yes, there are still more UFO's lurking in my closet studio. i'm ready to turn over a new leaf!

oh, since posting all these photos, the voices have stopped and i've almost completed my uva ursi bog socks........and guess what????????


i started my blue whale shawl. guess some things will never change(wink!)


.....and you thought your startitus was bad!

late post

i started this blog post BEFORE i went to stitches but didn't get a chance to post it. the post is just a bit of eye candy from our trip to monterey at the beginning of february. hubby has an annual conference there every year. i love the monterey/pacific grove area. the whole historic area of the canneries speaks to me-despite all the modernization-i can still see and feel the old Steinbeckian "cannery row." i enjoy walking the streets of cannery row letting steinbeck's stories and memories flood back to me.

once a working cannery the monterey canning company now houses shops and the local starbucks.

liam and i had a great time cruising around town on our bikes. wow-no hills!!!

i'm a big ed ricketts(steinbecks buddy) fan- i love him. if you want to know more about ed i encourage you to read "about ed ricketts" by john steinbeck. it can be found at the front of steinbeck's "the log from the sea of cortez" book.

a memorial statue stands at the site of ed's deadly car wreak back in 1948. the statue is always adorned with fresh flowers. you can check out my old post about ed ricketts here.

lover's point-a great place for thought.

we were fortunate to watch 3 sea otters play and feed. diminishing numbers of otters make this a special occasion!!!!

being a lover of color and a dyer of fiber-i am always seeing things with a "dyers" eye. wanting to recreate things i have seen-such as these sea anemones in a tide pool.

while the boys were out on a bike ride- i walked along the beach. it was a beautiful late afternoon- full moon in a tide pool.

tranquility

monterey has the best thrift stores.

new altar boy shoes!!! a skirt for st. paddy's day, a skein of handspun yarn for a dollar,
and 4 awesome tops. score score score!!!!

pacific grove is a cute little town next to monterey. i love the little houses. this particular house had some awesome recycled garbage art adorning it. check out the jelly fish.

and the soda can flowers!

on our last day we went to the carmel mission. the california missions have a beauty all their own.

raised as a catholic the imagery and art work was beautiful to me.

there was a small museum but this piece really freaked me out- the confessional. something i always dreaded as child.

scary huh?

there was a flock of scottish blackfaced sheep at the historic ranch next to the mission.-the fiber looked divine. unfortunately they didn't sell it-or maybe that was a good thing:)