My Week In Instagrams: March 29, 2013

It's Friday! I have the day off for the holiday, so I took advantage and got some Etsy work done. More about that later on in the post. This is what I've been up to this week!
Rick is an awesome cook. This week he made bacon wrapped filet mignon, over caramelized onions, a fried egg and toast. Super tasty, and a wonderful breakfast. I'm so spoiled with how well he cooks for us.
Winston has been really good this week. He has days where he is a total grumpy pants, and hates everyone, but we haven't experienced that for a few days. He's so cute when he sleeps, I can't help but take pictures of him doing it. Seriously, I looked through some folders on my computer today, and found a few dozen snaps of him snoozing. Somehow, yesterday, he cut open his paw pad on one foot. It looks pretty gruesome but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. I'm hoping it heals up soon.
I often get cravings for very specific foods. The other day, I really wanted a single Reese Peanut Butter Cup. Just one. So Rick and I went to the convenience store and picked up a couple packages of them. They were buy one get one free, so there was no way I was turning that down.  We got a couple other little bits and bobs, and came home. We watched The Following, and Bates Motel while munching on our spoils. I'm really enjoying both of those shows. Have you watched either of them? What do you think?
Thursday was Winston's third birthday! We got him a cheeseburger like we've done for the last two years. He did really well wearing the crown before we gave him the burger. This year was a Whopper from Burger King. He loves his burgers! He's so funny when he eats things that aren't dog food. He sniffs and sniffs before he'll eat it. Rick is in the process of putting together Winston's burger eating video. We record him eating his burger every year, and Rick puts together a short video. The ones from the last two years have been hits. I can't wait to see what music he picks this time.
I got an order for some hair bows from a friend of mine. She's the one that got the pink head band with the white flower. She also picked up a hair bow when she came to the craft show, and now a bunch of her friends and coworkers want some. I had some very specific colour requests, so I had to dig stuff out of some of my bins. Some people have been asking how much yarn I have. These four bins are less than half of what I have. I have four more of them, filled to the brim, as well as the drawers you can kind of see behind the bin, on the right. There are three sets of those too. And those bags in from of the drawers are filled with knitting/other crafting supplies. I'm sure you can understand why I'm doing a stash down this year! I'll update you on my progress in that department on Monday.
Like I said earlier, I have today off work. I took some pictures of the rings I've been making lately, with my iPad, and got a few listed in the shop. It's really nice being able to take and edit pictures without having drag out the camera and tripod. Much more convenient for small things. I will be adding more earrings at some point in the next couple weeks, and take the photos in the same way.
What have you all been up to this week? Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend? I'm going to be working Saturday, and visiting family on Sunday. Not a bad weekend, I'd say.

Life Is Good!

Life has a funny way of turning around for me. As I mentioned in the initial post about Winston, everything was going great, and then we got the unfortunate news that he needed surgery. Well, he's home now! The infection has cleared up, his fur is starting to grow in from where they shaved it, and he's HAPPY! He's had a smile on his face since we picked him up. Another happy thing is that the incisions are not very visible. I've looked at some of the pictures of this surgery online, and they all looked terrible. He's taking it all in stride. He still growled at the vet, but was very happy when Rick walked into the room he was in.
Another awesome thing! I got my KnitPicks order today! I placed my very first order a little while back, and it was delivered to the PO Box today. I received an email about it being in the Canadian Postal system, so I checked the tracking number. I literally did a happy dance when I saw that it had arrived. I begged Rick to bring me there, offering to buy gas in exchange. We picked it up, along with a parcel for Cindy, and off to the gas station we went. That pump couldn't go fast enough for me! I just wanted to tear into my yarn and needles!
As soon as we got home, I made a beeline for the scissors, and carefully opened the package. I didn't want to hurt my yarn! Out came a bag with five beautiful skeins in it. Left to right, they are Alpaca Cloud in Wonderland Heather, Oyster Heather and Smoke Heather, and Shadow in Summer Blooms Tonal and Basalt Heather. The Alpaca is the softest thing I think I've ever touched. It's unbelievable. The Shadow is so nice and squishy, I just want a bed made of it. I will definitely be ordering more yarn from KnitPicks in the future.
The other thing I got from KnitPicks was a set of Options Interchangeables in the Harmony Wood. They are so pretty! I can't wait to cast something on with them. I also got a set of 40 inch circular cables, and some cable connectors. I'm starting to knit more, larger and smaller, projects, and I need to have the flexibility. I want to be able to see the full size of a shawl I'm working on, without having to slip the stitches off onto scrap yarn, and then trying to slide them all back on after. I also want to be able to use the Magic Loop technique for the tops of hats, and potentially some mittens. This set is going to help me grow as a knitter, and I can't wait to start using them.
Keep an eye out tomorrow for a (bad) picture of my most recent project!

One Quarter of My Stash

On my last post, Holly asked to see a photo of my stash. This is the closest I can get right now, because my stash is in three places. Here are four of the eight bins I have right now. I have four more bins full, as well as three 5-drawer rolling carts full, and a half dozen cardboard boxes full. This doesn't include the bin of knitted items, or the reusable grocery bag full of yarn I have been carrying around with me, back and forth between our place and Rick's parents.
I have all this yarn, and I always want more! Any time I get a Michael's email, I think that means I should go stock up on yarn again.
Now, dear readers, you need to post photos of your stash!
PS. You can find me on Instagram with the name knitnicoleknit.

A Baby Blanket, and Some Lofty Goals

This is part of a baby blanket. I started it either two or three days ago, I honestly don't remember. The yarn is incredibly soft, and perfect for a tiny new baby boy. Plus, it comes out of a rather large skein, which brings me to the Lofty Goals the title of this blog post mentions.

I want to organize my yarn stash.

It is taking up way too much real estate in the office. Well, on the floor of the office. My goal is to make all of my yarn fit into the storage I have for it by December 31st 2011, except for the few cones of machine yarn I have. Those are too big to fit in the drawers, and can sit nicely on top of them, anyway.
There are a few ways I am going to go about this:
-Knit more. This is easy. I knit often. Quite often, some might say. I could be knitting more, though. At work, when there is downtime, after I clean and such. Or when I am watching TV shows and movies. I used to do that all the time, but lately, I haven't been doing it as much. Or in the car. We don't have a car right now, because of the accident, but I am still in a vehicle every few days. I need to get back in the habit of keeping a dishcloth or something in my bag all the time. The only problem with this part is that my bin for holding finished items is full to the top. I need to sell some stuff in order to fit more in there.
-Give some yarn away. This is getting more difficult to do. I have removed most of the yarn I don't use often/don't like form my stash over the past months. Most of it was donated to a group I knit baby hats with. I'm sure I could find more to get rid of, but I'm sure it won't be much.
-Actually organize the yarn. I said I was going to do this before, and I got frustrated half way through. That ended with me shoving skeins here and there, into whatever drawer was the closest. I want to have each drawer only hold one type of yarn, and in a fairly organized fashion. Keep all the same colours/dye lots together, partial balls in one part of the drawer, etc.
-Not buy any more yarn. This one will be difficult. If something that I use often is on crazy sale (Lion Brand Homespun for $3 a skein? Sure, I'll buy all of them) I will probably cave and buy it. And if someone asks me to knit something for them, I will buy the yarn for that, only if I don't have a reasonable substitute.

I am going to try my hardest to have everything organized by the end of this year. Once I get some stuff tidied up, I will take some photos of my current stash situation. I don't think I have ever photographed the entirety of my stash. This could get interesting.

An other custom knitted item, and more cotton yarn.

I have the cloths all done for my aunt. Two tan, three yellow/orange and one blue/green are what I ended up with. I hope she is happy with the colour choices. If not, I can always make more for her.
I had my backpack in my department at work today. It's way too big to put in our tiny locker, and I feel safer with it near me. I was getting something out of it, and took out a hat I made a while ago that I was planning on frogging. It's a really nice purple Homespun yarn, but I used the HUGE Knifty Knitter loom, and it's really way too big. One of the girls at work really liked the colour, so I offered to sell her the remake as soon as I have it finished. I will start working on it as soon as the hat I have on the right sized loom is done. We work together on Wednesday, so it would be great to have it done for then.
 I bought some new to me yarn the other day. Three bags of Bernat Handicrafter, bought at Value Village for $3.99 a bag. They're all the smallest skeins of this type of yarn. Not sure how many I have, but I will photograph them in a few days (I'm at my parents right now)
I am progressing on getting a lot of my yarn used up. It's going slowly, but I am definitely starting to notice a decline in selection for my yarn bombs, and for pairing with other yarns for hats and scarves. The thought of eliminating large parts of my stash is completely mind boggling. I am so used to having a ton of yarn at my fingertips, it's going to be quite a change.

So sick!

I have been super sick for the past couple days, and my knitting time has suffered!
I picked up 4 skeins of super fuzzy yarn the other day from Zellers for some scarves for craft shows this winter. It's called Fashion Twenty-Three by Phentex. It's nothing fancy, but it does the job. I have already started a scarf on 8mm needles, and it seems perfect for a cold winter day.
In other knitting news, I am still working on making tags. My knitting has been slow lately, because I got a tattoo on my fingers the other day (first tattoo!!) and it is pretty much where I hold my needle at. Give it a couple more days, and everything will be back to normal!

Culling My Stash

I have been knitting for about 9 years, which, I guess, is a long time seeing as I'm only 20. In this time, I have managed to acquire what I consider to be a substantial stash. And, if you take into consideration that most of this was given to me, it seems even larger.
I am moving out of my parents house for the first time this weekend. I have been storing my yarn somewhat sloppily in large tote bins belonging to my mother. I have tried to reorganise my stash a few times, and have succeeded, but I have always wanted clear containers to store them in.
And here comes Canadian Tire to the rescue!For those of you that don't know what Canadian Tire is, please visit the website.
I found some awesome storage containers here. Five drawers, clear, sturdy, and they have wheels! I figured I would need about 3 to house my yarn. So that's what I got. I expected to need one of those zippered Bed-In-A-Bag bags to put the small leftovers in.
Needless to say, I underestimated. By a lot. I have about half my stash in, and I didn't want to get rid of anything, because it is all precious to me, but nothing else fit!
I've buckled down and started a "give away" pile. It started out small, mostly filled with what I thought were ugly colours, or odd textures. Then it grew. And grew. And grew.
I am giving a nearly full garage bag to my local Blankets for Canada group. I have blogged about them before, and it is a charity that is easy to help. A pattern is given, but when I make my squares, I generally free hand them.
It's a great way to get rid of leftovers, and it doesn't matter how ugly the yarn is, it always looks great when it's joined into a blanket!


Just a note, since I am moving, I don't know when I will have full internet back, and I might not be updating for a few days!

Not so much knitting...

I haven't been knitting much lately. I have been working on the B4C square, but not much else. I have, however, been sitting under my blanket. And I have had to fight with every member of my family to get MY blanket back from them.
Apparently, this blanket, even though it's somewhat small, is everyone's new favourite.
I am hoping to knit more blankets in the near future, but storage is becoming an issue. All my stash now fits in the storage I have for it. Nothing is on the floor, in a plastic bag or otherwise. And that, although nice, is stopping me from buying anymore yarn until I do have storage for it.

Stash Acquisition

A few days ago, I went yarn shopping with my friend Chris. Much of the yarn at Michael's was on sale between boxing day and about a week later.
I purchased 5 skeins of Wool Ease Thick & Quick. I love this stuff. It's super warm, knits up quickly and has the benefits of wool, without the risk of felting and itchiness.
I plan on making scarves with each one of the skeins.
I got the following colours:
103 Blosson
106 Sky Blue
112 Raspbery
138 Cranberry
153 Black
I'm headed back in that direction today with Mom, and we might stop by to see if there is anything else I want.

Knitting Updates!

I have quite a few things to update about today! I haven't been knitting as much as I usually do, but I have been doing knitting related things.

My stash has been separated into two different areas. Before this, I had several large Rubbermaid type totes stacked on the floor in our basement. I also had a few zip up vinyl bags, like the ones bedding generally comes in, with random left over bits. Lastly, all of my cotton was stored in a cardboard box perched precariously on the very top of all the rest of the bins.
My mom decided to clean the multi-purpose laundry room a couple days ago, and my stash was moved and some what organized. We found a few more tote bins, and put all of the yarn into them. The bins are now stacked neatly against a wall, instead of being a yarn peninsula into the middle of the room.
Thanks Mom!

I was supposed to get the yarn for the Who scarf yesterday. Unfortunately, the person I am knitting it for, Will, was sick and was not getting out of bed. Hopefully, he is feeling better today, and will be ready for yarn shopping soon!

I am still working on the Baby Boucle blanket (try saying that after a couple drinks!) and it's super warm. I just started on the third skein, which means I have finished 1/3 of the blanket. I am using 3 skeins on each half, and it will be a litle small, but I think it will do the job of a lap blanket for while I'm at the computer. The yarn I am using for this is taking quite a large portion of one of the storage bins. I am trying to cut down on the footprint my stash makes. Now, all I have to do is avoid the temptation to fill it back up!

Last night, I went out for a friends staff party at one of the bars in the downtown area. It happened to be right around the corner from Phog, where I have my scarves shown in the Original T-Shirt Art Show. I went in to check out the rest of the stuff that was being shown, and ran into a friend who was admiring the scarves. I asked him which one he liked the best, and he chose this one. I said Oh, really? I just finished that one a couple weeks ago. After giving me a confused look, I showed him the tag with my blog address and his eyes got rather large. "You knit ALL of these?" I pointed out Samantha's scarves, and said that yes, I had knit the rest of them. He seemed fairly impressed.
Later on, just before getting ready to head home, Tom came over and handed me some money. I was a little confused and I saw a lady wrapping a scarf around her neck. He pointed in my general direction. I walked over to her and thanked her for her purchase. She hadn't planned on purchasing anything, but with the way the weather was, a scarf was more or less necessary. The scarf she bought was one I knit last year, or maybe the year before. I used Bernat Galaxy, in the Pluto colourway. For being mostly man made materials, it is a very warm yarn. She informed me she would check out my blog! If you do happen to come across this post, I would love to have a picture of you wearing your new purchase!

Seed stitch love!

I went digging through my ever expanding stash a couple nights ago to find something to make a boyish scarf. I found one skein of Wool Ease Thick & Quick in Goldenrod. I sort of remember when I purchased this yarn, actually. I went to Michael's with my mom a few years back to get some picture frames for new prints we had in the living room, and I wandered over to the yarn section. There was a HUGE bin of discontinued colours from a bunch of different brands marked down from up to $10 to as low as 50 cents. I got about 3 skeins of this same brand of yarn in different colours for a dollar each.
Looking back, I wish I would have bought all of it, the T&Q at least. I love this stuff. Knits up super quick, and is super warm.

I'm doing this scarf on 10 mm needles, 13 stitches wide in Seed Stitch.
I love and hate seed stitch. I love to knit while watching TV, or reading blogs or basically, anything but watching what I'm knitting. When I have to switch between knit and purl after Every. Darn. Stitch. I tend to screw up. Which leads to swearing and throwing and frogging.
But I do love how squishy it is when it's done!

Scarves and Blankets!

I finished a scarf with 1500 stitches. That was the Creamsickle one. It's somewhat short, but I sort of like it.
I have decided to start on an other baby blanket. I have not yet sold one, but I'm thinking Christmas-time would be a time where people would be wiling to spoil babies. Especially if it's their first. It's going to be the corner to corner one, done in Sunshine State (Homespun).

I went into Michael's today, and they had quite a bit of yarn on sale. Some cotton was $1 or $1 off. Homespun was $5 a skein. And they had glow in the dark on for like $1 a skein.
Guess how much I bought...



NOTHING! I realized I should knit from my stash at least until the New Year. I am planning on moving, and I don't want to have to bring TOO much yarn with me!

Organization

My stash lacks organisation. I have everything everywhere.
I've had quite a lot of scraps donated to my mom and I to do charity knitting. Because of this, we have a lot of small leftover balls of unknown yarns.
We also are easily tempted by sales on pretty yarns. This is why we have piles of somewhat scratchy acrylic. Red Heart, Bernat etc etc etc.
I have my blanket yarn. Two skeins of this, 2 of that. Seven colours of Homespun for MY eventual afghan (as soon as I find a pattern I like). Four skeins of one colour to pair up with some others and make a few blankets.

My goal for Christmas-time is to have ALL of my yarn fit into the storage I have for them. One way to do this is making these. I'm sure I could make them out of other types of yarn. Soft acrylic, maybe? Make a whole pile of them, and then tie all the ends in, sew them up and donate some to the hospital, some to the Downtown Mission, give some away? Oh, the possibilities!