It's July; WIPs WrestleMania Month

This month, July, is WIPs WrestleMania on Ravelry. For the uninitiated, WIPs are Works in Progress, and those of us engaged in WrestleMania all try to finish off as many WIPs (also known as UFOs, or Unfinished Objects) as we possibly can by the end of the month.

I started off the month hoping to finish up these wips:

Kathy’s Moebius


A moebius wrap crocheted with some of Kathy Withers’ beautiful handspun yarn. I had actually finished the body of the wrap, but it still needed some embellishment. I made a few scrumbles, mostly flower shapes, but had to redo a spiral/curlicue, and attach them all (artfully, of course) to the wrap. This was my oldest wip; I had bought the yarn in March, 2007, and started working on it some time that summer. And it also was the piece with the least amount of work left to be done, so I was able to polish it off quickly, although I didn't actually get it done till 10:15pm, July 6th, after Eva's Shawl.


Eva’s Shawl, Modified

This was my next easiest project to finish; I already had about 5 or 6 repeats done. I did a couple more repeats, then added a deep ruffle, and finished it July 6th, 12:15am. (I do some of my best work in the wee hours of the morning.) ☺

Sandra Kimono Jacket
This is the project I’m working on now. I’m finished with the back, left side, and 4/5 of the right front. I work on it daily, trying to finish at least 1 block (24 rows) on whatever piece I’m doing. I still have both sleeves to go; then I can put it together, and another wip will be history,

Wrap Me Up Shawl
I doubt that this will be done this month. There’s still too much work to do on it, and not enough time after I finish the Kimono Jacket. It’s not Top Priority anyway; it’s a little too heavy to wear in Tucson this time of year.

Sideways Vest
I had originally planned to do this before the Kimono Jacket, but when I took it out to work on, I realized that I was not happy with the yarns I was using. I played around with substitutions for some and finally decided it needs to be started from scratch with new yarns and a new plan. But I decided not to take the time to frog it now while I have other projects that hopefully can get done for WIPs WrestleMania.

Loopy Shawl/Throw
I thought this would be simple to finish; just Garter Stitch till it was long enough. But this was another project that just didn’t look right. I kept this in the car to work on whenever I had to wait anywhere, and apparently had not really looked at it for a while. The variegated yarn didn’t look very good going across the piece, and I decided to do it lengthwise instead. So I frogged it and rewound the yarn. I’ll get to it another time.

Actually, for the purpose of WrestleMania, frogging it counts as a finished project!

And, possibly,
Undulating Waves Scarf
But this is a lace scarf, with an 18 row pattern repeat, and I had no idea which row of the pattern I was on. In the process of figuring it out, I discovered a few mistakes and decided to frog it and start over. Which also counts as a finished project.

Santa Fe: SOFA and Tour of LYSs

I've been back from Santa Fe for over a week, but I haven't had a chance to post my thoughts till now.

The main reason for my trip was to attend the 1st SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art) in the Southwest. This art expo has been in Chicago for about 20 years, and New York (not sure how long). I've been attending the Chicago event for the last 16 or 18 years, and when we decided to move to Tucson permanently, I planned on going back to Chicago for it every year. But when I found out it was going to be in Santa Fe in June, I decided to test it out. This was a location I could drive to, and I could kill 2 or 3 birds with one stone: do SOFA, see a friend who lives there, and check out the LYSs, of which there are 5, 1 more than in Tucson.

Touring the LYSs turned out to be interesting and exciting, as well as frustrating. Santa Fe is an easy city in which to get lost. Even though I went on Mappoint and Mapquest to get directions, often the directions didn't account for the fact that some streets had more than 1 location in town, and often you couldn't seem to get from 1 to the other. I wasted a lot of time trying to find some of the shops, until the last day, when I discovered that the map of Art Galleries I had picked up pretty much covered the areas where the yarn shops were as well.

At any rate, here's my assessment of the shops:

Oodles
I went to this one first because it is hosting a Jane Thornley workshop Labor Day weekend, and I assumed, rightly, that there would be a lot of yarns suitable for freerange knitting. I found it to be a cosy, friendly shop, with some really gorgeous yarns. I initially thought I was just checking out the shops for future reference, but based on previous posts, I'm sure you know that I couldn't resist adding to my stash.


I will definitely go back on any future trip/s.

Tutto
This one I almost didn't find. I kept walking around looking for the address, but when I came to where the address should have been, no Tutto. Until I got smart and asked another shopkeeper. It turns out that the shop is on the 2nd level, but there was nothing to indicate that fact.

I found Tutto to be adequate, but not particularly inspiring. The 2 people there offered help, but I didn't really require any, and I left without purchasing anything.

Needle's Eye
This is one of 2 shops on the same sort of circular road. It wasn't hard to find, but had other problems: parking meters. Actually, most of the places I went, including SOFA, had metered parking, and I often didn't have enough change. In this case, after spending some time there, I realized my meter was running out. There was a lot across the street (actually closer than where I was parked) so I went to move my car, only to find that the lot charged a flat fee (more than it was worth for the amount of time I could stay) so I ended up not returning to the shop. I was running out of time, and still had 2 more shops to see. This was my last day, and I didn't want to go without at least checking out all of the shops. I have no doubt that, had I returned, I would have purchased some yarn here.

The shop was neatly laid out, but with a lot of different areas, so next time I would allow more time to explore. There will be a next time; more on that later.

Miriam's Well/Santa Fe School of Weaving
This is another great shop, full of many different yarns, and gorgeous samples designed and made by the owner, who, unfortunately was out of town. But the young man who was watching the shop was very helpful (to the point of actually guiding me to the shop by cell phone when I couldn't tell if the dirt road across the street would take me where I wanted to go.) He is a weaving student (possibly apprentice?) of Miriam's.

One of the samples (actually many) was of a ruffled scarf unlike any I'd seen before, and I found a variegated 95% wool/5% silk yarn to try one, and the pattern, which is free if you buy the yarn. I also bought 2 colorways of Fiesta Yarns La Boheme.


Another shop to which I will definitely return.

Looking Glass Yarn & Gifts
This was my last stop. Another shop with all kinds of glorious, and some very unusual yarns. The first that I noticed was Habu textiles silk stainless. This is a very fine silk yarn with a core of stainless steel. Last fall, Lion Brand Yarns introduced a yarn (wool, I think) with stainless steel, but I've never seen it in stores; I guess it's only available online. And this yarn, with silk, was even more intriguing. So, of course, I bought some.

I also got some Kraemer Sterling silk & silver; actually only 20% silk and 2%silver, with 63% superwash merino and 15% nylon. The yarn has little shots of silver throughout. I'm anxious to see how it makes up. The theme of my purchases on this trip, and especially at this shop, seems to be Silk.
This is another shop I'll return to. Actually, I will return to all the shops except Tutto; I didn't find anything exceptional there.

As far as returning to these shops goes, I will be taking a Jane Thornley workshop in Taos this coming September. Since Taos is just enough farther from here than Santa Fe, I will most likely stop in Santa Fe on my way there (and probably on my way back as well) and stay at least overnight. So I'll get another chance to shop there. Not to mention shopping in Taos. That will be another tour of LYSs to write about.

Obsessions/Addictions Part 2

I have been going through my stash and have come to the conclusion that no matter how much yarn I have (and how varied it is) it's never enough. Whatever new project I start, I don't have all of the right yarn, or yarns needed for it.

For instance, I thought that much of the yarn I purchased at the Tucson Yarn Company's Moving on up Sale (all of the green beauties shown in my last post) would be perfect to use when I go to Jane Thornley's workshop in Taos in September. The project hasn't been announced yet, but most likely these yarns would work. But I know that when I get to Taos, I'll want to scour the shops there to see what special treats there are to add to it all. Especially because so far I don't have a variegated or lead yarn to tie it all together.

But now Jane has announced a KAL based on the patterns and ideas in her new Summer Free Range Knitting Guide, including the Leaflings Shrug/Wrap, which is just crying out for Green. So I may use all or some of my greenery on that, instead of waiting to try one of Jane's ideas when I get to Taos. Then I'll have to start all over with new yarns for that project. :)

Which leads me to believe that it's folly to just buy/collect yarn because I like or love it, or because it's on sale, unless there is already a project to use it for. Because then it just sits there, looking enticing and feeling yummy, and accumulates with all the other beautiful yarn. But does that mean I'm going to stop buying yarn for which I have no immediate use?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Addictions/Obsessions

It seems that my addictive/obsessive personality reaches into many, if not all, aspects of my life. I used to think that only books fell into that category; I couldn’t be trusted in a bookstore. Then, when I started working with glass, I saw it manifested again; with glass, tools, videos, and more books. Now that I’ve returned to fibercrafts, after a long hiatus, it is worse than ever. Not just yarn, needles and hooks, but books, magazines, and patterns, not to mention classes and workshops. Which is why I’m so proud of myself for resisting (mostly) the Siren Call of Tucson Yarn Company’s Moving On Up Sale.

I was able to confine myself to 1 (ONE) visit, and 1 (ONE) basket of yarn during the weeklong sale. The staff kept saying, “You need another basket. I’ll get you one.” But I would say, “No, if this gets full, I’ll have to either stop, or take out some yarn if I want to add more.” And I pretty much stuck to my guns. I only bought yarn that fit in one basket. Of course, the basket was more or less overflowing, but I was able to keep it all intact.


And I was able to stick to a plan of sorts, so I didn’t just grab everything that looked good. Instead of picking up everything Purple, as I often do, I did a selection of Greens with a little bit of darker Blues, and when I got home, I found some ribbon and eyelash/fun fur from my stash that I can add to possibly use for a Jane Thornley Feather and Fan Organic Wrap or other Free-Range/Free-Form project. I’m hoping to do a workshop with Jane this Fall, and I may save all this yarn for that project.



Next, I found some narrow tapelike 100% Organic Cotton in a Navy Jeans color and in a Denim color which really is more of a Gray. I’ve been wanting to try some of this for a while; it falls under the category of lighter weight yarns for the weather here in Tucson.



I’ve also been wanting to play around with some Noro sock yarn, fits the lighter weight (and thinner) category, and they had some Kureyon in my kind of colors.



The last yarn I got was one I would have passed up, but they had a sample of it knitted up, and while it works up a little on the bulky side, it’s very soft and not really heavy at all. I got it in 2 colorways, including a muted purplish tone, so I did do some of my signature color.


I've managed to store all the yarns, and now I just have to finish up a few projects before I get to tackle some of the new stash.

Update

Just a few lines to bring to a close the saga of the car that crashed into our house. To make a LONG story as short as possible, most of the repair work on the house was completed on time, and after many attempts to finish the whole episode, the buyer finally signed all the documents at the last minute on April 28th, which was the scheduled closing. But it was so late in the day that the sale could not be registered, nor could they release the funds. By the time it was all accomplished, it was 4 o'clock on the 29th before we received the check. But now it's done, and we no longer have to concern ourselves with the matter. So I can write CLOSED and go on with all my creative pursuits.