I Can't Stop!!!

Checking knitting books out of the library, that is! I think I've said before, that I don't spend a ton of time actually knitting. Not as much as I'd like! I homeschool my son who is a senior in high school, and I chase my 2 very active little girls, ages 4 and almost 2, around all day. I usually nap when they nap and when they go to bed in the evening, many nights I'm way too tired to knit. But it is much easier to find time to listen to my knitting podcasts (still obsessed with those!) and get in some time here and there to read my books. So for now that will have to do and one day I hope to be able to spend more time per day actually knitting.

So this morning I took my 4 year old to her "Alphabet Hour" class at the library, and during the hour she was in her class I went for a walk with my younger one, listening to Stash & Burn and Sticks & String on my iPod while I walked. Then I went back into the library. I decided ahead of time NOT to go looking at the knitting books since I have a stack at home I haven't read yet. Oh yeah, right, I CANNOT ever go to the library without checking out some books! (See my book blog post at Books and Hooks.)

Alas, I couldn't help myself and I went upstairs to the knitting book section and found these:

Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson
Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Not Tonight Darling, I'm Knitting by Betsy Hosegood

And then I got this fiction book:

Knitting by Anne Bartlett

And then I even checked out a mystery book involving knitting!

Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Selton

I'm currently reading:

A Passion for Knitting by Nancy Thomas and Ilana Rabinowitz

In my stack next to my bed waiting to be read I have:

For the Love of Knitting by Kari Cornell
And So to Bed by Lucinda Guy
The Knitter's Bible: Knitted Accessories by Claire Crompton
Stitch & B---- by Debbie Stoller
Knit One, Felt Too by Kathleen Taylor
Knits from the Heart by Kristin Spurkland

I put this book on hold today:

The Knit Stitch by Sally Melville

And I have read these books already in the short 2 months I've been hooked on knitting!

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood (fiction)
Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (my favorite!)
The Joy of Knitting by Lisa Myers
Mason-Dixon Knitting by Gardiner/Shayne
Stitch & B---- by Debbie Stoller
At Knit's End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (another fave!)

I've also checked out 8-10 different mostly pattern books that I didn't write down the names of, and paged through a bunch of back issues of the magazine Knit & Style.

Tomorrow I will actually be the proud owner of my very own knitting book. It's my birthday and I know my husband got me one of 2 sock books I asked for - I gave him the names of 2 I would like. I'm not sure which one he got me so that part will be a surprise!

WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Lindsey's scarf progress - I have 25" done so far. It's the only knitting I've been working on. Sad, huh?

My knitting week

There's not a whole lot to report today. I had a busy exhausting week so didn't do much knitting. I did work on Lindsey's scarf some and am up to about 12 inches of that, and did a few rows of the baby bib. Yesterday I also watched my DVD, the how-to on increasing section, and practiced that a little. While I watch the Packers today I will probably keep practicing that and work on Lindsey's scarf.

My birthday is in less than 2 weeks and I'm expecting from hubby either Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd or I Can't Believe I'm Knitting Socks by Cynthia Guggemos and then I'll make a trip to the LYS and get some sock yarn and whatever needles I need and hopefully will be successfully (?) knitting socks by next month! Until then I feel like I'm just piddling around but that's okay because I'm still learning. I am ready to get into some "real" knitting soon though!

I've been a little bit discouraged thinking about how my new knitting hobby won't be cheap and I don't really have much money to spend. I've always crocheted using mostly Red Heart acrylic yarn and Sugar and Cream cotton, but I want to use better quality yarn for most of my knitting projects. Just how many skeins of yarn at how much per skein does it take to knit a sweater anyway? How about a pair of socks? A tote bag? A poncho? (I KNOW this varies widely, but on average, for a good quality yet not top of the line yarn.) Those are some of the things I know I want to make in the future. I also want to get started using circular needles. How much are those, how many different sizes do I need? I'm seeing dollar signs everywhere and have no idea how I will afford much of this. Any tips? Any input on that subject?

I may not be doing much real knitting but I am happily listening to my knitting podcasts every day! Right now I have alternating episodes of Sticks and String, and Stash and Burn, on my iPod. My goal is to get up to date on these 2 podcasts, and then do the same with a few more, and a few more, until I am at least somewhat up to date on all of them, then start all over again!

Happy knitting!

My boring knitting update

I finished the kitty dishcloth. It turned out SO tiny! 5.5" x 6.5" I don't know if it was supposed to be that small (the pattern didn't say) or if I knit way tight or what. I guess I did an okay job on it, doesn't really look that great but you can see the kitty on it so that's good anyway. :-)



I have 9 1/2" done on Lindsey's scarf. The scarf does NOT get wider as it goes down, that's just because of the camera angle or something. I'm satisfied with it so far.



I'm anxious to start some sort of *real* project, but I don't know what and I don't have the time or money to go to the LYS and look around, so I just started a simple baby bib using some of the tons of cotton yarn I have laying around (the only real *stash* I have, whoopie). I guess I can just work on these small projects along with Lindsey's scarf and consider it more practice until I decide what *real* project to do. I still have so much to learn anyway. All I know so far is how to cast on and off, and knit and purl. I watched my Nici McNally DVD the other night, the parts about increasing and decreasing, but I didn't actually try it yet. I just watched.

THANK YOU to everyone for the great podcast suggestions! I downloaded five million and one episodes and can't wait to hear them all! As I listen to them and decide which ones I like I will add them to my links. I'm on Episode 2 of Sticks & String which is the Australian bloke (as he calls himself!) and I'm enjoying it so far!

Podcasts!

I am hooked on knitting podcasts! I really feel I've gone off the deep end of knitting when I'm looking forward to cleaning or ironing or whatever so I can listen to ladies talk about knitting! LOL

My favorite one is the Knit Picks podcast done by the owner of Knit Picks, Kelley Petkun. I listened to all 18 of them in about 5 days or so. (Oooh, while getting the link I see there is a new one!) I downloaded a few random knitting podcasts to my iPod and am enjoying them too. One is Knitting News Cast by Rhonda Bell and another is Cast On by Brenda Dayne.

Do you have a favorite knitting podcast you can share with me? (a free one please!)

Now if I just had more time to knit! It's hard during the day when the kids are up and many (most!) nights after they go to bed I am just too tired!

Knit Night and Lindsey's Scarf

Right after I started to learn to knit I found a local group of knitters who meet once a week at a coffee shop to knit and gab. What a wonderful bunch of ladies! I am so thankful to have met them and I have been able to attend Knit Night twice since I joined the group. Last night was my second time. I loaded up my bag with my 2 knitting projects as well as a few crochet items (just in case) earlier in the day because I know myself, when it's time to go I'm doing this, that, and the other thing and I'll forget something in the rush. All of my knitting was in our bedroom except the directions for the kitty dishcloth. I figured I'd remember to add that "one more thing" to the bag before I left. Well you guessed it, I got about 5 minutes from home and remembered I forgot to put it in the bag. I had enough things to keep me busy for the 3 hours including Lindsey's scarf but I didn't want to work on that the whole time. So I turned around and went back home and picked up the directions. Or so I thought. When I got to the coffee shop I realized I only grabbed the first page and I was on the second page. So I had to work on just Lindsey's scarf after all! But I'm glad I did because I made some progress. I like how it's turning out well enough to keep at it until it's done. I think it's going to take me awhile though.

Thanks to all who have been visiting my blog and commenting,
sharing encouragement, favorite yarns, patterns, etc. This is fun!

Knitting Blogs and Yarn

I just added links to other knitting blogs to my sidebar. If you have a knitting blog, I would LOVE to add a link to yours! Just let me know! (If you told me I could add yours and you don't see it here, then I just accidentally missed it, didn't skip it on purpose! Just let me know it's not there.)

****************************

Note: Before you are allowed to look at the pictures to follow, please read what it says under "Learning to Knit!" at the top of my blog!!!!!

I'm halfway done with the Kitten Dishcloth, just finished row 20 of 40 last night. The picture was taken before I got this far though.



I (finally) found a pattern to make Lindsey her winter scarf in the stitch library of The Knitter's Bible by Claire Crompton. It's called Four Stitch Check. I've only done about 6 or 8 rows so far. I'm making it out of Red Heart for Kids Lt. Purple. I've mostly used Red Heart for my crochet projects but now that I'm a knitter ~smile~ I would like to start using wool and other better quality yarns. I can't afford anything too expensive but I'm looking forward to trying out other yarns. But if this scarf doesn't turn out so well then I haven't invested too much money into it.



What is your favorite yarn? What do you like to use it for? Where do you buy it?

I've always used Peaches and Cream cotton for my crochet projects which call for cotton and that's what I've been knitting the 2 dishcloths from. I have a bunch of it laying around. I do not have much of a yarn stash *at all*. I have never been a "buy the yarn first then decide what to make with it" type of person. I usually decide what I want to make first and then buy the yarn for it (with the exception of picking up the above mentioned cotton yarn when it's on sale or the mood strikes). I don't have the storage room or much money to build up a big stash of yarn for knitting but maybe someday.