Dishcloths, and Goals, and a Review, Oh My!

First the dishcloths....


I decided on two classics. Here's the 4 Corners Dishcloth designed by Abigail of 1870 Pearl. I finally used her garter stitch grafting tutorial on this one, and it looks fabulous! You can't even see where it's grafted.
Next is the Garterlac Dishcloth from Criminy Jickets. I love this pattern. I've knit it several times, and will knit it many more times.

I found a huge 340 gram ball of Lily Sugar n' Cream at Michaels a few months ago (usually I have to cross the border for S&C), so expect a lot more cloths in this color. The color is called Sunny Sky.

On top of my goal to reduce my stash by the end of the year, I've also decided to set myself a dishcloth goal for the end of the year. I am going to knit 40 dishcloths between now and December 31, 2007. The cloths above represent cloth 1 and 2. I find that these cloths make such good gifts, I'd like to have a bit of a surplus.

On to the review...

I picked up this book today at Chapters. It's a book that I normally would not give a second glance to, but for some reason I picked it up. I was so pleasantly surprised, I wanted to share it with you.

It's called Under Cover: 60 Afghans to Knit and Crochet, and it's a Sixth & Spring book.

It's not super expensive either. It was only 19.95 CAD 17.95 USD.

You may be surprised to learn that I do not like to knit afghans or throws. I do love to crochet afghans thought.

The patterns in this book are simple, but look engaging enough to hold most crafters' attention.

There are several patterns in the book that I'm planning to crochet, but the best thing about the book is that each afghan is made using yarns that can be found at Michaels, and so all of the projects are budget conscious, and show that less expensive yarns do not necessarily mean a cheap looking project.

Stu and I are starting to talk about buying a condo, so I am trying to be very budget conscious and not spend anymore on yarn than I have to. Besides, for most people is just isn't reasonable to spend $200+ on yarn for an afghan. Imagine my joy to find a book that advocates doing it for under $50!

Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?

Another weekend, that is. Man, did I need a weekend. By the end of work on Friday, I could barely keep my eyes open. I am really glad that things have returned to relatively normal around here. I hate the job hunt, and find it very stressful and exhausting. Now I'm just having waves of anxiety about starting a new job.

Saturday came and went too quickly. Stu very nicely took my car in to get an alignment (he even paid! Thank you awesome hubby!). I am happy to report that my car can now be driven using one hand. Other than that, we did a bit of shopping, and spent the rest of the day watching the last few episodes of the first season of the Sopranos and then Hostel 2.

Sunday was spent cleaning. My fall clean is almost done, and the apartment is looking great. Well...better anyway. I found that I actually have 3 bins full of yarn, not 2.5 like I had said before. I forgot to count the yarn in the cupboards. My goal still stands at reducing to 1 bin by the end of the year.

I found some really yummy tea. It's Genmai Green Tea, made by Stash Teas. It's the stuff with green tea and brown rice in it. It tastes like the loose stuff, but it's in bags. I've used up 4 bags since yesterday morning.
I don't think I mentioned this before, but I'm working on the Back To School U-Neck Vest from Fitted Knits. It's flying along.

I'm using Cascade 220 in a very pretty periwinkle color. I am almost at the point where the front and back are separated. Also, this is my first time making bust darts, and I think they will make this fit way better.

And how cute is that waffle stitch!?!

Bits of Knitting....

I have been exceptionally busy over the last two weeks, and have gotten significantly less knitting done than I would have liked.
The cuff from the last post was the top of a mini Monkey sock. Believe it or not, this was my first picot edge. I see more in my future.

I've made a bit of progress on the Monkey, but I just haven't had the time for the most part.

The yarn is Socks That Rock in Watermelon Tourmaline.Hopefully I will get lots of knitting done this weekend. My plan for to day is to come home from work, put on my pj's and start knitting. There may also be some Season 1 Sopranos watching.

Why have I been busy over the last two weeks? I was on the job hunt. I've found something. I gave my notice at my current job yesterday, and I start the new one in two weeks.

I will be making significantly more, working fewer hours, and there's lots of room for advancement. And it's a bit closer to two LYS's and the gym. All in all, I think it will be a good fit. Oh, and everyone's really nice.

In the last 24 hours I've gone from having job-hunt anxiety to "oh my god, I'm starting a new job" anxiety.

Resolving By Season, Not By Year...

Visions of summer....

I figured I'd share one last summer image before my mind settles into fall mode.

I find I make a lot of resolutions for September. I guess it's the student in me, I always associate September with a new chapter in my life. What a perfect time to resolve!

I've been thinking about the last year a lot over the past few weeks. There have been a few miserable things and things I've been less than happy about, but all in all, I think it's been one of the best years of my life.

I feel like I am much closer to becoming the person I want to be. And that is one of the best feelings in the world.

I'm still broke, and I don't like my job, and my house is a mess, but those things don't make me who I am.

Distraction #1: Mid-picot---

I've spent a lot of time thinking about my yarn. I have too much of it. I've sold some and I've....Oh, in one of my bins, I found a giant tangle with about 7 single balls all knotted together, and I tried to untangle them, and I just couldn't. I cannot tell you how good it felt to throw the whole mess in the garbage!

I've gone from 5, very full, large plastic storage tubs to about 2 (maybe 2 and a bit). Most of the yarn has been knit with.


Distraction #2: Post-picot---

My goal is to be down to 1 storage bin (not stuffed full) by the end of the year.

I feel like I can comfortably stash that much yarn.