Towards the beginning of the month, our dear friend Mike approached us about possibly moving into one of the small rooms that we use as storage closets. We struck a deal, help me reorganize Storage A and to help James out with getting his bedroom back to a livable quality, and you’ve got yourself a place to live.

During the snow storm a couple weeks ago, he came up and spent the night and some of that reorganization took place…. That’s when the big green box of yarn got uncovered.

“Pull that one out,” I said, “If it’s in the living room where I can get at it, I might use it.”

A few hours later, I found myself sitting on the living room floor… Surveying the contents of the box. It felt a little like uncovering a time capsule.

I started getting into knitting in 2006, and the craft had dominated my life in 2007 and 2008. Everything in my world revolved around knitting. I dragged along my projects everywhere. I read knitting blogs. I listened to knitting podcasts. I spent hours on knitting related message boards. I had a penchant for indie handpainted yarn that I ordered off the Internet impulsively. I was elated when Ravelry was released. I even bought a couple of spinning wheels and learned to spin my own yarn.

And then in 2009, New York City happened and all of that changed.

It seemed like overnight, I suddenly had a social life. My evenings were filled with outings with friends and whiskey glasses, instead of quiet evenings at home with my knitting needles.

My knitting slowed to maybe one or two projects a year, and I rarely gave it much of a thought.

Then, I opened that box… and the rush came flying back at me… All of those textures, all of those colors… What can I make with this?

I picked a self-striper from Knitterly Things Vesper line and found a pattern on Ravelry called Groovy Socks, hauled out the old ball winder and swift, and got to work.

Self-striping yarn was a good choice. It’s like knitters crack. You can sit and work on something for hours just telling yourself, “I’ll knit to the next color change. I’ll knit to the next color change.”

Will I knit more than two projects this year? I don’t know… but I’m enjoying it for now.

Turns out that snowstorm was kinda anticlimactic. It sure felt like the end of the world walking in it yesterday, but by the time I woke up this morning? There wasn’t hardly any snow left. It had all melted!

However, yesterday’s snow did put me in the mood to do some knitting! Well, that and the fact that James keeps stealing my more girly handknitted socks, so I figured I’d better finish up his very own pair that I agreed to make almost a year ago. Plus, it’s been forever since I did a knitting post on here because… well… I haven’t been knitting very much and it’s one of those things I want to be doing more of.

I just rounded the heel on the second sock of Mr. Pitt’s Socks so the end is in sight! As long as I can keep on knitting a little bit every night, I have a feeling these will be done soon!

I kinda feel bad that I don’t knit as much as I used to. I realize that a lot of hobbies tend to come in cycles and that what you’re obsessed with one season isn’t necessarily what you’re obsessed with another. Moving to New York really killed my knitting mojo… After I moved here, I had the hardest time finding time to knit. I’m trying to get back into the habit of doing it. I really enjoy making things.

I decided to poke around Ravelry to see if there was a knitting group in my area, and there seems to be one that meets on Tuesday nights a few subway stops north of where I live at a little restaurant that I really like on Tuesdays, so I’m considering checking that out the next Tuesday I have free. It would be nice to get to know some other knitter types in the general area.

I’ve been hitting the needles lately knitting on various things, and one of the things that I was super excited to get started on was the Pretty as a Peacock Shawl using Wollemeise Lace-garn in a beautiful variegated green.

I had actually cast on this project sometime in the spring of 2010, but it got abandoned when I forgot what row I was on and sat in a cloth knitting bag totally forgotten. It then got packed into a warehouse storage unit in Brooklyn for a little over a year, then sat in my apartment for awhile…

I ended up frogging it and starting over this week, reknitted the portion that I’d started, and then as I started knitting more something rather curious started happening. My yarn kept breaking! I didn’t think much of it the first couple of times, but it started happening nearly every row.

Bugs! Bugs had gotten into my yarn and eaten it. How could I have been so careless as to forget to put my woolen knits in progress in plastic bags so the bugs couldn’t get to them!? And it had to have been on a Wollemeise project too.. OH THE HUMANITY!

So, I turned to the lovely ladies on the message boards at Ravelry and they suggested I unwind the ball and see how much yarn actually got damaged and see if I can salvage any of it… I haven’t gotten ambitious enough to do that yet… I’m hoping that it’s minimal. Fingers crossed for me please?

In good news, however… I seem to be making pretty good headway on those socks!

If there’s one thing that this writing funk that I seem to be in the midst of has made some extra time for, it’s knitting. I’ve been trying to pick up the needles more when I’m just hanging around the apartment and work towards the accomplishment of the making of the things!

As I mentioned a week or so ago or whenever it was, I’ve been working on the Accidentally on Purpose Drop Stitch Vest from Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation. I haven’t made a lot of progress on it, but that’s largely because I ran out of balls of yarn on me. I have enough to finish the project, but that’s at my apartment… and I’m at James’ apartment… so I’m going to have go pick up the rest of the yarn for the project. From the looks of it already, I have a feeling that it’s going to be a bit small for me to wear it when it’s done… but I’m sure I’ll find it a good home!

(Also pictured is our crazy new bedsheets).

But never to fear, when I carry knitting projects on me, I usually carry more than one and I’ve got a sock on the needles, people!

I cast on this project sometime over the winter, which is going to eventually be a pair of socks for James. The pattern I’m using is Mr. Pitt’s Socks being knit with Numma Numma The Usual in Red Barlett Pear. I’m pretty sure I got it when I was in The Loopy Ewe‘s sock yarn club, because it’s not a colorway that I particularly gravitate toward but it’s awesome for a man’s sock. I just finished turning the heel and the gusset and now am on the home stretch to the foot and toe… and then I start all over again and make the second sock. I should have it done by next Christmas.

(Also pictured, my hairy leg.)

What did you do this weekend? Anything crafty?

I’ll admit it. I do have a deep seated love for anything crafty. I grew up with a mother who has been pretty much into everything crafty over the years… knitting, crocheting, sewing, counted cross-stitch, plastic canvas… she even went through a phase of basket making. I’m sure I’m missing some of the things she’s done over the years I’ve been alive. She always has a project or two going at any given time. It’s in my blood a little bit.

I’ve never been anywhere near as prolific. My crafting was a lot more varied as a child, thanks to art classes at school and projects that were done through Girl Scouts and 4-H (largely led by my mother and some of her friends) but as an adult, I’ve mostly settled into knitting and spinning as my primary crafty mediums, and for a brief period I dabbled a bit with digital scrapbooking.

When I moved to New York City, my crafting dropped off significantly. I went from knitting something like fifteen projects a year to knitting one or two. Truth be told, a lot of the drop off of my craftiness had to do with the fact that when I moved to the city, my evening plans nearly always involved a drink or two. Knitting’s a hobby that requires some fine precision movement and the ability to count… both are things that I have learned I’m not very good at once I’ve had a drink or two.

Fast approaching my third anniversary of living in New York, I’m finding myself slowing down a bit. My evenings are more likely to involve staying in than going out, my alcohol consumption has decreased fairly significantly, and I’m trying to make a more active attempt at picking up the needles. The past couple of days, I’ve re-picked up a project to knit a drop stitch vest that I started months ago. It doesn’t look like much right now other than a piece of pink fabric, but it’s progressing along quite nicely.

One of the things I love about knitting is that it’s a very meditative craft, especially when you’re doing something as plain as the project that I’m working on… and as I was knitting last night, I realized that I’m feeling creatively restless and I feel like I’m being seriously held back by fear at times, and one of the reasons I find I cling so hard to knitting and don’t try to do other things is because I’m afraid that I’m not going to fail and whatever I make is going to suck.

I find myself constantly poking through various blogs, Etsy, and Pinterest and finding all these wonderful ideas of things to make. However, I’ve also been feeling jealous of all these creative people out there are coming up with fabulous stuff to make and feeling woefully inadequate to join in the fun. And I know deep down I’m just making bullshit excuses. I should just try, and sure not everything is going to come out great but live and learn…

Which I brings me to an item that James handed me today wondering if I couldn’t make anything out of. He was cleaning out his storage room, and found three reels worth of 2 inch tape that’s no good for recording anymore.. something like 4.5 miles worth of the stuff. There’s got to be something I can do with it? Right?

It’s matte on one side, and shiny on the other and probably about as thick as a piece of printer paper.

I’ve been hard pressed to come up with ideas for it. Some searching on Google has brought up some bags that people have knit with VHS tape, which is similar but a fair bit thinner… and I’m not sure this would knit up as nice, though I figure I’ll probably give it a shot, but I do feel like it could be used for more than that.

Anyone have any ideas?

Mr. Pitt’s Socks in Numma Numma The Usual, Red Bartlett Pear

So, my yarn bin is currently sitting in the middle of my bedroom floor. Admittedly, this is not a good place for my yarn bin because well… it’s the middle of my bedroom floor. I just haven’t gotten around to figuring out exactly where it’s home is because I feel like it’s original home…. my closet, ended up being a rather unsuitable place for it because… well… out of sight, out of mind… and if I want to spend more time knitting this year than I have in the past two, it makes much more sense for the yarn to be out where I can see it.

So, yeah… it’s still in the middle of the bedroom floor.

I mention it because every time I walk past it, I find myself kicking myself for starting this sock. I have so many beautiful yarns in my yarn bin that would make beautiful socks, and out of all of those beautiful yarns I decided to pick this one. Boring shades of brown…. and then to make it even more boring, I picked a pattern that’s knit three, purl one. Epicly boring boring boring.

But….  you know, I got it into my head that I should make a pair of men’s socks…  so I cast it on.  I”m not even sure why I’m knitting men’s socks.  Sure, I have male friends I could give them to when they’re done, but I don’t really have a man in mind for them… but I’m not worried, I don’t think these socks are going to be hopping off the needles at any sort of rapid rate, I’m sure I have at least until next Christmas to decide! Ha!

I told you I was going to finish that hat I’d been working on before the year ended… and whoa… I have NEVER finished off a project with so little yarn to spare. There were 11 inches left of the ball of yarn when I finished grafting off the top of the hat. For all you non-knitters, that’s barely any yarn left. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, but I did!

Apparently one hank of Manos Silk Blend is the perfect amount to make Zissou for a Sailor.

It didn’t come out perfectly… I made a couple of mistakes, but they aren’t super noticeable and I had some laddering issues because I worked the pattern on DPNs but it looks great when it’s on, so that’s all that matters.

It only took me almost a year to finish these, but finally… my Charade socks are done!

Project was completed using two hanks of Koigu KPPPM P810 (80) that I picked up at Purl Soho sometime last January when I suddenly had the urge to knit and no yarn or needles or any of my other knit supplies because they were all in storage.

It almost feels strange blogging a knitting picture seeing as I really haven’t done much knitting in the past couple of years, but it’s refreshing to actually have a finished project for once. I think one of my goals for 2012 is going to be getting back on that knitting bandwagon. I have a big tub just full of sock yarn waiting to be used…