Knitting and Rules

Ruby knows that all rules are meant to be broken, like that one about not getting on the couch.

I've been gathering quite the to-do list lately, and also creating quite the long craft rules list for myself.

Anyone else out there create rules around their creating?  You know, rules like "I cannot buy any more yarn until I use up my stash" or "no new fabric/patterns until I make something with the last fabric I bought" or my current rule "I can't sew anything new until I make progress on that quilt."  Obviously my rules are meant to motivate me to complete projects, or use up supplies/avoid a yarn and fabric hoarding issue.  I have to admit that I don't like having multiple unfinished projects lying around so I try to bust through them before they start to stress me out.  However, today I caught myself thinking, why all the rules?  Isn't crafting supposed to be my fun hobby?  Why would I let my hobby stress me out?

So what do you think?  Do you make "rules" for yourself?  If you do, do you keep them or are craft rules meant to be broken (like when you REALLY need a skein of that gorgeous alpaca or a yard of that adorable Heather Ross print)?  Also, please tell me I'm not the only one who stresses themselves out over something that is supposed to be fun!

Absentee blogger

Oh my, a whole year? A whole year of blogger absenteeism? I have good reasons, I promise!

That whole getting married thing was very exciting but time consuming, I also got an awesome new job which has been keeping me busy, and I've started getting into fitness and working out more. All of this has combined to me having less time/energy to be crafty and also less enthusiasm to document said craftiness. I do have projects I've completed though, and I've started a whole new crafting endeavor: quilting. So as a way to force myself to be more creative and spend less time just watching Downton Abbey (can you blame me? the show is amazing!) I'm going to try to get back into the blogging. Here's hoping the next post from me is in a week and not in a year!

Now more pictures of my completed Hollywood Herringbone Pullover:

I have a few plans for upcoming posts so stay tuned for more deets on this sweater, a recently finished beret, some more folk mittens (it's not an addiction if I can stop knitting mittens anytime I want, and I can), recent sources of crafty inspiration, and my full day quilting workshop!

Winter Knitting

Outside it continues to look like this:Which means that I will be inside knitting this:
Pattern is Road to Golden by Lisa Shroyer. I'm not totally in love with the colorwork design but I'm going to get a little farther into it before I decide if I should switch to something different. I've been browsing Ravelry and found some inspiring projects that might be more fun (like a hedgehog sweater!).

Not going to lie, I consider myself to be a good knitter, and I happily brag about stuff I've made. Then I go on Ravelry and see someone who has a bazillion projects they've completed, all of which look amazing, and most of them are sweaters (not like my huge pile of mittens and easy hats!) Oh, what's that you're serving? Humble Pie? Oh, I don't want a slice, I'll take the whole thing...

Shovel, knit, rinse, repeat

We got hit with about 18 inches of snow overnight, the upside of which is that since I work at a college, it was closed and I got a snow day. I'm not sure if I'm a masochist or just a true Northeasterner, because I love a good storm. In bad weather I take a perverse sort of pride in being prepared for the weather. On go the lined L.L. Bean boots, the Smartwool socks, maybe some long underwear, my boiled wool sweater, and best of all, my hand knits. There is no greater feeling than stepping out into whatever weather mother nature throws at you and actually being prepared.
Plus cold, blustery weather just reminds me of why it is so awesome to be a knitter. I can stay cozy and stylish in my hand knit cowl, hat, mittens, or fingerless mittens. Even with all the hard work I did on my snow day (aka watching No Reservations and drinking hot cocoa) I've been able to get some knitting done. I recently finished a bulky garter stitch cowl in a lush single ply and a winter white hue, it was knit side to side and then kitchner stitched together. Then I fulfilled my dreams of having a slouchy beret. The pattern I made was inspired by folk knitting motifs and was knit in Beroco Ultra Alpaca (stash from the MIL mittens I made for Christmas). After blocking it's a little too slouchy and I tried soaking it in boiling water to get it to shrink down a little. Might have to give that a second go since the brim has lost all elasticity, or I could try sewing some elastic thread into the brim. I'm even thinking of ripping out the brim section and working it again on smaller needles since I have had visions of this hat dancing in my head for so long that I want it to be perfect!
As for the fuzzy creature above... no, I did not knit her. But she is a good tool for measuring our snow accumulation. "Look, we got belly-height inches in the last 12 hours." If hoity-toity kings can make their own feet a standard form of measurement, why can't the distance between my dog's belly and the ground become the new standard? It can be called the Ruby system and I'm sure it will be all the rage within the next couple years!

Now to get back to swatching my next project. More on that next post.