Yesterday afternoon as I was watching our son get slaughtered in a tennis match I had my knitting in hand (just like baseball I knit during tennis matches too). I'm working on my Christina Sweater in Cascade 220 in a gorgeous colorway called Pacific.
There was a breeze and some cloud cover and I was fine - then the sun popped through and it suddenly got very hot. I put down my knitting and said something I rarely say "It is too hot to knit".
This summer is one of record heat - today is going to be a scorcher. We don't have air conditioning - just ceiling fans. It is really hard to hold fiber in the heat...what is one to do? I want to knit, I enjoy the rhythm and ability to multitask...no idle hands.
I'm afraid today will be a no knit day - hard for me but I don't want to resent my lovely wool. What do you do when it is hot and you want to knit???
July 24, 2010
July 19, 2010
Sometimes People Don't Understand
As I've mentioned before, I knit at all of our son's baseball games. In the summer, I knit at all of our kids' tennis matches.
Yesterday afternoon a woman I know had a conversation with me that kind of went like this:
She: Estella, who are you knitting that for?
Me: This one is a cardigan for me.
She: You can't possibly wear all the sweaters you make.
Me: I don't always knit for myself - my daughter gets a lot of sweaters. I also knit for children of friends. My godsister buys the yarn and I make things for her kids.
She: You should sell your finished stuff. You could get at least $150 for what you are making now.
Me: Yes I could but it would never cover the cost of my time.
People don't understand what it would cost laborwise to make a sweater. While some sweaters are fast knits and done in no time, they too would be very expensive if we were to put a price on our time.
What is our time per hour worth? How many hours do we spend knitting a project? I wonder - should I have a stop watch that I put with a project so I can see exactly how much time I work on it?
Not to mention there is love put in some sweaters...no price can be put on that.
Yesterday afternoon a woman I know had a conversation with me that kind of went like this:
She: Estella, who are you knitting that for?
Me: This one is a cardigan for me.
She: You can't possibly wear all the sweaters you make.
Me: I don't always knit for myself - my daughter gets a lot of sweaters. I also knit for children of friends. My godsister buys the yarn and I make things for her kids.
She: You should sell your finished stuff. You could get at least $150 for what you are making now.
Me: Yes I could but it would never cover the cost of my time.
People don't understand what it would cost laborwise to make a sweater. While some sweaters are fast knits and done in no time, they too would be very expensive if we were to put a price on our time.
What is our time per hour worth? How many hours do we spend knitting a project? I wonder - should I have a stop watch that I put with a project so I can see exactly how much time I work on it?
Not to mention there is love put in some sweaters...no price can be put on that.
July 13, 2010
Ten on Tuesday
As you know I don't regularly do a 10 on Tuesday but this week Carole had me challenge myself. The theme is 10 Things You like About Where you Live.
You ask yourself "why is this a challenge?" - thing is I don't really like where we live. We are there until the kids get through high school then I think a serious conversation about where we should live is going to happen as I'm not very happy in our town.
So, what do I love????
1. Our Library - you know this as I write about it often. It is downright wonderful and has been a big part of our lives.
2. Our school system - it's great and frankly that's why we live in this town.
3. Our parks - we have wonderful parks which have fields, pool, trails, etc. We use them a lot.
4. The small town feel of the downtown part of our town. However, this is changing as greedy landlords push out the mom and pop business and we get more big chain stores. It's quite frustrating.
5. The Nature Center - this is where I take the dog on very cold or rainy days. I love seeing the change of season and in the winter the animal tracks are so fun to follow.
6. The countryside around us - it is lovely with hills, old stone walls and of course lovely homes.
7. Our church - I've been through rough patches with our church in the past with some clergy changes but now it is back on track and very much a big part of our lives.
8. Our home - we renovated our home about 10 years ago and it is a lovely haven. We just put a deck on and that is my new favorite place to be.
9. Our proximity to NYC - I love to go into the city with the kids on a long weekend. I majored in art history and a trip to the Metropolitan Museum is one of my favorite outings.
10. I don't have family here...why would that be a good thing? Because I'm not emotionally tied to this town and when we do move I think I'll be just fine with it.
Phew - the last one was a stretch but it made me think about our town and find what I DO like about it not what I don't like about it. Thanks for listening.
You ask yourself "why is this a challenge?" - thing is I don't really like where we live. We are there until the kids get through high school then I think a serious conversation about where we should live is going to happen as I'm not very happy in our town.
So, what do I love????
1. Our Library - you know this as I write about it often. It is downright wonderful and has been a big part of our lives.
2. Our school system - it's great and frankly that's why we live in this town.
3. Our parks - we have wonderful parks which have fields, pool, trails, etc. We use them a lot.
4. The small town feel of the downtown part of our town. However, this is changing as greedy landlords push out the mom and pop business and we get more big chain stores. It's quite frustrating.
5. The Nature Center - this is where I take the dog on very cold or rainy days. I love seeing the change of season and in the winter the animal tracks are so fun to follow.
6. The countryside around us - it is lovely with hills, old stone walls and of course lovely homes.
7. Our church - I've been through rough patches with our church in the past with some clergy changes but now it is back on track and very much a big part of our lives.
8. Our home - we renovated our home about 10 years ago and it is a lovely haven. We just put a deck on and that is my new favorite place to be.
9. Our proximity to NYC - I love to go into the city with the kids on a long weekend. I majored in art history and a trip to the Metropolitan Museum is one of my favorite outings.
10. I don't have family here...why would that be a good thing? Because I'm not emotionally tied to this town and when we do move I think I'll be just fine with it.
Phew - the last one was a stretch but it made me think about our town and find what I DO like about it not what I don't like about it. Thanks for listening.
July 10, 2010
LOVE these buttons!
I just whipped up this cute little cardigan for a friend who had a baby girl - it is a pattern I found on Knit Picks called Cardigan Rose. It called for 3 skeins of Knit Picks Swish DK which I got in their "asparagus" colorway.
I popped into Joanne fabrics and found these very fun buttons - really makes everything pop and makes the sweater very girly. This was a fun project and I do hope the parents get a kick out of it.
I popped into Joanne fabrics and found these very fun buttons - really makes everything pop and makes the sweater very girly. This was a fun project and I do hope the parents get a kick out of it.
July 7, 2010
Tonight's The Night
As most of you know, I have a summer Stitch 'n Bitch group which I so greatly enjoy. It is a mixed group of people with varied projects from needlepoint to crewel to knitting to crochet. A few people have progressed from beginner knitters needing Kimberly and my help to accomplished knitters with detailed projects.
I sent out the call to knit early this week and then had to rescind it as we do not have air conditioning in our house. Holding fiber right now is difficult at best but without air conditioning is almost impossible.
Fortunately, a new member offered her air conditioned house! So, tonight is the night we get back into summer S&B and I can't wait! Now, what project to bring? Cardigan for a baby, cardigan for me or cast on something new???
I'll let you know what I decide.
I sent out the call to knit early this week and then had to rescind it as we do not have air conditioning in our house. Holding fiber right now is difficult at best but without air conditioning is almost impossible.
Fortunately, a new member offered her air conditioned house! So, tonight is the night we get back into summer S&B and I can't wait! Now, what project to bring? Cardigan for a baby, cardigan for me or cast on something new???
I'll let you know what I decide.
July 6, 2010
Another Finished Wallaby
I finished this last Wednesday but between the 4th of July and the craziness of life, I didn't show it to you all. This is my first "girl" Wallaby and I used Plymouth Encore Worsted again. It is a great workhorse yarn for kids clothes. The pink was very fun to work with. This is for my godsister's daughter, Robin. She's 4 years old and I am giving it to her today. I doubt seriously in this heat she'll try it on but I'll try.
Jennifer suggested putting a gift of some sort in pocket - great idea. Don't you remember receiving clothes when you were little and trying to act excited but not really being excited? When I made one for Robin's brother, Nick, I put in a small water gun. Robin is definitely big into dress up so I found this fake gold and diamond necklace I had to wear for a wedding 15 years ago and never have used since. That is what I'm putting in the pocket - she'll love it!
Jennifer suggested putting a gift of some sort in pocket - great idea. Don't you remember receiving clothes when you were little and trying to act excited but not really being excited? When I made one for Robin's brother, Nick, I put in a small water gun. Robin is definitely big into dress up so I found this fake gold and diamond necklace I had to wear for a wedding 15 years ago and never have used since. That is what I'm putting in the pocket - she'll love it!
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