the Akamai Knitter

Here we are at the eve of another new year. As I look ahead at another year filled with friends and fibery goodness, I thought I’d take a moment also look back to see if I managed to accomplish some of this past year’s resolutions.

To refresh your memory these were my goals:

1. Get over my sweater fear and knit a few. I really need to get off my lazy ass and my comfort zones and just dive in. I have enough yarn for one sweater. I just need to get rid of the mental block in my head that I can’t do this.
2. Spin more and with specific projects in mind. I’ve already started doing this, but I want to keep it up.
3. Knit with what I spin. I have yet to knit with what I’ve spun except for one afghan block. This is just plain silly. I must stop this kind of silliness.
4. Lose weight. I’ve been slowly losing weight this past year and I’d like to keep it up by going for regular walks and cutting down on my snacking. I think if my body were at a more acceptable weight I’d be more inclined to knit sweaters for myself too.
5. Get my Christmas presents out on time. I was really bad this year and I feel really badly about it. I had them all knitted up I just didn’t get them wrapped and mailed in time. Shame on me.
6. Buy more yarn. I’m really hard on myself when I buy yarn. I agonized over every purchase like I’m bleeding money when in fact I’m not. I don’t have a terribly big stash and I do use what I buy. I need to stop with the guilt trips whenever I buy yarn. (I do need to go easy on the sock yarn though. My sock yarn bin is huge. I need to go on a sock yarn diet.Oh and I have huge amounts of laceweight.)
7. Be more patient and kind to myself. I find that the courtesies that I unthinkingly extend to others rarely get extended to myself by myself. So I need to start being more courteous to myself by being more tolerant as well as being patient and kind.

Let’s start at the beginning.

1. While I didn’t knit a lot of sweaters, I did manage to get over my sweater fear. Hopefully 2008 will bring more sweaters into my wardrobe.
2. I did start a spinning project with a specific goal in mind. Unfortunately, I didn’t even come close to finishing it. Maybe I’ll have better luck in the future.
3. I did start a project out of my own handspun. Even though I didn’t finish it, I feel like I’ve accomplished that goal.
4. Ha! Let’s not even go there. :)
5. Again. Ha! But I have joined a support group this time around to help me be better prepared for next Christmas. I’ll get it right one of these years.
6. Oooh. This was a hard one. Needless to say, mission accomplished.
7. My perspective has changed from when I set this goal for myself. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to be demanding of oneself. It’s great to challenge yourself to new heights as long as you don’t abuse yourself to the point where it becomes counterproductive.

I don’t think I’ll be making any resolutions for next year. After awhile, the resolutions I made this year began to feel more like a burden then a motivation.

Instead, I will start the new year with a completely clean slate, clear of mind.

Happy New Year!

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As 2007 ends, I can’t help but be thankful for the wonderful ladies in my local knitting group, the Aloha Knitters. It all started on Meetup with 3 women and a monthly meeting. (I think this was back in 2003, but I could be mistaken. My memory is quite shoddy.) Sometimes only one person would show up and that one knitter would spend a lone night knitting on their own. From there the meetings were increased to every other week with a small gathering of 2 or 3 people.

(Kbrow and Blogless Michelle)

Now we meet every week and you’re guaranteed a group of 5 or more knitters. There’s even been a few nights where our group have taken over half the cafe with around 12 knitters!

Having a dozen knitters show up in Hawaii has been unbelievably validating for me. Over the years, I’ve been mocked for my passion for knitting. I mean really, who knits in Hawaii? And who knits with wool in Hawaii? The support and enthusiasm, the aloha, that’s been shared within the group is amazing.

Let’s not forget the laughter either. Here’s Michelle showing absolute outrage at how little yarn Acornbud has left. Acornbud seems to be rather stoic about it. After all, she is an extremely experienced knitter, so she knows these things will happen.

And here’s Vron insisting to Anna that her fun fur scarf really is the height of fashion and cuddly as well!

So thank you my sisters of knitting, my sisters in yarn, for making every Thursday such a special day! :)

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It’s a dark and dreary day here in Hawaii. A perfect day for staying in and curling up with my knitting. Before I get to that I thought I’d share a Scheyer update.

It’s our second week with him and he’s actually let us pet him! I cannot tell you how ecstatic I am. It took all I had not to squeal with excitement, which would have totally scared him off into hiding for another week. Let me tell you, this boy has quite the purr box.

Scheyer is very much the night owl. Luckily, I am too and I managed to get a better shot of him as he looked warily on.

In the midst of all this kitten love, there has been knitting. I managed to finish off the three-colored gloves and start another pair.

(Since it’s been such a cloudy day I had to use the OTT Lite for these craptacular pictures.)

Pattern: Annemor #8 from Selbuvotter by Terri Shea

Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in Blush and Cream; Knitpicks Essential in Grass

Needles: Size 2US / 2.75mm

Started: 12/11/07

Finished: 12/26/07

While I really like the results of working with the three colors, I doubt I’ll be trying this again anytime soon. I had a hard time maneuvering the three different yarns with my two hands and it really disrupted my rhythm. This really frustrated me.

I think it also skewed my tension as these came out a lot smaller then my other gloves. I’m hoping that blocking will stretch them out a little. I’m going to have to wait for the atmosphere to dry up (it is very humid here, ick) before I block them though.

As soon as these were off the needles, I threw another pair on.

These are also from the book Selbuvotter. I actually finished the hand while at knit group last night, but when I came home I noticed I left out a crucial part of the design on one side. I just couldn’t live with that, so I ripped it all out.

It wasn’t even that painful since I’m having so much fun with them. Since I have to wait before I can put in an order more glove and mitten yarn, I see this as a chance to give to do more of what I love until more precious supplies arrive.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. The other half of my brain is wondering if I could possibly start the Wing O’ The Moth this weekend. That yarn I got for Christmas is really calling me.

I have a litany of justifications as to why it would be perfectly reasonable to cast on. Besides, how much harm could it be to have a weekend project for me? This is supposed to be my hobby after all, not a job.

I see yarn winding in my future.

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I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I was especially blessed this Christmas. My day was filled with cooking (a roast), eating, installing a new DVD player, watching a movie (Spiderman 3), knitting, and opening presents! I thought I’d share a couple of my favorites with you.

Jeanne and Chris got me the most beautiful yarn. It’s Fountain Hill from Kraemer Yarns. I think it will make a perfect Wing O’ The Moth Shawl. I wish I could cast on right away.

The ever generous duo didn’t stop there either. They also included a set of gorgeous stitch markers from Chris’ shop, Scotts Mountain Crafts. Chris does beautiful work, you should see her lovely shawl pins!

I am so touched by this gift. Not only because I love the yarn and the stitch markers, but because they actually thought of me this Christmas. To say the gift was a complete surprise to me would be an understatement. Thank you so much, Jeanne and Chris!

The other gift that I was totally thrilled with was given to me by my mother. I’ve been wanting this all year, but I’ve always held back as I told myself that I didn’t really need it. Without further ado, the Chocolate Brown Bloom.

I’m so in love with this bag. It has so many great pockets to put all kinds of odds and ends in. It somehow manages to be roomy and compact all at the same time. So not only does it look great, it’s also extremely functional.

Christmas isn’t quite over for me as I’m still not through with all of my gift knitting, but like Karen said, gifts are appreciated year round. Still, I’d like to get them done by the Chinese New Year in February. So it’s back to the grindstone for me. My little helper is raring to go!

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We’ve finally decided upon a name for our new addition. It might be considered an unusual name to anyone who doesn’t know me very well, so I’ll give you a little background.

I’m an avid sports fan. I follow college hoops, the NFL, and some baseball. Of those sports, college basketball has been the favorite throughout the years and my team has always been the Duke Blue Devils. I fell in love with the team when they played in one of the Rainbow Classic Tournaments back in the 80’s.

There have been many players that I’ve loved dearly, but what seems to fit our newest boy is the name Scheyer after the sophomore Jon Scheyer. Why Scheyer you ask?

Well, Jon is long and lean, like my Scheyer. Jon is unassuming in his demeanor, like my Scheyer. Jon is a lethal scorer and as far as I can tell, my Scheyer is a lethal hunter. (I won’t share what he hunted down last night.)

Most of all, the name Scheyer is a great pun for shyer. If my little Scheyer is anything, he’s shy. Even though he’s been coming out of his shell, he’s still quite bashful. (I realize that we’ve had him for less then a week and that I might be eating my words in the months to come, but I have a feeling he’ll always be a little meek, especially compared to Quincy.)

So far, little Scheyer has been coming out at night to investigate the living room. He’s also been following Quincy around like a devoted little brother. The pictures in this post were all taken around 2am so I had to use the dreaded flash. That’s why there aren’t many shots with his eyes open. :)

I was pleasantly surprised at how close he let me get to him. I suspect it was because my hands were full of camera, thus decreasing any chances of me grabbing him. He also felt safe enough around me to attack the toy canary in a display of his hunting prowess.

I went a little crazy with the camera last night, so for more pictures of Scheyer, take a look see here.

I doubt I’ll be posting again until Christmas is over and done with, so here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Take care and please drive responsibly! :)

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