Spring is here!

Many years ago everyone did spring cleaning.  Everything in the house was cleaned to within an inch of its life.  It was good for getting rid of the trash that had accumulated over the winter that weather might not have allowed to be removed.  This is less of a thing than it used to be.  Weather is not as harsh as it once was.  But it still feels good to do a deep cleaning after the house has been shut up over winter.

I'm going through this process in my knitting and crocheting.  I've been going through the boxes of yarns, tubs of swatches and blankets and stuff, boxes of books and magazines.  I need to paint the walls and ceilings of my crafting space.  As much as I want lots of color, I will be doing white.  White paint and a sheen will make the light bounce and spread unlike the dark color currently.

I have been going through the boxes one by one before moving them.  I have a list of things I want to find for various reasons.  I'm trying to collect all my swatch books in one place and make sure all the swatches are in them.  They're not.  I'm trying to collect my hooks and needles.  I thought it would be good to use what I have rather than buying.  Along the way I found many things like UFOs and projects from my teaching at Michaels, teaching at private lessons or guild retreats as well as things I have no idea where they came from.

So as I look through the boxes and find things, I'm putting aside the stuff on my list, the stuff I want to evaluate, and the finished stuff.  I also have added a box in my living room for the stuff to go to the various charities the guilds I belong.

So I have frogged so far all of the arm knit things.  I have no use for these things and they don't fit the criteria for the charities.  The yarn will be repurposed into things for the charities.  I have also frogged to reclaim the yarn a bunch of UFOs that for whatever reason have no clue what they are, have no pattern, or just plain don't interest me any longer.  Boy was that a big pile.  

I have also found a huge laundry basket of wool, cashmere, angora, you name it sweaters that I want to reclaim the yarn.  I didn't know I had so many.  Until I started checking them out.  Some were donated by my son that he doesn't want anymore.  These are all commercial knit sweaters not hand knit and come from thrift stores.  Those will wait for the reclamation process.

Have you gone through your crafty things yet?  It's a good idea every now and again to do.  It works to reacquaint you with what you have and make sure you still want to work with it.  If you don't, you have plenty of options.  Finish and gift.  Finish and keep.  Frog and keep the yarn.  Donate or sell it in the WIP state with the pattern so someone else can finish and keep it gift or frog it and make something they want with the yarn.

Happy spring!

Dreamwork

Recently I saw this topic on knitpicks blog.  Or was it a podcast?   Either way,  it was about people who are doing the things they dream about. 

I want to suggest something different.  I'm not going to talk about dream jobs.  Or dream projects.  Or dream fibers.  Have you ever dreamed a solution to a problem?   Have you ever dreamed a pattern that seemed perfect? Until you woke up and tried to write it down or put it into real practice......

One morning,  my husband said I had kept him awake half the night because I was teaching in my sleep.   I asked what I was teaching.  He said I wasn't all that intelligible to be understood. So maybe teaching in my dreams is a bad idea.

On the other hand, I have dreamed of a shawl/scarf pattern.  It utilized the Fibonacci sequence.  It was a knit pattern and had lace in it.  I tried so hard to write it down.  But that was just a beautiful dream. However, the idea has not left my mind apparently.  It has formulated itself into a crochet pattern that makes much more sense.  It still uses Fibonacci.  It should be done with multiple colors. Let's give this a try.  For those who want the numbers...

1+1+2+3+5+8+13+21+33+54+87+

Here it is in crochet. I suggest that this could be a great way to use variegated yarn.  Use whatever yarn you want. Use a hook two sizes larger than usual for that yarn and your personal gauge.

(1)  Ch2.
(1)  2sc in 2nd ch from hook. Turn
(2)  Ch1.  2sc in 1st St, SC in SC. Ch4.   Turn
       Ch1.  2sc in 2nd ch from hook,  SC to end. Turn
(3)  Ch6.  2sc in 2nd ch from hook,  SC to end. Turn
       * Ch1.  2sc in 1st St,  SC to end.  Turn.  Rep this row. 

(5)  Ch9.  2 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc to end.  Turn. 

       * Ch1.  2 sc in 1st st, sc to end. Turn.  Rep this row 3x more.

(8)  Ch 14.  2 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc to end.Turn.

       * Ch1.  2 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc to end.  Turn.  Rep this row 6x more.

What does yours look like?  If I ever find mine I will post pictures.  4 plus years post move and I still can't find anything