Frustrated... a knitting vent

#1

Ok, so I have finished a few wonderful projects, but now I feel “stuck”. I am currently in between projects and I feel directionless. I have half the yarn for a sweater that I want to make, but the other half I can’t get in Canada and I need a lot of it (for the body) and it seems too expensive to me (it iwll be about a 150.00 sweater). Specifically, I need a turquoise eyelash yarn and they are pricey. I need about 800 yards in total.

The other problem? Besides that sweater, I don’t have anything I want to make. I just don’t feel inspired anymore. I want something challenging, but not so much that I feel overwhelmed. I want something hip and cool too. I am just in yarn limbo and need a project to pull me out. Any ideas? Something not too pricey (think under 50.00 total), that doesn’t have a ton of boring repetition, and something that will last a while. Pretty tall order huh? I know…

Wow, I feel a bit better already…

Trish

#2

Ok can you just replace sweater with halter and eyelash with mercerized (ok, I can’t spell that, soound it out) cotton. I don’t have a LYS. I don’t know what else to make. I have resorted to cleaning my house.

#3

No LYS??? Oh, I feel worse for you than me. I would die w/o my LYS, LOL.

Cleaning my house? I suppose I could do that, lord knows it needs it, but I am officially sick today and if I clean too much, my df will think I am not sick and I will not get sicky special treatment, LOL. No, I think I will lay on the couch and watch some tv and hope for inspiration to hit me.

Trish

#4

Have you tried Ebay for yarn? They have scads of eyelash on the block. You have to add in the shipping, but it still comes in under what I would pay in the lys. Can’t hurt to look.

I feel your frustration. It seems everything I want to do is made up in Lion Brand homespun and I don’t really like working with that yarn. It gets twisted up as I’m working and then when I try to pull it out it shreds.

I like the freebie patterns, tho’.

Feel better and find a project; it’s better than cleaning.

#5

ohh… what patterns do you have for Lion Brand Homespun? I have 7 skiens of Shaker that I bought for fairly cheap and need to use. Any ideas?

Trish

#6

I just go to the Lion Brand site and they have a ton of projects using homespun. I made my dtr a capelet which is really cute, but I don’t like the texture of the yarn. It’s like it has a perm. So it’s hard to see the stitches. I’ve also been told that it grows with washings. And unless you’re willing to knot every fringe, it will shred unless you crochet loops for fringe (that was even harder to see than knitting). It’s really soft and a lot of pretty colors and Joann’s always seems to have it on sale.

I must admit that I loved the Martha poncho and was disappointed that it was done up in homespun. There has to be a reasonable subsitute for it.

#7

I am almost finished knitting a large, hobo-like bag that I am going to felt. I am using Lana Grossa Colore yarn :heart: , and it has been a total joy to knit with. The colors are gorgeous, and when the bag is felted, it takes on an almost watercolor look when the stitches fade away and the color transitions blend. I saw the bag worked up at a Stitches event and had to buy the yarn and pattern, even though it was almost $80 in materials once I got all the needles, etc.

It is my first attempt at felting, but I am loving the whole idea. I admit to being a bit nervous to throwing it into the washer, but I ordered two felting books off Amazon which (very timely) arrived yesterday. The thorough directions for the felting (or “fulling” process, according to the Bev Galeskas book) really have set me at ease. The other book is called “Pursenalities…” and I have marked about six absolutely darling bags that I have got to make. There are various styles and sizes, and some call for novelty yarns while others rely on the patterning for detail and interest. I think the books are very inspiring, and I would recommend checking the ideas out (is the book in your local library?) and picking a smaller bag that would be less expensive to produce.

The best part is having a great bag to carry around, and some fabulous gift projects to get started!

#8

omg, I love it!! I’m “hooked” for it already. lol