The knitter in me despaired when I began my full time job.  She lamented the loss of all the knitting time, even while the rest of me rejoiced at being able to pay my bills.  What I did not anticipate was the stress of working in human resources, or (finally) owning a car.  Knitting is the only thing that has kept me from running screaming out of the office and retreating into hermit-hood.

I’ve been knitting constantly, and my favorite part of each day is when I get to sit down with a hot cup of English breakfast tea and my latest project.  If anything work is merely supporting my knitting habit.  I have the cash to spend on the luxurious yarns and fancy supplies I had previously lusted after.  I even bought some new shelving for my room where I can keep my stash!

I have the general gist of crochet down.  The abbreviations are less confusing than they were at the beginning, though I often still need to look at what each stitch is, I can at least decipher the abbreviations and make sense of a pattern.   I’ve started two crochet projects since learning; a Hobbes plushie (from the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes), and a harlequin stitch blanket in Doctor Who colors, specifically the colors of the Fourth Doctor’s scarf.

I found the Hobbes pattern on Ravelry, and after posting about it on Geek Crafts is when I decided to teach myself how to crochet.  Because, damn it, I wanted a crocheted Hobbes plushie, and I wanted to make it myself.

The blanket is Greenway from the book Comfort Knitting and Crochet: Afghans.  I’m using the same stitch pattern, and the same sizing from the book, however I am crocheting it in Vanna’s Choice yarn, in the seven colors from the iconic Doctor Who scarf.  I picked a random order for the seven colors and will repeat it every seven stripes.  I’m quite pleased with my progress, and the afghan is larger than I expected.  Hopefully I’ll finish it just in time for the cool Autumn weather.

My second day of crochet was more productive than I thought it was going to be.  The instructions in The Crochet Stitch Bible have been great.  I’ve learned slipstitch, single crochet, extended single crochet, half double, double, treble, and working in a round.

I’m familiarizing myself with the abbreviations, and I’m even managing to read simple patterns without constantly looking at the list of abbreviations.  I even understand them!  I’m excited to be learning to crochet.  With both needles and hooks I feel like an unstoppable force!

One issue I am having with crochet, is the magic loop.  I attempted this repeatedly, I read directions, I watched videos.  I can’t get the bloody thing right, it won’t adjust.  Maybe magic loops have something against me, I can’t stand doing the magic loop method for knitting on the round, I’d rather use five DPNs.  I tried the crochet magic loop again and again last night, much to the amusement of the friend watching me.  I became more frustrated with each failed attempt, and eventually threw my hook and yarn onto the table in defeat.  For now I’ll stick to the ordinary method of starting a round, and chain my stitches.  Until I can find  a crochet expert, that is.  I will defeat the magic loop!

This month has been terribly busy, I fear I’ve neglected my knitting a bit.  On top of everything going on, I spent the past week in bed with a nasty sinus infection.  I’m finally feeling better, and I’ve got a list of knitting and crafting a mile long.
Here’s what I’ve been working on;

This is the beginnings of a Captain America shield pillow a friend commissioned.  I still need to sew on the star, as well as the fabric backing.  It was a fairly easy knit, and once this one is finished I’m going to make a few more to sell.

This is an art trade with a friend of mine.  I knit her a pair of Spats.  The pattern is Spick and Spats from Ravelry.  I’m also sending along  a few CDs, I didn’t have cases for them, so I made my own with some cardstock.  I really love the way everything came out, and the CD sleeves were a lot of fun to make.

I’m starting a few projects this week, including a Gryffindor scarf, and a tortoise plushie.  I will also be reorganizing my crafting space.  Everything is a mess since I’ve been sick all week.

I try to keep my stash in one place, at the very least I keep it all in the same room.  I have a work station set up in my bedroom where I do most of my knitting.

Here you can see my desk and some of my yarn.  I have a hanging file box for individual patterns, and my knitting books within easy reach in case I need to reference a pattern or stitch dictionary.  My knitting machine is propped up in the corner when I’m not using it (which isn’t often, I’ve been hand knitting almost everything lately).

The pink drawers are chock full of knitting paraphernalia.  The top drawer is where I keep my knitting machine supplies, as well as spare supplies such as graph paper notebooks and ziploc bags.  The middle drawer is where my works-in-progress live, and the bottom drawer is stuffed full of yarn remnants.

I keep my full skeins of yarn on this book-case that doubles as a TV stand.  That box is a gift I recently received and is full of novelty yarn, everything from eyelash to fun fur yarn.  It will live in the box until I either knit with it or find someplace else to keep it.

The black and white picnic basket is my knitting basket, if I decide to venture into other areas of the house I pack up my projects in there.  It has a zippered top that keeps my yarn-loving dog from tangling the skeins beyond repair.

It could be tidier, and I’d like to get a nice desk and get rid of the folding table, but it works well.  My stash is (mostly) contained, and my patterns neatly organized.  Up until recently I would just throw them in a folder and spend 20 minutes looking for a specific one.  Setting up a work space has helped to keep my knitting more organized, and leads to me actually finishing my projects!